"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: Safer at Home (2021) Genre: Thriller, Horror Length: 82 minutes Rating: R Production/Distribution: 7930 Entertainment, Showdown
Productions, Voltage Pictures, Vertical Entertainment, The Searchers, Front Row
Filmed Entertainment Director: Will Wernick Writer: Will Wernick, Lia Bozonelis, John Ierardi Actors: Alisa Allapach, Lia Bozonelis, Adwin Brown, Katie L. Hall,
Jocelyn Hudon, Mark Irvingsen, Dan J. Johnson, Michael Kupisk, Emma Lahana,
Brandon Morales, Daniel Robaire Blurb from IMDb: Two years into the
pandemic, a group of friends throw a wild online party. After taking ecstasy,
things go terribly wrong and the safety of their homes becomes more terrifying
than the raging chaos outside.
Selina’s Point of View: Safer
at Home was not an easy
watch. There was absolutely no escapism involved. Instead, it gave a look at a
possible future based on what is actually happening. Safer
at Home opened with a
montage of real news footage. It then seamlessly shifted into fictional news
from that possible future – one where COVID-19 mutates and keeps us in a full quarantine
until well into 2022. It also pulled from the BLM movement to show how that kind
of police state lock-down would look. Horror flicks are
always much more terrifying when they could really happen. I am not
surprised by this movie’s reception. Critics got their hands on it in early
2021. Vaccines for COVID-19 had been developed and were rolling out at a steady
pace in many countries. It was looking like the pandemic was coming to a close. And we were all
sick of hear about the coronavirus. None of us wanted to sit down in our free
time, when we could finally be out among friends, and watch a movie about what
we endured. I don’t think any
critic could possibly have imagined that this little horror was predicting the
delta variant.
Watching Safer
at Home now, is not the same thing as seeing it then. It hits harder. It’s not a
perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination.
A huge portion of the cast had
nothing to do but stare at a screen for the majority of their part. It was also
an extreme social commentary, which is not for everyone. Especially not for
anyone who is looking to escape current events for a little while. It was also
difficult to not compare it to Host (2020) – which was the first film to
take place during the pandemic through use of webcams. They’re very different movies,
of course. One is supernatural, the other is based completely in realism. Still,
when you compare them – Safer at Home does not hold a candle to Host.
Not only that, but even though Host is set during the pandemic, it still
offers some manner of removal from our situation. Safer
at Home is less a project
of entertainment and more like a creative warning of what we should be trying
to avoid. That’s not what a lot of people are going to be looking for right
now. That said, I do
predict that people are going to have a very different take on this film when
they watch it in the future. Once COVID-19 is over and we’ve stepped into the
light of whatever the world looks like then, people are going to be more open
to movies set in this time. When they start coming across this one, it going to
get better reviews. I don’t think I can say it will be a cult film, but I do
believe it has the potential to become bigger than it currently is.
Cat’s Point of View: When you watch
movies on a regular basis, you never know when one is going to reach out and
rattle you. I certainly didn’t anticipate feeling shook in the wake of the
credits for Safer at Home…and yet here we are. The critics are
tearing into this movie and ripping it to shreds as if someone chummed
shark-infested waters. I don’t get all the hate. Sure, Safer at Home wasn’t the
most amazing thing ever, but it was solid. It just goes to show that you can’t
always go by what all the critics say. There have been a
few films so far that have embraced this new pandemic world and run with the
concept to bring us a whole new genre of horror and thrills. This follows along
those lines but doesn’t dip into the supernatural the way others have. The opening of Safer
At Home actually gave me chills.
I absolutely
believed in the setup here. It felt like current events rather than a piece of
fiction. With variant strains of the coronavirus popping up, it feels like this
will never end sometimes. I want to avoid a political soapbox, though, so I’ll
summarize by saying that the police-state big brother-esque Los Angeles that
was shown in the film felt frighteningly plausible. You can do a lot
with a simple framework. So many of us have experienced the little Zoom meeting
boxes in the last year or so, that it only seems natural that more productions
are going to borrow from this shared experience. I think this treatment was
successful. I felt like I was sitting in on someone’s Zoom feed and watching a
get-together of real friends. The drama was believable. I didn’t care if some
parts were predictable or not. Safer at Home had a solid cast and they
did a great job. The ending
rattled me hard. Screw the
critics, Safer at Home is absolutely worth the watch.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 7% Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 61% Metascore – 35/100 Metacritic User Score – None IMDB Score – 4.6/10 Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5 Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5 Movie Trailer:
Production Companies:
Lowland Pictures, AST Studios
Producer: Amanda
Carter, Ryan Alan Dearth, Urs Fischer, Erik Fleming, Catrin Hedstrom, Sydney
Holland, Quentin Little, Jason Ludman, Seven McDonald, Jesse Ozeri, Brenna
Perez, Oren Segal, Sylvia Sichel, Tara Subkoff, Brendan Walsh, Margaret Yen
Blurb from Netflix:
Privileged tweenaged bullies get a taste of real-life terror when their online
antics lead to a sinister game of “slashtag.”
Selina’s Point of View:
What the fuck did I just watch?
I remember watching the trailer for this video and thinking
it looked kind of interesting. It definitely looked like a well-known recipe,
but it still seemed like something I’d want to see. What they advertised,
however, was not what I got.
What I wound up watching was something reminiscent of Uwe
Boll’s (Bloodrayne, Blubberella, Postal)
version of House of the Dead (2003). Not
script or action-wise. No. That would be forgivable. It was Uwe Boll-esk
direction. If a director is going to emulate someone else in the field, it
should never be Uwe Boll. Never.
I want to stress that the storyline for #Horror was actually relatively good. Unfortunately, Tara Subkoff (Tanner Hall, The Notorious Bettie Page,
Undermind) did not do the best job on the script. As for the directing…
well… I already touched on that.
Regardless of how I feel about this film, I want everyone to
remember that this was Subkoff’s directorial and writing debut. Not everyone
hits a homerun right off the bench. This film was not good, but she may learn
from her mistakes in a way that the arrogant bullshit artist that is Boll,
never could. I wish her luck in future endeavors and I hope time and experience
will aid her in honing her art.
I don’t recommend this film or anything that has ever looked
like it.
Cat’s Point of View:
I’ll be blunt. I didn’t really like this one very much. I do
enjoy when social media and more modern cultural and technology clashes mix in
with the horror genre, so I was crossing my fingers only to be disappointed.
I got pretty much what I expected from the clique of rich
tween snobby girls and their slumber party antics. The deaths weren’t really
original or surprising.
Mostly, as this movie was named with a hashtag, I was
wanting to see more of how that tied in. Sure the girls’ involvement in social
media is a big part of the plot, but it’s never made clear (at least that I
could tell) how the ‘slashtag’ game fits in.
I have an inkling – but it’s all presented so spastically
that it’s hard to follow. Flashes of brightly colored flashy images and boxes
of text flying rapidly across the screen. If it was explained in all that – I
was either too slow to catch it or my eyes are just too bad and I couldn’t read
those text boxes.
Here was another case, as well, where an actor was rather
underutilized. Balthazar Getty (The
Tripper, Brothers and Sisters, The Judge) played the father of the girl
whose home the ill-fated slumber party takes place in. I can’t wait to see what
his involvement will be in the upcoming Twin
Peaks (2017) series.
The art installations within the home were interesting, at
least.
Another indie film powerhouse was on board with this
project. Chloë Sevigny (The Killing Room,
Big Love, The Wait) did well as the self-involved and negligent
mother. Though, I really think that
Timothy Hutton (Serious Moonlight, Louder
Than Words, Leverage) stole the show as the father of one of the characters.
I might watch this movie again just to see if I can read
what I wasn’t able to catch before (pause button and frame by frame, maybe).
Otherwise, I hold out hope that someone can give this sort of tale a different
spin that makes a bit more sense.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 50%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 11%
Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 1/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 1/5
Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 1/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score
– 1.5/5
The Random Rating:
R
P.S. This movie
claims to be based on reality. What it is based on is an interview that Subkoff
had with one of her daughter’s friends that had been severely cyberbullied. That
said, it’s clear that the story was at least loosely inspired by that
interview.
Production Companies:
La Luna Entertainment, La Luna Films, Out of Body Films
Producer: Stuart
Alson, Nicole Holland, Felix McNulty, Josey Wells
Director: Israel
Luna
Writer: Israel
Luna
Actors: Justin
Armstrong, Dave Clark, Leah Diaz, Belmarie Huynh, Miranda Martinez, Swisyzinna,
Taylor Terry, Carson Underwood, Eric Window
Blurb from Netflix:
Film student Brandon and four friends play with a Ouija board, unwittingly
opening a portal to the spirit world and a drowned girl’s deadly mystery.
