"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.
Writer: Ella
Lemhagen, Max Lundgren, Fredrik Wikström
Actors: Shanti
Roney, Annika Hallin, Kurt Ravn, Nina Sand, Jimmy Lindström, Kola Krauze, Lotta
Karlge, Mats Blomgren, Svante Ahman, Lukas Holgersson, Pontus Eklof, Olle
Krantz, Mats Andersson, Stella Rauan Norrthon
Stunt Doubles: Carl
Hansson, Rasmus Holmberg, Miranda Karnet, Einar Qvick
Languages
Speech Available:
Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Swedish
Subtitles Available:
German, Italian, Spanish, French, English
Blurb from Netflix:
When I good-natured boy finds a pair of magical pants that produces a
bottomless supply of cash, he soon finds himself being pursued by villains.
Selina’s Point of View:
This has been a phenomenal week for our movies here on Trust
the Dice. All three of our films were family films. All three of them were
magical or sci-fi in some way. All three of them were awesome.
Originally, I began to think that The Boy with the Golden Pants was pretty much a bit of a copy of Blank Check (1994), but it wound up
taking some hard turns that made the entire story look and feel insanely
different. Aside from the fact that it was incredibly dark for a family genre
film, the story was really good with foreshadowing.
I’ll be honest, I wish this was the first film we had to
review for the new Foreign Film Fridays because it was not only a great film,
but I can actually see the differences between this movie and the kind that we
would release here. No family film in the US would have naked butt in it.
The aforementioned American film, Blank Check, took a goofy look at what would happen if a kid got an
unlimited amount of money. Even when the bad guys got involved, there were no
jump scares and ‘dark’ is not a word anyone would use to describe any part of
that film. The Boy with the Golden Pants
definitely took a different spin.
I’m going to forget that I’m apparently a pre-teen boy at heart, (I would have bought the EXACT stuff he did if the same
thing happened to me), and just go straight into the darkness. The bad guys were
not clumsy, oafish, ha-ha villains; they were BAD. There was an actual jump
scare in the film that caught me because who the fuck expects that in a family
film? There was even some cursing – in fact, one of the few English lines in
the film was ‘what the fuck’ and it took me a moment to realize I wasn’t just
thinking the subtitles loudly. I went a little stupid for a moment there.
The differences in the movie-making culture were so apparent
that it was a learning experience for me.
Moving on.
It’s going to take me a while to catch on to voice tones
where foreign language acting is concerned, but visually the actors ranged from
decent to great. I didn’t lose any of the emotional impact just because I had
to rely on subtitles, I really appreciated that.
I have very little bad to say about The Boy with the Golden Pants. There were a couple of plot holes
near the end that were a little jarring to me, but that wasn’t enough to fuck
with my focus.
This is one of the first subtitled films, outside of the
anime genre, that I would actually recommend and watch again.
Cat’s Point of View:
This movie is exactly what I was hoping for when we started
Foreign Film Fridays. I’m going to forget that last Friday’s movie ever existed
and this one is going to be my personal official kick-off film. Seriously.
I think one of the advantages to watching foreign films like
this is that it deposits us squarely out of the comfort zone of recognized
faces and places (for the most part). I spent a few minutes pondering if the
actor playing Zeke was the same that portrays Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones (2011-). (He’s not.)
Other than that, everyone in the cast was a blank slate for me. My brain wasn’t
busy making connections and having fangirl moments, and was more involved in
experiencing the movie.
As far as the format of this film goes, I was very
appreciative that the subtitles were easy to read and presented below the movie
on the screen.
My eyes aren’t the best – even with very strong corrective
lenses – so having to pick out fast-moving text against the backdrop of a film
drives me absolutely crazy. I spend more time trying to read than I do getting
to enjoy what I’m watching. That wasn’t the case here. It was easy to follow,
and the text was presented at a good pace.
The story was a bit on the predictable side, once the
premise was set up for you – but I didn’t care.
Where the last movie almost had me asleep in my chair, this
one had me on the edge of my seat. There are some serious feels laced in with
this adventure story, and some moral backbone behind it all.
This film left me with an uplifted feeling of warmth. I
enjoyed it very much and would gladly recommend it.
Producer: Suzanne
Buirgy, Christopher Jenkins, Mireille Soria
Director: Tim
Johnson
Writer: Tom J.
Astle, Matt Ember, Adam Rex
Actors: Jim Parsons,
Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones, Brian Stepanek, April
Lawrence, Stphen Kearin, Lisa Stewart, April Winchell, Nigel W. Tierney
Stunt Doubles: N/A
Languages
Speech Available:
English, Spanish
Subtitles Available:
English, Spanish
Blurb from Netflix:
When a lovable misfit from another planet and a human girl form and unlikely
friendship, they embark on an incredible journey that changed their lives.
Selina’s Point of View:
Home was
absolutely nothing like what I expected. Nothing. Even the plot was completely
different than I thought it would be from the trailer I saw (this film made my
top 20 for the month it came out).
Despite that, my feelings on the film were… complicated.
For the majority of Home,
I was running cold. My attention was wavering. I couldn’t help but feel like I
had seen it before. The story might have been relatively newish, but the
characters were tropes personified. In fact, this film really owes a debt of
gratitude to Lilo and Stitch (2002). The
characters would not exist without that predecessor.
It was very difficult for me to stay focused because the
characters were not very unique. I’d rather have a recipe story with unique
characters that give a different spin on it, than a new story with recipe
characters that you can predict every step of.
However, now that the film is over, I find myself feeling
fulfilled and remembering it fondly.
I imagine that makes no sense to someone that hasn’t seen
it.
The fact is, once Home
was a little more than half over, it picked up in speed so much that ‘roller
coaster of emotions’ isn’t enough to aptly describe what I felt. I have
officially been run over by the feels train and am trying to write all this
with teary eyes.
I would likely recommend this film in the future, I just
wish the rest of the film could have matched the awesomeness of the last
portion.
Oh, one more thing. Hats off to the music department. What a
phenomenal job those men and women did. Not just on the quality of the music
chosen, but on the risks they took. Well done. They’re the true MVPs of this
movie.
Cat’s Point of View:
We were a little bummed that we didn’t end up with a
Christmas movie this week for one of our reviews prior to the holiday. Even so,
we were both jazzed that we hit the animated jackpot this week.
I have good news for you, though, and am rather confident
that this spoils nothing in the telling – Home is a Christmas movie. Of course,
it’s rather subtle and along the same vein that makes Die Hard (1988) a Christmas Movie.
When you watch it, you’ll see. I started cackling when the realization
hit me as I was watching with my daughter; and she looked at me like I was
nuts. It was so worth it!
This movie is based on a book by Adam Rex (Almost Home, Home: Adventures with Tip &
Oh) called The True Meaning of
Smekday. I haven’t read the book (I may need to correct that in the
future), but that sounds an awful lot like “the true meaning of Christmas”
phrase that often gets bandied about this time of year.
The film was also originally scheduled for a November
release, but then got flip-flopped with another movie that had an established
franchise that would be more solid for holiday box-office numbers.
Back to the movie!
I love the alien-encounter sub-genre of sci-fi movies. It’s
a question that burns in quite a lot of us – what would happen when or if we’re
visited by beings from another world? This movie has an entertaining take on
that answer. Beneath all the fun and shenanigans, there’s some pretty powerful
messages and some parallels that could be drawn within our own history.
I also enjoy that the Boov have a unique and interesting
technology. I am pretty sure that I haven’t seen anything like it used before.
Aside from her part in the music, I was surprisingly pleased
with Rihanna’s (This Is the End, Annie,
Bates Motel) performance here. This was definitely some redemption for her
after that other alien invasion nautical-themed movie loosely inspired by a board
game.
The pairing of Steve Martin (Shopgirl, The Pink Panther, It's Complicated) as Smek and Jim
Parsons (Gardener of Eden, The Muppets,
Hidden Figures) was also a stroke of brilliance. I don’t think I could
imagine anyone else in either of those roles.
