Review by Dana Chaffin

     March 2, 2010 is the DVD release date for Jake’s Corner.  This is a touching story of tragedy, loss, and family.  It is a drama mixed with comedy that can be enjoyed by the entire family.  Singer B.J. Thomas (Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head, Hooked on a feelin) acts and performs in the film.  The movie soundtrack of various entertainers is also available.  Writer/Director Jeff Santo’s story behind the film and his family history that lead up to the making of the film is outstanding.

Jake’s Corner is about an ex-football star, Johnny Dunn (Richard Tyson), who escapes to Jake’s Corner in the desert of Arizona after an accident takes the lives of his parents.  Dunn is trying to answer the question…why did this happen?  Jake’s Corner is an actual place in Arizona with a general store, bait shop, bar, and RV park.  For the people who live there, it is home.  Dunn gets a disturbing call that his only sister, her husband, and son were in a terrible accident and only the son survived.  He had not yet recovered from the loss of his parents, now he was expected to help his nephew Spence (Colton Rodgers).  Trying to protect him from the pain, Johnny decides not to tell Spence that his parents died.  Johnny calls a meeting of all those at Jake’s Corner to require them not to tell Spence the truth.  The curious young boy will bring out the best in everyone at Jake’s Corner. Spence starts to remember about the accident and runs away to his home only to find the truth.  The gang at Jake’s Corner search frantically for their lost friend.  The touching moment when Johnny and Spence share their pain is outstanding.

Jake’s Corner was written and directed by Jeff Santo.  The story of how Santo found the site Jake’s Corner is extremely moving.  He had previously produced a documentary, This Old Cub, about his father, Chicago Cub legend, Ron Santo.  He was the first and only major league baseball position player to play with Type One Juvenile Diabetes (insulin dependent).  He did not reveal his diabetes during most of his career in fear of being forced to retire.  Santo eventually had both legs amputated due to complications from the disease.  A portion of all revenues earned by the film was donated to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).  The film was so inspiring that it sparked one viewer to take action.  Wild Bill Holden watched the film repeatedly before he decided to help out the cause.  To raise money for JDRF he would walk from Prescott, Arizona to Wrigley Field in Chicago.  This over 2,000 mile journey would be Holden’s way to show respect to the legendary Cub. Jeff Santo heard of Wild Bill Holden’s adventure and caught up with him at a stop called Jake’s Corner.  He would later use the actual site to shoot the movie Jake’s Corner. Together Holden and the film have raised over $250,000 for JDRF.

     Jake’s Corner will make you laugh, cry, and then laugh again.  The characters from Jake’s Corner may not be blood related, but this odd bunch is certainly family.  To find out more about the movie, to purchase the DVD, or buy the soundtrack go to www.jakescornerthemovie.com            *Top

Here’s a link to my review of the movie below: The Blind Side               *Top

Review by Dana Chaffin

     Saving Melanie, a Christian drama, is now available on DVD.  The message of this film is forgiveness, trust, and testing. Most Christian films end with someone being saved, but this one takes the story from the salvation. It shows that just because you are saved that everything does not magically become perfect. The story of this movie is touching, but the story behind the scenes is inspirational.

The Story

     A young single mom, Melanie (Melissa Serrano), is excited about accepting Christ as her Savior.  She is very eager to go out and evangelize everyone she meets.  Her angry and alcoholic neighbor, Jonathon (Brian Renner), becomes her target.  He tells her that she is not ready because she has not passed the “Job test”. However; he seems to be in the middle of his own “Job test” and is failing.  When Melanie’s ex-boyfriend shows up, her faith will be tested intensely.  She also learns that God can use the bad choices and situations from our past to help others.

See trailer:

Behind the scenes

Saving Melanie is the first Christian feature film for producer Jose L. Cruz.  He has made several short films in the past before he became a Christian.  After watching The Passion of the Christ, Cruz decided to accept Christ and make Christian movies that would touch others like that film touched him. He was also inspired by Sherwood Church (Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof). The story of Saving Melanie came about from a conversation Cruz had with his pastor about why people leave their faith.  The first draft of the film was written in just a couple of weeks.  At that time he did not realize that his own faith would be tested.  He would go through a divorce, depression, and was at risk of losing his faith.  After many prayers, he felt the answer was to proceed with the film and stay strong in his faith.  As the characters in the film went through their tests and overcame them, so would the life of the producer.  Cruz says, “The film was his spiritual therapy.”  He is looking forward to making more Christian features.

    Have you passed the “Job test”?  It is pretty easy to trust God when things are good, but what happens when bad times hit?  This film demonstrates the difficulties that can happen to even those who are saved.  Scripture tells us that Job was a blameless and upright man that feared God.  God allowed Satan to test Job, but he could not take his life.  Job lost everything: his children, his flocks, his servants, and was afflicted with painful sores covering his body.  Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.  Job stayed faithful to God and in the end he was given back everything lost and even more.  As Christians, even though we may go through tests, we are to put our trust in God.  He can bring us all the way through every test.  You can find out more and purchase the film at www.savingmelanie.com.                *Top

A post-apocalyptic tale that immediately reminds one of the old Mad Max flicks, the violence in particular. The story line plays out very similar to other movies in that genre except Eli (played by Denzel Washington) is on a mission from God.

America is a desert wasteland and it has been 30 years since a world war destroyed civilization. It’s every man and woman for themselves in this stark world of burned out buildings and crumbling highways. Food and water are scarce and it is surprising what is considered valuable. Cannibalism is a problem, violence is the norm, and only the strong survive. A great world to live in.

Eli is traveling to the west coast where he believes that a voice from God told him to go and deliver his treasure- a book.  Turns out that the Book is a King James version of the Bible with one more wrinkle I won’t mention. It is supposed to be the last Bible in existence. The Bibles were all burned after the world war for some reason never fully explained.

Meanwhile, a town warlord –Carnegie (played by Gary Oldman) has roving armed bands attacking travelers looking for a Bible. He hopes to use it to control people better and expand his empire. The battle begins when Eli shows up in his town with a copy.

Eli makes it out of town and Carnegie and his goons pursue him. Also a young woman, Solara, ends up as his companion and helps him to his destination.

Lots of twists and turns in the story but Eli does complete his mission but Carnegie does get his hands on a copy of the Bible but one he cannot use as his little empire begins to fall apart.

At the end, the Bible is published again and takes its place on a library shelf right next to a Koran.

Many Christians might like this movie in spite of all of the violence. I did. I found it rather inspiring to see Eli make the best of bad situations and continue to pray and read the Bible. Is Eli a sort of prophet? Yes, in an Old Testament way and one who dishes out judgment in the process. He seems to have supernatural power at times in overcoming his enemies on the road. Way more than good luck or military training could ever account for.

Yes, I even believed that Eli did hear from God and was on a mission from God. In fact I had the feeling that he had actually been blind at one time but received sight to carry out his long journey. I swear at the last when his mission was done he looked like he was blind once more.            *Top

Review by Dana Chaffin

On January 22, 2010 To Save a Life is opening in theaters nationwide.  This exciting Christian based film confronts many teen issues.  New Song Pictures gives viewers a touching story that will certainly change the way they see people.  The story is inspiring and the way it deals with the issues the characters face is remarkable.

To Save a Life is the story of a teenage boy, Jake (Randy Wayne), who must make the choice to do what is popular or what is right.  In the past he made the choice to be popular and it cost him a friend, literally.  Now he will not let that happen again.  Jake must also decide what he believes as far as God.  A youth pastor, Chris (Joshua Weigel), comes into Jake’s path and he has a very unique, but effective way of dealing with the teens. Jake’s faith is tested by many difficulties, but the final outcome is inspirational.

To Save a Life discusses difficult topics such as suicide, cutting, divorce, teen pregnancy, dating, partying, drinking/drugs, depression, abortion, adultery and more.  Although it is very tastefully handled, parents and leaders should know.  This is a very moving film that will help adults to understand what our teens are facing and teens to see what their actions towards others could be saying.

    To Save a Life is a powerful movie.  It is a great film for any teen, parent, youth group, etc.  I do want to warn there are some topics that might be too mature for younger kids; however most teens are aware of these issues.  Please check out the official website www.tosavealifemovie.com to find a theater near you and for resources.  Today many teens are faced with issues and situations similar to those discussed in the movie and this film may be just what is needed, to save a life.               *Top

A tremendous ‘feel-good’ movie that highlights the acting talents of Sandra Bullock. Bullock plays a wealthy white Christian housewife ( Leigh Ann Tuohy) who takes on the onerous task of raising a homeless black kid- Michael Oher.

She helps him to overcome his learning deficiencies and encourages him to participate in sports. He eventually becomes a football star that ends up being heavily recruited by college coaches and later on to the NFL.

There are twists and turns along the way but Mrs. Tuohy and her family are up to the task and make a home for a young man who has never really had one. The process also seems to be good for the Tuohy family and gives them purpose and actually ends up drawing the whole family closer together.

There were also several interesting scenes where Leigh Ann had it out with some of her ‘socialite’ lunch friends who questioned the advisability of giving a home to a big black kid from the wrong side of town.

I was actually taken back by Sandra Bullock’s performance. I’m used to seeing her in comedy roles and in this movie I actually forgot that she was ‘Sandra Bullock’. She really excels In her role as Leigh Ann Tuohy and should be up for some awards, though the Hollywood crowd who vote on that stuff are usually not up for redeeming ‘feel-good’ roles and movies.

This is not only a touching movie but also a true one to boot. For once a Christian family is not typecast as a bunch of hayseed bigots like Hollywood usually tends to do nor are the Tuohys presented as some kind of idealized family like many Christian films seem to be guilty of. These are real people and the film presents them as such warts and all but also their natural goodness.

The title of the film was really apropos because I ended up being ‘blind-sided’ by the movie. It was far better on many different levels than I ever expected it to be even though I had read a number of lovely reviews on the film. It stands as a movie not to be missed—either in the theaters or later on DVD.          *Top

In this episode an American military family was shown to be guilty of trying to force their Muslim convert son/brother to drop Islam. In the end it turned out to be his own brother who had killed the Muslim officer because he had ‘dishonored’ the family with his conversion to Islam and his refusal to recant.

I totally missed the irony of this story line.   <<Read the rest on the Main AFTF blog>>

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