Book Adaptations - Revisiting Personal Cinematic Landscape

 

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As much as I love movies, I have even more space in my heart for books. A trip to Barnes and Noble during a sale is one of my favorite things. Finding a book older than my mom at a used bookstore is even better. A good book can be a release, a comfort, or just a kickstart to get me working on my own stories.
 
Movies that adapt books, however, can be hit or miss. Sometimes the people adapting the story get everything just right, but let’s be honest – that’s rare. It’s more likely that people who love the original book are going to be disappointed. Not as common, but still possible, the movie could actually ruin the book for fans completely. Then there are those adaptations that add more perspective, extending scenes from the book – or cutting out some of the filler – causing fans to love the story more.
 
There are a ton of ways a book adaptation can go.
 
In my original article I talked about The Princess Bride (1987), The Hunger Games (2012 -), and Harry Potter (2001-2011). For the most part, all three of those adaptations aren’t bad. I wasn’t so fond of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) as an adaptation, but as a movie it was good.
 
I would like to add one more adaptation to that list that has affected me in a good way. That film is: Dune (2021).

It’s been a very long time since I read Dune (1965). I remember taking an abnormally long time to read it. It was a great story, but there was so much in the way of slow-paced politics that I hate reading about. That’s a problem because, with ADHD, that makes it almost impossible for me to retain information. There were chapters I had to re-read because I’d finish them and find that nothing stuck. I didn’t remember anything I’d read.
 
I’m a heavy reader, so it’s rare that a good story will take me all that long to finish. In fact, I read the last book in the Harry Potter series in one night. The only reason the last book in The Hunger Games took me a couple of days to read was because I had to put it down when Prim died and walk away for a bit. I devour a good story like it’s the air I need to breathe. So, the fact that I couldn’t do that with Dune, despite it being a good story, was a problem for me.
 
Now, Dune has been adapted before, but if you’ve seen those films, you know why they didn’t make much of a difference for me. One of them has a cult following, but it’s certainly not the best adaptation of the book. The 2021 version, though, was incredible.
 
It brought the book back to my memory and helped me process things I simply couldn’t when I read it. Things made more sense than they did when I was reading and re-reading chapters. It didn’t hurt that it was an absolutely gorgeous film with actors that brought every character to life flawlessly. It added something to the reading experience that I lost because of my disability. It was the first movie that really made me understand that sometimes, the adaptation process could be a matter of accessibility.
 
Unfortunately, not all the adaptations that have shaped the way I view movies are for good reasons.
 
Let’s talk about Eragon (2006).

I love reading with friends. Either when someone recommends a book to me, or I recommend it to them, I love having the discussions that follow. In the case of Eragon, my best friend came to me with the story. My friend, at the time, was not as big of a reader as he is now. In fact, Eragon was the first series he ever recommended to me (outside of comic books). So, I took it seriously.
 
I finished them all in about a week. The series was outstanding, and I understood his love for it. Naturally, when we learned about the movie, we were both excited.
 
We didn’t get to see it together, which is a shame because the adaptation of Eragon straight-up requires emotional support for fans. I’ve never seen a movie get a book so wrong in my life. It felt as if the casting director picked actors out of a hat. Not only was each one of them wrong for their part, but they didn’t even put enough energy into their performances to try to convince fans of the new take on each character. The story barely even went in the same direction as the books, and the dragons felt as if they’d been made by a photoshop novice.
 
The adaptation was so awful that I have trouble looking back on the books fondly. Every time I try, I remember some bullshit from the film. I have, on occasion, wondered if the author should have tried to sue the production company for defamation.
 
When movies and books come together, it gets complicated. You can get a masterpiece like Dune, but you can also get a horror story like Eragon. I think one of the best ways to go forward with an adaptation is to include the original author in the movie creation process. When adapting older works, it’s not always possible, but I do wonder how good Eragon could have been if the original writer had been given some control over the final product.

Ominous October - Wendell & Wild (2022)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Wendell & Wild (2022)
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Length: 1h 45min
Rating: PG-13
Production/Distribution: Artists First, Gotham Group, Monkeypaw Productions, Netflix Animation, Netflix, SIF 309 Film Music
Director: Henry Selick
Writer: Henry Selick, Jordan Peele, Clay McLeod Chapman
Actors: Lyric Ross, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Angela Bassett, James Hong, Sam Zelaya, Tamara Smart, Seema Virdi, Ramona Young, Ving Rhames, Michele Mariana
 
Blurb from IMDb: 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.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
For some strange reason, I saw Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out, Nope) credited as a writer for Wendell & Wild and still thought it was just going to be a cute, spooky, Halloween flick. Although it had some of that, it was also a gut punch that hit way too close to home for me.
 
