"We're not critics. We're professional fan-girls." --- This blog is dedicated to movies and the entertainment industry. We use random selection to bring into light the best and worst of streaming films and entertainment news.
Streaming Services: Hulu Movie Name/Year: Hunter Hunter (2020) Genre: Horror, Thriller Length: 93 minutes Rating: Not Rated Production/Distribution: Julijette, MarVista
Entertainment, Particular Crowd, IFC Midnight, Scream Factory Director: Shawn Linden Writer: Shawn Linden Actors: Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa, Nick Stahl,
Gabriel Daniels, Lauren Cochrane, Jade Michael, Erik Athavale, Karl Thordarson,
Blake Taylor, Sarah Constible Blurb from IMDb: Joseph and his family live
in the remote wilderness as fur trappers, but their tranquility is threatened
when they think they are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf, and Joseph
leaves them behind to track it.
Selina’s Point of View: Holy shit. After watching Hunter
Hunter, that was the only thing I could think to say for about an hour. We were supposed to
review this a while ago, but COVID intervened. As a result, the reviews are
mostly out and I’ve heard a ton about Hunter Hunter: especially about
how good it is. What I thought would be more of a general hunt story, seemed to
be more – but no one ever spoiled anything for me. I’m glad they
didn’t, and I’m not going to either. That is, however, going to make explaining
my feelings about it difficult.
Nothing about Hunter Hunter is typical. Everything from the character
types to the settings, and twists, feels completely unique. The conclusion is something
I might expect from a different culture, certainly not from a western-made
flick. It caught me absolutely off-guard and left me with some haunting visuals
that will probably live with me for my entire life.
I have never seen
anything Shawn Linden (In Plain Sight, The Fixer, Doomsday Prophecy) has
written or directed. In all honesty, I don’t think I’ve heard of any of them.
This film makes me want to go back and watch everything he’s had a hand in. It’s
also going to make the titles he puts out in the future stand out to me. Even before the
reviews started coming out, I was interested in Hunter Hunter because I’m
a huge fan of Devon Sawa (Punk’s Dead: SLC Punk 2, A Warden’s Ransom, Nikita).
He definitely didn’t disappoint here, but the shining star of the flick was
undoubtedly Camille Sullivan (Dead Rising: Endgame, The Unseen, The Man in
the High Castle). Whenever Sullivan
had to portray fear, I felt it. There was never a moment in her performance
where I questioned her choices. Never a moment where she let my eyes drift off
the screen. I didn’t feel
time pass as I watched. I wish I could have seen it in theaters. Hunter
Hunter lives up to the
hype. I’ll be recommending it to any horror fans I come across.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 94% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 68% Metascore – 61/100 Metacritic User Score – 6.3/10 IMDB Score – 6.4/10 Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5 Trust-the-Dice’s
Parental Advisory Rating:
R Movie Trailer:
Streaming
Services: Hulu Movie
Name/Year: 12
Pups of Christmas (2019) Genre: Romance Length: 85 minutes Rating: NR Production/Distribution: Feifer Worldwide, MarVista
Entertainment Director: Michael Feifer Writer: Michael Feifer Actors: Charlotte Sullivan, Donny
Boaz, Elizabeth Small, Philip Boyd, Jen Nikolaisen, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Kat
Marie, April Hobson, Caia Coley, Thomas Bell, Kiana Tavasti Blurb
from IMDb: Recently
single and starting a new job in a different city, Erin, a canine therapist, is
getting a fresh start. But just when she thought her new life would be the
reset she needed, her self-centered boss, Martin, tasks Erin with finding homes
for 12 puppies who were left behind after a photo shoot for his struggling GPS
locator company - and all before Christmas. As they work together, Erin
realizes Martin may not be so bad after all, and her take-charge attitude not
only helps Martin save his company, but also reveals a calmer, better self that
opens them both up to the idea of love.
Selina’s
Point of View: I firmly believe
that this may be the worst movie we’ve seen in the history of our ‘Tis the
Season series. I’ll grant you
that most Hallmark and Lifetime films can wind up being repetitive and boring.
A lot of them can become guilty pleasures, though. The characters are usually
relatable and they make you feel good. None of them re-invent the wheel, but
that’s not what you expect from them anyway. We’ve covered a
lot of that type of film during our holiday season, and we know what to expect
from them. The worst of them are usually still watchable, even if they’re not
winning any awards. That’s all I
expected from 12 Pups of Christmas. It’s not like this was a case of seeming
worse because it didn’t fit my expectations. I have seen movies
that are trying to be bad that have better acting, and a better script, than
this one did.
It was difficult
to watch. It was cringy, overdone, badly directed, and I’m pretty sure the
writer learned how to craft a script from watching only the worst B-movies out
there.
There were only
two good things about 12 Pups of Christmas. First of all,
dogs. The dogs were adorable. I’m a dog person. That’s always a bonus. They
were used less than you would expect, though. They took a backseat to the unbelievable
human connections that the writer/director tried to force down our throats. There was, however,
the soundtrack. Due to the fact
that this wasn’t a big-budget production, they didn’t have access to the most
popularly used, and mostly overdone, Christmas songs. That means they inserted
much less used holiday songs that felt fresh. Unfortunately, the movie itself
didn’t live up to any of it. I cannot
recommend 12 Pups of Christmas.
Cat’s
Point of View: Tis the season
for Christmas movies again! It’s one of my very favorite holidays, and I
usually go all-out with decorations and the like during this time of year.
(Have I mentioned before I have two entire closets full of Christmas décor, and
then some?) I say usually
because, well… it’s 2020 and it hasn’t FELT like December. My husband and I
were just discussing our holiday budget earlier today and it didn’t really hit
home how close the date is approaching until right then. So many plans have
changed or been placed on hold due to various challenges this past year has
brought – both COVID related and not. Since
everything’s been crazy, I’ve found it harder to get in the mood. I’m hoping
that our usual round of holiday movies this month will be able to help turn
that around. That being said,
let’s get into 12 Pups of Christmas, shall we? I’m conflicted
about this movie, and I’m not sure if it’s my general mood that’s made me
Grinchy or if it’s the film, itself, that’s causing the issue.
It was hard to
get into. Things felt so strained and awkward. Part of it felt like the acting,
but then the situation was a bit on the wonky side, too. I was holding out hope
that everything would smooth out. One has to expect a few bumps in the road in
a made-for-TV holiday rom-com, right? Unfortunately, things didn’t start
picking up for me until closer to the end. Don’t get me
wrong – I don’t want to throw rotten tomatoes at anyone over this movie… but I
can tell you I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it again. I do always try
to find some positive in everything we watch, however. In the case of 12
Pups of Christmas, I’d have to say that it’s absolutely the set department
and cinematography that wins the kudos from me. Some of the shots of New York
City lit up for the holidays, and the obligatory skyline scenes were
breathtaking. All of the staged set pieces that had Christmas decorations were
straight out of my wildest decorating hopes and dreams. I loved it – and it was
over the top in a very tasteful way. Nothing felt tacky or too contrived. The
puppies were also pretty adorable. All told, this
wasn’t a bad start to get our feet wet while jumping into the festive season –
it just wasn’t the best. So many of the movies we’ve watched in the past have
set the bar rather high so this one fell a bit short.
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – None Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score – None Metascore – None Metacritic
User Score – None IMDB
Score – 4.3/10 Trust
the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5 Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 1.5/5 Trust the Dice
Parental Advisory Rating: PG Movie
Trailer:
Actors: April Bowlby, Jes Macallan, Lee
Garlington, Adam Senn, Coby Ryan McLaughlin, James Eckhouse, Lauren Pritchard,
Ryan Caltagirone, Meera Rohit Kumbhani
Blurb from Rottentomatoes: An executive may lose her
job at the family company if she doesn't fulfill an old clause in a will, which
requires that she get married.
Cat’s
Point of View:
Ah, Hallmark and Lifetime channel movies… they really are like the boxes
of assorted chocolates that don’t give you a list on the inside of the lid. You
never know if you’re going to get something smooth and chewy or all together
nutty. Personally, I dread the strange fruit-flavored crème fillings. Those are
the worst. I digress…
The good news is that Married by
Christmas wasn’t awful or even strange. It was generally decent, and I
actually liked it. That being said, I wouldn’t put this on a list of favorites
by any stretch, but when the credits rolled I didn’t feel that I’d just wasted
87 minutes.
The film was well cast and the dialogue flowed smoothly. Awkward
moments were intentional rather than accidental. It was a bit on the
predictable side, but then again most of the recipe made-for-TV movies are. The
important part was that I found satisfaction that I was correct in my
predictions, rather than annoyance.
If you’re in the mood for a contemporary rom-com with holiday flare, this
wouldn’t be a bad pick.
Blurb from IMDb: When a clumsy elf
accidentally shrinks two kids on Christmas Eve, they get scooped up into
Santa's sack. When they are dropped off across the street, the tiny kids have
to navigate holiday hazards to make it home safely.
Cat’s
Point of View:
When
I saw the descriptive blurb for Tiny Christmas, I envisioned that the movie
would be a holiday-themed updated spin on something like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). I wasn’t entirely wrong, and yet I
don’t feel like I was right either.
The
Nickelodeon label gave me a slight clue about what I was in store for – a romp
of silliness. The network is synonymous with children’s programming almost as
much as the mouse house is. Though, a G rating is not always guaranteed.
(Nickelodeon was the network, after all, that ran the original Ren & Stimpy (1991) which was
entirely not suitable for children.) This movie, however, lands solidly in that
safe-for-kids-of-all-ages zone.
There
are breakpoints throughout the film that are expected from a made-for-TV
program. They aren’t as smooth as I would generally hope them to be, but it
wasn’t anything worth flipping tables over.
I
think younger kids might get a kick out of the movie. It’s not one that I’d go
out of my way to watch again. It is, however, a cute movie with a positive
message.
