According to: Selina
[Note: These are the best new movies of the year that
we’ve reviewed on Trust the Dice. If it wasn't reviewed on the site, it's not
eligible.]
Reviewed on: December 4
Genre: Horror
Rated: Unrated
Length: 1h 26min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: It's Christmas Eve and Tori just wants to get
drunk and party, but when a robotic Santa Claus at a nearby toy store goes
haywire and begins a rampant killing spree through her small town, she's forced
into a battle for survival.
I fell in absolute love with Christmas Bloody Christmas.
It was fun, bloody, and the banter was second to none. I can’t pass up a movie
with good banter, it hits me right in my funny bone. In this case, Christmas
Bloody Christmas also blessed us with a badass final girl and a robot with
laser beam eyes.
What’s not to love?
19 – Deadstream
Reviewed on: October 3
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Rated: Unrated
Length: 1h 27min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: A disgraced internet personality attempts to win
back his followers by livestreaming one night alone in a haunted house. But
when he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event
becomes a real-time fight for his life.
This low budget flick took everyone by complete surprise.
There are other films that I could have put here in its place, but the way it
blew high above all expectations made me feel like it NEEDED to be here.
Deadstream is a found footage horror film that
negates all the reasons someone might not like a found footage horror. The
camera is steadier, there’s less jump scares that are meant to be fake outs,
etc.
It was a passion project by a husband-and-wife team, Joseph
Winter (V/H/S/99, It Came from the Lab, Abandoned in Space) and Vanessa
Winter (V/H/S/99, Studio C, Loving Lyfe), and it shows.
18 – Day Shift
Reviewed on: August 17
Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Rated: R
Length: 1h 53min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: A hard-working, blue-collar dad just wants to
provide a good life for his quick-witted 10-year-old daughter. His mundane San
Fernando Valley pool cleaning job is a front for his real source of income:
hunting and killing vampires.
Day Shift is a great example of why I think directors
that were once in stunts have a leg up on all other action directors.
Who else but J.J. Perry (F9: The Fast Saga, Bloodshot, John
Wick: Chapter 2), a highly experienced stunt coordinator, would have thought
to hire contortionists? It seems like such a small thing, but that one choice
caused the vampires in this film to be so much creepier than in most other undead
movies to come out in the last couple of decades.
I’m surprised that critics didn’t like Day Shift
much, because it DID kind of reinvent the wheel. It introduced a whole new level
of practical effects and casting to the horror genre.
Day Shift is a great movie that’s readily available
on Netflix.
17 – Metal Lords
Reviewed on: April 13
Genre: Comedy, Music
Rated: R
Length: 1h 37min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: Two friends try to form a heavy metal band with
a cellist for a Battle of the Bands.
My all-time favorite movie is SLC Punk (1998). Part
of my love for it comes from my love for punk music and the punk scene. The
movie itself is a love letter to all of it. It has that ‘fuck the system’ heart
woven in with a killer story and some extreme acting.
That’s what Metal Lords is to the metalhead scene.
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve always leaned more punk than
anything else. So, I wasn’t really the target demographic for this metal love
letter. My best friend, however, is.
Even though he has a depth of hatred for coming-of-age
films, I forced him to sit down and watch Metal Lords. By the end of it,
he was glad that I annoyed him into it. For anyone with a love of all things
metal, Metal Lords is simply required viewing.
Cat, in all her gentle fluffiness, also has a love for metal
music – and so Metal Lords spoke to her more than it did to me. Still, I
can’t deny the parallels between it and my all-time favorite. I appreciate it
for what it is.
16 – The Lost City
Reviewed on: July 15
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG-13
Length: 1h 52min
Selina’s Rating: 4
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: A reclusive romance novelist on a book tour with
her cover model gets swept up in a kidnapping attempt that lands them both in a
cutthroat jungle adventure.
If someone were to design a high-budget parody of Uncharted
(2022) or Tomb Raider (2001), The Lost City is how it would turn out.
It’s a cute action film with characters that should never be
dropped in an action story. Who doesn’t like that kind of underdog tale?
Especially when there’s just a ton of humor woven throughout.
Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Miracle
Workers, Guns Akimbo) also makes a hell of a creepy antagonist. Gotta love
that for him.
15 – Glorious
Reviewed on: August 15
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated: Unrated
Length: 1h 19min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 3.5
IMDb Blurb: After a breakup, Wes ends up at a remote rest stop.
He finds himself locked inside the bathroom with a mysterious figure speaking
from an adjacent stall. Soon Wes realizes he is involved in a situation more
terrible than he could imagine.
Watching the trailer, you’d never expect Glorious to
live up to its name. Featuring two people stuck in a rest stop bathroom with a
touch of the supernatural sprinkled in might not be a description that attracts
all audiences.
I was not prepared for just how good it actually was.
