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nataliawestervelt
Reviews
Wildflower (2014)
NOT A THRILLER JUST A CHRISTIAN MOVIE
Stopped watching this not even 20 minutes in. Was trying to give it a chance, even though I realized this was a religious movie the moment there was too much of a linger on characters inside a church, with not so subtle "get back to your faith" undertones. Contrary to the title I gave this review, I do believe it's not impossible to insert religion without compromising the entire plot. This film, however, is nothing but a stage for an infomercial marathon designed to herd everyone into the nearest church.
Yep, that is basically the message throughout - get back to your faith, it solves all. There is no humanity, just missionary drones posing as friends and siblings, all of whom are set to convert mode. The story is very superficial and unexciting, taking a back seat to characters that are so robotic they make you wonder if this isn't a reboot of an alien body snatching film, with the lead characters running astray from the rest of the collective and everyone else charged with the task of pulling them back in.
Get with the program.... or else.
Unfortunately it is not that exciting! You'd think a faith with roots in the Crusades and Inquisition would have a handle on how to conjure the kind of atmosphere needed for a thriller, but instead you have saccharine sweet faces and bland storylines more suitable for the kiddy pool than a high dive. It's not only annoying - it's flat out boring.
I would watch a "faith based" film, but give me a real plot, show some grit and humanity, not this dearth of reality.
Vulkàn (2009)
Best Movie Death Ever
A dormant caldera in the German Eiffel disrupts the busy lives of everyone in a rustic German village, where the biggest concerns to date have revolved around more domestic dilemmas and financial strife. Main character Michael is reluctant to follow his wife Andrea's dream of moving to the big city, rich teenager Paula feels used by her classmates - the little things in life, like Michael's careful gesture to free Andrea's coat from the car door, are swallowed by the conflicts of daily life.
In the meantime, sulphur bubbles in the lake and fish float belly up. Geologists arrive and mini quakes rattle coffee cups.
Michael and Andrea fight, neither understands why the other wishes to leave or to stay. She flees what she feels is suffocating small town confinement.
When the eruption finally blasts its way onto the screen, the characters find themselves struggling to survive and leave (or return to) the bubbling cauldron of molten lava and hurtling rocks that was once their home.
It was the ending that did it for me- all two parts of the film seemed to culminate in what was the simplest and most poignant death I've ever witnessed in film. The ending then takes us back to the things we may have missed, like coattails being caught in car doors. It is then that the power of the volcano finally hits us.