Crater (2023)

 

 

Streaming Service: Disney+

Movie Name/Year: Crater (2023)

Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Family

Length:  1h 45min

Rating: PG

Production/Distribution: 21 Laps Entertainment, Truenorth Productions, Walt Disney Pictures, ABC Television, Disney XD, Disney+

Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez

Writer: John Griffin

Actors: Ashlan Rowan, Billy Barratt, Brady Noon, Carson Minniear, Hero Hunter, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Jermaine McTizic, Mckenna Grace, Orson Hong, Piper Rubio, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Selenis Leyva, Thomas Boyce, Viviana Chavez

 

IMDb Blurb: After the death of his father, a boy growing up on a lunar mining colony takes a trip to explore a legendary crater, along with his four best friends, prior to being permanently relocated to another planet.

 

 

Cat’s Point of View:

When I first watched the trailer for Crater, in prep for the May 2023 Top 20 article, I was very excited to see this movie. I’ve been biding my time and now that it has been released, I was not disappointed. It was absolutely fitting for the #4 placement I gave it on my list. 

In the article, I said that Crater looked like it would be a “genuine feel-good family movie that took the ‘kids on bikes’ ensemble concept to a whole new level out of this world.” It gave me the feeling that it would have a similar vibe to movies dear to my heart such as The Goonies (1985) and relatable to younger audiences that are more familiar with Stranger Things (2016-). I definitely got those vibes from Crater and appreciated how the production maneuvered through darker concepts, balanced with the lightness of the kids’ friendship, and tempered the story with hope. 

 

There were some moments that felt really heavy, but I think there was just enough edge of levity and counterpoint brought out by the kids’ resilient spirits and their character growth that it didn’t seem like the weight was impossible. I got a little misty at one point but was never really pushed over the edge to tears - and am glad for that. This has been a busy holiday weekend and I’m already running on the fumes of exhaustion. Crater’s message was light enough to be uplifting and gave good vibes without being hokey. 

That was one thing I really was concerned about. Direct to Disney movies tend to be a little on the cheesy side. Crater didn’t go that route. This was a film I would have been fine with paying for a ticket at a theater to see - in fact, I wish that had been an option, as the visuals would have been spectacular on the big screen.

 

 

That brings me to my next point. The effects and attention to detail were impressive. The Mouse House didn’t pinch pennies when it came to getting things generally right as far as the physics of space and moon travel were concerned. I believed every moment that I watched, completely under the spell of the story unfolding before me. I’m even willing to forgive their apparent lack of airlocks. That was the only thing I could even remotely nitpick about. 

 

The young ensemble cast worked well together and gelled in a way that shone a light on both their diversity and commonalities. I really hope that this helps launch them into more great things, for those that are just getting started in their careers. Of course, they weren’t all new. I have adored Mckenna Grace (Gifted, Troop Zero, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) in everything I’ve seen her in, and Crater was no exception. 

As I mentioned before, there are some heavier themes within the story that very young kids might have a hard time with, but there isn’t anything explicit or graphic that would be inappropriate for small children. Crater would be an excellent pick for a family movie night and I think I might even be watching it again in the near future with mine.

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 63%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –63%

Metascore – 65%

Metacritic User Score – 4.5/10

IMDB Score – 5.2/10

 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5

 

Movie Trailer:

Descendants 2 (2017)

Streaming Service: Disney+

Movie Name/Year: Descendants 2 (2017)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Family

Length: 111 minutes

Rating: TV-G

Production/Distribution: Disney Channel, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Disney XD, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Freeform, Lifetime, Disney Cinemagic, Disney+, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Television

Director: Kenny Ortega

Writer: Sara Parriott, Josann McGibbon

Actors: Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, Mitchell Hope, Brenna D’Amico, Melanie Paxson, Thomas Doherty, Bobby Moynihan, Dylan Playfair, Dianne Doan, Jedidiah Goodacre, Zachary Gibson, Anna Cathcart, Dan Payne, Keegan Connor Tracy, China Anne McClain, Whoopi Goldberg

Blurb from IMDb: Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay try to adjust to life in Auradon, but Mal becomes overwhelmed with pressure and returns to her roots.

Selina’s Point of View:

I liked the first Descendants (2015) movie and I expected to like this sequel. I try to go into film as cold as possible – I don’t even watch the trailers ahead of time unless it’s for a top 20 – but it’s impossible in this case.

