Touches You

People are voting emotionally.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

High school films are the kind of thing that I tend to be in to. I'm not entirely sure where that comes from, I didn't have the best high school experience and that probably has something to do with it. I must like watching people navigate through the experience with what is often more complicated a time then I had. All the drama on screen makes my own seem less terrible. But at a certain point you have to realize that these on screen experiences are just actors playing a role and what ends up being watchable is not necessarily reality. Still, there's an element of comfort in it and that can't be discounted. More than likely because good drama is usually based on some element of truth. In that way the emotional elements take on a universal feel that everyone can relate to for anyone who has gone through the experience of the last 50 years of education where the modern high school experience originated in Western cultures.Circumstances and technology will change over time, but high school is always just... well... high school. No one likes it, and if you ask some people no one ever really leaves it as you can look at the world and see elements of it in every day life. While watching Echoes of Innocence, I get the impression that the circumstances of today's high school student seems to be ideology. What is belief's place in the high school experience of today? Is there a place for religion and faith in the modern public system? Most people would be turned off by such an idea, but those questions in a lot of ways are more like themes to the film that are creeping around the sides of the film's main plot, much like the background scenery of the visuals or the setting of high school itself. The real story is driven by the character of Sara, a young girl who feels out of place and somewhat ostracized from her classmates. Reasons why are pretty clearly defined through a series of flashbacks which lay out who she is and why she acts the way she does. That coupled with a number of voice overs from Sara herself make her the most interesting character of the bunch, which include her best friend who is both supportive and critical, various classmates who are both put off and intrigued by her, and the new kid in school who joined the local paper and wants to do a story about Sara.They all play a part in Sara's story but the characters themselves don't necessarily get clearly defined. More often then not they are inserted into Sara's story when necessary to give her someone to interact with. Her own journey is very much a solitary one, defined by her own actions and her own ideas about the world and what she wants from it rather then how she relates to others. This drags down the story somewhat but Sara's progression is defined clearly enough that she manages power through the weak bits. It gives her story the necessary elements not to be bored by it. Obvious parallels to Biblical elements are present but the filmmakers clearly pulled back enough so as not to come off like a preachy film. I'm honestly not sure whether that causes a problem for the film or whether it helps. I suppose it's 50/50 in that department. Still, I think the film is worth watching for anyone who wants to look back and remember the way they saw the world when they were that age. Perhaps give you a new perspective on the vision you have of the world today. I say check it out.To check out more of my reviews, go here:http://andrew-heard.blogspot.ca/

My life's work has been focused on youth and trauma. Psychologyst, drug counselor working with youth whose traumatic events has caused such incredible damage. Angery, sullen no faith, they want to die rather than bare the pain of life. With help, I have observed transformation as they strive to shed anger and rage as they move from victim, surviver, to thriver. Sara, is the ultimate Thriver. To her own self be true. Her faith, wisdom, kindness and virtue made this film a shinning light in the darkest corners of humanity. While there is a subtle Joan of Ark Theme, this is in no way a modern remake. The story of Joan's dedication to her beliefs, values and faith carried her through a war. Sara lives in her own war zone. Alcholic mentally ill mother,visions with out understanding them leaves her alone in a world of disbelievers. There is one,who shared her pledge of faith who promises to appeared in God's time. For teenagers the love story, surrounded by a mystical, magical pull of evil verses valor will grab them in their own personal truth. THis movie is an echo of a time when the world was much easier to understand. The good acts and bad behaviors were bound by culture, family and church. For the disjointed youth of today, this film will serve as a panacea in fulfillment of a inner hole they did not know existed! Bravo to the risk and faith of the Sims family for sending out into the world something that truly ignites a fiery light, through the dark path for the lost personal spirit. In today's world honor and integrity seem to have become a distant shimmer in the dark. Echo's keep the sound alive as your burning truth travels as a gentle mist that is the beacon for tremendous enlightenment! Keep shining that light! Katie Evan PhD,CADCIII, NCACII

I suppose this could be seen as a spoiler... however the poor script makes it hard to call it one because you can see everything the movie is going to throw at you from about the beginningI don't want to sound like I am just raving here. Remember high school health class? Remember those movies you watched in them. I liked those days when you would watch some corny movie in class about abortion or date rape instead of hearing some teacher drone on about it in obscure terms that turn the situation into some sterile subject to talk about in class. Well I paid to go to a theater and watch the baptist equivalent of a health movie, and it was not as fun to pay to watch such a thing.In all honesty, this movie is the worst movie I have ever seen. Let me start with the fact that the synopsis i saw before seeing it failed to mention that it was a Christian conversion film. Films with blatant objectives are always annoying but this one took it to a level I didn't know existed. Lets say you are down with the whole having scenes of movies being people reading bible passages to each other or having religion be displayed in a way that should be disgusting to anyone who actually holds the beliefs represented (which by the way are not even standard Christian beliefs but some strange skewed belief that is disgusting.)First off lets talk about acting. I am not someone who normally notices or cares about relatively bad acting. I also have liked when movies cast people that are actually about the age of the person they are playing in high school settings. However I don't think the actors they chose had even looked at the scripts before performing in the movie. The pauses were awkward and long. The Cinematography probably didn't help this feeling as it tended to look much like a TV show. The Cinematography of some WB TV show would stand alone as a reason to complain about the appearance of a movie, however this movie has another feature that gives it a great feel of film naivety. The exposure and lighting are horrendous. Every scene looks pretty terrible because there are random bright spots that shouldn't be bright or other amateur looking things. The technical aspects of the movie are worth cringing over but the story is not anything better. The plot is full of holes and is incredibly predictable. The story in brief is some girl who admires Joan of Arc begins to be made fun of for being a virgin in Jr. high. After being roughed up for being a 12 year old virgin she runs into the arms of a boy whom she falls in love with and makes a promise to marry so they can have sex in wedlock at the age of 18. Then in the present where she is 17 a new classmate arrives who is blonde just like the kid of her past and seems immediately interested in getting to know her. After 2 hours of the end twist being blatantly obvious he finally tells her on her 18th birthday and says he couldn't tell her before because he wanted her to be in love with the him of today not the 11 year old him. (which somehow explains why he became friends with her by saying you can't ask me anything about myself only i can ask you so i can write an article about your life!?)The bad guy character in the movie is also a blob of misguided symbolism, poor acting, and confusion. He is initially displayed as being a creepy creepy womanizing gun freak and his character stays this one dimensional the entire time. Unless you consider the fact that he suddenly acquires a demonic voice that seems to be trying to make the point that the bad you see around you is Satan's fault as he is here to ruin your life. The end leaves you confused, as to whether he was the devil, thinking that you must have imagined the lead girl being shot as she was fine in the next scene, and her friend that had been shot in the hand seemed to have wandered out into the woods after the incident even though i saw him collapse in the field earlier. Then he reveals that he is in fact the lover we all already knew he was and we get to know that if you lead a good monogamous life you do in fact get to have sex on bear skin rugs with fires in the background.

Wow, where to begin. So I headed into this movie unsure of what to expect, and nothing could've prepared me for the immense pain that soon followed. The first and last ten minutes are a good chuckle, because of the complete awfulness of it all. The acting is the worst i've seen, the directing is just flat out terrible, and this is probably the worst film making ever. The story is so ridiculous in every way, if i were beaten with a stick and forcefully fed LSD i could've still written a better story. SPOILER The ending changes from being an abstinence moralled movie to, them getting married, (both being abstinent), then having sex on their wedding night and somehow, don't ask me how because it baffles me, they still...end up in hell END SPOILER So near the end of the movie I took a pen out of my pocket, and shoved it into my chest. Why? Because if I were going to be in that much pain, I wanted to do it myself.