Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story
| Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Kevin Tostado |
| Produced by | Kevin Tostado, Craig Bentley |
| Written by | Kevin Tostado, Craig Bentley |
| Starring | Philip Orbanes, Matt McNally, Rick Marinaccio, Ken Koury |
| Narrated by | Zachary Levi |
| Music by | Larry Groupé |
| Cinematography | Jordan Guzzardo |
| Edited by | Kevin Tostado, Craig Bentley |
| Distributed by | Tostie Productions, Docurama |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story is a feature-length Emmy, award-winning documentary. The film consists of a series of stories about the game of MONOPOLY and those who play it, with narration provided by Zachary Levi, star of NBC's Chuck and Disney's Tangled and directed by Kevin Tostado.[1][2]
Synopsis
Under the Boardwalk depicts the MONOPOLY national and world championships that are held around the world every four years. Leading up to crowning of a new champion at the World Championship in Las Vegas, the filmmakers follow some of the players in the game, including:
- Matt, the defending U.S. champion, who tries to earn another trip to the World Championship, along with his girlfriend, a Las Vegas showgirl.
- Dominic, who won the Rhode Island state championship in 1995 as a 14-year-old, and has always dreamed of becoming world champion.
- Rick, a lawyer from Buffalo who wants to win the prize money so he and his fiancé can buy their first house.
- Ken, who trained for 12 hours a day during his summers in college in the 70s, and has been trying to win a national championship ever since.
- Tim, a teacher in California who has used the math skills learned from MONOPOLY to help his sixth-graders achieve record test scores.[3]
- Bjørn, a 19-year-old student from Norway out to prove that a teenager can beat the seasoned veterans.
- Geoff, a banker from New Zealand whose nickname is The Nimble Thimble (TNT for short, because TNT goes boom!).
In addition to the documenting the competitive arena, the film also includes background information about the game of MONOPOLY and its development.[4] The filmmakers investigate the psychology of the game, and game experts tell their favorite strategies for winning.[5] The film includes MONOPOLY trivia and interviews with some of its die-hard collectors.
Production and screening
Filming locations included the U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Norway, Japan, Singapore and Australia. Producing the film is Philip Orbanes, a former Sr. VP at Parker Brothers, author of 3 MONOPOLY books, and current Chief MONOPOLY Judge. The film had a limited theatrical release, beginning in March 2011 [6] in San Diego, CA, and was rated G by the MPAA.[7] When the film launched digitally on iTunes in February 2012, it peaked at #99 on iTunes Top Movies chart and at #6 on iTunes Best-Selling Documentaries.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2012.[8]
Awards
In 2014, the 51" version of the film received five Regional Emmy nominations from the Pacific Southwest Chapter of NATAS.[9] The film went on to win Emmy awards in four of the five categories for which it was nominated, including Outstanding Achievement in Documentary, Directing (Post-Production), Editor (No Time Limit, Program), and Musical Arrangement/Composition.[10]
This film also won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2010 Anaheim International Film Festival as well as a Silver Telly Award in 2011,[11] the Telly's highest honor. Reviews of the film were mixed.[12][13][14]
References
- ↑ "Will they give the Scottie dog the boot? ". The Independent Liam O'Brien 9 January 2013
- ↑ "Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story Parent Review". Parent Previews, Kerry Bennett
- ↑ "Film Review: Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story". Film Journal, May 6, 2011
- ↑ "Under the Boardwalk: Doc Not Worth Your Monopoly Money". Village Voice, May 4, 2011
- ↑ "Now on DVD: take a chance on documentary 'Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story'". The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chris Ball, February 14, 2012
- ↑ http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Under-the-Boardwalk-The-MONOPOLY-Story
- ↑ http://www.filmratings.com/filmRatings_cara/reports/s10198911.htm
- ↑ "J. Edgar, Under The Boardwalk, If A Tree Falls DVD Review". G4TV, February 22, 2012
- ↑ "2014 Nomination List". NATAS PSW. April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ↑ "2014 Recipient List" (PDF). NATAS PSW. June 14, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ↑ Telly Awards. http://www.tellyawards.com/winners/ "The 31st Annual TELLY Awards | Winners." Retrieved 2010-07-19.
- ↑ "Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story 2 out of 4" . Slant Magazine. By Chuck Bowen
- ↑ "Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story (DVD Review)". Home Media Magazine, 13 Feb, 2012 By: Mike Clark
- ↑ "Crazy for Thimbles:Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story". International New York Times, By NEIL GENZLINGER, MAY 5, 2011 Review]
External links
- MonopolyDocumentary.com - The official film website
- Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story at the Internet Movie Database
- Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story at Rotten Tomatoes
- Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story at Metacritic