I watched the original Descendants for this blog, but you might have noticed that only Cat wrote about it. That was the night that a pipe burst under the foundation of my house and my first floor flooded. I felt pretty much the same as Cat did, though. It was cute. Though I would have scored it a little lower than her, and I did think it bordered on too cringey in some scenes.

That said, I have a much higher opinion of Descendants 2.

The first thing I noticed was that the songs were a much higher quality. There was some seriously good music in this film. I’m definitely going to have a few lyrics stuck in my head. I didn’t really experience the same thing with the first one. If you played the soundtrack to the first movie for me, I might not be able to place any of it… but the second one I might even sing along to. It’s almost like they put more effort into the second film’s music.

I also didn’t feel like there was nearly as much cringe in Descendants 2. In fact, everything about it seemed so much more like a Disney movie. You could still feel the ‘Disney Channel’ aspect to it, in the way that everything was stripped down to the G-ist of G ratings, but otherwise it just had a higher quality.

There was a message here that I really liked, and it’s one that I don’t think enough pop culture touches on. In a lot of films, books, and even songs, you see it said that changing yourself is bad. In Descendants, however, Mal changed for the better – so Disney couldn’t really go there. They’d already showed a healthy form of change, saying that people shouldn’t change at all would have contradicted that.

Instead, the movie shows that you can evolve without changing every single thing about yourself. That’s important. Evolving is VERY important. If I was the same person I’d been as a teenager… that would be awful. In other ways, I’ll always try to be as unapologetically myself as possible.

It’s important for kids to know that sometimes change is good – but that it doesn’t mean the stuff you love has to change as well. It’s a good “be the best version of yourself” lesson. I have to acknowledge that.

I liked Descendants 2. I think it was a better movie than the first one. I am looking forward to seeing the third one, though there will be a bitter-sweetness to it. I don’t see how they could possibly continue past that film without the talented Cameron Boyce (Mrs. Fletcher, Steps, Jessie). I don’t think he’s replaceable.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 71%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 71%

Metascore – 47/100

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 6.5/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5

Movie Trailer:

Princess: A Modern Fairytale (2008)

Number Rolled: 19

Movie Name/Year: Princess: A Modern Fairytale (2008)

Genre: Fantasy

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: PG

Production Companies: Princessa Productions, Treehouse North Productions

Executive Producer: Craig Berenson

Director: Mark Rosman

Writer: Heidi Ferrer

Actors: Nora Zehetner, Kip Pardue, Nicole Gale Anderson, Deborah Grover, Matthew Edison, Mayko Nguyen, Shileen Paton

William is a little lost. He’s not sure where his life is supposed to be going. When his friend drags him to a ball and he meets the strange princess, however, his life begins to take a definite direction.

Although the story told within Princess: A Modern Fairytale is good on paper, the film doesn’t really hold up to the possibilities. Even for a TV film.

The CGI was ridiculous. Charmed started in 1998 and had plenty of mythological/magical creatures in it. Even without the technology of today, they made their creatures so much more believable than this film did. Perhaps the director believed the terrible graphics would add a campy charm to the movie. They were very wrong.

On top of that, the acting was stiff and unfortunate. None of the actors really pulled off their parts, but the worst was definitely Nora Zehetner (Maron, Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy). At times she looked like a marionette with no joints carved into her limbs.

Children should enjoy watching this ABC mess, but their parents might find it growing old very fast.

I would like to state that if this were a book, I would happily read it. I bet it would be amazing.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 41%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.4/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 1.5/5

Movie Trailer:

Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010)

Number Rolled: 5

Movie Name/Year: Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010)

Genre: Romance

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Production Companies: ABC Family, Von Zerneck Sertner Films

Executive Producer: Tai Duncan, Paul Schiff, Robert M. Sertner, Frank von Zerneck

Director: James Hayman

Writer: David Kendall, Bob Young, Stephanie Phillips, Mark Amato

Actors: Raven-Symoné, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Beth Broderick, David Clayton Rogers, Virginia Williams, Chryssie Whitehead, Brittany Ishibashi, Lyle Brocato, Ann McKenzie, Angelena Swords, Lacey Minchew, Gary Grubbs, Kaysia Monique Stove, Evelyn Boyle, Audrey P. Scott, Talia Tooraen, Carl J. Walker, Billy Slaughter, Yohance Myles, Donna Duplantier, Jesse Moore

Abigail and Parker lived in Louisiana when they were younger. They had two other friends in their clique. One was a sweet, innocent girl. The other was a self-absorbed, spoiled brat. When they got tired of their small town, Abigail and Parker moved to New York City. On a trip back to their old hometown, they ran into their old friends again.

