A Thousand Tomorrows, Season 1 (Spring 2023)

Plot Summary

Ali Daniels and Cody Gunner are both running from something, and neither one of them want to admit what it is. Ali and Cody both keep their personal lives to themselves and work out their emotions in the arena at their first love – the rodeo. Cody is angry about how things went down with his family when he was a child, and he uses that anger to drive his reckless approach to bull riding. Ali doesn’t want to admit that she’s not invincible, so she goes to great lengths to keep to herself and do what she wants with her life no matter what anyone else thinks. When Cody and Ali meet, their shared drivenness leads to an immediate connection. Will Ali and Cody face what each of them are running from so that they can live the rest of their tomorrows with honesty?

Production Quality (2 points)

The production quality in this season is average in the first two episodes but it increases slowly as the series progresses and eventually becomes slightly above average. There are some moments of shaky cam throughout the series, and there is nothing particularly artistic about the camerawork. Overall, the production quality is standard but not incredible.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2.5 points)

A Thousand Tomorrows’ plot and storyline is stronger than the novel of the same name, but there are some plot holes. Positives include the Christian message and the realistic flashbacks of Cody’s childhood experiences. Also, there are memorable moments of depth and relevancy throughout the series that hint at future potential on behalf of the screenwriter(s). It’s almost like they took on too broad of a storyline for one season of a show. This being said, negatives include Cody and Ali’s incomplete character arcs. For instance, what motivates Cody to become ‘good’? One minute he’s sleeping around and drinking, and the next he’s infatuated with Ali, who seems to be a mostly perfect character except for what she’s hiding from everyone, which is also not her fault. That brings up another point, like Cody, Ali’s character shows a lot of potential, but two episodes of strong dialogue do not translate a solid character arc. Lastly, secondary characters do not contribute much in the way of dialogue, and the plot flounders until finding solid ground in the second half of the season. On the whole, this is a good start for a first-time filmmaking crew, and it is certainly something that can be built upon in the next season (if there is one?).

Acting Quality (2 points)

The acting quality shows potential but is a bit inconsistent. The acting from the entire cast is generally good in episodes 3 and 4, and the final episodes have strong moments as well. However, it is inconsistent in the other episodes. In the actors/actresses’ defense, at times it seems like they truly don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing in a scene. This trend is a recurring one throughout the series. Rose Reid and Colin Ford bounce off of each other well as co-stars. There are some moments of awkwardness, but on the whole, their performances are above average. Cole Sibus shows promise as a new face in Christian film, and the BOR team would like to see more of his acting in other projects. Some of the secondary characters could have more meaningful dialogue. Overall, this section receives an average rating.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Continuity is the weakest point of the series. Some aspects of the main character’s arcs are left unfinished, and the episodes are either packed with content and meaningful dialogue or slow with rodeo montages and moments of innuendo between characters. Definitely some room for improvement here.

Conclusion

Overall, the BOR team enjoyed watching this show, and some members stated they would watch it again. (spoiler) People who struggle with childhood trauma and/or an illness will find much they can relate to in this show. I look forward to seeing what type of content this creative team turns out in the future, and I hope that they will build on their foundation in the coming years.

Final Rating: 7.5 out of 14 points

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April 7, 2023 by amg16 Categories: Series ReviewsTags: A Thousand Tomorrows Season One, Inspirational, Karen Kingsbury, Tyler Russell Leave a comment

The Committee, Season 1 [2015] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Park Grove Community Church is in trouble. The executive committee is meeting to determine the future of the church, and the most powerful businessman in the congregation wants to dissolve the church. However, a long-time member wants to save her home church, so she asks a random Christian entertainment star to join the committee and revitalize the church. What ensues is a lot of conflict and healthy dialogue about the purpose of the local church.

Production Quality (2 points)

For the most part, the production of The Committee is acceptable. Video quality and audio quality are fine. However, camera work is plagued with modern sitcom tropes, like mid-shot zooms and shaky perspective camera angles. Sets, locations, and props are a bit limited due to the genre as well, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with them. Further, editing is also fine, which further contributes to the above-average score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The writers of this narrative raise good points about the local church being out of touch. The dry comedy therein is sometimes funny and other times cheesy. Dialogue and conversations are sometimes interesting, but much of it is overly engineered to cover certain topics and force the characters to talk about the issues in seemingly unnatural ways. As a result, the characters oscillate between being stereotypes and being realistic. There was plenty of potential in this plot, but it would have been better to either construct a more solid premise or avoid forcing so many topics into the course of the conversations. This would have allowed for better character development. In the end, a small rating is warranted here due to the potential within.

Acting Quality (2 points)

As a whole, the acting in this season is at least above the mark. Many of the cast members stay within their ranges and avoiding trying too hard. There are some moments where the acting leaves something to be desired, including emotions and line delivery. However, the performances generally improve with time, thus leading to an above-average score.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

It’s hard to understand why the first season of this series needed so many short episodes. Without the short episodes, this wouldn’t be much of a series. Elsewhere in this section, there are some good character arcs although they are a bit forced at times. Each episode is well-organized despite short length, but there just isn’t enough dynamic in this area to justify a higher score.

Conclusion

It’s evident that the creators behind this series meant well. They explore many relevant topics in their creation that can get audiences to think. However, the method of delivery was not the best. Overall, the series would have benefited from longer, more substantial episodes that included deeper character development via meaningful dialogue and conversations. As it is, this season is like an outline for an idea that needs fleshing out. Perhaps, in the future, this creative team will keep this in mind.

Final Rating: 6 out of 14 points

August 19, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: Ayla Williams, Comedy, Drama, Elisa Aldridge, Harry Leake, Henry Haggard, Inspirational, Jackie Welch, Jeremy Childs, Jordan Sherley, Joshua Childs, Julian Vaca, Laurel Johnston, Quinn Cooke, Scott C. Jackson, Steve Horswill-Johnston, Tim Wells Leave a comment

The Chosen, Season 2 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

After Jesus launched his public earthly ministry and took it to the next level by going to Samaria, the disciples thought that everything would be easy for them. However, things don’t pan out the way that they expect as they struggle with group dynamics, dark pasts, and outside opposition. In the end, as Jesus prepares for a sermon that will take His ministry to the next level, the disciples have to come to terms with what their new life means and what the Messiah has come to truly accomplish.

Production Quality (2.5 points)

Many aspects of the production of Season 2 have greatly improved from Season 1, most notably the camera work, sets, and locations. However, for the most part, this talented team retained the authenticity and grittiness that was captured in Season 1 despite having more to work with. Camera work, video quality, and audio are all top-notch. Sets, locations, and props are realistic and culturally accurate. There are virtually no editing problems, so the only minor nitpick here is the fact that a few key moments are lacking the soundtrack that has come to be one of the core tenets of The Chosen. It’s unclear why this was the case, but it takes the wind out of the sails in certain circumstances. Nonetheless, this is another top-quality production that’s worthy of a high score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2.5 points)

It’s undeniable that the writers of The Chosen put much effort into making sure that the narrative is engaging and as accurate as possible. Season 2 is full of relatable and deep character arcs that portray the human experience and progress in realistic ways. Dialogue and conversations are excellent although slightly lacking some of the philosophy that we grew to love in Season 1. In Season 2, we get to watch a plausible interpretation of how the disciples might have interacted and how outside groups like the Pharisees and Romans may have approached Jesus in His early earthly ministry. There’s no doubt that the creators took the storytelling of the series to the next level by building intrigue and backstory for the outside events that were likely surrounding Jesus’ earthly ministry. For the most part, all characters are depicted as nuanced and motivated by various factors rather than all good or all bad. Further, the world-building in this season is superb as the writers demonstrate firm commitment to exploring and portraying the first-century Jewish culture in which Jesus lived. The main contention in this section that prevents a perfect score is the somewhat disjointed ending to the season. Some leaps in logic are taken to force a certain point, and the core philosophy of the show is temporarily abandoned just so certain moments can happen. This conclusion seems out-of-place compared to the rest of the season, which is disappointing since it’s the last thing that is seen. Nonetheless, there is still plenty to celebrate in this season as this plot is still very high quality.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)

For the most part, The Chosen, Season 2 picks up right where the first season left off in the acting department. Sporting an extremely talented cast of culturally authentic members, the learned accents enhance the realistic experience. Nearly 95% of all performances are very strong, including emotions and line delivery in key moments. However, there are a few missteps that keep this section from being perfect. For instance, Noah James is expected to do a lot more than his acting range allows him to do, which is a drag. Other scenes are obviously one-takes due to extenuating circumstances, so this is an unfortunate fact. In the end, however, this section still receives a very high score due to loaded talent.

Continuity Quality (3 points)

The writers of The Chosen are clearly skilled in establishing setups and payoffs in their narratives. In Season 2, character arcs and storylines are also superb. No scene is wasted, and logical reasons are given for why things happen. As previously mentioned, the world-building of this series is unparalleled as the viewer is drawn into an authentic experience in first-century Judea. There are virtually no errors in this section.

Conclusion

The Chosen, Season 2 receives one x-factor point for attention to detail and making everything count. However, unlike the first season, this follow-up seasons does not receive the other x-factor point for rewatchability. It was evident during the lead-up to this season that Season 2 would be one that sets up many future events, and this assertion was definitely true. Set-up is necessary, but it doesn’t always produce rewatchability. Nonetheless, we respect what is being done here since it will hopefully make future seasons even better. One word of caution that we have to offer is that, much like Jesus’ ministry in the series is becoming more popular, as The Chosen increases in real-world popularity, especially among the Christian elite, the creative team will face an even more daunting task of avoiding the accidental creation of an echo chamber. We love The Chosen and everything that they are doing, and there were many enjoyable moments that make Season 2 worth your time (and land the season on the Hall of Fame). Because we care about The Chosen and the team behind it, we feel the need to offer a small warning about the future of this series: don’t let it go the way of all Christian projects. Stay committed to being different and doing what God wants you to do.

Final Rating: 11.5 out of 14 points

July 15, 2021July 16, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: Aalok Mehta, Abe Martell, Adam Drake, Alaa Safi, Amber Shana Williams, Angel Studios, Anne Beyer, Anthony Michael Irizarry, Austin Alleman, Austin Reed Alleman, Autumn Jordan, Bobby Cody, Brad Schmidt, Brandon Potter, Chad Gunderson, Charan Prabhakar, Charla Bocchicchio, Chris Juen, Christopher Maleki, Dallas Jenkins, Dan Haseltine, David Amito, Dennis Apergis, Derral Eves, Earl Seals, Elijah Alexander, Eric Osmond, George Xanthis, Giavani Cairo, Hassan Nazari-Robati, Ivan Jasso, Joey Vahedi, Jordan Walker Ross, Jorge Franco IV, Joseph Campbell, Josh Zagoren, Justin Tolley, K. Danor Gerald, Kenneisha Thompson, Kirk B.R. Woller, Kurt Gebhards, Lara Silva, Lee Amir-Cohen, Loaves and Fishes Productions, Luiz Laffey, Luke Dimyan, Major Dodge Jr., Marco Khan, Marty Lindsey, Matt Nelson, Matthew Faraci, Matthew S. Nelson, Maz Siam, Mitch Hudson, Nick Shakoour, Nikhil Prakash, Nina Leon, Noe de la Garza, Out of Order Productions, Out of Order Studios, Ricky Ray Butler, Ruby Amanfu, Ryan Swanson, Sergio Lanza, Shaan Sharma, Shaun Bedgood, The Chosen series, The Chosen TV Series, Tony Sears, Vanessa DeSilvio, VidAngel Studios, Wasim No'Mani, Yoshi Barrigas 1 Comment

Genesis 7, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

At some point, some creationist company got enough money to create their own space exploration program, complete with highly advanced and complex technology that allows crews to visit any part of the solar system. Captain Enoch Andrews and his crew are tasked with searching the outer reaches of the galaxy for evidence that disproves Darwinism and proves creationist propaganda to be true. What types of drama could they get up to???

Production Quality (1 point)

This production team bit off way more than they could chew. Incredibly cheap CGI dominates the viewing experience. Annoying sound effects and poor special effects are also problems to contend with. Shaky camera work and dark lighting don’t help matters. The soundtrack is generic, but video quality is fine. Also, the limited sets, locations, and props don’t represent what they are supposed to emulate. Further, the editing is full of awkward cuts and continuity errors. Nonetheless, there is slight improvement with time that is enough to prevent this section from staying in the basement.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-1 points)

This series is essentially a tool of creationist propaganda. The writers had a clear agenda to push their opinions about young-earth creationism all the while relying on fake science to conveniently power their plot devices. In between constant spoon-feeding of tenets from the fundamentalist worldview, cardboard characters sit around in terrible CGI settings, reciting lines without feeling. As such, the dialogue and conversations are vanilla, full of information dumps and constant swipes at Darwinism. Every situation that the characters find themselves in is purposely contrived to push a point. When faced with stressful circumstances, the characters lack normal human emotions and reactions. Thus, there is basically no substantial conflict, and the narrative overall lacks clear purpose or focus. In the end, due to its propaganda elements, this storyline receives negative points.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Although the acting is not all bad, much of it is extremely stilted and mechanical. Line delivery and emotions are robotic and unsure. Many performances are very muted and blank. Most of this section is very forgettable, leaving not much to say except that only a small score is warranted here.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

Throughout this ridiculous series, there are no actual subplots or arcs to follow between episodes. Nothing substantial happens at all as each episode basically repeats the others in slightly different ways. The writers just kept repackaging the same concepts over and over again, hoping no one would notice. Thus, no points are awarded here.

Conclusion

When a creator’s entire purpose is destroy another worldview by pushing propaganda, this endeavor will never end well. Audiences will see right through these schemes and call the efforts out for what they are. It’s un-Christian to try to convert people using the methods that are employed in Genesis 7. Fighting over scientific opinions simply is not worth it.

Final Rating: 1 out of 14 points

June 24, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Sci-Fi, Series ReviewsTags: 2012, Bret Wolfe, Dalton Wolfe, Emily Martin, Hannah Martin, Steve Skinner Leave a comment

Real Stories with Christ, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Pastor Joe wants to be a good pastor, but church stuff is hard. The devil is always trying to throw him off, and it seems like every day, Joe experiences a modern-day version of a well-known Bible story. Will he and his wife be able to withstand the tests and trials of life???

Production Quality (1 point)

The group at Strong Foundation Films consistently produces low-quality productions, and this miniseries is no exception. Despite okay video quality, camera work is inconsistent throughout. Audio quality is poor, including loud background sounds and a generic soundtrack. While outside lighting is acceptable, indoor lighting is not, and the sets, locations, and props are cheap and limited. Further, editing is choppy, and although there is slight improvement with time in all production aspects, only a meager score can be awarded here because of all the concerns.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Like many other narratives produced by this creative team, the plot of Real Stories with Christ is very hard to follow. Presenting one thing after the next without much actual dialogue, the writers choose to have things randomly happen without good reasons. There is also a fixation on the dramatic and sensational, especially an unnecessary obsession with dark spiritual warfare as basically every episode has a long and drawn-out exorcism sequence. With these ridiculous wastes of time, the story lacks central focus, clear purpose, and consistent themes. Long conversations accomplish nothing and produce blank characters. Events only occur because the writers want them to happen, and problems are unrealistically fixed very quickly. Full of Christian platitudes, cheesy messaging, juvenile worldviews, and patriarchal attitudes, this section cannot receive any points.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Per usual for Strong Foundation, the acting in Real Stories is predictably bad. Josiah David Warren dominates the screen time with his typically awkward and cringey performances. Many cast members are trying too hard, and some exhibit uneven lines and emotions that don’t appropriately fit the moment. Injury acting is laughably bad, and the biblical components of the acting include low-quality costuming and inaccurate cultural portrayals. However, there is at least some good acting in this series, such as the performances posted by Amber Shana Williams. Hence, a small score can be awarded here.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

It’s very confusing and unclear as to how this series relates to Who Am I? because Amber Shana Williams plays a different character in that movie than she does in Real Stories. This creates continuity problems, but there are other concerns in this section, such as a lack of character arcs. Though some subplots are followed between episodes, these narratives are formulaic and predictable. Also, some characters disappear between episodes with no good explanations. Thus, this rounds out an underwhelming effort.

Conclusion

This series is basically the culmination of all the other failed projects that have been produced by the Strong Foundation team. Real Stories includes all the predictable elements from this group and offers very little to redeem itself. As they continue to taint Christian entertainment with this offerings, there’s little advice to offer the Strong Foundation creators. They will obviously continue to do what they do without changing.

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

June 17, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: Abby Joy, Alexis Noel Warren, Amber Shana Williams, Chloe Flores, Diane Mozzone, Drama, Ezra Flores, Inspirational, Jasmine Williams, Josiah David Warren, Karen Roberge, Lourdes Narro, Michael Maponga, Skeeta Jenkins, Strong Foundation Films, Sun Hui East, Taylor Murphy, Trent Jolie Leave a comment

Jacob’s Ladder, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Rafael is a lighthouse keeper in Wales who has an unexplained magical ability to let local kids cross back and forth between the present timeline and the historical timeline of the Bible. When the secret portals open up, the kids can interact with the biblical accounts as they appear to take place on top of the modern world but also in the past at the same time. It’s amazing what a little time travel convenience can do!

Production Quality (0 points)

This Byzantine production has some of the worst Bible props ever, coupled with cheap sets and locations. What’s more, these elements lack cultural and historical authenticity. Elsewhere, grainy video quality and wild camera work make for an unpleasant viewing experience. Audio quality is very poor, and the soundtrack is quite loud. The editing is all over the map, creating a dizzying presentation that confuses the audience. Because of these obvious problems, no points can be awarded here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-1 points)

Whose idea was this anyway? The very unusual time travel premise of Jacob’s Ladder makes no sense at all. How are the biblical accounts happening on top of modern-day Wales? How do the characters randomly cross back and forth in time, seemingly forming an alternate timeline? Are they just imaging that this is happening, or is it really occurring? How are they able to sometimes become characters in the historical accounts and actually influence the Bible events? This series was basically doing Assassin 33 AD before their time. In other aspects of this section, live narration is extremely annoying since it leaves nothing to chance. The stories that are chosen for this season are different from usual biblical entertainment, but they are crammed into tine timeframes that leave little room for anything interesting. Both the narration and the rapid-fire narrative presentation short-circuit character development, not to mention that the dialogue is totally bland. In the end, there is too much negative here due to the outrageous and unexplained alterations of historical events, making this section negative.

Acting Quality (0 points)

Mixing terrible homemade Bible-play-caliber costuming with modern-day dress is never a good recipe for historical entertainment success, but Jacob’s Ladder does just this. Makeup work also leaves a lot to be desired. Like many projects before it, this series lacks historical and cultural authenticity in casting and even reuses cast members for different stories. The actual performances are covered up with this nonsense, but they still aren’t very good. Emotional and line delivery are very staged and robotic. Hence, no points can be justified here.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

After enduring an annoying opening sequence, viewers are forced to see one thing happen after the next without any significant arcs or themes. There are little to no subplots that are followed throughout the season, and the characters remain static throughout the series. This project might as well have been an anthology with how little continuity there was between episodes, so once again, no points can be given here.

Conclusion

If watchers aren’t thoroughly confused about the Bible after seeing Jacob’s Ladder, they’ll be turned off to its very low-quality presentation. This absolute train wreck should have never existed and now only serves as yet another example of how not to do it. Hopefully, in our current entertainment market, we’re past seeing utter nonsense like this come out.

Final Rating: -1 out of 14 points

February 17, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: Aneurin Barnard, Anneka Edwards, Bible, Biblical, Billy Engel, Christopher Conway, Craig Barlow, Daniel Phillips, Drama, Emily Smith, Evangelische Omroep, Fantasy, Gemma Rhys-Jones, Historical, Inspirational, Jessica Thomas, Jonathan Ware, Marc Rhys, Marcia Engel, Maria Pride, Matthew Morgan, Pamela Merrick, Paul Amos, Paul Clash, Philip Howe, Richard Pask, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Vision Video, Wynford Ellis Owen 1 Comment

Barabbas, Season 1 [2012] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Barabbas led a band of rebels against the occupying Roman government, but his criminal activity led him to have close contact with Jesus at His own trial. Barabbas was set free in exchange for Jesus, but afterward, he was faced with a series of choices. What would he ultimately decide?

Production Quality (2 points)

As a well-funded production, Barabbas has fine video quality and camera work. Its sets, locations, and props demonstrate great historical authenticity. Audio quality is passable despite a generic soundtrack. The biggest issues with this section is the poor editing, which is evidenced by quick cuts and abrupt transitions. Otherwise, this is likely the season’s best element.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Even though this miniseries contains a slightly interesting premise, it’s difficult to connect with the characters as they seem to just be pawns in the plot. Barabbas has some believable aspects to his personality, but all of the characters need a lot more work with more substantial dialogue and flashbacks in order to avoid their being very blank and generic. As usual, Jesus is portrayed in a very odd way, and the narrative is full of pronounced and forceful drama. Action and fighting scenes fill time and circumvent opportunities to establish reasons why the characters do what they do besides what the storyline wants them to do. This wasted time also causes important scenes to be quickly skipped through, which causes off-screen content to be referenced rather than shown. Some scenes go by really fast for the sake of hitting certain high points while others contain some oddly suggestive content that seems very out of place. Although there are too many characters as too many things are trying to be done at once and while the main character’s motivations don’t make much sense, the ending is actually unique. However, it takes forever to get there and lacks the proper build-up, which rounds out a section with slight potential yet plenty of problems.

Acting Quality (1 point)

In keeping with other offerings from the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the acting of Barabbas is only dramatic and theatrical. Many cast members come off as robotic, and most of the actresses seem like they’ve been coached (or even forced) to sound like they’re always out of breath. Much of the makeup work is unusual, and the cast isn’t always culturally authentic. Elsewhere, the injury acting is quite poor. Nonetheless, despite these obvious concerns, there are some positive moments of acting, and it tends to improve with time.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Throughout this fairly short miniseries, it’s hard to keep up with the different timelines. Many things just happen with no warning, lead-up, or explanation. Also, the tone is constantly changing throughout the saga, which hampers continuity. As such, there’s often no real driving focus even though it’s named after a historical character. Nonetheless, much like other elements there is some slight potential in the series’s latter third, which is enough to save this section from a null score.

Conclusion

In the end, there’s unfortunately not much to work with in Barabbas. It had a lot going for it to be a unique take on a biblical narrative, but fell short in nearly every category. It could never decide what it wanted to be and thus isolated all potential audiences. Now, it’s simply been forgotten by much of the Christian realm and only serves as an example of how not to do it.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 14 points

June 23, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 2012, Aïcha Ben Ahmed, Alessandra Costanzo, Anna Valle, Bible, Biblical, Billy Zane, Compagnia Leone Cinematografica, Cristiana Capotondi, Drama, Federico Scardamaglia, Filippo Nigro, Filippo Rizzello, Francesco Scardamaglia, Franco Castellano, Giampiero Judica, Historical, Hristo Shopov, Iaon Gunn, Inspirational, Lorenzo Balducci, Luca Fiamenghi, Luigi Di Fiore, Marco Dionisi, Marco Foschi, Maria Cristina Heller, Matteo Branciamore, Nicola Lusuardi, Nicola Sorrenti, Nicolò Forte, Paola Pannicelli, Paolo Seganti, Paolo Vivaldi, Pär Lagerkvist, Polyband, Rai Fiction, ReelzChannel, Roberto Zorzut, Roger Young, Salvatore Basile, Tommaso Ramenghi, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Valentina Carnelutti Leave a comment

Superbook, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Chris Quantum, Joy Pepper, and their robotic friend Gizmo often find themselves facing moral and spiritual dilemmas. Every time they face one of these conundrums, a mysterious book-like device appears and sucks them into an alternate dimension where they become minor characters in Old and New Testament Bible stories. As they move at a breakneck speed through the entire Bible, Chris, Joy, and Gizmo find themselves participating in everything from the creation story to the end of the world!