Wendell & Wild followed the tale of a girl named Kat who lost her parents at an early age. As a result of that trauma, she got angry and started acting out. Adults wrote her off as a lost cause (for the most part), which made things worse for her. I suffered my own trauma at an early age and fell into a very similar cycle of acting out and being written off – which just made me angrier.
 
I don’t know the history of writers Peele, Henry Selick (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), or Clay McLeod Chapman (The Boy, Beyond the White Space, Late Bloomer) – but someone went through something as a kid because they got it exactly right.
 

You do get a lot of that goofy Key & Peele type of humor, but when the scenes really get into what’s at the heart of Kat’s anger the mood changes. I can’t really go into it without spoilers, but I will say that there’s a part near the end that hits so close to home that I straight-up ugly cried. Anyone labeled a ‘lost cause’ as a kid because they were forced to deal with trauma that adults struggle with, is likely going to feel the same way that I did.
 
I loved it. Even with the gut punches, I’d watch Wendell & Wild over and over again. It’s just not the turn-your-brain-off flick that I thought it would be. It’s extremely poignant and insightful.
 
It was also gorgeous. Every scene embodied the exact feel it was going for. Whether it was meant to be gross or heartfelt, the animation gave 100%.
 
Wendell & Wild is a film I would recommend to everyone. Not just teens, but to parents as well. I wish my mom had a flick like this to watch when I was younger. It could have made a huge difference.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 81%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 86%
Metascore – 72%
Metacritic User Score – N/A
IMDB Score – 6.8/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5
 
P.S. Short after credits scene.
 
Movie Trailer:

The Black Phone (2022)

Streaming Service: Peacock
Movie Name/Year: The Black Phone (2022)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 1h 43min
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Crooked Highway, Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, B&H Film Distribution, Cinemundo, Tulip Entertainment, United International Pictures (UIP), Universal Pictures Argentina, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE), Universal Pictures International (UPI)
Director: Scott Derrickson
Writer: Joe Hill, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Actors: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies, E. Roger Mitchell, Troy Rudeseal, James Ransone, Miguel Cazarez Mora, Tristan Pravong, Jacob Moran, Brady Hepner, Banks Repeta
 
Blurb from IMDb: 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.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
Ethan Hawke’s (Before Sunrise, Boyhood, The Northman) decision to start taking on villain roles may very well be the smartest decision I’ve ever seen anyone make for their career.
 
Now, that’s not saying anything bad about the rest of his career. His movies have overwhelmingly high ratings. Even the ones disliked by critics tend to do decently with audiences. One could argue, and I often do, that audience ratings are the ones that matter most anyway. The thing is, he’s done it all by now – except villainy.
 
Branching out was a respectable move. When I saw him in Moon Knight (2022-), I thought he played the antagonist well, but I was still a little curious about how he would do the kind of obvious villain that he plays in The Black Phone. Being the antagonist is still kind of new for him.
 
All it took was one scene, and I knew to expect something incredible.
 
The villain in The Black Phone, played by Hawke, is the creepiest villain I’ve ever seen. He utilizes his voice and mannerisms in a way that portrays The Grabber as almost otherworldly. Even with the supernatural elements in the film, though, the antagonist comes across as human – just completely untouchable.
 

I want so much more of this kind of thing.
 
The story is based on a book by Joe Hill (Horns, NOS4A2, Locke & Key), and the more of his stuff I come across the more I find that I generally prefer his stories to his father’s. I know that’s a bit of a hot take, but Hill can write a wonderful ending. That’s a known weak spot of Stephen King’s (The Stand, It, Carrie).
 
Everything about The Black Phone was what I needed it to be. Even with a few conversations in the beginning feeling a little manufactured. The rest of it was so spectacular that I wouldn’t have remembered my issues from the beginning if I hadn’t made note of them. I got actual goosebumps at times. It’s score on Rotten Tomatoes, for both critics and audiences, is in the 80s and I think that’s too low.
 
The Black Phone is the kind of flick that I will wind up watching repeatedly until I have it memorized. In fact, I may watch it a second time today, just so I can see it again without having to take notes.
 
If you haven’t seen The Black Phone yet, it’s streaming exclusively on Peacock.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
The movies this week, so far, have been doing their best to stomp on all of my “mom feels.” They’ve given me the tingles in the small hairs at the base of my neck and the sick feeling of dread in my gut as my instincts scream at me about what’s happening on-screen. To say that The Black Phone was a creepily successful horror movie feels like a huge understatement.
 
