The 2nd (2020)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: The 2nd (2020)
Genre: Action, Drama
Length: 1h 33min
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Daniel Grodnik Productions, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Fury Film Franchise, GEM Entertainment, Leonine Distribution, Lucid Film, Momentum Pictures, Première TV Distribution, Source 1 Media, The Movie Partnership, Turbo Panda Productions, Voltage Pictures, Wonderfilm Media, WOWOW Cinema
Director: Brian Skiba
Writer: Eric Bromberg, James Bromberg, Paul Taegel
Actors: Ryan Phillippe, Casper Van Dien, Jack Griffo, Lexi Simonsen
 
Blurb from IMDb: An Army Delta Force officer is late picking up his son at college. His son and a Supreme Court Justice's daughter are the last there. A gang of terrorists are there to abduct her and force her dad's hand on a Second Amendment vote.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
The 2nd definitely had an agenda. There was nothing subtle about it. In fact, it bordered on propaganda at times.
 
This isn’t the first time we’ve mistakenly scheduled a flick that wound up having a propaganda feel to it. Usually, we just opt to skip the day and not platform it at all. By the end of The 2nd, though, I decided it was just preachy and distasteful instead of full-on propaganda. So, here we go.
 
One of my big actor-related hot takes, is that I really like Casper Van Dien (Mad Heidi, Daughter, A Tale of Two Guns). I think he is capable of much better roles than he gets. I fell for him in Starship Troopers (1997) and my opinion has never changed. The problem is, where I like him, I very rarely like the movies he’s in. The 2nd was not an exception. I just don’t understand why he can’t seem to land parts in flicks that are actually good.
 

Aside from Van Dien, The 2nd had absolutely nothing going for it. The acting was obnoxious, you could hear the microphone rubbing against something sometimes, and I cannot believe anyone approved the script. Nothing about the dialogue was natural.
 
I think they might have had a ten-year-old watch Die Hard (1988) a few times and then had him write something as close to it as he could remember. Then they took out all the good parts and released it.
 
I would not sit through The 2nd again for any reason. It was absolutely awful.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 0%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 11%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – 4.0
IMDB Score –3.8/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1/5
 
Trust-the-Dice’s Parental Advisory Rating: R
 
Movie Trailer:

A Banquet (2022)

 

Streaming Service: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: A Banquet (2022)
Genre: Horror
Length: 1h 37min
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Tea Shop Productions, Riverstone Pictures, Reliance Entertainment Productions 8, IFC Midnight, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, HanWay Films, Shaw Organisation, AMC+, Shudder
Director: Ruth Paxton
Writer: Justin Ball
Actors: Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, Ruby Stokes, Lindsay Duncan, Kaine Zajaz, Richard Keep, Deka Walmsley, Rina Mahoney
 
IMDb Blurb: Widowed mother Holly is radically tested when her teenage daughter Betsey experiences a profound enlightenment and insists that her body is no longer her own, but in service to a higher power. Bound to her newfound faith Betsey refuses to eat, but loses no weight. In an agonising dilemma torn between love and fear, Holly is forced to confront the boundaries of her own beliefs.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
I am frustrated with A Banquet. It had the potential to be a visual feast for horror fans, but the fare was underseasoned.
 
That being said, let me focus on the positives from this movie before I get into the rest.
 
A Banquet took good advantage of an interesting setting. I loved the house the family resided in. It was architecturally fascinating. There were some stunning visuals offered to the audience here. I particularly enjoyed the shots of the moon. Had this production gone better, overall, I would be giving kudos that its release was timed on the heels of a very real blood moon lunar eclipse event. Eerie coincidence, perhaps, but because the night sky was little more than window dressing in the story, it amounts to naught.

 
The acting performances were all solid. Everything felt believable. No one was too dramatic or over-the-top. I bought in on every emotion conveyed by the grieving and strained family, and it all seemed visceral and genuine.
 
There were even moments when I really identified with the characters. Those blips in time where the characters spaced out from everything because they were simply overwhelmed were completely relatable for me. It was also easy for me to step into the mother's shoes. I have been on a rollercoaster with my own daughter, and it's definitely hard to try everything in your power to help your child and, yet,  feel helpless when they continue to struggle. 

