Category: Film

Laakekoe (Medicated) Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

Korppainen(Tapio Kauma) is a pretty quirky person. With hobbies that include random shadow boxing, science fiction literature, and chess matches against himself it’s hard not to consider Korppainen unique. However, the cause of Korppainens new problem maybe his odd behavior. Nearby, a doctor named Niklas(Heikki Kauma) is on the verge of unleashing a very dark and powerful entity. An entity that requires a unique individual, just like Korppainen, to arrive on earth. When Korppainens brother, Karsta(Tapio Kauma), asks him to take part in a strange medical experiment, we soon find out how destructive this entity is.

Laakekoe(Medicated) is a sci-fi action adventure directed by Tapio Kauma and Ville Viasanen. For me Laakekoe(Medicated) excelled in a few key areas: awesome special effects and telling a compelling, well paced story. The effects in this movie are extremely well done. The supernatural beings that inhabit the film are dark and ominous. You feel a real sense of danger when Korppainen is going up against them. I have to give Ville Viasanen an applause for a job well done. 

Laakekoe(Medicated)s pacing also kept me engaged all throughout the film. Every scene kept the action moving and I feel that’s important for a movie in this genre. It also helped that each character was distinctive and entertaining. Due to the fast pace of the film it was very important to have impressive character development to avoid any further confusion in the storyline.

Laakekoe(Medicated) – IMDB

This leads me to my one criticism of Laakekoe(Medicated). The story was, for me, fairly confusing. During my first viewing I always felt a bit lost. The awesome characters and action packed pace kept me watching. A second viewing definitely helped to clarify a lot of the plot details that had me lost.

The whole film project took 7 years to complete. Majority of the effort was done by two guys: Tapio Kauma and Ville Väisänen. They had previously done several short movies together but this is the first feature length movie by them. They have not officially studied move making but have instead learned everything they know about film making by trial and error. And of course by watching lots of movies.
The duo have estimated that during the years they spend about 1 300 hours to complete the movie. The movie was done while the film makers studied and/or worked full time. The whole budget for the movie is less than 150 euros.

Laakekoe(Medicated) is a solid sci-fi action adventure. It has a great mix of special effects and interesting, distinctive characters. Also, it has the perfect amount of absurdity sprinkled throughout. Although you may have to give this a second watch to help understand some of the story details, Laakekoe(Medicated) is still a kick ass experience. Look it up on YouTube and give it a watch.

I give Laakekoe(Medicated) 4 out of 6 reels.

Meet the Slicer – Nick Hess

Posted on by Nic White

Sup Slicers!?

Meet Nick Hess. Nick Hess is a strong minded entrepreneur with a passion for technology. Infact, Nick has some awesome commercials for his company, COOKIE BYTES!

Nick has helped produce several CinemaSlice promo videos, and is currently co-directing the SUDS & CINEMA Film Festival in Arlington, TX!

Hey there! I’m Nick Hess. I work as an SEO consultant for Digital Designs, a desktop support tech for my own company and the city of Arlington Texas, and as a Lyft driver. I enjoy big burgers and finding odd flavored beers. My latest venture will be putting on a film fest here in town with CinemaSlice

SLICE THE PLANET

And the Winner is….

Posted on by Nic White

CinemaSlice is thrilled to announce the official award winners from the first ever SUDS & CINEMA event!

Fist and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who submitted a film! I feel that we were extremely lucky to have received film submissions by so many talented filmmakers! In fact, if we could, we would have shown some additional films that we just didn’t have time to show a

Nearly as important, THANK YOU to everyone who attended this FREE event! As a filmmaker, and creator of art, I truly appreciate how important it is for other people to see your work– and I respect the experience of watching a short film that you’re involved with creating, along with a room full of strangers, and receiving the live feedback-loop that is an audience’s response! There’s no rush quite like it.

CinemaSlice also owes a huge THANK YOU to the Festival host and Festival Jury members who helped pull everything together! Without your hard-work we would not have been able to put together such an awesome festival!

Finally, THANK YOU to HOP YARD 62 for allowing us to showcase these quality short films inside of your establishment.

Without further ado, here are your festival winners:

AWARD WINNING FILMS

If BEST ACTOR AWARD – JOSH STREHLE (THE CHAIR)

BEST ACTRESS AWARD – RACHEL HAAS (FEAR, ITSELF)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD – JOSHUA HOWEY (NOT FROM AROUND HERE)

BEST DIRECTOR AWARD – TOM DALLIS (STRIKE IT)

VIEWERS CHOICE AWARD – NOT FROM AROUND HERE

If you weren’t able to make it out to the event, head over to FESTIVAULT to stream all short films from this event FOR FREE!!!