I’m not sure that it would be any surprise, however, given that this was an adaptation of a short story of the same title, penned by Joe Hill. I could tout his horror pedigree, but setting genetics and the like aside, he is gifted in his own right. When paired with writer and director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil), who is said to have used this film to evoke the environment of fear that plagued his own childhood, magical things happen. It was terrifying and suspense-inducing, but magical all the same.
 
The blend of very real elements such as The Grabber, the titular Black Phone, and supernatural elements created a viscerally horrifying experience.
 

Part of that success also must be attributed to the cast. Everyone involved did a great job with their roles, though the primary trio portraying Finney, Gwen, and The Grabber really shone. Mason Thames (For All Mankind, Evel, Walker) and Madeleine McGraw (Toy Story 4, The Mandela Effect, Secrets of Sulphur Springs) had great chemistry together as siblings. They brought the audience along with them on the painful ride of their day-to-day trauma.
 
It’s been said that Ethan Hawke doesn’t particularly enjoy being in horror movies or playing villains. The Black Phone, of course, finds him doing exactly that. He was the perfect man behind the mask here. His body language and tone sold the set of revolving creepy face-coverings so well, that I could almost envision the mask’s mouths moving when he spoke. (Of course, it didn’t.)
 
Speaking of The Grabber’s masks with the varying emotions featured on them; they were designed by none other than master practical effects artist Tom Savini (Machete Kills, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, NOS4A2). He delivered those chilling faces straight from his imagination to my nightmares.
 
The Black Phone effortlessly captured and brought to life the fear behind parental and teacher warnings for kids to not talk to strangers, especially ones with vans. I thoroughly enjoyed this tense and terrifying experience of that nightmare and wouldn’t hesitate to inflict it on others via recommendation.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 82%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 88%
Metascore – 65%
Metacritic User Score – 7.0
IMDB Score –7.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

Brazen (2022)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Brazen (2022)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Length: 94 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production/Distribution: Eponymous Production, Mandalay Pictures, Netflix
Director: Monika Mitchell
Writer:  Nora Roberts, Edithe Swensen, Donald Martin, Suzette Couture
Actors: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Malachi Weir, Emilie Ullerup, Matthew Finlan, Alison Araya, Colleen Wheeler, David Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Barry W. Levy, Lossen Chambers, Aaron Paul Stewart, Jack Armstrong
 
Blurb from IMDb: When her sister is killed and her double life as a webcam performer is revealed, Grace ignores the warnings of a cool-headed detective and gets involved in the case.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I didn’t have a whole lot of faith in Brazen. It only made my top 20 for the month because there was a lot of garbage coming out. I was also interested in seeing Alyssa Milano (Insatiable, Tempting Fate, Charmed) in action again. I hadn’t seen her in anything in a while. If this film is any indication, I know why.
 
There was very little redeemable about this flick. The acting, while bad, was the least of it.
 
I had the killer pegged from their very first scene. Sometimes, that kind of predictability can be attributed to the fact that I watch hundreds of movies a year – but I don’t think so this time. I think just about anyone would have had this one figured out.
 

I’ve seen projects make good use out of that kind of predictability and still come up with something watchable. In this case, the creators of Brazen almost definitely thought they were adding a significant twist. They were very wrong.
 
There were parts that dipped into the kind of bad that I had fun laughing at – but most of it was the eye-rolling kind.
 
I’ve never seen a more made-for-TV flick in my life. And I’ve seen a lot of Asylum stuff. I cannot recommend Brazen.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
When I learned that Brazen was an adaptation of a Nora Roberts (Tribute, Blue Smoke, Angels Fall) novel, I had a good idea of how everything was going to play out. Had there been fewer films that had intrigued me more, it might have squeaked onto my top 20, though, simply because I have a nostalgic attachment to Alyssa Milano.
 
As for the story of Brazen, it was a fairly paint-by-numbers murder mystery with a dash of romance.
 
I liked the characters involved and was able to generally invest in the story. Unfortunately, the trajectory of the narrative was grossly predictable. The love story aspect didn’t explore any new territory, either. There were some adorable moments, but overall, it was a been-there-done-that situation.
 