Production Quality (2 points)

The production quality of season 1 of Superbook is fine for the most part, with no major errors. The animated characters move about and interact with one another in realistic ways. Additionally, they demonstrate basic facial expressions. The creators also avoid reusing the same character molds for differing characters (if you’ve been watching animated Christian kids content for while, you know what I mean). Comparatively, the animation quality in this series is above average, but leans towards being a bit clunky. For instance, the characters’ skin and hair quality is not extremely realistic, and the overall presentation reminds the viewer of plastic figurines. Additionally, the musical score is average, but the show’s intro and outro are above average and demonstrate creative potential that was not applied to all aspects of the series. On the whole, there are neither major errors nor successes to note in this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The plots and storylines found in Superbook, Season 1 are a hodgepodge of above and below average content. First, the redundant Bible lesson setups at the start of each episode are not very creative, and the Bible story portrayals range from very creative to generic. For example, at the beginning of every episode either Chris or Joy (mostly Chris) either refuse obey authority, misjudge someone else’s character, etc. Following this, Superbook flies out of Chris’s pocket and transports the two children – via a colorful portal – into an alternate Biblical timeline. The remainder of the runtime is spent here, and each episode concludes with the show’s theme song. The main problem with this storyline model is that is becomes very monotonous if the creative team does not include self-aware dialogue that pokes fun at this fact – see the older VeggieTales episodes for more on this. In comparison, as we indicated earlier, a few of the episodes portray well-known Bible stories in unique ways and have above average depth for a children’s series. Unfortunately, other portrayals are choppy and very basic. The only other major error to note for storyline is that this first season moves at a breakneck speed from Genesis all the way through Revelation in only thirteen episodes. In order to accomplish this feat, the creators included a handful of Old Testament characters, along with Jesus, his disciples, and Paul from the New Testament. This cherry-picking style leaves out many important parts of the Bible and makes it impossible to maintain a discernible storyline. Lastly, the character development in this series is also a mix of good and bad. In this portrayal, Jesus is stiff, inaccessible, and speaks in a monotone. The issue here should go without saying. Moreoever, all of the adults are always trying to teach the kids something – there’s no regular conversations between these two age groups. And now for the most unusual part of this series. The Satan character is completely non-believable and satirical, as evidenced by this sinister screenshot of a moment that happens over and over again in the series:

no we didn’t add that caption, unfortunately:)

Ahem, I think you get the point there. Basically the New Testament portion of the series focuses on Satan way more than on Jesus, which basically negates the entire purpose of this being a Bible show. In summary, the plots, storylines, and character development in this series are all below average.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Similarly, the acting quality of this series is average. The voice actors are mostly fine, with nothing extraordinary to note. Most of them use well modulated tones (except the guy voicing Jesus), and produce a quality performance. As a side note, some of the children are voiced by adults, which is apparent in the show. This is distracting and sends an odd message to viewers. Additionally, it would have been nice to have some culturally authentic voice casts (i.e. not all white cast members), as many of the actors are clearly not of Israeli descent. Other than that, there’s not much else to note here.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

One of the biggest issues with Superbook is that each episode could stand alone – there is no continuity. Every episode has a unique lesson, features a different Bible character than last time, and is set in a different time period. Thus, the lessons are self-contained and don’t relate to the others. Furthermore, the characters have no arcs. For example, Chris and Joy don’t apply anything they learned in the previous episode during a new episode. They are always learning something new; to put it succinctly, they are always being taught. Chris and Joy’s character’s never have the chance to simply live. On top of all these errors, at the end of the series Chris burns down his family’s house, and after learning a vague lesson about forgiveness from the book of Revelation, the characters give verbal hints that another season of the show is coming…?!?!? Basically, after being spoon-fed a whole bunch of Biblical principles and burning down your family’s house, it’s time to move on to new horizons??? Anyway, there is simply nothing good to note here, and for that reason this series earns zero points.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Superbook is just another Christian kids show that meant well, but didn’t deliver any original or truly meaningful content. There’s nothing wrong with you and your kids watching this show, just don’t expect them to glean deep spiritual truths from it’s teachings. If even half of the errors listed above did not exist, this series could have helped fill the ever-increasing blank space of content that points children to Christ and helps them grow in their faith. Going forward, Christian movie-makers should make God-inspired content for children that they themselves would actually watch.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 14 points

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020 by amg16 Categories: Box Office Revolution Animated, Series ReviewsTags: Box Office Revolution Animated, Series Reviews, Superbook Leave a comment

Sons of Thunder, Season 1 [2019] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Simon, ever since becoming a Christian, doesn’t want to be in his motorcycle gang anymore, but the gang leader won’t let Simon out very easily. Afraid for his girlfriend’s life and uncertain of the future, Simon decides to go on a road trip since he thinks this will keep everyone safe. Along the way, Simon hops from town to town, trying to make enough money to pay his way. In each area, he’s able to magically help someone before he has to return to his pursuit of unknown goals. The question is, will he ever be safe from the grasp of the biker gang?

Production Quality (2.5 points)

For the most part, in keeping with the new ways of a well-funded PureFlix machine, Sons of Thunder sports a respectable production. This is evident in the video quality, camera work, and audio quality, including a pretty good soundtrack. Sets, locations, and props are also above average. Despite some obvious continuity errors and less-than-perfect editing, this production improves as it goes. Thus, this section is easily the strongest point of the series.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

From the get-go, the first season of Sons of Thunder is full of constant narration, which is only combined with cheesy, juvenile dialogue that’s quite obvious and expository in most scenes. Many of the plot’s circumstances come off as unrealistic and trumped up, and many of the situations characters find themselves in seem quite staged and contrived just to move the narrative forward. This makes it difficult to know who the characters actually are and why they do what they do other than the fact that they are pawns in the whims of the storyline, which forces everything to reach certain conclusions, no matter how unnatural the premises may be. Some characters have extreme swings in their behaviors without legitimate explanations or catalysts, all just to make specific instances transpire. Besides these obvious problems, the fact that the protagonist can just stumble from town to town without any clear direction or objective and always find some kind of sticky situation to patch up with his wisdom before quickly leaving without good explanation is pretty ridiculous. Why would so many people trust him and benefit from him right in a row, and how would one person benefit from so many coincidences? Elsewhere, the villains and ‘bad’ characters are beyond cheesy strawmen, and basically all of the action sequences are unrealistic. However, surprisingly, not all is bad in this section since there is a consistent presence of partially effective flashbacks that build some semblance of a backstory for the main character. Further, there are some interesting themes explored in a few of the episodes, such as desperate people doing illegal things for desperate reasons, but any good is easily wiped out by the cringe-worthy climax that leaves the viewers with a painfully obvious attempt to create a second season of this madness. Therefore, only half a point can be awarded here.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Moreover, despite obvious plot problems, the acting of this series actually isn’t half-bad. Though there are moments of unsure delivery and while some performances could be better, this section is at least above-average. Dramatic scenes are a bit overacted at times, and the villain cast members were presumably coached to be absurd. Nonetheless, this aspect of the season shows improvement with time, which is enough to warrant this score.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Sons of Thunder follows a typical recurring drama model that hearkens back to The Lone Ranger where every episode has different characters save for the main ones. As such, the protagonist hops from situation to situation, easily resolving problems within the given episode time frames. In this pursuit, episode conclusions aren’t backed up by logical progression and are rushed for the sake of time. Every episode ending is essentially the same, and while the flashbacks tend to interrupt this mold, it’s not quite enough. Another predictable aspect of this series is its use of the premiere and finale episodes to explore the bigger subplot outside of the smaller episodic ones, and though not all is bad, it’s just not quite there.

Conclusion

Despite itself, this series is actually best PureFlix Original series to date, which is really saying much considering the other options (see The Encounter, Hitting the Breaks, Malibu Dan the Family Man, and Hilton Head Island). Sons of Thunder has moments of potential and is definitely well-funded, but it just commits too many avoidable errors, mostly pertaining to poor writing. However, this isn’t anything new when it comes to PureFlix, so, at this point, we unfortunately don’t expect anything less from them.

Final Rating: 6 out of 14 points

May 19, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series Reviews, SuspenseTags: Acorye' White, Adam Cope, Alec Rayme, Amanda Joy Erickson, Amos Elseth, Anna Zielinski, Benjamin Schile, Chaz Taylor, Claire Seneca, Creek Wilson, David A. R. White, Deke Anderson, Don Swayze, Donna Morrell Gafford, Drama, Emily Peachey, Gabriel Sabloff, Gerald Brodin, GiGi Erneta, Grady McCardell, Inspirational, J.B. Barrett, Jeffrey Decker, Jeremy Lawson, Jesse Gallegos, Johnny Ray Gibbs, Jonathan Glenn, Katherine Elseth, Kimberley Bliquez, Loren F. Gilley, Martin Elfrey, Mavrick Von Haug, Mayra Leal, Michael Kruger, Michael P. Collier, Ned Yousef, PureFlix, Randal Reeder, Red State Entertainment, Remy Carter, Rex Mundo, Richard Reeder, Sam Medina, Susan Gallagher, Suspense, Tom Zembrod, Vanessa Angel Leave a comment

The Dream Motel, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Jesse and Matteo are angels who have been assigned to do various tasks on earth, one of which is to fix up an old motel in rural Georgia so that they can win the spiritual war of owning buildings around the world. If the angels can own enough buildings, they can apparently lead more people to salvation, but if the demons in disguise keep taking over God’s properties, they’ll somehow be able to bring more darkness to the earth. Can Jesse and Matteo stop them one motel guest at a time?

Production Quality (1 point)

Although the video quality and camera work are mostly fine in The Dream Motel, save for a few shaky action shots, there aren’t many other positives to point out here. Audio quality is too inconsistent, including annoying background sounds, and there’s basically no soundtrack at all. Also, outdoor lighting is fairly poor, and the sets, locations, and props are often cheap to the point of not even representing what they’re supposed to represent. Further, there’s no real editing or transitions throughout the season, and there some awkward fadeout moments. To top things off, there are bad special effects throughout, which rounds out a mediocre effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Besides the fact that The Dream Motel is a boring stock plot based on robotic dialogue and wooden characters, the world constructed in the premier and finale episodes makes no sense at all for a number of reasons. For one, it’s unclear from Scripture whether or not angels have emotions or free will to wrestle with various philosophical issues like these characters do. For another, why would God need magical locations around the world to do His bidding, and how could demons steal them without His allowance? How are atheism and secularism powerful enough to halt Christ’s will? Why would demons even have an interest in stealing magic buildings rather than actual people? These premise problems aside, the villain is stupidly obvious, some of the characters seem unnecessarily outraged at logical things, the narrative incorrectly portrays realistic circumstances involving HIPAA protection, and it’s downright creepy to have smiling angels tell humans private things about the people. It feels like this storyline exists outside of reality even though scenes drag on as lines are painfully dragged out of the characters, who talk in circles to fill the runtime, and although boring activities of daily living, expository dialogue, and off-screen content make The Dream Motel seem like most poorly crafted Christian entertainment. With basically no personality or motive for the characters and far too many coincidences to hold up the plot, this series is just a collection of disasters.

Acting Quality (0 points)

Having very stilted and overly practiced acting is almost a given when it comes to Rossetti Productions, and The Dream Motel doesn’t disappoint. Using the patented Rossetti style of basically reading lines for a church play, the cast members exhibit forced wooden emotions that make the viewers think that the actors and actresses don’t actually care about what they’re doing. Some cast members seem unnatural or even uncomfortable in their roles, and a portion of the theatrical annunciation is off-kilter. Many scenes feel like one-takes as some actors and actresses appear to forget their lines in some instances and awkwardly grasp for something to share that can fill the blank silence. Essentially, there’s nothing positive to note in this section.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Following a predictably typical series model, The Dream Motel offers premier and finale episodes that depart from the norm while all the between episodes are standard recurring dramas that introduce characters only to discard them before the credits roll. Concepts explored in the pilot aren’t returned to until the last episode, which concludes with a cheesy cliffhanger ending. While this section isn’t all bad due to some recurring subplots among the main characters, it’s still a run-of-the-mill offering with missed opportunities for continuity.

Conclusion

There are just so many things wrong with The Dream Motel from the get-go. Basically a redux of The Encounter, only with angels, this Rossetti series is based on illogical and questionable concepts yet still commits errors beyond this. Even the best ideas can be easily derailed by poor storytelling, low production quality, and abysmal acting. With so much experience under their belt and a trailed of wasted opportunities, it’s hard to know where the Rossetti Productions team is headed at this point, but this series is definitely not worth your time.

Final Rating: 2 out of 14 points

April 11, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Allen Hogan, Bella Martin, Brittany Goodwin, Caleb Martin, Carey Jones, Chip Rossetti, Christian St. John, Christian Weissmann, Christopher Hensel, Cole Cadman, Dakota Bruton, David Ditmore, David Ross, Dominick Wilkins, Donna Botts, Doris Collier, Doug Stroup, Drama, Francine Locke, Inspirational, Jeff Armstrong, Jeff Rose, Jessica Rossetti, John Cameron Bishop, John Schlitt, John Wells, Jonathan Plowman, Kaity Martin, Kamber Cain, Katie Stewart, Leah White, Margaret Tant, Mark E. Holmes, Peggy Goodman, Preston Douglas, Questar Entertainment, Reen Vogel, Robert Shepherd, Rossetti Productions, Shane A. Doyle, T. Graham Brown, TJ Cates, Todd Halliburton Leave a comment

The Power Couple, Season 1 [2019] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Gabby and Vince Powers are both superheroes with the same goal of saving the people around them from certain evil. However, they can’t seem to keep their marriage out of trouble. Thus, in order to be ready for their toughest assignment, the couple decides to attend marriage counseling, but it only seems to make things worse. Will they be able to settle their differences before it’s too late?!?

Production Quality (1 point)

Although not all of the production qualities of The Power Couple are bad, such as okay video and audio, there are also quite a few other concerns to note. For instance, cheap special effects are used throughout the series, and camera work is inconsistent, including some unnecessarily tight shots. Similarly, the sets, locations, and props are fairly limited, and the soundtrack and its accompanying sound effects are beyond cheesy. It also goes without saying that many scenes seem like there aren’t enough people in the shot to adequately support the number of individuals the scene is supposed to represent. Further, the editing leaves much to be desired, which, along with the other problems, overall contributes to an underwhelming performance in this category.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Despite The Power Couple‘s childish premise, the dialogue is surprisingly not all bad as this story attempts to do something different and tries to present real issues. However, it’s simply not enough as the superficial nature of the narrative overtakes any small amount of potential there might have been. This is evidenced by too many very poor attempts to be funny and lots of surface conversations that prevent us from properly understanding who the characters are. Additionally, many biblical and possibly substantial concepts are awkwardly shoehorned into the plot; these ideas are improperly used to magically fix the characters’ problems in illogical and unrealistic ways. Then, before the viewer is prepared, the storyline abruptly ends and expects the audience to beg for another season. In short, though there was a very slight amount of potential in this idea, it wasn’t enough to rescue the narrative from triviality and lazy writing.

Acting Quality (1 point)

For the most part, the acting in The Power Couple is pedestrian and sometimes a bit worse. Emotions are usually forced in unrealistic ways even though line delivery is mostly fine. Some cast members are better than others, but all of the costuming is horrible. One positive note is that it’s good to see a husband and wife (Carlos and Alexa PenaVega) star alongside each other, but this section is overall a disappointment.

Continuity Quality (1.5 points)

While this series has a basic amount of continuity, as evidenced by continuations between episodes and consistent subplots being focused on, it’s still not as good as it could be. For one, each episode is extremely short, which raises the question of this even needing to be a series at all. Further, all character and story arcs are basically predictable and expected with no real twists and turns. Therefore, this rounds out a very underwhelming effort.

Conclusion

It’s very unclear how and why The Power Couple was made, but it’s unfortunately a squandered idea that could have been better in different hands. For one, this type of concept requires higher amounts of funding and a lot of writing collaboration to ensure cheesiness is avoided. In the end, it seems like whatever was spent on this series would have been better used in a different way, such as being saved for higher quality productions.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 14 points

March 21, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Action Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Abigail Cowen, Action Adventure, Alexa PenaVega, Amanda Ashley Miess, Anna Zielinski, Barry Brewer, Carlos PenaVega, Charles Hoover, Comedy, David A. R. White, Dhruv Uday Singh, Drama, Eric Iskowitz, Falling Free Productions, Inspirational, Jim Frye, Kara Wang, Kevin William Paul, Luke Cheeseman, Marinna Martens, PureFlix, Rebecca Carpenter, Romance 2 Comments

The Beverlys, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Tommy Blaze Beverly is running out of money, and his constant hustles for quick cash aren’t yielding what he needs to fund his extravagant California lifestyle. Thus, when he sees a news story about foster girls in need, he jumps at the chance to make some extra money by becoming an instant foster parent basically overnight. Thankfully, his racially stereotyped butler and personal assistant are always there to meet Tommy’s beck and call, and the foster girls basically turn his house into a giant dance studio designed to hold daily auditions for the next Disney role. What could go wrong?

Production Quality (1 point)
In keeping with PureFlix’s typical sitcom elements, the first season of The Beverlys is complete with a constant laugh track, an annoying soundtrack, and the same old sets, locations, and props. While some production elements, such as video quality, audio quality, and camera work, are fine, these limiting factors put a damper on whatever small potential it had. The editing is also littered with stock footage and corny transitions between scenes. Thus, this section only warrants a point, but this is just the tip of this season’s iceberg of problems.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-2 points)
Essentially, The Beverlys appears to be designed as PureFlix’s own version of the Disney Channel. Its first season is full of mindless conversations, dance sequences, and cheesy so-called comedy routines that are all funny for the wrong reasons. This doesn’t even mention the constant stream of extremely forced comedic diatribes and painfully shoe-horned Christian messaging. What makes matters worse is that the storylines are not only pointless but that the dialogue is littered with cringe-worthy racial stereotyping, which causes this section to be negative. Besides this, the characters are very over the top and empty at the same time. The fact that stupid antidotes are forced on the viewer just after the audience sees thinly veiled racism is very disingenuous and offensive. Further, the premise of each episode is utterly pointless, and there’s nothing good going for this season, which is why the derogatory elements overcome this section to make it negative.

Acting Quality (-2 points)
Tommy Blaze departs from his usual corny performances to post a collection that’s in-your-face, bombastic, and annoyingly over the top. Most of the other cast members in this tiny cast are also trying way too hard as many emotions are basically screamed (or sang) at the audience. Line delivery is also very strained and forced. There is very little good to speak of, and the bad greatly outweighs anything positive, which is why this section also warrants negative points.

Continuity Quality (0 points)
The eight episodes of this first season are all literally the same thing over and over again. They all take the same page from the sitcom playbook and find different ways to package it: some silly escapade or scheme entangles the characters, and they have less than half an hour to quickly resolve it and prepare for the next round. This time, however, it’s just done with a Bible thought spin. Therefore, this copy-and-paste model of episode writing warrants no points for this section, which rounds out an overall embarrassing effort.

Conclusion

Another month, another pointless PureFlix original series. For some reason, the PureFlix executives are intent on spending their funds on throwaway concepts like The Beverlys. It’s unlikely they are getting any type of return from this kind of bizarre Blaze pet project, so why make it? It just further adds to the nonsense littering PureFlix’s checkered past and contributes to the already tenuous perception of Christian entertainment. Hopefully, however, things are beginning to look up outside of the PureFlix realm.

Final Rating: -3 out of 14 points

January 10, 2020January 11, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Inspirational, Series Reviews, SitcomTags: 2019, Anna Zielinski, Brent Ryan Green, Brie Duplechain, Comedy, David A. R. White, Evelyn Preston, Gregg Binkley, Grey Hour Production Services, Hannah Marchant, Herman Rosales, Inspirational, Jamie Grace, Mia Damico, PureFlix, Raya Sunshine, Sitcom, Tommy Blaze, Toy Gun Films, Walker Hays, Zenobia Groves Leave a comment

The Chosen, Season 1.2 (Series Review)

The Critically Acclaimed Hit Series Completes Its First Season

Plot Summary

After Jesus chose a majority of His followers, He began to slowly but surely reveal His nature to the world through public miracles and teachings. Though He mostly ministered in obscurity, His work drew the attention of multiple different spheres of influence: common people, powerful politicians, and power-hungry religious leaders. However, Christ never discriminated in who He chose to follow Him as He broke down social and cultural barriers in order to proclaim His love for all humanity.

Production Quality (2.5 points)
Much like the first half of Season 1, this season’s second half boasts a very high-quality production that both lives within its means and makes the most of what it has. Though camera work can be a bit shaky at times, much like the former half, there are virtually no other production flaws to note here. Video quality and audio quality are both flawless as the camera captures poignant scenes that feel like real life. Sets, locations, and props are incredibly authentic and demonstrate extreme care for historical accuracy and attention to detail. Perhaps the most impactful element of the production is the exquisite soundtrack that is creatively and artistically placed to enhance key moments and to draw the audience into the story’s emotional experiences. Further, editing is seamless and presents a well-crafted plot in a professional manner. In the end, Dallas Jenkins and his very talented creative team have once again showcased their God-given talents in a very responsible manner that has revolutionized Christian entertainment at a time when it was desperately needed.

Plot and Storyline Quality (3 points)
However, there’s still more to say. It’s undeniable that the extreme humanity of The Chosen’s characters are what make the series more than a run-of-the-mill Bible drama. Tyler Thompson and the other writers clearly went great lengths, as prompted by the Holy Spirit, to not only ensure the accurate cultural profiles of the characters but to also make them very flawed and relatable to all audiences, which is something other Biblical productions have been allergic to. The Chosen doesn’t just show the viewers a collection of well-known miracles and stories: the lead-up and fallout of each important event is carefully crafted and woven together with other intriguing subplots. All of this is good enough without even mentioning the way some scenes are presented in artistic manners that are nearly flawless in their presentation. Dialogue and conversations between characters are very deep, meaningful, and even philosophical at times, which is something we rarely see in Christian entertainment. Basically, there are more positive qualities in this section than can be named, which has warranted a separate discussion on how the subplots interlock and interact. In the end, The Chosen creative team has transformed the development of series and characters in Christian entertainment, and there’s no going back from here.

Acting Quality (3 points)
With virtually the same cast from episodes one through four plus others who add more life than there already was, the acting of episodes five through eight does not waver from its previously perfect score. In fact, many of the cast members build off of their roles and become even more comfortable in their characters. Emotions are right on target such that they can be felt by the viewers, and line delivery is basically perfect. This cast is so heavily talented that it’s posing a good problem for Box Office Revolution’s upcoming Actor and Actress of the Year Awards, which is a type of dilemma we have unfortunately never been faced with in our reviewing experience.

Continuity Quality (3 points)
Continuity is where many Christian series completely drop the proverbial ball because the episode are often disconnected and self-contained. However, every episode of The Chosen that has been released so far are somehow able to be both self-consistent as well as connected to the bigger picture, which is an important component of a great series. One way the continuity is best demonstrated in through the use of flashbacks to cover both previously overlooked New Testament stories along with relevant Old Testament accounts, and this latter inclusion is one of the added bonuses of episodes five through eight. Finally, the ending of each episode is epic and demonstrates how much this creative knows what they’re doing and how much they have relied on God to get this project right.

Conclusion

The second half of The Chosen’s first season also receives two x-factor points for presenting the greatest stories of history in the ways they should have been portrayed all along as well as for being re-watchable and binge-able. There’s hardly anything we would want changed about The Chosen at this point except for an even bigger budget to do better things with since Jenkins and the rest have demonstrated an ability to responsibly steward the resources God’s given them. As a side note, we receive no compensation or reward for our reviews and advertising of this series, but we wholeheartedly support its full release and strongly encourage you to both watch Season 1 during this year’s holidays and to share it with as many people as you can. This is first time a season of a Christian series has been critically acclaimed and placed on the Box Office Revolution Hall of Fame. We believe The Chosen has a rare, God-given opportunity to change not only the Christian entertainment world but also Christian culture as a whole because it’s a fresh, high-quality look at well-known stories that are timelessly relevant for all people.

Final Rating: 13.5 out of 14 points

December 3, 2019January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Aalok Mehta, Adam Drake, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, Advait Ghuge, Alycya Magaña, Amber Shana Williams, Anne Beyer, Bible, Biblical, Brandon Potter, Chad Gundersen, Chris Juen, Cory Phillips, Dallas Jenkins, Dan Haseltine, David Amito, David DeLao, Derral Eves, Drama, Earl Seals, Elizabeth Tabish, Erick Avari, George Xanthis, Giavani Cairo, Historical, Inspirational, Ivan Jasso, Jacqueline Torres, Janis Dardaris, Joe Rojas Jr., Joey Vahedi, Jonathan Roumie, Jordan Walker Ross, Justen Overlander, Justin Tolley, Karina Dominguez, Kian Kavousi, Kirk B.R. Woller, Lara Silva, Leslie Steele, Leticia Magana, Liz Tabish, Loaves and Fishes Productions, Ludwig Manukian, Matt Nelson, Matthew Faraci, Matthew Jayson Cwern, Maz Siam, Nene Nwoko, Nick Shakoour, Nick Stevenson, Nina Leon, Noah Cottrell, Noah James, Noe de la Garza, Oliver Rayon, Out of Order Studios, Paras Patel, Phil Mendoza, Raj Bond, Reina Ozbay, Rhett Terrell, Ricky Ray Butler, Ron Weisberg, Ruby Amanfu, Ryan Swanson, Shaan Sharma, Shahar Isaac, Shayan Naveed Fazli, Stelio Savante, Stephen Hailo, Stever Shermett, The Chosen Season 1, The Chosen series, The Chosen TV Series, Troy Caylak, Tyler Thompson, Vanessa Benavente, Vanessa DeSilvio, VidAngel Studios, Yasmine Al-Bustami 6 Comments

When Hope Calls, Season 1 (Series Review)

It’s like When Calls the Heart on an obscure streaming service!

Plot Summary

When Lillian and Grace, two orphan siblings, agreed to travel to a new town to run an orphanage, they had no idea what would be in store for them. Of course, they probably could have made an educated guess since they went from Hope Valley to a basic copy of this fantastical borough. This new town has equally important aspects as Hope Valley, such as the obligatory town doctor, the expected general store, and of course, a predictably hair-gelled Mountie just waiting to get hitched. What else could fans of When Calls the Heart want besides another series on the cable channel rather than on a streaming service nobody uses?

Production Quality (1.5 points)
The budget for When Hope Calls (WHC) is clearly lower than When Calls the Heart (WCTH), and this is most strikingly obvious in the poorly constructed town set that looks like a bunch of clapboard buildings plopped in the middle of a mowed-over field. The structures’ false fronts are also too much. This aside, must like WCTH, WHC is limited to just a few select sets, props, and locations, and there are some cheap special effects on top of this. Nonetheless, the production is aided by typically fine video quality, audio quality, and camera work, even if the soundtrack is pedestrian and boring. The editing tends to lag at times, such as leaving scenes running too long, but this production is overall just average.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
Much like its parent show, not very significant happens throughout the course of the WHC “plot.” The only remotely interesting elements are used up by the third episode as the series devolves into typical small-town romance nonsense. If it’s possible, the characters are much more blank and cardboard in WHC than in WCTH even if they are less sappy in the former. This is created by a lot of stiff and awkward attempts at conversations as some characters seem to be mysteriously concealing things that are never revealed while others seem to wonder why they are even there. The dialogue is very stock and phoned-in, which creates wooden characters, and the so-called comedic elements are beyond cheesy. Any struggles the characters experience can’t be adequately related to because they seem so plastic and forced. Elsewhere, the town setup is shockingly unrealistic on a historical level, and the Christian themes are very shoehorned in. In the end, with no driving purpose or actual point, the first season’s story is basically just a lot of trumped-up drama with nothing substantial to back it up.

Acting Quality (1 point)
In keeping with Michael Landon Jr.’s common practices, the cast of WHC appears to be as fake as WCTH’s (except not as over the top). This includes how they interact with each other as well as what they look like. On appearances, none of them look historically accurate except for some slight attempts at realistic costuming. When it comes to acting, line delivery seems laborious for some cast members while others seem bored with their roles. Emotions overall seemed forced and unnatural. Some cast members show potential in different roles but don’t live up to their full potential. In the end, this section’s rating is basically expected.

Continuity Quality (.5 point)
As previously mentioned, the best potential for engaging continuity is quickly discarded in the beginning and replaced with drab procedural recurrences. In the middle and at the end of the season, many of the episodes run together and feel like the same thing is happening over and over again. Then, this is culminated with an awkwardly forced climax and alleged cliff-hanger ending in the final episode. Basically, this season doesn’t have much going for it.

Conclusion

What else is there to say? Shows like When Hope Calls have a specific purpose in mind and do whatever it takes to fulfill that purpose. The storylines are predetermined, the production is as cheap as possible, and the cast is as pageantry as expected. All of these criteria are tailor-made for a reason, so we have to commend MLJ and company for at least being consistent in their poor novel adaptations. Why not try to capitalize on the success of a series like When Calls the Heart? However, what is it ultimately accomplishing besides creating more sub-par Christian entertainment?

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

November 8, 2019January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Mystery, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Alfonso H. Moreno, Amanda Phillips Atkins, Angelo Oddi, Ava Weiss, Blair Williams, Brad Krevoy, Bradley Walsh, Brian Bird, Brian Roworth, Carrie Schiffler, Catherine McGregor, Curtis Caravaggio, David Anselmo, David Barlow, David Gingrich, Derek Thompson, Don McBrearty, Drama, Drew Nelson, Elizabeth Saunders, Eric Jarboe, Giovanna Moore, Greg Hovanessian, Hallmark, Hannah Emily Anderson, Hanneke Talbot, Hideaway Pictures, Historical, Inspirational, Isaak Bailey, James Cade, James Moorhouse, Jamie Spilchuk, Jefferson Brown, Jim Calarco, Jimmy Townsend, Jocelyn Hudon, Jonathan Potts, Josh Bainbridge, Josh Reich, Kalinka Petrie, Kate Moyer, Kavan Smith, Kelly Boegel, Kevin Jubinville, Kevin McGarry, Kim Roberts, Kym Crepin, Larry Bambrick, Laurie Murdoch, Liam MacDonald, Marshall Williams, Megan Follows, Michael Copeman, Michael Landon Jr., Michael Shepard, Michael Vincent Dagostino, Mike Rohl, Morgan David Jones, Morgan Kohan, Mystery, Naomi Sagbien, Neil Crone, Nicholas Carella, Pascale Hutton, Riley O'Donnell, Rob Stewart, Romance, Ryan-James Hatanaka, Sara Snow, Sean Bell, Sean Connolly Affleck, Simon Webster, Susie Belzberg, T.W. Peacocke, Tom Bishop Sr., W. Michael Beard, Wendy Crewson, When Calls the Heart series 2 Comments

Home-Schooled, Season 1 [2019] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

In just one moment, Sarah’s life is completely transformed and turned upside down. When she receives word that she has become the guardian of five of her youngest relatives–homeschooled kids in the Midwest–she has no idea how she will balance her big city life with her new, unexpected responsibilities. How will she manage this new lifestyle that has been chosen for her beyond her control?

Production Quality (.5 points)
Words cannot express how horrible this production is by 2019 standards. The only remotely positive element is the fine video quality, but otherwise, it’s a total wash. Even a $20,000 budget is no excuse for wildly shaky camera work, weird camera angles, and perspective that never stops moving around unless the cameraman sets the camera down in the most inconvenient locations, like behind a running sink. It goes without saying that the series intro sequence screams Windows Movie Maker. When it comes to sets, locations, and props, things are limited to the inside of a large, echo-filled house and blinding outdoor locations filled with incessant leaf-crunching. There are also plenty of loud background sounds, both inside and outside, and they aren’t mitigated by the extremely invasive soundtrack that’s meant to “balance” things out. Finally, the editing is as choppy as possible, including lagging scenes and abruptly cut-off sequences. Essentially, this is an awful experience.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
What exactly is the purpose of this so-called plot? First of all, there’s hardly any content to speak of, but whatever amount is there is dominated by typical family member squabble storylines and the most cringeworthy dialogue possible. This creates robotic, programmed characters that easily fall into homeschooled stereotypes. All this alleged story really has to show for itself is a bunch of awkward people hanging around a large house none of them can pay for and engaging in a lot of childish coincidences, forced drama, convenient situations, and infantile conversations. Further, the screenwriters completely bungled their portrayal of the child custody process (lawyers NEVER make home visits to check on custody situations), which makes us wonder if they did any research at all on how this transpires in real life. In the end, this “plot” has nothing good going for it.

Acting Quality (0 points)
For one thing, the cast of Home-Schooled is quite small, so errors are more easily seen. For another, the cast members are not coached very well at all, and many of them are intended to play characters who are younger than they actually are, which makes things very odd. Besides this, the acting is just generally awkward and forcibly dramatic. Line delivery is very stilted, and emotions are quite wooden. There are also some bouts of annoying yelling and screaming. In the end, there’s nothing good to highlight here.

Continuity Quality (0 points)
With such short episodes (many of them are ten minutes or less), it’s extremely difficult to justify even making Home-Schooled into a series. If you must make it at all, why not just make it a regular movie? This aside, there are no prevalent themes or overarching storylines that are even able to create continuity between the episodes. With such short runtimes, there’s really nothing to write home about in this section. The only other thing to add here is to ask the creators to not make anymore seasons without some serious changes being made.

Conclusion

The rule of thumb in Christian entertainment is this: if the story and budget aren’t there, can the project or at least put it on hold until you’re sure Jesus wants you to make it. Putting out low-quality projects isn’t being a good steward of what you feel like He wants you to do. Instead of rushing forward and clamoring to make something just for the sake of making a Christian series, wait and see what He really wants you to create because He’ll provide the budget if it’s for real. Moving forward with half-measures (or less than half-measures) is always going to be a problem.

Final Rating: .5 out of 14 points

September 25, 2019January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Annette Cornett, Audrey Cornett, Collin Grubbs, David A. R. White, Drama, Elizabeth Howlett, Ella McCarty-Slaughter, Emmett Ball, Hannah Anderson, Inspirational, Jake Arthur, Jeff Smith, Kate Shields, Kyle Rosa, PureFlix, Quality Flix Leave a comment

Vindication, Season 1 [2019] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Detective Travis always wants to bring the criminals of his small Texas town to justice. However, he’s not always right, and he can’t do it all on his own, despite what he believes about himself. Through every twist and turn of each case, the detective learns something new about himself and about life, but the ultimate challenge of his work and life involves his daughter and her checkered past. Thus, when she comes to stay with him and his wife, he’s sure she’s got something to hide. However, he could have never foreseen the end result of this.

Production Quality (1.5 points)
For a relatively low-budget series, Vindication is definitely trying when it comes to production. The video quality is great throughout, and the camera work is respectable. Sets, locations, and props are mostly fine, but the audio is sometimes too quiet. At first, there’s basically no soundtrack, but this tends to improve as the series goes on. While there are some creative story overlays and plot criss-crossing throughout, the editing can be fairly choppy at times. Sometimes, scenes start and stop at awkward places, and some portions seem unnecessary. However, this element also tends to improve with time. In the end, this is an average production that shows commendable effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)
What an absolute roller coaster of a storyline. It’s difficult to know where to begin with this; in the first two-thirds of the series, many of the cases are either fairly unrealistic or extremely simplistic. Some contain improbable circumstances just for the sake, it seems, of being unique and tricky. Others contain lots of coincidences and convenient turns; many of them include partially or mostly inappropriate content seemingly just because. While being edgy and realistic is a good quality to have in Christian entertainment (rather than white-washing humanity), there’s a fine line to walk between authentic and trashy. As a side note, some of the ‘crimes’ that are actually ‘twists’ are substantially questionable and borderline ‘vindicate’ the wrong types of behavior. Elsewhere, the suspense elements don’t seem to jive with reality even though there are some interesting psychological elements throughout. Besides the head-scratching partially objectionable content included, the treatment of police ethics and criminal procedure throughout the series would be offensive to many real police officers. Rules are callously broken with no resource, and while it would be one thing to portray a rogue cop in a negative light for the purpose of being realistic, it’s another thing to downright condone unethical practices in the name of doing the right thing, including mixing personal vendettas against certain people and in favor of family members with police work. The detectives’ time is spent on petty misunderstandings that would likely draw the attention of higher authorities due to their frivolous use of resources and questionable methods of arresting people with little reasonable suspicion. These two major problem areas (inappropriate content and offensive portrayal of procedure) are almost enough to totally derail the series from the get-go, especially when these issues are combined with a lot of blank and empty dialogue and cheap Christian messaging throughout the first two-thirds of the season. Odd portrayals of women and minorities throughout the series are also concerns to contend with, but the recurring subplot between the main character and his daughter keep the narrative on life support long enough to get to the final two episodes of the season, which almost save the writers from themselves. It’s clear that the entire series was made for this storyline, and the daughter is the only notably interesting character in the entire creation. The last two episodes are so starkly different from the other ones (except for the disregard for jurisdiction and other questionable practices in the name of being police with agendas) that it seems like an entirely different idea, yet the thinly-developed characters still shine through due to their lack of depth in the first eight episodes. Had they been properly built in the first two-thirds of the season via real cases and authentic circumstances, we would be looking at a totally different concept. As they are, the last two installments include very effective flashbacks that take a good look at hard issues effecting many people. In doing so, the final ‘villain’ is fairly realistic, and the partial conclusion of the subplot between the father and daughter is mostly authentic and believable. Nevertheless, despite the acceptable ending, it doesn’t cover over the multitude of sins committed by the rest of the storyline.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)
Acting isn’t a glaring problem throughout the series even if many cast members come off as very robotic and overly practiced. However, this is likely not a talent problem or a coaching issue because the lines they are given are usually uninspiring. This is evident since acting seems to improve as dialogue gets a slight upgrade in the latter third of the season. Although makeup is terrible at first, this seems to get better too. The key standout performance from every episode she’s in comes from Emma Elle Roberts as she sets herself apart as a truly talented actress with potential beyond this series. In the end, this is neither the best nor the worst acting from a Christian season.

Continuity Quality (1.5 points)
As previously mentioned, the only significant continuity throughout season one of Vindication involves the storylines of the central character’s family, especially his interactions with his daughter and her checkered past. However, these recurring subplots are fairly good in the midst of a mostly typical recurring crime drama style. Still, it would have been preferable to see some other interwoven subplots that were worthwhile to follow.

Conclusion

The creators of Vindication are trying to do something, but there are too many elements of season one that are way off base. The use of edgy content is commendable for a crime series, but it would be nice to see better standards of propriety when it comes to dealing with sensitive topics. For another, a lot of significant research needs to be conducted before anyone creates a drama centered around criminal procedure and police work because it can be easy to make careless mistakes. Further, there needs to be a better look at mental and behavioral health issues beyond simplifying them and reducing them to trite Christian sayings and prayers. In the end, this concept may work better as a larger-scale federal investigative storyline rather than confining it to a small town with unusual half-mysteries. To summarize, the creators have potential somewhere in here, but there’s too much blocking out the light.

Final Rating: 5 out of 14 points

August 14, 2019January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Mystery, Series Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2019, Abby Wilkie, Abel Becerra, Alan Tregoning, Alicia Underwood, Amanda Duran, Amanda Joy Erickson, Anna Terry, Anna Versemann, AnnMarie Giaquinto, April Hartman, Ashley Bratcher, Austin Dennis, Austin Terry, Ben Davies, Billy Blair, Blue McElroy, Brennan McCullars, Brianna Ripkowski, Brittany Whittingstall, Brooklyn McDaris, Caren Ricke, Chance Gibbs, Charles Skeeta Jenkins, Christa Watson, Christian Rivera, Chuck Huber, Connor S. Watkins, Corey Cannon, Daniel Stine, David Collins, Deanne Lauvin, Dennis Thomas IV, Drama, Dustin Campbell, Easton Hughes, Emma Dennis, Emma Elle Roberts, Erin Hanson, Gary Ongley, Gerald Brodin, Inspirational, Israel Varela, James Johnson, Janet Travis, Jarod O'Flaherty, Jeff Fenter, Jeff Plunk, Jeffery Gray, Jody Jones, Jordan Elsass, Kat Steffens, Kate Randall, Kay Trawick, Keith Rushing, Kelly Leach, Kentrell Wright, Kerry McCormick, Kevin Tillett, Kim Foster, Kim Jackson Davis, Lauren Fiddes, Leslie Steele, Liza Wilk, Major Dodge, Martin Ezelle, Masey McLain, Matt Holmes, Matthew Roy, Megan Dalby, Melinda Peinado, Melissa Couture, Michael Dennis, Micheal Willbanks, Missy Harris, Mystery, Paige Kriet, Paige Shay, Paul Caraway, Paul Flanagan II, Peggy Schott, Rachel Hendrix, Raelynn Willbanks, Rahb Mo, Ram Munguia, Ranier Langley, Retta Vision, Robbie Clark, Roni Hummel, Sam Chance, Sara Cicilian, Shannon Houk, Skyler Chase Thomas, Sonya Davis, Stacey Bradshaw, Stephanie Peterson, Steve Mokate, Suspense, Terrie Cooklin, Tim Llewellyn, Tim Ross, Todd Gable, Todd Jenkins, Todd Terry, Tom Costello Jr., Tom Partain, Tyi Johnson, Venus Monique, Vernon Reeves, William Carroll, William Curtis, Zach Rose, Zachary Thomas Scott Leave a comment

When Calls the Heart, Season 6 (Series Review)

We don’t speak of her anymore

Plot Summary

And once again we return to the fake small town known as Hope Valley for another fruitless season of people living in the dream world crafted by the series creators. Hardly anybody remembers Jack the Mountie anymore except for the fact that he and Elizabeth were married long enough to produce an instant child who’s coincidentally named after him. While Daniel Lissing willingly left the show, which was last season’s biggest news, Lori Loughlin was literally handcuffed, removed, and totally scrubbed from the show. The shadow of her scandal looms over the sixth season, especially with how Hallmark mishandled the whole ordeal and drew unnecessary attention to the problems. As a whole, Abigail’s awkward exit from the show and the subsequent complete rewrite of the show is the most interesting things that happened, but why are we not surprised? Michael Landon Jr. always planned to subject Erin Krakow to his favorite young-widow-starts-sort-of-dating-again treatment as he always has, so there’s nothing left to do but once again point out the same old flaws this series commits and count down the minutes for the Hearties to descend on my little blog post to vehemently defend all things wholesome in the face of such heartless (lol) criticism.

Production Quality (2 points)
What’s a Hallmark production without the same carbon-copy lineup of good camera work and video quality, acceptable audio quality, and that predictable, nauseatingly bubbly soundtrack? When Calls the Heart part VI checks all the proverbial boxes in this category, and it’s getting very difficult to differentiate any of the seasons from each other (except for the first two). Hope Valley still consists of the same old sets, locations, and props that are no doubt re-purposed for other Hallmark productions and are designed to make the audience believe this is a real Western town. Also, there’s still that tiny forest area Bill goes to dramatically reveal another part of his vastly complex yet noticeably cagey backstory. The only complaint for this section (besides their doing the same thing with no noticeable changes or improvements) is that we still don’t have a set for the beauty salon where the female characters get their hair done (although we might have gotten a quick glimpse at it in the finale).

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)
As we’ve said before, ever Hamilton took over Hope Valley, nothing has ever been the same. We just get the same old helium-infused characters spinning in circles as they retrace old plots steps over and over again. The only chances we have to get outside of the Hope Valley crossroads are Bill’s forest trips to tell us another part of his ever-fluctuating history, but now that we have a new Mountie, I guess we’ll have some trips to that bridge or something. Elsewhere, Elizabeth keeps us wondering why she’s even still in the series as her heart (lol) is passed around like a football and only exists for Michael Landon Jr. and company to continue their fetish of pairing a woman with a law enforcement character just long enough for her to get pregnant before killing said man near the end of the movie\series or even in between installments. Seriously, how is Elizabeth and Lucas vs Nathan any different from Charles vs Jack (except that Marcus Rosner was an essential addition to the show yet was stolen from us)? Elsewhere, the town is littered with many empty-minded side romances that they desperately want us to care about (although Aren Buchholz is quickly becoming one of the most important aspects of the entire series). Even Rosemary is losing her luster as a satirical comic relief who reminds us how un-serious the whole ordeal is as the writers are muting her character to go all dark and brooding because of [WHOOPS SPOILER]. And then there’s that whole situation with Abigail. Ironically, just before Lori Loughlin was led away by the police, her character made a hilariously funny reference to how Bill needed to bring some random bad guy to justice, and this is definitely the defining moment of the entire season. Loughlin’s scandalous shadow looms large over the poor town; even after the writers awkwardly tried to erase her from the universe’s memories, everything was clunky following the hiatus. Subplots awkwardly start and stop with no real conclusions. Scenes between Elizabeth and Lucas seem directly copied from Beauty and the Beast (yes, he gave her a library). Gowen is as uneven as ever (seriously, what do the writers expect from him at this point?). They all seem lost without Abigail to guide them in their everyday lives, but alas, she and Cody (awwww he left too!) has bigger fish to fry in court “back east.” Thus, with nothing really new to say here besides the same garbage we’ve seen from the past two indiscernible seasons, Hearties only have this incoherent stream of consciousness to parse through as they rush from Facebook to “own” the author of this post with zingers better suited for a clickbait news site.

Acting Quality (0 points)
For the most part, the acting of this season is as sappy as ever, but there are a handful of instances, especially near the end, that feel very muted and more scripted than usual. This is no doubt that this is due to some of the redone footage after Loughlin’s untimely exit, and the cast members were likely just emotionally distraught over her absence. Overall, there’s really nothing new to write home about (although Elizabeth does quite a bit of writing these days), and this section is award no points because we expect better than this after six seasons.

Continuity Quality (0 points)
As previously mentioned, some of this season’s subplots seem to disappear from the writing with no warning, which is a likely byproduct of the rework done following Loughlin’s arrest. Otherwise, it’s just typical plug and play romances as the writers introduce one after another to the point where you can’t hardly tell the different between them. Also, as a side note, at least a third of the subplots in season six relate in some way to the upcoming summer spinoff show When Hope Calls, which is possibly where many characters will escape to once When Calls the Heart finally runs out of steam.

Conclusion

Oh yeah, so there’s a seventh season coming up. MLJ has at least two more seasons to use Elizabeth’s indecisiveness and lack of personality as a carrot to dangle in front of his rabid fans, but sooner or later, they’ll get tired of this song and dance. With Loughlin’s scandal-ridden exit, this series is already running on fumes and has only been sustained by constant romance bait-and-switch. I mean, is anybody the least bit annoyed with how they treat Elizabeth? Anyhow, this has been another WCTH review from your favorite reviewer in which I didn’t talk about much substantial and just sort of rambled on about random things I thought of while I binge-watched this season. Begin commenting now……………………….

Final Rating: 2 out of 14 points

June 6, 2019June 7, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: #Hallmarked, 2019, Aaron Douglas, Alfonso H. Moreno, Amanda Phillips Atkins, Amélie Eve, Andrea Brooks, Annie Brunner, Aren Buchholz, Ava Grace Cooper, Ben Rosenbaum, Bill Dow, Billy Wickman, Brad Krevoy, Brenden Sunderland, Brian Bird, Bruce Boxleitner, Callum Seagram Airlie, Carter Ryan Evancic, Charlotte Hegele, Chris McNally, Christian Michael Cooper, Clayton Chitty, Cynthia Cohen, Daniel Arnold, Darren Dolynski, Doran Chandler, Drama, Eliza Norbury, Elizabeth Stewart, Eric Jarboe, Erin Krakow, Eva Bourne, Genea Charpentier, Gracyn Shinyei, Greg Malcolm, Hannah Zirke, Historical, Hrothgar Mathews, Inspirational, Isaac Keoughan, Jack Wagner, Jacqueline Samuda, Jaeda Lily Miller, Janette Oke, Javien Natt, Jerry Wasserman, Jimmy Townsend, Jocelyn Hudon, Johannah Newmarch, John Sereda, Kadence Kendall Roach, Kayla Wallace, Kevan Smith, Kevin McGarry, Kurt Evans, Lee Holdridge, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Lorne Cardinal, Martin Cummins, Martin Wood, Michael Girardin, Michael Landon Jr., Michael Shepard, Michelle Harrison, Mike Rohl, Neil Webb, Neill Fearnley, Nick Hunnings, Pascale Hutton, Paul Greene, Peter DeLuise, Phillip Mitchell, Richard Manning, Rob Estes, Robert Irving, Robert Parent, Romance, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Shelley Matheson, Sheri Rabold, Shona Miko, Spencer Teeter, Susie Belzberg, Vicki Sotheran, Vince Balzano, When Calls the Heart series 2 Comments

The Chosen, Season 1.1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

When Jesus first began His earthly ministry, He had already chosen those He would minister to and use to transform the world around them. They came from all walks of life: lower class fishermen, upper class religious leaders, well-to-do tax collectors, and lowly street prostitutes. Regardless of background or belief, Christ determined to use regular people to carry out His work…however, it couldn’t happen until they had life-altering experiences with Him.

Production Quality (2.5 points)
The highest independently crowdfunded effort in entertainment history has certainly paid off. There’s no question that a lot of hard work was put into making this first season, and it shows in nearly every aspect of it. Though the perspective camera work is a bit rough at first, it definitely gets better and isn’t noticeable at all in later episodes. Similarly, the lighting is realistically dark in many scenes, which was hard to perfect at first, but again, it greatly improves as it goes on. Other than the poorly animated opening sequence that has a great idea behind it, there are no other problems to point out in this nearly flawless production. The sets, locations, and props feel very realistic and authentic as the series creators demonstrate a clear commitment to looking at the characters in accurate cultural contexts. Video quality is crisp throughout, and audio quality is seamless, including a very engaging and creative soundtrack that reflects historical themes. As a whole, this production is a reflection of how this series is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the industry, and thankfully, the positive qualities didn’t stop with just this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (3 points)
It would’ve been very easy to spend all the time on making the production worthwhile after all the money and time that was invested in it, but Dallas Jenkins and company refused to settle, yet the storyline is a major reason why this series will transform Christian culture and even reach outside the church. The reason why it’s so transformative is because it demonstrates a profound understanding of the real people who encountered Jesus and portrays them in very accessible, down-to-earth ways. These Bible characters are no longer “heroes of the faith”–they are imperfect people with backstories, motives, flashbacks, and personality tendencies just like us. Not only do they feel like everyday people, but the writers also wisely chose to focus on them in their cultural contexts as a heavy emphasis on Jewish tradition is subtly explored. The use of flashbacks to build character motive and backstory is also highly effective in helping us understand where they’re coming from and why they do what they do; this is often a missing ingredient in most depictions of Bible characters. Besides the characters being so well-developed, their subplots are interwoven very well as their stories realistically cross back and forth and creatively weave together to prepare for the next steps. Further, the psychological themes and artistic concepts of the series are presented in very natural ways without forcing too much on the audience while still being creative. In the end, there are many more positive aspects to highlight about this season (more than can be listed here), which is a very surprising feat in Christian entertainment. There’s no doubt that this is the best Christian series season to date, and it’s the first one to be inaugurated into the Hall of Fame.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)
The casting and acting of The Chosen show a commitment to cultural authenticity in more ways than one…where a fully cultural cast member couldn’t be used, correct accents were taught and coached, which adopted a model similar to the one used in Nativity Story. No matter what, dedication to effective coaching is evident as the cast members showcase subtle talent in their line delivery and emotional portrayals. While there are some minor costuming issues, it’s nothing much to write home about, and we can’t wait see how these recurring cast members will continue to shine in future seasons.

Continuity Quality (3 points)
Never before have we seen a Christian series (other than some parts of A.D.) that actually tries hard to interweave its subplots in ways that make them cross at appropriate times and keep the audience engaged in what may happen next. These are actually storylines you want to follow as the character arcs bend at realistic times and flow dynamically into each other. While it can be difficult to interest a Christian audience with familiar Biblical accounts, The Chosen sets up great backstories for well-known stories and provides great reasons for why things happen the way they do. In the end, there’s no question that this is the best Christian season to date.

Conclusion

Hence, The Chosen, Season 1 wins two x-factor points for re-watchability and for presenting important content in very audience-friendly ways. Dallas Jenkins and his team have established themselves as the future of Christian small screen entertainment, so your support of VidAngel is greatly appreciated (go to the link to watch the first season)! The more we support Christian entertainment that’s actually worthwhile and worthy of promoting to the people we know, the more likely it is we will see a real change in both the field and the culture as a whole. If you’ve already supported this first season, make sure to tell a friend that it’s well worth their time and money. We expect great things from this crew in the coming days.

Final Rating: 13 out of 14 points

May 9, 2019October 8, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2019, Aalok Mehta, Abel Becerra, Alycya Magaña, Amir Natan, Andrew Flagg, Anne Beyer, Bardia Seiri, Brandon Potter, Camila Carreon, Chad Gunderson, Christopher Maleki, Christopher Mekhail, Cory Jordan Phillips, Dallas Jenkins, Daniel Ross Owens, David Amito, David De Lao, Derral Eves, Donato De Luca, E. Jason Liebrecht, Earl Seals, Elizabeth Tabish, Erick Avari, Eve Butterly, George Xanthis, Giovanni Cairo, Grey Acuna, Ibrahima Thiam, Janis Dardaris, Jennifer Joseph, Joe Demonico, John Baran , Jonathan Roumie, Jordan Walker Ross, Josh Cavazos, Justen Overlander, Justin Tolley, Kassandra Marron, Kirk B.R. Woller, Lara Silva, Liz Tabish, Loren Lester, Matthew Faraci, Michael Clemons, Nathan Araya, Nene Nwoko, Nick Shakoour, Nick Stevenson, Noah Cottrell, Noah James, Orlando Rojas, Reina Ozbay, Rett Terrell, Ricky Ray Butler, Ryan Swanson, Ryan T. Johnson, Shaan Sharma, Shahar Isaac, Shayan Sobhian, Steven Shermett, The Chosen TV Series, Ulysses Montoya, Zara Majidpour 15 Comments

Daily Bread [2017] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

When a solar flare passes through the earth’s atmosphere, all electricity and electronic devices cease to work, which throws the entire planet into chaos. The cast and crew of a famous cooking show are stranded in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, a group of isolated preppers, and a homeschool colony are all forced to cross paths in unlikely ways as they fight for survival with guns and MRE’s. In the end, who will survive the deadly new world that’s been created since the power went off?

Production Quality (1 point)

On the bright side of this season, a lot of good time and money was spent on the video quality and drone shots in the episodes. Thus, for the most part, camera work is acceptable. The same can be said for the sets, locations, and props, even if some of them are overused (liked num-chucks). One of the most glaring issues to point out in this production relates to audio quality, as there are a lot of loud background sounds in outdoor scenes and echoes in indoor scenes. The audio as a whole is very uneven as many scenes are full of clattering noises and as the soundtrack is all over the map since many songs are not situation-appropriate and since the music often overpowers spoken dialogue. It goes without saying that the introductory sequence is arguably better than the rest of the series, mostly due to the fact that the editing throughout the season is horrific with many cut-off scenes and many choppy transitions that throw scenes at the audience one after the other with little organization. As a whole, unfortunately, while there could have been something here, it just didn’t pan out.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Needless to say, it gets worse too. The most glaring issue with the plot is obviously the 48340982 characters that have to be kept up with due to the sheer number of subplots that this season forces upon the viewer. For the first half of the season, every episode is constantly introducing new characters to the point of embarrassment. Thus, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with the sheer number of subplots throughout the course of this season, and this causes many subplots and storylines to become ‘extra’ and easily discard-able. Even if these subplots were the best in the world, it’s very difficult to understand the actual point of people randomly wandering around and acquiring guns and possessions in violent ways immediately after the power grid collapses. What are the characters defending themselves from? How are we supposed to know who they are as people? What does any of it have to do with a cooking show? Any hope or time there was for real content was frivolously used on trivial scenes and utterly purposeless asides. Narration randomly pops up throughout the course of the season, and flashbacks are used inconsistently where they should have been a focal point. A more consistent use of them would have been one of the only ways to fix this mess, along with eliminating nearly half of the characters and coming up with a real central focus other than prepping for an unknown and unseen apocalypse. What’s going on in the world outside of these characters? What is the government’s response? These are all unanswered questions that would be pertinent in this genre rather than sequences of forced drama, conversations depicting off-screen content that seems way more interesting than the actual season, cooking montages, and literal recitations of the Constitution and other forced Christian content. Basically, it’s better luck next time with trying a different genre.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Due to the high number of characters, this obviously leads to the assembling of a giant cast. One would think this would mask the minor weaknesses of some cast members, but that’s not the case as there are many acting errors, including overly practiced line delivery and stiff emotions. Some line delivery is half-hearted, unsure, and slightly mistaken at times, and many scenes depict cast members awkwardly standing around talking to each other like they’re not really filming a scene because it seems impromptu. Besides this portion of acting, the costuming is extremely random, and the hair and makeup do not jive with the notion that these people have been trying to survive an apocalypse away from civilization for days. Basically, this is just another mistake-prone aspect of this season.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

As previously mentioned, there are many, many storylines to contend with here, but despite this, there is actually some continuity between the episodes. However, the story and character arcs aren’t any good since there are no substantial instances of character growth or dynamic storytelling. There are, of course, the usual instances of romantic subplots and villain plans, but other than that, there’s not much continuity to mention here.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt in the world that Christian entertainment is starved for new genres and new concepts, and we have to commend this creative team for sticking their necks out there to try something unique, but this isn’t the way to do it. Regardless of genre, characters have to always be deep because audiences want to connect with real, accessible people. Science fiction stories can be difficult to write and even more difficult to produce professionally, which is why proper planning and truly creative writing are essential. The budget may not be there, but if the storyline is dynamic, it shows that the creator is ready for bigger and better things. If you’re faithful with the little God’s provided you, He will give you the bigger budget down the road.

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

January 18, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Apocalyptic, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Series Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2017, Adriana Del Rosario, Alissa Dellork, Andrei Shulgach, Ariana Marlett, Braeden Degnon, Brandon Kramb, Brandon Tyson, Brianna Tyson, Chanae Pak, Chris Doxzen, Colby May, Devon Marie Saunders, Drew Trementozzi, Eliza Kelley, Ella C. Torres, Emma Earnest, Everest Head, Francesca Finnerty, Gabriela Kostadinova, Heather Nungesser, James E. Whitley III, Jason Cook, Jessica Tressler, Jim Holland, Jim McKeny, John Hallberg, Joseph D. Durbin, K. Victoria Chase, Katherine Caruso, Kathryn Katsikis, Maria Jose Ovalle, Mariana C. Torres, Mark Arnoldi, Martin Lopez, Melinda Deveney, Michael J. Patterson, Mikayla Cooper, Mikayla Mulgrew, Nina May, Oz Dillon, Paola Torres, Paul H. Chapman, Paul Milotte, Rachael Lipman, Randy Tyson, Robert Federico, Ruth Miller, Sandra Belforte, Sarah A. West, Sarah Shrader, Sarah West, Sheila Avellino, Skip Lipman, Skippy Lipman, Star Alivia Dodson, Tim Torre, Travis O. Newcomb 2 Comments

The Prayer Box (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Welsey wants to do the right thing even as his sister lays in a hospital bed struggling in her battle with cancer.  Wesley faithfully attends church, even though his mother has forsaken the faith for now, and he fervently prays at the altar every week.  However, he is hurt when he sees that his pastor is throwing away the prayer requests people put in the prayer box at the altar.  Thus, Wesley launches a plan to redeem the prayer box and convince God with his deeds that his sister deserves to survive the battle with cancer.

Production Quality (2.5 points)

It’s clear that although the budget for this miniseries was somewhat limited, Kevan Otto used his funds responsibly and maximized the potential from them.  This is evidenced by clear video quality, good camera work, and professional audio quality.  The soundtrack is somewhat generic, but it gets better as the series progresses.  The sets, locations, and props are well-constructed and well-utilized as they appear to be realistic for the situations.  The main drawback here is the slight need for refined editing in order to avoid including as much B-roll footage for filler scenes as it did.  However, this is a very good production, which signals that Kevan Otto has finally turned over a new leaf in his career.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

The Prayer Box is a testament that even Kevan Otto can create good entertainment when he has a good team and when he actually uses employs a talented screenwriter.  Using an actual screenwriter in a series rather than having the director double as the screenwriter is rare, but it great assists in the proper development of story and characters.  This definitely an advantage to this miniseries as a majority of the dialogue is well-crafted and serves to develop character personalities and character motivations without having them fall into stereotypes or pre-determined molds.  Also, the conversations among the characters drive the plot forward rather than having them tossed along by random circumstances.  The premise of the story is also realistic and believable, including the portrayal of churches.  There is also quite a bit accomplished in the story without narration, and the Christian messaging is very poignant and on point.  However, there are a few drawbacks to this plot, including some slightly boring elements in the first episode and some scenes that feel like they’re just kicking the can down the road instead of developing the characters deeper like a series should be able to due to having more time to do so.  One example of this is one too many off-screen characters that are only talked about rather than seen, but this could be due to budget constraints.  There are also other opportunities for content enhancement, and while the ending is effective, it’s somewhat vague, but it definitely does its job.  As a whole, this is easily the best Christian series to date and a great opportunity for Kevan Otto to start afresh in his entertainment ambitions.

Acting Quality (2.5 points)

The acting of The Prayer Box is definitely one of its strongest points.  This includes surprisingly good child and teenager acting and arguably the best performances to date from Carey Scott and Reginald VelJohnson.  The only drawbacks here are some slightly overdone makeup from some cast members and some slightly under-performed scenes, but it’s nothing too major.

Continuity Quality (2 points)

One big question with The Prayer Box is whether or not it really needed to be a series since it only has two total hours of runtime.  While it’s great to create a miniseries out of a book to release it directly to PureFlix on Demand rather than making a half-baked direct-to-DVD film no one will ever see since this is something we absolutely need to see more of, it’s hard to see why a two-hour series was needed.  If the funding allowed, more runtime would have been good to further develop the characters if at all possible.  However, despite these minor nitpicks, the flow of this series is mostly good except for a few abrupt episode endings.  As a whole, it’s refreshing to see a series, albeit a short one, that is committed to above average continuity and flow between episodes.

Conclusion

Even though The Prayer Box is a very basic and generic storyline, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what can be done when streaming series employ true screenwriters to create content.  Trisha Mammen definitely has a lot of talent as a screenwriter, and Kevan Otto has definitely found a new stride in his career that needs to continue; it’s highly possible that this film could have made the Hall of Fame as a film.  Though we’ve criticized Otto in the past for his poorly created films like A Question of Faith, Grace of God, In the Name of God, Online, Lukewarm, Decision, and WWJD 1 and 2, after The Prayer Box, it’s possible that his future entertainment ventures could be transformed with a second wind of much better source material and more well-funded productions.  It just goes to show that anyone can make a turnaround with better resources and that we are always willing to recognize improvement and success – no matter who it comes from.

Final Rating: 9 out of 14 points

November 26, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2018, Almost Never Films, Ava Kroener, Big Film Factory, Brad Allen, Bridget Simpson, Carey Scott, Chandler DuPont, Chuck Howard, Damiano Tucci, Danny H. Chan, Danny Roth, Denise Richards, Eric Young, Frank Gillen, Graham Schneider, Grant Davidson, Inspirational, Jake Petty, Jared Ivers, Joe Stockton, Kevan Otto, Lea Hutton Beasmore, Martin Michael, MaryRene Baxter, Michael J. Wickham, PureFlix, Reginald VelJohnson, Sammie Laster, Sampley Barinaga, Shannon D. Keith, Sharon Bishop, ThoughtFly Films, Trisha Mammen 7 Comments

Malibu Dan the Family Man, Season 2 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Just in case you didn’t get enough stereotypical PureFlix stupidity from the first season of Malibu Dan, the old gang is back with a new ‘season’ that they refuse to call a season for no reason.  This collection of new episodes (totally not a season) offers more of the same stick-your-finger-down-your-throat humor we had from Season 1, only with an even cheaper production setup and a smaller cast.  It’s basically like the second season of Hilton Head Island: nobody asked for it and nobody cares that it’s here.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

Now that we’re on the topic of Hilton Head Island, the Whites and company borrowed their horrible green screens that make everyone and everything have an obvious outline, like they’re cardboard cutouts.  Oh wait…  But I digress.  As previously mentioned, this non-season of Malibu Dan has even fewer sets than the first and even more reuses of the same old ones.  This gives it an overall cheap feel, and it goes without saying that the ‘blooper episode’ is virtually indistinguishable from one of the other episodes because it merely depicts the cast acting like idiots, which is what the other episodes are all about anyway.  Did we mention that this new non-season of no one’s favorite sitcom contains another endless and obnoxious laugh track that cues every five seconds whether the scene is supposed to be funny or not?  Basically, the only thing keeping this entire mess from 0 points or less is the fine video and camera quality, in conjunction with professional audio work.  But that theme song gets annoying over and over again.  As a whole, there isn’t much good to say here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

What could be done in a new non-season that wasn’t done in the first season?  This new batch of episodes that’s totally not a season is virtually indiscernible from the other season, but it’s actually possibly worse due to the painfully-forced so-called comedy that contains nothing funny whatsoever.  Basically, this collection of fingernails-in-the-chalkboard creations is just as mindless and ridiculous as regular TV shows that PureFlix and their audience would complain about.  Malibu Dan no better than something typical you would see passing by on cable TV as it has just as little potential and just as little hope for any.

Acting Quality (0 points)

Whenever the old PureFlix gang gets together (see Hitting the Breaks, Holyman Undercover, and Me Again), they are content to act like imbeciles.  The only consolations this second season cast provides to us is that Jennifer Lyons makes a long-overdue cameo to continually make a fool of herself and that Carey Scott reprises his insultingly fake European accent from Holyman.  Steered by the comedic anti-genius of David A. R. White and the sadistic mind of Tommy Blaze, Malibu Dan offers more of the same absurd and zany acting from the expertise of Brad Heller.  What’s surprising is that Kevin Downes still puts up with this nauseating experience when he has much better things to do.  The constant funding of this insanity is beyond us.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

The second season of Malibu Dan takes on the typical mistakes of sitcoms, besides not developing characters properly, by repeating the same thing over and over again in each episode with no continuity between them.  Episodes exist in its own isolated universes as each one appears to have no bearing on another.  It seems like they were all filmed in one day with no story-boarding, which is a likely method that has been employed by PureFlix in the past.

Conclusion

With not much else to say, it’s time to address the obviously elephant in the room (no, it’s not David A. R. White dressed up again).  What’s the point of randomly pretending that this collection of new episodes isn’t a new season?  It’s a very common practice to release an entire season at once with streaming series like this one.  Nevertheless, one must take a step back from this mess that’s so easy to make fun of in order to examine what the true state of Christian series is.  What are we really accomplishing?  Is there any true inspirational or culture-changing value to things like Malibu Dan?  I can’t even foresee a monetary gain in it.  This begs the question “What is it even for?!?!?”  The only answer we can discern is that it’s just another outlet for the twisted comedy desires of White and Blaze, which further goes to show the true darkness behind the PureFlix giant.  Needless to say, let’s hope Kevin Downes wipes this from his memory (again) and is able to help the Erwins produce a truly good TV series next year.

 

Final Rating: 1 out of 14 points

 

November 21, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Series Reviews, SitcomTags: 2018, Andrea Logan White, Aria Walters, Brad Heller, Carey Scott, Cheryl Ladd, Chris Blount, Comedy, David A. R. White, David de Vos, David Rasche, Dual Visions, Gregg Binkley, Jennifer Lyons, John O'Hurley, Jon Kondelik, Kelly Stables, Kevin Downes, Lauren Harper, Madeline Carroll, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Matt Shapira, Philip Morton, PureFlix, Sitcom, Tommy Blaze, Victoria Jackson 4 Comments

Hilton Head Island, Season 2 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Following the critically denounced blockbuster debut season of Hilton Head Island, which is the world’s first ever Hope Opera, the second season appeared on PureFlix On Demand in a similar fashion as the first with no warning or marketing to proceed its release.  Nevertheless, the second season picks up at the cliffhanger where the first left off–only this time, the cast is smaller and the green screens are more obvious.  Daniel Trisk has woken up from his partially fake coma, and he’s taking the Isle News Network back over (as if anybody was watching it in the first place).  As he shakes up the staff and whips people into shape, we actually get some looks at what they actually play on their fake channel.  However, as usual, there’s a lot of trumped-up intrigue and fake drama that will have you rolling your eyes along with us.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

The second season of this ridiculous excuse for entertainment is just as cheap – probably cheaper – than they first season.  Although video quality is fine, the camera is constantly shifting around even though every shot is already as tight as possible to hide the fact that this nonsense was entirely filmed in a set.  This set was complete with a very poorly constructed green screen that gives the characters special outlines and sometimes bleeds through objects on camera.  The only parts that aren’t filmed in front of a green screen (there might have been one real set in there somewhere) utilize the exact same stock footage sequences we saw from the first season – including the ones of the false exterior of the network building that’s used about 4843928 times.  The rest of the stock footage has nobody in it, as if this island is completely abandoned save for our favorite main characters (some of which have already left the show).  Since the stock footage takes up nearly half of each very short episode, there’s little that can be accomplished.  Elsewhere, the soundtrack is cheesy and generic, and every scene feels like it begins just as characters start doing things rather than having it flow into things that are already naturally happening.  Finally, the introduction sequence was seriously made on Windows Movie Maker.  That’s about it for this section.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-1 points)

Where to start?  How about with the weird Christian worldview that earns this section a negative point?  As if Wink Martindale weren’t a bad enough TV preacher impersonator, we get strange lectures from the very white, awkward, and geriatric patriarch of the Trisk family about how Christianity is all about legalism and behavior modification (the token black woman gets to say a few things about this topic too).  All of the dialogue is overly dramatic, and Bible verses are used in bizarre ways.  In typical soap opera form, the ‘story’ is chock-full of forced and fake drama as the subplots fragment all over the place and as conversations are used to dump information onto the audience, especially when explaining where the missing cast members went.  There’s still so much going on here that there is no chance for any character or plot depth, as if the writers even knew how to do that in the first place.  The ‘plot’ jumps from one thing to the next as the characters are just stand-ins and representations of issues and circumstances.  Nearly 60% of the plot takes place in the context of phone conversations, and Christian tropes and trite lessons inserted awkwardly into so-called stories.  In typical PureFlix fashion, young people are portrayed in insulting ways as the series basically has no grasp on reality.  A lot of ‘good’ characters are questionable at being ‘good’, and the ‘bad’ characters are total strawmen to the point that it’s not even funny.  Basically, I think you can get the picture that there’s nothing good here and that there’s not even an ounce of potential in this garbage.

Acting Quality (0 points)

To say the least, this ever-shrinking cast exhibits some of the worst acting possible.  Line delivery is forced down your throat like cast members are saying lines through a strainer.  Attempts at emotions are like fingernails in a chalkboard.  A majority of the scenes appear to be one-take as cast members awkwardly stand around making annoyingly stereotypic movements and just mindlessly recite lines.  This doesn’t even cover the fact that this cast is extremely fake-looking, and the makeup work is atrocious.  It’s really no surprise that this cast is smaller than the first season (even Donna Mills had something better to do), but we can’t even do without Carey Scott’s stiff and wooden performances.  As a side note, most the time, it seems like Anna Zielinki is trolling – it’s either that, or she’s a terrible villain.  Further, there are basically no extras in this cast, which lends further to the portrayal of Hilton Head Island as a ghost town.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Although there is some continuity between episodes, there is still little to no organization in this series.  It’s nearly impossible to accomplish anything substantial in incredibly short episodes that are replete with stock footage.  It’s also too easy to make mindless 20-minute episodes, especially when this second season is half the length of the first.  However, for all the die-hard Hilton Head Island fans, Season 2 provides us with yet another forced cliffhanger ending that’s designed to make you want another season (if they have any cast members left by then).

Conclusion

PureFlix makes garbage and just keeps trucking along.  You can’t fault them for having drive.  They try new things and attempt to pander to their audience for quick cash grabs.  Even still, I greatly fail to see the market for this ‘Hope Opera’.  There’s definitely an untapped market for good Christian series, but this ain’t the way.  This is the last thing you want in a Christian series unless you have nothing better to do with your free month of PureFlix On Demand.

 

Final Rating: 1 out of 10 points

October 11, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Series Reviews, Soap OperaTags: 2018, Anna Zielinski, Antonio Sabato Jr., Brett Pipher, Carey Scott, Christina Collard, Christine Scholle, Crystal Hunt, David A. R. White, Jamie Nieto, Jasmine Wright, Jason Stuart, Jimena Crespo, Kenton Duty, Leticia Robles, Linda Gray, Mandalynn Carlson, Michael Swan, Michelle Thomson, Palma Lawrence Reed, Pam Pipher, PureFlix, Reign Morton, Robert McCullough, Soap Opera, Tim Pipher, Wink Martindale 14 Comments

When Calls the Heart, Season 5 (Series Review)

Why are we still here?

Plot Summary

When Constable Jack Thornton returns from the North back to the nice little town of Hope Valley, everyone expects him to finally marry Elizabeth Thatcher, which the series has been building up for way too many seasons now.  Thus, the TV couple finally ties the knot and is married long enough for Elizabeth to get pregnant, and Michael Landon Jr. and company follow this up by the long-awaited and long-expected death of the male lead, which leaves Elizabeth (shockingly) free to love again.  Elsewhere in Hope Valley, the other characters are doing the same things they always did with no significant alterations in their character arcs (except Jesse is a good guy now or something like that), but when you have a rabid fan base and unlimited season renewals, why would you try anything creative as a writer?

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

If anything improved in this season of When Calls the Heart, it’s that the production got slightly better.  Video quality is still crisp, and camera work is still professional, but the sets and locations seem to have improved somewhat.  Props are pretty much the same old stuff.  The soundtrack is that same recycled and very tired and uncreative score that can be found in pretty much any other Hallmark production.  Further, the editing is pretty standard in Season 5, and overall, there’s not much keeping this production from being nearly perfect (except for the soundtrack), which shows you that it pays to have a good budget.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

What was Season 4 about?  I already forgot.  The railroad?  Anyways, I challenge any Heartie to tell me what Season 5 is actually about except for completing Michael Landon Jr.’s favorite romantic chase storyline with the female lead’s marriage, pregnancy, and eventual husband’s death.  Shocking turn of events, I know.  Well, Hearties can be consoled that Michael Landon Jr. is known for rebuilding the romantic chase for the young widow by introducing a new love interest later in the series.  By killing off Jack and freeing Daniel Lissing from this nonsense, Landon Jr. and company opened up a whole new world of storylines to pursue for at least three or four or five more seasons, so you can rest easy!

Acting Quality (1 point)

Are we still here?  These same old tired cast members are still old and tired.  Erin Krakow, Lori Loughlin, Daniel Lissing, Kevan Smith, Pascale Hutton, et al. haven’t changed much since last season.  Michael Landon Jr.’s approach to casting, acting, and makeup is no better than it’s always been.  However, there are a few bright spots from some of the peripheral cast members that keep this section from being zero.  Nevertheless, most of Landon Jr.’s casting work seems like a plastic surgery pageant.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

At least this season creates a story arc that is somewhat interesting, which is the loss of Jack.  It was really the only card this show had left to play, so now this move opens up a whole new world of plot possibilities.  However, I don’t expect many of them to be any good.

 

Conclusion

As I predicted months ago, after wasting away at least two seasons kicking the can down the road ad nauseum and trolling with his typically pageantry and empty characters that are ripped off from a Janette Oke novel series that doesn’t even remotely resemble the dollhouse show this series has become, Michael Landon Jr. has finally come full circle with his favorite storyline of all: the young widow plot.  As can be seen throughout the Love Comes Softly series, including Love Comes Softly and Love’s Unending Legacy, Landon Jr. is infatuated with the chase of a romance, but once the couple marries and has some kids, it’s time to kill off the husband between movies and introduce a new romantic chase for the young widow.  It’s no surprise to see the long overdue exit of Jack Thornton from this series, especially since Daniel Lissing probably has better things to do.  Expect next season to introduce Elizabeth’s new love interest and her new chase after the grief has subsided (please bring back Charles).  Also, since we’re going to keep mindless renewing this troll-fest, let’s go ahead and experiment with some other cast members this show needs right now.  I vote for Erik Estrada, Morgan Fairchild, Kris Kristofferson, and Corbin Bernsen, to name a few.  Cast-member-guessing is the only thing keeping this show interesting at this point.

 

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 14 points

 

May 22, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: #Hallmarked, 2018, Alfonso H. Moreno, Ali Liebert, Amanda Phillips Atkins, Andrea Brooks, Andy Patterson, Anne Wheeler, Aren Buchholz, Ava Grace Cooper, Ben Corns, Ben Rosenbaum, Benjamin Goas, Brad Krevoy, Brian Bird, Callum Seagram Airlie, Cameron Bancroft, Carter Ryan Evancic, Charlotte Hegele, Chris Gauthier, Christian Michael Cooper, Clayton Chitty, Colby Wilson, Corey Schmitt, Cynthia Cohen, Daniel Lissing, Denise Kewin, Derek Thompson, Doran Chandler, Dylan Sloane, Eliza Norbury, Elizabeth Stewart, Eric Jarboe, Erica Carroll, Erin Krakow, Eva Bourne, Garwin Sanford, Genea Charpentier, Gracyn Shinyei, Greg Malcolm, Hallmark, Hannah Zirke, Harrison MacDonald, Hrothgar Mathews, Imogen Tear, Jaiven Natt, Janette Oke, Jerry Wasserman, Jill Teed, Jimmy Townsend, Johannah Newmarch, John Sereda, Josie Bissett, Julian Domingues, Julie Fairweather, Kadence Kendall Roach, Kate Isaac, Kavan Smith, Kevin O'Grady, Larissa Albuquerque, Liam Hughes, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Maja Miljkovic, Mark Humphrey, Martin Cummins, Martin Wood, Matt Ellis, Max Lloyd-Jones, Michael Landon Jr., Michael Shepard, Michelle Harrison, Mike Rohl, Milo Shandel, Neill Fearnley, Pascale Hutton, Paul Greene, Paul Jackson, Peter DeLuise, Richard Manning, Robert Parent, Sarah Grey, Sean Poague, Shaughnessy Redden, Sheri Rabold, Shona Miko, Steve Richmond, Susie Belzberg, Vicki Sotheran, Vince Balzano, When Calls the Heart series 49 Comments

Peculiar, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

When new Christian Blake Goodman breaks his arm, he loses his (provisional) scholarship to play football at a big university and gets stuck going to the OCCCCC, where they have no sports.  However, they do have a quirky student population, a local campus ministry where most of the series takes place, and of course, a raging atheist professor bent on destroying Blake’s new faith.  What Christian entertainment about higher education would be complete with all of these tropes?  But that’s not all!  No, this series has many more zany elements to offer that put David A. R. White and Tommy Blaze to shame.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

Though the budget is small, the production really isn’t even half of the problems with this series.  Video and audio quality, for the most part, are fine.  There are some odd camera angles, however, as well as a lot of weird special effects, overlays, and annoyingly interruptive flashbacks or character imaginations.  The soundtrack is a ridiculous cheap track, and there are constant annoying sound effects that are enough to make you go crazy.  It goes without mentioning that one episode where half of the dialogue is sung (very badly), along with horrible lip-synching.  Elsewhere, sets, locations, and props are fairly and understandably limited, and there is really no editing to speak of.  However, as previously mentioned, this isn’t even the beginning of the problems with this horrific series.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-3 points)

Peculiar is rightly named as such, even though Insanity or Stupidity or Offensive would also work.  This series is majorly childish in its approach and downright stupid at times.  Many portions feel like Tommy Blaze gone wrong (as if that’s possible) due to off-the-wall and even offensive humor that takes cheap shots at Jews and people who could be special needs.  Other ‘comedy’ is only funny because it is so poorly executed that it seems like a child wrote this.  Space probably won’t permit a full exploration of the problems in this section, but we will try our best.  Besides the absurdly predictable atheist professor character, all of the other characters are just generally off-beat as they espouse an odd brand of Christianity and mishandle otherwise important topics that they try to explore.  The series is also full of obnoxious ‘funny’ asides and head-scratching tongue-in-cheek jokes about itself, as if this whole thing is a satire.  I would believe that it is making fun of Christians on purpose, except for the fact that each episode tries to spoon-feed the audience a cute and trite little Christian platitude.  Also, as if things aren’t bad enough at first, the musical episode really takes the cake.  As whole, Peculiar is very unexplainable and generally strange in basically every way.  To fully experience the zany madness, you have to see it for yourself.

Acting Quality (0 points)

The lead actor bears a very striking resemblance to the maniacal mannerisms of David A. R. White, with awkward delivery, forced humor, and an air of superiority.  The other cast members aren’t much better, just less full of themselves and more awkward.  Most lines are overly enunciated, and emotions are greatly lacking in realism.  Torry Martin isn’t even enough to save this very small cast from itself, even though there are some attempts in the end to improve.  The improvement isn’t significant enough to register any life here, especially when it started out so bad.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

As episodes end in awkward and weird ways, this series churns out one thing after the next in very (mercifully) short episodes.  Though there are slight attempts at plot arcs, they are just cheesy romantic nonsense, and there are no character arcs.  Each episode also begins with an unwanted and long recap of previous episodes, as if you missed anything.  Essentially, not much can pull this series out of the nose dive it started out with.

Conclusion

Peculiar is a very surreal experience, almost like a Christianity twilight zone.  In this possibly worst series ever, all nightmarish clichés and caricatures of Christians come to life in a ten-episode experience from Sheol.  Every bad thing we’ve ever pointed out in Christian entertainment is rolled into one series as a package deal, along with even worse things.  This series should have been canned, banned, and whatever else it took to make it go away forever.

 

Final Rating: -2 out of 14 points

 

 

February 20, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Series ReviewsTags: 2012, Becky Abu Rahmeh, George Livings, Josh Kessler, Kaleia Giancini, Krista Wilson, Krystle McMullan, Melanie Turner, Michael Shippy, Missy Strack, Pup Tent Media, Scot Smith, Scott Link, Scott Link Films, Steve Bleiler, Tony Deitterick, Wendy Proctor 1 Comment

Young Disciple, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Eli is done with the street life of being a gangsta.  He has found faith in Christ and wants to make a new life for himself and his family, but the old life keeps calling him back in the form of gang lord Prime, who has Eli’s brother in his clutches.  Will Eli be able to escape the bondage of the streets and live the life God wants him to live?  Will his brother be pulled into the old life Eli used to live?

Production Quality (1 point)

Unfortunately, Young Disciple suffers from a severe lack of adequate funding, as well as mismanagement of the resources that were at hand.  This is evident in the cheap video quality and the weird camera angles, as well as the poor audio quality and the odd sound effects used throughout.  The lighting is also not what it should, as the sets and very cheap and limited.  There aren’t many locations to speak of, and the soundtrack is too loud at times.  While there is some improvement throughout the season, it’s not enough to overcome this series’ very rough beginning.  Also, the editing is very raw, thus rounding out an underwhelming effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

While Young Disciple attempts to portray realistic characters and the struggles and circumstances they go through, the delivery is lacking.  While the creators of this series likely meant well with what they were doing, the presentation very much hurts their intentions.  Dialogue is too lazy, and most conversations tend to meander and even repeat themselves over time.  Too many scenes appear to be grasping for content rather than trying to develop the characters.  Besides this, there are too many side characters and subplots that are hard to follow or understand.  The storyline of this series is confusing and is too disorganized to be understood easily, even though there was plenty of potential here.  Unfortunately, this series just misses the mark all the way around.

Acting Quality (.5 point)

Though this amateur cast is definitely trying, they really would have benefitted from some much-improved coaching and development.  There are too many sequences of yelling and juvenile arguing.  Too often, emotions seem very flat and pedestrian.  Line delivery is inconsistent at best.  It’s unfortunate that this section continues to demonstrate the theme of mismanagement in this series.

Continuity Quality (.5 point)

Besides the oddly abrupt episode endings, Young Disciple has story and character arcs that are very hard to follow, even though they can be interesting at times and actually demonstrate some potential.  Moreover, this series tends to adapt the one-thing-after-the-next episode model that creates a storyline without much continuity.  Thus, this rounds out an overall disappointing experience.

Conclusion

Though Young Disciple was underfunded, this does not mean it had to be this bad.  It seems like the writers were trying to make something big in the storyline, but its delivery is off the mark.  Had this plot been much stronger and had there been more continuity in the series, Young Disciple could have overcome its shortcomings and stood out as a creative series.  As it is, it certainly deals with some pertinent issues that need to be portrayed in Christian films and series, but not like this.  Perhaps they will have better luck next time.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 14 points

January 29, 2018October 21, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Series ReviewsTags: 2013, Buck Barnabas, Inspirational, Julio Montalvo, Monox Ragland, Rags Ragland, The Media Kompany Leave a comment

Hope Island, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

As penance for his past indiscretions, Revered Daniel Cooper is sentenced to take over a small church on the small island community of Hope Island, off the coast of the northwestern United States.  Though skeptical at first, he finds a charming town of quirky people who accept him with open arms.  The days on Hope Island are not without intrigue and conflict, but at the end of the day, they all like each other and everything stays pretty much the same all the time.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

As a late 90s\early 2000s production, Hope Island can look archaic at times, but it’s not all bad.  On paper, the production is fine, including good video quality, camera work, and audio quality.  The soundtrack leaves something to be desired, however, and there are some dumb sound effects used throughout.  The opening sequence is long and boring, and most of the flashbacks have a very strange and almost un-watchable quality about them.  Further, the editing is pretty standard, and overall, this production is just above average.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

It’s really no surprise this vaguely Christian series on the old PAX channel didn’t get renewed.  It contains nothing creative and settles for many predictable small-town concepts, elements, subplots, characters, and tropes.  The storylines therein are very safe and pedestrian as each character fits perfectly into their molds: the main character with a secret past who comes to a new area for a new start, his obvious love interest (who doubles as the diner character) who doesn’t like him at first, the young white couple whose relationship we’re supposed to be interested in, the quirky self-seeking schemer and his clueless sidekick, and all those one-episode characters who appear only once in over twenty episodes, even though this is a tiny island with a couple hundred people on it.  Besides this, there are far too many attempts at comedy that aren’t even funny and are actually quite juvenile.  Also, there are some odd attempts at ‘edgy’ content that fall completely flat and feel out of place and desperate.  Christian themes are only used when convenient, and conflicts are easily resolved with coincidences and convenient turns.  Unfortunately, there’s not much good to note here.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

As a professional cast, these cast members are mostly fine and typical.  However, they have some odd, head-scratching moments at times.  Other times, they are too awkward, especially when they are trying too hard to be funny.  However, there are enough good moments here to make this section average.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

Hope Island follows the predetermined inspirational series formula that rolls out one thing after the next.  Each episode is its own 45-minute bubble of time that has little effect on the following episode and receives little effect from the previous episode, except for the predictable romantic subplot arcs, which are the only notable story or characters arcs present here.  This series is basically a collection of shallow conflicts that are introduced and quickly resolved and never mentioned again, thus not warranting any points in this section.

Conclusion

PAX was trying to blaze new trails in Christian\inspirational made-for-TV entertainment before UP existed and before Hallmark rebranded themselves as a plastic dollhouse.  Now PAX has turned into that absurd channel called ION and has even more laughable content than Hallmark.  Hope Island is a microcosm of the late 90s\early 2000s attempts at mainstream Christian content that didn’t work out, not only because of its split personality of trying to please two different audiences or because of its underwhelming production and acting quality, but mostly because it’s so boring.  It was hard enough to sit through over twenty episodes of this; I can’t even imagine what another season would be like.  Alas, we never saw another season, which is a blessing.  Now, as I continually say, it’s time for a real, truly quality Christian series to be made.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 14 points

 

January 18, 2018December 31, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 1999, 2000, Allison Hossack, Ann Powell, Anne Wheeler, Anne-Marie Johnson, Anthony Ulc, Belinda Montgomery, Beverley Elliott, Bill Corcoran, Brad Turner, Brandon Wilkinson, Brenton Spencer, Brian Jensen, Cameron Daddo, Chantal Conlin, Christine Willes, Dana Reston, David Lewis, David Storch, Dean Paul Gibson, Devin Douglas Drewitz, Dion Johnstone, Don MacKay, Donnelly Rhodes, Duncan Fraser, Frank Giustra, Fred Henderson, Gary R. Johnson, Gina Chiarelli, Gina Stockdale, Glynis Davies, Haig Sutherland, Heidi Mark, Jan D'Arcy, Jason Milligan, Jason Nash, Jason Schombing, Jennifer Copping, John Juliani, John Whelpley, Jonathan Goodwill, Joyce DeWitt, Julie Sayres, Kavan Smith, Ken Hanes, Ken Jubenvill, Keri Young, Lions Gate Television, Lionsgate Television, Lisa Bunting, Liz Coe, Louise Jacobson, Lucia Walters, Maggie Blue O'Hara, Mark Brandon, Mark Hildreth, Mary Hanes, Matthew Walker, Max Peters, Michael Puttonen, Michal Suchánek, Mig Macario, Mike Rohl, Nancy Sorel, Nathaniel DeVeaux, Neill Fearnley, Norman Morrill, Pam Hyatt, Paramount Network Television, Patrick Keating, Paul Johansson, PAX Television, Penelope Buitenhuis, Peter DeLuise, Rick Stevenson, Robert Wisden, Robin Mossley, Ron Halder, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sarah Goodwill, Scott McNeil, Sheila Moore, Stacy Grant, Suki Kaiser, Tim McCauley, Timothy O. Johnson, Timothy Webber, Veena Sood, Vic Sarin, Wendy Donaldson Leave a comment

Malibu Dan the Family Man, Season 1 (Series Review)

What DARW does best

Plot Summary

Malibu Dan and Holidae Sinclair run the southern California early morning show Good Morning Malibu.  Dan is always getting himself into comedic scrapes, while Holi is always looking for a better media offer.  They work with a goofy but likeable crew, but most of all, Dan considers himself to be a devout family man.  What else could go wrong in Tommy Blaze’s latest zany comedic endeavors?

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Much like Hitting the Breaks, Malibu Dan the Family Man is a sitcom with an average production, which means it comes with that annoying laugh track again.  There are also other sound effects used now, however.  Another annoying aspect of the sitcom genre is the use of ridiculously fake backgrounds and cheaply limited sets, as well as a total lack of actual locations.  Props are fine, however, as are other standard production elements, such as camera work and video quality, which keep this production from being totally worthless.  However, the editing also suffers from lack of creativity as it is quite choppy.  In the end, however, these few production positives are the only ones that exist in this unnecessary series.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

If Tommy Blaze and company were so desperate to make another sitcom, why not just make another season of Hitting the Breaks?  Malibu Dan is really no different—just some rearranged characters and different cast members.  Who would have noticed if some cast members changed for a new season of Breaks?  As it is, Malibu Dan includes the same old tired and ridiculous messages Blaze and David A. R. White have been hanging out to dry for years, such as an absurdly stark gender divide, their patronizing view of Generation Y, and the endless pursuit of media fame and stardom.  As usual, David A. R. White is the bemused husband\father who gets himself into a comedic venture that solves itself in twenty minutes or less.  Everything is the same, and there is nothing new in PureFlix.

Acting Quality (0 points)

With the same old egotistical PureFlix cast members—the Whites, Brad Heller, Kevin Downes, Gregg Binkley—Malibu Dan throws in a few more, such as comedy staple Victoria Jackson and Erik Estrada with a few more plastic surgeries since the last time we saw him.  Regardless of the changes, the zaniness and the over-the-top non-subtlety is still present and still makes for an eye-rolling experience as the leadership of Blaze continues to push ‘Christian’ comedy to the limits of absurdity.  The other cast members are swept along in the wave of nonsense and must wonder how they got stuck with this crew.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

Sitcoms are not made for continuity.  There are no story arcs or character arcs as each episode exists within its own twenty-minute bubble in which all conflicts introduced are promptly and easily solved in time to tack a trite Christian antidote onto the end.  Thus, no points can be awarded here.

Conclusion

As long as the PureFlix faithful continue to garner funding for these frivolous projects, they will keep making them to satisfy their longings to parade themselves around like idiots in the name of Christian entertainment, ever in the pursuit of fame and stardom, just like the characters they portray.  They are as shallow as the comedy they create, but as un-ignorable as David A. R. White’s bombastic displays of idiocy.  They project themselves as the leaders in Christian film and the saviors in a dark world of Christian persecution, but if this is all we have to lead us, it’s no wonder so many people scoff at Christian media.

 

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 14 points

 

January 15, 2018January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Series Reviews, SitcomTags: 2018, Andrea Logan White, Anton Fair, Antonio Sabato Jr., Aria Walters, Brad Heller, Clint Howard, Comedy, David A. R. White, David de Vos, David Pires, Don DiPetta, Erik Estrada, Francisco Ovalle, Gregg Binkley, John O'Hurley, Jon Kondelik, Kelly Stables, Kerry Lynne McHugh, Kevin Downes, Laura Reilly, Lauren Harper, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Matt Shapira, Pat McNeely, Philip Morton, PureFlix, Robin Givens, Robin Miller, Sarah Malberg, Shari Rigby, Shelley Robertson, Sitcom, Tim Pipher, Tommy Blaze, Victoria Jackson 6 Comments

Hilton Head Island, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

The powerful Trisk family funs the influence ISLE News Network, and they are headed up by the patriarch Daniel Trisk.  However, when he has a sudden stroke on air, the entire empire is threatened.  Victoria Trisk, wife of Daniel, wields her power over the family while her husband lays in a coma.  Everyone in the family has a secret to guard, and each one of them wants the upper hand in the ISLE News Network business.  Will they remember their Christian faith and learn what really matters in the midst of all their conspiracies?

 

Production Quality (1 point)

Though there are attempts at making this ‘hope opera’ series a good production, many of them fall flat.  Beginning with a disorienting opening sequence and continuing with time and location captions, this series commits quite a few errors.  Though location footage is excellent, we never see the characters go to any of those places and instead are forced to watch them awkwardly stand around in cheap and limited indoor sets and in front of painfully obvious green screens.  Issues like these seem to suggest the PureFlix team didn’t know what they were doing with this series, even though video quality, camera work, and audio quality are fine.  The soundtrack is mostly generic, and there is a lot of awkward editing throughout, including lingering scenes and fadeouts.  Unfortunately, a lot of this series’ production is a cover for shortcuts and cheaply done work.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

This ‘hope opera’ also commits pretty much all of the clichés that exist in the severely limited genre of soap operas.  Everything is overly dramatic for no reason, and every conflict seems forced and trumped up, as well as the premise itself.  It feels like this series exists in some alternate world, like a child’s play world, rather than the real world.  Most, if not all, of the characters are annoying and impressed with themselves as most of their dialogue is filled with information dumps of things that happened off screen.  For that matter, there is a lot of talk about these characters doing media work, but we rarely see any of it.  The Christian themes therein are extremely forced and plastic; however, near the end of this season, things take a sudden turn towards remotely interesting rather than the previous fingernails-in-the-chalkboard style they were going for.  Unfortunately, this is too little too late as too many loose ends and unnecessary subplots are introduced in the latter half of the season.  Though there are some interesting attempts at creating flawed characters, it’s just not enough to save this series from itself.

Acting Quality (1 point)

The cast of Hilton Head Island is perhaps among the most plastic-looking and fake-looking we have ever seen, including Hallmark casts.  The makeup work in this film is freakishly awful and out of place.  Besides this pageantry, as previously mentioned, cast members stand around awkwardly like they don’t know what to do.  Their line delivery is unnatural and stilted, while emotions are very wooden and forced.  A lot of the time, they are trying way too hard, especially in scenes that are supposed to have high emotion.  However, there is some improvement noted throughout that keeps this section from being zero.  As a side note, why did Bradley Dorsey choose this mess to restart his acting career with?

Continuity Quality (1 point)

Most of the time, episodes break and transition in the oddest ways.  Also, the same old transition sequences are used over and over again between scenes.  Though there are some attempts at character backstory, many concepts tend to recycle and repeat themselves throughout this series.  There are also way too many subplots going on for any hope of organization to exist.

Conclusion

Once again, PureFlix tries to breach new territory in the Christian entertainment world, and once again, it’s a swing and a miss.  We definitely need a series that has intrigue, conspiracy, and flawed characters with no clear heroes, but this is not the way to do it.  The soap opera mentality is doomed to failure from the start, and the plastic Christian message of this series is laughable, not to mention the utter pageantry embarrassment that this cast is.  Better luck next time, PureFlix.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 14 points

 

January 11, 2018January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series Reviews, Soap OperaTags: 2017, Alysoun Wolfe, Anna Zielinski, Antonio Sabato Jr., Bradley Dorsey, Carey Scott, Carl Turner, Christina Collard, Crystal Hunt, David A. R. White, David Pires, DH Lewis, Donna Mills, Elizabeth Lambert, Inspirational, Jasmine Wright, Jeremy John Wells, Kenton Duty, Kerry Lynne McHugh, LA Castle Studios, Laura Reilly, Michael Swan, Michelle Thomson, Palma Lawrence Reed, Pam Pipher, PureFlix, Robert McCullough, Robin Miller, Shanna Strong, Soap Opera, Tim Pipher, Trevor Thomas Olwig, Wink Martindale 5 Comments

Noah’s Ark [1999] (Series Review)

Plot Summary

If Hallmark is to be believed, Noah lived in Sodom with Lot and constantly tried to stop people around him from fighting wars.  Then a strange version of God decided to scare Noah into building an ark to save him and his white family.  Once on the ark, the storm comes, and Noah and her family are all stuck there.  Thus, they begin acting crazy and absurd until it’s finally all over with.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Who knew Hallmark dabbled into Bible series in the 1990s?  For the most part, the production of Noah’s Ark is fine, especially when it comes to video quality and camera work.  However, there are some random lapses of audio quality throughout, along with a loud soundtrack.  Sets and locations are also somewhat limited considering the intended scope of this film, but props are fine.  There are also some very cheap special effects and obviously fake backgrounds, but the editing is surprisingly fine, and other elements show some improvement throughout.  In the end, this is just an average production, but there are a lot of other issues to point out in this series.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-1.5 points)

When a Bible movie or series begins with a disclaimer telling you that they took creative license with a historical account, they are basically telling you to get ready for a whole lot of crazy.  What is the actual point of altering historical accounts for fun?  What if somebody altered more recent historical accounts for personal enjoyment?  Trying to squeeze Lot, Sodom, and Gomorrah into the story of Noah is just all wrong and cripples this series before it even begins.  Besides these obvious problems, the portrayal of God in this series is downright strange and bizarre, but this is only a part of this series’ overall weirdness.  There are other bizarre characters and insinuations, fueled by strange dialogue and useless asides that waste time.  Along with this comes several off-the-wall attempts at comedy and some totally head-scratching drug-trip moments that come close to making this debacle a parody.  In short, there really isn’t much good to say about this section.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Like many attempts at bringing Bible stories to life, Noah’s Ark gives no care to cultural authenticity in casting, mixing American and BRITISH cast members of recognizable names to sell this show.  Besides this, the cast is overall too dramatic, even though they do have plenty of good moments.  The costuming is also fine, but it’s not enough to make this section any more than average.

Continuity Quality (1.5 points)

Though this ‘series’ only has two episodes, the continuity is mostly fine.  There are some interesting character arcs and story arcs, but the many blatant content errors are complete inexcusable.  Thus, this mishandling of historical fact brings this whole series down in flames.

Conclusion

Too often, Bible movies and series become about Hollywood trying to make some quick bucks on a Christian audience.  But don’t get too high and mighty, Christian film makers—you do it too.  Even Christians sometimes take great ‘creative’ license with historical accounts (see The Book of Esther).  The bottom line is that there are so few good Bible movies and series on the market, and this is an absolute travesty.  Biblical films and series should be the best of the best, not a laughingstock.  We’re still waiting for this day to come.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

 

January 10, 2018January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 1999, Alexis Denisof, Babelsberg International Film Produktion, Bible, Biblical, Carol Kane, Daniel Daperis, Deni Gordon, Dino Marnika, Emily Mortimer, Evelyn Krape, F. Murray Abraham, Hallmark, Historical, Howard Stanley, James Coburn, John Irvin, Jon Voight, Jonathan Biggins, Jonathan Cake, Jonathan Encavey, Joseph Spano, Julie Day, Linda Ross, Mark Bazeley, Mary Steenburgen, Max Phipps, Monica Maughan, Paul Bertram, Paul Grabowsky, Peter Barnes, Robert Essex, Robert Halmi Sr., Sonya Walger, Stephen Jones, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Terry Norris, William Dayble 4 Comments

Hitting the Breaks, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

After racecar driver Randy Wilcox crashes his car in a race, his family convinces him to retire.  Thus, he decides to move the bed and breakfast in rural Colorado that his father willed to him.  What the Wilcox family finds there is a lack of modern conveniences and a collection of quirky characters who live eccentric lives.  Yet through the comedic mishaps they endure, they begin to like their new home, despite the inconveniences.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Though the production of this series looks good on the surface, it really just boils down to a silly sitcom.  Video quality is fine, but camera work has a lot of shortcuts taken in it due to the genre.  The genre also brings with it an obnoxious laugh track, as if we are to believe that this was recorded in front of a live studio audience.  However, other audio quality is fine, even if the soundtrack is extremely generic.  Furthermore, sets and locations are severely limited, once again due to the sitcom genre.  Finally, editing is very standard and uninspiring.  Basically, PureFlix still knows how to make things look good on the outside without any real substance.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Much like past comedy projects from the bizarre minds of David A. R. White and Tommy Blaze, Hitting the Breaks is one half lazy and one half downright zany and nonsensical.  Full of cheesy small town characters that are obviously copycatting other films and series, one has to endure constant reality television confessionals that litter the series.  In these ten episodes, each one follows a predictable formula: David A. R. White gets himself into some comedic escapade and then has to get out of it in twenty minutes or less to leave himself time to read a ‘life lesson’ from his father’s journal at the end that attempts to force a purpose into this madness.  These ‘life lessons’ are laughably cheap Christian messages, thus leaving the series pointless and purposeless.  Most of the comedy isn’t even funny, whether it’s for the right reason or the wrong reason.  The dialogue is chock-full of stupid catchphrases and caricatures as everything generally gets zanier and less explainable as the series progresses.  In the end, it’s like they just run out of ideas and find a random way to end it.  Basically, there is little to no point in this mess.

Acting Quality (.5 point)

For this barn-burning cast, PureFlix trotted out ever crazy person they have ever had in their films and put them all together in one place.  Everyone is as absurd as can be expected, especially the Whites, Kevin Downes, Moran Fairchild, and everyone’s favorite Jennifer Lyons.  Gregg Binkley makes a special spectacle of himself throughout the series as he tries desperately to be the new Barney Fife.  It’s surprising that Tommy Blaze didn’t make an appearance in this cast, yet the cast of Ray Wise is actually appropriate for once and saves this section from the abyss.  But it’s still not good enough to count for much.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

With extremely short episodes that repeat the same formula over and over again, it’s safe to say there is no continuity here.  There are no story arcs or characters arcs to speak of.  Thus, there is nothing good to say here either.

Conclusion

Once again, PureFlix is one step ahead of other film makers by breaking new ground for Christian entertainment.  Though this is the first legitimate Christian sitcom, that doesn’t mean it’s any good.  The PureFlix crew basically just packaged up all the craziness they’ve had pent up since Me Again and put it all into one wild series just for the sake of making it.  There is zero purpose and no clear direction here and it only further serves as an embarrassment to Christian entertainment.  Needless to say, the world is still waiting for a truly legitimate and interesting Christian series, which is something that is obviously very difficult to come by.

 

Final Rating: 2 out of 14 points

 

September 12, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Series Reviews, SitcomTags: 2016, Alyson Stoner, Alysoun Wolfe, Andrea Logan White, Anna Zielinski, Bill Heavener, Brad Heller, Brian Herzlinger, Burt Reynolds, Carrot Top, Chris Coppola, Comedy, Darrell Vickers, David A. R. White, David de Vos, Eamonn McCrystal, Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis, Gabriel Sabloff, Gianna Simone, Gregg Binkley, James Immekus, Jennifer Lyons, Josh Herren, Julia Duffy, Kevin Downes, Michael Scott, Michael Sinclair, Morgan Fairchild, PureFlix, Randal Reeder, Ray Wise, Reginald VelJohnson, Rob Schneider, Shanna Strong, Sitcom, Stephen Petree, Steve Billnitzer, Taylor Autumn Bertman, Tim Tebow, Tiny Ron, Tommy Blaze, Tyler Jacob Moore, Tyler Rhoads 11 Comments

7th Street Theater, Season 3 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

With the new cast of the 7^th Street Theater finally settled down, the team begins to face new challenges that they must face.  New social issues are in desperate need of being addressed by the cast through their bland skits.  But more importantly, a new threat arises to their business model as a disgruntled rival theater owner seeks to destroy their work.  With the 7^th Street Theater be able to survive the onslaught?

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

The newest and final (?) season of the 7^th Street Theater has really no unique or surprising elements.  The only notable difference is some slightly improved camera work.  Otherwise, everything else is pretty much the same.  Video quality and audio quality are typical.  The Jasper Randall soundtrack is still intact.  There are still no locations and the same old limited sets are utilized.  Furthermore, there is really no editing to speak of.  In the end, if this is the end of this series, it’s an anticlimactic one.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Another season of this series brings another one full of forced drama and fake conflicts as everything in this universe centers around the happenings of the theater with no care about what the characters do outside of it except for a lot of references to off-screen content.  This third season continues to grasp for content as it constantly exhibits the limited and isolationist worldview of the Christiano brothers.  Even more so this season, they adapt a Christians versus the world approach and complain about common cultural problems rather than offering real solutions.  They are still lost in their own world in thinking this concept is actually interesting or even sustainable.  The ending really makes no sense, yet it appropriate for this saga, which remains empty and wanting.

Acting Quality (1 point)

As the same cast members continue to phone in their performances, there is really nothing new to mention here.  Emotions are still plastic and line delivery is still lazy.  There are fewer cast member changes this season, yet it’s really hard to believe that they were able to keep at least half of this cast together for so long.  What were they really getting out of this?

Continuity Quality (.5 point)

It’s very hard to believe there are over sixty twenty-minute episodes in this saga.  That’s a lot of dedication for not much return.  Yet this season’s continuity quality has slightly improved due to some slight attempts at continuation and arcs.  However, it’s not really enough to make any real difference.

Conclusion

It seems like this series is now over, and it has done so in the most non-dramatic fashion.  There is truly no way to understand how and why this series was made for so long except for the fact that it was extremely easy to make.  It’s very difficult to see the true benefit of this saga due to its out-of-touch portrayal of people and apparent lack of understanding of real life and real people.  If a Christian series is ever to be successful, that’s a big if, then reality needs to be portrayed in a way that engages audiences rather than bores them.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 10 points

 

September 11, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2013, 2014, Bryan Gallagher, Christiano Brothers, Christiano Film Group, Cody Harding, Dave Christiano, Dave Christiano Films, Five and Two Pictures, Hugh McLean, Inspirational, Jack Kelly, Johanna Jowett, Rich Christiano, Shane Willimon, Shayne Kohout, Terry Loughlin, Trinity Broadcasting Network Leave a comment

7th Street Theater, Season 2 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Though the cast of the 7^th Street Theater is constantly changing, their messages are still the same.  They continually create plays about Christian topics over and over again and present their plastic worldview to supposedly sold out shows.  Since they are committed to doing the same things all the time, the only drama they have to contend with is constantly changing cast members.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

The production of the second season of this series is more stable than the first, but it basically comes out the same.  Video quality is fine and camera work is regular.  Audio quality is also fine, despite a pedestrian Jasper Randall soundtrack.  There are once again no locations to speak of and the same old severely limited sets are utilized in this lazy production.  Editing is mostly off the table as well.  Basically, as if the first season of this series was pointless enough, this second season is even more so.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

There is literally nothing new about this season that hasn’t already been discussed.  The same old one-dimensional characters are paraded around—even when the character changes due to cast changes, it makes no difference.  Every episode feels like a repeat of an old one as they constantly repeat the same ideas, sequences, and conversations.  Still the biggest plaguing issue in this saga is the fact that it lacks true connection to real people as they spin their wheels and grasp for content.  A series can only be sustained through top-level characters and realistic circumstances—it would be nice to have some arcs too.  However, 7^th Street Theater lacks all of these skills.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

As previously mentioned, the only difference with this bland cast from the first season is the fact that they are constantly switching some of them around.  However, it doesn’t help the fact that these cast members, though they may mean well, are too overly practiced in their delivery.  Emotions are hardly ever believable.  Essentially, there is not much unique to say about this season.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

Once again, there is no continuity in this season as each episode is presented with no real relation to the others, except for a few lame attempts at ‘cliffhangers’ that no one is interested in.  There are still no character arcs and no story arcs.  There was little to no point in making season, much less this series.

Conclusion

While in some way the Christianos might mean well in what they do, they are still not good at communicating the messages they want to communicate.  However, some of the things they do communicate are off-putting and paint an impossibly perfect view of Christians who have no real struggles.  This series doesn’t exist in reality and thus is never going to make any real difference.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

 

September 8, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2008, 2009, 2010, 7th Street Theater saga, Bryan Gallagher, Christiano Brothers, Christiano Film Group, Cody Harding, Dave Christiano, Dave Christiano Films, Five and Two Pictures, Hugh McLean, Inspirational, Jack Kelly, Jasper Randall, Johanna Jowett, Mark Scarboro, Rich Christiano, Shane Willimon, Shayne Kohout, Stacey J. Aswad, Terry Loughlin, Trinity Broadcasting Network 1 Comment

7th Street Theater, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

When a Christian businessman decides to invest in a Christian drama theater, he hires a stage director, Rudy, an office manager, Johanna, and five cast members, Travis, Jon, Jamie, Kelly, and Andi, to put together weekly plays centered around Christian themes.  As the actors and actresses write the shows and rehearse them to perform them, they learn life lessons that they intend to teach their audiences.  They also do life together and form a community with each other.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

Since this series is entirely based on a bunch of people sitting around in two to three theater sets, you can imagine how cheap and limited these sets are.  There are no locations to speak of, and props are kind of silly, although this concept is also embraced as normal.  A lot of production shortcuts are taken and are justified by the format.  Early in this season, video quality is blurry, but this improves throughout.  Camera work is relatively stable.  Audio quality is fine throughout, but Jasper Randall delivers his same old silly soundtrack that can be found in any given Christiano production.  Finally, editing is almost nonexistent as most scenes drag on way too long to pump the runtime.  Every episode also ends with an annoying freeze frame.  Basically, though this is an average production, it has a lot of work to do.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

The Christiano brothers have never been known for their subtlety, and the 7^th Street Theater saga is the most obvious messaging ever.  This series is a venue for them to push their forcefully fundamental ideas through extremely scripted and childish dialogue.  It’s full of typical goody-two shoes Christian characters who don’t make any ‘bad’ mistakes, as well as a few strawman non-Christian characters and allusions to ‘bad’ things that can’t be talked about.  This series overall demonstrates just how much the Christiano brothers live in their own little world, especially with the priceless episode that serves as apologetics for that horrid thing called Pamela’s Prayer, which is an entirely different topic that space does not permit a full analysis of.  Basically, this series is everything you can imagine from the Christianos, and worse.

Acting Quality (1 point)

With a severely small cast, over 400 minutes of runtime is too much to see them over and over and over again.  They are extremely bland and overly practiced in their delivery.  They come off as fake, plastic people and even have weird racial undertones.  Though there is some improvement throughout the season, this is a very poor job.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

This saga is allergic to continuity.  As one thing after the next happens, there is an extreme amount of redundancy and repetition.  There are zero story arcs and absolutely no character arcs—everything stays relatively the same throughout this pointless season.  Thus rounds out an unfortunately unsurprising failure.

Conclusion

Though there is probably some part of the Christiano brothers that means well in their entertainment, they have no idea how to subtly communicate a Christian message or even how to relate to real people.  In their world, Christians are goody-two-shoes plastic people who are insulated from ‘bad stuff’ and exist in a bubble where they all tell each other how good they are.  But when you think about it, this is probably just another day in the life for most Christian film makers.

 

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 14 points

 

September 8, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2007, 7th Street Theater saga, Alex Kendrick, Andy Croston, Bryan Gallagher, Charles Carpenter, Christiano Brothers, Christiano Film Group, Cody Harding, Dave Christiano, Dave Christiano Films, Five and Two Pictures, Helen Talmadge, Hugh McLean, Inspirational, Jack Kelly, James K. Flynn, Jasper Randall, Johanna Jowett, Josh Gaffga, Joshua Forgét, Mark Scarboro, Rich Christiano, Sarah H. Haught, Shane Willimon, Shayne Kohout, Stacey J. Aswad, Terry Loughlin, Trinity Broadcasting Network 2 Comments

The King’s Messengers, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Anwaar Osem and David Sutherland are on the run from the powerful force that has taken over the American government and has sent its enforcers to capture and kill those who resist their anti-Christian rule.  As they hide in the woods, they decide to record the truth about Christianity for all the world to see, even though the enforcement tries to stamp it out.  Will they be able to spread the truth and save people’s lives before it’s too late?

 

Production Quality (.5 point)

Despite a somewhat strong beginning and several years of production experience, this Crystal Creek series is not what it should be.  Camera work is very shaky throughout, like a camcorder is being used.  Video quality is fine, but there are way too many scenes filmed in the dark.  Audio quality is also below standard as sound effects that sound like they came from Final: The Rapture are included.  The soundtrack is also underwhelming.  Sets, locations, and props are severely limited and cheap-looking.  Finally, editing in this series is very poor a lot of unnecessary scenes and sequences are included, seemingly just to make the ‘episodes’ longer.  In short, a 2017 production should be much higher quality than this.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Though there are plenty of potentially interesting and creative ideas at the heart of this series, they are never properly developed.  This season overall lacks focus as it relies on a very vague and unexplained dystopian premise and stock suspense dialogue.  There are far too many unrelated and empty characters that are put through unrealistic circumstances.  The subplots are overall disjointed and any ‘twists’ that are employed are actually quite cheesy.  Finally, the end of this season is very confusing and really doesn’t inspire one to want a second season.  It’s very difficult to see the justification for this so-called series.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Can someone explain to us why Daniel Knudsen consistency uses an obviously fake British accent?  It’s very off-putting and annoying.  Elsewhere, this is a typical Crystal Creek cast with a few new additions that have some talent.  However, acting coaching is still lacking as a lot of the line delivery in this series is monotone and phoned in.  Emotions are difficult to grasp.  It’s possible that this cast could do better with coaching, however.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

Each so-called ‘episode’ is basically just the same plot over and over again.  Thus, there are no character arcs or real plot twists, as previously mentioned.  The format this ‘series’ is placed in makes it more like a movie than a season, since the breaks between the episodes are totally arbitrary and unnecessary.  They all run together, thus creating zero continuity.

Conclusion

We are certain that the Crystal Creek Media team means well, so we hope they will accept constructive criticism and use it improve in the future.  They have the drive to make movies and series, which is good, and they have the means to consistently produce them, though not very well.  They definitely like to build strong messages in their stories, but they need to build strong stories to hold their message properly.  They need to pool their resources to make one good production rather than a collection of bad ones.  Finally, their acting pool is limited, but they can be worked with if better coaching is employed.  We know all of this is easier said than done, but it’s so worth it in the end.

 

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 14 points

 

August 1, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, Series Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2017, Anita Cordell, Anne Lampert, Apocalyptic, Charles Lee, Christopher Veldhuizen, Crystal Creek Media, Damion Stevenson, Daniel Knudsen, DeVaun Thomas, Dystopian, Gayle Jones, Greg Tull, Hani Bay, Jacob T. Ouellette, Jonathan DeRoos, Joseph Ouellette, Joshua Knudsen, Julia Kate Ouellette, Julia Lampert, Kristina Kaylen, Mandie Marie, Mark A. Knudsen, Matthew Sankey, Michael Barbee, Michelle Knudsen, Mike T. Tremblay, Richard Swingle, Sci-Fi, Sean Anthony Kisch, Speculative, Suspense, Tim Kaiser 2 Comments

The Ten Commandments [2006] (Series Review)

Another crazy young, white, British Moses

Plot Summary

Moses, a Hebrew, grew up in Egypt, raised by the royal family, but after being driven from the land for committing a crime, he was forced to live in the desert among the Midianites.  He though his lot in life was to live among the Midianites forever, but God had other plans as He called Moses to go back to Egypt to free His chosen people, the Hebrews, from slavery.  Reluctantly, Moses went back to be the deliverer of his people and to witness God’s wonders.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

It’s clear that a lot of time and money was put into this made-for-television miniseries.  Video quality and camera work are professional, as are audio quality and soundtrack.  Sets, locations, and props are realistic and historically authentic.  However, there are some cheap special effects throughout that put a damper on things.  Also, although this miniseries is nearly three hours long, the editing is still poor as some content is cut off while other content is given too much time.  However, overall, this is a respectable and well-funded effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Unfortunately, that’s where the complements end.  It seems like anytime a mainstream company, even when they are joined by a Christian company, tries to make a Bible production, it fails miserable.  There are obviously exceptions to this (The Passion of the Christ and Nativity Story), it happens a lot.  This rendition of The Ten Commandments is filled with incessant heavy-handed narration that tries to force the audience to get to know the characters too quickly.  Narration also serves as a bridge for the plot, which speeds by at breakneck pace, while at the same time committing unnecessary historical and Biblical inaccuracies.  Though it’s ambitious to take on so much content in a miniseries, it’s almost too much content to handle, especially when time is spent on strange and seemingly useless portions of this story, in addition to all the unnecessary extra-Biblical content.  Besides these issues, there is a lot of cheesy sensationalism through this series, including a strange portrayal of God.  Thus, historical truth is freely edited and added to as the writers see fit.  Basically, where this could have been an interesting series, it fails.

Acting Quality (0 points)

Once again, this series is another instance of culturally inauthentic casting, including blatant BRITISH cast members and actors with ages that do not match the historical character they are plating.  Besides these issues, line delivery is quite poor, even though these are supposed to be professional actors and actresses.  Sometimes they are too dramatic and forceful with their emotions.  Makeup is also a huge problem as it is mostly overdone.  In the end, this is another disappointing section.

Continuity Quality (1 points)

Though there are some interesting character buildups throughout this series, their age progression is not historically correct.  Some success is found here in using the series format to create character arcs, even as the story arcs are already written for them.  Time transitions are also intriguing, but as previously mentioned, they usually move way too fast to try to cover too much time.  In the end, this miniseries leaves a lot of potential behind.

Conclusion

There is little to no point in trying to rewrite history in order to sell entertainment, whether it’s on the big screen or the TV screen.  When you already have the story laid out for you in a historical document, what’s the point of altering it?  What would someone think if a creator altered a different historical account that’s not in the Bible?  The Bible is not something to play with and change for convenience.  But don’t get too cocky, Christian film makers—you’ve done it too.  Perhaps one day we will have a high quality Biblical series or miniseries that will be worth celebrating.

 

Final Rating: 3 out of 14 points

 

August 1, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 2006, Actuality Productions, Adrian Schiller, American Broadcasting Company, Ashley Artus, Ben Hammersley, Bernard Dudek, Bible, Biblical, Claire Bloom, David Schneider, Dougray Scott, Firlid Othminni, Greg Hicks, Hallmark, Hannah Taylor Gordon, Historical, History Channel, Ian Ricketts, John Wark, Julius D'Silva, Karim Saleh, Khanssa Machkkour, Laura Julian, Linus Roache, Lisa Jacobs, Louis Hilyer, Marina Morgan, Mía Maestro, Naveen Andrews, Omar Sharif, Padma Lakshmi, Patrick Gordon, Paul Lowin, Paul Rhys, Peter Gevisser, Randy Edelman, Richard O'Brien, Robert Dornhelm, Robert Halmi Sr., Ron Hutchinson, Silas Carson, Susan Lynch, Tom Keller, Trinity Broadcasting Network Leave a comment

When Calls the Heart, Season 4 (Series Review)

Happy plastic people

Nurse Carter’s still here for some reason

Can’t forget about Rip

Plot Summary

After the marriage of Lllllllee and Rosemary, stuff just sorta keeps happening in Walnut Grove Hope Valley.  Rosemary has a daily ‘funny’ escapade and continues to parody herself until she becomes a perfect character like the others.  The town counselor, Abigail, tries to take over the mayor’s office from the breathy Gowen while she’s still trying to run her café.  That odd fake-looking guy named Bill is still hanging around being mysterious and doing sheriff stuff.  Elizabeth and Jack are still performing their endless and painful will-they-won’t-they dating dance until the writers finally get tired of it and decide to send Jack to the north to fight the good fight.  A railroad subplot is introduced (I wonder where that idea came from) to try to keep this television series on life support.  But who cares what happens anyway—ratings are up and a fifth season is on its way already, so who are we to talk?

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Much like Season 3, the production of When Calls the Heart has remained relatively stable since the early, low-budget days passed.  Video quality and camera work are professional as always.  Audio quality is standard, but that same old stupid soundtrack gets really old, especially when you hear it on other Hallmark movies.  Sets and locations are extremely limited as the series further settles into its small town feel.  There’s no branching out here, that’s for sure.  Editing also standard and very phoned in as each episode follows and mindlessly predictable progression.  They stretch out, one after the next, like indistinguishable zombies in Michael Landon Jr.’s makeup jobs.  What more can we say?  The money is clearly spent pretty wisely, but for what?

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

In a change from Season 3, this season’s storylines bring some minor complexity to the screen, especially where the railroad is involved.  However, the writers overplayed their hand with the railroad characters and made them too evil in some kind of weird attempt to make the breathy Gowen a nice guy.  Regardless, the railroad intrigue is resolved far too easily and dispensed with as quickly as it was introduced.  Besides this, Season 4 is full trite subplots and asides: Elizabeth helps a troubled child with something, Rosemary always has a new scheme, the fake-looking Bill is mysterious, Abigail is the town hero, Lllllllee does business stuff, Pastor Hogan does protective stuff, Cody is a middle school boy, Jesse is still hanging around for some reason, and Jack has to ‘fight the good fight’, as we are reminded in nearly every episode.  Too many characters are fixed and too many conflicts are easily resolved.  Random ‘mysterious’ characters are introduced to only be discarded or used as more fodder for manufactured drama.  Overall, with tons of inconsistently used characters and a host of overused ones, Season 4 of this series overall lacks direction and focus, but what else is new?  The writers are clearly either trolling or phoning it in because they don’t have to try.  Why try something risky when safe pays so well?

Acting Quality (1 point)

New season, same old cast full of fake-looking plastic people and Hallmark retreads.  No emotions are believable and everything seems manufactured and childish.  There’s nothing new to talk about here except for the fate of Daniel Lissing.  Is this an elaborate scheme to generate attention or just the loss of a main actor?  Only time will tell.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

As noted in last season, Season 4 has no plot or character arcs that should be commonplace in recurring series’.  Most characters are static or become more perfect.  There are no plot twists or character complexities.  Though the railroad storyline had potential to be complex, it simply did not reach its full potential.

Conclusion

When Calls the Heart has long been a series that has lost its way.  Living off of the old days at the beginning of the series and constantly reminding us through flashbacks what these cast members used to look like before they became #Hallmarked, Landon Jr. and company are just phoning in episode after episode as their sappy series gets mindlessly renewed time and time again.  But what does it matter as long as they have a faithful following who are intent to grab on to anything of remote substance produced by the pharmaceutical-backed mother channel that still tries to pretend like it’s about greeting cards.  It still remains true that When Calls the Heart fills a huge void of wholesome entertainment that no one else seems to be able to fill with anything more substantial than this.  So here we sit, in mediocrity and safeness.

 

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 14 points

 

April 29, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: #Hallmarked, 2017, Adam Bergquist, Adam Greydon Reid, Ali Skovbye, Amélie Eve, Andrea Brooks, Andrew Dunbar, Anthony Konechny, Aren Buchholz, Ava Grace Cooper, Believe Pictures, Ben Corns, Ben Rosenbaum, Brian Bird, Callum Seagram Airlie, Camden Filtness, Carter Ryan Evancic, Christian Michael Cooper, Christian Sloan, Daniel Arnold, Daniel Lissing, Duncan Fraser, Eileen Pedde, Eliza Norbury, Erica Carroll, Erin Krakow, Eva Bourne, Genea Charpentier, Gracyn Shinyei, Hallmark, Hannah Pederson, Hannah Zirke, Hrothgar Mathews, Imogen Tear, Jack Wagner, Jaiven Natt, Jeremy Guilbaut, Johannah Newmarch, John Emmet Tracy, Josie Bissett, Julian Christopher, Julie Fairweather, Kadence Kendall Roach, Kavan Smith, Larissa Albuquerque, Liam Hughes, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Mark Humphrey, Martin Cummins, Mason McKenzie, Matthew Clarke, Michael Landon Jr., Milo Shandel, Natasha Quirke, Nelson Leis, Niall Matter, Nikolas Dukic, Pascale Hutton, Paul Greene, Preston Vanderslice, Robert Parent, Spencer Drever, Terence Kelly, Tom Belding, When Calls the Heart series 5 Comments

The Stranger [2007] (Series Review)

Seriously?

Plot Summary

You never know where Jefferson Moore is going to pop up and solve all of your problems.  Whether you’re looking for hope, having trouble with a professor, need some interpersonal assistance, need a boost of faith, or any other issues, Jefferson Moore is there to fix the conflict in less than thirty minutes.  If you look close, you might be able to see his robed cameos.  In short, this is basically a series for the sake of having a series.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

For the first of The Stranger, production quality is extremely poor, so much so that it barely warrants its creation.  The typical soft light obsession is present and lighting is very poor throughout, especially in the indoor sets.  Video quality is quite grainy, and audio quality is terrible, include a loud and clunky soundtrack.  There are strange and awkward zooms throughout as well.  Though the production improves in the middle of the series, it’s far too little far too late that does nothing remedy the past offenses.  Finally, there is no editing as all content is included.  As we will see next, that’s not saying much.  But essentially, the production of this series is so bad to start with that there is no justification for its existence.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Must like its copycat series The Encounter, The Stranger follows a formulaic and predictable model for each of its episodes.  Each one is full of meandering boring conversations and is based around a shallow story concept.  Not much happens as Jefferson Moore shows up to fix stuff, so you know exactly what’s going to happen just by reading the episode description.  The characters are empty and stereotypical—the dialogue carries an annoying Christian message and is full of platitudes and trite sayings.  As expected, there are also a lot of quick fixes to problems.   It makes it all the more childish that things are fixed in less than thirty minutes apiece.  In the end, there is little to no reason to write these juvenile and disconnected stories just for the sake of having a series in which everybody already knows what happens.

Acting Quality (1 point)

Much of this cast demonstrates forceful and annoying acting.  They exhibit unrealistic emotions and lazy line delivery.  While there is some good here, it is still overshadowed by unprofessionalism.  Also, as we have mentioned before, Jefferson Moore is basically Bruce Marchiano’s predecessor, and all that that entails.  Basically, this is just another lazy effort.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

When the same thing happens over and over again in a series of episodes, there is no hope for continuity.  With such a long list of disjointed characters, there are no story arcs or character arcs present.  This type of series may be easy to replicate, but it’s certainly forgettable.

Conclusion

After The Perfect Stranger and Another Perfect Stranger, was there really a need for a series about Jefferson Moore doing the same things that are in these movies?  As if the first two films were even interesting at all, now we get bonuses.  Of all the movies that could have been made into series, this was the one that broke through and got the funding.  For heaven’s sake people, please demonstrate some originality.

 

Final Rating: 2 out of 14 points

March 31, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2007, Alexis Hughes, Amber Hurst, Amy Hess, Ashley Andereson-Monroe, Benjamin Hack, Butkus, Cassandra Symon, Chad Russell, Christina Marie Karis, Christopher Chiarot, Colleen Mooney Wright, Cory Lash, Elizabeth Wallace, Gina Hughes, Inspirational, Jefferson Moore, Jerry L. Wallace, Juliana Allen, Keith McGill, Kelly Worthington Moore, Kendall Rutledge, Lemuel Brad Jackson, Leslie Kyle Hudson, Matt Wallace, Melissa Combs, Molly Cebe, Neal McConochie, Pattie Crawford, Percy Metcalf, R.C. Jones, Shane Sooter, Stephanie Vickers, Terry Rutledge, Theo Edwards-Butler, Tom Luce, William McNulty 3 Comments

The Encounter, Season 1 [2016] (Series Review)

With this creepy look, who doesn’t want an encounter?

Plot Summary

When someone is going about their everyday activities, they never know what is about to happen or who they are about to meet.  They all have struggles and secrets that they don’t want anyone to know, but they would be free if they just knew someone they could trust them with.  But people never know when they are about to meet Someone Who will change their life forever.  They never know until they have their own Encounter with Jesus.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

The Encounter series follows a typical production formula that PureFlix has been using for years.  They check the boxes for making the production look good on the surface, including video quality, audio quality, sets, props, and locations.  The soundtrack is sometimes engaging but mostly standard.  Sometimes there is too much shaky camera work, especially in the poorly shot actions scenes.  The biggest issue here is that large amount of wasted time throughout the series.  Most episodes are 25-28 minutes long, but the plots are usually so thin that this is too much time.  The exception to this is of episodes one and four, which will be discussed later.  But in the end, this series demonstrates an overall typical and average production effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

For eight episodes, The Encounter rehashes the same types of ideas, concepts, and conversations over and over again, just with different characters.  Outside of episodes one and four, there is no creativity here, as the opening sequence tells you what’s going to happen in each episode.  Besides being predictable, these stories are also very quick and punctuated, like they’ve been made in a quick plot factory.  While there are some good issues raised in the series, there are too many quick fixes and easy solutions based on creepy and plastic Jesus dialogue.  Thus, the messaging is quite shallow.  However, there is some potential here, as the first episode is very interesting and should have been the focus of the whole series so we could have gotten to know these characters better.  Also, the fourth episode would have made an interesting movie, if done properly.  But overall, this series just hops from high point to high point and discards substance and realism along the way.  It’s a good idea done very poorly.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

While there are bright spots in this large scale cast, there are also plenty of issues.  For one, it seems like Bruce Marchiano, who has done well portraying Jesus in the past, has lost his touch. Other cast members are typical PureFlix standbys and rejects who seem to be lazy and phoning in their performances.  But as it is, it just comes out as average.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

When the same ideas repeat over and over again in each episode and new characters are constantly being introduced, there is no chance or hope for continuity in this season.  There are no story arcs or character arcs.  We need to see what happens to these characters after their initial encounters, which is why it would have been great to have the characters from the first episode be the main focus of this series.  Yet the way it has been done is shallow and lazy, thus warranting no points here.

Conclusion

There’s nothing wrong with having Jesus intervene in everyday situations, but spitting out a whole bunch of episodes that are all basically the same doesn’t accomplish anything.  It’s easy to create a bunch of surface characters and then leave them; it takes true skill to craft meaningful characters that we can connect with.  It’s also a great idea to create a Christian series, but we need something better than this.  We need sustainable ideas that make people want to follow a set of characters across an arc.  PureFlix has the resources to do this, but will they?

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 14 points

 

March 4, 2017January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Inspirational, Series ReviewsTags: 2016, Andrea Logan White, Anna Zielinski, Antonio Sabato Jr., Aria Walters, Billy DaMota, Boti Bliss, Brad Heller, Brian Bosworth, Bruce Klefstad, Bruce Marchiano, Carey Scott, Carlos PenaVega, Chloe Wick, Christine Scholle, Dane E. Connor, David A. R. White, David Aaron Stone, Delaney, Gabriel Sabloff, Gibson Bobby Sjobeck, Hutch Dano, Inspirational, James Williams, Jen Lilley, Jessica Bridgeman, Joth Riggs, Kass Connors, Keith Ray Putman, Kenton Duty, Kevin Downes, Lesley Armour, Linda Bisesti, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Michael Ironside, Morgan Fairchild, Morgan Leslie, Pamela Fields, PureFlix, Shane Hawks, Stepfanie Kramer, Timothy Ratajczak, Tommy Blaze 4 Comments

A.D.: The Bible Continues (Series Review)

Plot Summary

After the death of Christ, His followers were lost and confused.  But following His miraculous Resurrection from the dead, He appeared to them and gave them new strength to carry out a new task: taking His gospel to all people.  After receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, His apostles and other followers stopped at nothing to tell everyone of what they had witnessed in and through Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah.  Though opposition came at them from every side, the cause of Christ did not fail but only gained more followers.  Even as Christian persecution became a global event, even the ‘worst’ of sinners came to follow the Resurrected Savior.

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

Following closely on the heels of mixed results of The Bible Epic Miniseries, A.D.: The Bible Continues uses similar production elements, yet improves upon them.  The surroundings are still gritty and realistic, allowing the audience to see that the events after the crucifixion of Christ were very real.  The camera work is exquisite—many things indicate that money was well spent in A.D.  The musical score is engaging and the special effects are used responsibly.  Really the only production complaint to raise is some slightly inconsistent editing—were more unnecessary parts cut and more essential parts amplified, production would have been perfect.  But there is still much to be proud of here; Mark Burnett and company definitely learned from past production mistakes and proved that they can do better in A.D.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

In contrast to the breakneck pace of The Bible, A.D. elects to follow a slower pace.  Since this is not an exclusively Biblical series, historical context is responsibly explored—it actually aids and enhances the Biblical narrative.  The political elements are intriguing—some of these characters are better than others—yet this portion of the series tends to eat up too much of the runtime.  Some screen time should have been taken away from certain political characters, such as Caiaphas’ unrealistic wife, and given to Biblical characters with more potential.  Yet there is still much to enjoy in the Biblical plot lines.  The events of Acts are portrayed very well; A.D. actually accomplishes the goal of bringing a part of the Bible to life.  Historical truths are introduced in slightly unexpected ways without compromising authenticity.  While the early Christians could have been developed better, they are pretty good as they are.  There are also peripheral characters that are intriguing, yet tend to get squeezed out of the picture.  Were it not for a good deal of wasted time, the overall plot of A.D. would probably have been perfect.  It is a pretty good example of what a Biblical-historical series should be and can serve as a blueprint for the future.

Acting Quality (2 points)

While British actors and actresses are still employed, A.D. does something revolutionary: cast diversity in first century Judea.  Some may consider African characters in this narrative to be inaccurate, and while there should still be more Middle Eastern characters, there is really no historical precedence to deny this.  In other areas, emotional expression and line delivery is fairly believable, allowing the audience to connect with the Biblical and historical characters as real people.  Overall, were it not for overuse of British actors and actresses, this portion could also have been perfect.

Continuity Quality (3 points)

The arc of A.D. is particularly epic.  The driving purpose behind the series is very clear.  There are multiple exciting character arcs that were just coming to full completion right before the series was cancelled.  But cancellation is not necessarily the fault of the writers, since we sincerely believe they were doing the best they could do.  Overall, the short time we were able to enjoy A.D. was well spent when it came to continuity, arcs, and driving purpose.

Conclusion

It’s a real shame that A.D. was cancelled, because it had nowhere to go but up.  It was progressing at an epic pace, had so many positive elements, adapted a historical approach to the days after Christ’s earthly ministry, and was ten times better than The Bible Epic Miniseries.  It had so much explosive potential, but it was cut off at the knees.  One factor that potentially led to the cancellation was trying to please too many people.  Perhaps if fewer edgy elements were employed and more family-engaging elements were used, then the show might have survived on Christian audiences.  But that may not have been enough.  Even still, A.D. was a key step in engaging even the Christian population in being more interested in the historical nature of the Bible.  There needs to be more of a bubble-up approach to these types of series, and independent means, such as on-demand series, may need to be used in order to make series like A.D. successful, since national broadcast ratings are often too fickle to sustain new concepts.  Future ideas for Bible series need to build off of the positive elements and the strong points of A.D. and to improve on its mistakes.  Such a series would be a thing to behold and something worth getting behind.

 

Final Rating: 9.5 out of 14 points

 

April 22, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 2015, Adam Levy, Andrew Gower, Andy Rattenbury, Babou Ceesay, Ben Newman, Bible, Biblical, Brian Kelly, Charlene McKenna, Chipo Chung, Chris Brazier, Ciaran Donnelly, Claire Cooper, Damian Wayling, Denver Isaac, Emmett J Scanlan, Farzana Dua Elahe, Francis Magee, Fraser Ayres, George Georgiou, Greta Scacchi, Historical, James Callis, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Joanne Whalley, Jodhi May, Joe Dixon, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Ken Bones, Kenneth Collard, Kevin Doyle, LightWorkers Media, Lonyo Engele, Marama Corlett, Mark Burnett, Michael Peluso, Paul Wilmshurst, Pedro Lloyd Gardiner, Rachel Anthony, Reece Ritchie, Richard Coyle, Roma Downey, Simon Block, Stephen Walters, Tom Grieves, Tony Mitchell, Vincent Regan, Will Thorp 2 Comments

The Bible Epic Miniseries: New Testament (Series Review)

Plot Summary

After being exiled and invaded time and again, the nation of Israel longed for the long-awaited Messiah Who would save them from their troubles.  Yet when the Messiah appeared, few even acknowledged His coming and some tried to thwart His birth.  As Jesus grew, He began His earthly ministry, choosing His followers from the least expected places.  Even still, many ignored His deity and others tried to undermine His work.  But He loved every person equally and demonstrated His power through miracles and authoritative teaching.  In the end, Jesus gave Himself up, taking on the sins of the world and dying with them so that the price would be paid for all who would accept it.  After raising from the dead, Jesus instilled new hope in His followers and commanded them to take the message to the ends of the earth.  Today, we still feel the effects of His earthly ministry as we have the great privilege to take part in His continuing work.

 

Production Quality (1.5 points)

For the most part, money is once again well spent when it comes to production in The Bible New Testament episodes.  Sets and locations are mostly authentic and costuming is historically realistic.  The surroundings are overall a plus, setting new standards for Bible entertainment.  The camera work is excellent in all aspects.  The musical score is pretty good, but there are some unnecessary sound effects throughout.  CGI is overused to cut corners.  But the biggest detractor of this series’ production is the editing.  This aspect does not improve in the New Testament, and is actually worse since less time is covered.  Even when the show finally sticks with the same cast of characters and surroundings, the editing is just as choppy as before.  Mark Burnett and company put on a good show on the surface, but this series’ beauty is only skin deep.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The final six episodes of The Bible are painful to watch.  As previously discussed in Son of God, there are many glaring errors.  The characters are lofty and inaccessible—dialogue is wasted and seems robotic.  Huge creative license is taken to the point of inserting useless historical events in order to fill time.  Rather than develop the characters, sensationalism and violence eat away at the runtime.  Jesus is portrayed as a lofty zen master who disturbingly becomes surprised when things happen or when he ‘sees’ something that’s going to happen.  The disciples are like cardboard cutouts, even beyond the scope of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  I’m all for highlighting the role of women in Jesus’ earthly ministry, but Mary Magdalene is given far too much screen time, stealing lines from the disciples and defying historic events.  We don’t even get to hear or see her backstory—she just appears as some kind of repeater for Jesus.  Other historical inaccuracies crop up as well, including altered versions of Biblical accounts.  As mentioned in Son of God, this entire series was written for a few well-crafted scenes, including the calling of Levi\Matthew, the adulterous woman being brought to Jesus, and the torture\crucifixion sequence that holds elements very similar to that of The Passion of the Christ.  The final episode is perhaps the most painful as viewers are strapped in for a maddening ride through the rest of the New Testament, hopping from one high point to another in a matter of minutes.  To reiterate, with less historical scope to cover in the same amount of time as the Old Testament, the New Testament episodes should have been better—they were actually worse.  It all makes for a disappointing end to a series that otherwise had a great idea.

Acting Quality (1 point)

The acting quality also significantly diminishes in the New Testament, while keeping up with previous errors, such as the cardinal sin of Bible entertainment once again—the overuse of British and Caucasian actors and actresses.  Line delivery is lazy throughout the New Testament and real emotions are either nonexistent or over the top.  Actors and actresses are given more screen time in the New Testament, but it doesn’t help.  Coaching was definitely needed.

Continuity Quality (1.5 points)

The overall continuity of the New Testament is slightly more seamless than the Old Testament, but it still fails to deliver a driving purpose to the audience.  Overarching first century Judaic themes exist, such as the anticipation of the Messiah, the Roman oppression, and the religious system, but there is little else noticeable.  What is missing is the connection of Jesus to prophecy and Old Testament events, and the theme of forgiveness of sins only through Him.  Jesus is portrayed more as a community organizer disrupting a religious system than the Son of God.

Conclusion

As The Bible came to a close, a lot of things were left undone.  Millions of Americans watched this series, and we can’t help but feel that they were cheated of knowing what the real Bible truly contains.  Besides the gritty feel of the series, there is little that can cause viewers to feel connected to the characters and the struggles they went through.  If there ever was a time that Americans (including those who claim the name of Christ) needed to know what is actually in the Bible and how real it actually is, it is now.  The Bible promised to do this, but it did not deliver.  It’s no wonder that co-producer Roma Downey said afterward that they weren’t concerned with historical accuracy as much as they were concerned with making an emotional connection.  Yet in this ill-advised quest, true emotional connection was never made because viewers are still left wondering if they can ever be like those seemingly inaccessible characters from Bible times.  The people of the Bible were just like the people of today, yet Burnett and Downey portrayed them otherwise.  In doing so, their mission failed.

 

Final Rating: 5 out of 14 points

 

April 21, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 2013, Adrian Schiller, Amber Rose Revah, Aniss Elkohen, Ben Aldridge, Bible, Bible Pizza, Biblical, Con O'Neill, Creepy Angels, Daniel Percival, Darwin Shaw, Diogo Morgado, Eddie Elks, Fraser Ayres, Greg Hicks, Historical, Joe Coen, Joe Wredden, Keith David, Leila Mimmack, LightWorkers Media, Louise Delamere, Mark Burnett, Matthew Gravelle, Michael Nardone, Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, Nic Young, Paul Brightwell, Richard Bedser, Roma Downey, Sam Douglas, Sebastian Knapp, Simon Kunz Leave a comment

The Bible Epic Miniseries: Old Testament (Series Review)

Plot Summary

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  He created everything, including humans.  But humans sinned against him and rejected His plan for them over and over again.  Yet despite human rebellion, God still had a plan to redeem mankind, and this plan was to be fulfilled through the nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham.  But when the Israelites continued to disobey Him, He punished them and sent them into exile and captivity.  Nevertheless, God’s plan for humanity marched forward as those who loved Him awaited the coming of His promised Messiah, the One Who would save them all.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Production is definitely the strongest point of The Bible.  With a strong budget, almost everything was left on the field—almost.  Camera work is excellent, including the video quality.  The sound quality is great and the musical score is compelling.  Everything about this miniseries was intended to be epic and dramatic, and production-wise, this is mostly accomplished.  Yet there are still concerns.  Special effects are overused and CGI usage is too obvious.  The editing is the biggest error that plagues this series.  From the beginning, Mark Burnett and company likely bit off more than they could chew.  Some episodes are edited within themselves better than others, but most of them are far too choppy for anyone to truly grasp what needs to be grasped.  As a ‘season’, the Old Testament is a roller coaster of plot and character confusion, as will be discussed next.  In short, big money requires big results, and things just did not measure up in the Old Testament.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

The Bible began with a great idea: telling a wide audience the main message of the Bible.  However, the message is lost somewhere among magnified violence, historical inaccuracies, ninja angels, inaccessible characters, hasty dialogue, and a long, winding labyrinth of time than attempts to span thousands of years in just six hours of television time.  The audience is tossed from one high point to the next without being able to appreciate the characters or even understand what actually happened in the Bible.  Just as one character is introduced, they are dispensed as time races forward to another popular story.  Narration and location titles attempt to bridge gaps of time, but it just comes off as lazy.  As previously mentioned, the characters look like real people, but they don’t act or talk like it.  Dialogue is swept along in a maddening tide of events and excessive violence.  The only positives that can be brought up here are the central concept of the series—bringing the Bible to life—and the fact that Biblical events are portrayed as real historical events, not interesting and fluffy ideas from kid’s books.  Yet plenty of historical license was taken with the plot in order to make it suit runtime.  Throughout the series, meaningful spiritual messages are stripped away and replaced with humanistic ideas that seem to indicate that stuff just happened without any real working of God.  In the end, in trying to do everything, not much was actually accomplished.  Cramming more than half of the Bible into roughly six hours was never a good idea.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

As usual, The Bible commits the cardinal sin of Bible entertainment: British actors and actresses.  A few here and there is one thing—it’s hard to have a fully authentic cast—but when nearly every character is so obviously Caucasian, it gets silly.  For the most part, the acting is pretty good.  Some actors and actresses are better than others, and frankly, some of them barely get a chance to do anything.  But overall, the acting can’t be considered as anything more than average.

Continuity Quality (1 point)

The Old Testament already has a continuous theme and driving purpose, yet this was not adapted in the miniseries.  Each episode seems largely isolated from the others, like the events before Christ were just unconnected and random.  However, there is some mention of continuity, such as the nation of Israel and promise of the Messiah, that saves this section from being zero.  But we expect much more than this from a historical narrative that is already laid out.

Conclusion

The Bible is just another prime example of what could have been.  The money was there, but with such funding and a spot on a national network comes compromise, unfortunately.  However, one good thing does come out of this miniseries: it hopefully shows someone that the Bible is real and gritty, not a collection of nice stories that happened a long time ago.  Burnett definitely set the standard for realism in Bible entertainment.  Hopefully there is now no turning back from this point.  The Bible was a cultural phenomenon for a time, but it is hard to discern what its true legacy will be.  Had a more meaningful message been adapted, lasting good could have been accomplished.  Yet it is left as a below average series that could have been better.

 

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 14 points

 

April 20, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Biblical, Drama, Historical, Series ReviewsTags: 2013, Aharon Ipalé, Andrew Scarborough, Bible, Bible Pizza, Biblical, Christopher Spencer, Conan Stevens, Crispin Reece, Darcie Lincoln, David Rintoul, Francis Magee, Gary Oliver, Historical, Hugo Rossi, Jake Canuso, Jassa Ahluwalia, Josephine Butler, Keith David, Langley Kirkwood, LightWorkers Media, Mark Burnett, Melia Kreiling, Nic Young, Ninja Angels, Nonso Anozie, Paul Freeman, Paul Knops, Peter Guinness, Raad Rawi, Richard Bedser, Roma Downey, Stephanie Leonidas, Stewart Scudamore, Tony Mitchell, William Houston 1 Comment

When Calls the Heart, Season 3 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Following the shocking proposal of Charles, both Jack and Elizabeth are left confused about the true nature of their relationship.  They must sort out how they really feel about each other, even in the midst of other controversies, including Bill Avery’s dark secrets, the constant schemes of Henry Gowen, and the town’s new adaptations to the logging industry.  Also, new and budding romances are aplenty in the newly christened Hope Valley, along with new colorful characters.  Like always, the people of Hope Valley will have to navigate each new challenge together and keep remembering that hope is just around the corner.

 

Production Quality (1 point)

So, for starters, the production quality of When Calls the Heart diminishes significantly in Season 3.  The camera work stays the same as always, but the sets and locations are severely limited, with obvious reuses of them.  The characters rarely do anything outside of the winding street of Walnut Grove Hope Valley.  As usual, the costuming and makeup is worse than ever, making it impossible for the audience to believe that these people are supposed to be low to middle class frontier people.  The musical score is abysmal and the editing is all over the map, mostly settling for an episode-by-episode approach.  There’s nothing wrong with this, but as will be discussed later, it disrupts the original purpose of this show.  In short, corners were cut in this season, demonstrating an overall lack of regard for quality.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Not only is the Season 2 ‘cliffhanger’ resolved with lightning speed, it is quickly replaced with one mindless storyline after another.  People do this and that, Harriet Olson Rosemary schemes stuff, the town has events, people come and go, and Jack and Elizabeth continue a mind-numbing and painful dance of on and off romance.  The Hamilton characters are kicked out; we’re not sure if this was a blessing or a curse.  Bill Avery, once a promising double agent character, is reduced to a washed up guy who hangs around town.  Henry Gowen continues his usual bad guy stuff and generally accomplishes nothing.  Ever the town counselor, Caroline Ingalls Missy LaHaye Abigail acts like she’s doing things like running a diner and riding horses and taking care of orphans.  Elizabeth attempts to teach and play acts a hard working frontier woman while Jack does Mountie stuff.  Lots of things are talked about that happened off screen.  The Christian message is long gone by now, replaced with trite Joel Osteen sayings from Abigail and Pastor Hogan.  Shallow subplots are introduced and quickly resolved.  Overall, there is zero creativity in this season and the much-anticipated season finale climax fizzles out with the New Year’s fireworks at the beginning.  The writers give us no reason whatsoever to want another season, because there is no direction whatsoever anymore in this series.  But in the upside down world of Hallmark, Michael Landon Jr. and company trolled the ‘#Hearties’ for an entire season of false pretense and proved that they could do whatever they wanted and still get renewed.  The mind boggles.

Acting Quality (.5 point)

The acting has been on a downward trend since the first season, but Season 3 reaches new lows.  The starring cast demonstrates they have no intention to try to be good at acting, nor do they have to try.  Any air of professionalism demonstrated in previous seasons is gone, replaced with mindless line delivery and forced emotions.  Every scene seems very staged and fake, just actors and actresses saying lines they don’t really care about.  The only thing that keeps this portion from being zero is some slightly interesting acting from certain cast members.

Continuity Quality (0 points)

As previously mentioned, the original purpose of When Calls the Heart has been washed away in that flash flood or that mud slide.  The continuity collapsed along with the mine (again).  There is no driving purpose to Season 4.  Once this show’s strongest point, the continuity has been completely abandoned in favor of a mindless stretch if silly episode that accomplish next to nothing.

Conclusion

This was such a disappointing season to endure.  There was so much potential in this show, but it has been tossed by the wayside.  It’s so sad to know that an opportunity to create truly quality and far-reaching Christian entertainment has been squandered in favor of more fake and manufactured ideas.  We get that from Hallmark all the time—why not change things up?  The viewers are not stupid, so why treat them that way?  Creators need to think better of their audiences and give them shows that provoke the imagination and challenge the status quo, not lull them to sleep or incite undue laughter.  It is clear that they knew they could do whatever they wanted and still get renewed, and it is likely that Season 4 will still be heavily watched.  But we at Box Office Revolution are still waiting for someone to use Hallmark resources for a better purpose: to create a show or movie series that is dynamic and truly changes things up.  We sincerely believe this is what God has called some Christians to do, and we wait to promote and support whoever will accept the challenge.

 

Final Rating: 1.5 out of 14 points

 

April 19, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: 2016, Ali Milner, Ali Skovbye, Andrea Brooks, Ava Grace Cooper, Ben Rosenbaum, Brooke Shields, Carter Ryan Evancic, Daniel Lissing, Erica Carroll, Erin Krakow, Eva Bourne, Genea Charpentier, Gracyn Shinyei, Hallmark, Historical, Jack Wagner, Jaiven Natt, Janette Oke, Jason Cermak, Johannah Newmarch, Kavan Smith, Kristina Wagner, Larissa Albuquerque, Logan Williams, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Madison Smith, Mark Humphrey, Martin Cummins, Michael Landon Jr., Neill Fearnley, Oscar the Dog, Pascale Hutton, Romance, When Calls the Heart series 3 Comments

When Calls the Heart, Season 2 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

With the high-stakes trial against the corrupt Henry Gowen’s coal company brewing in Coal Valley, Elizabeth Thatcher, Jack Thornton, and Abigail Stanton all have other issues of their own to deal with.  Just as she and Jack begin growing closer together, Elizabeth feels a pull from her well-to-do family in Hamilton to come back them.  She soon feels her relationship with Jack become clouded by an old childhood friend.  Jack’s troublesome brother resurfaces and forms an ill-advised connection to Elizabeth’s family.  As Abigail discovers the hard truth about Bill Avery, she also receives word of a family member she never knew she had.  With new and sometimes frightening things on the horizon, the people of Coal Valley must band together and be prepared to face the unexpected.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Despite increased popularity and an obviously increased budget, Season 2 of When Calls the Heart does not gain any more ground in production quality.  For what it’s worth, it doesn’t lose any ground either.  Camera work is the same, including great angles and video quality.  Sound quality is the same, and unfortunately, so is the vanilla soundtrack.  The introduction of new surroundings—Hamilton—is both a blessing and a curse.  As they progress, series should change and do different things as to not get stuck in a location rut, but Hamilton also brings with it a license for Michael Landon Jr. and company to commit one of their favorite errors—pageantry and over-costuming.  Characters in both Coal Valley and Hamilton are transformed, almost into dolls.  It would be one thing to pose a distinction between rich city characters and frontier characters, but this does not occur.  In other issues, the editing does not improve in Season 2, as it is still equally choppy as Season 1.  In short, Landon Jr. and company once again fall into the typical Hallmark trap: pretty good production with overdone and unrealistic costuming.  This puts a damper on a series with huge potential.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)

The season begins on a strange note by discarding an otherwise interesting wildcard character and by quickly and easily resolving the coal mine trial without any real suspense or appreciation.  It’s like the writers were just trying to rush to something else, but it’s not clear what they were rushing to.  The Hamilton subplots are intriguing, but it’s hard to feel like there’s any real meaning or purpose behind them.  Season 2’s central plot and subplots not only water down the original Christian message, but they also feel shallow.  For the most part, the original characters remain mostly intact, but the newer characters are not developed as they should be.  Bill Avery perhaps has the most interesting character arc and shows potential for the next season.  However, Season 2 ends on a head-scratching note with a slightly forced cliff hanger that only seems to be begging Hallmark for a renewal.  In summary, while there was great potential in a Season 1 follow-up for further character development, Season 2 falls flat and does not meet expectations.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Despite a largely similar cast to Season 1, Season 2’s cast takes the foot off the brakes, so to speak, and seems to not try as hard as before.  Several actors and actresses, including Erin Krakow and most of the Hamilton characters, seem to be overplaying their roles and forcing emotion.  Some actors and actresses remain the same, but the biggest issue here is that no one improves.  This should be the case in a television series.

Continuity Quality (1.5 points)

Within the season, Season 2 is fairly consistent as far as internal subplots.  It is hard to discern its overall arc except for indecision.  However, the relationship between Season 1 and Season 2 is disjointed.  The increased budget popularity seemed to make the writers think that they did not need to preserve the honest originality of Season 1, because they didn’t.  This was a disappointment.

Conclusion

There was much anticipation and expectations following the unprecedented success of When Calls the Heart, Season 1, yet Season 2 failed to meet these.  As a season itself, it was about average, and would have been fine as another pilot season.  But sophomore seasons should build of the successes of the first, eliminate mistakes, and overall improve, not start over at square one.  The writers have given themselves an interesting choice and framework to work within for Season 3, and it will be interesting see how it goes.  This concept has loads of potential in its corner—time will tell how it plays out.

 

Final Rating: 6.5 out of 14 points

 

April 17, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: 2015, Andrea Brooks, Ben Rosenbaum, Carter Ryan Evancic, Charlotte Hegele, Daniel Lissing, Devon Weigel, Erica Carroll, Erin Krakow, Eva Bourne, Garwin Sanford, Gracyn Shinyei, Hallmark, Historical, Hrothgar Mathews, Jack Wagner, Janette Oke, Johannah Newmarch, Katelyn Mager, Kavan Smith, Kristina Wagner, Logan Williams, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Lynda Boyd, Marcus Rosner, Mark Humphrey, Martin Cummins, Michael Landon Jr., Mitchell Kummen, Neill Fearnley, Oscar the Dog, Pascale Hutton, Romance, When Calls the Heart series 1 Comment

When Calls the Heart, Season 1 (Series Review)

Plot Summary

Elizabeth Thatcher always dreamed of helping students in struggling western America towns, but when she arrives in Coal Valley, she realizes that her privileged eastern life has not prepared her for the task at hand.  Recently hit with the tragedy of the local mine collapsing and killing most of the men in town, the survivors, mostly widows, are still reeling and trying to come to grips with their new lives.  Elizabeth is tasked not only with teaching children who just lost their fathers but also with adapting to the new unfamiliar and rugged surroundings that stand in stark contrast to how she grew up.  She finds solace in her friendship with Abigail Stanton, the strongest of the widows, who is determined to bring the mine owner to justice for the death of her husband and son.  Elizabeth’s life is also complicated by her budding relationship with local Canadian Mountie Jack Thornton, who has been sent to investigate the nature of the mine collapse.  Elizabeth, Abigail, and Jack must not only grapple with the challenges in front of them, but must also discover that love is not what you expect at first.

 

Production Quality (2 points)

It’s definitely about time that someone started making good Christian television series.  There’s no better way to start than to adapt from a talented Christian author with established novel series.  As far as production goes, the first season of When Calls the Heart has meager beginnings but a lot of good honest and raw material.  The camera work is professional, including good angles and video quality.  For the most part, in a break with previous habits of Michael Landon Jr. and his crews, the costuming is mostly realistic to the time period and setting.  The setting and surroundings are realistic, even if the sets are somewhat limited.  The musical score is just average.  The editing needs some work, since there are unnecessary rabbit trails, but this is to be expected of these sorts of TV shows.  The main point is that for a pilot season in mostly uncharted territory, season one was mostly a production success.  With a few small things tweaked, it could have been perfect.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

Though season one slightly departs from the original plot structure crafted by Janette Oke, it is not a major mistake at this point.  The overall plotline stays mostly faithful to Oke’s original purposes.  Within the overarching plot, there are multiple subplots, as expected from a TV show, some of which are quickly resolved and others of which are intriguing.  Throughout this season, the main characters—Elizabeth, Jack, and Abigail—are fairly well developed through witty and believable dialogue.  The circumstances and events that the characters experience are realistic.  In the end, this section is held back from being, once again, by a host of small issues, such as underdeveloped or stereotypical supporting characters and subplots not reaching their full potential.  Even with this, the plots are very interesting watch and the end of the season makes the viewer want more.  In short, Season 1 ended on a high note and left the door open for greater things to be achieved.

Acting Quality (2 points)

The cast of Season 1 is a mixture of professional and semi-professional.  For the most part, the actors and actresses deliver their lines well and demonstrate believable emotion.  Unfortunately, some of the supporting cast leaves something to be desired and the main cast does not live up to their full potential.  As is the case with the remainder of the season, small issues plague the acting and keep it from being its best.  But despite these small problems, the cast shows great potential for future seasons.

Continuity Quality (3 points)

When it comes to within-season continuity, Season 1 achieves a perfect score.  The driving purpose of the season is to discover the truth behind the mine disaster, and this is not wavered from.  Character arcs are both static and dynamic, a perfect balance.  By the end of the season, it feels like the characters are different than they were at the beginning, without compromising personality traits.  This should be the goal of continuity.  Season 1 sets the standard for continuity quality.

Conclusion

When Calls the Heart, Season 1 has almost everything we can ask from a pilot season: above average characters, intriguing plotlines, realistic surroundings, a professional cast, and a driving purpose.  Small alterations to plot and\or character quality would have changed everything for Season 1 and would have made it Hall of Fame, something to truly be proud of.  But even as it is, Season 1 is enjoyable and will forever be a landmark achievement in the history of Christian TV shows and series.  It created anticipation of another season and proved that Christian shows can be quality.

 

Final Rating: 9 out of 14 points

 

April 11, 2016January 19, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Historical, Inspirational, Romance, Series ReviewsTags: 2014, Daniel Lissing, Erica Carroll, Erin Krakow, Gracyn Shinyei, Hallmark, Historical, Jack Wagner, Janette Oke, Johannah Newmarch, Loretta Walsh, Lori Loughlin, Martin Cummins, Michael Landon Jr., Neill Fearnley, Pascale Hutton, Romance, When Calls the Heart series 14 Comments