INFOGRAPHIC: Disney Originals vs. Live-Action Remakes: Which is better?

We love our animated Disney classics—but the live-action interpretations have been met with mixed feelings.

A more cynical person might say Disney is afraid to get creative with new stories, and these films are a terrific money-grubbing ploy. But at HowtoWatch.com, we wanted to see how fans and critics felt these remakes live up to the originals.

HowToWatch brought in fan ratings from IMDb and critic ratings from Metacritic for the original animated films and their live-action reimaginings. After giving fan and critic ratings equal weight, here’s how the movies compared.

The only live-action film better liked than its animated counterpart is The Jungle Book (2016)—most trail far behind the Disney Classics.

The table below shows the giant gap in quality between the two types of films. Note that the animated films are in red and the live-action films are blue.

There’s a bunch going on in the chart above, but here are the highlights:

• The Lion King (2019) drew huge crowds in the USA, with an estimated domestic box office over $185 million in its first weekend. Despite beating out the previous $175 million record of Beauty and the Beast (2017), it tied in only twelfth place.

• The oldest live-action remake, 101 Dalmatians (1996), is the lowest ranked. It seems that for the most part, Disney has gotten better at remakes over time.

• The live-action movie with the most significant difference between audience and critic score was Aladdin (2019), with audiences preferring it more than critics.

• The animated film with the most significant difference between audience and critic scores was Dumbo (1941), with critics preferring it more than audiences.

• Despite the original Dumbo (1941) being the second-highest ranked, its new counterpart is the second lowest. Tim Burton flubbed that movie even worse than Alice in Wonderland (2010).

• The remakes average a rating of 1.6/10 points below the originals.

Though the numbers show a clear preference for the animated films, the Disney remake train isn’t going to stop anytime soon. Stories like Mulan, Peter Pan, Sword in the Stone, and The Little Mermaid are up next for the treatment.

But with Disney+ coming November 12 of this year, we might start seeing less of them in the box office: the new Lady and the Tramp is set to premiere on Disney’s streaming service, not in theaters. To learn more about streaming TV, check out our guide to cutting the cord.

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Notes:

• 101 Dalmatians (1961) is property of the Walt Disney Company.

• Aladdin (1992) is property of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc.

• Aladdin (2019) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• Alice in Wonderland (1951) is property of Walt Disney Productions.

• Alice in Wonderland (2010) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• Beauty and the Beast (1991) is property of the Walt Disney Company.

• Beauty and the Beast (2017) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• Cinderella (1950) is property of the Walt Disney Company.

• Cinderella (2015) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• Dumbo (1941) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• Dumbo (2019) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• The Jungle Book (1967) is property of The Walt Disney Company.

• The Jungle Book (2016) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

• The Lion King (1994) is property of Walt Disney Pictures Pictures & Television.

• The Lion King (2019) is property of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

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GUEST COLUMN: Coming to the Box and On Demand in August

By Erika Olson

There’s lots to be excited about this month, with some of the biggest movies of the year to-date (including THE biggest) arriving at Redbox. Here are FOUR standouts coming to the Box and On Demand in August!

Avengers: Endgame

In this climactic final entry that succeeds in both bringing together and providing closure for the 21 Marvel movies that came before it, all of your favorite superheroes in the MCU join forces to attempt to take down Thanos, who we last saw wiping half the life on the planet out of existence.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

If you played Pokémon as a kid, play Pokémon Go now or have kids that are into Pokémon, this is the movie for you. You’ll be immersed in Ryme City, a busy metropolis where Pokémon creatures and humans live (and work) side by side, which is how cute little Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) came to be Police Detective Harry Goodman’s partner. But when Harry goes missing and his son, former Pokémon trainer, Tim (Justice Smith) suspects foul play, Tim is drawn into the mystery … and a world he thought he’d left behind.

Rocketman

Whether you’re an Elton John fan or not, you’ll find this story of his earlier years flat-out amazing — and, I can’t lie, pretty heart-wrenching. Taron Egerton is absolutely fantastic as the globally famous singer, as is Bryce Dallas Howard (portraying John’s fairly heartless mother), Jamie Bell (playing John’s longtime collaborator and friend Bernie Taupin) and Richard Madden (as the slimy music manager John Reid).

The Secret Life of Pets 2

In this animated sequel, Katie’s (Ellie Kemper) doggies Max (Patton Oswalt) and Duke (Eric Stonestreet) experience some big life changes with Katie not only getting married, but having her first child, Liam … and then deciding to take the whole broad on a road trip to the countryside, where they meet Rooster (Harrison Ford), a Welsh sheepdog. And rest assured that Snowball (Kevin Hart) is back as well, this time meeting a Shih Tzu named Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) who gets the renegade rabbit involved in a wild adventure.

And now here are all the movies coming to the Box and Redbox On Demand next month:

Rent at the Box:

Pokémon Detective Pikachu – 8/6

The Curse of La Llorona – 8/6

Poms – 8/6

Tolkien – 8/6

Amazing Grace – 8/6

Avengers: Endgame – 8/16

The Hustle – 8/20

A Dog’s Journey – 8/20

Brightburn – 8/20

The Sun is Also a Star – 8/20

The Biggest Little Farm – 8/20

The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 8/27

Godzilla: King of Monsters – 8/27

Rocketman – 8/27

Rent On Demand:

Pokémon Detective Pikachu – 8/6

The Curse of La Llorona – 8/6

Poms – 8/6

Tolkien – 8/6

Amazing Grace – 8/6

Batman: Hush – 8/6

Swan Princess: The Kingdom of Music – 8/6

LEGO DC Batman: Family Matters – 8/20

The Hustle – 8/20

Brightburn – 8/20

The Sun is Also a Star – 8/20

A Dog’s Journey – 8/20

The Tomorrow Man – 8/23

The Biggest Little Farm – 8/23

Hot Air – 8/23

Godzilla: King of Monsters – 8/27

The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 8/27

Rocketman – 8/27

The Banana Splits Movie – 8/27

Buy On Demand:

Godzilla: King of Monsters – 8/6

Rocketman – 8/6

The Hustle – 8/6

A Dog’s Journey – 8/6

Brightburn – 8/6

Amazing Grace – 8/6

Project Ithaca – 8/6

The Command – 8/6

The Sun is Also a Star – 8/6

Swan Princess: The Kingdom of Music – 8/6

The Secret Life of Pets 2 – 8/13

All is True – 8/13

Vault – 8/13

The Banana Splits Movie – 8/13

Union – 8/13

Men in Black: International – 8/20

LEGO DC Batman: Family Matters – 8/20

Head Full of Honey – 8/20

Booksmart – 8/20

The Biggest Little Farm – 8/20

The Tomorrow Man – 8/20

Ma – 8/20

Hot Air – 8/23

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – 8/27

Shaft (2019) – 8/27

Killers Anonymous – 8/27

Which August movies are on your Must See list?

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GUEST EDITORIAL: 9 Iconic Movie Soundtracks to Learn on the Piano

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“Beautiful film music can be made relevant to any period” – A. R. Rahman

Behind every great film is a meticulously planned soundtrack. Good soundtracks can make mediocre films unforgettable and bad ones can undermine stellar writing and performances. A soundtrack can build tension, establish characterization or even be part of the plot.

Being nerds who spend most of our time in our basements, the folks at Jellynote LOVE a good soundtrack as it combines the two things we enjoy most in the world: music and living vicariously through other people.

To celebrate the importance of the film soundtrack, they’ve compiled a list of our favorite soundtracks of all time and provided sheet music so you can have a go at playing them!

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“The Hanging Tree” – The Hunger Games  

The song that inspired a revolution. Plus, who knew J-Law could sing?

“Fire is catching, and if we burn, you burn with us.”

Download the sheet music for The Hanging Tree here.

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“The Disney Medley”

It’s bound to get everyone singing, and your mother shouting “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO MORE DISNEY!”

“The cold never bothered me anyway.”

Download the sheet music for the Disney Medley here.

Also check out our other list of the easiest Disney songs to play on the piano here.

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“Skyfall” – Skyfall

Who doesn’t feel badass when they listen to this song? Admittedly, not blow-up-a-building-and-bed-a-bond-girl-badass, more like…only tip-5%-when-the-waiter’s-rude-to-you-badass. Still…points for trying.

“Some men are coming to kill us. We’re going to kill them first.”

Check out the sheet music for Skyfall here.

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“La Valse d’Amélie” – Amélie

Ah, Amélie. Making weird people everywhere feel slightly less weird.

“Amélie has no boyfriend. She tried once or twice, but the results were a letdown.”

Download the sheet music for this haunting tune here.

Also, watch this video by music teacher Sibmol, who shows you how to play the theme tune from Amélie.

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“My Heart Will Go On” – Titanic

A ballad for the ages. We recommend having a box of tissues beside you and staying away from hard alcohol while you play it. It could get messy…

“Draw me like one of your French girls.”

Download the sheet music for My Heart Will Go On here.

This song is also perfect for weddings and is featured on our list of the best songs to play at your wedding.

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“Time” – Inception

This tune is bigger than Hans Zimmer’s ego.

“You’re waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away.”

Download the sheet music for Time here.

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“Main Theme” – The Lord of the Rings

Great idea alert! Skip the 9 hour marathon film session and just learn to play the piano music!

“My precious!”

Download the sheet music here.

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“Stand By Me” – Stand By Me

This song is a perfect reminder of our own less-than-perfect coming of age experience. The music is bound to bring tears of nostalgia to your eyes.

This is my age! I’m in the prime of my youth and I’ll only be young once!

Download the sheet music for Stand by Me here.

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Hopefully we’ve inspired you to try playing some of these songs…or at least to re-watch some of your favorite movies!

Happy Practicing from the The Jellynote Team!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This blog post was originally posted at https://blog.jellynote.com/trending/9-iconic-movie-soundtracks-to-learn-on-the-piano/. 

William Ridd is a writer and journalist based in London and Paris, with an interest in pop culture, stand-up comedy and story-telling. He is currently working as a content creator at Jellynote.com. To read more of his work, head over to https://blog.jellynote.com/. 

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Red Sea Diving Resort

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THE RED SEA DIVING RESORT— 2 STARS

Late-ish into Gideon Raff’s historical dramatization The Red Sea Diving Resort, Haley Bennett’s character Racher Reiter surveys a difficult situation, one of a few faced by her and her fellow Mossad operatives, and exasperates “We’re all just refugees.” Sorry, dear. You and your buddies are taking risks, certainly, but you are not one of the thousands who lived the real persecution being mined for cinematic glory in this movie. That clunker of an unintentional woe-is-me line shows the unfortunate limits of the movie’s scope. As popcorn-ready as this true story may be, its marginalization of the real people and their plight is more than a little inexcusable.

LESSON #1: THE HISTORY OF ETHIOPIAN JEWS — Let’s preface the background. The Beta Israel group of Jews had been in Ethiopia for over a millennia. By the late 1970s, decades of anti-religious and anti-Israeli political movements combined with bouts of civil war and famine to make staying in that nation untenable. Israel welcomed Aliyah, the immigration of Jews to the Holy Land, but movement on that level in Africa became illegal. The violent suffering and affronts to tens of thousands emboldened Israel’s Mossad force to take clandestine action. Operation Brothers and the creation of The Red Sea Diving Resort in neighboring, yet equally combative Sudan became the third wave of a mass exodus that lasted 70 years.

LESSON #2: MAKE UP ONE F — K UP WITH ANOTHER F — K UP — For the movie, and forgive the language, that’s where the cool go-getters come in. Ari Levinson, a Mossad agent with American roots played by the headlining Chris Evans, is, naturally, the kind of battle-tested loose cannon that defies orders to save the people in his charge at all costs. He’s successful, but a constant gamble for his superiors, embodied by Ben Kingsley’s Ethan Levin and Mark Ivanir’s Barack Isaacs. Ari’s latest preposterous plan is to use the titular abandoned oceanfront hotel in Sudan as a front to smuggle escaping refugees by boat instead of the closely monitored roads and restricted airways.

Using Mossad money to pay off the local Sudanese heavies, Ari and his hand-picked team of fellow assets and assassins (the handsome ensemble of veteran player Alessandro Nivola, Micheil Huisman of The Age of Adaline, Two Down’s Alex Hassell, and the aforementioned Bennett of The Girl on the Train) fix up the vacation venue and strut their 70s styles. They learn the hospitality trade by day while playing ocean-faring Underground Railroad station by night. Ari’s scuba squad keenly wishes to avoid the local snarling despot Colonel Abdel Ahmad (Chris Chalk of When They See Us) and skirt the inquisitive attention of Walton Bowen, the lead CIA spook in Sudan played by Greg Kinnear. As fleshed out by Lesson #1, these are raised stakes that border on the “I love it when a plan comes together” Hannibal Smith from The A-Team variety of clever, wily luck.

Who are they rescuing? That’s the unfortunate part of The Red Sea Diving Resort that lacks conviction, dedication, and detail. Respected multiple-time Emmy nominee Michael Kenneth Williams is Kabede Bimro, the lead camp contact and noble deliverer of thousands. Behind some soft speechifying from him, the people being saved are faceless, voiceless, and unformed people of color. Presenting any descriptive or invested depth or complexity towards their issues, struggles, and fervent religious loyalty is a steep second behind making sure the (let’s just say it) Caucasian heroes look good through their minor perils of in-fighting and such. Their problems are mere splinters in a finger compared to the jarring and very real genocide. Sure, the unbelievable resort front is the entertaining end of the pitch to get a movie made, but with 129 minutes, a better movie could accomplish both the frolic and the frailty.

The result is an unbalanced kitschy espionage thriller with weak essence from former Homeland head Gideon Raff. Other than the exotic location shooting (Namibia and South Africa doubled as Ethiopia and Sudan, in this case), nothing notable stands out aesthetically. This era has been done often. Even Mychael Danna’s musical doesn’t know what it wants to emphasize, veering between period-era tingles early and rote danger music later. The Red Sea Diving Resort feels like one of those 1990s mid-budget studio-led star vehicles. Proven talent flexes their appeal for an assured rah-rah victory.

For goodness sake, you put a Star of David necklace on the ripped collarbone and upper pecs of Captain America and give him a role where his wrongs have little to no cost. That’s a tone setter. The extremely likable Evans easily fits the bill to get his fans to cheer the heist-like hijinks of The Red Sea Diving Resort. He is always worth watching. One has to wonder if Chris Evans is becoming the reverse of Roger Ebert’s Kevin Kline Mustache Principle. When he’s clean-shaven, he’s a jovial matinee idol. When he puts the beard on, he wants to get more serious. More evidence is needed for his post-Marvel career. The steady players with good looks fall in around him and the movie thankfully avoids the trope of a forced romance. Once again, the disfigured, dishonored, and displaced deserved to be a better driving force for the movie.

LESSON #3: DECISIONS CAN BRING EITHER GREAT PRIDE OR GREAT SHAME — Ari likes define the risky propositions in this movie as having one of these two outcome feelings. Sadly, the movie itself wobbles between the same. Entertainment comes easy in this Netflix-backed programmer and yet with consequently little attention paid to the predominantly off-screen annihilation of an ethnic group. Reality like that makes the glee hard to take. We live in an era where we can do better than solely bravura. Good filmmakers and creative powers can aim for challenging movies that address vital history and still entertain.

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INFOGRAPHIC: Drive to a Kill: The most deadly James Bond vehicles and drivers

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James Bond: Drive To A Kill

With a new James Bond film around the corner, the 25th in the iconic super-spy series, the folks at Leasing Options looked back over the entire franchise and delve into the stats to see which film, actor and most importantly, car, was the most deadly. To do this, they’ve been through all the Bond films multiple times and totaled how many kills, crashes and explosions, among other things, were caused by 007 whilst behind the wheel of a vehicle. Leasing Options have compiled all that data into one handy interactive piece called, Drive To A Kill. So, what did they discover when looking back through the films?

• The Deadliest Bond Vehicles: Lotus Esprit, Gladstone CV23HT

• The Most Lethal Driver: Roger Moore

• Most Reckless Driver: Pierce Brosnan

Read on to learn more about why you probably wouldn’t want to share the road with James Bond.

EXPLORE EVERY VEHICLE JAMES BOND HAS EVER DRIVEN

Which Bond Car is the Deadliest?

The most lethal car in the Bond films is also one of the most famous. A total of eight kills were racked up by the Lotus Esprit, aka “Wet Nellie”, which appears in The Spy Who Loved Me. Driven by Roger Moore, it features in possibly the most memorable Bond scene of all time, as it turns from a car into a submarine.

007 racked up another eight kills whilst behind the wheel of another vehicle but this time on the water instead of tarmac. The Glastron Carlson CV23HT, yet again driven by Roger Moore. This gadget-filled vessel was stocked with mines, torpedoes and also a deployable hang glider which Bond uses to swoop off before the Carlson meets its end at the bottom of the Amazon River’s Iguazu Falls.

The only vehicles that came close reached a total of five kills. These were, Sean Connery’s Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger (complete with lethal ejector seat) and the BD-5J Micro Jet from Octopussy – proving once again that when Roger Moore’s in the driving seat, you’d better stay out of his way.

Which Bond is the Most Lethal Behind the Wheel?

Before starting this project we had our own preconceptions about which Bond would be the deadliest. Certainly, as the films have progressed throughout the years, they seem to have become more and more violent so you’d think either Daniel Craig or perhaps Pierce Brosnan would come out on top.

Surprisingly, this is not the case. In fact, it turns out the least likely Bond is the deadliest.

It’s actually Roger Moore. That’s right, possibly the most aloof and seemingly harmless James Bond of the lot is the one who takes the most lives behind the wheel, totaling a staggering 23 vehicular kills. More than double the amount racked up by Daniel Craig.

The Bond with the least kills is George Lazenby, but that’s hardly a shock considering he only played the role once which didn’t give him much time to prove himself a deadly driver.

License to Drive Recklessly: The Most Destructive Bond

While he may be the most lethal driver, Moore certainly isn’t the most reckless. Pierce Brosnan pips him to the post here managing to cause 52 crashes in the Bond films, six more than Moore.

Most of the crashes caused by Brosnan were a result of commandeering a tank around public roads throughout St. Petersburg in GoldenEye – less secret service, more destruction derby.

Not content with crashes, Brosnan also managed to rack up a staggering 30 explosions whilst behind the wheel, three times more than Sean Connery who’s in second place with nine. That’s what you get when you set 007 loose with a rocket-launcher equipped hovercraft (Die Another Day).

Explore the Results

Now you know the headlines, why not delve a little deeper into our findings to see how the rest of James Bond’s many vehicles ranked in Drive To A Kill. Our interactive leaderboard covers 53 vehicles ranging from iconic Aston Martins to a gadget-filled Gondola. Check it out below.

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EDITORIAL: How game developers use movies to attract players

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How games developers use movies to attract players

Today’s UK gambling Industry is worth around £14.5 billion, of which 39% of the market share is from the remote betting, bingo and casino sector with the industry proving to become more and more popular, particularly in the online space. Since the legalisation of the first wave of UK casinos in the early 60’s, through to today’s huge variety of online casinos, bingo sites, betting terminal and virtual slot games, the industry has continued to grow year on year, despite some challenging laws along the way. However with the amount that British gamblers lose on fixed odd betting terminals having increased by 73% since 2009, from £1bn to £1.8bn, some may question what is the draw to these games and what keeps people coming back for more?   

Many conglomerate corporations have piggybacked on hypes that accompany the latest blockbuster film throughout the years from supermarkets, to clothing companies, home-ware stores and many, many more. In fact, in the UK alone, 8 out 10 people own a promotional product of some kind from a business, so it’s not surprising that the Slot game industry have jumped on the film industry bandwagon to promote their slot games and keep people coming back again and again, even when they keep losing money. 

Let’s take a further look into how the slot game industry are utilising movies to promote slot games… 

The Slot Machine Renaissance

Whilst slot machines have been widely popular in casinos, gaming venues and free houses for a number of decades, in recent years as providers have begun to move to mainly online channels, the industry has become somewhat competitive, enabling affiliate sites like Bingoport to breakthrough. With online gambling accounting for 33% of all gambling within Great Britain, owners needed to come up with a clever way to get one over on their competition and it seems that the film industry was an ideal way to do this.

From appealing visuals and graphic wraps on physical slotting machines, to themed webpages and live scenes from movies incorporated into the slot game itself, the association of movies has brought much appeal to slot games in recent years. From box office hits such as Star Wars and the Avengers, to timeless classics like Grease, Jurassic Park and King Kong himself, these titles are helping to bring a new wave of people to the slot gaming world that may otherwise have not of considered playing. 

By incorporating these much loved characters into slot games, the industry are now reaching a whole new target audience whose adorning memories of their favourite films are being cleverly targeting to draw their focus onto slot games. 

So what’s the appeal?

The Psychology behind it

The market share of independent UK films at the box office in 2018 was 11.7%, an increase from 9.5% in 2017 and at the third highest point in a decade. What does this mean? It means people love movies and the UK film industry has received continued growth year on year, with the industry now seeing the highest level of cinema admissions since 1970. 

People seem to have a rich and complex relationship with movies that extends far beyond simply watching for enjoyment. From escapism from everyday life, to emotional connections with the characters, movie watching has for many become an experience rather than an activity to pass time. Naturally, as a part of a consumerist society, merchandise has been a huge part of the movie experience, with many box office hits making more money from the merchandise itself rather than ticket sales. From Harry Potter, to Marvel, Toy Story, Jurassic Park and more, these movies have been raking in the profits.

By incorporating these movies into games, it extends the movie experience for fans, allowing them to continue to live out and become actively involved in their fantasy world long after the movie has finished.  Therefore many slot game providers are now incorporating movie themes into their games as a way of differentiating from the competition, whilst appealing to a wider audience and ensuring players keep coming back. 

How do they enhance the game?

Whilst the promise of a financial win is enough to draw players in for multiple games, playing a slot game for a repeated amount of time can often become repetitive and the player can loose interest, particularly if their not winning. 

Incorporating movies into slot games allows for different levels with multiple themes, the chance to unlock bonus characters and movie items which captures the players imagination and encourages them to continue playing to see more of their favourite movie content. Ultimately, movie content is a huge attraction, which encourages gamers to come back and prevents boredom from seeing the same thing happen spin after spin.  

What are the best movie themed slot games?

Today, there are a huge variety of slot games based on movies. One of the most popular is Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. This game incorporates everything from adventure to problem solving and even a bit of romance as players navigate their way through a series of puzzles whilst utilising the movies characters skills and personas.  

Other popular slot games to incorporate movie themes include Blade Runner, Star Wars –Tie Fighter, Star Wars Battle Front and Tron 2.0. For a further insight into these games, check out this article on the 10 best games based on movies. 

In all, whilst the slot game industry used to be dependant on people coming back to play again based on the appeal to win money, the movie industry has enabled slot game makers to appeal to a wider audience who may not have otherwise considered playing a slot game. The emotional connection people have with movies acts as a powerful enticement to get them to continue playing the game.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Surviving Confession

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SURVIVING CONFESSION—3 STARS

I don’t know how many Catholics are walking through this movie classroom, but if your impression of the holy sacrament of reconciliation looks and sounds like Steven Colbert’s “Midnight Confessions” bit on The Late Show, you are not all that far off according to Surviving Confession from director Matthew Tibbenham. There is a peculiar yet fascinating internal and external posturing match occurring between what is inane and what is spiritual that cannot be denied. Imagine the scenario, if you will.

LESSON #1: WHAT IT’S LIKE IN THAT LITTLE ROOM — You, the participant, have mustered the courage to come forward and willingly confess your mistakes in strict privacy. Juggling guilt and honesty, you find yourself face-to-face with a trustworthy figure of godly representation. That priest is there to listen without judgment, yet they now know intimate details. Even though “the seal of confession is absolute,” you have to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with this person when you leave the room and life goes on. This resulting absolution is meant to be a gift from the church, but not feeling some level of shame in doing so seems impossible.

Now imagine you’re the priest in this exchange. You have to both witness and share this wrenching process and ordeal repeatedly, with every visitor on every occasion, and remain unflappable and restrained in doing so. Who has it harder now? Breaking the fourth wall and spilling waterfalls of internal monologue, Surviving Confession pokes and prods the person who is supposed to be the pillar of strength. The film debuted July 30th on VOD platforms.

Nymphomaniac Vol. 1 actor Clayton Nemrow’s Father Morris is meant to be that man. He is the spiritual sponge soaking up the regurgitation of sins for years now. What used to carry odd pleasure that led to sterile gossip has become abrasive to the reverend’s patience. Father Morris chose this life of sacrifice, but questions whether it’s worth it anymore. Looking us in the eye and detailing his assertions, the crassness and exhaustion couldn’t be more clear, and Nemrow’s performance nails that exacerbated weight. His pointed monologues and irked unraveling raises our eyebrows and capture our immediate attention.

The hardest present button-pusher of this rapid deterioration is the troubled teen Amber, played with acidic bubble by Jessica Lynn Parsons. Crudely claiming she’s killed someone and cussing up a storm, she seems to be making a mockery of the activity. The wise side of Father Morris plays along with the doubts. He thinks he can beat her immature wit and not fall for her competitive games that try to pry and challenge so-called truths. Even the belligerence you see coming or see through can still wear down wills.

LESSON #2: HOW LONG CAN ONE TOLERATED POOR EFFORT OR RETURNS — Parishioner after parishioner, including an adulterous love triangle between a married couple (Kevin Ging and Jayne Marin) and a guilty mistress (Sarah Schreiber), come to the confessional just to say they tried. What’s the point when no one wants the help? The repetition is the bother. They’ll complete their tidy prayers of penance halfheartedly or less and end up right back with the same errors. Many on Father Morris’ watch do not attempt full redemption or corrective change. This adds to his growing disappointment in both the world and his lot in life.

LESSON #3: APPROPRIATE VS. INAPPROPRIATE — Like the wild swings of actions and intentions acted on by the core characters, Surviving Confession skirts the boundaries of this lesson’s contest. More than a little of Tibbenham’s movie is off-kilter and out-of-bounds, but that’s the point. Someone’s blasphemy alarm is going to launch if they take this movie too seriously. Still, even by satire standards, too many walls fall a little too easily and too many guarded principles get splintered. The power is in the talk and folks here talk hard.

The biting commentary of Surviving Confession makes for a wringer of self-reflection versus outward honesty. Writer Nathan Shane Miller, in his debut feature, penned this standoff of unhinged patronizing. The million-dollar line of his script is the big question of whether Father Morris can be “a bad priest but still a good man.” With each revealed secret, the debate rages and the language piles on to turn inner musings into brash outward disdain. Director Matthew Tibbenham charges Nemrow and Parsons to echo that growing rage. Staying tight and shrewd, Tibbenham effectively creates a precarious single-setting picture. The result is a trying yet damn interesting jaunt through prickly pressures and uncomfortable themes.

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