This wasn’t my first time watching Home, nor will it be my
last.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 47%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 64%
Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 5/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5
Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 4.5/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score
– 5/5
P.S. There are
cute ‘photos’ throughout part of the credits.
Production Companies:
Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures
Producer: Janet
Healy, Brett Hoffman, Christopher Meledandri, Chris Renaud, Dave Rosenbaum,
Robert Taylor
Director: Kyle
Balda, Pierre Coffin
Writer: Brian
Lynch
Actors: Sandra
Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Jennifer
Saunders, Geoffrey Rush, Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Katy Mixon, Michael
Beattle, Dave Rosenbaum, Alex Dowding, Mindy Sterling, Tara Strong, Zachary
Alexander Rice, Hiroyuki Sanada
Stunt Doubles: N/A
Languages
Speech Available:
English
Subtitles Available:
English
Blurb from Netflix:
The banana-yellow, linguistically garbled henchmen of “Despicable Me” star in
this prequel, recounting the story of their villain-worshipping history.
Selina’s Point of View:
I’ve been saving this film for the blog and it’s been
KILLING me. I love the series it’s from and I’ve been dying to see it – but I
wanted the blog to get my first reaction. A few more months and I would have
given in.
I thought this film was absolutely adorable. I knew it would
be, of course, that was never the question. The only questions that really
mattered going into this film was whether or not the story would be decent and
if it would work as the prequel it was meant to be.
Oh, and if anyone would be able to understand what the hell
was going on. Minions don’t exactly come with subtitles.
I found that the film was actually really easy to follow,
the storyline was good, and it was a hell of a prequel. In fact, as a prequel
it definitely was one of the best I’ve seen. There weren’t any glaring errors
or issues of continuity.
All that said, I did prefer the original Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013). I think both of
those movies were highly creative and hilarious. I could watch them back-to-back
on any given day.
There was a part of Minions,
however, that was… eerie. Like the writers could see into the future. I know it
was supposed to be an amusing/funny moment, but I found it relatively
impossible to laugh at. It would have been much funnier before the election.
I don’t think I’ll wait to see Despicable Me 3 (2017). That may require a theater trip.
Cat’s Point of View:
This wasn’t my first time to watch this movie, though I was
overjoyed when the dice landed on this one. I’d gladly watch it many more
times. Needless to say, I loved the movie.
This is one of those that no matter how many times you watch
it over again, you’re likely to find something new you didn’t notice in prior
viewings. This film is jam-packed with little ‘hidden’ nuggets of geekdom via
“cameos” and references to both the Despicable
Me (2010/2014) movies, other cartoons (both print and animated), as well as
actual tidbits from pop culture and ‘reality.’ For example, the carpet from the
Overlook Hotel in The Shining (1980)
makes an appearance; as well as a little teddy bear that would make Mr. Bean (1990-1995) jealous due to the
fact it’s nearly identical to his own.
Aside from all the little bits that inspire an exclamation
of ‘hey, wait, was that [insert aforementioned ‘nugget’ here],’ the movie was
adorable, inventive, and hilarious. This movie answers the question that
everyone had to be asking themselves after watching the Despicable Me movies – where did those Minions come from?!
One of the non-spoiler answers to that question is one of
the directors of the movie - Pierre Coffin (Pat
et Stanley, Despicable Me, Brad & Gary). He single-handedly voiced all
of the Minions seen in the movie. Talk about a Herculean task and surely a
labor of love. This film is said to boast over 800 of the little yellow guys.
Sandra Bullock (Two Weeks
Notice, All About Steve, The Blind Side) and John Hamm (The A-Team, Friends with Kids, Shrek Forever
After) were sensational in their roles and made a fabulous dastardly
dynamic duo as Scarlett and Herb Overkill. This was Bullock’s first villain
role. It will be interesting to see if she opts to join the dark side in future
movies, now that she’s sampled the cookies.
I had a personal giggle over the role for Hiroyuki Sanada (Lost, 47 Ronin, Helix). He’s always in
super serious projects – often samurai-type roles and sci-fi. It was great to
see him in a role with a bit of humor to it as the sumo-wrestler.
My final note is for parents and those contemplating how
appropriate this movie is for varying ages of kids. I remember that when the
trailers were first running for this film, the selection of clips it showed
were put together in such a way that it seemed like the movie would be full of
innuendo and inappropriate content. I am pleased to say that is not the case.
The MPAA gave it a PG rating for action and rude humor – but the ‘suggestive’
variety of humor is practically nonexistent.
Minions has fun for the whole family to enjoy again and again.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 56%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 49%
Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 4/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 4/5
Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 4.5/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score
– 5/5
P.S. There are
small scenes throughout the credits and one long scene after.
Through “This Week in Crowdfunding,” you’ll find five of the
best projects Trust the Dice found hosted on crowdfunding sights this week.
These are Films/Web Series’/Shows of varying lengths and genres that we believe
in. If you like any of the projects you see here, donate to them, tell your
friends, and/or post it on social media.
These projects don’t just need money, they need people to
care and spread the word that they exist.
Support creativity. Support indie artists.
Remember that every actor, director, writer, and movie you
have ever fallen in love with had to start somewhere.
Trust the Dice does not, and will not, accept payment from project
creators for
Appearance on this list. Projects are chosen solely on the merit of the
idea,
proposal, and people involved.
Trust the Dice will be going on vacation starting December
24. We will return on January 2 with our Top 20 Movies to Look Out For in
January.
5 – OddySee
Crowdsource Platform:
KICKSTARTER
Director: Unknown
Writer: Unknown
Other Staff: Unknown
Amount Requested:
$3,500
Current Standing (as
of Saturday night): $1,310 raised by 9 backers.
Type of Goal: All
or Nothing – This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by the
deadline.
I’ll be honest, I’m a little hesitant to add this project to
the list at all. However, it was the only other film I found that would fit in
this fifth spot. It does have a cute plot idea and their Kickstarter page is
well laid out, which makes it easy to see where your money is going. On top of
that, their introductory film is engaging and funny.
My hesitance does not come from the fact that OddySee is being created by a student
club, most of the films I find for this list are being made by students. My
issue is that there doesn’t seem to be much information on who’s in, or working
on, this film.
In the introductory video, you see the faces of people
working on OddySee, but only get
first names. I can’t tell you the full name of the writer, director, or anyone
else. I attempted to get in touch with them to fill in the information gaps,
but no one ever got back to me. Unfortunately, all I can tell you is
speculation at this point.
The negatives out of the way, the plot does look
interesting. It’s not the most unique idea, but they put a spin on it that
makes it much more interesting in general. I know that, if this were a film
coming out in theaters, it might very well be something I would want to pay to
see.
Lowest Fund Reward:
$5 – Pledge $5 or More – Shout Out/Thank You on the Production Club at UWM
Facebook page and access to all behind the scenes footage and pictures.
Highest Fund Reward:
$1,000 – Pledge $1,000 or More – A date night on the location with the
producers, directors, and writer, and all previous rewards.
4 – Minds at War
Unfortunately, Minds at War was unable to be completed, and the director has requested removal of its mention. Change made: 3/26/22
3 – The Night
Cleaner
Crowdsource Platform:
INDIEGOGO
Director: Zoe
Ward
Writer: Zoe Ward
Other Staff: Pratik
Shah (Cinematographer), Arkesh Ajay (Producer), Annie Pace (Producer), Gayatri
Bajpai (Assistant Director), Jien Sun (Costume Designer), Naomi Gonzalez Kahn
(Production Designer)
Amount Requested:
$24,000
Current Standing (as
of Saturday night): $4,315 raised by 35 backers.
Type of Goal: Flexible
– The campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its
goal.
I was immediately attracted to this film. It actually took
me all week to decide if I was personally attracted to it, or if I truly
believed the film could be successful. In the end, I realized it was both.
The story really speaks to me on a deeper level, even though
it seems to lean toward drama as a genre, which is not my favorite. That look
at the connection of two people spurned by society feels like home for me where
entertainment is concerned.
What strikes me as the most important thing I learned from
the Indiegogo page and the introductory video, is that the entire crew of The Night Cleaner seems to have a
significant and unarguable faith in the writer/director, Zoe Ward. It helps to
raise faith in a project when everyone involved believes so heavily in the
person in charge.
As for the page itself, it’s highly informative. You know
where your money’s going and the perks are eye-catching.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to reach Ward for an interview,
and I truly regret that. I wish I had something more to say on her project than
just what you can learn on her page. It seems like this film could become
something amazing.
Lowest Fund Reward:
$10 – Heartwarmer – You are now part of the Night Cleaner family. You’ll get a
shout-out on Facebook and regular updates from the production team.
Highest Fund Reward:
$5,000 – Executive Producer – The name says it all! Receive an Executive
Producer credit, come visit us on set and receive all other perks on offer.
2 – Silicon Beach
Crowdsource Platform:
INDIEGOGO
Director: Max
Gold
Writer: Max Gold
Other Staff: Stephen
Tringali (Cinematographer), Max Silver (Producer)
Amount Requested:
$20,000
Current Standing (as
of Saturday night): $50 raised by 3 backers.
Type of Goal: Flexible
– The campaign will receive all funds raised even if it does not reach its
goal.
Originally, Silicon
Beach was a little lower on my list, but after getting to speak with
writer/director Max Gold, I knew it needed to be higher.
This feature film is a thriller that takes a look at the
anxieties of a group of young professionals as they attempt to build their
startup business. The plot alone sounds interesting, but it’s difficult to
really look deeper into it until you watch the introductory video.
The video on the Indiegogo page is a great teaser for the
film and it supports the simple idea mentioned in the overview enough that it
makes everything that much easier to picture.
One of the facts about this film that make it seem like it
is such a small risk for investors, is that it is already complete. All the
money being raised through crowdfunding is going directly to post-production;
things like editing and composing.
I was able to get a phone call with Max Gold on Saturday
afternoon. He seemed happy to be discussing this film and, after only a few
moments it was easy to tell why.
Gold has a significant amount of passion for Silicon Beach and, from everything he
told me, even more faith in his cast and crew.
“I just want to underline the fact that this film was made
by a community,” Gold told me. “Every single person involved was committed and
excited to bring this to life.”
One of the things I asked Gold was about his inspiration for
the film.
He told me a story about how he worked side tech jobs while making
films for over a decade, which allowed him to understand the startup world very
well. He took that knowledge and combined it with his own personal experiences.
The anxiety he drew from to create Silicon
Beach was from knowing that he was working those tech jobs, but was unable
to really commit to them. He was, essentially, leading two lives.
Every morning, he was spending several hours writing his
scripts, then he would have to go to work exhausted and try to do what he was
supposed to. All the while, making any real work friends was difficult for him,
because he wasn’t there for the career, he was there only because he wasn’t
able to exist solely on his film work yet.
Anyone with any kind of creative ambition probably relates
to that story on a very deep level. I know I do.
He went on to explain about a previous project, one that he
had to rely on others for. It was a larger budget film that got delayed because
the people financing it weren’t as helpful as they should have been. When
creativity is stifled by a lack of funds, it easily fuels rage and rebellion. Silicon Beach is the manifestation of
that rebellion. Proof that Gold and his crew were capable of putting together
something spectacular without having to rely on a giant budget to get through
it.
We all know how I feel about the importance of rebellion, so
I’ll just add here that learning the inspiration for Silicon Beach was another reason why I knew it needed to be higher
on this list.
One of the other interesting aspects of Silicon Beach is the method Gold decided to use for perks. I
noticed that the films Indiegogo page split the perks into two different
categories: for the audience and for fellow movie makers.
According to Gold, he’s noticed in the past that sometimes
people would donate money to his project and want something other than the perk
offered – like direction and advice from someone more experienced than them. On
the other hand, there were just as many laymen that only wanted to put some
money toward helping along a film they thought looked pretty cool.
After seeing this method, I think it’s something more
creators should look into.
In the end, I can’t wait to see what Gold and his team do
with this film. I’m betting it’s going to be phenomenal.
Lowest Fund Reward:
$10 – Thank You Tweet – A thank you tweet. Tweeted to 35,000+ followers by
director Max Gold (@blindhummingbrd)
Highest Fund Reward:
$5,000 – Executive Producer Credit – An ‘Executive Producer’ credit on the
film. This perk includes: -IMDB credit –invitation to cast and crew screenings –invitation
to visit the editing suite during post-production –invitation to the LA
premiere (flight and accommodations not included.) Congratulations and welcome
to our team!
1 – Focus
Crowdsource Platform:
KICKSTARTER
Director: AJ
Winters
Writer: AJ
Winters, Stephen Fletcher
Other Staff: Kelly
Renata (Line Producer), Jacob Abercromby (Director of Photography), Mark
Flanders (Music), Shannon Rogers (Cast), Mabel Foong (Cast), Reece Bagrowski
(Cast), Mike Moshos (Cast), Keegan Zykowski (Cast), Flavia Marini (Cast), Teddy
O’Hearn (Production Assistant), John Reid (Production Assistant), Stephen
Fletcher (Production Assistant), Jonathan Giles (Production Assistant),
Ashleigh Barrow (Production Assistant), Biance Roose (Costume Designer), Alex
Roussel (Costume Designer), Justine Hinz (Script Supervisor), Mitchell McKenna
(Editor), Philip Healey (SFX), Amelia Robinson (Graphic Designer), Robin Cook
(Graphic Designer), Karlien Kemp (Graphic Designer)
Amount Requested:
$1,460
Current Standing (as
of Saturday night): $74.52 raised by 3 backers.
Type of Goal: All
or Nothing – This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by the
deadline.
This web series immediately caught my eye. It has a solid
plot and its introductory video was an interesting teaser trailer. I had no
idea that between the moment when I chose this project and when I’d write the
article, they would release the actual pilot on YouTube.
I watched the pilot the moment I finished talking to the
director, AJ Winters.
The first thing I can comment on is the quality of the
pilot. I’ve seen original pilots for popular TV shows that didn’t exhibit the
kind of quality Focus had. I’ll avoid
the obvious pun here, but I will say I was very impressed. At the end of the
episode, I wanted to see more, I wanted to know more. It was such an
understated video, but it served its purpose well.
What makes the quality of that pilot even more incredible is
that the cast and crew of Focus are
all on the young side. Winters told me that the majority of people working on
the film are between 16 and 30 years old.
Trust the Dice loves to support indie projects and we love
to support youth in creating entertainment even more. The future of films,
series’, and everything else, comes from youth and people willing to take the
chances that mainstream entertainment doesn’t encourage. In this case, Focus meets both those requirements.
I believe that web series’, like those based on YouTube, are
going the way of Netflix. There are so many unique, interesting projects being
created on the platform that it is impossible to ignore completely.
I’m aware that it might be a little scary to offer funding
to a project run primarily by younger, less experienced people, but I’ll say it
again: everyone starts somewhere. You can choose to only support people with
greater levels of experience, but I believe that’s a mistake that keeps the
entertainment world from growing.
When I asked Winters if she had anything she wanted you to
know, she said:
“We are 100% dedicated to making this show possible and I
will continue to strive to make it so. This Kickstarter is just the beginning
for us, and hopefully, with the help of sponsors and pledge donations, we will
be able to film Season 1 of FOCUS next year. I want to facilitate and make the
dreams of my cast and crew a reality and therefore I won't stop until this
succeeds.”
I know their perks don’t start until a relatively high
number, but you can make smaller pledges that will garner a thank you from the series
creators.
Lowest Fund Reward:
$200 – Skype call with the cast – If you pledge over $200 we would like to
thank you personally with a Skype call with our leading cast. You’ll get to
meet them and ask them any of your questions about the filming process!
Highest Fund Reward:
$1,000 – Be a part of Focus – If you pledge over $1,000 we would love to get
you on board with our show! Always wanted to do a little acting? How about
spending a day behind the scenes? Or maybe you’re a bit of a creative writer
yourself and want to contribute to the script writing process? We want to give
you the opportunity to be involved in the creative process!
