The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • February 7 - 13, 2021 •19 By Dana Simpson TV Media WHAT'S NEW ON NETFLIX "Red Dot" (2021) Prepare yourself for a sleepless night when the Swedish thriller "Red Dot" comes to Netflix on Thursday, Feb. 11. Known for their dark and unsettling style in the hor- ror and suspense film genres, the Scandinavians are putting out yet another film that is sure to make your skin crawl and your heart race. Directed by Alain Darborg ("Alex") and co-written by Darborg and budding filmmaker Per Dickson, "Red Dot" follows a young and struggling couple on a romantic journey turned deadly. When Nadja (Nanna Blondell, "The Inner Circle") learns that she is pregnant, her husband, David (Anastasios Soulis, "Gåsmamman"), proposes that they take their dog, Bruce, and head up into the vast beauty and serenity of the mountains in northern Sweden for an intimate and romantic getaway. Agreeing to the idea and jumping at the chance to rekindle their relation- ship before bringing a baby into the world, Nadja heads north with David and their pup. When they clash with some hunters along their journey, however, and start to see a red laser taunting them in the open wilderness, the couple begin to fear for their lives and that of their unborn child. As if that weren't enough, it would appear that the past has come along to haunt them on their camping trip as well. Also starring Johannes Kuhnke ("Force Majeure," 2014), Kalled Mustonen ("Before We Die") and Tomas Berg- ström ("Beartown"), "Red Dot" is the first Swedish Netflix original film. "Hate by Dani Rovira" Inject a bit of comedy into your routine on Friday, Feb. 12, as "Hate by Dani Rovira" lands on Netflix. Known for his appearances in films such as "Ocho apellidos vascos" (2014), aka "Spanish Affair," "100 metros" (2016), aka "100 Meters," and "Los Japón" (2019), aka "The Japon," in addition to countless comedy specials and stand-up acts since catapulting onto the scene in 2005, Malagueño comedian Dani Rovira is tired of humankind's ri- diculous and often unfounded ten- dency to hate. In this new hour-long special, titled "Dani Rovira: Odio" in the original Spanish, Rovira ad- dresses this absurd side of human nature from the Soho Caixabank Theater in his hometown in the south of Spain. The monologue was shot last November under strict pandemic protocols and safety pro- cedures and was directed by Mario Briongos ("Got Talent España"). Whether you come out loving him or hating him, chances are Rovira will have at least made you laugh! "To All the Boys: Always and Forever" (2021) Kick off this Valentine's Day weekend with the release of the romantic Netflix threequel "To All the Boys: Always and Forever," pre- miering on the streamer on Friday, Feb. 12. After warming hearts in "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" (2018) and its sequel, "To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You," in 2020, Lara Jean (Lana Condor, "X-Men: Apocalypse," 2016) and Peter (Noah Centineo, "The Fosters") are back for their senior year. All the way from her spring break vacation with her sisters in Seoul, South Ko- rea, Lara Jean gears up for her final year of high school by video chat- ting with her boyfriend, Peter, about their future together. Both planning to attend Stanford University in California the following year, the couple works towards achieving their common goals while living out all the major milestones of their senior year of high school. From prom-posals to class trips and ev- erything in between, life seems per- fect for the happy teenage couple. Happy, that is, until Lara Jean finds out that she wasn't accepted into Stanford after all. The third and final piece of the story created by author Jenny Han in her adolescent fiction series of the same name, "To All the Boys: Always and Forever" was adapted for the screen by Katie Lovejoy ("Dracula") and once again directed by "Doctor Sleep" (2019) cinematographer Michael Fimognari. Janel Parrish ("Pretty Little Liars"), Madeleine Arthur ("The Family") and John Corbett ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding," 2002) also star. WHAT'S NEW ON HBO MAX "Judas and the Black Mes- siah" (2021) Stand with the revolutionaries as the new film "Judas and the Black Messiah" joins the HBO Max roster on Friday, Feb. 