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The Dungeon Masters (2008)

Dungeons & Dragons turned 40 years old in January of this year (2014). In recognition, we are rebranding our site for one week to Now Very Beholder… and focusing just on the films that star or in some way revolve around D&D.

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Everyone involved in this predictable & possibly insulting documentary need to make a saving throw. Filmmakers message is really unclear…

Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Dungeon Masters:

Our last Now Very Beholder review (for Zero Charisma) discussed the potential dangers of making a film about a particular group or interest – it’s very easy to get caught up in the effort to be funny and go for the cheap burns. There’s a fine line between portraying a group a little irreverently and making fun of them. In the case of The Dungeon Masters that line is behind them.

The Dungeon Masters follows three hardcore gamers in what seems to be an effort to point out how sad and pathetic their lives are. I’m hoping that wasn’t the goal, that they were really trying to illustrate how struggles in gaming do not necessarily correlate to troubles in life, but it really does seem to be just embarrassing unsuspecting people.

Well, here’s the synopsis from Antidote Films, one of the production companies: “An evil drow-elf is displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A sanitation worker lures friends into a Sphere of Annihilation. A failed supervillain starts a cable access show involving ninjas, puppets, and a cooking segment. These are the characters, real and imagined, of The Dungeon Masters: Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, two men and one woman devote their lives to Dungeons and Dragons, the storied role-playing game, and its various descendants. As their baroque fantasies clash with mundane real lives, the characters find it increasingly difficult to allay their fear, loneliness, and disappointment with the game’s imaginary triumphs. Soon the true heroic act of each character’s real life emerges, and the film follows each as he or she summons the courage to face it. Along the way, The Dungeon Masters reimagines the tropes of classic heroic cinema, creating an intimate portrait of minor struggles and triumphs writ large.” I must tell you that the film only barely resembles that bit of marketing.

The tone of the doc wavers, from the beginning soundbites and snippets about the popularity of the game through to the chronicling of one of the subjects ninja cable access show. It’s really unclear if the picture is meant to be celebratory or sympathetic or played for the “stop and point at the weirdos” angle. Indeed, the mission of the film is completely lost on me. Eighty-seven minutes isn’t really a long time for a documentary, but it is if you don’t know what they’re going for.

Regardless, the inclusion of only three individuals necessarily means that a lot of pressure is put on them to represent all gamers and that’s hard to do. It’s certainly no slander to suggest that these gamers are on the extreme end of things, and relying solely on those stories paints a very incomplete picture.

Part of the problem surely lies in the production. The documentary was initially envisioned as a history of the game, but when the director met the three individuals who make up the majority of the film it seems to have developed a bad case of mission creep. All of a sudden it had turned into a character study of 3 people, where the game is only part of the story, and it goes out of focus with no real linear theme.

I don’t want to be too hard on the filmmakers, because I may be misreading their intent. I really don’t think this is supposed to be a hatchet job, but I do think that it comes off as an insulting picture more akin to reality television than documentary. If you think I’m being unfair, ask yourself this: do you imagine that the three people featured in this film were pleased at how they came off and proud to show the final product to friends and family? Me neither…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test & The Representation Test Score: n/a

[schema type=”movie” name=”The Dungeon Masters” description=”Against the backdrop of crumbling middle-class America, two men and one woman devote their lives to Dungeons and Dragons, the storied role-playing game, re-imagining the tropes of classic heroic cinema, creating an intimate portrait of minor struggles and triumphs writ large.” director=”Keven McAlester” ]

Main Cast
Rating	Not Rated
Release Date	2008
Director	Keven McAlester
Genres	Documentary, Drama
Plot	An evil drow-elf is displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A sanitation worker lures friends into a Sphere of Annihilation…
Poster
Runtime	87
Tagline	This is how they roll.
Writers
Year	2008

December 12, 2014

Zero Charisma (2013)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

2013 indie may hit a little close to home for gamers, but that’s a sign of how well the filmmakers portray genuine human foibles & passion.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Zero Charisma:

Of all the human traits, possibly the hardest to portray on-screen is earnestness. Being sincere and passionate about something is nearly guaranteed to invite ridicule, both on screen and in life. It takes a combination of courage, confidence and thick skin to really put yourself out there and go for it. Film portrayals of such people generally show one of two tones, both of which reflect our own preconceived views: this genuineness is corny and trite (with an option on refreshing, depending on the film and the likability of the actor), or this intensity is disturbing and laughable. I have little time for the former and none for the latter.

