Honeymoon (2014)

Number Rolled: 85

Movie Name/Year: Honeymoon (2014)

Tagline: After the ceremony comes the ritual.

Genre: Indie

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: R

Production Companies: Fewlas Entertainment

Executive Producer: Julie Parker Benello

Director: Leigh Janiak

Writer: Leigh Janiak, Phil Graziadei

Actors: Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway, Ben Huber, Hanna Brown

Bea and Paul have just been married, so they’re off to Bea’s family cabin for their honeymoon.

Selina’s Point of View:

This film was slooooooooooooooooooooooow.

By a half hour in, nothing had happened yet. I understand that it was necessary to show the audience the nature of the couple’s relationship in order for the main plot to hit home, but they could have done something to make it feel less like having to watch a friend’s vacation video.

I spent a good deal of the movie trying not to yawn and wondering where the horror was going to come in. However, when the story hit a turning point, it became immediately interesting.

In fact, by the end of the film, my eyelids were practically glued open.

I hated the character of Paul. I don’t think Harry Treadaway (Truckers, The Night Watch, Pelican Blood) played him badly, I just don’t like the way he was written. The character of Bea was a different story. I loved her and I loved the way Rose Leslie (The Last Witch Hunter, The Great Fire, Game of Thrones) played her. She really gave the part everything she had.

Even with a slow first half I really enjoyed this movie. I’d recommend it to others in a heartbeat.

Cat’s Point of View:

At the outset, I was expecting something interesting with this film. A friend of mine had dropped a spoiler regarding a particularly disturbing scene from the movie, and I was gung ho to see if it measured up on my own disturb-o-meter.

I have to admit, I have mixed feelings.

I love a good build up in a movie. You know that something wonky is going to happen when the film is billed as a thriller or horror movie. The longer things seem ‘normal;’ the more anticipation builds for when ‘the other shoe drops,’ as the old saying goes.

This movie takes its time with layering in the foundation for the wonky-to-come. Some might consider it rather slow-paced. I remember idly wondering when that proverbial fan was going to start splattering the situational mess around.

That being said, I don’t think that the story took any unnecessary detours.  Every scene has some sort of significance, even though that doesn’t become clear until the climax begins to weave the pieces together.

I love Rose Leslie (Now is Good, New Town, Downtown Abbey) and Harry Treadaway (City of Ember, Cockneys vs. Zombies, Penny Dreadful).  For that reason, I had high expectations for their performance.

The movie focused primarily on their characters, and they didn’t disappoint. I could feel the underlying frustration and uneasiness that was growing between them. They drew me into their story.

Unfortunately, the story lacked something -it just didn’t entirely satisfy me. I liked the movie, in general, but it’s not one I would add to my collection.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 70%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 43%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 2/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 2/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5

Movie Trailer:

Furry Vengeance (2010)

Number Rolled: 77

Movie Name/Year: Furry Vengeance (2010)

Tagline: He came. He saw. They conquered.

Genre: Comedy

Length: 91 minutes

Rating: PG

Production Companies: Summit Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ, Robert Simonds Productions, Furry Vengeance Productions

Executive Producer: Mohamed Khalaf Al-Mazrouel, Brendan Fraser, Jonathan King, Ira Shuman, Jeff Skoll

Director: Roger Kumble

Writer: Michael Carnes, Josh Gilbert

Actors: Brendan Fraser, Ricky Garcia, Brooke Shields, Matt Prokop, Ken Jeong, Angela Kinsey, Skyler Samuels, Gerry Bednob, Dee Bradley Baker, Eugene Cordero, Patrice O’Neal, Jim Norton, Billy Bush, Samantha Bee, Alice Drummond, Toby Huss, Alexander Chance, Rob Riggle, Wallace Shawn

Dan Sanders has moved his family out to the country to head up the development of new housing. As they try to get used to the situation, they find out the forest may be more aware of what’s happening than they thought.

Selina’s Point of View:

I’ve really wanted to watch something light and fluffy for a while now. Things have been stressful and as much as I love horror and thriller movies, I keep rooting for something like Penguins of Madagascar (2014) every time we roll the dice. The thing about random, is it really doesn’t care about what I want.

So I got Furry Vengeance following a row of darkness.

I generally enjoy Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, Breakout, HairBrained). He’s a guilty pleasure of mine. However, in this film he felt like a bargain version of Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly, Slither). I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I was wishing Fillion was in this instead, but since it’s one of the few films I don’t think he would be able to make better, I doubt it.

I should be clear. As a children’s movie this film didn’t completely suck. As a family film made to include the whole family….

Let’s just say I wouldn’t really be interested in watching it more than once.

It was like a mix of Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Home Alone 3 (1997). It just wasn’t for me.

Cat’s Point of View:

I’d seen this movie before, with my family. I remember thinking that it was cute, and my daughter thought that the animals were hilarious. She was seven at the time.

Watching again, I can’t say that my opinion has changed much. She wasn’t interested in revisiting the film; so I forged ahead on my own.

This movie adds another over-the-top bit of camp to Brendan Fraser’s (The Last Time, Inkheart, The Nut Job) list of family flicks. I think he did a good job with what he had to work with. It wasn’t too cheesy, and he had just the right amount of crazy.

I did get a good chuckle when I realized Ken Jeong (Vampires Suck, Pain & Gain, The Duff) was in this movie. It wasn’t that his performance wasn’t memorable, I’d just seen this before he’d become as recognizable as he is today. His signature brand of humor comes through here – the kind that makes you want to laugh and cringe at the same time.

I have mixed feelings regarding the animals in this movie. I think this is where my main disconnect occurs.

First, I do feel I need to commend the decision regarding the animals’ communication. I don’t know that it would have helped the film to give the animals a ‘voice’ in the more traditional sense. The method they chose was unique and creative.

I do feel that they dropped the ball a bit when it came to the animal effects when directly interacting with the human cast members in certain scenes. While the transition from live creature to prop was decently smooth, I just expected more than an obvious stuffed animal.

Seriously. This movie was made in a post-Avatar (2009) era. While I understand that this film quite likely didn’t have the kind of budget necessary for CGI miracles on that level, they could have done better.

This movie would be highly entertaining for families with young children. I doubt that I’ll be watching it again.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 8%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 31%

Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 1.5/5

Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 2/5

Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 3/5

Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5

P.S. There is an amusing music video at the end that’s funnier than the entire film.

Movie Trailer: