personal growth

The Life Lessons of Two Alternative Love Stories

The hope most of us hold for romantic comedy-dramas is that everything will ultimately work out in the end. But, in real life, relationships don’t always turn out that way. So when filmmakers try to fuse those two divergent scenarios, the results can be unexpected, even dismaying, if not handled properly. However, when addressed with a skillful touch, such stories can be surprisingly entertaining, even revelatory, in many ways. So it is with two alternative love stories now available for streaming online, “Magic Hour” and “Departures.”

Brent Marchant2026-10-11T14:04:57-05:00August 8th, 2026|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Foreign, LGBTQ+, Movie Reviews, Romance|

My ‘Starfleet Academy’ Rant

It’s with tremendous sadness that I must report a death, the passing of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (SFA), along with its loyal companion and devoted muse, creativity. Both will be sorely missed, at least by anyone with a modicum of common sense and open-mindedness, who doesn’t fear change, diversity or fairness, or who doesn’t live in their parents’ basement.

Brent Marchant2026-07-13T00:14:17-05:00March 30th, 2026|Sci-Fi|

‘The Penguin Lessons’ points the way to inspirational wisdom

Most of us would probably agree that learning lessons is an important part of our life experience. However, at the same time, most of us would also likely concur that we seldom know what those lessons will be, what their messages are or how they will arise in our lives. What’s more, and perhaps even more perplexing, we often don’t know who the teachers of those lessons will be. Could they be the circumstances that appear? The people who cross our paths? Or maybe something else entirely unexpected?

Brent Marchant2025-07-15T19:23:56-05:00May 23rd, 2025|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘The Room Next Door’ probes the fundamental right to choose

Choice is arguably the most precious personal resource that we possess. It makes so much possible, and it provides us with so many opportunities to seek the fulfillment of what we hold most dear. Because of that, however, there may well be times when what we choose to embrace and invoke won’t be agreeable to others. But, then, the choices in question are ours and fundamentally not subject to the approval of others, save for cases where their well-being might be placed in jeopardy. That even includes choices involving the direction that our own personal fate ultimately takes, again, no matter what others may have to say about it. Such is the question that’s called for a terminally ill woman in making her decision on whether or not to willfully continue her existence.

Brent Marchant2025-05-23T20:56:15-05:00March 21st, 2025|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Omni Loop’ asks, ‘What accounts for our greatness?’

There are many ways we can live our lives, but the one quality that most of us strive for is to find out what makes that existence – and, consequently, us – great. It’s not an easy question to answer, and we often spend considerable time trying to figure it out. So how do we ultimately arrive at a definitively fulfilling answer to this quest?

Brent Marchant2024-12-12T10:01:55-05:00October 20th, 2024|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi|

‘Late Bloomers’ maintains it’s never too late to grow up

In an age where personal accountability has become increasingly hard to come by, it’s comforting to know that it’s never too late to grow up. Granted, willingly assuming responsibility for our actions and attitudes may not always be easy, pleasant or fun, but it’s something we all must ultimately do, no matter how much we may not want to.

Brent Marchant2024-09-08T17:55:33-05:00July 14th, 2024|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Our Father, the Devil’ asks, ‘When is it too late to do the right thing?’

It’s truly astounding how mankind is capable of both tremendous greatness and despicable savagery. How can one species lay claim to both? What’s more, how can both traits be found within a single individual? Yet, in a surprisingly large number of instances, that ends up being the case.

Brent Marchant2023-10-22T16:28:53-05:00September 9th, 2023|Character Study, Conscious Creation, Drama, Foreign, Movie Reviews|

‘Renfield’ explores taking back one’s personal power

No one likes to go through life without access to one’s personal power. Doing so leaves us vulnerable to being taken for granted and under the thumb of others who care only about themselves and have no regard for us. So how do we extricate ourselves from such situations?

Brent Marchant2023-05-24T09:21:17-05:00April 25th, 2023|Comedy, Conscious Creation, Movie Reviews, Smart Horror|

‘The Swimmers’ illustrates how to beat the odds

When the odds are stacked against us, it may be easy to turn our backs to the challenges confronting us. Such scenarios could readily be viewed as simply too daunting, not worth the expenditure of time, energy and commitment needed to overcome them. However, in considering the potential rewards available, it’s possible to have a change of heart

Brent Marchant2023-03-23T13:21:03-05:00February 15th, 2023|Conscious Creation, Drama, Movie Reviews|

‘Lola’ charts the road to reconciliation

When life doesn’t pan out as we hoped and believed it would, it can be disillusioning, if not devastating. It can even lead to tremendous strain among those who thought they could count on one another when it came to living up to expectations. Such exchanges can turn into seemingly irreparable estrangements filled with bitterness and no hope of reconciliation. But need that be the case?

Brent Marchant2022-07-13T13:35:47-05:00June 4th, 2022|Conscious Creation, Drama, Foreign, LGBTQ+, Movie Reviews|