It may come as a surprise to regular readers to hear that I value earnestness above almost all other traits in film. The ability to overcome the inherent limitations I mentioned mean that when you succeed you often end up with something truly special.

I love snarkiness – I got my Boy Scout badge for snark, I wrote my thesis on snark. But while well-cultivated and practiced sarcasm is indeed an art, it’s often easy. Anyone can sit on the sidelines and take cheap shots – and no one enjoys it more than I – but eschewing the low-hanging fruit and going for satire beyond spoof is much more difficult and requires real skill. The rewards are worth it.

Such is the challenge with Zero Charisma or indeed any movie that handles a subject matter or interest that is frequently treated with derisive mockery. As with any movie about geek culture, you worry that the film is just going to make fun of the characters. When I settle in to one of these my radar is up from the start, looking for trouble – you have to stay frosty.

Zero Charisma doesn’t shy away from the jokes or the obvious stereotypes, but it succeeds in doing so in an inclusive manner that feels more like self-deprecation than insult.

The main character of the story, Scott Weidemeyer (brilliantly played by Sam Eidson – I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him) certainly checks off all of the predictable boxes: obsessive, overweight, under-sexed, leather wearing, dead-end job having, heavy metal listening, loser living at home while planning masterful campaigns of his own design for a small group of “friends” that he doesn’t respect and barely tolerates. Dungeon Master is an extremely accurate title for reasons that Gygax & Arneson probably couldn’t have anticipated.

On top of that, he’s unbelievably rigid and arrogant in every facet of his life, severely stunting his ability to have success outside of the game. He’s pretty hard to like. But when one of his players quits the game in an effort to keep his marriage from falling apart and Scott finds that the only possible replacement player in town that he hasn’t alienated is a hipster whose presence disrupts the perfectly ordered group Scott has developed, even his game life begins to fall apart.

It’s interesting, but a number of the comments I read online about the film were very much pro-Scott and overwhelmingly negative to Miles, the too-cool-for-school hipster ably played by Garrett Graham. People went off on the “fake geeks” who are now into gaming because it’s cool. Clearly the filmmakers have hit a nerve. These same people acknowledged that Scott maybe took things a bit too far. He didn’t take things a bit too far – he’s over the edge and down the lane.

But I completely understand the impulse to defend the intense Dungeon Master. We’ve all known a Scott. Truth be told, we’ve all probably been him to a greater or lesser degree at some point. Everyone knows what it’s like to care passionately for something that others are indifferent towards. Everyone knows the dreadful feeling when something you’ve always been in control of begins to slip from your grasp. No matter how wonderful your life is, we’ve all had moments when situations have changed for us and our sense of security or peace feels under siege. And that’s surely what is happening here. This isn’t a story solely about one man’s game being turned upside down. His world is being turned upside down, with his job & home life, and so when his one refuge, the one successful part of his existence is under threat from his own attitude as much as from the hipster interloper, it’s too much.

Zero Charisma is really cringe-worthy at times – it shows genuine human emotions in all of their ugliness. But it’s very funny and also enjoyable to watch. Along with Scott’s intensity there is also an accompanying trait of sincerity that endears him to you, for all of his behavior. Matters are helped remarkably by the performance of Eidson, who I hope to see a lot more of. Highly recommended.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: C (5 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” url=”http://tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/filmguide/zerocharisma” name=”Zero Charisma” description=”As the strict Game Master of a fantasy role-playing game, Scott (Sam Eidson) leads his friends in a weekly quest through mysterious lands from the safety of his grandmother’s kitchen. But his mastery of his own domain starts to slip — along with everything else in his life — when neo-nerd hipster Miles (Garrett Graham) joins the game, winning over the group with his confident charm and dethroning Scott with an unexpected coup. Caught in delusions of grandeur, Scott must roll the dice and risk everything to expose Miles as the fraud he believes him to be. A darkly comedic fable of epic proportions, Zero Charisma is an ode to nerds from every realm.” director_1=”Katie Graham” director_2=”Andrew Matthews” actor_1=”Sam Eidson” actor_2=”Brock England” actor_3=”Garrett Graham”]

