Stay True (pre-production)

Currently in pre-production from Faith Street Films

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Writer(s): Nicholas DiBella, Paul Root

Director(s): Nicholas DiBella

Producer(s): Nicholas DiBella, James Pavone, Kevin Crego, Robert Bell

Starring: TBA

Plot Synopsis: Stay True is an inspirational drama about a twelve-year-old boy named Jaylen Percy who strikes up an unlikely alliance with Miles Garrett, a forty-year-old journeyman guitarist. Miles runs a music store and café called the Rock-n-Soul with his on-again off-again girlfriend Eden. The place has a long history but now struggles due to the changing times in the hard-edged neighborhood where it resides. It’s at the Rock-n-Soul, however, where Jaylen finds refuge from the desolation and urban blight of the surrounding streets. His mother, an aspiring songwriter and guitarist herself, died several years ago and Jaylen secretly longs to hold on to her through music. With Eden’s help, he purchases a used guitar with money earned by selling some of his mom’s old vinyl albums, and he tries to teach himself how to play. At first Miles looks at the young man lingering in the store as an annoyance, but after he sees Jaylen’s determination to learn, he starts to offer some guidance. Through teaching Jaylen, Miles begins to discover a new purpose that reinvigorates his passion for music, something that’s been missing for years. But he soon learns that Jaylen’s life is extremely complex as the boy lives in a parentless home and is being raised by his Uncle Taye, a young man in his early twenties who was once deeply involved in gang life but now works diligently to provide a good foundation for his nephew. But as much as Taye attempts to keep things on track for Jaylen, violent elements from his former life continue to come back to haunt him. Soon Jaylen finds himself caught in conflicts that are much bigger than a young boy should have to deal with but are unfortunately all too common in the world in which he lives. At the same time, Miles finds his role suddenly much more than music tutor. He has never been very successful at taking care of himself let alone trying to protect a young man who is facing many formidable life challenges.

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January 28, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Faith Street Films, James Pavone, Kevin Crego, Nicholas DiBella, Paul Root, Robert Bell, Upcoming Movies and Series 1 Comment

The Mystery of Her (June 2021)

In Theaters June 1, 2021 from Faith Street Films

Writer(s): Nicholas DiBella, Paul Root

Director(s): Nicholas DiBella

Producer(s): Nicholas DiBella, Sophia Harvey, James Pavone

Starring: Andrea Figliomeni, Winter Andrews, Nicolette Hart, Emma Jessop, Tyler Aser, Michael Pavone, David Andreatta, J. Simmons, Danny Hoskins, Tina Chapman DeCosta, Kayla MacKenzie Stern

Plot Synopsis: The Mystery of Her is the story of Ali Spencer, a beautiful and popular teenager on the cusp of an amazing future. She’s at the top of her game as president of the student council, captain of the soccer team, girlfriend to the hottest guy in school, and best friends with the tight-knit group of “it” girls who define the school’s social hierarchy. Through the guidance of her ultra successful event-planner mom, Ali maintains top grades and recently was offered a full scholarship to Brown University. All is going exactly as planned until a car accident strips her of her memory, her identity, and potentially her future.

January 28, 2021January 28, 2021 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Upcoming Movies and SeriesTags: Andrea Figliomeni, Danny Hoskins, David Andreatta, Emma Jessop, Faith Street Films, J. Simmons, James Pavone, Kayla MacKenzie Stern, Michael Pavone, Nicholas DiBella, Nicolette Hart, Paul Root, Sophia Harvey, Tina Chapman DeCosta, Tyler Aser, Upcoming Movies and Series, Winter Andrews 1 Comment

Movie Renovation: Wildflower

See original review here.

 

Production Improvements

Much like other movies that need renovations, Wildflower has a very professional production.  As expected, the only issue that needs improvement here is the editing, as it is quite choppy.  However, this is related to the plot, so if this had been rectified, the production would have been nearly perfect.

Plot and Storyline Improvements

Wildflower is one of the most frustrating plots to witness.  It is billed as a unique psychological thriller, and at first, it seems like it has a lot of potential.  However, the more it goes on, the more disappointing it becomes due to narration and overly obvious elements.  The mystery factors and intended elements of surprise are crippled by the poor presentation of the story.  It tries to become too complicated and involved without properly developing the characters or even what the psychological concept behind this plot is trying to convey or model.  For example, the flashbacks\dreams of the protagonist are intriguing, but what about other elements of trauma?  In a similar vein, the antagonist of the story is too obvious, and the scope of the psychological elements are too limited.  Also, the artistic elements of this film are creative and interesting, but there are times when the plot gets lost in them.  This plot could have been greatly improved with a more well-charted psychological journey without narration, in order to preserve the element of surprise in the plot twists.  A more pertinent study of the effects of trauma and causes of dissociation would have made this movie a lot more realistic.  Of course, allowing the characters to develop naturally through substantial dialogue and flashbacks is always a must in a psychological plot.  Finally, the actions and motivations of the characters need to be better explained without so much reliance on coincidences and vague ideas.  There was tons of potential here; it just needed to be better developed.

Acting Improvements

For the most part, this cast was very professional, even with a fairly difficult script to work with.  Much like the plot affecting the editing, improving some of the dialogue would have likely improved some of the lines that the cast members didn’t have much to work with.  However, there were some underwhelming moments that could have been improved, as well as some overly dramatic sequences.

Conclusion

We absolutely need more psychological thrillers in Christian film, but they need to be well-constructed, well-thought-out, and well-researched.  Trauma and dissociation are great topics to explore, but they need to be grounded in reality and not vaguely presented.  Also, narration rarely helps a movie, and the motivations of characters need to be demonstrated through deep dialogue and engaging flashbacks.  Moreover, we believe that Nicholas DiBella has tons of potential as a film maker and will continue to improve in his career.

 

March 6, 2018 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Movie and Series RenovationsTags: 2016, Alex Steele, Benjamin Ashbrook, Cave Pictures, Christopher Jon Martin, Claudia Hoyser, Cody Longo, Faith Street Films, Katie Gill, Kevin McCorkle, Kristen Royal, Marc Wax, Matt Wise, Movie and Series Renovations, Mystery, Nathalia Ramos, Nicholas DiBella, Nicolette Hart, Patricia Lewis Browne, Psychological, Shari Rigby, Suspense Leave a comment

Wildflower [2016] (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Chloe has a dark secret that haunts her, but she doesn’t quite know what it is.  She is plagued by nightmares and flashbacks of something that lurks below her consciousness, but she cannot quantify it.  She also does not want to talk to anyone about it except her trusted friend Rebecca.  Chloe has pushed everyone away, including her mother.  But when she is faced with something she cannot reconcile, she will have to reach out to someone before it’s too late.

Production Quality (2.5 points)

The Faith Street Films team has consistently shown a commitment to quality productions—this is evident again in Wildflower.  Camera work is professional, as is video quality.  Audio quality is error-free and the soundtrack is superb and enhances the experience.  Sets and locations are good as well.  The only problem to point out here is editing.  Some scenes are unnecessarily long while others are cut too short.  As will be discussed next, too much of the same thing happens.  But overall, this is a great production that shows great promise.

Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)

Wildflower is a much-needed Christian psychological thriller, but it’s extremely frustrating to watch, knowing all that could have been.  For starters, the heavy-handed narration throughout doesn’t allow the plot to develop naturally.  Great issues are raised here, but the characters are stunted by too much narration and not enough dialogue.  Though there are excellent psychological elements and flashbacks, the plot is based too much on coincidences.  Overall, we know that the creators mean well and is was great to try something different, but without deeper development, the storyline and its characters are left only halfway finished.  We would love to see this concept remade in some way.

Acting Quality (2 points)

Though this cast is relatively small, they do a fairly good job pulling this off.  They are mostly believable, but there are some underwhelming performances that seem to hold this film back from being all that it could be.  Emotions are mostly realistic, but there are some overdone elements that distract from the story.  In short, this is an above-average effort that had the ability to be better.

Conclusion

It is always disappointing to see a downgrade from Hall of Fame, especially since King’s Faith was enjoyable.  We love psychological thrillers, but Wildflower left us wanting for more.  The issues portrayed in this film are important and need to be discussed, we fear the way they are packaged in this film will turn people off.  We sincerely wish this plot could be reworked so that it could reach its full greatness.  Nonetheless, Nicholas DiBella and his team are certainly talented and we can’t wait to see what they have planned next.

