FEATURE: Rise of the Beast-the new feature from STARS Pictures
- Thread starter El Director
- Start date
El Director
Veteran
Wow, hadn't checked on this in a while. The marquee is real. The guy behind me is the lead actor who thought it'd be funny to mimic me. I've got some other pics from inside the theater too going up soon
El Director
Veteran
The DVD is almost ready to get pressed. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, now is the time to help us out =) On the "Derek" front, we have a facebook set up and the script is 50% complete. A Christian thriller, Derek is based on the true story of a daughter who finds Jesus on her own and must exercise a terrible demon from her mother. Follow it here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Derek/217185731677962
El Director
Veteran
Did you find it? I see an order went through last night.
El Director
Veteran
DVD orders have been placed, so we're just waiting for the discs to arrive and I can begin to ship them. Here's a look at the DVD case art (pre-cropping)
RONINFILMER
Active member
Hey guys I ordered a DVD from your site a few weeks ago and it has not been shipped. Please get back to me at
roninfilmer132@gmail.com
roninfilmer132@gmail.com
El Director
Veteran
DVDs will be in this week. You will have it by the end of the month 
dude I am sorry this is really bad the whole concept is just silly and the acting and martial arts are really bad. Save your money for real actors and get someone to help with the script. What do you mean its a christian film? Since when does someones religion have to do with the genre?
Marlon Ladd
Veteran
I think we should try and be a little more constructive in our criticism of people's films on here. Honesty is a good policy, but it's not what you say, but more in how you say it. I haven't seen the film yet, but it doesn't matter. What we have to understand is that he has put in a ton of hard work here and making and finishing a film is not easy, especially a feature. It would help more to talk about how the film could be better in certain areas and maybe he can look at fixing those problems or not make the same mistakes in his next film. To say something is bad and basically leave it at that doesn't really help and is more likely to be ignored. Disease8, I know you probably have the best intentions, but your criticism comes off a little harsh it seems. We're a community formed with the intent to help and support each other. Anyway, just my 2 cents.
El Director
Veteran
Thanks Marlon.
Disease, I know nothing about you, but by the chip on your shoulders, I can only guess that you're either an atheist or a Catholic, since those seem to be the two groups I irritate the most
The fact that you find the concept silly means nothing to me, as these are the views that were expressed by the Christian reformers such as Luther and Calvin (whom hold a bit more merit in my eyes than you). By Christian film, I mean that there's a Christian worldview of salvation, but told in an action film setting, rather than your typical Christian drama. I make no apologies for the content of the film, or the film itself. I'm proud of the film we've created =) Thanks for commenting
Disease, I know nothing about you, but by the chip on your shoulders, I can only guess that you're either an atheist or a Catholic, since those seem to be the two groups I irritate the most
The fact that you find the concept silly means nothing to me, as these are the views that were expressed by the Christian reformers such as Luther and Calvin (whom hold a bit more merit in my eyes than you). By Christian film, I mean that there's a Christian worldview of salvation, but told in an action film setting, rather than your typical Christian drama. I make no apologies for the content of the film, or the film itself. I'm proud of the film we've created =) Thanks for commenting
Nathyn
Low Budget Ninja
The concept isn't silly at all. The execution may not be polished, but I totally stand behind the concept of this project if it's the same as it started out as. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't speak on the execution. This film points to something a lot of people don't know, in the past there were Sunday laws, that functioned just as stated in the Bible and this film believes that will happen again under a worldwide Church State. We've seen recently that some even here in America believe Church and State should be one, so don't be so quick to consider something silly when the ideas are actually openly being discussed today. I will be purchasing this film soon. I can already tell it's better than Leap 1, but how much better, I don't know.
-Nate
El Director
Veteran
A very cool update today- talking with a well known distributor who wants Rise of the Beast =) If this works out, you'll see the film at
Walmart, Best Buy, Family Video, Red Box, iTunes, Amazon, Facebook store, Hulu, Netflix and even YouTube
I guess we'll see what happens
Walmart, Best Buy, Family Video, Red Box, iTunes, Amazon, Facebook store, Hulu, Netflix and even YouTube
I guess we'll see what happens
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Being a recovering heathen, some may think that I'd want to rip 'christian films' just out of meanness... Here 'christian' is used in the sense of theme, story line, and 'goal' of the film. Two popular authors, which have had recent film adaptations, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, both are 'christian' writers, in that they incorporate their beliefs into their writings, and in the case of C.S. Lewis, they are pretty apparent. One has to do more sleuthing to see Tolkien's christian belief structure.
A cursory reading of Revelations and Daniel would allow one to see immediately the 'christian filmness' of El Director's films.
Personally I support people 'getting things done'... I definitely don't seem to have the time to get any filmmaking done... and if 'stupid/silly' is a criteria for certain story lines... well, there's a large number of truly stupid 'yet-another-music-video-rapper-in-da-hood' offerings, with not only bad music, but bad 'acting' as well, if it can be called acting at all...
El Director
Veteran
The DVD's are now available =) It feels great to hold them in my hands lolBy far the most interesting thing for me about this film is that the novelty of movie theaters and DVDs isn't there. Rather than be starstruck at seeing my movie on the screen having the film on DVD, it all just feels natural this time around. Like this is just how it's supposed to be. Kinda cool. Anyway, get your DVD at starspictures.org and click on "Order". Only $15 for the two disc set!
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
I've not seen the film either. But one of the criticisms that I've had of various clips others have done of 'fight scenes', tend to be 'out of the ring of battle', as it were. Even if it seems like the camera mobile, it doesn't seem that the camera is 'in the fight'.
There's also the issue that some people are not stunt people, and so, tend to not be particularly good at the choreography of The Fight... (And just being martial arts trained, doesn't mean one somehow acquires that choreography...).
And needless to say... most low/no budget filmmakers don't have access to a Phantom for those high speed 'wonder shots' of some joker getting a fist full of knuckles...
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
Thanks Marlon.
Disease, I know nothing about you, but by the chip on your shoulders, I can only guess that you're either an atheist or a Catholic, since those seem to be the two groups I irritate the most
I was reading Roger Ebert's 'review' of "Stigmata"(1999), and rather than critique the style, the story as 'story', etc... he was critiquing the 'believability' of elements of the story, and not by means of 'well this film just didn't make me willing to suspend my disbelief'... but was using some rationale like, "I've asked theologians, and they say one can not 'be infected by a relic' to become a stigmatic'...
My response is 'huh???'... that's like asking a physicist about "Stargate"(1994)... and having the physicist make a pronouncement about the impossibility of having Unobtainium, or whatever, and creating such a device... one can go on to any number of SciFi films, or books, etc...
Ebert could have simple said, I didn't like the film, the story didn't grab me, and what's more, I didn't like the fact that the action is placed in 'Pittsburgh", but most of the exterior shots are to be seen in Downtown Los Angeles...
This has nothing to do with any ultimate reality upon which a story may be based. It has to do with the story's internal 'rules', and how consistent a film story is in adhering to those rules...
When a situation arises which seems to break the rules, it is usually called a 'plot hole', and if there are too many of them, or to obvious, this usually leads to the viewer not suspending their disbelief.
Nathyn
Low Budget Ninja
Indeed! And these rules are created as certain stories become more prominent. Ever notice in any action film involving angels, angels fall from the sky, lose their wings and some, but not all of their power and suddenly have to turn to guns and martial arts. I love that kind of stuff. But if done well it can be pretty effective and entertaining.
Films and film genres do have rules that can be kept or broken. It gets tricky with Christian films based on the Bible because the rules are based on scripture. People who don't believe the scripture will typically find the plots stupid. Ironically every other plot is acceptable, including transforming robots falling to earth, people being bitten by mutant spiders and suddenly gaining spider powers and other such things. Also for those who feel the film is silly, this film is not off base at all. Has anyone been looking at the bills that have recently been signed into government.
And j1clark, I remember that review. I felt the same way you did, like "Wait, you asked who what? Why?" He did the same thing for the "Michael" film with John Travolta and somehow came up with "Angels are hardwired to love God." I'm sitting there going, "Wow, that's a sucky theologian you're talking too. He obviously knows nothing about the fallen."
-Nate
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
In terms of specific critiques about how Christian films are 'done', I often find my self using the term 'Hallmark Film'... to me a 'Hallmark Film' tends to have some 'happy ending', despite the problems presented, no major 'graphic' presentation of evil, either Ultimate Evil, or Petty Mundane Evil. The same holds true for Broadcast TV shows.
Right now the Wife and I are watching "Switched at Birth", the plot revolves around a hospital mixup, two girls are given to the wrong mothers, in the intervening 16 years, one girl has suffered an infection that renders her deaf, the other lives in a very 'upper class' household, and the inciting event is a science assignement where the girl of the upper class family does a blood test, which casts doubts on her DNA relationship with her parents, DNA testing confirms that she is not the parents biological daughter. A search reveals the biological daughter, now deaf, living with a single mother in a 'barrio' type neighborhood. (As a note, this is the first broadcast TV series I've watched since CBS canceled the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and NBC canceled Star Trek: The Ancient Generation... My protests obviously have not really been effective in changing TV programming...)
Complications ensue...
But very few of the complications, whether it is 'how did this happen', etc. 'what to do about it'. Even when the show story revealed that the 'barrio' mother knew about the switch for some 13 years, and never came forward, that 'problem' was resolved in a few episodes, with out much 'bloodshed'... etc...
In a word, most of the presentations are pretty 'superficial' in my estimation.
Back to the Bible... what is some what ironic, that in the Bible there are some pretty 'gruesome' stories, yet, when 'Christian flms' are made they appear to be so shallow, superficial, and only hint at 'evil walking in the world'.
The Cecil B. DeMille style may have worked for the 1910'-50's, era... but these days it is more on the order of "The Passion of Christ"(2004)...