THE SIGNAL [2014]

Director William Eubank's second film, The Signal, once again finds him exploring a low-budget science-fiction world that proves imagination is more powerful than money.

It starts off like a pretty standard story about relationships & growing up but slowly escalates into something far beyond anything I could have imagined it would. It explores the consequences we face when we make choices, whether they're made by logic or driven by our emotions and what happens when both types collide head on.  As visually stunning and fascinating it is to ponder upon, once all is said and done it all feels like a letdown that it set itself up for from the very beginning.  It's a wonderful journey but ultimately cheats you in the end as it tries to go all Twilight Zone on the viewer.

3 hundred mile sprints out of 5

LOVE [2011]

Based around the emotions and themes explored on the double album LOVE by atmospheric stadium rock band, Angels & Airwaves, this film is an interesting study of loneliness and the building the strength to overcome it. LOVE follows the story of a sole man in a space station orbiting Earth, when he learns everybody has died and he's left stranded with no way home.
Filmed in director William Eubank's backyard, it's quite noticeably made on a shoestring budget. Eubank makes the best of what he's got with beautiful and fascinating cinematography, while actor Gunner Wright is impressive considering he's the only actor on screen for the most part.
As a fan of AVA I had high expectations for this film. As a fan of film I had low expectations. In the end, those expectations met close to the middle leaning towards the higher expectations.

3½ Lite-Brite & pizza box space stations out of 5