Stay tuned to CinemaSlice.com/Suds for more SUDS & Cinema events around the corner!

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Suds & Cinema – TX and TN!

Posted on by Nic White

CinemaSlice is producing two new film festivals over the next few months!

After the success of our first ever SUDS & CINEMA Film Festival at Hop Yard 62 in Grove City, OH — CinemaSlice if proud to present: SUDS & CINEMA – Memphis, and SUDS & Cinema – Arlington! A HUGE shout out to the Slicers (Nick Hess and John Sklba) in those areas that are directing these festivals in their respected cities!!

We’re thrilled to be partnering with awesome local breweries to showcase independent short films– both regionally, and nationally!

If you’re interested in submitting a short film (less than 15 mins) or a Microfilm (less than 2 mins) iollow the submission links below!

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT TO SUDS & CINEMA – ARLINGTON, TX

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT TO SUDS & CINEMA – MEMPHIS, TN

LEGAL DRAFT BEER CO in Arlington, TX will be hosting our multi-genre film festival on June 1st, 2019.

Wiseacre Brewing Company in Memphis, TN will be hosting our multi-genre film festival on May 18th, 2019.

Each iteration of SUDS & Cinema will hold the core independent film fueled values of CinemaSlice. Each individual iteration of SUDS & CINEMA will focal on LOCAL films in that area first and foremost– and will include national film submissions as well.

If you’re lucky enough to be in the regions that we’ve selected for oour May and June SUDS & CINEMA events– and you love independent films and craft beer, COME ON OUT TO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT CINEMA!

SLICE THE PLANET

Brain Engagement Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

Ben and Anna have been dating for two years and Ben is ready to pop the question. We see this very clearly within the first few moments of the short film Brain Engagement, a short romantic comedy directed by Patrick Neff. How Ben, played by Brennen Thompson, plans on accomplishing this goal is not so clear. Anna, played by Kristin Mellian, certainly seems interested in starting a life together. Ben can’t be for certain, however, until he finally asks “Will you marry me?”. He only has his heart and emotions to talk to. A heart and emotions that get angry, crack jokes, problem solve, and celebrate. It’s almost as if the emotions were real people themselves…

Brain Engagement was a joy to watch from start to finish. Being a Rom/Com this film had two aspects to focus on. It needs a relationship the viewer wants to root for and enjoyable, well written humor. Brain Engagement absolutely nails both. As Ben goes through his journey throughout the film you feel all the emotions that he is feeling, which makes the ending all the more meaningful. The moments of levity are also amazing with great jokes that are cleverly written and engaging to the story. Relatability and comedy combine together perfectly in Brain Engagement and that gives the film a lot of heart.

My one criticism of Brain Engagement is that, while it’s plot is perfect in execution, it’s lacking in originality. Not giving away any spoilers, I would have to say that I’ve seen this plot device used in comedy’s and animated features in the past. It’s a only minor criticism because of what Brain Engagement manages to do. In roughly 15 minutes Brain Engagement has more laughs, love, and charm then some other movies have with a full length runtime.

Brain Engagement does what I feel every short film should try to carry out. It gets the viewer excited about what they just watched, but also leaves them wanting more content in the same universe. More of the continued relationship between Ben and Anna, and more of Ben’s hilarious internal emotional struggles.

I give Brain Engagement 6 out of 6 reels.


Bailiwick Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

Bailiwick is the story of John, a lonely, quiet man who is given a gift that changes his life. Do you believe in magic?

Bailiwick
Length: 1Hour 36Mins
Written and Directed by Tonia L. Carrier

John is a middle-aged man who lives a simple life. His day starts with your usual morning fare: shower, breakfast, etc. He then goes to his office job, which comes complete with a disagreeable boss and coworkers who mostly ignore him. John caps off the night by preparing for another day, identical to the last. During one of these mundane days John attends a magic show. At the show John receives a strange book, filled with detailed instructions for magic tricks. The magician hands the ancient book off and John eagerly accepted the gift. Little does John know that his life is about to change in many exciting and dangerous ways as he slowly masters the magic tricks one by one.

Bailiwick is an independent full length feature film directed by Tonia Carrier. In Bailiwick you’ll find mystery, drama, action, horror, fantasy, and comedy. It’s hard to pin down a specific genre because this film truly has a bit of everything and mostly succeeds in all the genres it attempts. I would say the creativeness of tackling so many genres is one of my favorite elements of the film and helped keep me continually interested in the story. The main character John, played by Dan Gerics, does an outstanding job. It’s impressive to watch an actor navigate these shifting genres and make it seem so effortless. I also enjoy a good narrative build up in a film and Bailiwick doesn’t disappoint. It’s very satisfying to go from that first uneventful day in John’s life which leads to the events that ensue at the end.