Nora Roberts’ books aren’t generally my cup of tea. I’m familiar with her, in general, after seeing her name in giant print on books in the grocery store over the years. She’s a rather prolific author and has a massive following. I’m just not among the throng of her adoring fans. I tend to like more fantasy or sci-fi aspects worked in with my mysteries or crime procedurals. Either that or a good period piece with historical fiction. Brazen is squarely in the modern age in the real world with nothing mystical involved. The fact that it was made at a TV-14 rating further ensured that the love scenes would also be a bit watered down.
 
If you enjoy movies on the Lifetime or Hallmark channels, you might get something out of Brazen. It has a bit more substance and wit than a lot of the saccharine and soapy stories that air on those networks.
 
All told, Brazen just didn’t hold my interest. It wasn’t horrible, though. I just likely won’t remember it down the line.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score –18%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 14%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 3.9/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

The Kissing Booth 3 (2021)

 

Streaming Services: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: The Kissing Booth 3 (2021)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Length:  112 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production/Distribution: Netflix, Clearblack Films, Komixx Entertainment, Picture Loom
Director: Vince Marcello
Writers: Vince Marcello, Jay Arnold, Beth Reekles
Actors: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Molly Ringwald, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young, Stephen Jennings, Carson White, Morné Visser, Bianca Bosch, Camilla Wolfson, Zandile Madliwa, Judd Krok, Sanda Shandu, Hilton Pelser, Frances Sholto-Douglas, Evan Hengst, Joshua Daniel, Eady, Trent Rowe, Michelle Allen, Nathan Lynn, Byron Langley, Chloe Williams, Cameron Scott, Bianca Amato, Daneel Van Der Walt, Nadia Kretschmer, Matthew Dylan Roberts, Maria Pretorius, Peter Butler, Colin Moss, Michael Kirch, James van Helsdingen, Megan du Plessis, Lincoln Pearson, Michael Miccoli, Chase Dallas, Lya du Toit, Kingsley Pearson, Jesse Rowan-Goldberg, Caitlyn de Abrue, Juliet Blacher

Blurb from IMDb:  It's the summer before Elle Evans is set to head off to college, and she has a big decision to make.

Cat’s Point of View:

The first thought that came to mind at the end of The Kissing Booth 3 was ‘thank goodness that’s finally over.’
 
Did I hate the movie? No, I just had a laundry list of issues with it that goes back to The Kissing Booth 2 (2020). The endcap of this trilogy was fine but largely unnecessary.
 
The first thing I feel I must share is that while the trailer flows rather smoothly through the elements that comprise this sequel, the film, itself, does not get right to the point. The Kissing Booth 3 is twice as long as it should have been. It feels like everything was – or could have been – settled in the second installment.

 
I feel I must add as a disclaimer, however, that I have not read the book that this trilogy was based upon. That being said, I am unable to objectively state whether or not the first 2 movies covered all of the important plot points for the novel’s story. Maybe there was a call for a third installment based on something there. Audiences watching only the Netflix Originals, however, wouldn’t necessarily know that.
 
Though, just like the main character drags her heels in making her decisions, The Kissing Booth 3 takes a meandering route to its conclusion. Somewhere along the way it also lost a bit of the more comedic tone that the first 2 installments had. Don’t get me wrong, there were a couple of epic scenes here and there that had me laughing – but it was pretty firmly a romantic drama as a whole.

 
Somewhere along the way, it felt like the story lost the elements that helped me identify with the production’s protagonist way back in the beginning. With that kinship missing, it was hard to view the narrative as anything other than extraneous exposition that you might find in a basic romance novel –sans the graphic steam. These characters lived entirely in a fantasy world where money was no object and the pandemic didn’t exist.
 
I get that it wasn’t a factor in the book, and the first 2 films were developed before Coronavirus was a household word. I simply can’t help it that the overall experience dramatically impaired my ability to suspend disbelief.

 
While I am generally satisfied regarding the conclusion to this trilogy, it feels like this is one of those times that the sequels didn’t do the original any favors. If you’ve been following along through the first 2 movies, then I can only urge you to go ahead & finish it up with The Kissing Booth 3, if only for some closure.
 
If you haven’t started this Kissing Booth journey yet, perhaps weigh your decision to watch accordingly.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 13%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 21%
Metascore – 35%
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.2/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – PG-13
 
P.S. There are some bloopers and outtakes during the credits.
 
Movie Trailer:

Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

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Streaming Services: HBO Max
Movie Name/Year: Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Length: 100 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Film Rites, NOS Audiovisuais, New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures International (UPI), Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Singapore, HBO Max
Director: Taylor Sheridan
Writer:  Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt, Taylor Sheridan
Actors: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Jon Bernthal, Aidan Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jake Weber, Medina Senghore, Tyler Perry, Boots Shoutherland, Tory Kittles, James Jordan, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Howard Ferguson Jr., Ryan Jason Cook, Laura Niemi
 
Blurb from IMDb: A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him -- and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.

Selina’s Point of View:
The trailer really made Those Who Wish Me Dead seem epic. On top of that, I haven’t really seen many Angelina Jolie (Maleficent, Wanted, Changeling) flicks in a while, and Jon Bernthal (The Peanut Butter Falcon, The Punisher, Baby Driver) is always a bad-ass. So, I was looking forward to it.
 
By about 30 minutes in, I thought there was a bit of a bait and switch thing happening.
 
After a couple of really powerful scenes to start with, it felt like nothing was happening. When something engaging did happen, it was based around an oft-repeated flashback. Which is a problem for me.
 
Whenever a movie replays a single flashback as many times as this one did, it feels heavy-handed. Like the creators just don’t trust the audience to get what they should have from it, so they need to force it a bit more down their throat. I don’t like that. It immediately turns me off.
 
However, the film does pick up.

After the slow burn of the first half (no pun intended), the rest of it is non-stop intensity.
 
The main characters face the elements, antagonists, and even each other. I no longer felt the passing of time as I watched.
 
I was completely invested in how the story would turn out for everyone involved. I felt my chest tighten with nerves, I was relieved where there was success, and grief-stricken with the failures. I felt just about everything the creators wanted me to feel as the credits rolled.
 
The acting was as great as I expected it to be – maybe better. Aside from Jolie and Bernthal, there was Nicholas Hoult (The Banker, X-Men: Apocalypse, The Favourite) and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Project Blue Book, Peaky Blinders) – both respected actors that absolutely killed their antagonist roles (still no pun intended). I REALLY loved the arc that Medina Senghore (The Three Way, Happy!, Keeping Company) got to play out, and she was absolutely flawless in it. Even the teen actor, Finn Little (Reckoning, Angel of Mine, Storm Boy), was on point.
 
I think this film will stick with me for a bit. I do think it could have been cut by about 15 minutes, but the end product is still decent.

Cat’s Point of View:
The world tends to be on fire a lot these days. It was only a matter of time until flames became the backdrop for mainstream media productions with more regularity. This particular movie is an adaptation of the 2014 book by author Michael Koryta. It’s Koryta’s first adapted work, but there are more on the way, it seems.
 
Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with this author, and so I am unable to offer insight as to whether or not the film sufficiently or successfully brought the story to life. What I can tell you is that I was intrigued.
 
One of the big draws to this story was the cast involved in bringing it to the screen.
 
Angelina Jolie got to tap into quite a bit from the spectrum of her range here – motherly protector, bad-ass, and tragic heroine – specifically.  I was absolutely here for it. Aidan Gillen was in his comfort zone as a slimy and ruthless character, and Jon Bernthal absolutely brought what I was hoping for to his character. My only disappointment in this department was that Tyler Perry had such a small blip of time on the screen in comparison. It was effective, sure, but let me down a little. When a name that big is associated with a film, you tend to expect an expansive role to showcase their talent.

The fire effects were very realistic. I felt hot just watching this as if the screen could radiate the intensity of the forest fire blazing through. The action was really solid, too. The story had a few holes but nothing was too big to prevent the enjoyment of the movie, at least.
 
Overall, the story was fairly basic where it comes to a ‘being chased by assassins’ sort of plot. The fire and a few twists along the way did elevate it a bit, but not by a huge margin.
 
I did appreciate the redemption aspect involved. Don’t get me wrong, though. I enjoyed it. I am just unsure if I’ll remember all the details after time passes a bit. It just didn’t hit me as hard or resonate as deeply with me as other fire-themed movies of the past have – such as Always (1989) or Backdraft (1991).
 
Even so, I’d still have no problem offering a recommendation for Those Who Wish Me Dead. It’s a solid bet in the entertainment department. HBO Max also makes it easily accessible to anyone with a subscription, if theaters aren’t available in your area yet.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 64%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – 60/100
Metacritic User Score – 5.6/10
IMDB Score – 6.2/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5

The Reckoning (2021)

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: The Reckoning (2021)
Genre: Action, Thriller
Length: 110 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Fourth Culture Films, BondIt Media Capital, Buffalo 8 Productions, Moviebar Productions, ADS Service, Best Film, Capelight Pictures, Cinemundo, Eagle Entertainment, Italia Film, Metropolitan Filmexport, Njutafilms, RLJ Entertainment, Shudder, Storm Pictures Korea, Vertigo Releasing, Volga
Director: Neil Marshall
Writer: Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk, Edward Ever-Swindell, Antony Jones
Actors: Charlotte Kirk, Sean Pertwee, Steven Waddington, Joe Anderson, Suzanne Magowan, Ian Whyte, Callum Goulden, Sarah Lambie, Leon Ockenden, Emma Campbell-Jones, Mark Ryan, Bill Fellows, Oliver Trevena, Indianna Ryan, Emma Holzer, Cal MacAninch, Rick Warden, Jordan Long, Maya Chityll
 
Blurb from IMDb: Evelyn, a young widow haunted by the recent suicide of her husband Joseph, is falsely accused of being a witch by her Landlord after she rejects his advances.

Selina’s Point of View:
My first thought is that The Reckoning was a little messy.
 
I was worried that it might be formulaic going in. It wound up not following any one recipe too close, but the path it took was still not great.
 
The scene at the beginning of the film ran so much longer than it needed to. It failed to bring any emotion up in me other than boredom. It was just a bunch of flashbacks and melodrama that didn’t really mesh into anything remotely watchable.
 
That was kind of the theme of the flick: melodrama. Everything was just so over-exaggerated and shoved down the viewer’s throat. It was unnecessary.
 
The movie also repeated a lot. There was the same sex scene flashback shown several times. By the time it meant anything, it already felt gratuitous. The torture scenes also felt mostly pointless. I get why they were included, they were used to show the main character’s resolve, but they weren’t done well.
 

The Reckoning would have benefited from a bit more editing. About 30 minutes of it could have been left on the cutting room floor and the only side effect would have been a better product.
 
It wasn’t all bad, though.
 
It did pick up a little near the end.
 
Although the conclusion felt too neat for the story they were telling, I kind of liked it. It was accidentally campy, but if I remember anything from The Reckoning it’s going to be those final parts.
 
There’s nothing more to say, really. The Reckoning just wound up being pointless.
 
Let us know if you disagree. You can find it on Shudder, this May 13th.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
As the credits rolled for The Reckoning, I was left with a feeling of somber satisfaction. This was not quite the movie that I was expecting. In this case, however, that wasn’t disappointing. I was surprised, sure, but I think we got a better movie as a result. Anyone who is dead set on watching a tale of supernatural horror, however, might find themselves disgruntled. The trailer seems to tease that it might be an element involved, so it would be easy to expect something like that – especially from a Shudder release. I know I did.
 
This story comes across as a mix of the book The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1908–1994), Arthur Millar’s (1915-2005) play The Crucible (which has had several cinematic adaptations), and Braveheart (1995).
 
The narrative in this film was strong and fully encapsulates the time period of the Black Plague in Europe; as well as the sweeping atrocities of The Burning Times as panic, superstition, and zealotry gripped the land. People – especially women – were persecuted and killed just for being different, because someone didn’t like them, or because of unfortunate coincidental circumstances.
 
It resonates with the climate of the world today. People are still persecuted for being different, even though there have been great strides taken towards equality and acceptance of diversity – it just isn’t nearly enough. It only takes a little to spark a conflagration of finger-pointing and mob mentality – it was true then, and it is still true today. We can still stand to learn some lessons from this time period. People might not be burned at the stake anymore, but the modern-day equivalent can feel so much worse and do as much harm.
 

I could rattle on about that for hours, but I’ll spare you. Studying the witch trials and the like has been an interest of mine dating back many years to when I first heard the phrase “Burning Times” – which is another long story for a different day.
 
I digress…
 
I absolutely adored the strong female lead here in Charlotte Kirk (Vice, The Depths, Oceans 8). I haven’t paid close enough attention to her in previous work she’s been in. This movie caught my attention, however, and she has a new fan. I’m looking forward to her future work. I loved the steel in her eyes and how she threw herself into this role.
 
The settings were phenomenal, the effects were well executed, and the music was gorgeous.
 
The Reckoning is one of those movies that makes it well worth having a Shudder subscription and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys period drama or tales about a woman with grit and substance.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 21%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 37%
Metascore – 31/100
Metacritic User Score – 4.7/10
IMDB Score – 4.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer:

Chaos Walking (2021)

Movie Name/Year: Chaos Walking (2021)
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Length: 109 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Production/Distribution: 3 Arts Entertainment, BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Quadrant Pictures, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, Belga Films, BfParis, Eagle Films, Encore Films, HKC Entertainment, Independent Films, Lionsgate, Metropolitan Filmexport, Mongkol Major, StudioCanal Germany, GEM Entertainment
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: Patrick Ness, Christopher Ford
Actors: Tom Holland, Daisy Ridley, Demián Bichir, David Oyelowo, Kurt Sutter, Cynthia Erivo, Bethany Anne Lind, Mads Mikkelsen, Nick Jonas, Ray McKinnon, Vincent Leclerc, Blane Crockarell, François Gauthier, Tyrone Benskin, Frank Fontaine, Don Jordan, Patrick Garrow, Julian Richings
 
Blurb from IMDb: A dystopian world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear each other's thoughts in a stream of images, words, and sounds called Noise.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I’ve got a lot to say about Chaos Walking, and I need to start with how critics are taking it.
 
The majority of critics dislike this film. I have to say that I’m not surprised, but I also don’t agree with how harsh they’re being. Where Chaos Walking was not a perfect film, I don’t believe it was bad.
 
Dystopian films are tricky. They tend not to be taken seriously unless they are non-stop action or intensely cerebral. On top of that, critics perpetually trash YA dystopian films for being ‘too familiar.’  Never mind that the majority of them are based off award winning books with, at the very least, the same plot.
 
Right there, I have to call bullshit.

Either book critics are too soft, (as a writer, I do not believe this is so), or the majority of critics have a pole shoved so far up their ass that they’re more wood than human.
 

Even for movies like The Hunger Games (2012), you can see that critics loved it back when it came out, but now will bash it in reviews of other YA movies. The hypocrisy is real.
 
Long story short, critics are trashing Chaos Walking. I think they were always going to, no matter what happened. I also believe that when we start to see audience reviews, they’re going to be higher. I don’t expect anything in the 80% range, but probably in the 60s.
 

The fact of the matter is that Chaos Walking had a notoriously difficult premise to work with. For years, production companies saw it as impossible to bring to life on screen. The rights to the film have been floating around since 2011. Several directors have been attached to the film throughout the 10 years it’s been stuck in development hell.
 
That’s one of the reasons I was so interested in seeing it. I wanted to know how they managed to convince the money men that they could create a profitable visualization.
 
Personally, I think it was well done.

The way the creative team went about making the noise visible worked. Everyone thought at different speeds, some people had an easier time hiding their thoughts than others… it felt right. I do understand the take some people have on the main character’s thoughts. They’ve described them as intrusive and kind of like they were bouncing off the walls. As someone with ADHD, though, even that felt right. It felt like a representation of my own brain.
 

There were times that the movie slowed to a crawl, especially in the beginning. However, I attribute that to the fact that they used minimal exposition to explain the universe. In sci-fi/fantasy universes, especially those that seriously differ from ours, getting the audience to understand the setting is incredibly important. Chaos Walking sought to explain it without talking down to people or inserting awkward script moments. I appreciated it, and it made me feel like the slow moments were worth it.
 
I do have to acknowledge the plot holes, but that may have been an issue of editing. It’s very possible that the books fill those in well.
 
I enjoyed Chaos Walking. It’s not perfect, but it is fun and entertaining. Furthermore, it got me to buy the books. I see that as a success.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 25%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – 40/100
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.3/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)

Streaming Services: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Length: 109 minutes
Rating: PG
Production/Distribution: Ace Entertainment, All The Boys Productions, Netflix
Director: Michael Fimognari
Writer: Katie Lovejoy, Jenny Han
Actors: Lana Condor, Noah Centineo, Janel Parrish, Anna Cathcart, Ross Butler, Madeleine Arthur, Emilija Baranac, Trezzo Mahoro, Sarayu Blue, John Corbett, Henry Thomas
 
Blurb from IMDb: Continuing the romantic life of the teenage girl and facing her good and hard times with her friends and family.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I have a ton to say about this movie. Most of it on the content of the story.
 
First of all, and I think most importantly, I think the main trope needs to die.
 
Back in the 80s when all you had was a wired phone to reach people with, it worked. Anyone in high school that was dating someone that would be moving to a different time zone was going to have significant trouble keeping up enough communication to continue dating them. Even if they had an answering machine, they were always going to have some spans of time where they just wouldn’t be able to talk at all. That kind of situation is what birthed this trope. A long-distance relationship meant the death of it.
 
That was then. Our options for communication, even over significantly long distances, are MUCH different now. If nothing else, the pandemic has proven that. Hell, I live in NY and I have best friends that live in Louisiana and Kansas. In fact, I know a couple who were high school sweethearts, went to colleges on opposite coasts, and just got married. Many other people I know have seen it happen a ton, too. It’s not as rare as these flicks make it seem.
 
Long-distance is not a death sentence for a relationship anymore. It just isn’t. And when films continuously tell teens that it is, it can scare them into making bad choices for their own educational future. It’s not fair to them, and it no longer makes sense from a plot-perspective.
 
100%, this trope needs to die. Now. In our current age, with our current technology, it’s ridiculous and only exists out of habit. Bad habit.
 
What’s next? Right.
 
I hate the way these kinds of films portray the re-emergence of a parent into an abandoned child’s life.
 
It’s always the same thing. The parent comes back because it’s finally convenient for them to be a part of the teen’s life, and the teen is – understandably – pissed. Throughout the flick, someone always convinces them that they are morally obligated to give that parent a chance to do right by them.
 
I cannot tell you how much I despise this.
 
If you have a child, you are a parent. You don’t get a break from being a parent. If you leave – you’re still a parent, just a bad one (in most situations). I had this view point when I was young and, now that I have a daughter, it’s even more concrete in my mind.
 

(Yes, there are parents who aren’t able to be with their kid because the person who has custody of the child doesn’t allow it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’ve seen that situation, too, and it’s very different.)
 
Every time I see this abandonment story sneak into a teen film, it’s the same thing. And it’s bullshit.
 
A child has the right to be angry. It’s ok for them to not forgive the one who left.
 
Furthermore, comparing the parent that left by choice to a parent who died is essentially like gaslighting a kid into being ok. Not only does that not work, but it can cause them to resent themselves for not being able to do the forgiving that people expect of them. I know from experience.
 
Anger is a legitimate emotion when someone has been abandoned. Stop telling kids that it’s not. Stop trying to make it the norm to not feel that anger. Let kids feel it, so they can work through it. You can’t fix it if you’re suppressing it. For fucks sake.
 
That’s another harmful trope that needs to die.
 
I don’t normally do such a deep dive into tropes, but those two both really bother me. It did affect my enjoyment of the film. At least a bit.
 
After pausing a few times, I managed to push my concerns about the plot out of my head enough to really watch.
 
Acting-wise, everything was spot on. There’s a beautiful chemistry between all the actors that shows well on screen. Not just between Lara Jean and Peter, but with their friends and family. It makes everything feel a bit more natural.
 
To All the Boys: Always and Forever was effective. Everything it wanted me to feel, I felt. Even when I was meant to feel distance between characters, it worked. I felt every moment of that distance – that’s not an easy thing to accomplish when there is such a palpable chemistry involved.
 
I was hoping that this sequel would take a riskier route, and I’m disappointed it didn’t. It took the same path that most other films would have. It had the chance to redefine the genre, and took the road most travelled.

That said, it was still good. Despite my issues with the tropes they used, I still enjoyed the film. I just wish they'd gone further.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
Valentine’s Day is almost upon us. This year it’s been harder to feel that romantic buzz with my husband and I both sick. However, my restlessness and home-bound state did give me the perfect opportunity to catch up on the To All the Boys trilogy.
 
To be honest, I was slightly dreading watching To All the Boys: Always and Forever because of the situational timing. I have to say, though, that once I got into the movies, the rest of that fell away and I sank back into the story as if there hadn’t been a time lapse since 2019. The flow felt natural and the three films connect together as a really well-rounded trilogy.
 
I think Selina summed up the experience for To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020) well in her review; so, while I watched both, I’m going to do my best to focus on the third movie.
 
One thing I really appreciated is that while the audience is presented with this cute fairytale-like story, it also offered a realistic look at young love.
 

The films don’t shy away from the bumps in the road, the doubts, or the rollercoaster of highs and lows that comes with the territory. At the same time, it’s not cranked up to the level of melodrama that many productions lean on like a crutch.
 
I liked the fact that there’s a layered story with each of the family members experiencing their own arc woven into and around the main character’s tale. You get a glimpse at different perspectives without feeling like it’s too much. It’s maddening when a film gets lost and tangled in its own side quests rather than dialing in to the core plot.
 
There’s some real depth here to go with the adorable. There were even a few parts I got misty-eyed. I couldn’t help it. I just resonated deeply with multiple aspects here.
 
In the end, I’m glad that I experienced this trilogy. If you haven’t watched the first two already, it’s possible to binge all three without making a giant time commitment.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 70%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 83%
Metascore – 63/100
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 6.6/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Movie Trailer: