Reviews

Preying for Mercy is a solid action thriller that captivates you from the first 2 minutes and throws you in the deep until the last scene.

Starring Martha Byrne and Jayson Gladstone, preying for Mercy is a dark thriller which explores how our past can never be forgotten and will always catch up to us no matter how far we run away. Martha does a brilliant job in this film with some amazing scenes that showcase her range of emotions. Gladstone has also a very solid performance as the cop who is being hunted for his past. The rest of the cast does a good job too. Gladstone plays an LAPD cop who gets a hit put on him because of his past, and he must chase down and solve the problem before its to late for him and his family. With a shorter run time, the film still manages to get some serious action scenes across as well as have the time to build characters and plot in extreme detail.

Bill Duke does a great job of directing this film, giving it heart and enough action to please everyone. With only having a run time of 40 minutes and so much character development and story progression you will be amazed at how quickly and smoothly the story flows.

If you want to be entertained and see some great action scenes then do your self a favor and have a look at Preying for Mercy

Watched this film last night. Didn't know what it was and had no clue what to expect, but was laughing out loud for the majority of the film.

The Test is a romantic comedy that shows the length some men will go to see if the one they love is the one for them. Nathan after finding out that his friend got divorced after only being married for a year, decides to test his fiancé to see to what length she will go for him. As the film progress the tests become more and more ridiculous with some really disturbing and yet super funny scenarios.

Writer, Director Jeremy Saville does a great job at creating and showing a very original story with lots of genuine laughs. The acting in the film is not Oscar material, but it not a serious drama or criminal movie. You can see that all of the actors had fun shooting the film, as they always have a huge grin on their faces.

IF you are bored and are wanting to see a funny comedy which doesn't mash up the same old jokes but offers something new. Then I recommend the Test.

Brandon Routh stars in this futuristic action thriller along side Russell Wong and other A list Actors from Hollywood and China. The film is set mostly on the new and futuristic state of the art A390 plane. Russell Wong plays the CEO of Ocean Airlines who not only wants to break the record for fastest travel time but also impress his V.I.P passengers with all of the luxuries that the plane has to offer and try to bid Prince Khadsa into merging the two companies, while all the V.I.P passengers are enjoying their time on the luxury plane, we do get some emotional tension that is played out between Gao (Wong) and his estranged son Colin (Sunny Wang)who haven't seen each other for over 5 years as well as Ruoxin (Yuqi Zhang) who while being promoted to co-pilot is still battling her former position within the company.

Brandon Routh comes in as a surprise of main character as he isn't very visible for the first 30-40 minutes of the film. I was expecting this to be futuristic drama thriller as Gary re-connects with his son, and Ruoxin finds the courage to stand up for herself and find her path. But then the twists and turns of the film start to take their shape, as the plane flies through an electric storm, the plane gets hit and they must land it on abandoned island. As the plane struggles to take off while some of the passengers and crew are being chased by mutated felines as well as rescuing the remaining survivors of some military group. On board we found the origins of Brandon Routh's character and clearly see why he was Superman in Superman Returns 2006. He can be a total bad ass! Routh doesn't hold back any punches in the Lost in the Pacific. Also I do have to point out that the score of the film was totally awesome too! This might not be the contender for film of the year, but it is certainly worth a look.

XKWX is a very unique and extremely well written web series, had the pleasure of watching one episode and got hooked and watched each of the first four episodes. As a writer myself, I then went back and re-watched it again.

For entertainment value, this is a great web series, as it demands to be watched more then once to see all of the clues to try and decipher what the show is about. It has a great cast and great directing touch, with every episode having a different feel to it.

Well done to all of the people involved in this, I would definitely recommend this. 8.5/10

Another show, that takes us on a journey of the discovered and yet unknown world of women. This show feels like cross over between Desperate housewives and sex and the City. The Shady Bunch is about 3 best friends, who while trying to live their everyday normal lives, manage to get themselves into mischief and into trouble. Not to mention all of the past drama that constantly circles around them.

This show has an experienced director behind it, Q. Allan Brocka. Who knows how to capture the light mood and the comedic moments perfectly. Q. Allan Brocka is best known for his comedies. The show's cast also does a great job, as they all manage to have an amazing on screen charisma. The characters interaction makes us want to choose sides and cheer for our favorites. Is it the wanna be Actress, or the self centered Lawyer, or that one friend who is always stuck in the middle as the mediator between them. Callie Hopkins does an excellent job portraying the single mother trying to get her life sorted, the day dreamer who wishes for something more, and ultimately the one who has the most baggage. She does a brilliant job in the opening episode going from being very confident to a nervous rack ball, to being jealous. you can tell if some one is a good actor, by how they make you feel about their character. Great job to the entire cast and crew on this show, Hope to see some more awesome work from you.

For its time, Ingmar Bergman's iconic "The Seventh Seal" was revolutionary for its blatancy in showing the absence of God but the presence of Death. Much of what comprises this film; is not what those who know of it would attribute to it, visually speaking. Most people can only think about the visual of a knight on a beach, just back from the Crusades, the ocean suddenly silenced when a dark figure reveals himself on the horizon. It is Death, cloaked all in black, his white washed face standing out against the backdrop of pure nature. They play a game of chess for the knight's life, and so the film begins. Past that most people don't know much about this film. For one thing, there is very little chess featured in this film. For another, the knight has a comrade who he travels with. They go through the countryside, where the Plague has laid siege to all peoples. Everyone has become mad and frightened at the prospect of death, and belies religion's influence for some help in the matter of their mortality. A large amount of people believe in the religious fervor that is sweeping the countryside, and lend themselves to self-abuse, crucifixions, and murder. Others try to steal from the dead and help themselves through the devastation of the illness. Everyone seems to be trying to find answers to why there is war, poverty, and illness when God is supposed to protect them from their woes. A girl is captured and confesses to consorting with the Devil, which she says brought about the plague. She is only an innocent, content in turning from her God because of his absence, but not really a conspirer with evil. The film encourages exploration and takes a step back from theology by showing the very evils it inflicted in the past. Still, there is a call for people to also keep their faith in the face of Death, even while he's playing chess across from you. There's also a young couple who are very friendly and giving, and their fates are sealed thanks to their faith and love for one another. Bergman may not have known the infinitesimal questions that come from exploring your own doubt and frustrations with life. Though Bergman continually questioned himself in his later films, there is never an answer, only the freedom to question at all.

Not often, in our modern day do we get to see a film that questions our philosophical nature of, what does it mean to die.

I saw this film last month at online short festival. I liked the poster and question "How far would you go to save your daughter from death?" Watched the film and was left with more questions and doubt then enjoyment. The film had very little to no movement, very bad camera work, and the dialogue jest never stopped, but still in all of that negativity the characters and the story were intriguing. I am a huge Bergman fan, and have studied all of his films quite intensively. I saw the connection and all of the references that the writer made towards "The Seventh Seal" and loved it.

The writer's ability to take all of religion out of this story, even while having a priest in it was great, the film wasn't about which religion was right or wrong, but about what we want to believe. His Death or Father Time or "Pater Tempus", is purely fascinating, he isn't bad, he isn't even the antagonist of the film, but rather its shepherd.

The story of "Father Time" is quite simple; to what length will a parent go save his child. But when listening to the conversation which Mathew has with Death, is actually quite complex. The whole underlining dialogue is about our own existence. What if we die today, to save ourselves from pain tomorrow. What does it really mean to be alive or to have lived. Is death really the end?

What also intrigued me was that the writer showed the story of our own ignorance and our own inability to accept that with time we age and the we die. We live in a world where we assume that we can cheat death, maybe if we get rich enough we can buy tablets, have surgery to replace the dying organs, etc... We think we are invincible and immortal, But we are not.

I had the chance to contact the writer and ask for the script and the story. As well as to him questions about the film and his inspiration, which he was really understanding and eager to answer, so thank you. That made me appreciate the film and its story that much more, it is a shame that he decided to direct the film himself. You can very clearly see the unexperienced work and bad choices of lighting and camera movement, as well as actors direction, they just stand there for minutes talking.

Overall, this was a fascinating story, which was let down by its own creator for trying to do everything. Stick to writing would be my advice.