Selina’s Point of View:
I’ve used a Ouija board before. I’ve never really understood
what people see in it, though. It’s not nearly as creepy as the movies make it
out to be and it’s not nearly fun enough to be called a game. It’s just a thing
that exists. Of course, I have some very bleak beliefs about the afterlife and
none of those beliefs allow me to put any stock in something like a Ouija
board.
I really wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this film.
It delivered pretty much what I expected recipe-wise. Ouija
board becomes a portal from the afterlife and people have to deal with
malicious spirits. You expect the jump scares, you expect the scene where no
one believes the first person to see the ghost, and you definitely expect some
janky shaky cam.
There were, however, enough minor twists and differences
between the recipe and what I saw for me to say that it was above average
quality.
I enjoyed the actors quite a bit, for the most part. Justin
Armstrong (Allegiance of Powers, Art of
Survival, John Bosco in America) was pretty likeable for the character he
played and Swisyzinna (Liquid Feet,
Deceptions of Love, Wops the Movie) had a slow start, but when the movie
started to flow into the creepy portions, she really came alive. The only two
actors I had any issue with were Belmarie Huynh (Hoovey, Thug-Ocracy, Sweet Baby Love) and Eric Window (Circles, Sideline Confessions, Carter High),
and I think that was more because I hated their characters than because of
their performance.
My favorite thing about this movie was that it didn’t just
rely on jump scares. Sure, there were some of those, but the story mostly
revolved around a mystery that was woven into the plot. That mystery was decent
enough that I didn’t really expect the direction it took.
I’d watch this film again, even with the shaky cam.
Cat’s Point of View:
I’ll be upfront and say that I can’t stand Ouija boards. I
won’t be around if one is being used, and it terrifies me that they market
these things to kids. I mean, really? Making the thing pink and girlie doesn’t
change the fact that it’s a tool to play with forces that you just don’t
understand.
What drove me crazy about the shows MTV's Fear (2000-2002) and Scariest
Places on Earth (2000-2006) was that they would throw inexperienced people
into these situations and then give them tasks that were actually rather
dangerous. These people didn’t know what they were playing with – or what was
going to follow them home.
Before I get too far off on a soapbox, I have to admit that
even though I have a healthy respect for and keep my distance from the things,
I am still fascinated by Ouija boards all the same. It’s the same sort of
morbid fascination that draws me to things like sharks and tornadoes (which, by
the way is my absolute worst fear ever). I watched the heck out of the tornado
chasing documentary series and even went to the IMAX movie – in the dome IMAX,
not the overly large regular screen. I even white knuckled through the front
row experience of my employee screening of
Twister (1996)… much to the hand-pain of my then-boyfriend.
That being said, I expected more from this movie. I don’t
know why. Netflix’s utter lack of stars on the recommendation apparently wasn’t
deterrent enough to lower those expectations. I should have paid more
attention.
This movie was a mess. I would honestly give it no stars, if
I didn’t feel like that should be reserved for horrendous things like those
centipede movies. This flick at least caught me with a few jump scares.
I was bored out of my mind. It was very hard for me to get
engaged with the movie. I thought I was watching a soap opera for a little
while. I was afraid it was going to even delve into soft-porn for a hot minute
there. (I’m not trying to pun. It wasn’t steamy at all. Just cheesy backside
nudity.) It was found-footage shaky-cam a lot of the time, which also didn’t
help.
The action didn’t even really start until the last 40 or so
minutes of the movie.
I wouldn’t recommend this, and I am seriously hoping we
don’t end up with the sequel for review. (Though, I would watch that in a
heartbeat over the centipede sequels. Seriously. Ugh.)
Cat’s out of town this weekend, suffering in the sweltering
heat of Texas. I suppose that’s not much different than her hometown in
Louisiana, but I’m from New York so I’m gonna stick by my comment.
Since she’s joined Trust the Dice’s Random Review, Cat has
been trying to catch up on all of the movies that were watched before her time.
It’s a big job, so I didn’t want to make it even more difficult by watching
another movie on my own in her absence.
This entry will be different.