J.K. Simmons (Night Sky, Marmaduke, Spider-Man: No Way
Home) has the perfect voice for a disembodied celestial being in a toilet
stall, while Ryan Kwanten (Expired, Section 8, 2067) has just the right
kind of clueless sense of humor to create a harmony. It was a short movie,
tightly edited, with no time to look away.
Glorious could have been a very basic story from
start to finish, and I still would have loved it. When the twists were woven
in, everything just got exponentially better.
This was one of the best movies we found on Shudder in 2022.
14 – Turning Red
Reviewed on: March 16
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG
Length: 1h 40min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: A 13-year-old girl named Meilin turns into a
giant red panda whenever she gets too excited.
Turning Red is a cringe-filled, furry look at coming
of age.
If anything, it’s a testament to how far Disney’s come. The
starring family is full of culture, there’s talk of menstruation, and even more
discussion around breaking generational trauma cycles. Not all the comedy was
for me, but that was personal. Overall, it took the animated coming-of-age
story into our century, finally.
Nothing was sugar coated, but it was all still perfectly
crafted for pre-teens.
13 – The Gray Man
Reviewed on: July 25
Genre: Action, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
Length: 2h 2min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: When the CIA's most skilled operative, whose
true identity is known to none, accidentally uncovers dark agency secrets, a
psychopathic former colleague puts a bounty on his head, setting off a global
manhunt by international assassins.
Critics HATED The Gray Man, but I will stand behind it
with all my being.
It was a popcorn film that was fun, fast-paced, and had all
the glorious banter you could ever want. The sarcastic variety that Ryan
Gosling (La La Land, Drive, First Man) is a god at. Clearly, no one
making The Gray Man was worried about the critics. It was all about the
audience and I absolutely support that style of movie making.
It didn’t reinvent the wheel, but not every flick has to. It
was pure action.
Although it followed tropes, it never leaned toward the more
obnoxious variety, and even called out other actions films through little
sniping jokes in the script. I think, in a few years, it might be re-examined
by critics. Hopefully with some of the stick pulled out of their asses.
We’ve been quoting The Gray Man to each other since
we saw it. After all, who throws a loaded gun?
12 – The Batman
Reviewed on: July 22
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: PG-13
Length: 2h 56min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: When a sadistic serial killer begins murdering
key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city's
hidden corruption and question his family's involvement.
I know a lot of people would argue with The Batman being
this low on the list. They’re not completely wrong. It’s a great movie with
some incredible performances.
Robert Pattinson (The Devil All the Time, Tenet, The
Lighthouse) made a better Batman than anyone could have possibly predicted.
Zoë Kravitz (Viena and the Fantomes, Kimi, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)
had all the poise of a proper Catwoman. I can’t say enough about how Colin
Farrell (Ava, Thirteen Lives, The Banshees of Inisherin) disappeared
into the Penguin.
The actor that made the biggest mark on me, however, was
Paul Dano (Pantheon, The Guilty, Okja). There’s a part where his face is
moving in such odd ways that it gave me that awful uncanny valley feeling. I
had to actively look away from the screen while it was going on, because it
creeped me out so much.
The only reason I can’t put it higher on this list is
because it was just way too long. It could have easily been made into two
different movies, each over an hour and a half long. Together in one film, it
was impossible for me to sit through. Despite how good it was.
11 – Mad God
Reviewed on: June 13
Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Horror
Rated: Unrated
Length: 1h 23min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: Equipped with a gas mask and a crumbling map,
the Assassin, an iron-clad humanoid, descends into a rusty, peril-laden
underworld of grime, blood, and unsettling monstrosities. As the stealthy
invader meanders through the labyrinthine post-apocalyptic wasteland on a
mysterious mission, going deeper and deeper in the nightmarish realm, the
Assassin gradually reaches his final destination: the heart of this grotesque
tower of torture. But what cruel, vindictive deity allows fear and suffering to
take its most complete creation further and further into despair? Only a Mad
God would revel in humankind's ordeal.
This script-less entry was 30-years in the making. It was
fully stop motion and painstakingly created by Phil Tippett (Jurassic Park,
The Spiderwick Chronicles, Starship Troopers), and his students, over decades.
It’s full of horrific and gory visuals that sink into a masterpiece of world
building.
Every minute of Mad God is nightmare inducing. Every
second is something I guarantee you’ve never seen before, and never will again.
It’s a fascinating story told without dialogue by a master
of his craft.
Reviewed on: June 24
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Rated: PG-13
Length: 2h 6min
Selina’s Rating: 4.5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious
teenage girl from his dreams who can travel across multiverses, to battle
multiple threats, including other-universe versions of himself, which threaten
to wipe out millions across the multiverse. They seek help from Wanda the
Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.
