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Angels Crest (2011)
Bad Reviews - Unknowing Reviewers
The power of this film depends on your perspective. Have you raised a 3-year old? Have you experienced the death of a child? Most importantly, is the story believable and can you put yourself in to it?
Unfortunately, few watching this film know it mirrors the real life story of Paul Wayment and his son Gage: The following are excerpts (Spoilers) from the real story found on pulitzer.org:
"Six inches of snow covered the small body. Gage lay in a fetal position, his hands clenched, his eyes wide open. His pajama legs were up to knees; his feet had worn through his thin booties. His throat was blue. In his eyes were frozen tears."
Paul Wayment's statement to the court: "If I could change places with my son, I would give up my life without question. But I can't. The life that I now live in is the hell that I alone created. The pain is incomprehensible. . . . The word 'sorry' does not even begin to express the feelings I now live with. . . . I admit full responsibility for my actions and will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."
"They found his body (the father) on a sloping ridge next to a pair of binoculars, a Pepsi Big Gulp and a Winchester .243 hunting rifle. He'd picked a spot, surrounded by quaking aspens, that provided a view of the hills where they'd searched for Gage. Julie George imagined his final afternoon. He'd sat with the binoculars, surveying where Gage died. At sunset--he would have waited for his beloved dusk--he'd put down the binoculars and picked up the rifle."
"At the courthouse that afternoon, (Judge) Hilder sat dazed in his chambers. Tears filled his eyes."
http://www.pulitzer.org/works/2002-Feature-Writing
Knowing the real story makes this film, Angel's Crest, much, much more powerful. It's too bad Angel's Crest wasn't made to be a true story with a follow up explanation at the end telling of the ongoing lives of the people involved.
Those that have rated this film poorly or written unflattering reviews might want to watch it again after reading the true-life story.
The I Inside (2004)
I Hated this Movie As Much As I Hated the Usual Suspects
I hated this movie, but I dislike a lot of movies that others seem to love--like A Beautiful Mind or the Usual Suspects. So if you loved those shows, read no further. I'm only posting this for the benefit of people with similar tastes, so they can avoid this one. At least A Beautiful Mind and the Usual Suspects had some entertainment value. This show has none. Only weirdness, and in a very annoying way.
For me, a film has a duty to the viewer to be fair--to not resort to the cheapness of portraying a dream, delusion, or fantasy as reality. It's fine if the character doesn't know what's going on. It's even fine if the audience doesn't for a while, but I find it incredibly annoying to invest a couple of hours into a story only to find out in the end that it was all just a dream.
This movie is very cheap in that way. You might like it if you're fifteen years old, don't care if a story makes any sense, and just like weirdness, but I hated. I sensed early on that this was one of those annoying movies that offered no clarity, so I fast forwarded and watched the ending. Well, the ending made no sense and so at that point I gave up on the show and came to IMDb. After reading the posts here and the tremendous amount of confusion this movie caused, I have no interest in watching it all the way through. This is one movie that should have never been made.