Main Cast	Sam Eidson Scott, Brock England Wayne, Garrett Graham Miles, Anne Gee Byrd Wanda
Rating	Not Rated
Release Date	Fri 11 Oct 2013 UTC
Director	Katie Graham, Andrew Matthews
Genres	Comedy
Plot	An overgrown nerd who serves as Game Master of a fantasy board game finds his role as leader of the misfits put into jeopardy when a new initiate enters the group.
Poster
Runtime	86
Tagline
Writers	Andrew Matthews (written by)
Year	2013

December 12, 2014

Mazes and Monsters (1982)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Yikes! Hunting down obscure things you thought were rumors seldom ends well. Barely watchable – for historical interest only… #FarOutGame

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Mazes and Monsters:

In yesterday’s Now Very Beholder review of Dark Dungeons, I advised you to go watch this movie instead if you wanted a humorous look at the Dungeons & Dragons paranoia. While I stand by my assertion that this tv movie is a more interesting time capsule, I want to make it very clear that I am not suggesting that you watch this movie. I don’t want that on my conscience…

It certainly is true, however that Mazes and Monsters is an entertaining diversion when you want to laugh openly at the foolishness of fundamentally scared and ignorant people. If you lived through this time and know better, it’s terribly amusing – unintentionally of course. Sort of like watching Reefer Madness or old government “duck and cover” educational films. It probably makes for a fantastic drinking game, too…

Possibly the only reason non-gamers would have sought this out is its unfortunate inclusion at the top of Tom Hanks’ filmography. The man has produced a great body of work and has nothing to feel bad about, but it must be a little bit galling to have this on his record. Maybe he could apply to have it removed?

What’s interesting, actually, is that he is definitely Tom Hanks in this one. Often when you see a now famous actor in an early role they are barely recognizable. Visually you see it, but they don’t have any real presence. But this really is a starring role and you can definitely see the outline of what he’s going to become.

The story of Mazes and Monsters is as absurd as its premise deserves. Back in 1979 a young student named James Dallas Egbert III disappeared from Michigan State University. He went into the steam tunnels that ran under the school and didn’t return. His parents hired a private investigator, William Dear, who didn’t let the fact that he had never heard of D&D before, nor the fact that Egbert’s friends had no knowledge of Egbert playing the game, prevent him from speculating to the press that Egbert had become obsessed with the game and went into the tunnels to play a live-action version of the game. While LARPing did exist in the late 70’s, coming up with this theory requires quite a LARP of faith (ar, ar, ar…)

Nevertheless, the press ate it up and reported it as fact. Never mind the fact that the boy was isolated, depressed and left a suicide note, Dungeons & Dragons must be the cause. Egbert had indeed gone to the steam tunnels to commit suicide, but was unsuccessful. He hid afterwards for weeks at friends’ houses before heading to Louisiana for a second failed suicide attempt. The youth did reach out to the PI while down there and asked Dear not to reveal the story, before a final suicide attempt in 1980 succeeded. Dear kept his promise to keep Egbert’s true story secret until 1984 when he published his account of the incident in the book The Dungeon Master.

Despite not being true, the idea that D&D and RPGs could cause a person to lose their identity and be unable to distinguish fantasy and reality was simply too good to pass up, and author Rona Jaffe didn’t, publishing the 1981 novel Mazes and Monsters, a barely fictionalized account of the apocryphal Egbert story. The made-for-tv movie that I’m only now getting around to talk about is similarly uninspired drivel.

Hanks plays the youth (Robbie) who goes off the reservation. He’s new to the college, having been booted out of his last school for playing too much Mazes and Monsters. All four players in the campaign are troubled, of course, providing some backstory but mainly just padding the runtime. One of the players, Jay Jay (Chris Makepeace) discovers the off-limits steam tunnels and rigs them with theater props to create a live-action campaign for the others. While in there, Robbie freaks out during a trippy sequence where he believes he slays a mighty monster and becomes his character, Pardieu the cleric. After that he’s no fun at all, breaking up with the only girl who plays the game in order to maintain a cleric’s vow of celibacy and obsessing about jumping off the Two Towers (being New York’s WTC).

Being able to laugh at how nutty a movie is only takes you so far in my experience. Your mileage may vary. If you like watching movies “so bad they’re good” you might have more stamina than I. My mistake may have been watching it by myself and/or not turning it into a drinking game. I’d recommend this game only to serious RPG fans and even then only to watch it with a group of same, preferably while partaking of mead…

The reviews for these two paranoia films may seem a bit unfair to the filmmakers and fans of Dark Dungeons as it appears I’m applauding in this film what I disliked about the other. The difference is entirely in the context; this movie is a relic of a time when this was a serious concern. The only thing at all wrong with Dark Dungeons (to me) is that throwback never plays like the original…

Check out these guys who have actually created an RPG called Mazes and Monsters: http://blogofholding.com/?page_id=370

Poster:

Trailer:

Actually, I think this is the whole movie. I couldn’t find a trailer…

Bechdel Test:

Fail

The Representation Test Score: D (2 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” name=”Mazes and Monsters” description=”Bound together by a desire to play “Mazes and Monsters,” Robbie and his four college classmates decide to move the board game into the local legendary cavern. Robbie starts having visions for real, and the line between reality and fantasy fuse into a harrowing adventure.” director=”Steven Hilliard Stern” actor_1=”Tom Hanks” ]

Main Cast	Tom Hanks Robbie Wheeling, Wendy Crewson Kate Finch, David Wallace Daniel, Chris Makepeace Jay Jay Brockway
Rating	PG
Release Date	Tue 28 Dec 1982 UTC
Director	Steven Hilliard Stern
Genres	Fantasy, Drama
Plot	Bound together by a desire to play “Mazes and Monsters,” Robbie and his four college classmates decide…
Poster
Runtime	120
Tagline	Danger lurks between fantasy and reality.
Writers	Rona Jaffe (novel), Tom Lazarus (teleplay)
Year	1982

December 9, 2014

Dark Dungeons: The Movie (2014)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Live-action short film version of the completely ridiculous scare-mongering comic pamphlet of the same name should be funny, but it isn’t…

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Dark Dungeons: The Movie:

Occasionally I read about projects that are seemingly perfect, only to be underwhelmed by the result. I wholly applaud this idea and the effort that went into it. I just really didn’t enjoy it at all.

Dark Dungeons was an alarmist comic strip put out in 1984 by an evangelical nutjob whose name I won’t repeat because I’d hate for even one person to increase his web traffic. His company puts out “tracts”, series of pamplets, often in comic form that are the ideological and well-reasoned equivalent of the guy walking through the train station screaming at the top of his lungs about going to hell. It’s probably genuinely intended to help people but as well-meaning as it may be, it’s hateful, ignorant stuff that generally gives respectful Christians a bad name.

In 1984 Dungeons & Dragons was white hot and wackos everywhere were getting concerned that this stuff was satanic and dangerous. I eagerly look forward to a time when all right-thinking people will be able to look back on this type of propaganda and see it for the shameful fear-mongering rubbish that it is.

So on paper, the idea of doing a satire based on this material seems to be a surefire hit. This is ripe for spoofing. But I’m sorry to say that as much as I wanted to enjoy Dark Dungeons: The Movie I found it joyless and tiresome – even at only 40 minutes.

It just isn’t funny. I may have completely missed the tone they were going for here, and if so, hey, my bad. I thought this was supposed to be a send-up. Maybe I misunderstood – they may have been playing it completely straight so you could see for yourself how ridiculous these fears are. And if that’s the case – nailed it. Because it’s really well done. The production quality is great for the short money they spent and just succeeding in making a film for so little cash is impressive. But it sure seemed to be marketed as a comedy – every piece I read talked about how funny it was.

Also, isn’t going after a 30 year old bit of trash a little like making Richard Nixon jokes? It is possible to turn the lens on an ancient stupidity well after the fact (see Life of Brian or Cradle Will Rock) but middle distances are much harder and unless there is a modern allegory you had better have a very sharp pencil to make it work.