12. Debuting both on the streamer and in select theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic, the film is a biopic that follows the life and freedom-fighting career of Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya, "Get Out," 2017). Tak- ing place in 1960s Illinois, the film guides viewers through not only Hampton's career as chairman of the organization and his die-hard, at-times-violent and exhaustive efforts for the Black community to be heard across the country, but also the story of the criminal- turned-informant, William O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield, "Atlanta"), who teamed up with the FBI to take the Panthers' charismatic leader down. Classified as a historical drama and pushed back from its original August 2020 release date for rea- sons related to the pandemic shut- downs, "Judas and the Black Mes- siah" was directed by Shaka King ("Newlyweeds," 2013) and written by King, Will Berson ("Scrubs") and the Lucas Brothers ("Lucas Bros Moving Co"). The film also stars Jesse Plemons ("The Irishman," 2019), Jermaine Fowler ("Friends of the People"), Terayle Hill ("Cobra Kai") and Martin Sheen ("The West Wing") as then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. WHAT'S NEW ON HULU "Into the Dark: Tentacles" Turn out the lights, grab your popcorn, curl up under a blanket and tune in for another installment of the anthological series "Into the Dark," airing Friday, Feb. 12, on Hulu. "Tentacles," the newest episode and penultimate story in the Hulu and Blumhouse Televi- sion horror series' second season, is also the show's first episode of the new year (the last one having aired in July 2020 due to the pan- demic shutdowns). Leaning into the holiday spirit — Valentine's Day being the holiday in question here — "Tentacles" was created from an idea by "Channel Zero" writers Alexandra Pechman and Nick Antosca. The piece chronicles the so-called honeymoon phase of new couple Tara (Dana Drori, "High Fidelity") and Sam (Casey Deidrich, "Days of Our Lives") as their romance and love begins to manifest into something much more sinister. Relying heavily on shifting power dynamics, inverted gender roles and that strong feeling of intimacy that comes with a fresh relationship, this tale presents a curious twist on the tropes of modern horror. Labeled as a psychosexual thriller film, "Tentacles" was directed by Clara Aranovich ("Stranger Things: Spot- light") and also stars Kasey Elise ("Boomerang Kids") and Aaron Groben ("Art of the Dead," 2019) and introduces Evan Williams to the screen. WHAT'S NEW ON PRIME "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" (2021) At a time when many of us are feeling like we are repeatedly liv- ing the same day amid a series of lockdowns and quarantines, why not choose to watch a movie that puts a quirky twist on a relatable feeling? The Amazon original film "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" premieres Friday, Feb. 12, on Prime and, from the sounds of it, the main characters know a thing or two about feeling stuck in the same routine. Directed by Ian Samuels ("Sierra Burgess is a Loser," 2018) and based on the young adult novel by Lev Grossman ("The Ma- gicians") — who also penned the script — "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" tells the story of Mark (Kyle Allen, "The Path") and Margaret (Kathryn Newton, "Big Little Lies"), two teenagers experiencing, as the film's official trailer puts it, a "kind of temporal anomaly," which is essentially another way of saying that they are both living in a time loop similar to that of "Groundhog Day" (1993). While the strangers struggle to make sense of their repetitive situation, they work together to construct a map of all the day's events, hoping that something will give way and they will find a way out of the vicious cycle. Perfect for fans of the Andy Samberg ("Saturday Night Live") film "Palm Springs" (2020) and the 2017 horror-comedy "Happy Death Day," this offbeat romantic comedy also stars Josh Hamilton ("Eighth Grade," 2018), Cleo Fraser ("The Unicorn"), Al Madrigal ("The Way Back," 2020) and Anna Mikami ("Vox Lux," 2018). Anastasios Soulis and Nanna Blondell as seen in "Red Dot" Dani Rovira in "Hate by Dani Rovira" Noah Centineo and Lana Condor star in "To All the Boys: Always and Forever"