Unfortunately, then A Banquet lost me.

 
When we watched the trailer to consider A Banquet for the February 2022 Top 20 article, I was generally uncomfortable with what I saw in the trailer. I held out hope that the story would work out and justify these choices, but alas there was no payoff.
 
It’s a seriously tricky thing to toy with eating disorders in a movie – especially these days. You don’t want to send mixed messages or mishandle the portrayal. In the case of A Banquet I can’t really decide whether or not it would be effective as a cautionary tale. I was relieved that anorexia was not glorified or treated lightly. The family reacted appropriately – for the most part. 
 
Another issue that made A Banquet problematic for me was its pacing. Things progressed so slowly that I struggled to stay tuned in to what was going on. I had to replay a few scenes because I started nodding off. My ADHD was acting up and as soon as my attention started to drift, fatigue tried to set in. I managed to make it all the way through, but it was not a small effort.  

 
I was left with so many questions as the final credits rolled following the strange and unsatisfying ending.
 
A Banquet had the potential to take this story in a different direction, and unfortunately meandered away from its more redeemable qualities. As a horror story, this was certainly successful – it was a shockingly horrific experience… especially watching from a parent’s perspective. It is not, however, something I would seek out to watch again or steer others towards. 
 
Shudder will be releasing A Banquet for members of their streaming service on Thursday, May 26^th.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 54%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 50%
Metascore – 59%
Metacritic User Score – 5.010
IMDB Score –4.7/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2/5

Trust the Dice: Parental Guidance Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer:

High Life (2019)

 

 
Streaming Service: Showtime
Movie Name/Year: High Life (2018)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Horror
Length: 1h 53min
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Alcatraz Films, Andrew Lauren Productions, Arte France Cinéma, BFI Film Fund, Canal+, Ciné+, Madants, Pandora Filmproduktion, Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej, The Apocalypse Films Company, Wild Bunch, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, A24, ADS Service, Against Gravity, Bir Film, Elevation Pictures, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Imagine Filmdistributie Nederland, Interior13 Cine, Maco, Madman Films, Movies Inspired, NOS Audiovisuais, Pandora Film Verleih, Polyfilm Verleih, Russian Report, Spentzos Films, Thunderbird Releasing, Transformer, Ukrainian Film Distribution, Wild Bunch Distribution, Alive Vertrieb und Marketing, Karma Films
Director: Claire Denis
Writers: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Geoff Cox, Andrew Litvack, Nick Laird
Actors: Agata Buzek, André Benjamin, Claire Tran, Ewan Mitchell, Gloria Obianyo, Juliette Binoche, Lars Eidinger, Mia Goth, Robert Pattinson, Scarlett Lindsey
 
IMDb Blurb: A father and his daughter struggle to survive in deep space where they live in isolation.

 
Cat’s Point of View:

I have been struggling to put coherent words together to describe my experience with High Life.
 
The TL;DR is pretty straightforward: It’s uncomfortable, slow, triggering, brutal, bleak, and boring.
 
Here’s the thing. High Life was generally well made. The production value, on the whole, was decent. Most of the acting was on point. Robert Pattinson (Queen of the Desert, Waiting for the Barbarians, The Devil All the Time), who I maintain is tragically underrated as an actor, was absolutely fantastic. He gave an epic performance here – especially all things considered. If nothing else, I bought every nuance he was selling.

 
The plot was out-there… really out there, however. It was a little hard to suspend my disbelief in some instances. I felt I pretty much needed an astrophysics degree to really appreciate some of the story.
 
The pacing was so slow, that it made a sluggish but violent crawl over my last nerves. It was extremely hard to stay invested in what was going on. I have a confession – this wasn’t my first time to attempt to watch High Life. I had been intrigued by the trailer when we put our April 2019 Top 20 list together. I listed High Life as my #13 entry, while Selina had it at a lofty #5. After it hit a streaming service I had access to, I attempted to watch. I fell asleep. More than once. I gave up and chalked it up to being a victim of my chronic fatigue. Oh, how wrong I was. Regardless, it didn’t matter then because it wasn’t on the schedule. I meant to come back to it eventually so I actually got a little excited it came up for review this month.

 
It took copious amounts of caffeine and sheer stubborn determination to keep myself watching this whole production.
 
I was ultimately disappointed.
 
High Life came across as a situation of ‘inmates running the asylum’ in a tediously long episode of prison rape and babies in space – as an art film. If you think that sounds wild, grotesque, and unpleasant; then High Life may not be the movie for you.
 
Further, High Life dances on the razor’s edge between Rated R and NC-17. This is absolutely not anything you want to be anywhere near a child while watching. Hell, my husband interrupted me while I was watching to ask me a question and I didn’t even want to have to discuss what I was watching with him.
 
While the violence within High Life wasn’t egregious and unfounded, given the circumstances within the story, it still wasn’t my cup of tea. My rating is based solely on my personal entertainment factor. Take that for what you will, and watch at your own risk, if you dare.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 82%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 42%
Metascore – 77%
Metacritic User Score – 6.3/10
IMDB Score –5.8/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

The Cellar (2022)

Streaming Service: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: The Cellar (2022)
Genre: Horror
Length: 94 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Epic Pictures, Hail Mary Pictures, Savage Productions, Wrong Men North, RLJE Films, Shudder, Wildcard Distribution, Front Row Filmed Entertainment
Director: Brendan Muldowney
Writer: Brendan Muldowney
Actors: Elisha Cuthbert, Eoin Macken, Aaron Monaghan, Abby Fitz, Andrew Bennett, Chris McHallem, Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady, Marie Mullen, Michael-David McKernan, Seán Doyle, Steve Gunn, Tara Lee
 
IMDb Blurb: Keira Woods' daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house. She soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family's souls forever.

 
Selina’s Point of View:
At the start of the film, The Cellar seemed like it would be a bit basic. Just about any haunted house-style flick could have started the exact same way. Many have.

I got excited when it seemed as though there might be a little something more underneath. What had originally felt like a paint-by-numbers horror suddenly seemed to be sliding down a mystery/thriller route. I was here for it. If it had kept going at that, I would have been much happier with the final product.

That said, it still wasn’t that bad.

The ending of the film was up my alley. It was foreboding. I’ve always been a fan of that kind of down ending. Even now when I tend to lean more towards escapism.

There were some unique puzzles, and the focus of the plot did stray from expectations a little. Some of that intrigue was lost on me because I can read a very little bit of Hebrew. As a result, I did see approximately where it was going. People without that ability might get sucked in a bit easier, though.
I do think that they did a great job by not showing too much of the creature involved. In fact, I wish they’d kept that up, even through the ending. Leaving that kind of thing up to the imagination brings tension up so much higher.

The Cellar wound up being an acceptable, if mostly ordinary, horror film. I wish it had taken some of the other roads I saw as options, but it’s still alright for casual viewing.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
One of the odd bits of knowledge not many realize about Louisiana is that basements, or cellars as the case may be for this movie, are extremely rare in residences. We’re so close to sea level and the water table is so high that it’s generally not structurally feasible without prohibitive expense.
 
That being said, I generally view these subterranean spaces with a mixture of awe and trepidation. They’re just foreign to me and only exist in large commercial buildings and places like my college campus. (That’s where the laundry room was in my dorm building. Fun, right? No. Scary.)
 
When I saw there was going to be a new horror movie with the title of The Cellar, I was already intrigued before I even saw the trailer. Sign me up.

 
I wasn’t entirely familiar with writer and director Brendan Muldowney’s (Savage, Love Eternal, Pilgrimage) work, however, I am a fan of Elisha Cuthbert (24, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, The Ranch) and Eoin Macken (The Forest, Nightflyers, La Brea) so The Cellar already had something going in its favor. When you add in the Ireland setting, that was just icing on the cake.
 
The fastest way to harness my rapt attention is to speak to me in any sort of Gaelic accent. I digress.
 
Trailers all too often give away too much these days. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves. I’m on the fence about whether or not that happened with The Cellar. The sneak peek reveals quite a bit but without all of the context so the viewer might not realize. I suppose it would give a decent litmus test as to whether or not someone might enjoy the production, itself. If you watch and like the trailer – you might just like the expanded version of the story. The opposite could also be true.