The only thing that makes Revenge of the Bridesmaids even remotely special is that it was slightly above mediocre.

This was the embodiment of a recipe movie. Romantic comedy, geared toward young adults that are just on the older edge of that target. It has all the over-acted, silly-scripting, of an ABC Family movie, with some of the content of an theatrical movie. By far, my favorite part was when it pretty much made fun of itself.

That’s the real reason Revenge of the Bridesmaids stood out. It delivered a decent story without taking itself too seriously. Without that little bit of poking fun at romantic comedies in general, there wouldn’t have been anything to set this film apart from all others that came before and after.

I have decided that I’m very fond of JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Once Upon a Time, Reba, Are You Afraid of the Dark?). This is not the first project I’ve seen her in and I think she’s significantly underrated. I hope to see her more in the future.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 57%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.3/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 3/5

The Random Rating: PG-13

Movie Trailer:

Beauty & the Briefcase (2010)

Number Rolled: 48

Movie Name/Year: Beauty & the Briefcase (2010)

Genre: Romance

Length: 86 Minutes

Rating: PG 13

Affiliated Companies: ABC Family, Von Zerneck Sertner Films

Executive Producer: Ira Pincus, Jessica Rhoades, Robert M. Sertner, Frank von Zerneck

Director: Gil Junger

Writer: Michael Horowitz, Daniella Brodsky

Actors: Hilary Duff, Chris Carmack, Michael McMillian, Amanda Walsh, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Jennifer Coolidge, Matt Dallas, James McDaniel, Jaime Pressly, Courtney J. Clark, Tarik Naim Alherimi, Lacey Minchew

Lane is an aspiring writer, but her little articles in small magazines are not enough. Throughout her life, all she’s ever wanted was to write for Cosmo. She even has a shrine to the publication. When she gets the chance to write an article for them as she attempts to find her “magic man,” she can’t jump at the chance fast enough.

It’s easy to see what ABC was trying to do with Beauty & the Briefcase. They were trying to make a watered-down version of Sex and the City for young adults. They captured the superficiality of the cast and the self-centered nature of the main character, but missed any part that might have actually made the movie interesting.

With films like this one, it’s always clear from the very beginning which two characters will wind up together. This was no exception, but the script never really offered any foreshadowing for the finale. It made the already superficial story line feel even more plastic, and the ending was outright ridiculous.

I enjoy Hilary Duff as an actress, but I shouldn’t. She plays every character exactly like the one before. Still, I find her amusing, if not entertaining. Michael McMillian was fun to see. I haven’t seen him in anything since What I Like About You, and I actually like him a lot.

Unfortunately, one great actor and one semi-amusing actress wasn’t enough to save this cringe-based, uncreative, superficial, bad vision of a movie.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 45%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 1.9/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 1.5/5

Movie Trailer: 

My Future Boyfriend (2011)

Number Rolled: 82

Movie Name/Year: My Future Boyfriend (2011)

Genre: Romance

Length: 75 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Director: Michael Lange

Writer: James Orr, Jim Cruickshank

Actors: Sara Rue, Barry Watson, Fred Willard, Enisha Brewster, Jordan Wall, Valerie Harper, Mike Pniewski, Cara Mantella, Justin Smith, A. Ali Flores, Jody Thompson, Ritchie Montgomery, Kevin Stillwell, TJ Hassan, Jay Gates, Adam Boyer

Pax is an archaeologist from 1000 years in the future. After a particularly interesting excavation, he finds a romance novel and becomes intrigued with words that no longer exist in his time, like love. As part of a study he travels back in time to seek out the author and learn what it’s all about.

I’m not exactly sure why this movie exists. It’s strange. It seems like the only people who would really enjoy it are on the verge of puberty, but it also seems mostly geared toward adults. I’m not sure why that makes sense. Their target audience just seems a bit broad from the viewpoint of the creators, but very narrow from the viewpoint of the audience. Someone needed a reality check when making this film.

The actors weren’t impressive at all. If anything, the characters seemed over-exaggerated so much so that Muppets could have replaced them and made the story more believable. The plot itself didn’t completely suck, but the nuances that made up the whole simply didn’t work as well together as well as the writer probably hoped. There were a few cute scenes, but no more substance than that.

