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Guilty (2012)
TWO THUMS UP!
If you are a lover of movies but have a very short attention span, I'm pretty sure you will love "GUILTY". I read somewhere early on that this was actually a 48 film project / contest that Mrs. Beard wrote in 2011 but the director of the film completely botched the project in editing and when it showcased at the 48 hour film presentation, it was a huge embarrassment so Mrs. Beard vowed to re-shoot this with her own cast and crew at a later time.
She kept her word and in 2012, Mrs. Beard came together with a few independent actors to re-create what she had originally intended to be a great little film in a genre that she admits she had never even watched a (fantasy film) before getting the genre assigned to them in 2011 as part of the 48 hour film project.
So, with that said, I really did enjoy this 10 minute film when I came across it on You Tube. For having independent actors, a shoestring budget and a first time fantasy genre writer, I will say that this film is really quite awesome. I myself do not normally go for this genre, nor do I normally go for thrillers, (I like family dramas that I can totally relate to, and I like rom-coms), but for a fantasy film, I really do recommend this and whenever it pops up in my recommended feed, I will re-watch it just to reminisce. I've met these filmmakers in person at some of their local premieres and church screenings and they are really down to earth people just trying to make a positive difference in the world (However this film in particular does have a scene that should be viewed with caution - not intended for children under 16, IMO).
Pay no attention to the very first troll who left an ugly review out of spite back in '13. It's a neat project and it is a unique storyline with good acting. The actress, Sara Bakay is a good actress and I am surprised she has not pursued acting a lot more. I was looking over her IMDb credits and she has very little of them, which surprises me. Then Mrs. Beard (the writer and producer) put her husband in the lead role as Jonathan Baxter and it was his very first acting job and he did well for not being a seasoned actor. But Bruce Royer, after Guilty, went on to act in many of Mrs. Beard's films. Though his part in this film was very small, he has really done well in the other films since.
All in all, I give it TWO THUMBS UP.
Cries Unheard (2015)
Have your tissues handy!
WOW! This film may only be 26 minutes long, but it packs a punch! By the title, you can guess that it is a tear jerker. Young Karen is bullied in school, as is her only friend in the world, Georgia. And at home, Karen is abused by her mother.
In this film, the adults around her know that she is being abused at home, but no one comes to her rescue, leaving Karen to take matters into her own hands.
This film, in my honest opinion should be shown to all CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) workers in training. Not that CASA has anything to do with this film.
The outstanding performances by both Karen (Taylor Moss) and by Victoria (Shawn I. Chevalier) are both award worthy, honest to God!
I also enjoyed the actor who played Victoria's Landlord, Mr. Ramsey. And that one bully, Holly was a real pistol.
I see this film has not won any awards, which is both shocking to me, but kind of not surprised due to the difficult to watch scenes. When I say difficult to watch scenes, I merely mean that they are extremely emotional and pull at the heart strings especially for anyone who has ever been abused by the ones who are supposed to love and protect them. But the reason for no wins is likely due to festival directors and judges feeling afraid to award a film with such difficult topics, because it seems that in the independent world of filmmaking, everyone wants to favor and praise the films that sugar coat everything and act as if we live in a perfect world where abuse, racism and bullying do not exist.
I'm glad that there are a few filmmakers out there that are not afraid to tackle subjects such as these. Thank you, Dreams Come True Films. Though this one is not a feel-good movie, I still have it in my DVD collection and still watch occasionally. If you ever get the chance to see it, do have your tissues handy and be ready for a good cry!
Old Folks Like Us (2013)
We need MORE shows like this on TV!
I will start by addressing the elephant in the room. If you are a "review checker" of films, etc before you try it yourself, you will notice that on March 30th a very ugly review was left by someone who also trolled the short film Guilty that this production team did in 2012. Mrs. Beard explained who the troll was and why "He" left the derogatory comments. So pay no mind to his hateful comments. This TV pilot comedy is actually very good and has rave reviews on their You Tube channel. That's how I saw this comedy. It was so popular with the fans that they actually did a part 2, so there's that.