I’m a Marvel fan girl. So is Cat. That makes it a little
strange that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is not higher
on this list. For me, that’s because it didn’t feel like a Marvel film. It felt
like a Sam Raimi (Ash vs Evil Dead, Rake, Drag Me to Hell) film.
That is not a bad thing. I love me some Sam Raimi, and the
movie was a great watch. It had all the mind-breaking moments you’d want from
Doctor Strange as a character, as well.
I loved seeing a character we’d all grown attached to turn
heel. It was about time we got something like that.
It was a solid offering from Marvel. Even if it’s not at the
top of our list.
9 – Hustle
Reviewed on: June 10
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sport
Rated: R
Length: 1h 57min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4
IMDb Blurb: A basketball scout discovers a phenomenal street
ball player while in Spain and sees the prospect as his opportunity to get back
into the NBA.
Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems, Murder Mystery, The Week Of)
is a drama actor. That’s it. People need to stop thinking otherwise.
If you see a comedy released that doesn’t have drama as a
shared genre, and Sandler is in it – it might be better avoided. If his name is
mentioned in the same sentence as a drama, though, make sure to add it to your ‘to
see’ list.
Hustle destroyed any expectations I could have had
for it. What I thought was going to be a typical sports film had more heart in
it than anything else this year did. And Sandler knocked his performance out of
the park (sorry, I don’t know enough basketball to make the sports metaphor based
around it).
Cat doesn’t even like sports films, and she had to give it credit.
That says a lot.
8 – Violent Night
Reviewed on: December 21
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Rated: R
Length: 1h 52min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of
a wealthy family, Santa Claus must step in to save the day (and Christmas).
Violent Night was a late addition to our Best Movies
of the Year. It was the last movie we watched before our holiday break.
It left us off on a very strong note.
It was the perfect mix of Home Alone (1990) and Die
Hard (1988). David Harbour (Black Widow, Stranger Things, Extraction)
was bad-ass and brought a charisma to Santa Claus that could have otherwise been
lost in all the violence. Little Leah Brady (Erin’s Guide to Kissing Girls, The
Umbrella Academy, Hunting a Documentary) was the perfect child actor to
work along side him, and brought an innocence to the film that made it easier
to watch.
The bloodiness of the action scenes juxtaposed against everything
that Santa Claus is was just as hilarious as expected. What caught me off-guard
was that it was still very much a Christmas movie. It had all the lessons you’d
find in a cut and paste Hallmark film, with none of the desire to slam your
head into a wall.
As far as I’m concerned, this is the new annual holiday film
in this house. Right after Anna and the Apocalypse (2017).
7 – The Adam Project
Reviewed on: March 11
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG-13
Length: 1h 46min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: After accidentally crash-landing in 2022,
time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self for a
mission to save the future.
Ryan Reynolds (Spirited, Red Notice, Free Guy) is the
king of banter. That’s why Cat and I follow him to every movie he takes part
in. We have very different senses of humor – but banter is the bridge. Both of
us go nuts for good, funny, fast-paced dialogue.
The Adam Project had that in spades.
It’s not the newest idea for a film, but it’s executed
expertly and hilarious.
We were both also impressed by Walker Scobell’s (Secret
Headquarters, Percy Jackson and the Olympians) ability to keep up with Mr.
Reynolds. That’s not an easy feat for anyone, let alone a pre-teen. He held his
own exceptionally well and proved that he has a hell of a career ahead of him.
6 – Saloum
Reviewed on: September 5
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller
Rated: Unrated
Length: 1h 24min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: In 2003, a trio of mercenaries escaping a coup
in Guinea-Bissau take refuge in a hidden region on the Saloum river of Senegal.
But something from beyond the grave awaits them there.
This movie was one of the ones we received from Shudder in 2022.
I hadn’t heard anything about it, except through them, and didn’t really know
what to expect.
It started in the crime genre, and it was interesting, but
when it took that hard left into the supernatural, I no longer found it
possible to look away. I got to see a completely unfamiliar story from the
viewpoint of an African culture that I had never seen anything from. It was incredible.
Saloum did have the feel of a low budget film, but it
was backed up by big budget ideas, immersive acting, and a setting that played into
every bit of the story.
It’s still available on Shudder, and I couldn’t recommend it
more.
5 – The Northman
Reviewed on: July 13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: R
Length: 2h 17min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: A young Viking prince is on a quest to avenge
his father's murder.
The Northman is criminally underrated by audiences. I
know why, too. It’s grungy, dark, and bleak. There’s no mirth in it at all.
There’s maybe 30 seconds of cuteness in the beginning and then it all turns to
blood and vengeance.
In the past few years, humor has been what audiences have
flocked to. Is there any wonder why? The world has been a terrifyingly awful
place lately, and people just want to turn off their brains and laugh.
That is not what happens with The Northman.
