Epiphany [2019] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Ever since Luka’s mother died, she’s been raised by her uncle while her father seeks to drown away his emotional pain with gambling and other illicit ventures. Luka steals from people to get attention, but she really just wants to help her father and her uncle with their struggling sea sponge business. However, her community service assignment that’s intended to make restitution for her indiscretions sends her down a path she never anticipated that will help her reconnect with her Cyprian heritage.

Production Quality (2 points)

Despite being a small-time production, Epiphany possesses a mostly professional production, as evidenced by good video quality, adequate audio quality, and a mostly engaging soundtrack that’s culturally authentic. The sets, locations, and props are also well-utilized while the lighting is consistently on par. The only major concerns to highlight here are some editing issues and some odd camera angles, but on the whole, this is respectable for a first-time effort.

Plot and Storyline Quality (0 points)

Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for the audience to follow Epiphany‘s storyline or to grasp what its actual purpose is. In between random sequences of narration, the plot is a scattering of many loose ends that never logically come together or demonstrate realistic connections with each other. Haphazard scenes come off as being patched together to create a long string of vague ideas that never come to anything significant. The inconsistent story presentation also harms character development by making conversations between them very abstract and unpredictable. While this could have been a more interesting exploration of broken family systems and the generational effects of ethnic prejudice, there’s too much edgy content to make things palatable, and there are too many aspects of the narrative that are difficult to grasp, such as the dreamscape elements and what seems to be historical flashbacks portrayed as visions (?). This short-circuits the viewer’s ability to properly connect with the characters, and the film’s overall feel is just too conjectured to have any real impact.

Acting Quality (2 points)

On the whole, the acting of Epiphany is mostly average with only a few concerns, such as some forced emotions and some slightly overdone line delivery at important moments. However, there are also some bright spots, such as the culturally authentic casting. Other aspects are basically pedestrian. In the end, this is an above-average section to round out a film that otherwise underachieved.

Conclusion

It’s great to explore little-referenced cultures and aspects of international Christianity that many audiences never think about, but this just isn’t the way. When the viewer can’t follow where the story is going to or coming from, even the best messages are lost in translation. Narratives have to possess core purposes that are clearly communicated and properly presented, and sometimes, this can only be effectively accomplished through collaboration.

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

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March 1, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie ReviewsTags: 2019, 4 points, Alex Dimitriades, Alexi Stavrou, Andrew Heller, Anna Hinsley, Bridgestone Multimedia Group, Burt Young, Caitlin Carmichael, Chelsey Neders, David Velez, Drama, George Georgiou, Hunter Wayne Pratt, Jaimi McPeek, Jane Kelly Kosek, Katina Sossiadis, Koula Sossiadis Kazista, Liam Tomasiello, Meritage Pictures, Nuno Malo, Penny Edmiston, Rasneet Kaur, Scottie Thompson, Seth Michaels, Vernon Beckstrom, Vickie Daignault Leave a comment

Tapestry [2019] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Ryan’s family is already in turmoil before he loses his job, so after he’s fired, things begin to unravel even more. His mother, his only emotional support, is dying of cancer, and his wife refuses to speak to him. As he grows more and more distant from his family and as life seems to crash down around him, Ryan will have to decide who he relies upon: himself or God?

Production Quality (-1 points)

Tapestry is likely the worst production of this year due to its myriad errors, beginning with the inconsistency of its camera work: sometimes shaky and sometimes unusually angled. Similarly, a lot of shots seem very tight. There are also many, many audio concerns, including annoying background sounds, erratic volume changes, noticeable echoes in the backgrounds of some sets, and some instances of severely over-driven audio. However, none of this even speaks of the predominantly poor video quality or the very bad lighting that accompanies many of the already-cheap sets, props, and locations. Nevertheless, perhaps the worst element of the production is the truly horrific editing job. A key example of this is the fact that there is sometimes zero continuity between scenes that are merely seconds apart…in these moments, it feels like several different movies were maniacally spliced together with no reason whatsoever. Further, these problems are paired with lagging fadeouts, quick and awkward cuts, and abrupt transitions to top off this dumpster fire of a production. For these reasons, this section warrants a negative score.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-1 points)

During the first ten minutes of the film, there’s absolutely no way to discern what is transpiring as tons of characters are introduced in a very short span of time using clunky narration and random, disconnected scenes. From there, the story proceeds with an unusual attitude like the whole thing is meant to be one big joke; this idea is only reinforced by the extremely dramatic narration style that tells the viewer what people are thinking and the very vague plot ideas that contribute to the confusing story presentation. Due to the sheer number of characters, there are too many random subplots and tangents to keep up with, which causes the focus to jump from one thing to the next and cuts some scenes painfully short. Some scenes just pop up very quickly without warning and disappear without leaving a significant impact, and there are also unannounced black and white flashbacks as well as weird asides that have no connection to the “main point,” whatever that really is. The viewer is left guessing not only what’s happening but what’s coming next, and things trend weirder and stranger as they progress, including a bizarre obsession with multiple characters committing infidelity. Besides the obviously inexplicable elements, there are also many completely laughable moments before it all culminates in a silly, patched-up conclusion that teaches the audience absolutely nothing. In short, there’s plenty of evidence that supports this section’s negative rating.

Acting Quality (-1 points)

Despite the need for most of the characters to have northeastern United States accents, many of them, most notably Stephen Baldwin, who is mostly his usual self, do not make the mark of inflection authenticity. However, this mistake isn’t the worst part of the acting section. There are plenty of screaming scenes and extreme emotional displays that really take the cake. Elsewhere, line delivery is often forced and very strained; it’s clear that no acting coaching was present since there are basically no good performances to note. Therefore, this category rounds out a comprehensively negative effort.

Conclusion

We repeat: negatively rated Christian entertainment has no place in the year 2019 and beyond. When all aspects of a movie are this bad, there needs to be some very serious rethinking of the creation process. The fact that utter disasters like this still make it to the public is disheartening, but hopefully, we have a growing group of Christian innovators who will transform the field into something that will help us forget that negatively rated Christian entertainment ever existed.

Final Rating: -3 out of 10 points

November 13, 2019January 3, 2020 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie ReviewsTags: 2019, Al Whiting, Alan Bendich, Ali Eldin, Alida Lang, Allison Miconi, Andy Troy, Angela Burno, Anna Naumi, Anthony Aquilino, Anthony Aveni, Anthony Congiano, Anthony Laciura, Ashley Miconi, Bennett James Galef, Bethany DePalo, Bobby Roman, Bridgestone Multimedia Group, Brooke Capuano, Burt Young, Camber Donahoe, Charles Becco, Charles Michael Bendas, Christopher Dean James, Christopher Picone, Clara Jannelli, Clay S. Walker, David J. Choi, Diana Bost, Drama, EJ Assi, Elizabeth Mateer, Emilie Paap, Emilio Vitolo, Eric Loscheider, Erick Zamora, Eugene Mishin, Faron Salisbury, G. Paul Salvetti, Gina Yacovone, Greg Kritikos, JARS Productions, Jennifer Hanley, Jordan Werner, Josie Gallina, Judy San Roman, Julia Kushner, Juliette DePalo, Keep It Moving Productions, Ken Kushner, Lindsay-Elizabeth Hand, Lori Spano, Maraika Najimian, Marilyn Salisbury, Marissa Chykirda, Massive Film Project, Matt Wolff, Michael Voight, Michael Wren Gucciardo, Michael Yacovone, Monthina Williams, negative points, Nick Scochemaro, Pamela Macey, Penny Balfour, Perry LaBarca, Randy DeOrio, Reid Carpenter, Richard Ryker, Rick DePalo, Rob DePalo, Rob Simmons, Ryan Kushner, Sam Tesch, Samantha Rivers Cole, Sarah Alvarez, Shane Golden, Sinorice Moss, SlapShot Entertainment, Spike Christie, Stephen Baldwin, Steve Brand, Tina Louise, Tina Tanzer, Tom Conigliaro, Tommy J. Donovan, Vanja Ulepic, Victor Trispiotis, Yaffa Frank, Yaron Urbas Leave a comment