In the relatively near future, I intend to start a YouTube
gaming channel under my universal handle: Angelic Ardour. I know, it’s a weird
handle. It started as an RPG screen name that related to my main table-top
character and just kind of stuck. I was going to change it for YouTube, but
several of my friends advised against it. So, fine.
There are going to be so many jokes about my initials being
AA.
Sigh.
Moving on.
In honor of my decision, and to justify my shameless plug,
I’ve decided to give a glimpse into my list of awesome YouTube channels. And,
since we’re so fond of lists here at Trust the Dice, let’s make it a top 20,
shall we?
They won’t all be gaming, movie, or even geek related but, hey, I
can have outside interests!
20 – CarlSagan42
There’s very little consistency in CarlSagan42’s videos.
Sometimes the sound is crap. Sometimes the videos are only a few minutes long,
while other times they can go on for up to an hour. He also not one of the more
memorable gamers. You’re not going to see rage-outs or hear many jokes… but
he’s got one thing definitely going for him.
CarlSagan42 is super fucking skilled. Seriously, I’ve seen
him beat some ridiculous shit that no human should ever be able to beat.
He’s a GAMER. All caps are important here because… I’m a
gamer, but I’m relatively mediocre at something like Super Mario Maker (2015) while I’m very skilled at Mario Kart or RPGs and absolutely awful
at anything FPS ever made. Example? I’m playing Doom (2016) now and it took me two days to get to the fucking title
screen, but I’ve made walkthroughs for FF8
(1999) and my friends rarely ever expect to beat me at Mario Kart 8 (2014).
He’s been concentrating on Super Mario Maker recently, but so have I so… it works out. I feel
like just watching him play makes me a better player.
19 – rhoboat
This person makes music videos out of clips from movies and
TV shows.
There are a billion people on YouTube that do the same thing.
I’m not saying this person is the best, but they are really good. I find the
sync-up of music/lyrics and scene to be on point. The videos are interesting
and tug at the appropriate emotions.
Really, the videos are a treat to watch, even if you’re not
overly fond of the song choice.
Above, you can find the video created by rhoboat in honor of
Snowpiercer (2013), a movie Trust the
Dice reviewed a while back, starring Chris Evans (Before We Go, The Losers, Captain America).
18 – Tasty
I started seeing these videos circulate on Facebook a few
months ago and I found them really useful.
The dishes are yummy and the video makes gathering the
ingredients and actually making the food easy. Plus, the videos are super
short, easy to follow, and pleasant to watch.
I enjoy them.
17 – Bad Lip
Reading
These videos tend to vary in quality from funny to not so
funny to completely ridiculous. The ones that are funny, though, are
outstanding.
I’m particularly enjoying the political series.
The current election is just bringing out the worst in
everyone, regardless of which candidate they’re hoping will win. It’s great to
be able to see something like this where you can laugh at all the candidates
equally and not come away with negative feelings.
16 – Slim Kirby
This guy isn’t nearly as charismatic as the other gamers I
watch, but I still watch him. Mostly out of nostalgia.
He does play older games, but that’s not where the nostalgia
comes in. He was actually the first gamer I started following on YouTube. He’s
not terrible at all, but don’t expect a boisterous or overly comedic personality.
He’s still a very informative gamer and I tend to enjoy his
videos.
15 – Jenna
Marbles
There is a shocking lack of female presence in my YouTube
subscriptions. I’m working on that. In the meantime, Jenna Marbles is one of
the few, but she’s a huge presence.
Jenna uses her YouTube channel to talk about pretty much
everything that goes through a woman’s mind, an adult’s mind, a dog owner’s
mind, etc. More funny stuff. Plus, her dogs are adorable.
14 – BatDad Blake
Alright, this guy is super viral, and for a good reason. His
shtick is extremely funny.
The big issue is that he really doesn’t update his YouTube
much. Word has it he’s got a Vine page that he edits more often…. but I never
really got into Vine so… yeah.
13 – Dead
Gentlemen Productions
A while back, long before Cat was a part of the blog, I did
a review on The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (2008).
Well, The Gamers series was created
by Dead Gentlemen Productions. There are links to that series in the ‘Playlist’
area.
The Dead Gentlemen Productions channel is where you can find
other, similar, series’ to sink your teeth into.
Funny, geek-centric, and entertaining. Good stuff.
12 – REACT/Fine
Brothers Entertainment
These two channels interlock with Teens React, Kids React,
Adults React, and Elderly React videos. If you’re my age, the Teens and Kids
React videos will make you feel old as fuck while the Elderly React videos will
make you feel young as fuck.
I was particularly amused by the above video. JNCOs were my
thing back when I was a young teen.
The video missed the grunge scene when they were rattling
off people who used to wear JNCOs, though. That’s what I was considered back
then.
11 – Screen
Junkies
You may know Screen Junkies by another name: Honest
Trailers.
There’s never anything not funny about the Honest Trailer
videos. Basically, the videos are versions of the official trailers of various
popular movies (some new, some old). However, instead of the original dialog
and sound, there’s a voice-over with a hilarious and overly-honest, sarcastic
description of the film in question.
I highly recommend this channel.
10 – WatchMojo
WatchMojo does lists. Top 10 Movie Murders, Top 10 Stupidest
Lyrics, etc. I don’t always agree with their lists, but they make some
convincing arguments for each of their entries. A lot of thought goes into their
videos. Some are funny, others are informative… there are even some horrifying
ones.
There’s a lot of versatility in the WatchMojo videos, which
makes the channel great for binge-watching. The narrator isn’t even always the
same. It’s like the YouTube version of the Cracked web page.
I know Cracked has a YouTube page, too. Shut up.
9 – TearofGrace
This guy is a little different than most of the gamers I
follow. He doesn’t just show his gameplay and a little square with him in the
corner. He has little cut-aways, music, extra commentary, zooming, camera
movements…. Etc. Not to mention, he’s one of the most skilled of the gamers I
watch. I never have to yell at the screen asking him why he won’t PUT THE
FUCKING HELMET ON or HIT THE FUCKING SHOULDER BUTTON, like I do with Jack… or
Martyn…
I’ll introduce you to those guys later in this list.
Anyway.
He’s funny, entertaining, and pretty damn good at editing. I
added a Super Mario Maker video, but
you should check out his Dark Souls III
(2016) videos. Those are as good, or better, than his Super Mario Maker stuff. Also, look up his video called “SuperMario Maker – MARIO MAKING A MURDERER (P is for Pain).” Hardest level ever.
I’ve tried it.
I did not complete it.
8 – jacksepticeye
This guy is new to my subscriptions list. I tripped over him
while I was going through YouTube Gaming (gaming.youtube.com) where I’m
subscribed to Super Mario Maker and
it lets me know whenever someone posts a new video in that game. (I have
subscriptions to other games, but Jack came up for that one).
I instantly loved him. That awesome accent coupled with his
super green hair and outstanding rage is a real treat to watch. He does some
challenges here and there, but in general, he’s just an entertaining guy.
I’ve been binge watching his channel for the past two weeks
now. I don’t see myself stopping in the near future.
7 – Markiplier
It’s the hair. No other reason.
Ok, seriously now.
My husband and I greatly disagree on the awesomeness that is
Markiplier. As in, I think he’s awesome, but I can’t watch his videos around
John because Markiplier’s voice annoys him.
I get where John is coming from, Markiplier’s voice can be a
touch on the high pitched side when he gets frustrated… but that doesn’t matter
too much to me. I have fun watching him. Sometimes he’s funny, sometimes he’s
just entertaining and that’s what matters in a YouTuber.
I was also kind of impressed when he did a challenge where
he donated a certain amount of money to charity based on how much he cursed
during his videos. That was hella cool.
6 – Geek and
Sundry
Now, Geek and Sundry isn’t a single channel. It’s more like
a conglomerate of channels.
There are a ton of shows that form Geek and Sundry. Like any
TV channel, however, I have my favorites.
Sword & Laser is an awesome book review show. It’s
hosted by Veronica Belmont (We’re Alive,
Fallout: New Vegas, Armikrog) and Tom Merritt (NSFW Show, Night Attack, The Screen Savers) and tends to stick to
books in the geekier genres, like fantasy and science fiction. As an avid
reader, the show is informative. As a YouTube viewer, the hosts are endearing
and interesting.
The Flog is basically a show about Felicia Day (Supernatural, Con Man, Outlands) being
Felicia Day. I adore her.
I loved her book, I love her acting work. Seriously, what’s
not to like about Felicia Day. She’s awkward and loveable and an inspiration.
Everyone should read her book: You’re
Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). It’s a great read.
Vaginal Fantasy is another book show that’s covered on the
channel. This one is hosted by Felicia Day, Veronica Belmont, Bonnie Burton (Geek DIY, Ask Bonnie, The Guild), Kiala
Kazabee (Merry Holidays Please Hold, The
Guild, The Flog), and wine. The reviews stick to the romantic, often
smutty, genres that I partake in occasionally – both for reading and writing
purposes.
Co-Optitude is a show featuring Felicia Day and her brother,
Ryon Day (The Guild, TableTop, The Flog),
playing video games, a lot of them old-school. This particular show speaks to
me deeper than most.
I had a Sega Genesis when I was young. By young, I actually
mean: before I was seventeen, which was when I got a Playstation. As a result,
I didn’t grow up playing a lot of the games that everyone else had. I’ve beaten
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) about 600
times, but I’ve never played Legend of Zelda
(1986).
Watching Felicia and Ryon try those old games is pretty
interesting.
Finally, there’s Tabletop.
Tabletop is undoubtedly my favorite show on Geek and Sundry.
It’s hosted by Wil Wheaton (The Big Bang
Theory, Eureka, Teen Titans) and often has well-known guest stars.
On the show, Wheaton and bunch of recognizable faces, play
board games. It sounds less interesting than it is. In the video above is the
episode where Wil Wheaton, Anne Wheaton (Sharknado
2: The Second One, Tweet Out, The Wil Wheaton Project), Colin Ferguson (Eureka, The Vampire Diaries, Haven), and
Amy Dallen (Baker, Future Girl, Muzzled
the Musical) play Ticket to Ride.
The game is awesome, but the video is better and gets even funnier at the end.
It’s one of the more memorable episodes, I’ll tell you that
much.
5 – Epic Rap
Battles of History
I had to include the rap video involving directors in this
entry because… hilarious. It says it’s Steven Spielberg (War of the Worlds, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) vs.
Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, The Birds, To
Catch a Thief), but it’s also got Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, A Clockwork Orange), Quentin
Tarantino (Django Unchained, Inglourious
Basterds, Kill Bill), and Michael Bay (Transformers,
Bad Boys, The Island) in it. It’s pretty amusing. Not my favorite, but
still.
That being said, although I don’t believe the current season
of ERB is the greatest, I’m still relatively in love with the channel. I’d say
at least 1/8 of my playlist involves past ERBs.
My husband and I even considered rapping the Adam vs. Eve
battle at our wedding, but decided against it at nearly the last minute. It
just didn’t fit the gaming theme.
4 – Movieclips
Trailers
Ok, it wouldn’t be a movie blog if I didn’t mention
trailers.
You might notice that when we do our ‘Top 20 Movies to Look
Out For’ blogs at the end/beginning of the month, that we tend to use as many
trailers as possible from Movieclips Trailers. There is a reason for this.
First of all, the trailers are all official. Nothing cut and
pasted together or of bad quality. Secondly, there’s no one babbling before or
after the trailer. If I wanted to look up a review, I’d look up a review. It’s
a huge pet peeve of mine when trailer-based YouTube channels add movie news or
reviews to the end or the beginning of a trailer.
If I’m looking up a trailer, I just want two minutes, or so,
of fucking trailer. I don’t need, or want, the extra.
Movieclips Trailers gives you the official trailer(s), with
no ridiculous commentary, relatively regularly. Most of the time, they have new
trailers up before you can find them anywhere else, too.
3 – YOGSCAST
Martyn
YOGSCAST Martyn, also known as InTheLittlewood, is less
about funny and more about information and adorableness.
Martyn was one of the first YouTube channels I found that
had a series dedicated to Super Mario
Maker. He’s got a pleasant voice and is interestingly not crude at all. I’m
so used to crude that it was almost shocking to find a mostly kid-friendly
channel.
Like many others I follow, he’s not the most amazing at some
of the games, though he’s a beast with some of them. He’s like the king of
Minecraft, it’s ridiculous.
It’s adorable when he rage quits. It just doesn’t fit the
personality he’s portraying in his videos.
Martyn is supremely likeable and I have been known to binge
watch him for hours on end, happily. He’s the reason I picked up Minecraft.
2 – Joe Santagato
Santagato is another funny mother fucker. I don’t just adore
him because he’s a fellow New Yorker with a very discernable New York attitude,
either.
He’s not in the gaming category at all, but he’s still
hilarious. He puts out a video every Tuesday and he has other channels
including: Extra Joe and a Podcast channel. He has series of videos including:
Idiots of the Internet, Mad Libs Madness, and People of Walmart.
Mostly he does about five minutes per video of simple
stand-up comedy. Sometimes alone, sometimes with family members. For instance,
Mad Libs Madness is a series he does with his brother Keith. They play Mad Libs
and have to hold water in their mouth while trying not to laugh. Super simple,
but you wouldn’t believe how funny it gets.
Keith used milk once and I nearly fell off the couch.
1 – DashieGames
I’m currently completely obsessed with Super Mario Maker, as you’ve probably noticed. Naturally, I’ve been
searching for any YouTuber that happens to have gameplay videos. There are
plenty out there, but Dashie? Well, there’s a story behind Mr. Dashie.
Well, Super Mario
Maker users have been making levels for him in droves. They’re all over the
place. All of them seem to have his name in it. My best friend, Mike, and I
play this stupid game constantly and we’ve commented on the titles to each
other. We both thought Dashie was a dev working with the company because of how
many boards there were dedicated to him.
Then I found my first Dashie video and it all clicked into
place.
I got the interest in him immediately.
Dashie reminds me of a modern gaming version of Sam Kinison
(Charlie Hoover, Back to School, Savage
Dawn). He’s angry, vulgar, and funny as all hell. He sounds just like me
and my friends when we game. He’s cursing at the screen, he’s working the
puzzles out loud… he’s not necessarily the most amazing gamer I’ve ever seen
play the games, but there’s no one more hilarious to watch.
Seriously, where gaming is concerned, no one beats Dashie in
sheer entertainment value.
Production Companies:
Apaches Entertainment, Atresmedia Cine, La Panda, Sayaka Producciones
Audiovisuales, SpectreVision, Wild Bunch
Executive Producer:
Garrett Basch, Pau Brunet, Ricardo Garcia Arrojo, Nahikari Ipina, Daniel Nosh,
Josh C. Waller, Elijah Wood
Director: Nacho
Vigalondo
Writer: Nacho
Vigalondo
Actors: Elijah
Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell, Nacho Vigalondo, Ivan Gonzalez, Jake Klamburg,
Daniel Perez Prada, Adam Quintero, Trevante Rhodes, Scott Weinberg
Nick has won a dinner with his favorite actress of all time.
Unfortunately, when he gets to the hotel, he finds out that it’s been canceled
and he won’t be getting to meet her after all. That’s when someone lets him in
on a plan that allows him a peek into her life.
I got to watch something completely new tonight. When you’ve
watched a certain number of films, it becomes almost repetitive. A choice of
two or three different recipes per genre. Open
Windows, however, was definitely new to me.
The plot was fantastic, but it took me a little bit to get
into it. I’m confident that if I had known that it was shot almost entirely
through webcam before I turned on the film, I would have gotten into it
quicker.
I was impressed with the acting. Elijah Wood (Wilfred, Grand Piano, Pawn Shop Chronicles)
I expect nothing less from. The big shocker was Sasha Grey (Entourage, Would You Rather, The Scribbler).
She was absolutely believable. I know she’s had serious roles before, but this
is the first one I’ve seen her in. I didn’t really expect much from the former
porn star, but she pulled it off and made me care. I wouldn’t mind seeing more
of her in the mainstream.
Critics and audience seem to dislike this movie quite a bit
and the main complaint I saw in the reviews was that the film was disjointed
and confusing. I have to disagree.
Being shot with webcams, it does possess a shaky cam kind of
feel. That also means that it’s almost completely first person. The audience
only sees what the main character sees. That’s a limited way of getting
information to the viewer. I feel that needs to be taken into account. You only
see what Nick sees and hear what he responds to people with. That’s it. Instead
of feeling disjointed to me, it felt voyeuristic. Like I had found a way to see
into his computer and was silently watching things happen.
I didn’t find it confusing at all. There was sufficient
fore-shadowing without it being so blatant that it ruined the ending. As for
the ending, it really wasn’t that open ended if you think about it.
I believe people were just a little put off by the format. I
got used to it and wound up really enjoying the film.
