Cast: Kirk Franklin, John Legend, Dr. Bobby Jones, J Moss, Patti LaBelle, Pastor Shirley Caesar
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Every now and then we receive something for review that no one at Literary Illusions is really interested in seeing. When this happens the DVD or product is usually given to the writer with the least seniority to handle. The idea is that eventually, they won’t be the last in line and they will not have to do DVDs that no one else will review. As the last in line, Celebration in Gospel – Spirit in Song was mine. This just prompts me to recommend that Literary Illusions start taking applications for reviewers post haste. I am only one man and I’m not sure I can handle another repeat performance of a dry, over-edited piece of junk again.
The premise of this BET series is simple enough and from what I can tell, people seem to really enjoy the television production of Celebration in Gospel . However, this heavily edited piece of television history is likely not worth the cost of the DVDs that it was placed on. I don’t recall seeing anything on the cover that explains that this DVD is edited from the performances that were shown on television though I heard this common complaint from the people that seem to like this show. For me, it didn’t really matter though the addition of Steve Harvey might have added some comedy to the boredom that I was forced to endure while watching this crap.
Release Information:
Celebration in Gospel – Spirit in Song was made available by Paramount Home Video and BET on April 29, 2008. This DVD, which likely has limited release availability, is able to be found at most DVD venues online, including Amazon, where it is available for $20. Why anyone would want to pay $20 for a DVD that lasts an hour and has been edited more than an episode of Sesame Street where the Muppets smoke crack is beyond me, but if you want the DVD you know where to find it.
Writers: Michael Baez, Jonisha Rios
One of my favorite horror movies growing up in the 80s (and one of the first ones I saw) was Poltergeist. There’s just something creepy about an angelic looking five year old getting sucked into another realm filled with purplish-pink ectoplasm and evil spirits, while her brother almost gets eaten by a tree and strangled by a clown. Of course, seeing JoBeth Williams with her Nancy-gray (a la 
While I had heard about the movie, The House without a Christmas Tree, I had never had the chance to see this movie, which I knew many considered to be a Christmas Classic. I was raised watching movies like A Christmas Story, the original Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas Vacation and other, similar, higher budget Christmas movies that have been tucked away as a part of the Christmas tradition for many homes across the United States.
The story for Amityville: Dollhouse had promise. It wasn’t that the story was bad. It’s that the story became ridiculous about halfway through the film. There were way too many holes in this story, the acting was sub par, and the plot went from something that could have been cool to “WTF” pretty darn quickly.
After watching all the movies, adding up all the totals for their star count, and examining the entire box set, I have to recommend the Twisted Terror Collection. I must also warn you that you will find some movies in here you won’t like, but the overall collection is decent enough to warrant the purchase of this DVD set. This six pack DVD Set was released on September 25, 2007 courtesy of Warner Bros. These movies were voted on by the general public, who helped to decide what would be included in this pack.
This movie was not what I expected. While it stars Peter Cushing, one of Britain’s greatest horror actors, the movie was uninteresting, unentertaining and I couldn’t get into it at all. I have heard you have to understand British storytelling to “get” this movie, but I’m a fan of many other films that come from Britain (most famously Monty Python though you wouldn’t consider it a horror film) and understand the quirky British sense of humor. Whatever the reason is, I just didn’t like this film.
I have seen it written that The Hand was one of Oliver Stone’s best pieces of work. If only he’d stuck with the brilliant storytelling he told in The Hand, he might actually be a good director. Somehow, I have to disagree with that assessment. The Hand was the best movie in the Twisted Terror Collection, no doubt, but how can anyone even compare it to Platoon, Wall Street, Alexander (which I liked), JFK, Born On the Fourth of July, and my favorite Stone film, Natural Born Killers? Though some may not like Stone’s style, it is hard to deny he has a gift. Luckily, that budding gift is apparent in one of his earliest films, The Hand.
