Church People [2021] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Youth pastor Guy Sides feels like he’s stuck inside of a well-oiled ministry machine. His boss, lead pastor Skip Finney, wants to find new and outlandish ways to draw people into the church. However, Guy feels like the simple gospel is enough. Nonetheless, Skip charges ahead with zany plans for an Easter production that will have everyone talking about it. Can Guy help everyone see the true meaning of Easter before it’s too late?

Production Quality (2.5 points)

It’s evident from start to finish that Church People is well-funded, and this results in a professional production. This high quality is evidenced by top-notch video, camera, and audio elements. The sets, locations, and props are great, and it’s clear that the money has been well-spent. The only minor concerns in this section pertain to some inconsistency in editing, but overall, a high score is warranted here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

This plot begins with a strong opening sequence that refrains from narration and establishes a basis for subtle humor that avoids being too over-the-top. Though the comedy is sometimes a bit dry, the writers were definitely trying to construct effective dialogue as they took a realistic look at the problems with the corporate church mentality. There are many relatable conversations throughout the narrative although there’s also a dose of exposition throughout the course of the conversing. However, as the story continues to develop, some comedy overstays its welcome, being used too much and coming off as too quirky. Rather than expanding as it goes, the premise remains quite thin and has little basis in reality beyond silly conventions. Montages strung together with humor take the place of deeper character development, and some oddly explained off-screen scenes only make matters more awkward. When it comes down to it, Church People is just another return-to-hometown plot, complete with forced romance-with-your-former-love tropes. Despite its promising beginning, this narrative continues its nose dive all the way to a forced conclusion that involves an eye-rolling ‘twist’ that doesn’t really work. Thus, one point is garnered here.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Although Stephen Baldwin once again positioned himself to star as a wise character in a self-produced film, he exhibits an acceptable kind of unusual in Church People. Other cast members are quite good in their performances despite a few slightly awkward moments. Some actors and actresses can be over-the-top and over-extended, but for the most part, they are all well-coached. As a whole, this section is at least above-average.

Conclusion

In the end, some audiences will enjoy this screenplay even though it travels through well-worn church comedy ruts. Unfortunately, the humor just isn’t enough to carry the entire movie: deeper characters are needed to drive the point home. The purpose of Church People is commendable (exposing corporate Christianity), but the audience isn’t left with much beyond the obvious fact that this approach to the faith is insufficient. Therefore, this film boils down to another standard comedy release that will unfortunately be forgotten in a few months.

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

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March 11, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Comedy, Drama, Inspirational, Movie ReviewsTags: 2021, 5.5 points, Anchor Productions, Andrea Kaufman, Andriana Manfredi, Beverley Mitchell, Billy Baldwin, Bob Sáenz, Bridget Albaugh, Christopher Shawn Shaw, Chynna Phillips, Clancy McCartney, Collide Distribution, Comedy, Donald Faison, Drama, Erin Cahill, Fathom Events, Inspirational, Isabella Hofmann, Joey Fatone, John McGalliard, Joth Riggs, Let's Make A Picture Productions, LightBeaMedia, Michael Monks, Mike Lindell, Pure Comedy, Ricky Titus-Lam, Ryan O'Quinn, Stephen Baldwin, Tessie Santiago, Thor Ramsey, Todd Wilkerson, Wes Halula, Wes Haula, William Baldwin 1 Comment

Walking with Herb (April 2021)

In Theaters April 30, 2021 from Optimism Entertainment, Rio Road Entertainment, and Fathom Events

Website

Writer(s): Mark Medoff

Director(s): Ross Kagan Marks

Producer(s): Brian Espinosa, Ross Kagan Marks, Mark Medoff, Edward James Olmos, George Lopez, Joe S. Bullock, William Blaylock, David Dirks, Keagan Karnes

Starring: Edward James Olmos, George Lopez, Kathleen Quinlan, Jessica Medoff, Johnathan McClain, Billy Boyd, Christopher McDonald, Tami Lee Santimyer, Brennin Hunt, Gregory Nye, Melissa Chambers, Terry Gannon, Jackelyn Viera Iloff, Shaun Weaver, Ross Kagan Marks

Plot Synopsis: Sixty-five-year-old Joe Amable-Amo is a bank executive and former amateur golfer struggling with his faith after an unexpected tragedy. Faced with doubts about himself, his purpose, and his belief in God, Joe is stunned when God tells him that he’s been chosen to inspire the world and play in a world championship golf tournament. Guided by God’s eccentric personal messenger, Herb, Joe learns that the seemingly impossible is possible…through faith, family, and second chances.

February 10, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Billy Boyd, Brennin Hunt, Brian Espinosa, Christopher McDonald, David Dirks, Edward James Olmos, Fathom Events, George Lopez, Gregory Nye, Jackelyn Viera Iloff, Jessica Medoff, Joe S. Bullock, Johnathan McClain, Kathleen Quinlan, Keagan Karnes, Mark Medoff, Melissa Chambers, Optimism Entertainment, Rio Road Entertainment, Ross Kagan Marks, Shaun Weaver, Tami Lee Santimyer, Terry Gannon, Upcoming Movies and Series, William Blaylock 1 Comment

The Trump Prophecy (Movie Review)

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Plot Summary

Mark Taylor was burnt out as a firefighter after nearly twenty years of service, and he began having physical symptoms of his exhaustion. He also began having mental symptoms of the trauma he experienced, which led to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. He went on leave from work due to the condition and eventually retired, and during this time, he believed that he received visions both from Satan and from God of how Donald Trump would become President of the United States.

Production Quality (0 points)

So Liberty University wants to make another movie to showcase their expensive equipment and unusual application of it. While on the surface this production seems fine, there are too many film school experiments exhibited throughout, such as bizarre camera work and choppy ‘artistic’ editing. Sets, props, and locations are surprisingly limited for the supposed scope of this film, and it seems like with the budget that was funded for this film, things would look better than this. The audio quality as a whole is unacceptable for a movie of this budget level since there are many weird background noises throughout and since the many musical montages use an invasive and unrelated soundtrack. Besides these obvious problems, it goes without saying that the special effects are horribly bad and very cheap-looking for a film school who purports to have some of the best resources at their fingertips. As a side note, there are too many CBN product placements, probably because they couldn’t license the big networks in a film that depends too heavily on news sequences to move time forward. In the end, any good parts of this production are cancelled out by the bad, which leaves us with nothing here.

Plot and Storyline Quality (-2 points)

As expected from the build-up and from the divisive political atmosphere surrounding the origin of this film’s idea, this story is utter madness. The fact that a large section of the American Christian population has embraced the bizarre ramblings of a self-proclaimed prophet who has many prophecies that never came true is very disturbing at best. Due to money, Liberty University has chosen to give a platform to these wacky theories, but they packaged them in the most boring and vanilla plot you can imagine. The weird worldview aside, this story has basically nothing to offer the viewers except for boring activities of daily living, random life montages, and off-the-wall acid trip vision sequences that have little to no explanation or understanding of what’s going on. Besides the fact that this film gives a platform to highly unusual and offbeat ideas that borderline on false teaching and peddles cult-life politically Christian propaganda, the main story is actually quite short and irrelevant. There’s hardly anything to it at all, and all of the negative brings it lower than zero, which isn’t really surprising, given the history of this story’s origins.

Acting Quality (0 points)

To combine with one of the most boring plots possible, Liberty University’s film school made sure to cast the most boring cast members we’ve ever seen, and we thought that the cast of Extraordinary was bad enough. The lead actor is extremely dead-faced for most of the movie, and most of the cast members don’t exhibit any substantial emotions except for overly practiced ones. Line delivery is very stilted and robotic, and the interactions between the cast members come off as very awkward and impersonal. In short, if there’s something bad about any movie, it’s probably represented somehow in The Trump Prophecy.

Conclusion

We have to wonder if Liberty University will ever learn from their series of colossal failures (see Extraordinary). Even if you agree with the total drivel propagated by this film of madness, there’s no way you can contort this film to be a quality movie or even an interesting one. Whoever is behind the decision making at LU’s film school clearly has no idea what they’re doing in the entertainment business because they consistently roll out some of the most well-funded and tone deaf movies we’ve ever seen. Words cannot express how far out of touch with reality they are; anyone that even thought about making a film based on a scam-worthy book like The Trump Prophecy has their priorities seriously out of whack and out of tune with what really matters.

Final Rating: -2 out of 10 points

February 27, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Drama, Movie Reviews, Psychological, SuspenseTags: 2018, Andy Geffken, Austin Russell, Chris Nelson, David C. Cook, Denise Thomas, Don Brooks, Don Colbert, Donald Trump, Drama, Durrell Nelson, Fathom Events, Jimmy Hager, John DeRienzo, Justin Tolley, Karen Boles, Liberty University, Mark Taylor, Mary Colbert, Michael Everett Johnson, negative points, Paul Stober, Paulette Todd, Psychological, ReelWorks Studios, Rick Eldridge, Scotty Curlee, Stephan Schultze, Suspense 8 Comments

Extraordinary [2017] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Dr. David Horton is known as a great professor in Lynchburg, and his ‘running’ class is extremely popular.  His reputation is that he helps all of his students by connecting with them on a personal level.  Dr. Horton is also a marathon enthusiast, but his passion often takes away his time from his family, which is something his wife greatly struggles with.  Much to her chagrin, David embarks on a dangerous cross-country marathon for two months, even though he is secretly battling health problems.  Will his health and their marriage survive the trek?

 

Production Quality (2 points)

Liberty University has all of the toys and resources an independent film maker could dream of, yet they consistently settle for just above average productions.  There’s no doubt that Extraordinary has some great cinematography, even if it’s mostly a collection of American landmark shots.  Nevertheless, camera work is excellent, and video quality is great.  Sets, locations, and props also make this production a mostly good experience.  Editing is standard, and on the surface, this is a well-produced film.  However, beneath the surface, there are some head-scratching inclusions, such as silly production gimmicks and weirdly bad special effects.  These elements are reminiscent of film school professors playing around to see what they can do with what they have.  However, most audiences will likely look past these issues and see the above-average production that it is.

Plot and Storyline Quality (.5 point)

Based on a true story, the Liberty University team had a lot to work with, even though they have struggled in the past with storylines.  However, in Extraordinary, the Curlee\Schultze team continued their issues with very thin and empty plots and characters.  Though this is based on real people, they clearly had no idea how to craft realistic characters as the story does not translate well at all.  The characters are empty due to dialogue that is full of title-dropping, pedestrian platitude-pushing, and repeated content.  Many scenes are basically filler with no substantial contribution to the overall plot.  There are one too many ‘funny’ scenes, and the majority of the movie is packed with musical montages and dramatic moments that have no meaning.  In the end, though the basic idea behind this story was great, the film version leaves the audience with no real focus or purpose as it tried so hard to drive the point home that it fell flat.

Acting Quality (1.5 points)

Acting coaching and casting is another area the Curlee\Schultze team struggles in, which is a shame since they claim to be prodigies of the Kendricks.  The lead actor of this film is particularly weak and awkward, and several supporting cast members are annoying.  Kirk Cameron is beyond obnoxious, and Shari Rigby struggles without better directing.  However, there are enough good areas here to make this section at least average; one has to consider that this cast didn’t have many substantial lines to work with.  Nonetheless, the Liberty University team continues to disappoint.

Conclusion

Scotty Curlee and Stephan Schultze have the film world at their fingertips, yet they constantly settle for half-measure and expect you to deal with it because at least it’s a Christian movie or something.  Unfortunately, they are consistently wasting the time and money of Christian audiences as all of their marketing is for nothing but a quick cash grab.  Extraordinary is another example of a squandered opportunity because Curlee and Schultze refuse to retain a truly talented screenwriter (like Sean Morgan) and have demonstrated time and again their lack of regard for improvement.  Now we can just wait with bated breath for their upcoming Trump film.

 

Final Rating: 4 out of 10 points

 

March 19, 2018January 1, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Inspirational, Movie Reviews, SportsTags: 2017, 4 points, Alex Bartz, Alex Miller, Ashley Bratcher, Austin Stumvoll, Bailey Anderson, Cameron Arnett, Cheryl McKay, Chris Ashworth, Dave Powers, Ellecina Eck, Fathom Events, Genine Ware, Inspirational, Jack Champion, James Walz, Jamie Ridgeway, Jeremy Webb, Justin Tolley, Karen Abercrombie, Kirk Cameron, Leland Klassen, Liberty University, Lindsley Register, Scotty Curlee, Shari Rigby, Sports, Stephan Schultze, Taylor Lyons, The Journey FM, Working Title Agency 1 Comment