 

Final Rating: 5.5 out of 10 points

  

Full disclosure: We were provided by the creator with a copy of this film in exchange for a fair and honest review

 

February 1, 2017January 11, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Movie Reviews, Psychological, SuspenseTags: 2016, 5.5 points, Alex Steele, Benjamin Ashbrook, Cave Pictures, Christopher Jon Martin, Claudia Hoyser, Cody Longo, Faith Street Films, Katie Gill, Kevin McCorkle, Kristen Royal, Marc Wax, Matt Wise, Mystery, Nathalia Ramos, Nicholas DiBella, Nicolette Hart, Patricia Lewis Browne, Psychological, Shari Rigby, Suspense 1 Comment

King’s Faith (Movie Review)

Plot Summary

Brendan King has been everywhere and done nearly everything.  Mike and Vanessa are not the first foster parents he has had, but they have agreed to give him one last chance to help him finish high school and turn his life around for good.  Informed by his newfound faith, Brendan seeks to leave his checkered past behind and discover exactly what God wants him to do.  But he did not expect to get pulled into the troubled life of the local homecoming queen, be harassed by a suspicious detective friend of his new foster parents, or be visited by unwelcome characters from his criminal past.  In spite of the odds against him, Brendan must dig deep in his faith in order to navigate the turbulent waters ahead.

 

Production Quality (2.5 points)

King’s Faith may be an obscure Christian film, but it is certainly not to be overlooked.  The production quality is envied by many low budget independent movies.  Its camera work is great, as is the video and sound quality.  The editing puts many unique scenes together skillfully.  Diverse sets are used to film many different types of scenes, from action to soft.  The costuming and makeup work are good.  The only caveat here is that there seems to be a few filler scenes to lengthen the runtime.  Otherwise, there is nothing to complain about in the production of King’s Faith.  It sets a new standard for first-time independent Christian films.

Plot and Storyline Quality (2 points)

King’s Faith is based on true events, and the plot captures a sense of realism.  It is a semi-linear plot, and not completely non-linear.  The dialogue is authentic, thus building the characters well.  The intentions and personality traits of the characters are showcased well.  Issues that face juvenile ex-convicts are portrayed well.  The end is not what is usually expected of semi-inspirational plots.  However, as previously mentioned, there is some wasted time in the movie.  Another issue is the presence of unnecessary narration.  We suggest that more flashbacks to build the characters would have remedied both of these issues, thus creating a perfect plot score.  Nonetheless, King’s Faith is a great plot and an excellent starting point for future movies from this crew.

Acting Quality (3 points)

For a cast of little-known actors in an obscure movie, the acting is excellent.  Nothing is overplayed and emotions are displayed accurately.  This demonstrates the handiwork of great acting coaching.  Though the cast is modest in number, they carry the movie well and prove that it is possible to have great acting in a lesser-known independent film.

Conclusion

Re-integrating into society after concerted jail time is difficult for a juvenile offender.  Such a person needs a social safety net, accountability, and a purpose in life.  King’s Faith deals with all of these issues without being too obvious or preachy.  The Christian worldview is slightly understated, but it is not lacking.  Overall, King’s Faith demonstrates that there is no excuse to ever make a cheap Christian film.  Though it is not dynamic, it is profound and worth your time.

 

Final Rating: 7.5 out of 10 points

February 9, 2016January 18, 2019 by Box Office Revolutionary Categories: Hall of Fame, Inspirational, Movie Reviews, SuspenseTags: 2013, 7.5 points, Andy Ryckaert, Brandon Correa, Cave Pictures, Christopher Jon Martin, Crawford Wilson, Edsel Q. Patterson, Faith Street Films, Fiona Criddle, Inspirational, James McDaniel, Kayla Compton, Kirk Dueker, Kristen Royal, Lynn Whitfield, Marc Wax, Michael Leadbetter, Mike Brownyard, Nicholas Americus Marino, Nicholas DiBella, Paul Root, Stephen Dodd, Steve Bartolotta, Suspense, Taine Ann Riggio 1 Comment