TOPCON
Back To The Future......
Back To The Future......
Daniel Berkey
631-357-6532
berkey.dan@gmail.com
631-357-6532
berkey.dan@gmail.com
Portrait by Heidi Arneson of Dan Berkey in 1986/2012
The latest short off the grill
THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING, by Gabriel Rodriguez-Fuller
review by Kyle Bain
THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING, by Gabriel Rodriguez-Fuller
review by Kyle Bain
DADDY'S WALLET
DADDY'S WALLET smash reviews
UKFilm Review
Search My Trash
Film Threat
One Film Fan
Film Carnage
Indy Reviews
The Final Cut
Unseen Films
Scott's Movie Comments____
As in his previous film Miss Freelance, writer/director Matthew Kyle Levine paints a stark portrait of an individual searching for emotional and sexual fulfillment in ways that would be considered non-traditional and with not necessarily felicitous results. In the earlier film the protagonist was an unorthodox sex worker. In Daddy’s Wallet it is a randy retiree doing his best to make the most of his golden years in a way that would be difficult to describe as anything other than narcissistic. There is some implied social—and maybe political—commentary here, as we witness his interactions with the women in his life and the power imbalance brought about by his gender, age and, most importantly, the titular wallet. We keep waiting for one of these younger women to just say, “OK boomer.” Levine, who is his own director of photography (collaborating with Alex Scarlatos), again favors tight shots and closeups which draw us intimately into the main character’s sensual and emotional state as well as the infirmities and foolishness of age. The other member of the filmmaking team is sound recordist/mixer Shea Glasheen, who is a co-producer with Levine and Scarlatos. Given that the scenes are frequently set in the bedroom or bathroom, we see and experience the protagonist in all his unvarnished and grizzled physicality. Narratively, the film—which is more of a character study than a story—is inventive in the way a transition suddenly introduces a new character or situation that throws us off-balance. Daddy is played by veteran stage and screen actor Daniel Martin Berkey, and his performance is impressive for its no-holds-barred lack of vanity. Snowy-haired, bearded and endowed with very expressive eyes, he inhabits the role completely. When he flashes the occasional devilish grin, there is something of Donald Sutherland about him. Indeed, the performances are the strength of this 23-minute film. There is not a false note among any of the cast which also includes Gina Marie Holden, Natasa Babic, Kelley Heyer, Alexandra Lenore and Rachel Kinzler. I found Heyer particularly moving as the daughter. Levine’s previous short films include Gloss, Megan and Weird Cupid. Seen 4 August 2021
Crichton Atkinson______
I thought that it was disturbing and uncomfortable and therefore evocative. I like the way that money has control over everyone and no one is immune from it. The protagonist is a control freak to the women in his life with its power but he is also the slave of his money. The way that rich people never know if you like them for them or them for their money, he is cheated out of relationships because of the money even though he is manipulating everyone with it. He is lonely and twisted looking for comfort and meaning because he has put money between himself and the world. He is horrible to his wife, maybe she is with other men too, but he snuck around for a year but won’t let her go, their communication is a train wreck. The young lover, does she love him for his wallet? Does she love him? Is it a fetish? There is the practical bond of marriage and then there is the fantasy of the lover. He is willing to trash his marriage but would the lover ever be more than a lover? Would their age difference be too much? Is she into him for his coin and prestige and is he into her for her youth or do they actually love the essence of the other. The loneliness of using people. The ends justifying the means. An inauthentic bond. Are they just escapes for the other, fantasies. I like the kid showing up and saying daddy
and how that’s different than the woman her age fucking her father saying daddy as a fetish.
UKFilm Review
Search My Trash
Film Threat
One Film Fan
Film Carnage
Indy Reviews
The Final Cut
Unseen Films
Scott's Movie Comments____
As in his previous film Miss Freelance, writer/director Matthew Kyle Levine paints a stark portrait of an individual searching for emotional and sexual fulfillment in ways that would be considered non-traditional and with not necessarily felicitous results. In the earlier film the protagonist was an unorthodox sex worker. In Daddy’s Wallet it is a randy retiree doing his best to make the most of his golden years in a way that would be difficult to describe as anything other than narcissistic. There is some implied social—and maybe political—commentary here, as we witness his interactions with the women in his life and the power imbalance brought about by his gender, age and, most importantly, the titular wallet. We keep waiting for one of these younger women to just say, “OK boomer.” Levine, who is his own director of photography (collaborating with Alex Scarlatos), again favors tight shots and closeups which draw us intimately into the main character’s sensual and emotional state as well as the infirmities and foolishness of age. The other member of the filmmaking team is sound recordist/mixer Shea Glasheen, who is a co-producer with Levine and Scarlatos. Given that the scenes are frequently set in the bedroom or bathroom, we see and experience the protagonist in all his unvarnished and grizzled physicality. Narratively, the film—which is more of a character study than a story—is inventive in the way a transition suddenly introduces a new character or situation that throws us off-balance. Daddy is played by veteran stage and screen actor Daniel Martin Berkey, and his performance is impressive for its no-holds-barred lack of vanity. Snowy-haired, bearded and endowed with very expressive eyes, he inhabits the role completely. When he flashes the occasional devilish grin, there is something of Donald Sutherland about him. Indeed, the performances are the strength of this 23-minute film. There is not a false note among any of the cast which also includes Gina Marie Holden, Natasa Babic, Kelley Heyer, Alexandra Lenore and Rachel Kinzler. I found Heyer particularly moving as the daughter. Levine’s previous short films include Gloss, Megan and Weird Cupid. Seen 4 August 2021
Crichton Atkinson______
I thought that it was disturbing and uncomfortable and therefore evocative. I like the way that money has control over everyone and no one is immune from it. The protagonist is a control freak to the women in his life with its power but he is also the slave of his money. The way that rich people never know if you like them for them or them for their money, he is cheated out of relationships because of the money even though he is manipulating everyone with it. He is lonely and twisted looking for comfort and meaning because he has put money between himself and the world. He is horrible to his wife, maybe she is with other men too, but he snuck around for a year but won’t let her go, their communication is a train wreck. The young lover, does she love him for his wallet? Does she love him? Is it a fetish? There is the practical bond of marriage and then there is the fantasy of the lover. He is willing to trash his marriage but would the lover ever be more than a lover? Would their age difference be too much? Is she into him for his coin and prestige and is he into her for her youth or do they actually love the essence of the other. The loneliness of using people. The ends justifying the means. An inauthentic bond. Are they just escapes for the other, fantasies. I like the kid showing up and saying daddy
and how that’s different than the woman her age fucking her father saying daddy as a fetish.
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WINNER: "Best Actor" - Grove Film Festival (2017), The Last Visit
WINNER: "Best Actor" - NoHu International Short Film Festival (2017), The Last Visit
WINNER: "Best Actor in a Narrative Short" - Queens World Film Festival (2018), The Last Visit
WINNER: "Best Supporting Actor in a Narrative Short" - NoHu International Short Film Festival, My Dad and Bob Todd (2018)
WINNER: "Best Actor" - NoHu International Short Film Festival (2017), The Last Visit
WINNER: "Best Actor in a Narrative Short" - Queens World Film Festival (2018), The Last Visit
WINNER: "Best Supporting Actor in a Narrative Short" - NoHu International Short Film Festival, My Dad and Bob Todd (2018)
As of February 4th 2022, The Dollmaker has achieved almost 24 million views on Alter.
Check the film out here!I
Check the film out here!I
"Daniel Martin Berkey's ‘s performance is powerful, mysterious and suitable for his character, almost like a veteran magician."
EHpodcasts.com, Darsh Davis Oct 11th 2020
EHpodcasts.com, Darsh Davis Oct 11th 2020
"Daniel Martin Berkey plays the doll maker as two parts Christopher Lloyd mad scientist and one part Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. He’s a genial fellow with a strange, off-center malice underlying everything he says."
Matthew Myers, IMDB Oct 4th 2019
Matthew Myers, IMDB Oct 4th 2019
"Berkey is fabulously creepy and jovial as the Dollmaker, a supernatural car salesman, offering the grieving couple what they want, with a cost just warned enough that it is clear he knows what it is." Scix Maddix, HorrorBuzz.com May 25th 2019
"The Dollmaker engaged me more than most feature horrors that have been released in the last few years and definitely goes to show that you do not need a big budget, nor 120 minutes to make people feel things."
Hannah Brown, June 29th, 2019
Hannah Brown, June 29th, 2019
"The Dollmaker (Dan Berkey) exudes a great blend of foreboding and grotesque smiles. I especially like how he refers to children as brats!"
London Horror Society December 4th, 2018
London Horror Society December 4th, 2018
“This chilling work, with shades of The Monkey’s Paw and other scare fare about unintended consequences, features a fantastic performance by Daniel Martin Berkey as the titular creepy craftsman, who creates a doll in the likeness of a couple’s deceased little boy.”
Joseph Perry, Ghastly Grinning, April 5th, 2019
Joseph Perry, Ghastly Grinning, April 5th, 2019
"Berkey is disquieting as a hybrid of salesman and necromancer with the subtly soulless qualities of both and an unsettling toothy grin" HorrorShow Video Vault, June 6, 2019