In the end, it’s a TV movie. No one will mistake it for anything different.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 32%

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.4/5

Trust-the-Dice Score – 2/5

Movie Trailer: 

Lovestruck: The Musical (2013)

Number Rolled: 60

Movie Name/Year: Lovestruck: The Musical (2013)

Genre: Romance

Length: 85 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Director: Sanaa Hamri

Writer: Jaylynn Bailey, Terry Rossio

Actors: Jane Seymour, Sara Paxton, Chelsea Kane, Drew Seeley, Alexander DiPersia, Adrienne Bailon, Tom Wopat, Sarab Kamoo, Mark Tallman, Zak Resnick, Kyle Durant

Mirabella is getting married to an Italian playboy. Her mother, Harper, is furious when she drops out of the Broadway musical she was supposed to be in. To try and prove to Mirabella that her fiancé is never going to change, Harper travels to Italy to break up the wedding. En route, she finds a magical tonic that makes her plan easier to put in motion.

This movie was relatively unbearable. It was like a long, horrible episode of “Glee” with a dash of “17 Again” thrown in. I admit, I like “Glee” and I thought “17 Again” was amusing enough, but when you put them together you get one gigantic waste of time.

To be honest, I love musicals. I’ve seen “West Side Story” about a hundred times and I have “Gypsy” (with Bette Midler) practically memorized. This was not a musical. The title claims it was one, but it’s a big, fat lie. Real musicals have lyrical, original music. The music in those movies have a huge effect on the storyline, they become melodies that instantly evoke emotions in people. “Lovestruck: The Musical” utilizes current pop music that doesn’t so much elevate the story as it seems like tiny intermissions forced into it.

This movie couldn’t have been worse if they tried. Maybe it was a tax write-off.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.7/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None

Trust-the-Dice Score – 1/5

Movie Trailer: 

Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)

Number Rolled: 43

Movie Name/Year: Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)

Genre: Romance

Length: 89 minutes

Rating: PG

Director: Ron Underwood

Writer: Sara Endsley

Actors: Melissa Joan Hart, Mario Lopez, Timothy Bottoms, Markie Post, June Lockhart, Kyle Howard, Vanessa Lee Evigan, Gabrielle Miller, Layla Alizada, Cedric De Souza

When the man Trudie is seeing randomly breaks up with her the same day he’s supposed to go with her to her family’s Christmas weekend, she has a nervous breakdown. On a whim, she kidnaps one of her customers and forces him to pretend he’s her boyfriend.

This movie, surprisingly enough, wasn’t terrible. Between it being a TV movie and starring Melissa Joan Hart, I went into this thinking I was going to be bored to tears. Actually, it wound up being pretty creative. Don’t get me wrong, it ended exactly the way you’d expect this kind of straight-to-TV film to end, but it delivered a pretty decent path to get there.

In all honesty, some of the reason I liked the movie could involve a touch of biasness. It was about a black sheep who did something crazy just to get her family to notice her. It’s something very easy for me to relate to. Granted, I’ve never randomly kidnapped some guy and made him pretend to be my boyfriend, but there’s a certain kind of crazy that comes with wanting nothing more than for your family to be proud of you for just one day. When you feel like you just don’t meet everyone’s standards and they don’t need or, in most cases, want you around, it’s easy to see how someone might have a little bit of a nervous breakdown.

I’m a little sensitive to this kind of storyline and so I probably liked it a little bit more than the majority of viewers would. I can’t even comment on the acting because I was so wrapped up in the script that I can’t remember anything worth discussing.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 3.1/5

Overall Opinion – 3.5/5

Movie Trailer: (No working official trailer was found, instead, I've included video of the first 14 minutes.)

Cyberbully (2011)

Number Rolled: 95

Movie Name/Year: Cyberbully (2011)

Genre: Drama

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: TV-14

Director: Charles Biname

Writer: Teena Booth

Actors: Emily Osment, Kay Panabaker, Meaghan Rath, Kelly Rowan, Jon McLaren, Robert Naylor, Nastassia Markiewicz, Jade Hassoune, Caroline Redekopp, Ivan Smith, Ronda Louis-Jeune, John Maclaren, Marcel Jeannin, Bruce Dinsmore, Danny Blanco Hall, Tyrone Benskin

Taylor, thrilled about receiving a laptop for her birthday, signs up for the site “Cliquesters” (which is a facebook-like social networking site). After her account is hacked, she begins to experience horrible bullying from just about everyone in her school. She tries to cope with the bullying, but finds herself sinking into an inescapable depression.

I, once again, find that I like the message more than I like the movie.

As a girl who was bullied pretty much all through school, I saw a lot of familiar scenes. In fact, my heart actually hurt through most of the movie. It was like reliving some of my darkest moments. No one will be able to say that “Cyberbully” fails to capture the extent of what bullying can feel like. That extreme helplessness and internal agony was captured to such a level that, even now, it’s hard to not let my mind slip back to some of my worst memories of childhood.

The most important aspect of this film to me was that it showed another level of bullying. When people are online, they’re typing on an inanimate object. It’s easy to forget that there are human faces and emotions on the other side of the millions of screens also hooked into the internet. When people forget that they are interacting with another human, it’s easy for them to be cruel or to “kick the cat” as my mom used to say. A lot of the movie was really eye opening as a reminder that verbal venom always has a bad effect on someone.

I wasn’t all that fond of the actors, except Kelly Rowan who played the bullied teenager’s mother. Also, Some of the script and the insults were a little far-fetched, but when I actually experienced bullying some very strange stuff was said to me.

Personally, I think that this should be a movie kids entering Junior High School are required to see. Even though it might not have been the best film in the world, it was absolutely incredible in teaching the audience how to handle bullies. That is something that deserves recognition.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

P.S. Below you will find a list of sites that can help a parent who suspects their child is being bullied. Among them are also sites that will help you find out how to get help if you are the one being bullied. Remember, there is no shame in getting help – the only shame is on the bullies.

U.S.

http://www.stopbullying.gov/get-help-now/index.html

http://www.niot.org/nios/resources?gclid=CKDNl5_E8rgCFUyi4Aod30QACQ#hotlines

http://www.kidpower.org/library/article/prevent-bullying/?gclid=CMiLp_DE8rgCFVCf4Aod7R0AbQ

http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/static/hotlines

U.K.

http://nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/

My Fake Fiancé (2009)

Number Rolled: 58

Movie Name/Year: My Fake Fiancé (2009)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Gil Junger

Writer: Howard March

Actors: Melissa Joan Hart, Joseph Lawrence, Nicole Tubiola, Burgess Jenkins, Diane Neal, Jason MacDonald, Steve Schirripa

Jennifer, played by Melissa Joan Hart, and Vince, played by Joseph Lawrence, meet at a wedding. Over wine and shared sarcasm, they decide they hate each other and part ways. A week later, Jennifer’s moving truck – with all her belongings – is stolen and Vince finds himself in a tight spot where he owes money to a bookie looking to collect. Jennifer thinks of Vince, finds his number and a scam to host a fake wedding, for the gifts, ensues.

I don’t know about you, but if I decide I dislike a person right off the bat, I usually forget their existence after a few hours of leaving their presence. If someone stole my moving van with all my stuff in it, first thing I’m going to think of is calling my fiancé, my best friend or my mother. Tracking down some asshole I met at a wedding wouldn’t even be my one hundredth priority. Ok, I know. It’s a romantic comedy. We need to suspend disbelief to a certain extent but… really?

I wouldn’t call this a ‘recipe’ move, per-say. It had ‘recipe-like’ qualities though. Mostly, it was a Melissa Joan Hart movie. You see that actress starring in a movie and you don’t even need to know the title. You know there’s going to be deception involved. You know there’s going to be romance involved and you know that it’s going to be the kind of romance where she hates the guy at first and slowly starts to see the good in him throughout the movie. I have yet to see her in any movie that differs, except maybe Sabrina: the Teenage Witch – in which magic was involved. And she did kind of like Harvey off the bat, if I remember correctly. It’s been a while.

The ending was kind of cool. It wasn’t really an over-done ending despite the over-done quality of that particular road of storyline. I enjoyed bits and pieces of the squabbling scenes. I squabble a lot. Apparently, I also really enjoy getting to use the word squabble. It’s a funny word. Squabble. I’m not high, just very tired.

To be honest, this movie reminded me of a very long episode of that TV show that these two were in. Or are in, I don’t know if it’s been cancelled yet. I forced myself to sit through a couple of episodes, unfortunately. What was it called? It was a really ridiculous name that showed a complete lack of creativity. Oh, right, “Melissa and Joey.” Wonder how they came up with that.

Overall Opinion – 2/5