Still, the story is entrancing, the cinematography is
gorgeous, and the action scenes are expertly choreographed. Alexander Skarsgård
(The Stand, Godzilla vs. Kong, Passing) is unrecognizably brutal in most
of his scenes, and impossible to not root for. Even as the story warps while
unfolding.
Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse, The Witch, Brothers) has
proven himself, again, to be an irreplaceable writer/director.
I’m not surprised that critics loved The Northman. I
think audiences need to give it another chance.
4 – Wendell & Wild
Reviewed on: October 28
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Rated: PG-13
Length: 1h 45min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4
IMDb Blurb: Two scheming demon brothers, Wendell and Wild,
enlist the aid of 13-year-old Kat Elliot to summon them to the Land of the
Living.
Henry Selick (Little Nightmares, Coraline, Monkeybone)
and Jordan Peele (Nope, Us, Get Out) are both geniuses. It’s not a
stretch to believe that something they worked on together would be brilliant.
Unsurprisingly, that’s exactly what Wendell & Wild was.
It was insightful, hilarious, beautifully animated, and it was
tied together by a killer soundtrack.
Wendell & Wild avoided tropes and was just impossible
to look away from. During a more emotional scene, it had me ugly crying in a
way I never thought something like this could. It was a comedy, after all.
If it were up to me, Wendell & Wild would be much
higher on this list, but I had to fight Cat to even get it here. It deserves to
be higher.
3 – The Black Phone
Reviewed on: September 14
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rated: R
Length: 1h 43min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 4.5
IMDb Blurb: After being abducted by a child killer and
locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a
disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims.
It is with The Black Phone that I decided I prefer
Joe Hill’s (Locke & Key, In the Tall Grass, Horns) stories to his
father’s. At least in movie form.
Granted, I haven’t read the short story this film is based
on, but if they didn’t drastically change anything then my statement stands. Stephen
King’s (Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, Firestarter, It) endings always tend to
leave something to be desired, but Hill nails it.
His antagonists are usually well rounded as well. And, in
this case, they couldn’t have gotten someone better to represent the Grabber.
Ethan Hawke (The Northman, Moon Knight, Tesla) gave
me literal nightmares with his performance. Normally that would be a bad thing,
but in this case it was unparalleled. He was creepy on every level. His voices,
his movement, all of it done without the help of facial expressions. I put his performance
in The Black Phone at the same level as Anthony Hopkins (The Son, Elyse,
Hitchcock) as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991). It
was flawless.
The Black Phone was one of the most anticipated films
of 2022, and it was worth every bit of the hype.
2 – Prey
Reviewed on: August 5
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: R
Length: 1h 40min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: Naru, a skilled warrior of the Comanche Nation,
fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly-evolved Predators
to land on Earth.
Prequels can be hit or miss. More often, if we’re honest, a
miss. That said, Prey managed to be everything we hoped for and then
some.
Not a whole lot was done to expand the Predator (1987)
world, but just going into the first appearance of the titular antagonist on Earth
was interesting. It gave us that feel of the original, while offering up cleaner
visuals and more in-depth characters.
Not only that, but Amber Midthunder (The Ice Road, The
Wheel, She’s Missing) revealed herself to be a superstar in the making. She
was absolutely glorious as the stubborn and capable Naru. She needs to see a
hell of a lot more screen time. Midthunder absolutely made this film as
fantastic as it was. Without her, there might be something different in this place
on the list.
Reviewed on: May 27
Genre: Action, Drama
Rated: PG-13
Length: 2h 10min
Selina’s Rating: 5
Cat’s Rating: 5
IMDb Blurb: After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing
the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when
he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate
sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.
If I had to give an example of a nostalgia sequel that was as
close to perfect as possible, it would be Top Gun: Maverick.
I’m not even the biggest fan of the original Top Gun
(1986). Still, Maverick struck me as an amazing mix of the old with the
new. It held the feel of the original while offering more updated ideas, and
characters that the newer generations could attach themselves to. It widened
the world of the original by giving us insight into what happened to some
audience favorites.
As great as Tom Cruise (American Made, Edge of Tomorrow,
Mission Impossible) was in it, he didn’t overshadow anyone. Revisiting Val
Kilmer’s (Paydirt, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Cinema Twain) Iceman and getting
to meet Jennifer Connelly’s (Alita: Battle Angel, Only the Brave, Aloft)
only discussed in the first movie, Penny, felt monumental. Anyone who didn’t
tear up at Kilmer’s scene is clearly dead inside. On the other hand, getting to
meet Goose’s son, played by Miles Teller (Whiplash, Divergent, Only the
Brave), felt like getting to meet the descendant of an old friend.
Top Gun: Maverick did everything right. It will stand
as the prime example of a nostalgia sequel for a long time.
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