While I commend the creativeness of the multi genre approach to Bailiwick, it is also where some of my criticisms lay. Personally, I would have liked some smoother transitions from genre to genre. Most of these problems occur during the third act of the film. Without spoilers, I’ll just say that some of these genre transitions made me question Johns motivations. These criticisms, while a bit jarring, didn’t detract from the creativeness of the film.

Bailiwick is a wildly inventive film.

While this inventiveness sometimes messes with the pacing and flow of the narrative, it is still a fantastic film. If you’re into indie cinema that isn’t afraid to take risks, then give this film a shot. Go to YouTube where Bailiwick is available to stream now.

I give Bailiwick 4 out of 6 reels.

SUDS & CINEMA – Official Selections

Posted on by Nic White

The jury has spoken! Our goal was to select the best films across a variety of genres that fit into the theme and vibe of Suds & Cinema: good production quality, entertaining/exciting, and fun to watch.

…Before we get into it, we should all take a moment to thank our festival jury: Jeremy Borden, Mike Neider, and Jeremy Allen for taking the time to view, rate, review, and curate the official film selections for the first ever Suds & Cinema film festival!

And this was no simple task– As we received so many great film submissions! Some film submissions were technically fantastic, but were not selected simply based on the fact they may not fit into this particular event program. Which is to say– I WISH WE WERE ABLE TO SHOWCASE EVERY SUBMISSION WE RECEIVED!

But I digress.
The list below is of all of the awesome official film selections of Suds & Cinema on March 9th, 2019.F

  • Static – Horror – Wayneville, OH
  • Not From Around Here – Thriller – Jake Barry – Grove City, OH
  • Fear, Itself –Thriller – Alex Caperton – Columbus, OH
  • The Chair – Comedy – Zebulon Griffin – Hilliard, OH
  • Clown vs Corn 4 Gold Malt Liquor – MCR Electric Otto – Detroit, MI
  • The Pizza Guy – Comedy/Thriller – Naim David – Columbus, OH
  • The…ال… Horror – Diaa Bahaa – Egypt
  • Subject – Sci Fi August Aguilar – Knoxville, TN
  • Alive – Horror – Naim David – Columbus, OH
  • Strike It – Action/Heist – Tom Dallis – Dayton, OH
  • Haunted House – Ghost/Comedy – Michael DeSanto – Toledo, OH
  • CUT – Horror/Thriller – Jeremy Allen – Grove City, OH
  • Whiskey Chips – Comedy – Columbus, OH
  • Golden Dong – Kung Fu Comedy – Mike Neider – Columbus, OH
  • READ A BOOK – Horror – Michael Welborn – Bay City, MI
  • Blood on the Lens – Horror/Comedy Nic White – Columbus, OH
  • Retribution – Action – Jeremy Borden, London, OH

    • Be sure to arrive at the Suds & Cinema event EARLY, as this is a FREE event, and seating space is LIMITED.

    SLICE THE PLANET

SUDS & CINEMA – Submissions are Closed

Posted on by Nic White

Our submission window has now closed. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUBMITTED A SHORT FILM TO THE FIRST EVER SUDS & CINEMA FILM FESTIVAL!

As with every new venture, CinemaSlice approached this event with vigor and excitement– but also with caution and healthy hesitation. There were two critical elements that issues that helped to propel us head-first as we began to organize this event: an awesome venue and a great festival jury.

The first step was to find a brewery that could accommodate a film event. After exploring many options, we landed with HopYard 62 in Grove City, OH. The venue is small and intimate, the brewery has 21 taps, and the owner of the brewpub is welcoming and accommodating!

A close #2 (hehe number two) is our festival jury. Made up of 3 enthusiastic Ohio Filmmakers, Mike, Jeremy, and Jeremy 2 watched and reviewed each film submission as they rolled in over the last 3 months–We held multiple meetings to discuss highlights and exchange notes, and ultimately select our festival programing.

With a great location and jury in-place, CinemaSlice simply deferred to the filmmakers of the world to submit their art for us to display at our gallery! We received so many great films! Seriously, narrowing our selections down to fill only an hour and a half of programing is CHALLENGING!

As we finalize the last minute details, we want to invite all of the Slicers and appreciators of independent cinema to come out to the first ever SUDS & CINEMA Film Festival event.