I really wanted to like a picture with such a great premise, that of sticking it to ignorant people by using their own words against them. Sadly, I couldn’t get behind the execution. The film is so faithful to the original work that they received permission for this adaptation. When the people you’re trying to insult are perfectly happy with what you’re doing, who’s getting the last laugh? Spewing out hateful doggerel verbatim for 40 minutes simply did not achieve a sense of amusement or satirize the original work. It just grated. Go watch Mazes & Monsters instead…

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test & The Representation Test Score:

I’m not doing these for this thing; it fails automatically based on the source material.

[schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.darkdungeonsthemovie.com/” name=”Dark Dungeons: The Movie” description=”Innocent students Debbie and Marcie arrive at college eager to save souls, but will they be able to save their own when they’re seduced by the exotic and sinister world of role playing games?” director=”L. Gabriel Gonda” ]http://www.darkdungeonsthemovie.com/

Main Cast	Alyssa Kay Debbie, Anastasia Higham Marcie, Tracy Hyland Mistress Frost, Trevor Cushman Mike
Rating
Release Date	Thu 14 Aug 2014 UTC
Director	L. Gabriel Gonda
Genres	Short, Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Plot	Two college students are seduced into the evil cult of role playing games.
Poster
Runtime	40
Tagline
Writers	Jack Chick (comic), JR Ralls (as Ralls Jr.) (screenplay)
Year	2014

December 8, 2014

Now Very Beholder…40 years of Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons turned 40 years old in January of this year (2014). In recognition, we are rebranding our site for one week to Now Very Beholder… and focusing just on the films that star or in some way revolve around D&D.

I love Dungeons & Dragons. It was a big part of my life as a kid, it was one of the main ways I kept out of trouble as a teenager and despite not playing in years still holds great interest for me as an adult. I may not have had an active game in decades, but I still consider myself a D&D gamer. It’s the lens through which I view fantasy novels and films, and I still feel protective of the game and the way gamers are portrayed.

I was lucky to grow up in an open-minded, supportive town and school system that never fell in with the hysteria surrounding the supposed dangers of the game. I was even luckier to have two attentive, loving parents that not only weren’t swayed by the ridiculous claims that the game was dark, occult propaganda, but took the time to take an interest in what this thing was that my sister and I were so fascinated by. I remember a lot of miniatures under the Christmas tree in our house.

Games are important. Whether sports, board games, card games, tabletop role-playing games (RPGs), live action role-play (LARP), fantasy football, dice, or playing cops and robbers in the backyard, games are arguably human-kinds greatest pastime. Whether for diversion, entertainment or profession, engaging in games develops vital skills and abilities for life.

Many learned people more erudite than I can and have written pieces on how vital role-play is in the development of imagination, confidence, identity, strategic thinking, and emotional growth. I’ll just say that I consider RPGs in general and Dungeons & Dragons in specific fantastic tools in developing creative and interesting members of our society, regardless of how they experience or participate in the games.

But whether LARPing or sitting around a table, there’s something truly special about the human interaction that really is the root of all of these experiences. I am an avowed tech geek and have long wished for the creation of a great technological system for enabling people to belly up to a digital table and really recreate that experience. (There’s lots of workarounds and tools, but I have yet to see something that really works seamlessly and feels like a suitable replacement for meeting in my friend John’s basement with a group of friends.) But whether you’re in the same room or on different corners of the Earth, all that matters is the human connection.

It’s just a ton of fun. Play Pathfinder or Candyland. Just play…

December 8, 2014

Blog

The Dungeon Masters (2008)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Dungeon Masters:

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test & The Representation Test Score: n/a

Zero Charisma (2013)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Zero Charisma:

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

The Representation Test Score: C (5 pts)

Mazes and Monsters (1982)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Mazes and Monsters:

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

The Representation Test Score: D (2 pts)

Dark Dungeons: The Movie (2014)

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Dark Dungeons: The Movie:

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test & The Representation Test Score:

Now Very Beholder…40 years of Dungeons & Dragons