Change Your Image
stephan-fenton
Reviews
Lost in Space (2018)
Huge Disappointement
I am disappointed in almost every way possible. The use of Deus ex Machina is overwhelming. In every episode, they encounter an absolutely insurmountable obstacle, with all of their lives in immediate peril. And every time, something completely unforeseen comes out of nowhere and saves the day. It's too serious and un-fun. There are misplaced jump-scares. The use of flashbacks to tell the story is a tired crutch. It's like someone did a study of every overused trope and decided to put them together in a reboot (yet another overused trope). Don't waste your time.
Ragamuffin (2014)
Highly Recommended
I love this story. It breaks the stereotype of Christian movies, most of which start with a messed up person who then meets Jesus and gets their life cleaned up. And they all lived happily ever after.
Rich Mullins was a mess. He was a mess before he met Jesus, he was a mess after he met Jesus. Maybe that was why he had such a keen understanding of grace. That's really what this movie is about. They wanted to tell the true story of Rich Mullins, as messy as it was, although I'm sure they had to clean it up some in order to get churches to show it. The in-concert monologues are mostly, if not all, taken verbatim from things Rich said during concerts. The music is well done and fitting with the story.
The movie was made on a shoestring budget, and in many ways it shows. The sound recording and mixing during interior scenes were not good (although that may have been partially due to the church where we were viewing the movie). The acting was sub-par compared to big budget movies, even from Wolfgang Bodison, who has plenty of acting experience. The sets all felt cramped and poorly utilized.
But for all its faults I think it's still worth seeing. Even if you have never heard of Rich Mullins, it's a compelling story. The movie, like Rich Mullins, can be full of faults and still have incredible redeeming value.