SUDS & CINEMA
Sat, MARCH 9th, 2019 • 8-10pm
At HopYard 62 – 4057 Broadway, Grove City, OH 43123
FREE ADMISSION

“An Hour to Kill” – Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

GENRE: Horror / Comedy / Action

SYNOPSIS: Two assassins have an hour to kill (so to speak) before their next hit. To help pass the time, they entertain themselves by sharing horror stories to one another. With bizarre titles such as “Valkyrie’s Bunker” “Assacre” and “Hog Hunters” – which hit-man’s story will be deemed most disturbing when all is said and done?

TAGLINE: Before they make the hit, these gangsters shoot the sh!t

RUN TIME: 96 min

COMPANY: Rotten Productions

DIRECTED BY: Aaron K. Carter

WRITTEN BY: Aaron K. Carter / Ronnie Jimenez

PRODUCED BY: Aaron K. Carter / Jacob Harlow

STARRING:

  • Mel Novak (Game Of Death, An Eye For An Eye, Syndicate Smasher)
  • Frankie Pozos (LA 143)
  • Aaron Guerrero (Dead Kansas)
  • Amanda Rau (Living Among Us)  
  • Joe McQueen (Confessions Of A SuperHero)
  • Veronica Ricci (Treasure Chest Of Horrors II / Bloody Mary 3D)  
  • Brendan Mitchell (WetMovie1 / YouTube Personality)
  • Gabriel Mercado (Dysmorphia)
  • Luna Meow (Things 4)
  • Arash Dibazar (seduction artist)
  • Vince Kelvin (seduction artist)

Imagine this, a group of young women visit an abandoned hideout in search of a rumored weed stash. A champion competitive eater and video blogger prank a YouTuber by giving him a mysterious gift. A bowling team gets more than they expect when visiting a farm that contains some interesting farm animals. These stories may seem very strange, made even stranger when considering who is telling the tales. An exuberant rookie hitman who is in more danger than what he is aware of.

An Hour to Kill is a compendium of grindhouse inspired short films directed by Aaron K. Carter. The movie ranges in genre from action to horror/exploitation, done similarly in style to films like Creepshow, Trick r’ Treat, andV/H/S. I, personally, am a fan of strange and creepy anthologies and An Hour to Kill did not disappoint.

Pacing is important in a film like this, and An Hour to Kill does an outstanding job. Considering the short time allowed for each segment, the storytelling and character development are great. Plenty of movies can’t achieve these heights, even within a two hour runtime. The writing is also consistently funny and believable considering the wacky scenarios. Also, I have to mention the great acting of Frankie Pozos. He plays hitman Frankie and was a standout in the film.

A small criticism I do have with the film is that nothing really ties the stories together. These anthologies really reach true greatness, in my opinion, when all the plots are brought together in a cohesive fashion. The previously mentioned Trick r’ Treat would be a good example.

STREAM THE FULL FILM ON AMAZON

An Hour to Kill was an excellent film. The entertaining stories and characters were fun to watch throughout despite an overall lack of cohesion between the individual shorts. I would highly recommend this to lovers of action, horror, and comedy. An overall fantastic movie viewing experience.

5 out of 6 stars.

Escape Room Reel Review

Posted on by Mark Kelly

6 individuals receive an elaborate puzzle cube that acts as an invitation to participate in an escape room challenge. The premise sounds simple. Find your way through a maze of different rooms. Solve an environmental puzzle to escape each locale and you will receive the grand prize: 10,000 dollars. The participants begin to arrive, although some are reluctant. What transpires next is a descent into madness as the contestants realize this game has higher stakes then what they previously envisioned.

Escape Room is a 2019 film directed by Adam Robitel. Although labeled by some as a horror movie, I would classify this into the thriller/mystery genre. It is similar to past films like Cube, Saw, and Final Destination. In these films there are extreme situations, in which the main characters have to survive. Unlike these films, however, Escape Room leans farther away from the gory and torturous elements.

I enjoyed Escape Room for what it was, an extremely fun and thrilling experience. It offered interesting and varied locations with characters that you genuinely want to see succeed or fail. The story is engaging and easy to follow unlike more cerebral and thought provoking fare such as Hereditary and Suspiria(2018). Just be warned, set your expectations before watching. If you’re the type that enjoys a good dark stout beer and refuses to drink Miller Lite, this movie may not be for you. Escape Room is is definitely horror lite. 

So, maybe you’re looking for a good introduction to horror for some of your friends who refuse to give the genre a shot. Maybe you are a parent that wants to upgrade your children from watching Goosebumps or The House with a Clock in its Walls. Or maybe you just want to watch an exciting thriller without all the gore. If any of these scenarios apply then Escape Room is for you.

4 out of 6 reels.