Do they have famous actors in this? NO! But they do have senior and seasoned stage actors who love to perform and make people smile. Did they have the greatest sound you have ever heard on a film? NO! But Mrs. Beard explained that their entire sound crew bailed on them at the last minute the first weekend of filming away from home; that is very unfortunate and sometimes in life you just cannot control what happens to you and you have to accept it and make the best of it.
Was the laugh track a little off? Yeah, okay. But what does it have? Old Folks Like Us has an original concept, it has funny actors (most of them!) and it is clean enough for the entire family to watch together without embarrassment or shame. In other words, there is (Don't fall over in shock when I tell you!) no nudity, no profanity, no sex and no violence. So for this reason, I must highly recommend it. I am so sick and tired of the garbage that rolls out of Hollywood. And I am frankly so sick and tired of all the re-boots! Give me a break, Hollywood. If you can't come up with new projects, maybe it's time to give independent creators a shot at the brass ring!
In a Cage (2013)
A really good film for first time filmmakers.
I attended the screening of this independent film way back in 2014 because I was intrigued by the topic of domestic violence. I grew up in a home where domestic violence occurred on a regular basis and truthfully, I wanted to see how realistic this film would be. The writer hit this out of the park. They premiered it in October for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which was fitting.
I'll be honest, at times, it was difficult to watch because it did hit so close to home for me. If I closed my eyes, I could almost see my own mother being hit and cursed at all over again. I saw the reactions of others in the audience and I could positively tell you that they felt how realistic the movie was as well.
Even though you can definitely tell that this was an independent, super low budget film, it was a great film. It was the first movie that Dreams Come True Films ever made, and it does show, but the story itself is one that everyone should see because I guarantee you that every single one of us know someone who is being abused behind closed doors. This movie in particular dove into the old adage "What goes on behind closed doors is nobody's business" (referring to domestic violence). However, the screenwriter here disagrees with that and so do I.
One character in this movie says to her neighbor, "Domestic Violence is everyone's business." And we're told that, "If you see something, say something," so that's what this film tries to relay to the audience. Let's not turn a blind eye to domestic violence. We can't all assume that it would be easy peasy to leave a DV situation. I'm sure it is much harder than anyone can imagine, especially if there are children involved.
So while this film was not shot the greatest, it has an outstanding soundtrack and the writing is very believable. Though it's a Dreams Come True Films original, it was directed and shot by someone other than Daniel Beard, who came in a few years later and started with VANISHED. He's extremely talented. The fact is In a Cage was produced on a shoestring budget by a first time Director (Naga Vellala), a first time Cinematographer (Charles Rudolph), a first time sound guy (Elliott Rauch) and a first time producer (Candy Beard), so we must show them some grace. They came together, they made a great film with what they had and they finished it. I applaud that. Side note, I thought the very best performance came from Christopher Hunt, who portrayed the abusive husband.
My Mother's Replacement (2015)
We should all be supporting independent artists.
This beautiful film by DCTF is much shorter than all their other films (at just 47 minutes) but it is so worth seeing. It takes a look at the life of a preteen girl who is dealing with the recent suicide of her mom. Her poor dad is struggling to figure out if he should tell his young daughter (an only child) why her mom took her own life.
I've said it before and will say it again that the writer (Candy) knows how to tell a story that is realistic and believable. She doesn't sugar coat hard topics such as suicide. IMO, this is a faith based film, even though the topic is suicide. It's handled so beautifully and so gently.
Though produced in Terre Haute, this movie premiered in Paris, Illinois and I had the joy of seeing it on the big screen at the Paris theatre. I highly recommend this film and it can be seen on Amazon Prime. I enjoyed the acting from the teen girl and the actor portraying her dad. I enjoyed the storyline, the music and the cinematography. Invest a little time to watch this movie. It's worth it. We should all be supporting independent artists. They pour so much into their work, not for wealth or fame, but to truly capture the heart of an audience, which this films does.
The Text (2023)
I just want to urge everyone to see it!
This film premiered at the gorgeous Rose Hulman campus theater and there had been so much publicity surrounding this movie, for 3 reasons really. (1) Public Safety - it is about the dangers and consequences of texting and driving which is a huge problem nationwide. (2) Because it was the last film that this mother and son team was going to produce (so sad to hear) and (3) Because they got one of our local TV personalities (Julie Henricks) to make an appearance so like I said, there was a lot of talk about this film. They even took out a billboard on Wabash Avenue to publicize this film's world premiere at Rose Hulman and I could not resist attending. The experience of seeing this great film in such an immaculate theater was something else!
I positively loved everything about this film, from the incredible acting talents of the 2 main couples, the writing, the incredible cinematography, fabulous editing and the music....this film scores so high on my list of favorite films. Though it's a little over 2 hours, it sure does not feel like two hours. The pacing was incredible and leaves the viewer on the edge of their seats thanks to the extremely talented Editor.
I personally have never and would never even think about texting while I am driving. It's just stupid and very selfish, plain and simple: Don't do it!! Every time you text and drive, you are putting someone's life (multiple lives actually) in great danger. I value life too much to risk it. But this film needed to be made to wake people up to the dangers.
But aside from telling us the dangers of T&D, this film talks about mistakes, the need for forgiveness and more. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has not seen it yet, I just want to urge everyone to see it! And like with all the films from DCTF (with the exception of their very first movie about DV) you would never know that this film (The Text) is an independent production because they strive for perfection and they nailed it!
A Second Chance (2018)
A beautiful film about second chances.
Here's another great film by Dreams Come True Films. I really can't get enough of their movies because the writer knows how to pull at the heartstrings of the viewers. It really does not matter if you are male or female, young or old, or somewhere in between, everybody in the audience can relate to this screenwriter. She writes real stories, raw stories, and it is so apparent that she does not shy away from hard to talk about topics.
Because I am from the Wabash Valley where these films were produced, I've pretty much seen all their movies because they make them all open to the public during premieres and screenings. They have covered such topics as domestic violence (their very first film, WOW!) They have covered child abduction, child abuse, racism, bullying, suicide and now teen delinquency with A Second Chance.
Even though this film was meant to teach a great lesson to teenagers who are out of control, there were some very precious and tender moments within this film and there were some comic relief moments as well. Every parent, IMO should sit down and watch this film with their teenagers. You won't regret it. A Second Chance is a beautiful story about second chances.
The Promise (2017)
It would be a great "First Date" movie to see.
This is another great film from the mother and son filmmaking team in the Wabash Valley. They premiered this rom-com at a local church and it was open to the public so I attended with some close friends. We all loved it. We literally laughed out loud, but there were times in which we cried too (which makes the best kind of movie!) Bonus: They got an acting icon to make an appearance in the film. He also spent hours on the red carpet, meeting and greeting with guests, signing autographs and posing for photos with everyone before the premiere. Even he (Ken Kercheval) loved the movie. I heard him say so with my own ears after the lights came back on and before an award ceremony was held.
Being from the town in which this film was made, it was a real treat to see film locations that we recognized. The lead actors had so much chemistry which made the film very fun to watch. I tried to put myself in "Mackenzie's" place and tried to imagine what it would be like if my grandfather had pulled the shenanigans that Grandpa Miller pulled on his granddaughter.
The comedy in this film was hilarious but clean, which I appreciated. I can watch this film with a group of family members and never feel ashamed or uncomfortable.
Bruce Royer was adorable as the mischievous Grandpa Miller and he is worthy of a best acting award, or at the very least, a nomination, in my opinion. Beautiful scores, realistic writing, funny actors and great cinematography make this independent film (which BTW doesn't look or feel independent at all) make this a MUST SEE movie. It would make a great "first date" movie to see!
Vanished (2014)
SEE THIS FILM!
I don't usually go in for thrillers when choosing movies, but I live in Terre Haute where this film was made, so I started following this production team. Also, I was intrigued by the topic: child abduction. They held a screening at the historic Indiana Theatre in 2017 that was open to the public, so I went.
For a tiny independent production company, these guys did a phenomenal job telling a story about every mother's worst nightmare. In this story, a mother makes a small mistake by turning her back for a few minutes and boom; someone grabs her young daughter (in broad daylight)! What happens next gives you chills! I have goosebumps just writing this review!
The acting from the lead actors was great. The cinematography was excellent. The music was intense where it needed to be intense and the writing was realistic. It's not Hollywood, but then again, I don't care for much of what comes out of Hollywood. I like to support the underdogs so I'm rooting for this mother and son team of filmmakers. See this film!