The FFOW! series takes a look at that vast library created by the proud and the passionate: fan films. Whether the budget and talent is astronomical or amateur, FFOW! celebrates the filmmakers whose love of comics, books, movies, video games, and TV shows inspires them to join the great conversation with their own homemade masterpieces.
By Jake Thomas, Guest Contributor to Fanboy Comics
This week, in “honor” of the release of Hasbro’s newest blastin’-action battle epic Battleship, FFOW! takes a look at several of the lesser-known films based on other classic board game properties. Prepare for war as we take on The Board Game Collection! (*CAUTION: Some language and scenes may be NSFW.)
THE FILM: Scrabble: The Movie
CREATED BY: Moviedex
Away down under in Adelaide, Australia, the folks at Moviedex (formerly cutprintreview) adapted America’s dullest board game into the must-see spelling-bee movie of the decade. Or not. However, they’ve crafted a single trailer that playfully rips on every expositional military debriefing scene in the movies. It’s less than a minute long, but Scrabble: The Movie spoofs Armageddon, Transformers, and even A Few Good Men to the letter!
WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT:
Scrabble: The Movie is posted on YouTube. You can see other film reviews and parodies at their site, moviedex.com.
THE FILM: Hungry Hungry Hippos
CREATED BY: Sneaky Zebra
UK-based filmmakers Gary Scullion and Nick Acott have “known each other since school,” according to their site at sneakyzebra.com. Their mix of sci-fi love and digital visual effects collide together in Hungry Hungry Hippos, a trailer-length send-up of Syfy Channel original programming. Combining the best elements of the “five teenagers, no rules” plot device, a group of young partygoers out for a kegger in the woods soon discover the rapid speed and ravenous bite of the world’s fastest hippopotami. Bonus: the side-splitting, split-second homage to Predator.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT:
There are hundreds of shorts online based on the classic Hungry Hungry Hippos game. You can find this one at www.youtube.com/user/sneakyzebra, along with other game-based films.
THE FILM: Guess Who?
CREATED BY: 5 Second Films
This one is less of a fan film and more just an excuse to shout-out to one of my favorite comedy websites, 5 Second Films. This sketch group centered in Los Angeles has created more than ONE THOUSAND (!) individual shorts about everything from sex to mutant shark people attacking your home — and every one is only five seconds long. They’ve successfully garnered a stockade of celebrity guests, including Patton Oswald, Juliette Lewis, and Weird Al Yankovic. Recently, they even starred in a spotlight feature on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly.
In Guess Who? the lady gamers ask the questions that really matter about men. It’s five seconds, it will make you laugh, and if you want to see more (and you should), you can find over one thousand more shorts. Meeps!
WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT:
5 Second Films hosts all of their content online at www.5secondfilms.com and on YouTube.
*CAUTION: Some language and scenes may be NSFW.
