This is a post that you can participate in on every Monday. I'm a big fan of the cinema, so I decided to break up the Monday blues by talking about movies.MOVIE REVIEW:
"The Genius Club"This year I had the privilege to meet several new friends, one of which was a great guy from
Cloud Ten Pictures, who have done many Christian films, including the Left Behind movies. He gave this movie called
"The Genius Club" and asked me to review it on my blog. So, here goes...
I love movies. I love going to the movies, and I have become somewhat of a critic. I know what I like and what I don't. Unfortunately, I have had zero luck when it comes to really appreciating "Christian" films. The camera work, the sound editing, and the horrendous acting. I say all that, comparing them to mainstream film making. There just has been no comparison as of yet, and I'm assuming that has to do with the difference in budgets. The most important things to me, when it comes to a good movie, is the story and acting. I really could care less about special effects. When you put amazing special effects with a lame story, it's still a lame story.
"The Genius Club" offers a very good story. Like "The Breakfast Club", it takes place in a room with only dialogue. So, I have to give a lot of credit to the writer for keeping me interested for almost two hours. It's an attention-getter from the start. With the threat of a nuclear bomb on American soil, the mad man (Tom Sizemore), compiles a room full of IQ geniuses to "play a game". Their game-play will be the determining factor in the safety of Americans. It was a great storyline.
The other aspect I will give praise to is the camera work and editing. They did a great job bringing emotion to the film just by way of camera work and the use of old historical footage edited throughout the film.
As far as the acting, there was two sides to the coin. On one side, you have a lot of stereotypical Christian film acting, which is very average. My main acting criticism is about the character Jacob, who was the token evangelical of the story. He was a little boring and not the type of character I would portray as the "Christian". You also have Stephen Baldwin, who is like the new Kirk Cameron, which is not always a good thing. But on the other side of the coin, there is Tom Sizemore. To me, he was a man among boys in this film. The guy is, no doubt, an oscar-caliber actor, and I applaud Cloud Ten for snagging him for this film. He really took it to another level and added so much to the dialogue. I really believe he, along with the story line made this film.
I will say that this one of the best, if not best Christian film I've seen. There's some acting and production aspects I had to look past, but I stayed with it and wanted to see how it ends. That's evidence of a great story, and that's vital to a great film. Great job on this, Cloud Ten!
What's the best Christian film you've seen?
This is a post that you can participate in on every Monday. I'm a big fan of the cinema, so I decided to break up the Monday blues by talking about movies.