 
I loved the eerie and suspenseful atmosphere that built within The Cellar. The background score wove me into each scene with a tapestry of sound. There was even a piece of music during the end credits that will haunt me much like some of the soundtrack from The Omen (1976) franchise.
 
The house used as the primary setting was also fascinating, and I really enjoyed how it played a part in the larger story. I’ve always been enamored of hidden rooms and secret passages within houses like that.
 
There are a few of the usual tropes one would expect from a movie such as The Cellar, but they weren’t over-used. The jump-scares were even kept to a minimum. I was also a fan of the fact that they didn’t shy away from technology or modern concepts such as social media.

 
At the same time, The Cellar didn’t dive too far down the rabbit hole. The story remained focused so that it didn’t have loose ends lying about when the credits rolled. I didn’t see that ending coming. That was a pleasant, if unsettling, surprise.
 
Overall, The Cellar met my expectations for this flavor of horror movie.
 
The Cellar will release to theaters as well as streaming on Shudder starting Friday, April 15^th.

 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 32%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 6.1/10
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – PG-13
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

'Tis the Season - Father Christmas is Back (2021)

Streaming Service: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Father Christmas is Back (2021)
Genre: Comedy
Length:  105 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Production/Distribution: MSR Media, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Netflix
Directors: Mick Davis, Philippe Martinez
Writers: Philippe Martinez, Hannah Davis, David Conolly, Dylanne Corcoran
Actors: Amelie Prescott, Ania Marson, April Bowlby, Caroline Quentin, Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese, Katy Brand, Kelsey Grammer, Kris Marshall, Naomi Frederick, Nathalie Cox, Oliver Smith, Ray Fearon, Talulah Riley
 
IMDb Blurb: Father Christmas Is Back centers around four sisters who have re-united for the Christmas Holiday in a Yorkshire mansion. Misunderstandings uncover the long-buried secret that tore their family apart, so many years ago.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with Father Christmas is Back. I started out very hopeful and excited for this film because of its cast. Once the picture began, the deflating process that took the wind from my proverbial sails was rather rapid.
 
Father Christmas is Back wasn’t horrible, it was just…missing something…OK, a lot. It was missing a lot.

 
I’ve had a week of ESPN playing in the background with my Father-in-law visiting for Christmas. The fact that some of that was more entertaining than what I just watched is, for lack of any better word, quite the fumble.
 
I absolutely adore John Cleese (Elliot the Littlest Reindeer, The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, Clifford the Big Red Dog). He is one of the pillars of British Comedy, and will forever be in my heart as one of the Monty Python boys. His role in Father Christmas is Back simply didn’t utilize his full potential. He certainly didn’t disappoint – I just feel he was in a situation where he had to make the most of what he was given to work with.

 
I think the same could really be said for Elizabeth Hurley (An Elephant's Journey, The Royals, Runaways) and Kelsey Grammer (Money Plane, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Black Box). They were the other two large draws for me to this film.
 
All told, Father Christmas is Back was amusing but fell a bit flat. I didn’t really jive with elements of the plot, it was a bit too all over the place, and the twist rather rankled. I had a very hard time suspending disbelief here.
 
I’m afraid this one falls into the category of “bless their hearts, they tried.” 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 9%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – 2.9/10
IMDB Score – 4.5/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
 
Movie Trailer:

After Midnight (2021)

Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: After Midnight (2021)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Length: 83 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: Rustic Films, Kavya Films, Vested Interest, Drop-Out Cinema, Cranked Up Films, Front Row Filmed Entertainment, Meteor Film, Umbrella Entertainment
Director: Jeremy Gardner, Christian Stella
Writer: Jeremy Gardner
Actors: Jeremy Gardner, Brea Grant, Henry Zebrowski, Justin Benson, Ashley Song, Nicola Masciotra, Taylor Zaudtke, Keith Arbuthnot
 
Blurb from IMDb: When his girlfriend suddenly disappears, leaving a cryptic note as her only explanation, Hank's comfortable life and his sanity begin to crack. Then, from the woods surrounding his house, something terrible starts trying to break in.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
Something strange happened to me with this film. Let me explain.
 
