jrusso1202

IMDb member since October 2007
    Lifetime Total
    50+
    Lifetime Name
    5+
    Lifetime Filmo
    25+
    Lifetime Plot
    1+
    Lifetime Bio
    1+
    Lifetime Trivia
    1+
    Lifetime Title
    1+
    IMDb Member
    16 years

Reviews

The Open House
(2018)

Serious Waste of Time!
Great acting! Great directing! Seriously the actors in this film did a great job, but that's where the good in this film ends. The writing, up until the end kept my interest, however being utterly disappointed with a nothing ending destroyed any chance that I could give the writers any credit.

Don't waste your time... Watch something else.

Facing the Giants
(2006)

Christians Unite
Christians, need to unite and demand that we need a movie that doesn't insult our faith and basic intelligence.

Unfortunately, this movie fails to deliver for anyone who isn't blinded by their church-ianity.

1) Acting: Cheesy and not compelling.

2) Story: Very underdeveloped. No sub-plot beyond the coach's impotence. We never delve into the other player's lives aside from when the coach takes a player to talk to his dad.

3) Casting: No named actors to compell any REAL distribution.

4) Dialogue: Boring and forgettable. Very "Davey and Goliath".

5) Plot: Are you kidding?

Too many "Lottery Winner" moments make you say, "Pffft, yeah right!" I agree with Alex Kendrick where in the director's commentary he says he's known pastors who've had cars given to them to meet a need. Yes, that has happened. However, I've never heard of a football coach getting a new car. Not to mention that every miracle you've heard of in your life happens to ONE guy, all at once. Just cause he prays and gives everything he cares about over to God. I've done this, weeping and falling on my knees, and guess what, nothing got better and no one bought me a car in lieu of my car breaking down. It wasn't until years passed and little by little God's changes happened to me, that I could affect a change to my own life with God given wisdom that I requested, "James 1:5".

Take "Remember the Titans", remove any good acting from it, give it a ridiculous plot, unbelievable writing, remove any "real world" dialogue and truth to it, give it a "G" rating and you've got this movie.

Problem with any church movie you ever see: There is never any real life "Truth" to it. They remove any swearing, sexual scenarios, drinking, drugs, etc... as if they never happen, and then they want you to connect with the story. It'd be better if this was set in a "Galaxy Far, Far Away".

I gave this movie a "5" because the sound, lighting, editing and overall cinematic quality was pretty decent.

Project Greenlight
(2001)

What a great first go for Gulagher
I'll admit when I saw the first few episodes of Project Greenlight Season 3, I made a snap judgment about Gulagher. I fell victim to a good producer who knew the first and foremost element of a good story: Conflict and Resolution. You have to hand it to them because they edited Gulagher's first interview with Wes Craven, Matt Damon, etc... to give the appearance of stupidity. He even clapped his hands, making music by enlarging and shrinking the opening of his mouth.

For all of the aforementioned, and numerous instances of stupidity that they credited to him as he went through the process of making a movie, Gulagher came forward as a bright and shining director/filmmaker. A force to be reckoned with in terms of film-making.

Remember folks FEAST was made for a million dollars, with maybe a tad extra to boot. Also, it was Gulagher's first full feature film if I'm not mistaken.

It was shortly after I heard Damon give Gulagher a big thumbs up about his film-making prowess at the end of the season when I realized there must be something we're not being told, because based on what I'd seen until then, this guy's a moron.

I rented FEAST as soon as I could find it on the rental shelf next to "Dawn of the Living Dead (Now with extra cleavage)." After watching the first five minutes, I could tell Gulagher will make it big. Yeah, not on FEAST because Harvey Weinstein sat on it, but more-so for his overall brilliance and knowledge of story telling.

"I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'll know it when I see it." John Gulagher

See all reviews