I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas.
A year ago today I was with my mother hours before my father was to pass on his favorite holiday. Tonight we will honor his memory by following his Christmas Eve traditions at our house within our small family.
I love you Dad! I hope you, Joe, Leo, Father Paul and Father Jerry are on the fairway between clouds eight and nine. I hope you look down with an occasional smile at the family you have lead with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Merry Christmas to my entire family, both here and in Heaven!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Genius Club (2006)
Seven geniuses must solve the world's problems in one night or Washington, DC goes up in a nuclear plume.
That's a great premise and is the basis for the film The Genius Club. The execution of that premise, however, does not reach the potential of the idea.
One thing I've noticed lately, especially in low-budget flicks, is that if you're going to shoot police procedures, you'd better get it right. With such great shows like Law & Order and NCIS and various other movies, efficient and believable police procedural processes have been drilled into out collective consciousness over the years.
There are a couple of times where The Genius Club ran into believability issues on how the police and/or secret service handled the task at hand. Sometimes it wasn't the writing, but the acting or the budget limitations that undermined the action. Either way, it showed me just how important accurate and believable police work is in a film, especially since it's become second nature to all of us.
The cast includes a lot of talented actors (Stephen Baldwin, Jack Scalia, Tom Sizemore and Tricia Helfer) who did quite well with their roles, especially Helfer. Helfer, better known as the main, sexy cylon on Battlestar Galactica, is exceptional as a genius dying from cancer. Her performance is real and heartfelt.
The lesser known performers in the story, however, are hit and miss, often missing at critical emotional times.
The biggest issue with The Genius Club is that the answers given to the questions are not very enlightening. I could have come up with most of them and, as my family can attest, I am no genius! With such a premise, I really expected to be blown away.
The film, distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures (which made the Left Behind films), is being marketed as a Christian film, but in reality it barely touches on the existence of God or Jesus. It does some very nice work on the value of forgiveness, but this film is barely a true Christian film... at least in my interpretation of what a Christian film should be (and I'll be the first to admit that it is a completely subjective interpretation).
Finally, I didn't feel that the production value matched its budget. It was obviously shot on video, which isn't the issue, but the lighting was dark and muddy. The audio, at times, was distorted, especially when characters were yelling. So, there were some basic production issues that I think would not normally arise on a film with a reported two million dollar budget.
The film kept my attention and, in many ways, worked. But for the Christian film fan, you may not find this Christian enough. And for the secular film fan, there may be too many production issues to keep you from enjoying the film.
That's a great premise and is the basis for the film The Genius Club. The execution of that premise, however, does not reach the potential of the idea.
One thing I've noticed lately, especially in low-budget flicks, is that if you're going to shoot police procedures, you'd better get it right. With such great shows like Law & Order and NCIS and various other movies, efficient and believable police procedural processes have been drilled into out collective consciousness over the years.There are a couple of times where The Genius Club ran into believability issues on how the police and/or secret service handled the task at hand. Sometimes it wasn't the writing, but the acting or the budget limitations that undermined the action. Either way, it showed me just how important accurate and believable police work is in a film, especially since it's become second nature to all of us.
The cast includes a lot of talented actors (Stephen Baldwin, Jack Scalia, Tom Sizemore and Tricia Helfer) who did quite well with their roles, especially Helfer. Helfer, better known as the main, sexy cylon on Battlestar Galactica, is exceptional as a genius dying from cancer. Her performance is real and heartfelt.
The lesser known performers in the story, however, are hit and miss, often missing at critical emotional times.
The biggest issue with The Genius Club is that the answers given to the questions are not very enlightening. I could have come up with most of them and, as my family can attest, I am no genius! With such a premise, I really expected to be blown away.
The film, distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures (which made the Left Behind films), is being marketed as a Christian film, but in reality it barely touches on the existence of God or Jesus. It does some very nice work on the value of forgiveness, but this film is barely a true Christian film... at least in my interpretation of what a Christian film should be (and I'll be the first to admit that it is a completely subjective interpretation).
Finally, I didn't feel that the production value matched its budget. It was obviously shot on video, which isn't the issue, but the lighting was dark and muddy. The audio, at times, was distorted, especially when characters were yelling. So, there were some basic production issues that I think would not normally arise on a film with a reported two million dollar budget.
The film kept my attention and, in many ways, worked. But for the Christian film fan, you may not find this Christian enough. And for the secular film fan, there may be too many production issues to keep you from enjoying the film.
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