I thought, from the trailers, that this was going to be a werewolf flick. I LOVE me some werewolf action – but, way too often, the werewolf thing is just a metaphor for abuse instead of being the monster movie I want. That knowledge led me to being skeptical here. That’s the whole reason it didn’t make my Top 20 list.
 
As I watched, I was almost certain that I wasn’t far off. The meaning of the monster started to shift in my mind, but I was annoyed.
 
When the ending came around, I started rolling my eyes a bit. I saw there was 10 minutes left and was sure that nothing was going to change my mind about it.
 
What happened not only changed my mind, it altered the way I felt about the entire thing.
 

By the time the black screen showed up, I was dying of laughter and unable to stop for about 15-minutes. That may not have been what the creators were going for, but I do have a tendency to laugh at inappropriate times – so this one may just be on me.
 
The point is, I wasn’t angry at it anymore. My perception of the film did a full 180 and I am certain I am going to remember it as a glorious experience.
 
Now, this is a screener I didn’t request. I wanted a couple of others, and this just came along with them. I had to reshape the entire February schedule just to fit it in, but I’m glad I did. I’m positive we would not have watched it this month if the screener hadn’t come in, and I might never have known what I’d missed.
 
After Midnight was worth it. It was worth the hour of extra work, and I’m damn sure it would be worth signing up for Shudder to watch.
 
If you want to see it for yourself, After Midnight will premiere February 11, on Shudder.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
I was actually pretty jazzed when I learned that I’d be able to screen After Midnight today. It couldn’t have had better timing, really. I’ve been in real need of a good pick-me-up. My entire household has COVID-19. (Don’t worry, I saw this film on my computer, not at a theater.)
 
We’re exhibiting only mild symptoms so far, thankfully. Our prognosis is good. Considering my compromised immune system, it could have been much worse.
 
Needless to say, we’re not going anywhere to celebrate my birthday this February 10th. That made this movie screening experience extra special for me. It was almost as if it were a gift wrapped up in a cinematic bow.
 
The last couple of films I was lucid enough to review, we saw some slow burners. The productions took their sweet time in getting to the point. After Midnight played its hand slowly, too, but in a way that kept me engaged.
 
The tension was necessary. It’s crucial to the story here for audiences to be guessing. Is the monster real? Is it all in the main character’s head? Is it just a run-of-the-mill wildlife denizen running amok that’s been misconstrued as a fearsome beast? These questions are meant to plague the viewer. I thought I had it pegged for a little bit, and yet I was definitely wrong on my own guesswork.
 
This was really a treat of a film. It’s not often that you can mix romance and horror well. Things get awkward when blood starts spilling, you know? There was a clear love story here, though, and it didn’t detract from the story – it was the very backbone.
 

I really appreciated that After Midnight also took a realistic approach to the relationship here. It wasn’t saccharine sweet and perfect. This wasn’t one of those fairy tales. There were well-nuanced bits sprinkled throughout that highlighted the couple’s journey.
 
Another bonus point I really enjoyed with this movie was the cinematography. The production captured the very essence of the South in summer. I could practically feel the heat relieved by the occasional cool breeze of an oscillating fan. The buzzing of bugs while Spanish moss swayed in the wind reminded me of down here in Louisiana – but I figure this was probably filmed in Florida somewhere.
 
There was a lot of good production value here. I love when a monster movie teases you with the big bad boogie, and I was tickled here that you only get a glimpse. I have to tip my hat to the creative team because this creature was definitely unique and it was well-executed.
 
If I had to pick on something for a negative, I’d really have to be grasping at straws. I wish there was a little more of the monster, to be honest, but I don’t think the movie’s lacking for it.
 
I have no idea why IMDb lists this as a sci-fi film. Unless they know something that hasn’t been explained in the movie, itself, or the promotional material; I just don’t get where that element fits. Horror and romance are where I’d place my bets.
 
Shudder struck gold when they optioned this movie as an exclusive. It’s definitely worth the subscription to check this one out.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 88%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 47%
Metascore – 55/100
Metacritic User Score – 5.9/10
IMDB Score – 5.4/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5
 
Movie Trailer: