Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Sandlot 2 (2005)



Number Rolled: 97
Movie Name/Year: The Sandlot 2 (2005)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 97 minutes
Rating: PG
Production Companies: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, David Evans Pictures
Producer: David Bixler, Vicki Sotheran
Director: David M. Evans
Writer: David M. Evans, Robert Gunter
Actors: Max Lloyd-Jones, James Willson, Samantha Burton, Brett Kelly, Cole Evan Weiss, Neilen Benvegnu, Sean Berdy, Jessica King, McKenzie Freemantle, Griffin Reilly Evans, Reece Thompson, Teryl Rothery, Greg Germann, James Earl Jones, David M. Evans

Ten years after the events in the first movie, a group of different kids are starting to see the sandlot as their home. Unfortunately, that home has been invaded by girls playing softball.

Look, I can’t actually call this film plagiarism because it has the same writers as the first one. That being said, this is the laziest, most bull-shit attempt at a sequel I have ever seen in my life. I am super disappointed in everyone that was involved, and that includes James Earl Jones (Star Wars, Merlin, Finder’s Fee).

They decided to remake the film and label it a sequel. The creators referenced the first movie very specifically, but then failed to change the majority of the script. The ending and the components were the same. Even the way the characters did things was the same. It was completely regurgitated except that girls were added to the mix.

I’ve scored this film a flat 0; something that has only happened one other time in the history of this blog. I contemplated giving it an even lower score.

I don’t care how the actors did. What I care about is that the prick who wrote this took one of my favorite childhood movies, The Sandlot (1993), remade it into a sequel and didn’t bother to add a single note of creativity or originality into it. The first movie deserved better and I think David Evans needs to find a brand new day job with brand new projects to ruin.

Don’t waste your time on the sequel.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 40%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 42%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.6/5
Trust-the-Dice Score0/5

P.S. They made a third one. I’m going to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Movie Trailer: [ They didn't even bother making an original trailer for the sequel. A third of it is from the first movie. ]

Monday, April 20, 2015

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)



Number Rolled: 86
Movie Name/Year: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Genre: Horror
Length: 88 minutes
Rating: R
Production Companies: Reliance Big Pictures, Loubyloo Productions, Eden Rock Media, Gynormous Pictures, Kintop Pictures, Urban Island, Alberta Film Development Program of the Alberta Government, National Bank of Canada TV and Motion Picture Group, T&D Productions
Executive Producer: Thomas Augsberger, Mark Ryan
Director: Eli Craig
Writer: Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson
Actors: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christie Laing, Chelan Simmons, Travis Nelson, Alex Arsenault, Adam Beauchesne, Joseph Allan Sutherland, Karen Reigh, Tye Evans, Dave Brown, Eli Craig, Sasha Craig

Tucker and Dale are hillbillies heading to their new cabin in the woods. They’re looking to have a fun time fishing and fixing the place up. At the same time, a group of college kids are making their way into the same area for a camping trip.

This movie was great. It had everything I want in a film.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil did not just poke fun at the tropes of the horror genre, it used them to completely shatter expectations. In fact, this film tore up the tropes a lot like Cabin in the Woods did. You get to see both sides of the story, but it all remains in the same genre; Cabin in the Woods had a bit of fantasy/sci-fi in the mix.

The script flowed brilliantly. It remained in the area of horror-comedy without ever falling over the line into cheesy-crap. It was creative and engrossing and incredibly entertaining.

It’s almost pointless to comment on the actors. Tyler Labine is a great comedic actor. Alan Tudyk is… well… Alan Tudyk. He could play pretty much anyone and cause that character to leap right off the screen.

There’s not much else I could say about this movie without spoiling the majority of it. I highly recommend watching it.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 84%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 84%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 5/5
Trust-the-Dice Score5/5

Movie Trailer: