Wonderings

Wordpress. Inevitable.

2007-10-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'm moving to Wordpress. I'm sick of the Blogger color schemes and world of no options.

So, from now on you can find me at:

http://phillipjohnston.wordpress.com

Farewell, Blogger.

Xbox Fever

2007-10-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

Halo 3 came out a few days ago.

It is in times like these that I thank the Lord that I am not a video game addict.

I know there’s fun in it and quality time with the Xbox can yield marvelous entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with entertainment … in moderation.

Most of the gamers I know spend there days full of nothing but entertainment.

An hour ago, I sat at my desk in my comfy chair and took in David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls. It was wonderful. I experienced truth and beauty. I feel enriched.

During the same amount of time, my two friends across the hall sat and pressed buttons while watching things explode.

Call me an old fart, but I think I'm better off.

News bits - 10-1-07

2007-10-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

I was checking my email today and saw this little news article scrolling along the top of my browser.

A German man who had been drinking heavily at Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival got stuck in a chimney for 12 hours while trying to climb into a friend's apartment, police said Friday.
After finding his friend was not at home, the 27-year-old climbed on to the roof of a neighboring building at about 2 a.m. Thursday and headed for what he thought was a gap in the wall between the two houses.
He found himself sliding almost 30 meters (98 feet) head first into a chimney, a spokesman for Munich police said.
An 82-year-old janitor from the hotel next door eventually heard the man's calls for help and he was rescued at around 2 p.m. by fire brigade officers who knocked a hole into the side of the chimney to liberate him, the spokesman said.

He had managed to turn around and had removed his clothes to try to help him squeeze back up.
"Miraculously, he was only slightly injured in the fall, sustaining just grazes and bruising," police said. The man was taken by helicopter to the hospital, where he is being treated for hypothermia, they added.

Also of note is a school-wide email sent out today by the Dean of Students reminding everyone to stay modest for Spirit Week. This little piece of advice was tagged on as well:

There are certain items that may seem like a perfect fit as props for some days, but think before you do it. I am thinking particularly of Western Day and I remind you that possession and/or use of firearms and knives is not permitted on campus. So go to the dollar stores and purchase plastic toy pistol, but no real firearms are permitted.

Some more bad cover art

2007-09-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Yet another example of some strikingly bad cover art.

Of course, Season Six of 24 was pretty much a strikingly bad season. The show should have changed it's name to 12 instead of just writing the terribly cliched episodes that pervaded half of last season.

A few moments with Zoo

2007-09-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

I had heard about Zoo (2007, **3/4) when it premiered at Sundance this year. I love to watch this kind of controversial stuff just to see if it's worthy of all the whinging people tend to do when they see something that offends them. The following is a rather stream-of-consciousness message I sent to a friend after watching this new documentary. I didn't feel like taking the time to organize it into something that actually sounds somewhat nice...
Zoo is neither graphic nor exploitative in the discussion of zoophilia/bestiality. There are no talking heads, just voiceover from different people including other zoophiles who knew the guy that was killed and were in the same group of zoophiles that would get together at a guy's ranch near Seattle.

All the images are a dramatic restaging of events surrounding and during the incident when the man was killed (they don't show the man "with" the horse though, of course). The subject matter is less than appealing BUT the film is shot beautifully and the music is stunning! Some of images are just ... wow. The filmmakers really paid attention to making this accessible to people.

The main point of the film is not to get people to think that zoophillia is perfectly normal, but just to get in the minds of zoophiles to discover why they do what they do. The main idea that came across from the zoophiles themselves was that they just have a love of animals more than most people. It never takes into account that some of these men are just perverts, but tell us that every zoophile feels an emotional connection to animals like "you would your spouse or child."

This logic is faulty ... you don't have sex with your children! Perhaps that may be the next controversial documentary.

There's an interesting point in the movie. When all these men got together for "retreats", it’s not just about participating in questionable activity with animals. They talk and have a good time like most groups of men do when they get together. They would watch sci-fi movies in their spare time. The director says in the commentary that,"30 years ago people would say that we couldn't get a man on the moon. The imagination would have to go places to consider such an outrageous thought. I think that "zoos" who are doing something that is on the very edge of being able to understand is a great mirror to this."

Totally faulty logic again. The reason they love animals so much is much of the reason that some people are gay: lack of meaningful human contact because of sin let into the world by the Fall.

It's as simple as that. It'd be nice to enable them to understand that.

I highly recommend watching it. It's SO technically well done and I'd love to see more docs done in this style. It's just ideologically incomplete.

Hope for Forever

2007-09-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

My GreenCine RSS feed popped up with a link about Forever today; an awesome documentary I saw at The Nashville Film Festival last May. I consider it the most moving artistic experience I've ever had and was shocked and elated to find out that it is now playing in Manhattan. This may possibly mean that there is hope for a DVD in the future.

I sure hope so, because this is one I want to show all my friends.

Time for some controversy

2007-09-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

My roommate showed me an article on FoxNews.com today entitled, “Kiddie Porn Movie Rocks Toronto as 'Feel-Awful' Film of the Year.” The article is about Alan Ball’s (American Beauty, Six Feet Under) new film Nothing Is Private based on Alicia Erian’s novel Towelhead about “a young Arab-American girl struggling with sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist and her strict father during the Gulf War.” Roger Friedman tells us that:

The movie — so odious that many people have simply walked out during the screenings — shows actor Aaron Eckhart having sex with a 13-year-old girl played by a now 19-year-old actress, Summer Bishil. The actress only turned 19 recently, however, which means that she was just on the cusp of 18 when she made the movie last year.

I was wary of this article from first glance, so I went to the bastion of fair and just opinion (ha!): the IMDb forum. I found some unique views here as well:

It was wonderful, and Alan Ball handled the material honestly, and graphically without being exploitive

Still not convinced, I scrolled down to find this opinion:

I've got to say you guys all strike me as being sick. There's nothing artful, cool, or "must see" about depicting child pornography and child rape. This is a real issue that ruins the lives of women, leaving them emotionally scarred for life. I rue our society if we have come to the place where we can watch the depiction of child rape and call it entertainment.

Why don't all of you (especially those women who have been commenting) take a look in the mirror and try to imagine if such a thing happened to you or to your 13-year-old daughter. These things are horrific. Our culture danced on the edge with "American Beauty" and "Thirteen". This movie, by all accounts, plunged us over that edge to a place of darkness. If this goes unchallenged, what's next for us? How long until we allow Dakota Fanning get naked to increase the realism of a 12-year-old being raped? I, for one, think this is disgusting and hope the MPAA slaps this with at least an NC-17. Shame on the Toronto Film Festival and shame on Alan Ball.

Ok. I can agree with some of that. I don’t think that having a 12-year-old actress simulate a rape scene is morally right. BUT, if one could creatively film the scene without the actress participating in rape simulation, I might not have a problem with it. If the plot point is necessary to the story, by all means … it should be included. If it’s not, then the artist is guilty of exploitation.

But even the Fox News article makes it clear (albeit unintentionally) that there is more to this story than the pedophilia in question.

The father regularly hits Jazeera and threatens to beat her to death.

Her mother is a self-absorbed American (Maria Bello) who cares nothing for her child and loads her with more baggage than a porter at JFK.

And that’s not all. Jazeera, abandoned and then seduced by next-door neighbor Eckhart, has already been abused by Bello’s second husband.

She also falls into a kinky sexual relationship with a boy from school.

Quite obviously, there is more to this story than pedophilia and “kiddie porn.” Here's what a reviewer at Ain't It Cool News said after a preview screening:

...to simply call [the men in the film] "abusive" "lecherous" and "horny" is to do disservice to them all: these are extraordinarily complex characters. As bad as they are, all have redeeming qualities. And in their own ways, all of them care very deeply for Jasira. Where one is a failure, another picks up the slack. She's caught in a devil's bargain, in a sense, bouncing between three men - each of whom give her something she needs, emotionally, but each with a heaping helping of a lot she could do without.

Back to another IMDb poster:

If you see the film, you will realize that Alan Ball is not trying to make the rape of a child "artful" or "cool" as the last person said. When people with the same opinion as [the poster above] see this movie, they will realize that the film isn't about making the rape entertaining, but far from it. During the Eckart/Bishil rape scenes, you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre. Very awkward to watch, but it wasn't bad enough for anyone to walk out.
Very little of the story is actually about Jasira being raped. It's more about just what the plotline says. Completely ignore comments made by people like [the poster above]. Fantastic cinematography, great music, and an incredible screenplay.

And one more that should pretty much make clinch the whole issue:

I've read the screenplay, Alan Ball stressed that it's imperative that there's no explicit nudity and that the actress playing Jasira is not compromised in any way...it will be "appropriate" in the sense that neither the actress nor the subject matter will be exploited.

All the controversy around this brings me back to my favorite film: American Beauty. I remember all the controversy when it came out. I remember reading conservative reviews saying things like Steven Isaac at Focus On The Family:

It's bad enough when films trade in sexual fantasy for box office dollars. It's worse when that eroticism is directed at a high school cheerleader by a
middle-aged man.

In 1999, I was 12 years old. I remember reading these kinds of things about American Beauty and being sickened by it. I stayed away from the film like the plague because, from what I was reading, it was just a sinful, sick, perverted defense of pedophilia. I remember saying a prayer for Alan Ball and everyone behind American Beauty … a prayer that they would realize the error of their ways and start walking down the path of righteousness. In my eyes, they were nothing but hideous pornographers.

As I grew in my understanding of the purpose of art, I began to take my thoughts captive more and more. I started seeing film as art and not just entertainment. I found other Christian reviews of American Beauty that actually saw the ideas of the artists as something to be engaged and thought about. I even found a book by Robert K. Johnston called Useless Beauty that built a bridge between the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes and a few modern films, one being American Beauty.

Near the end of my junior year in high school I rented American Beauty and watched it three times in one weekend. I was totally enraptured by it. I thought about it. I engaged it. I began to see that this was not the work of pornographers trading “sexual fantasy for box-office dollars” but the work of extremely talented artists, putting their worldview in front of me and asking me to think long and hard about the concept of beauty.

People fear and even hate what they don’t understand. Sadly, this means that most conservative Christians hate a film that shows them something that offends them, which American Beauty most certainly does. Roger Ebert said that American Beauty is not about a twisted sexual relationship, but “about yearning after youth, respect, power and, of course, beauty.” Look closer. It’s not so much about the actions of these characters but what these actions represent.

In then end, I do not wholly agree with the ideas of American Beauty and recognize some of them as completely unbiblical. This doesn’t change the fact that I greatly value the film. I value it because it is a perfectly crafted piece of contemporary art that has made me think and evaluate my perception of beauty. Aesthetically, it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It packs an extremely important piece of advice as well: look closer.

When Nothing Is Private presents itself to cinemas across the country, this is exactly what audiences will have to do.

Why haven't I heard about this?

2007-09-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

Naomi Watts and Tim Roth in an English-language Michael Hanecke film about two psychotic young men who take a family hostage in their cabin?

Bring it on!

Behold: Mel Brooks

2007-09-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

Frau Blucher performs
"He Vas My Boyfriend"
for Inga and Dr. Frankenstein

The first images from the Broadway Musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein have been posted on the shows website.

I heard Mel Brooks say somewhere that if Young Frankenstein didn't turn out as good or better than The Producers (winner of the most Tony Awards in Broadway history), he wouldn't make it.

I can't imagine what America's national treasure of comedy has in store for us come this November. I need tickets.

A bit of Atonement

2007-09-07T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have little time for leisure reading, but lately the time that I have has been devoted to Ian McEwan’s Atonement because I'd like to read it before seeing the film (dir. Joe Wright) that comes out in December. I haven’t read as many classic novels as I should so my opinion is not that educated, but I think this novel is brilliant. I’ve never read a novel that delves so deeply and truthfully into the psyche of it's characters than Atonement. It's a deeply satisfying read that keeps me smiling and saying to myself, "Wow ... that is to true."

If it were only McEwan’s characterizations that grabbed me, Atonement might just be an OK novel, but I am consistently surprised at how many nuggets of truth the author sticks in. And they don’t seem preachy because he has made them so much a part of his characters.

This brings me to a part from the beginning of the novel (around page 35) that I was thinking about today. Briony Tallis is a young girl of thirteen … a very precocious, thoughtful, introspective, perfectionistic young girl who has just written a play for her family members to perform. After her performers cannot live up to her creative standards, Briony sits down and starts to think.

The silence hissed in her ears and her vision was faintly distorted – her hands in her lap appeared unusually large and at the same time remote, as though viewed across an immense distance. She raised one hand and flexed its fingers and wondered, as she had sometimes before, how this thing, this machine for gripping, this fleshy spider on the end of her arm, came to be hers, entirely at her command. Or did it have some little life of its own? She bent her finger and straightened it. The mystery was in the instant before it moved, the dividing moment between not moving and moving when her intention took effect. It was like a wave breaking. If she could only find herself at the crest, she thought, she might find the secret of herself, that part of her that was really in charge. She brought her forefinger closer to her face and stared at it, urging it to move. It remained still because she was pretending, she was not entirely serious, and because willing it to move, or being about to move it, was not the same as actually moving it. And when she did crook it finally, the action seemed to start in the finger itself, not in some part of her mind. When did it know to move, when did she know to move it? There was no catching herself out. It was either-or. There was no stitching, no seam, and yet she knew that behind the smooth continuous fabric was the real self – was it her soul? – which took the decision to cease pretending, and gave the final command.

I love the richness of this paragraph and how it so beautifully describes the intricacy of something extremely simple. I have these thoughts many times as I’m sitting or walking. I’ll start thinking about the vastness and glory of creation and be dumb-founded for a few minutes. The world starts moving slower. I notice everything. There is beauty everywhere because everything has an intricate design. Then I find myself having thoughts like Briony does in the next paragraph:

Was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was? Was being Cecilia just as vivid an affair as being Briony? Did her sister also have a real self-concealed behind a breaking wave, and did she ever spend time thinking about it, with a finger held up to her face? Did everyone [else]? If the answer was yes, then the world, the social world, was unbearably complicated, with two billion voices, and everyone’s thoughts striving in equal importance and everyone’s claim on life as intense, and everyone thinking they were unique, when no one was. One could drown in irrelevance. But if the answer was no, then Briony was surrounded by machines, intelligent and pleasant enough on the outside, but lacking the bright and private inside feeling that she had. This was sinister and lonely, as well as unlikely. For, though it offended her sense of order, she knew it was overwhelmingly probable that everyone else had thoughts like hers. She knew this, but only in a rather arid way; she didn’t really feel it.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at some people not thinking about life as much as I do, but it makes me wonder how some people who are not consistently introspective are able to live a full life. It seems to me like they would “drown in irrelevance.”

Just my thoughts. Take from them what you will.

Foot in mouth

2007-09-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

During our President's Chapel today, our college President gave us a review of the school's progress in the last year. This included a misguided statement about the girl's volleyball team:

I've seen those girls practice. I get hot just watching them.

*Cue childish, gleeful snicker.*

Becoming Jane

2007-09-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Often, I’ll see a trailer for a movie like Becoming Jane (2007, ***) and write it off as just another boring English period piece akin to most of the drab things that are churned out of Masterpiece Theater on a bad day. How wonderfully surprised I was the other day to walk into the theater and find a film that, although not a masterpiece, was thought-provoking, well-acted, beautifully scored, and more worthy of my time than any of the other disposable fare at the multiplex.

From what I’ve read, Becoming Jane is a highly fictionalized account of the life of Jane Austen. The script is so well-written and feels so much like the writings of Jane Austen that one could get the feeling that the screenplay was found among the authoress’ unpublished writings. I doubt it … but it’s a nice thought.

Although the film is very enjoyable, it does have its weak points. The handheld, slightly frenetic camerawork did not fit the subject of the story or the time period in which it was set. I’m a firm believer that if there is going to be handheld camerawork, it should be motivated (my favorite example of this is American Beauty … Mendes only goes handheld when Ricky and his father duke it out). The second weakness of the film seemed to be its slight uncertainty of tone. Some scenes seem to get distracted from the main journey of the story by indulging into the pleasure of the atmosphere rather than focusing on the characters acting within the atmosphere.

Weaknesses aside, I think the greatness of Becoming Jane’s subject matter is enough to overshadow the minute technical weaknesses.

The main focus of the film is on Jane’s journey to become her own person. This is why the movie is not simply called Being Jane or Jane Actually, but Becoming Jane. Throughout the movie, Jane has a constant battle with society. The society and culture in which she lives believes that a women should “marry wisely” sometimes even throwing aside love for marrying a man that is financially stable above all else. Jane doesn’t want this and the movie delves deeply into her journey and battle against society to find a man she actually loves.

As I said before, the movie simply isn’t about being, but becoming. Quite obviously the Jane Austen at the beginning of the film, the Jane that wakes her family on a Sunday morning with her joyous piano playing, is very different from the Jane at the end of the film: a woman who has been weathered by life and love and uses these experiences to create art that imitates life.

In my opinion, the difference between someone who simply exists and someone who is on a journey of maturation (like that of Jane) is the refusal to be ordinary and give in to what the society at large thinks one should do or be in order to be successful. At one point in the film, Jane visits a successful authoress who says that the secret to her success is that she “writes of what life is not.” Jane dislikes this idea as well because she believes that one should “write of the heart” and of life and emotions the way that they actually exist.

Jane’s refusal to be ordinary serves as the most powerful lesson of the film. Humans should not simply exist. To only be would deny the capability to be fully human. Although Jane Austen’s journey in the film was not a Christian journey by any means, those who claim Christ should be on a journey to develop into the people God desires them to be, never satisfied with being ordinary. Bill Hybels describes this as a feeling of “holy discontent.”

Because of her refusal to live inside the world’s mold, the Jane Austen of Becoming Jane never married. Perhaps those who don’t live by the ideologies of the culture at large will miss out on a few things, but I can guarantee that misery will come if people don’t choose to live a full life … making full use of their talents and abiding by their convictions.

IMDb Extract

2007-09-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

Today, on the boards for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, I found a short (but most interesting) thread. It starts out with a typical IMDb idiot asking a question (bad grammar included to punctuate poster's stupidity):

Hyey where is the blood in the scene when [a character] die. he recive at least 10 shots,
¿WHERE IS THE BLOOD?

The response is something I can't seem to build any thoughts around at the moment. Perhaps you can help me?

Film is an artistic illusion not reality.

In your post you said [someone dies] … I must take it that you entered into the illusion that the character died. Even though the actor is still alive.

Why does blood make the character more dead than you already thought?

What do you think?

Ratner's Road and letters to Hollywood

2007-08-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

The IMDb Hitlist has a brilliant link posted today called "Brett Ratner's Notes for His Film Version of The Road by Cormac McCarthy." Having read The Road this summer and (regrettably) seen some of Ratner's work, I find this article completely hilarious ... albeit a bit crude in places. Here's a taste:

Can this movie make $100 million? No. It can make $200 million.

Switch shopping cart to Hummer or Bentley. (Which is more apocalyptic? Look on Internet.)

When the guy steals all of their supplies, instead of making the guy take off all his clothes but then letting him go, change it to a girl who takes off all her clothes (Alyssa Milano?).

Also, a bunch of bloggers around the web have been writing letters and suggestions to Hollywood at large about what's wrong with the movie industry. Culture Snob made a post earlier today that seemed to be in favor of ditching movies like Rescue Dawn that don't have much mainstream appeal. Although I usually enjoy Snob's work, I couldn't disagree more with this post.

Jim Emerson says that Hollywood needs to take some advice from HBO ... I couldn't agree more. Even though I sometimes think that HBO makes their content raw and salacious just because they can, there's no hiding that they consistently produce compelling television and excellent films that even sometimes attract Hollywood stars.

The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Entourage, Six Feet Under, Sex and the City -- you already know that's exactly the kind of stuff you should be doing. (And you're planning to make feature films out of some of 'em already.) Don't be afraid of cuss words, genitalia or blood-n-guts -- but try something a little more engaging than a hollow three-act structure without story or characters. Memorable, complex characters (without their edges polished off) are probably more compelling than structure, story or profanity-nudity-violence combined.

By this I mean characters who don't always announce to the audience what they're doing and why, because they don't always know. Leave a little room for mystery and ambiguity, give the audience half a chance to pay attention, and you may just pull them deeper into movies.

The funniest woman to ever live

2007-08-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Madeline Kahn

If you can think of any funnier female, please let me know because I think everything that this woman did in her whole career is hilarious.

I'm back.

2007-08-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

I've returned to school, have my room all set up, and am ready for my Sophomore year to begin. I guess that means I'm just a tad bit older, hopefully a lot wiser, and ready to take on whatever God has to teach me this year. From an intellectual standpoint, I look at where I was last year at this time and marvel at how far I've come in just 12 short months. I can't imagine what the next year could have in store.

So, you should be my Netflix friend. I've made the switch back to Netflix because the powers-that-be at Blockbuster adjusted their prices through the freakin' roof! So, either click this or shoot me an email (phillip.e.johnston [at] gmail (dot) com).

Summer Film Favorite #1

2007-08-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

I simply cannot get motivated to pack up things for school. I leave on Saturday morning and the only thing I have done so far is to throw a bunch of clothing in the laundry for Mom to wash and organize my movie collection into a nice little DVD tube.

So, I decided to sit down with my computer and finally type the first of three posts about the films that stayed with me the most this summer. These are the films that I watched during this year’s break that I just couldn’t shake. They wouldn’t go out of my head. Their themes just keep swirling around in my brain and sometimes kept me awake during the night. For your consideration:

Yeah, this isn’t really one of them. But I thought I’d throw in it just for kicks and giggles. I watched it with some friends last night and we had a high ol’ time laughing at the cliché, random mess that is The Disney Channel. This particular number gave me many, many laughs. Zac Efron is quite the dancer, but whoever choreographed this one must have just told him to jump around.

Here’s the real thing:

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

It’s astounding how this movie was so violently panned by critics. Tykwer’s visual sense is so spot-on and so intensely in touch with Suskind’s prose that I’m tempted to say that this is one of the best book adaptations that I can think of. True, the book does help to develop characters more (what book doesn’t?), but the characters of Tykwer’s film are most definitely not flat.

I purchased the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer back in January at a used bookstore when I first heard about the movie. I read a few pages and, for some off reason, forgot about it until after I watched the film. Now, I go back and read parts of the novel and find beautiful examples of extremely delicate prose, filled with such raw emotional power that I can’t help from shaking I read some parts.

SPOILERS AWAIT: I can’t get Grenouille’s character out of my mind. Here is a man who has never known love, yet even when people love his perfume he can not receive their love because hatred is the only emotion he has ever been capable of feeling. Suskind captures this brilliantly in the book, and Tykwer’s visuals in the film are sumptuous and chill-inducing.

Some may complain about the amount of nudity in the film, but is in now way exploitative or sensual. Tykwer's handling of the execution scene is done so tastefully and is so beautiful that it inspires a sense of awe more than a sense of lust. It really is brilliant. Too bad I can't share it with everyone. They just don't understand...

I love this film.

3 Pilots

2007-08-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Whenever the new TV season rolls around, I always like to watch the Pilot episodes of every show I can. I like to do this because the best writing that a show is capable of usually comes out in the pilot because it has been fine-tuned and written in the hope that the show will be picked up by a TV station. I can usually tell if a show is worth my time by watching the pilot. Plus, I like to keep up on the latest buzz, just so I’m not uninformed.

The first pilot I checked out this season was that of a new series on ABC called Pushing Daisies. Pushing Daisies is about a simple pie-maker named Ned who has been given the gift of bringing dead things back to life. Ned found this gift of his at a very young age, but there is one main stipulation: if Ned brings one person back to life by touching them, he can never touch them again or else they will be dead forever. The story moves on, filling itself with great characters, quirky settings, and hilariously ingenious plot twists.

Even though I enjoyed the pilot, I do have a complaint with the look of the show. It is FAR too colorful, a bit hard on the eyes, and relies a bit too much on (very fake-looking) computer graphics. I think everyone who watches it will either give in to the fantasy world of the show or just say, “Wow … that looks fake.” I’m thinking the latter. It’s their loss because I think this is going to turn out to be a fun show that families might even want to watch together.

Plus, Kristen Chenoweth (one of my future wives) is in it and is just as beautiful, charming, and hilarious as ever.

I’ve been a David Duchovny fan since The X-Files and really liked his performance in Return to Me, so I figured I would watch the pilot of his new Showtime dramedy Californication. The title should have kept me away, but I figured it might actually be something redemptive and well-written with a strong role for Duchovny.

Wrong on three counts. Californication is a sorry excuse for a television show and terrible entertainment. It seems as if the main point of the show is to string sex scenes together with banal dialogue, over-used jokes, and lines un-lovingly ripped from great films.

The last act of the pilot tries to get the audience all emotional with one of those cliché music montages. Needless to say, it doesn’t work (even though it’s a menially good montage). The worst part about this addition to the show, though, is that whoever directed it couldn’t even find a good way to take the show from the previous scene to the montage. They simply had the editor add a complete fade-out and then a complete fade-in. What a hack-job!

It made me mad, realizing that much of America finds this useless trash entertaining.

When I heard Glen Close was starring in a new series on F/X, I got excited … and a bit nervous. I love Glen Close’s acting. She has a very commanding presence and is really good at either getting under your skin or tugging at your heart-strings. What made me nervous is that this show was made by F/X, the same people behind such exploitative moral messes as Dirt and Nip/Tuck.

“I can’t judge it until I see it…” I said to myself. So today I sat down to watch it.

Damages is one heck of a show and has one the most intriguing pilots I have ever seen. Nothing is as it seems in the world of powerful New York attorney Patty Hughes, played with icy coldness by Glen Close. That’s really all I can say about the pilot, because to describe more would be to give some of the show away. It’s really excellent drama with power-house performances, awesome camera-work, and a great script.

And the best part was that it didn’t fall into the typical F/X crap trap of throwing in a pointless sex scene or two just to wake up the audience. There is a love-scene in the pilot, but it is surprisingly under-stated and tastefully done. One of my pet-peeves is when a show breaks the rhythm of its story by having a jarring cut to a rowdy sex-scene accompanied by some rock music that makes you feel like you’re attending a rave. Props to you, F/X!

Damages is a refreshingly well-done haven in a vast television wasteland of thoughtless garbage and I’m going to be catching up on the episodes I’ve missed over the past few weeks. I suggest you do the same.

IMDb forum action

2007-08-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was skimming the boards about The Painted Veil on IMDb and came across the obligatory "could there be a more boring movie" post. I really hate posts like this, but then again, every really great movie is going to be hated by the mass public.

Anyway, this response to the original poster by pbroganx is one of the best responses to something like this that I have ever read:

Yeah, this story needs an update. It would have been much better if they had replaced the cholera outbreak with a computerized cartoon monster--a great big one! From space! And instead of hostile Chinese nationalists, how about black-clad kung-fu assassins that flip and fly around on invisible harnesses while throwing flaming skulls that explode on impact? Get rid of Naomi Watts and Ed Norton and replace them with....oooh! I know! Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie! Just ditch the whole love story thing and replace it with hip, attitude-soaked dialogue that hints at lots of sexual tension. And, have Brad and Angelina, wearing skimpy clothing, kick lots of monster/assassin ass while constantly discussing their bet on who can kill the most bad guys/monsters. Oh, and instead of routing fresh water to the village, the doctor can quest for a magical stone, kept in the nest of a giant, CGI sorcerer bat, that will explode when thrown into the mouth of the cholera monster! I could work in Hollywood.

Priceless, ehh?

A night with Def Leppard

2007-08-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

I knew last week was going to be pretty heavy in terms of learning and sitting listening to speakers, so I knew I'd need something light and fun to do.

Luckily, my buddy Joel called me and asked if I wanted to go to the big Styx/Foreigner/Def Leppard concert in Hershey on Sunday night with another one of our friends. After some thought ("Do I really want to pay that much?!"), I said yes.

Even though my ears are ringing like crazy and I only have a few remnants of a voice left, I'm SO glad I went because it was a blast.

To our surprise (and elation), there were no illegal psychotropic substances in sight. The people in front of us had a few too many beers, but that was the extent of the carnage. They were really funny. The one guy was supposedly a state policeman, but he kept offering us beer even though he knew we were underage. At one point he even slipped off his "I-Already-Got-A-Beer-So-I-Won't-Get-Carded" wristband and gave it to us. I responded with, "Well, if I don't start now, I have less of a chance of getting addicted later in life." My friend Alyssa had a much more brief response, though: "Drinking is bad."

Of course, I just couldn't leave without getting a picture with the guy (it was supposed to be just me and him, but my picture-happy friends had to sneak in) :

Fun times, and a great kick-off to the end of my summer at home.

Learning with application

2007-08-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday evening, I returned home from a full week of excellent Bible teaching and challenging insight. Last Tuesday, my family and I made our (almost) yearly trek to Sandy Cove. Because of our hectic schedules, we could only stay for a little more than two days, but it was certainly worthwhile because of the time we got to spend together, the escape from all the busyness of life back at home, and the superb way in which Tony Evans unpacked very familiar Bible stories and made their meaning fresh in his series of sermons.

During his first sermon, Evans talked about the familiar story of Abraham and Isaac and challenged us about how much trust and faith we really put in God. One can know in his head that God is God and that God is all-powerful, but it really takes a test of faith (when God says to do something that really doesn’t make sense) to prove commitment and belief.

Two points that he made stuck out to me. The first was that when Abraham and Sarah were told they would have Isaac, they felt it was utterly impossible and laughed in God’s face. The speaker’s point was simply this: are you hindering God’s work in your life because you think it’s funny?

The second was that while Abraham and Isaac were traveling up the mountain, while Abraham was doing what he knew he had to do in order to please God even though he thought it made no sense, the ram that would end up being sacrificed in lieu of Isaac was walking up the other side of the mountain. In other words, while God is testing us, while we are going through these situations that make absolutely no sense, He is working in the situation and has already planned His ending to the problem even if it is something we can’t see because our doubt (or something else) is blocking our view.

After Sandy Cove, my parents dropped me off in Baltimore to meet my boss and another guy that I work with for The Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Creek up in Chicago. The church acted as a satellite campus for the conference, so all the speakers talked to us through a live video feed. I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to it that much. I thought it would be three boring days of business and legal mumbo-jumbo, but, to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the most beneficial, challenging, and rewarding experiences of my summer. As with the Tony Evans sermon mentioned earlier, I also took two main important concepts away from the Willow Creek event.

The first was something Bill Hybels said in his closing talk. He said that if someone wants inspire people around them, they has to be an inspiring person who is inspired mainly by the fact that they know God’s purpose for their life and are following it voraciously. Hybels said (I’m paraphrasing), “If you have no idea what this purpose is, you need to re-arrange your schedule for the next few weeks and rigidly be in God’s word trying to find out what your purpose is for the moment and for life.”

I would agree and am very happy that I think I know my life’s purpose for the moment. My purpose at this point in my life is to be a student and to learn about life and all that it entails, “taking every thought captive” through the lens of the word of God. This summer, I’ve worked quite a lot on establishing my life philosophy and my views on the things I love through applying things I’ve read and learned. I’m reminded of what a former teacher said to me in an email once: Learning without application is just about as pointless as never learning at all. Don't be afraid to think on your own, even if you look back someday and think, "How foolish was I."

This information is really excellent, but what I took away most from the last week was John Ortberg’s talk on “A Leader’s Greatest Fear.” He said that the thing that should cause a leader the most anxiety is not the fear of failure, mutiny, or criticism, but the utter dread of giving in to a Shadow Mission. Ortberg defined a shadow mission as, “My authentic mission hijacked by my ego and my moods. The place where my sinful nature will lead me on its own.”

He then went on to apply this concept to the book of Esther and talked about how King Xerxes was a king that had been totally taken over by his Shadow Mission. Here was a man that had extravagant parties solely celebrating himself and a painstakingly long beauty pageant to fit him with the most attractive wife around. I wish I could remember how he applied many other points in the book to the Shadow Mission concept because it was one of the most brilliant lectures I’ve ever heard, but I can’t at the moment.

I do remember this, though. Esther could have been tempted to give in to her Shadow Mission … to be lazy and do nothing to rescue her people. But Esther had someone by her side: her Uncle Mordecai. Mordecai challenged Esther quite fervently: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Esther responded by saying, “If I perish and perish” and went on carrying out God’s plan for her life, saving the Jews from certain death.

Needless to say at this point, I was extremely challenged. But then, Ortberg took everything to a different level by saying that Jesus’ Shadow Mission was to be the Savior without the cross. He was tempted with this all his life and caused him such great agony! Satan tempted him in the desert, he prayed for “the cup to be taken from” him in the Garden of Gethsemane, and even while he was on the cross he was faced with the crowd telling him to come down if he was God. But he didn’t. He refused to give in to his Shadow Mission.

So, what’s your Shadow Mission? Do you have someone around you that is ready and willing to challenge you out of it? And do you have the courage to name and challenge the Shadow Mission of our culture and revolt against it? Just something to think about…

Get your money ready

2007-08-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

This brilliant film is coming to DVD on August 21. I've seen it three times and still have this insatiable urge to watch it again. It's one of those movies that affected me so much that I want to share it with everyone.

Go watch it. That's an order. :-)

How sad that the cover art makes the film look like a raunchy smut-fest about a pervert listening to people copulate. I loath bad cover art.

Saddening sign

2007-08-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

As I was riding in the car with my family en route to our yearly vacation spot, I spotted this abomination on a church sign:

Cars of the Bible:
The disciples were in one Accord.

And to think that some Christians wonder why people of the world think Christianity is dumb...

"Your daughter has entered a hotbed of moral ... turpentine."

2007-08-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

After three weeks of waiting, I finally got to see Hairspray (2007, ***) today. It was exactly what I expected: a colorful, delightful, no frills, hilarious time at the movies. Marc Shaiman has done the unthinkable in making a John Waters movie into quite a great Broadway musical and Adam Shankman has brought it to the screen with style and pizazz. Although the movie suffers from some pacing issues in the middle and there is just a bit too much singing, the movie never stops being fun and has some really sly humor that the main demographic would not grasp (including a hilarious cameo by John Waters himself as "the flasher who lives next door").

Brittany Snow is in it, too. ("I can hear the bells...")

Last night, I made my first attempt at introducing a friend to Tarkovsky. She had tried watching Solaris once and was put off by its glacial pace and seemingly pointless narrative, so I knew I was going into something that could prove quite difficult when I pulled Stalker out of my man-purse. But, to my surprise, it went very well and she ended up loving the movie. I was happy.

I found the trailer for Paul Haggis' In The Valley of Elah today (which, coincidentally, happens to include half the cast of the Coen's No Country for Old Men). It looks like it could be very good if it doesn't turn out too sappy. I trust Haggis, though ... he rocks.

The last thing on my mind today is the discovery of a classical piece I had never heard before (GASP). As I was driving home today, my favorite radio announcer, John Chester of Classical WETA 90.9 (I wish I could carry him around with me everywhere), introduced Max Bruch's Third Symphony. May I recommend the second movement? It's a gorgeous 10 minute piece for $.99 on iTunes. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

Closing up Bourne

2007-08-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Just came back from seeing The Bourne Ultimatum (2007, ***1/2) with my father and was very impressed by almost every aspect of the film.

Matt Damon's acting seems to get better with every film he is in and again brought that wonderful sense of tortured emotion to the character of Jason Bourne. I was surprised to see Albert Finney in this installment as well. He's always a welcome presence in my book (even though every time I see him, I can't get "Oh, Danny Boy" out of my head for a few days).

My favorite addition to this film, though, was David Strathairn as Noah Vosen. Strathairn always impresses me with the depth and believability that he brings to his characters. I think this is mostly because he keeps a very low-key social life. Since I don't hear about him all the time, I can always take his characters seriously ... and the amount of mystery he brought to Noah Vosen in this film within a short time span was impressive.

But the most important thing about this movie, IMO, is the official emergence of Paul Greengrass as the master of the action thriller. Greengrass has managed to make three taut, tense, emotional, and extremely entertaining films in a row (The Bourne Supremacy, last year's masterful United 93, and now this). Although I have a few gripes with his shaky camera every now and then, there is no doubt that he knows what he's doing when it comes to choreographing an action scene and shooting it in a way that made my father and I both say, "How does one film something like this?!"

Great film and probably the best three-quel of the summer.

BTW, the first thing I thought of when I saw the poster at the top of this post was this:

Don't ask me why because I don't even know.

Dad was right again...

2007-08-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

My Dad has been wanting me to sit down and watch this little short animated film (45 minutes) called Money As Debt.

I finally did today and am very glad I did. It may not be that visually pleasing, but the information is very interesting and tells you just how twisted, corrupt, and dishonest our monetary system is. Hence the reason I think that "In God We Trust" should be taken off ALL our money.

If you don't watch the film, just take in this little quote:

I have never yet had anyone who could, through the use of logic and reason, justify the Federal Government borrowing the use of its own money. I believe the time will come when people will demand that this be changed.

I believe the time will come in this country when they will actually blame you and me and everyone else connected with the congress for sitting idly by and permitting such an idiotic system to continue.

-Wright Patman (Democratic Congressman 1928-1976, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency 1963-1975)

It's interesting stuff. Give it a chance.

Repressed feelings

2007-08-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

I really needed this when I woke up this morning:

The cycle continues...

2007-07-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

2 ½ years ago, it became public knowledge that my best friend since childhood had been verbally and psychologically abused pretty much all her life and that the abuse was at a new high. My mom and I did what we knew was right to help, but our efforts did next to nothing. Since then, my relationship with my friend has never been the same and my mother’s friendship with said friend’s mother has pretty much disintegrated.

It hurt.

2 years ago, I tried to start one of those high school “relationship” things with one of my close friends. It was going great. We thought it would work out. I went away for the Summer and came back to find out that she had found someone else … some jerk from a neighboring town. As their relationship progressed, her moral thermometer began reading lower and lower. As I continually prodded and poked her into thinking about doing what was right, we drifted further and further away from each other.

It hurt.

This Saturday, another good friend unleashed upon me some information just as shocking and morally upsetting as the above situations combined. It left me reeling. I took a day off work because of it. It gave me a splitting headache.

It hurts.

This all leads to the fact that I always feel like the only stable person with a firm moral compass surrounded by a group of Christian friends whose lives always seem to come crashing down all around them because of their own dumb choices. It should be comforting to me personally, but it’s discouraging when I think that I am one of the only truly consistent people I know. I’m not saying this to brag … it’s just that nothing much changes with Phillip. Someone actually told me this today: “Phillip, you know what you believe and you stick with it.” Well, that’s good. You should try it sometime.

This evening had me really discouraged about many things. While I should be craving a healthy dose of the Holy Spirit right now, all I really want is an extremely stiff drink that will give me a hangover that would last until this is all over. Sadly, this situation won’t resolve itself without my help. Plus, my parents aren’t the drinking sort.

I walked out into the kitchen tonight to brew myself a cup of tea. I saw sitting above the sink a little card with a verse on it that I know is so true, but hard to get through my thick skull:

The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He will also hear their cry and will save them.

Psalm 145:18-19 (NASB)

I guess I’m just going to have to take these verses to heart and do as the Spirit leads. Even if it ends in heartache.

Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution"

2007-07-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

The trailer for Ang Lee's new film Lust Caution is up on the Apple Quicktime site.

It looks very intriguing and very promising. I greatly enjoy Lee's work and am glad he is back to directing in his native tongue.

Ingmar Bergman, 1918-2007

2007-07-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Today is a sad day for the world of film.

Ingmar Bergman, highly regarded as one of the greatest cinematic artists of all time, has died.

From his official site:

Ingmar Bergman's passing away represents a loss of unfathomable magnitude. His artistic accomplishments were ground-breaking, unique - but also of a scope that covered film and theatre as well as literature.
----
We remember him as a very bold person, always present, often biting in his comments. But he was often one step ahead of his contemporaries. Even when he grew old surprises from [him] were not unexpected. I believe it will take some time before we fully understand that he is no longer with us, but also the importance of his art to other people.

I read a story once about Bergman talking to David Lean (director of Lawrence of Arabia and Brief Encounter) and being asked what kind of crew he used on his films. Bergman replied, "I make my films with 18 good friends." Lean was interested and replied saying that he made his films with "150 enemies."

I haven't watched near as much Bergman as I should have by now, but what I have seen is the work of a true artist, "working out his salvation with fear and trembling", shaping the spiritual structure of his soul. If only more filmmakers like Bergman were as recognized and honored in the public square...

We live our simple daily lives. And then some terrible piece of information forces itself into our secure, safe world. It's more than we can bear. The whole state of affairs is so overwhelming, God becomes so remote.

-Winter Light (1963)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006, ****)

2007-07-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

My words can't do the beauty and brilliance of this film justice.

It's out on DVD and available to rent at your local film rental place. I watched it last night and cannot stop thinking about it. It's just so great.

Perfect sequence upon perfect sequence builds up to a climax which is as weird as it is profound and as deep as it is shocking. The direction couldn't be better. The acting is superb (sans some complaints with Dustin Hoffman, the only American in the production ... figures). I can't stop listening to the soundtrack.

I'm watching it again toinght and I might write more about it later, but, as of now, the right words escape me.

Ignore the 54% on Rotten Tomatoes.

They're wrong.

It's brilliant.

Cloverfield/1-18-08/"Monstrous" sighting at Comic Con

2007-07-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Shivers.

Click the pic for higher resolution.

Thanks to The Tail Section for the info.

Catching up on the Indie scene

2007-07-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

I caught a showing of Red Road a few days ago and walked in with high expectations after seeing it on Rotten Tomatoes’ best-reviewed mid-year list. In case you are not familiar, Red Road is about a woman named Jackie who works for the government of Scotland monitoring the video cameras that have been placed on every street. If there’s no problem, she just watches people. A man walking his decrepit old bulldog. A cleaning lady dancing around to her iPod while mopping. Then one day she sees a familiar face. We don’t know who it is, but Jackie certainly does. The rest of the movie details her search for answers and justice.

Red Road (2006, ***) is paced very well and is even entertaining. I can most definitely see why it won the critic’s award at Cannes last year. When the end comes, the film is insightful and, according to some critics, bears shades of Michael Haneke’s best work (I can’t say this myself because I’ve only seen Cache … Red Road did have resemblance to Cache, though).

Red Road has a tragic flaw, though (minor spoilers await). About ¾ of the way through the film, there is an awful unsimulated sex scene that totally disrupts the (until then) brilliant pacing of the movie. It is a terrible fate of bad direction in a film that could have easily been a work of quiet restraint and moral fortitude. Until that point, the movie is quite well-directed. The movie reverts back to it’s regular pacing after said scene, but the scene in question takes up almost 10 minutes! It’s very distracting and, according to IMDB posters and myself, has a very alienating effect on the audience.

Too bad, because Red Road contains some beautiful visual poetry and excellent performances by two gifted actors.

I saw Sean Ellis’ original short film Cashback (2005, ***1/2) about a year ago through iTunes and was very impressed by it, even though I recognized it as flawed. The original short is the story of Ben Willis, an art student and recent insomniac, who works the late shift at a grocery store in London. Ben has a strange ability. He can stop time. But he doesn’t stop time just for fun … he stops time in order to revel in the beauty of the moment.

Ben talks about how he has always found the female form to be the most beautiful thing on the planet. So, when Ben can stop time, he undresses the women in the grocery store and does nothing but draw them. Ben is not creating pornography, but simply appreciating the beauty around him. When he wants to start time again, he puts everything back to normal and cracks his fingers.

(The main flaw of Cashback is that it revels in superficial beauty. The women in the grocery store all looks like models. A few are slightly overweight, but nothing more that you’d see in a JC Penny flier. I would have liked to see Ben revel in the beauty of a down-syndrome child just as much as these women. I like the concept, though.)

The new feature version of Cashback (2006, **1/2) contains all of the original short film and much more. The story of why Ben is an insomniac is told, along with many other diversions along the way including a really nice romance between Ben and Sharon, another grocery store employee. Some of these diversions are good, but most are unimportant, pointless, and at times exploitative and bordering on pornographic.

It’s weird, because there is a scene recognizing pornographic magazines as “fake” and not beautiful. Sean Ellis seems to know the difference between art and pornography, but, while I have a great problem with the latter, he certainly doesn’t seem to.

In the feature film, Ben is always ruminating through his narration about art, life, beauty, etc. If only there were lots of people that age having such deep and important thoughts as Ben Sadly, I only know two or three. Ben is the only person his age in the film who does, so I guess I can’t expect much more. I think our culture would be a much better place with more people like Ben Willis.

I’m guessing Sean Ellis, the writer/director, has the thoughts of Ben (after all, he wrote the film). But if he truly believes what Ben is narrating about, I don’t know why he has polluted his film with pointless diversions that sometimes are the completely opposite ideologically of what Ben is thinking. It confuses me. I encountered the same problem in The Last Kiss (USA version) and a few other films I can’t remember at the moment.

Thought it’s flaws are abundant, Cashback does have some intensely beautiful moments. The photography is just breathtaking at points and the last scene of the film is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in recent memory. Not just beautiful in a visual sense, but in every sense.

All in all, I wanted to like Cashback, but, even though it’s main story arc (which includes the original short and the romance) is wonderful, I found the film as a whole to be ideologically hypocritical and distracting. It’s a 102 minute film that should be half-an-hour shorter.

The photography leaves something to be desired.

There’s nothing special about the look of film.

The two lead roles could be much better actors.

But there’s just something about Once (2006, ***1/2) that makes you happy. It makes you walk out of the theater with a smile, hope for humanity, and hope for independent film. There’s really not that much I can say that hasn’t been said in other reviews … just look on RT. The movie is a critical darling, as it should be, and is something I think everyone I can appreciate. See it sometime, because it’s something really special.

And by the way, how often do we see a film with such wonderful morals? I was shocked by the film’s non-Hollywood ending that upholds honesty and marital reconciliation. Great film that could (and should) be a mainstream hit.

Black Fire

2007-07-20T21:43:00.000-07:00

I spent about half-an-hour and the Philadelphia Museum of Art today just staring at this painting. It's called Black Fire and was painted by Barnett Newman. Trust me, it's much better and much bigger (8+ feet tall) in person.
Before I went, I had put a tour of the Modern and Contemporary Gallery on my iPod so that I could understand some of the works a bit better. The curator of the M&C Gallery had this to say about Black Fire:

Is that picture just half black and half just plain canvas? Is there more black area? His signature motif is the thing that came to be known as a “zip” … it’s that vertical band that goes down the painting. And where does the zip divide the area of blank canvas? Is there any black paint that’s accidentally (or not) dripped on to the blank canvas?

The going back and forth between just these two very minimal variables, black paint and raw canvas, can keep you thinking quite a long time about Newman’s work. Newman’s idea of his art was that it was about the highest mysteries, the most profound questions of life and death. For many people, understanding how an almost blank canvas could represent those questions is very disturbing and I think Newman’s point was that there is no way that anything you represent could begin to address those questions. It’s a painting that in refusing to show the things of this world that we know is saying, “OK. I’m about what else there is.”

Whatever that may be.

Imedietly after listening to her, I thought of something Andrei Tarkovsky said in Sculpting In Time:

Art is the soul shaping it's spiritual structure.

In the most abstract way, Newman found a way to express his spiritual journey. If you look closely at the painting, there are very small dots of black (along with a smudge or two) on the blank canvas. Maybe the "zip" and these small touches serve to say that even the best parts of life can sometimes become contaminated by darkness. Not fully, but who knows? The canvas was all white to begin with.

I used to think modern art was the dumbest thing ever, but I'm starting to find it extremely rewarding. It's tough thing to understand, but if you're around people who know their stuff, it can be very enjoyable. I enjoyed my time in the modern gallery today much more than in the European (although the Cezzane paintings were gorgeous). It's amazing how things that you once thought to be pointless and idiotic can come to life and take on meaning through new understanding.

Praise God for maturity.

"ABHORRENT!" -Dr. Ted Baehr

2007-07-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

I’ve disliked “Dr.” Ted Baehr for years.

My dislike for him doubled when I read his profusely bigoted review of Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima which denounced the movie as anti-American, leftist, socialist, anti-Capitalistic (a favorite of Baehr’s) propaganda.

I believe my dislike tripled the other day when I read his review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Consider this tripe:

Regrettably, however, this means that even more children will be lured away from God and His Infallible Word, which says that witchcraft is evil and abhorrent. Instead of dreaming about the joys that God gives us through Jesus Christ, they will be dreaming of casting spells, using magic spells, riding brooms, and rebelling against their parents.

I know a lot of kids who read Harry Potter, many of them Christians. Not one of them has turned to witchcraft or the occult because of Harry’s influence. They may want to be able to point a stick somewhere, say some Latin, and have cool stuff happen (who wouldn’t?!), but that’s about it.

I find this next paragraph even more hilarious:

Watching 6- and 7-year-old children walk out of the press screening for the new Harry Potter movie (as well as the people with little witchcraft symbols and S&M dresses) is always an opportunity to reflect on the malignant corruption of our culture. Aside from the fact that these children are exposed to ugly creatures, fantastic violence and worthless incantations, this movie has dialogue that sounds like it comes out of Stuart Smalley’s Daily Affirmations on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Namely, when Harry's godfather tells him, “You are not a bad person. Every person has light and darkness in them. You have a choice.” Imagine saying this to Michael Cho after he has had his killing spree. Or, Adolf Hitler.

UGLY CREATURES! You mean like the ones in The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings, two franchises you praised?!

FANTASTIC VIOLENCE! Ditto.

“Little witchcraft symbols and S&M dresses.”

Let me quote that one again: “Little witchcraft symbols and S&M dresses.”

Just the fact that Baehr mentioned S&M in his review of Harry Potter just lowers him another notch on my list (and makes my stomach hurt with laughter). The man is a maniac who does not how to discern. Sure, he knows how to describe violence, review sexuality, and count how many times people say “fuck”, but he doesn’t know how to thoughtfully wade through Rowling’s themes which, as Barb Nicolosi said in her comments on HP5, are more inclined toward the “good, true and beautiful” than many other fantasy works of the day.

He also conveniently glides past Order of the Phoenix’s themes of friendship, family, and the elusive quality of evil. Great parallels can be drawn between the Ministry of Magic’s refusal to recognize the return of Voldemort and Evangelical Christianity’s growing denial of the power of Satan.

Ted Baehr needs to focus his attention on something worthy of his time … Philip Pullman would be a good start.

PS: Other people have weighed in on Baehr’s ineptitude recently including Peter Chattaway and Jeffrey Overstreet.

Inspiration ... or not.

2007-07-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

For three weeks, I’ve been trying to develop a short film in my head. My goal is to outline a plot by the middle of August, have a script by the end of September and shoot through November. I’d like to have it finished by January so that I can submit it to some festivals.

Yes. Heavy goal. I know. Especially when inspiration is little-to-be-found in my not-so-creative mind.

I could make it something easy and simple. Just a straight forward plot with nothing of value emanating from the story. I don’t want that, though. I want it to be something more. I want it to have a little depth and be something of value. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece … it probably won’t be … I just want to do my best with it.

So, in my quest for inspiration, I went to Starbucks tonight to support my good friend Dan who was providing live music and sat at a table with Ian McEwan and Andrei Tarkovsky (both present in text only). I never got around to McEwan and only engaged Tarkovsky for about half-an-hour because I kept getting distracted by people I knew. I did learn this, though.

The main goal of art is to “explain to the artist himself and to those around him what man lives for”; to lead the creator and “consumer” into a better understanding of human existence. Tarkovsky goes on to give this example:

From the very moment when Eve ate the apple from the tree of knowledge, mankind was doomed to strive endlessly after the truth. First, as we know, Adam and Eve discovered they were naked. And they were ashamed. They were ashamed because they had understood; and then they set out on their way in the joy of knowing one another. That was the beginning of a journey that has no end. One can understand how dramatic that moment was for those two souls, just emerged from the state of placid ignorance and thrown out into the vastness of the earth, hostile and inexplicable.

‘With the sweat of thy brow shalt thou earn thy bread…’

So it was that man, ‘natures crown’, arrived on the earth in order to know why it was that he had appeared or been sent.

More coming later on ... I think.

More of the same

2007-07-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hmmm ... really makes me want to buy a ticket.

Note sarcasm.

And isn't that supposed to be "grisly" instead of "grizzly"? Are there graphic images of bears being mutilated or something. Sheesh ... take some pride when labeling the rating of your torture porn.

(I think I saw this pointed out somewhere else as well, but I forget where.)

EDIT: Jeannette Catsoulis sums it up pretty well in her NY Times review of the film.

The person who ought to be most embarrassed by this airless dud is its director, Roland Joffé, a two-time Oscar nominee who in the space of just five years regressed from working with Tom Stoppard to associating with the kind of people who mix eyeball smoothies and force-feed them to defenseless women. To be fair to Mr. Joffé, however, the movie has reportedly undergone substantial alterations since its filming in Moscow in 2005. Perhaps he’s as disgusted by the eyeballs as we are.

And then at the end, Catsoulis sums up the torture porn genre with a little twist on the content warning:

“Captivity” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Characters are burned with acid, buried in sand, drugged repeatedly — and then have sex.

Evangeline's first film project

2007-07-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Evangeline Lilly (Kate on Lost) has chosen her first feature-length movie project, an indie flick called Afterwards. Quite frankly, after her performance on Lost, she could get a big role in a Summer blockbuster-type film, but:

I have struggled to find the right combination of factors, I was daunted by the notion that my only option might be to go do some big Hollywood film because that doesn't interest me whatsoever. I don't see any value in fame and I don't see any value in big blockbuster hit films. I have been looking for a quiet beautiful little project for three years.

It's nice to hear a comment like this coming from someone so famous. The more I watch the "quiet beautiful" things that Lilly talks about, the less desire I have to go see all the new and flashy blockbusters.

I'm taking a trip to Philadelphia next weekend and plan on spending Friday doing something that I never get to do: sit all day in an art-house theater and take in intelligent art. I couldn't be more excited.

Story courtesy of BuddyTV.

Kindness to Repentance

2007-07-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I love movies so much is because of their ability to hold a magnifying glass up to my own heart. To make me feel … to make me think … to challenge me mentally, spiritually, and personally.

Such was my experience last night when I popped in a movie from HBO Films entitled Longford into our DVD player here at home.

Longford (2006, ***1/2) is the story of Frank Pakenham, a British Lord known for his visits to prisoners. Lord Longford has been a Christian all his life and lives by the philosophy that "no human being is beyond forgiveness.”

When a convicted child murderer and sexual deviant named Myra Hindley requests a visit from Lord Longford, he has no qualms about looking in on her at the local prison. Despite the worries of his wife and many others who call Hindley a “monster” of the worst sort, Lord Longford goes in to visit the prisoner and develops a relationship with her. What follows is a very intriguing web of mystery, betrayal, and human drama almost catapulted to greatness by the performances of Jim Broadbent and Andy Serkis.

While watching Longford, I was struck by Pakenham’s faithfulness to his cause, the convict he was visiting, and his God. Here was a man of unwavering faith who believed so strongly that everyone should be offered a chance to receive grace and forgiveness, no matter what the crime that he was not discouraged, even after losing his job and a certain amount of public respect.

Near the end of the film, Pakenham makes a very bold statement (SPOILERS follow, if you plan on watching the film):

Forgiveness is the very cornerstone of my faith and the struggle to deepen my faith is my life’s journey. In that respect, [the prisoner that has taken all I have done for her and thrown it in my face] has enriched my spiritual life beyond measure, and for that I will always be grateful to her. If people think that makes me weak, or mad, so be it. That is the path I am committed to. To love the sinner, but hate the sin. To assume the best in people, but not the worst. To believe that anyone, no matter how evil, can be redeemed … eventually.

I lost sleep last night thinking about those words. They made me think about all the people whom I have ever hated; all the people I’ve been unable to forgive. It made me realize that instead of cleaving to the childish, infantile desires of my deceptively wicked heart, I should conform my feelings to the attitude that Lord Longford had toward Myra Hindley (which is, by the way, the same attitude that Christ has toward all we wayward sinners).

It is so hard to forgive sometimes, especially those people who are blatantly unrepentant of their wrongdoing. But, as the Word of God says, the kindness of God leads people to repentance (Romans 2:4). Perhaps our kindness toward those who have wronged us will be enough to soften even the hardest of hearts and lead them to full reconciliation … with us and with God.

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

Romans 2:1-8 (NASB)

That mystery trailer...

2007-07-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

If you saw Transformers at the theater, odds are you saw the un-named trailer for a film from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) coming to the multiplex on 1-18-08.

If you haven't seen the trailer, you can watch it in HD (or LoD) at Quicktime.

Nerdy sidenote: My dream come true would be for this movie to be the Lost smoke monster run-amuck in some city ... wreaking havoc on people like he does so often in the show. But I'm willing to put that nerdy dream aside (even though the sound of whatever-it-is in the trailer sounds is familiar).

I can't say that I have ever been as intrigued by a trailer as this one, nor has a trailer ever been this shrouded in mystery. My interest is coming from many different directions:

1. J.J. Abrams is involved, which means the film has the possibility of being a very engaging, mythologically rich adventure.

2. The trailer looks like it has been shot with a simple mini-DV camera of some sort (although I'm sure it is just made to look that way), yet there are still special effects; almost as if someone is just standing by recording these events as they take place (a la the first 9/11 videos).

3. This means that, if the movie is anything like the trailer, we could have the possibility of a one-shot wonder on our hands (sort of like Russian Ark or Adrenaline).

I know I'm assuming alot here, but a one-shot wonder disaster film from Abrams' team would be ... wow. I don't have the words for it. I can't wait to see how this project (as of now called Cloverfield) develops.

Lindelof on Potter

2007-07-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Damon Lindelof, co-creator and writer of Lost, wrote an article for the NY Times today about how he thinks Harry Potter (along with any story with "grand mythology" [that would include Lost]) should end. The whole article is worth a read just for Lindelof's wit and charm, but here are my favorite parts...

The Brits have no such hang-ups. They demonstrate almost limitless patience (which explains cricket) when it comes to the rather touchy issue of “resolution.” We Yanks, however, do not want froufrou endings. We want things definitively tied up.
And by “things” I mean lots of people dead. And by “definitively tied up” I mean in excruciating ways that ideally involve lots of gratuitous explosions.
-----
[J.K. Rowling] can’t whack Harry because there are rules that must be followed when it comes to how one ends a grand mythology. Good triumphs over evil. Hope overcomes despair. Paper covers rock. Harry wins. Voldemort loses. The Ewoks sing.
And this is precisely why Harry has to die.
Because it will be tragic. And emotional. And surprising. But most of all ... it will be fair.
-----

Maybe if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tossed one final spell at Harry? Like a mega-Avada Kedavra curse that nobody had ever survived? And if Harry, like, did some kinda Matrix-slow-motion move and used his wand to deflect? And then his opponent like totally exploded everywhere into a thousand pieces of reptilian flesh? If, like, Harry blew on the end of his wand and said, “I told you not to curse, Voldemort.”
That’d be fine, too.

So...

2007-07-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

...the other day, while at work at the Pharmacy, I found out that PACE (a state-run prescription program for Pennsylvania citizens over 60) is funded by none other than The...

This surprised me. I thought it was nice. But not nice enough to take all my tithe money and buy Powerball tickets.

So...tonight I watched Venus (with the immaculate Peter O'Toole) and saw this little logo before the titles of the movie came up:

I thought, "Okay ... the usual. The company logo before the film starts."

THEN, I saw this little bit at the bottom:

For a moment, it made me mad. It reminded me of the other day when I watched this little movie...

...and discovered that America is one of the only civilized nations that doesn't have "free" health care. From my experiences at the Pharmacy, it would be so much nicer to only have to pay $6.95 for ANY prescription like they do over in the UK. And guess what? People under 12 and over 60 don't have to pay ANYTHING for prescriptions.

Anyway, if America had free health care, we might be able to have an organization like the UK Film Council to help people who want to make films and don't have the money. Wouldn't it be nice?

But, getting free health care is just a step toward socialism, I guess.

And we can't have that...

"Are you Ladiesman217?!"

2007-07-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

Things I thought while watching Michael Bay’s Transformers.

Before time began, there was ... the cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them ... with life.

That was officially the worst opening narration ever.

Is it a requirement to have a loud, brassy, stereotype-driven black role in every Michael Bay film? I don’t see how this isn’t offensive to African Americans.

I didn’t know that the Transformers talked. Sorry.

Are the Transformers really going after LaBeouf because of an Ebay item? What an infantile plot device.

Is it possible for Michael Bay to let us forget the lead actress’ hotness for just one second, or must she always exist behind a layer of shimmery body gloss for the whole film. Seriously.

(And is she really that hot? Or is it just your tricky camera work, Mr. Bay?)

I’m sorry. You can’t make me feel emotional over a transforming robot named Bumblebee. It’s simply impossible.

Did Optimus Prime really just say “My bad”?

Was that really a Furby advertisement? I thought they were extinct.

Ahhh, John Turturro. You’re such a great actor. Now, you’ve reduced yourself to playing a stereotypical government agent who utters the most hilarious line in the film: “You’re a criminal. Criminals are hot!” And did that robot just pee on him?

How does one film something like this? It's got to be a logistical nightmare.

----------

And so it goes. Transformers most definitely kept me entertained through it 2 ½ hour running time, but I walked out of the theater having seen what I expected: a cheesy summer action-fest that does nothing more than entertain. It’s a lot of fun ... even thought it's almost exasperatingly stupid, like all of Bay's films.

I guess I can leave room for that every now and then.

Why would I want to know this...

2007-06-30T13:31:00.001-07:00

If this makes you laugh as much as it makes me laugh, please do speak up!

The remarkable "Ratatouille"

2007-06-29T21:31:00.001-07:00

I’ve been a big fan of Pixar ever since Toy Story 2. They make consistently wonderful animated films that have great stories and technical brilliance to boot. I always walk into the theater not knowing what to expect and (almost) always walk out impressed. But, with Ratatouille, I was very impressed. So impressed, that I am willing to say Ratatouille is the finest animated film that I have ever seen.

The first reason I say this is because of its artistic brilliance. Everything in Ratatouille is just luscious to behold and has its own sense of reality, while still being animated. The voice actors are impeccable, especially the great Peter O’Toole voicing food critic Anton Ego (what a great name). The story is well-written, multi-layered, and as enjoyable for adults as it would be for children. Children might even get a bit tired of this one with its 112 minute running time and avoidance of the usual kids movie clichés. It’s a solid, great film from all directions … something that is rarely seen in most animated fare.

Plus, it’s just such a fun movie to watch. I laughed out loud many times and don’t think that a smile left my face from the television screen at the opening, to the excellent monologue at the end.

Any of the things I’ve mentioned above (or the likes of them) can be seen in most of Pixar’s achievements. What makes Ratatouille such a special piece of film is its simple, yet profound message about appreciating excellence and beauty.

As Remy, the main rat character of the film, watches his family and friends eat a steady diet of garbage, he is disgusted. Remy has excellent taste. He tries to seek out new and delicious foods (which aren’t that hard to find!). He is discerning and finds nourishing things to eat instead of being content with the typical garbage that his compatriots are satisfied eating. The vital importance of excellence is a lesson that the filmmakers behind Ratatouille know well. They have taken the concept to heart and have created one of the finest examples of meaningful, popular art that I have ever seen.

“Excellence matters” is also a lesson that needs to be taken to heart by many people living in our culture and a message that I am passionate about. I so badly want people to experience and appreciate excellence! There are so many artists out there, trying to do their very best, just waiting to be appreciated. As Anton Ego says in the closing act of Ratatouille: “The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations … the new needs friends.” That it does.

So, make friends with something new today. Look deeper at the world you live in. Think, for a change. You’ll find things you never dreamed of and always hoped for waiting just for you in the places that you’d least expect. Don’t get to addicted and attached to things that are disposable and of no consequence, but seek out something excellent. You might just find that it has the capability to enrich your life for the better.

Why haven't I heard about this?

2007-06-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Starring

Meryl Streep
Glenn Close
Vanessa Redgrave
Patrick Wilson
Toni Collette
and more!

I smell Oscar. According to a reviewer on IMDb (who may not be that reputable), Evening features "one of the greatest casts ever assembled in 100+ years of movie-making" and is "a deliberately paced, visually gorgeous meditation on real life issues." There are some really beautiful images in the trailer and if it lives up to what this reviewer says, I believe I will love every second.

And the best part is that it opens THIS FRIDAY!

UPDATE: Looks like I won't be giving this film my money this weekend. Partly because of the 20-something percent on the Tomatometer (thanks, Raymond) and Roger Ebert's *1/2 star review.

There are few things more depressing than a weeper that doesn't make you weep. "Evening" creeps through its dolorous paces as prudently as an undertaker. Upstairs, in the big newport mansion, a woman is dying in a Martha Stewart bedroom. She takes a very long time to die, because the whole movie consists of flashbacks from her reveries. This gives us time to reflect on deep issues, such as, who is this woman?

Then there's Jeffrey Overstreet at CT Movies who gives it a whopping one star rating and even mentions that very pretty shot that I posted above...

Evening feels artificial from the very first shot. We see a young woman reclining peacefully on a boat, resting on placid Rhode Island waters against a vivid sunset. Some may find the image breathtakingly beautiful. But there's something strangely artificial about it. It's so picturesque, with that digitally manufactured sky and that woman so perfectly posed, that it feels sentimental and idealistic—the stuff of vacation-brochure photography.

Grr. So sad to see good talent wasted. Off to see Ratatouille.

"Interview"

2007-06-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Found the trailer for this movie on Quicktime today and was extremely intrigued.
It stars Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller and is directed by Buscemi. Interview is a drama about "a fading political journalist" who "is forced to interview America's most popular soap actress." Supposedly, the film covers some pretty tough territory, talking about the cult of celebrity and the problems with mainstream entertainment.

I love dramas with two great actors duking it out with diologue.

Plus, Sienna Miller.

Top of my must see list.

I've got the Csehy Blues...

2007-06-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today marks the first last Sunday of June in five years that I haven’t packed up some of my belongings, hopped in the van with Mom and Dad, and headed over to Langhorne, PA for two weeks at Csehy (CHAY-hee) Summer School of Music.

Depressing? Yes.

Csehy Summer School of Music is truly a place like no other. The people there are the nicest, most welcoming people I have ever met and I have made some amazing friends there over the years. Csehy encouraged me immensely throughout my teenage years and has done a great work in shaping me into the person I am today.

At Csehy, I laughed the hardest I ever have in my life at the counselors and staff.

At Csehy I learned that making music is not simply playing notes, but an art that is to be perfected and shaped to the glory of God.

At Csehy I learned great hymns of the faith and sang them until my throat was sore.

At Csehy, I was taught and instructed by impeccable artists who also happened to be committed Christians. Now that’s a rarity!

At Csehy, I witnessed countless kids my age leave their two weeks of camp as completely changed individuals because of the tremendous example of staff and counselors and the work of the Holy Spirit.

Because of Csehy, I found out that my future did not lie in the area of piano performance. For that I am very grateful.

Csehy planted countless seeds in me that continued to bloom throughout the whole of my teen years.

One of my most vivid memories is a piano lesson I had with Ben Harding where he brought in a book of modern art. He started explaining to me the stories behind some of the paintings that, before he explained them to me, seemed like nonsensical shapes and patterns. I think that was the first moment that I really got chills over an art other than music. In that moment I gained respect for art of all kinds and after that, would never look at things the same again. That was my first step in looking closer at God's world.

Even before Summit…

Even before Bryan…

It all started at Csehy, a place that will always hold a place in the very center of my heart. A place I will never ever forget.

PS: This video is also a product of Csehy and the unique breed of people there...

Sleep on THIS...

2007-06-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

The man who has stolen in order to never thieve again remains a thief. Nobody who has ever betrayed his principles can have a pure relationship with life.

-A. Tarkovsky (Sculpting in Time)

I read this quote from Tarkovsky tonight and it really sparked something in me. I spend a lot of time thinking about my own “principles” and if the actions that I make on a daily basis really fit into that Christian Worldview that I like to talk about so much. Things like, “Are my thoughts toward that person I saw on the street really something that a follower of Christ should think?” or “Do my inner-most thought processes really mesh with what I say I believe?”

When I read Tarkovsky saying that no one who has betrayed their principles can have a pure conscience, I thought, “WOW…that is so true!” When I don’t think in a way that would be pleasing to God, when the fruit of the spirit is not evident in my thought processes, there is no way that I can ever be the person that God has destined me to be. It’s a double life and a double mind.

Just some thoughts that I thought I’d take captive for a few minutes…

I NEED to see this!

2007-06-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've really got to get out and see Into Great Silence. I've heard so many great things about it from so many sources. I just saw this article on IMDb and this paragraph made me want to see the film even more...

More than anything the film is about how we look, how, when given time, we are able to see differently. It is these quiet moments of beauty found in the quotidian mundane that Groening is most proud of. "I could not have found the image of the bowl of fruit when I first arrived. I had to wait. There was a change as my perception of the present moment helped me to see more. My level of awareness became different.

With all this Tarkovsky I'm reading, I really miss sitting in a dim theater by myself taking in great pieces of art (something that is rare to find here in the Burg).

I'm going into Philadelphia in about a month for a day. I'm really hoping the film will be playing there, or else I might just have to have my Uncle send me the Region 2 DVD over from England.

Tarkovsky Quotes

2007-06-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Sculpting in Time by Andrei Tarkovsky at the moment. I read this quote tonight and thought, "Wow ... this man is amazing. This captures exactly how I feel." Take a read:

The beautiful is hidden from the eyes of those who are not searching for the truth, for whom it is contra-indicated. But the profound lack of spirituality of those people who see art and condemn it, the fact that they are neither willing or ready to consider the meaning and aim of their existence in any higher sense, is often masked by the vulgarly simplistic cry, ‘I don’t like it!’ ‘It’s boring!’ It is not a point that one can argue; but it is like the utterance of a man born blind who is being told about a rainbow. He simply remains deaf to the pain undergone by the artist in order to share with others the truth he has reached.

And then, a page later, I read this next quote that sums up how I feel when encountering a great piece of art, whether is be music, film, etc.

Touched by a masterpiece, a person begins to hear in himself that same call of truth which prompted the artist to his creative act. When a link is established between the work and its beholder, the latter experiences a sublime, purging trauma. Within that aura which unites masterpieces and audience, the best sides of our souls are made known, and we long for them to be freed. In those moments we recognize and discover ourselves, the unfathomable depths of our own potential, and the furthest reaches of our emotions.

Reflections on "Little Children"

2007-06-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, if you haven't seen Little Children, there are some mild spoilers in the following post. If that applied to you, I believe you need to head out to your nearest film rental store and pick up a copy of this amazing piece of cinema.

Two nights ago, a friend was at my house to visit. After looking through my DVD collection he asked if he could borrow Little Children. He had seen half of the film on an airplane coming home from Europe and needed to finish it. Of course, I said yes. After all … it was the best movie of last year (according to me, at least).

When a friend borrows a film that has as much potential to offend as Little Children, I always like to warn them about the potentially “bad” parts. I don’t say this to sound like a puritan, I just try to avoid backlash from offended friends. I told him that the most graphic part of the film comes at the book club meeting when Kate Winslet is talking about Madame Bovary (“It's the hunger - the hunger for an alternative and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness.”) and the film cuts between Brad and Sarah in the throws of intercourse. In my opinion, this is the climax (no pun intended) of the film and possibly the film’s most important scene. I just told him to look out and be ready to duck for a few seconds if he thought it might be something he'd struggled with.

After he left, I was thinking to myself about Brad and Sarah a bit. They both were tired of their mundane lives and had that “hunger for an alternative.” Both were longing for a change. Both were unhappy. Instead of trying to work things out, they did the “easiest” thing and had an affair.

It got me thinking about how many times I’m tempted to do the “easy” thing. It turns out that the “easy” thing is almost always the most sinful thing. What is easier than holding that anger in at someone who has wronged you? What is easier than wasting time watching tons of inconsequential entertainment? What is easier than clicking on that lurid Internet advertisement? Sin is always more attractive. It’s that “wide road” that the Bible talks about and there is a TON of room to run around and swerve.

But if one keeps running around like a wild man on that wide road, something will be dislocated or interrupted. People will get hurt. Lives will be damaged. Souls will be lost. The end of Little Children shows the effects of Brad and Sarah’s choices, along with the choices of everyone else in the film. It’s not happy stuff and I find it extremely convicting.

The choices I make do not only affect me. They affect everyone around me, whether I know it or not. It’s something that I struggle to be mindful of as I go about my life. Sometimes I’m proud of myself for doing the things that are right and admirable. There are also times when I just want to hide my head in shame for what I’ve done. God’s forgiveness is always there, though, and it is not something to be abused.

The past is the past. It’s written in stone and cannot be changed. God may forget the things we’ve done, but we don’t have the same luck most of the time. It's a matter of trying not to focus on the past, but focusing solely on the hope of a brighter future, illumined by the brightness of the hope we have in Christ.

As the narrator says at the end of Little Children, “You couldn't change the past. But the future could be a different story. And it had to start somewhere.”

Parties, movies, and an uncharacteristically giddy Great-Aunt.

2007-06-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad's 25th Anniversary Party was yesterday at Aunt Catherine's house. It was an open house for family and friends from 4-8. It went really well. Mom and Dad were surprised, we had great food, and everyone had a good time. It was really neat to see the surprise on their faces when people they hadn't seen in a long time walked in. Now I can enjoy the rest of the summer without worrying about sneaking around planning this party.

I traded in Sophie Scholl for The Painted Veil on Thursday evening. At first I couldn't find it on the new release shelf. I knew I'd seen it last week on the shelf. This was my conversation with the Blockbuster employee:

ME: Hey, do you guys have any copies of The Painted Veil with Ed Norton and Naomi Watts?
BLOCKBUSTER: Yes, sir, we do. Let me help you find it.

[We go back to the new release shelf and find the film shelved out of order.]

BLOCKBUSTER: Hmmm ... only two copies and its out of order. Must not be a very good movie.
ME: Well, knowing the tastes of the people in this town, its probably a very good movie.
BLOCKBUSTER: Whatever you say, sir.

I thanked him for his vote of confidence and watched the movie on Friday night. It was one of the best movies I've seen in a while and definitely would win my personal award for "The Best of Movie Last Year That You Never Heard Of." I'm kicking myself for not catching this in the theater. Everything about the film is stunningly beautiful. From the story that talks about the nature of forgiveness and true love, to the exquisite photography, to the amazing musical score. Everything that comprises a truly great film can be found in The Painted Veil. Some may say it's boring, but I say its art ... a great work of art at that.

Another great thing about The Painted Veil is that it has a solid moral framework and is surprisingly inoffensive. Yes, the film has some sexual elements, but they are completely necessary to tell the story and are handled with tact, not being exploited. Too many films lack this in our day and The Painted Veil was very refreshing. A beautiful movie in every sense of the word. Watch it ... you won't regret it.

While The Painted Veil was a great movie, Hollywood unleashed upon audiences this weekend a new horrendous dish of torture porn: Hostel: Part II. Just another addition to the ever-increasing list of movies that elevate the torture of human beings into entertainment. I read a great article the other day comparing the meaninful violence of a new documentary on abortion (Lake of Fire ... an excellent film that I'm sure you'll be hearing about within the next year) to the pointless and pornographic violence of Hostel: Part II. Here's the link, but mind you, it's a bit graphic.

Whenever the thought crosses my mind that we need to do something to stop these kind of movies from being made, I remember that there is really no way we can do this because America is a free country. As Michael Phillips put it in The Chicago Tribune, "When you live in a free country, you put up with crud like Hostel Part II." Well put. We can stand against it, as we should, but we can't mandate that it stops. I love my freedom in this country, but the fact that we can't stop something as awful as this film from being made is sad. The fact that millions of people were entertained by it this weekend is even more sad. God have mercy on us.

On a better, slightly less serious (and infinitely more funny) note, here's a wonderful action shot of Aunt Catherine. At the point that this picture was taken, she was telling a story about how she once thought that her reflection in a mirror was someone else. Then she started talking to it. And this was when she could actually see.

A bit of Patriotic Angst

2007-05-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

With as much as we Christians talk about being "in the world and not of the world" (misinterpreted many times) you would think that we would believe that saying the Pledge of Allegiance would be, essentially, pledging our allegiance to an earthly kingdom ... The Kingdom of This World.

This is something that has been going through my mind recently. We live in, to borrow Andrew Peterson's words, a "far country" that is "not our home." In fact, this "far country" is going down the tubes very fast and many Christians are content to watch it burn while complaining about the sorry state of affairs. The world, to them, is nothing but a mounting threat to purity that should be dealt with by putting ourselves in the Christian bubble where everything is safe and discernment is not needed.

In conclusion: is it hypocritical to Pledge the American Flag and then go and pledge the Christian Flag (or vice versa)? The word "treason" comes to my mind. So does Matthew 5:33-37. What do you think?

I'll leave you with Andrew Peterson's song "The Far Country." He's one of the few Christian artists that can actually be called an artist anymore. I encourage you to listen to him for his words, even if his voice isn't all that appealing. I've put my favorite parts in bold.

"The Far Country"
by Andrew Peterson

Father Abraham
Do you remember when
You were called to a land
And didn’t know the way

‘Cause we are wandering
In a foreign land
We are children of the
Promise of the faith

And I long to find it
Can you feel it, too?
That the sun that’s shining
Is a shadow of the truth

This is a far country, a far country
Not my home

In the dark of the night
I can feel the shadows all around me
Cold shadows in the corners of my heart

But the heart of the fight
Is not in the flesh but in the spirit
And the spirit’s got me shaking in the dark

And I long to go there
I can feel the truth
I can hear the promise
Of the angels of the moon

This is a far country, a far country
Not my home

I can see in the strip malls and the phone calls
The flaming swords of Eden
In the fast cash and the news flash
And the horn blast of war

In the sin-fraught cities of the dying and the dead
Like steel-wrought graveyards where the wicked never rest
To the high and lonely mountain in the groaning wilderness
We ache for what is lost
As we wait for the holy God
Of Father Abraham

I was made to go there
Out of this far country
To my home, to my home

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

2007-05-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, like the last film, has a brilliant and artistic opening. I hate to say it, but the movie goes pretty much downhill from there. It has its moments of greatness, but all in all cannot live up to the other two films because of its slow pacing and (almost) unintelligible plot. I guess I’ll talk about the bad aspects first.

The second movie, my favorite of the series, sets up a plot that has the potential to be engaging, exciting, and even a bit scary. The third film takes the story set up by Dead Man’s Chest and twists it into a confusing mess of politics, double-crosses, dark mythology, and just plain weirdness. During a few sequences that include Jack Sparrow, you’ll probably be asking yourself if the director has gone completely nuts (peanuts, most likely) … I know I was.

Gone are the creative and fun action sequences that make Dead Man’s Chest my favorite of the trilogy and the semi-light and playful tone of The Curse of the Black Pearl. Jack Sparrow is still just as funny, but his typically clever banter is drowned out by a bunch of unnecessary pirate mythology including, and not limited to, an encounter with the goddess Calypso that is very reminiscent of the end of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (with some added crabs for kicks).

I don’t mean to make the film sound like a total failure. Davy Jones looks just as amazing as in Dead Man’s Chest. In my personal opinion, Davy Jones is the best CGI character every created (sorry, Gollum). He looks completely real and is played to perfection by my favorite actor, Bill Nighy. Keith Richard’s cameo as Jack’s Dad is simply hilarious and I thought I would die when he pulled the guitar out and started strumming.

The climactic battle scenes are typically great. Gore Verbinski (the director of all three movies) knows his way around an action scene unlike any other director working today. It has to be a logistical and aesthetic nightmare to direct one of those things, and Verbinski does it deftly. Lord Cutler Beckett’s fate at the end of one of these scenes is probably my favorite part of the whole movie, and maybe even the whole franchise.

Hans Zimmer’s score for this movie is a masterpiece. Unlike the first two movies that relied heavily on a synthesizer, Zimmer unleashes the full orchestra here and writes new themes that put the score for this movie in a class of its own. Zimmer develops these themes so well that I could swear it was someone else writing the score. Excellent stuff. You should get the soundtrack. I got it earlier this week and have been listening to it non-stop.

In conclusion, At World’s End its worth seeing on the big screen just because its such a grand spectacle. Go to marvel at the weirdness and enjoy the action scenes. I suggest being well versed in the second film before you see this one or else you will be a bit confused (I love the second one and I was still confused). Some of the movie is a lot of fun, but a great majority of it represents creativity run amuck. It’s a shame, because they had a great change to make a compelling story into an excellent film.

My rating: **1/2 out of ****

CCM Gripes and Grievances, etc.

2007-05-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

I was planning on starting my work binge at the Pharmacy on Thursday of this week, but go unexpectedly called in on Monday for four hours. That was fine with me because I wasn't really doing anything. The Pharmacy is like usual: a bit slow at times with a dusting of mean, irate, mental people. The customer I fear the most (the one that has called me a "jackass" in times past) came in this morning and my heart started beating faster than it has in a very long time. This guy is so mean and inconsiderate than when he comes in, my hands start shaking. It was nerve racking and he had an explosion or two this morning. It's all over now, though. Until next time at least.

A nice aspect of working at the Pharmacy is that I know it is run by people who are Christians and desire to have an honest business that is pleasing to Christ. The only stipulation to this is that we play Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) all the time. Those of you who know me know my loathing for most CCM. It's boring, thoughtless, uncreative, and repetitive. Most modern pop music shares these adjectives as well, but I'm not going to cover that right now. My main gripe over the past week at work has been with the group Selah and their shameless covers of a few popular secular songs.

In the last two years, Selah has covered "Bless the Broken Road" by the Rascall Flatts and "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. In both of these shameful arrangements, Selah has changed the focus of the song from a person (both Groban and the RFs are singing to people) to God. You might say, "Oh, this is nice. Selah is redeeming popular songs by singing them to God." I say that this is something you just CAN NOT do and it goes against everything I have ever been taught or read about the concept of authorial intent.

When someone writes or creates something, it has a specific meaning. There is one meaning that can not and should not be changed. People do this with the Bible all the time and it does terrible things to the faith. It's kind of a spiritual postmodernism ... this is what Selah is guilty of. It's not just doing a nice thing for God ... it's disrespecting Him by taking advantage of someone elses creativity and thrusting it upon Him. For the love of God (literally), WRITE SOMETHING CREATIVE!

We have a history as Christians when it comes to art and creativity. Michaelangelo created some of the most influential paintings and sculptures of all time. Flash to the 20th century and we see J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis creating whole worlds through literature (literature that is still respected today) ... all to the glory of God. Even Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) found ways to reflect God's beauty and truth through some of his music. Check out The Lost Chord, for example.

It's pretty sad that I can't really praise much of anything written of produced by Christians for its artistic merit AND profundity. You're lucky to find anything worth talking about in a Christian bookstore amid all the second-rate novels and "Holy trinkets." Christians need a call to arms when it comes to engaging the culture WITH our message. Outside of preaching the message (which we are most definitely called to do), we need to find creative ways to express the hope that we have been given and the truth that we possess without coming across as a bunch of ignorant hacks that know nothing about craft and artistry. End of griping session.

Lost was extremely well-written this week ... possibly one of the top five Lost scripts in the show's history. Lost has an amazing episode formula with the flashbacks and all and when they hit the nail on the head by making the flashbacks inform the island story narratively AND emotionally ... it's just grand. This week, they did and the result was a very good episode with lots of literary references, great acting, and depth of character. This show just keeps getting better and better. BTW, if anyone else caught the symbolic meaning of the screen-cap above, please comment!

A bunch of my friends are going to Hersheypark on Thursday, but I have to work. It's probably a good thing I'm not going because I don't have the money. I have been selling some stuff online to make some extra cash. I'll get a nice check from the Pharmacy on Thursday, too. I still need to save, though. Such is the life of a college student.

Spider-Man 3

2007-05-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

I went to see Spider-Man 3 today with the family. It's very enjoyable, but not nearly as good as the second installment.

As usual, the action scenes are stunning and the movie looks great. The lighting in these films have always impressed me. They're always very bright films and that makes them more approachable ... not so horridly dark like some superhero movies tend to be. The music struck me as very fitting in this installment. Even though Danny Elfman was absent for Spider-Man 3, his themes are still there and they're still great. Also, whoever does the opening titles for the Spider-Man franchise is a genius. They're great and serve as perfect reminders of the past movies.

Now for the bad. This time, they decided to stick in a whole bunch of under-developed characters. I have a love-hate relationship with Gwen Stacy. I LOVE Bryce Dallas Howard. She's gorgeous and she's a great actress, but her character was way too shallow. Some more development would have been great on her part. The three villains (yes, three) could also have been stretched out into another movie. If the villains had been developed as much as Doc. Ock in Spider-Man 2, I would have been great. Also, Toby Maguire can't really act that well. When the evil symbiote takes over Peter and makes him give in to his fleshly desires (i.e. become emo), Toby Maguire still can't stop looking like a nerd no matter how hard he tries.

The moral of this one is superb though. It's refreshing to see truth voiced through a big budget Hollywood film. And the morals and lessons in Spider-Man 3 are undeniable, the main one being that the choices that we make that may seem unimportant are what shape us into the people we become later in life. There's also some really cool Christian imagery which I'm sure will be taken out of proportion by Christian critics and spawn books like The Theology of Spider-Man or Finding God in Spider-Man. We can never leave well enough alone, can't we?

Next big blockbuster on the list: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Looks amazing. I want to go at midnight.

"The horror ... the horror!"

2007-04-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday's journey to Chattanooga culminated in eating at a place I had never experienced before and never ever want to experience again: CiCi's. Apparently, CiCi's is a pretty popular place down South ... that comes as no surprise to me, as it is an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for $4.99. Everything about the place was so immeasurably gross. I saw a worker stick her unwashed hand up the ice dispenser to try to fix it. I swear that no person over 30 in the whole place was under 250 lbs. The pizza was nothing but grease and left an awful taste in my mouth. The floors had a half-inch layer or grease on them, as well. It was like walking on top of a layer of lard. So gross. I'll never go to a CiCi's again!

As I walked out of my final class of my first year of college on Friday, the weight of work wasn't lifted like I thought it would be. My two biggest finals (English II and WCiv II) are tomorrow and I still have to pack up the room and take some of my bigger items to storage. In any case, I'll be home in less than five days. Then ... happiness.

I ended up getting to McKay's twice this weekend. I took Brett's car and went by myself on Friday. I picked up the soundtrack to The Mission and the complete dossier edition of Apocalypse Now (which includes the original and the redux). On Saturday, Colton and I stopped by and I picked up an awesome edition of Plato's Republic and a Sam Phillip's CD. All this for less than $18. I love getting a good deals.

Since I didn't have much work other than studying this weekend, I watched Apocalypse Now. It's one of those movies I've always wanted to see but have never gotten around to watching. What a great film. There's some pretty ground-breaking stuff in this movie, from the cinematography, to the first of 5.1 sound. I'm tempted to say that it's better than The Godfather when it comes to Coppola films, but I'll have to wait until a second viewing to find that one out. In any case, if you like great war films, you'll love Apocalypse Now.

Lately, my mind has been swirling with things I want to do this Summer. Perhaps its a good thing that I won't be working at Csehy. As much as I'm going to miss the place, its abscence will give me some good time to build up the bank account and get alot of things done. It will be the first Summer in years that I won't have big events to attend. It's going to be quite a change. Who knows ... maybe a change for the better.

I did have something slightly profound swimming in my head because of something I read last night, but that will have to wait. I doubt most of you would read it anyway. I'll get to it sometime.

Nashville Film Festival

2007-04-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I went to the Nashville Film Festival with a group of people from school. I was really excited because it was the first film festival I’ve been to. I really didn’t want to leave. I’ve had so many meaningful artistic experiences this weekend that its hard to describe. I’ll summarize some of the films that I really liked and leave out the crappy ones. My words won’t do some of them justice … talk to me in person for more info.

I’ll start with the biggest disappointment: a 90-minute thriller called Adrenaline filmed completely in one take. It was about a guy who buys a new car and immediately gets his OnStar-esque system taken over by a guy who supposedly has kidnapped his daughter. What followed was a disappointing one-take race against time that had an unsatisfying ending and little or no technical merit.

Many times when I watch a film, I may think that it isn’t that great, but then when it is over, I look at the whole and realize how great it is. Such was the case with Darrat (Dry Season). The film was about a young man in an African village that sets out to kill the man who killed his father. It was beautifully shot and worked spectacularly as a meditation on the nature of revenge. I’d like to see it again.

Swedish Auto was about a very homely guy that works at a car garage. He becomes infatuated with a beautiful violinist, but ends up falling in love with a simple girl that works at a diner who has problems of her own. My opinion of the film was low at the beginning, but got higher and higher as the movie went on. At the end I didn’t think it was a masterpiece, but it was better than many things I’ve seen out of Hollywood recently.

The last film I saw at the festival was a documentary by Tony Kaye, director of American History X. It was called Lake of Fire and is the definitive documentary on abortion. It was presented every side of the debate equally, only leaning slightly toward the pro-choice stance. Everything was there, though: scientific and philosophical debate, religious protestors, Republicans, Democrats, graphic termination footage. It even featured the complete abortion experience … from walking into the office, to walking out after the procedure. It was TOUGH! Probably the hardest thing I have ever watched, but something I think everyone needs to see. I don’t care how graphic it is: its real. Supposedly we’ll see this film in theaters around September.

For me, the best part of the festival was the first film I saw. It was called Forever and was a documentary from the Netherlands by Heddy Honigmann. I was transfixed with its beauty for the whole two hours of its running time. I was stunned that every frame of this gorgeous film could have been in a photography exhibition. Needless to say, I was deeply moved.

Forever is set in the Pere Lachaisse Cemetery in Paris where Chopin, Marcel Proust, and many other great makers of art are buried. It wasn’t about these people, though. It was about the people that visit their final resting places because their lives have been so changed by art … art produced by the deceased. Through this whole film, I saw people whose belief systems and lives have been shaped by the power of ideas expressed through art. These visitors could not stop talking or contain their excitement about how the ideas and art of these people had shaped the way they lived their everyday lives. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I really can’t express how I was moved by it … it was that good. I read somewhere that this will be released in theaters around September. I doubt I’ll be able to find it anywhere, but after I watch it again, it will most certainly become a favorite.

I loved the festival so much! I felt like I really belonged there because I was surrounded by people who appreciated and were interested in engaging great art. I could talk to any person in line for a film and have an intelligent discussion. I also realized how much of a mission field the film industry is. It invigorated me and made me want to go out and make a film. I’m definitely writing a script this summer, now that I’ll be home. It’d be so great to engage people’s minds for the sake of the Kingdom.

Eyes wide open...

2007-04-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was The Commoner Forum on human trafficking.

It would be cliché of me to say something like: “My eyes were opened up to a world I never knew existed!” or something like that, but in this case, I’m going to be cliché because that statement is the truth. I knew things like what the speaker discussed last night happen in the world, but I didn’t know to what extent.

I didn’t know that in some countries, vir ginal children can be bought for a price of anywhere from $2.50-$10,000. I had no idea that 83% percent of Internet child por nography is of children under the age of 12, 39% is of children 6 to 12 years of age, and 19% are under 3. Nobody had ever told me that all over the world there are communities of people who will abuse people as part of a ritual; an or gy of abuse taken out on anyone … from infants to adults. It disturbed me, along with many other people. As the speaker said, human beings are being devalued to being worth “nothing more than a head of lettuce” by “conscious people without a conscience.”

What also disturbs me is that while this is going on all over America and in other countries, some American film studios are producing torture-po rn films like Hostel and Saw that tend to hit the top of the box office charts whenever they are released. These are films where people are killed in the most gruesome fashion … films where the torture of a human being is put on the screen as entertainment. I know these movies are merely an illusion of cinematic magic, but they are training America’s next generation to be sadistic perverts who come out of the theater saying, “Dude, that was frickin’ awesome!”

I read an interview with Frank Darabont (the writer/director of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and the new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist) yesterday. Obviously, Darabont likes to work with literary genius Stephen King, America’s master of horror novels. The interviewer asked him what he thought of this new genre of “torture-po rn” movies and I was very happy to hear his response:

The torture-porn thing is pretty distasteful. I'm just not into it. Horror unfortunately tends to go in these cycles where it puts itself back in this ghetto. I just don't find anything amusing about people getting tortured. I wish we weren't making these movies. I think it degrades the culture. I think it diminishes the human spirit.

Torture is especially un-amusing when things like the events portrayed in Hostel actually go on overseas. I wouldn’t complain about a movie showing the serious gravity of this kind of situation, but one that indulges in making entertainment out of this … it makes my stomach hurt.

American needs to realize the gravity of this situation and do something about it. The people who back these films and sell them to our teenagers need to see what’s actually out there. Maybe we need to show them pictures of people being skinned or infants being violated.

Flannery O’Connor once said that a desensitized culture needs to be shocked into action.

I think that’s what we need.

Down to the wire...

2007-04-14T18:04:00.001-07:00

I have 19 days left here for the semester. That’s not much, but every time I look at the calendar, I think about all the stuff I have to do before then and it seems SO LONG! This next week I have a Western Civ. group project to finish, I have meetings for a (very big) Biblical Foundations group project, there is research essay due, and I accompany four people in Rep. class. There’s probably a bunch of other stuff that I’m forgetting at the moment, but that’s still a lot.

Even though this next week is going to be quite rough, I have the weekend to look forward to. Hot Fuzz comes out on Friday and the Bryan Film Festival awards ceremony is on Saturday night. Sunday morning, I’ll get on a bus at 8:00 and go to the Nashville Film Festival for two days. It will be my first real film festival, so I’m very, very excited. I’m probably seeing five films while I’m there and they all sound really great. Two documentaries, a comedy, a drama, and an action movie filmed in one take (I’m not expecting much out of that one). One of the documentaries I’m seeing is called Lake of Fire and is said to be the quintessential documentary on abortion, done by Tony Kaye, the director of American History X. I’m also visiting the Frist Center for the Arts while I’m there for their Picasso and Matisse exhibit.

24 returned to form this week with a really great episode. They brought David Fury, a writer from season one of Lost, in to dig them out of the giant hole they had made for themselves and start anew. Thanks goodness.

Lost was one of the best episodes ever this week as well. I love an intense characters study and that’s something the writers of Lost are really good at. I’ve been reading a graphic novel in my (very little) spare time called Watchmen that is sort of like Lost. It has well-developed characters that we learn about through flashbacks. One of the things I love about Watchmen is how it will cross cut from one scene into another situation, using the dialogue from the previous scene to give the new one meaning. Its really great stuff and is quite affecting at times. I long to write a really good story, but don’t have the talent or the time. Oh, well. I guess that’s the dilemma of many people … not just me.

I suppose everyone has heard about Don Imus of Imus in the Morning's new antics. I don’t usually listen to him, but I’ve really been keeping up with the trouble he has got himself into lately. Apparently, he called some Rutgers women’s basketball players “nappy-headed hos” on the radio and is now in big trouble (i.e. he’s been taken off the air). I just got done listening to a little speech he gave on the radio apologizing for it. I was hoping it would be good, but it wasn’t. He just spent twelve minutes talking about how he’s not a racist because he has a ranch where black children can come in the summer and he has some black friends. He tripped over his speech the whole time. It was really sad. It was sort of like the man was trying to jump out of his own grave, but was unintentionally making it deeper with every failed attempt. As the Bible says, “…the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” I’m still trying to figure out if he just had a weak moment, or if the guy really is a racist. I guess we’ll never know.

"Grindhouse"

2007-04-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

Last night, I saw Grindhouse.

Not being a big fan of Robert Rodriguez (I despised Sin City), I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not. But after 20 minutes of Planet Terror, I knew I was in for a darn good time. Planet Terror is probably the most fun I have ever had at the movies. Its such a delightfully dumb and clichéd piece of film. Everything about it is just insanely hilarious and we were quoting it all the way home. It has to be one of the most quotable movies ever and I had a darn good time!

Before going into it, my concern was that the violence would be very much like “gore porn” (where the powers-that-be decide to capitalize on human suffering a la Hostel and Saw), but I was pleasantly surprised. It was just funny schlock that ended up being extremely entertaining. Not to mention that it includes one of the funniest endings to a movie ever.

There are a couple things about Planet Terror that I thought went a little bit too far. Robert Rodriguez seems to have an obsession with emasculation and some plot points relating to that were a little too gross for my liking. There’s also a completely terrible attempted rape scene that pushes propriety off the ledge of Mount Everest ... one of the only parts of the whole Grindhouse experience that made me feel like throwing up.

Tarantino’s Death Proof couldn’t be more different from Planet Terror. Instead of being driven by schlock horror, Tarantino’s film is very dialogue driven. It’s good dialogue and definitely has the Tarantino flair, but gets far too crude at times. I got extremely tired of hearing women constantly swear gratuitiously. I didn’t mind Pulp Fiction at all … this was just annoying at times, though.

BUT, complaints aside, the car chases in Death Proof are completely amazing. Tarantino chose not to use any CGI for his movie and the result is fantastic. They are probably the most daring, edge-of-your-seat car chase I have ever seen. The end of Death Proof is also insanely hilarious and had me cracking up all through the credits.

I love how Tarantino and Rodriguez have duped us with the Grindhouse trailers. The trailer says something like “a Grindhouse was a theater that featured uncensored sexuality!”. In the movie(s), both times some sort of sexual scene is being promised, the film melts away into a missing reel message. For me, those scenes provided some of the biggest laughs, but I can imagine how some horny teenagers might be disappointed. Serves them right.

The fake trailers were a riot as well. Werewolf Women of the SS has to be one of the best movie titles ever conceived and Edgar Wright's trailer for Don't (makes me all the more excited for Hot Fuzz in a few weeks) had me rolling on the floor. Eli Roth’s trailer, though, is the lowest point of Grindhouse. It's perverse and disgusting and totally broke the light-hearted tone of everything else.

I really don’t know how to conclude my thoughts on Grindhouse. I don’t see many movies I think won’t be worthwhile and this one is definitely a really cool piece of film making. As much fun as it was, its devoid of any meaning whatsoever. I don’t necessrily think this is a bad thing sometimes, but today's movie-going audience usually feeds only on this kind of entertainment. This worries me. If you're going to watch movies, you need to balance the "fast food" with challenging pieces of film. I try to do this and find a good, challenging film extremely rewarding.

That said, I really really loved (most of) Grindhouse, and if you can handle the violence and some swearing, I think a lot of movie lovers will as well.

Most stressful week of the year: DONE.

2007-04-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

This week has been extremely busy. It’s been a week full of projects, exams, personal trials, and some other things that usually compile a stressful week. I got through it, though, and have come out relatively unscathed.

The biggest high point of this week was finishing the video for the film festival. After a big scare where I thought almost all of my work had been deleted, I finally got it done and turned it in on time. Since its not really “my” film, it would have been an extreme disappointment to a bunch of people if I had lost everything. I turns out that my external hard drive was not formatted correctly for my MacBook Pro. No harm done, though. I’m going to reformat it before summer.

I took today to sleep pretty late and do a lot of cleaning. I basically took everything out of the room and swept. Then I picked up every bit of trash that had been accumulated (mostly by my roommate), dusted everything and did laundry. Lets just say the room looks like a different place not.

Wednesday we had a really good chapel, even though I almost feel asleep during the message part. The worship band was the best part even though they were a bit too loud. We sang some awesome Easter-related songs that I hadn’t heard in a long time. It was also great to see a Professor up playing the piano with the band and quite obviously having a ton of fun. Seeing that kind of stuff always makes me feel good.

Yesterday (Good Friday), I went up in the woods for a while to do some reading and praying. It was great, even though it was a little cold. I listened to some music I hadn’t listened to for a very long time and had a really great time in the quiet. I borrowed an old Minolta film camera from a friend and shot off a role of scenery. I’m waiting to get it back, but I’m hoping they look good. If they come out well, I’ll probably buy an old Minolta from someone for cheap.

I’m heading into another semi-big video project I think. Brett is doing a magic show at our alma mater (good ol’ Shalom) on May 10 and needs it to be the best possible show because it could open a whole ton of options for other magic shows for him. I need to compile a rather atmospheric intro for his “Searching the Supernatural” show. It’s going to involve some shooting in a graveyard, clips from supernatural thriller/horror films/TV shows and some cool titling stuff. I’m excited because this show needs to be really good.

Light.

2007-04-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

phillip, i don't care how strange this sounds, but out of all my friends, you are undoubtedly my best friend. and i miss you a lot.

Hearing things like this is one of the reasons I'm glad to be alive ... however discouraging or disheartening life may be at the moment.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7

Angst

2007-04-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

Angst: an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom.

Saturday was a bad day. I decided to go up to Pocket with the guys to explore the woods, thinking that we would be going on the trail I like up to Laurel Falls … a very relaxing spot. Instead, the guys decided that we would go on a far more treacherous trek up to Naked Falls (no idea about that name). Along the way, I ripped the left leg of my favorite shorts all the way up to the crotch, fell numerous times, got bruises, got cuts, dropped my phone in some water, got water on my video camera (thank goodness it still works), got my good sneakers soiled by falling in water and mud (they washed out well), and slipped about ten feet done a small mountainside. That last item ended with me falling off rock ledge five feet into pile of leaves.

Needless to say, today I have a headache and am feeling quite battered. It’s frighteningly similar to the time that I went skiing up at Whitetail.

It seems that every time I get hurt physically (I try to limit these times), I end up thinking about my emotional and spiritual state as well. It could be that this is God checking up on me. Sort of like He’s asking me to make sure I’m where I should be. I spent about 15 minutes talking to Him while I was sitting on a rock up at the waterfall, refusing to explore any more.

I’m just feeling majorly unsatisfied right now. This is not to say that I don’t like my current situation. I love it here at Bryan. I have some great friends and some even better teachers.

The last two days, my music collection hasn’t been satisfying me. This may not seem like a serious issue, but it is to me! Every song I click, at least right now, just seems old and battered. I think that’s because of my attitude. Quite frankly, it stinks. The only song that is fitting my mood right now is Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” and that certainly doesn’t help my mood be any happier. I tried putting on happy music, but everything just leads back to “And So It Goes.” I don’t know why it fits right now because I’m not coming out of a painful relationship by any means. One line is catching my ear now though: “Every time I’ve held a rose, it seems I’ve only felt the thorns.” That’s sort of my attitude right now in my bruised and headachey state.

Its just that right now, there is a sense that I should be doing more! I feel sort of dead. Its not because I just sit around watching movies all the time. I don’t. I haven’t watched a movie in the last week! Its not that I don’t do my homework. I’ve done almost every assignment this semester. Admittedly, I don’t spend enough time in prayer and in God’s word. Maybe that’s the reason. Who knows.

Right now, I’d like nothing more than to take a car and drive around. Just drive. Anywhere. And do something. Maybe smoke a cigar. Maybe find a theater that is playing Into Great Silence. I think it’s a movie I could really benefit from right now.

Or maybe not. Maybe I need to do something loud and exciting to get my adrenaline pumping and hike my brain out of this weird and depressed state.

Damn it all, I don’t know what I want. I really don’t even know what I need, aside from a big dose of God’s grace.

Sorry for the randomness of this post … it’s sort of a Faulker-esque stream of consciousness thing right now. I’m sitting here in my bed listening to Billy Joel thinking I need to do something more. And I don’t really know what it is.

Ever busy...

2007-03-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

From IMDb News:

A MySpace blogger who had vowed to go on a hunger strike so long as American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar remained on the show touched off expressions of concern Thursday when she failed to update her daily blog. On the TMZ gossip site, an editor wrote, "Let us know you're OK. And have a steak or something -- Sanjaya isn't going anywhere any time soon." Later in the day, the anti-Sanjaya blogger, known only as "J," posted a message apologizing for not keeping her website current, then concluded: "I am still feeling kind of weak but okay. not at the point of hospitalization yet, thank goodness. it won't be long now until Sanjaya is gone!"

A friend called me tonight very distraught. She had been typing out a speech she was supposed to give at a women's retreat for three hours and somehow it didn't get saved. I worked with her on the phone for about half an hour to no avail. I could sympathize with her, though, because the other day I spent an hour writing an email to someone only to have a connection failure when I clicked "Send." Then, yesterday I had spent an hour editing some video footage only to find later that my work had disappeared. So, I've been saving things like a madman this last day-and-a-half.

This week has been crazy busy for me. I've had lots of homework in the past few days. Its been really stressful, but not enough to make me do anything rash like eat cafeteria casserole or eggs. I've been helping the guys on my hall with their movie for the college film festival. I guess I can say its my movie as well, but I really don't think I'd benefit from having my name attached to the ideas behind this project. In any case, I've been trying to make it as good as I possibly can by shooting all the footage, editing it, and getting a friend to write an original score so the movie has a chance of winning Audience Choice.

Also this week, we had the most random hour of 24 ever. E-V-E-R. There were so many impossible impossibilities and freak happenings in this episode ... it was amazing. We also introduced 24's first autistic character. Everybody clap! Even though this episode had one of the most tense scenes in 24 history, it still can't redeem the sloppy writing that is becoming characteristic of season six. Its a mess. But its still 24.

While we're on the subject of television, Lost was amazing this week. Another feat of excellent writing from the crew at ABC. I'm convinced that even a "bad" episode of Lost is written better than most any other TV show. This week was structured like an old-fashioned mystery that stuffed some characters from the past that we hadn't seen in a while (Doctor Arszt, Boone, Shannon, etc) into the mix. This episode made me not hate Niki and Paulo. I now know the reason for their existence (however short it may have been). Wednesday's episode answered some questions I've had for a while too, which is always a good thing when it comes to Lost.

I would really like to do a serious narrative or documentary project, but need to find something that is within my technological range and my ability. I've been limiting what I watch (sans a TV show here and there) to things that I think will be worthy of my time. Hence, I've been surrounded by a lot of excellence and when I think about setting out to do a project, I always get discouraged because I know I probably won't end up making anything of consequence. It'll come, though. I just have to wait.

I was listening to some Bach piano music today. I really want to learn some new Bach now. I haven't played him (or any other composer of piano literature, for that matter) in a long time and am feeling a great need.

Wish me luck in this next week. It's going to be another toughy.

35mm Film Shoot

2007-03-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

Around two months ago, my roommate decided he wanted to shoot something on 35mm. About three weeks ago, he finally got around to shooting it. He got the film processed and telecined last week and recently took some screen grabs that look pretty amazing. He has a real talent for lighting a set and some of this stuff just looks awesome. Still frames don't do it justice, but still, it looks pretty darn good.

I wish I could take credit for some of those shots, but, sadly, I only script supervised. Anyway, I think they look beautiful and look even better when they are moving. He says that doing this project has spoiled him for digital because film looks so much better. I agree. But it's so expensive. So is the life of a film student, though.

I watched Tornatore's Malena last night. There are so many beautiful metaphors in the film and I really, really liked it. Tornatore is very Fellini-esque (not always a bad thing) and overly sentimental at times but I can't help it: I absolutely love his style of filming and will probably end up imitating it if I ever make a film. I know what Flannery O'Connor says about indulging in sentimentality, but please forgive me if I like a little sentiment every now and then. Anyway, Malena was a very good, extremely beautiful, and sad film. The townspeople in this film make me sick with their attitude: "The voice of the people is the voice of God." It hurts even more when I realize that I'm capable of alienating people out of jealousy or my own "righteous indignation." Monica Bellucci is exquisite as the beautiful Malena whose crime is her beauty. And, of course, the movie is made whole by Ennio Morricone's score that he garnered an Oscar nomination for. A little romance does the heart good sometimes even if it just goes to show that "the only true love is unrequited love." I'm guessing we've all felt that feeling of unrequited love every now and then.

I *might* be going to see The Lives of Others tonight. I've been wanting to see this film for so long and am extremely anxious. As usual, I'll probably be seeing it alone because I don't have many friends here that can appreciate a good, artistic film. But I'll leave them to wallow in 300. Or Shooter. Or anything else that will satisfy blood lust and end up in the Top 5 weekend box office charts.

Pirates, magic, and hymns...

2007-03-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Before I go into a lengthy rehash of a seminar I attended this weekend, I’ll share a few things with you.

First of all, the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has been released. It was the Russian version, but even without English dialogue it looks pretty amazing. I’m not sure when the English trailer is being released. I was going to post it here, but YouTube took it down. Poo on them! Some pretty awesome stuff though ... sword fight between Davy Jones and Jack ... giant whirlpool ... ship careening off a giant waterfall. Needless to say, I can't wait and will definitely be seeing it at a midnight showing first thing.

I also finished a promotional video for my friend Brett’s magic business this weekend. I might have showed some of you one earlier, but this is much different with a ton of added stuff. Some of the footage of magic tricks doesn’t look too great, but, mind you, I didn’t shoot that footage. Let me know what you think.

This weekend here at Bryan, we had a Bryan Center for Critical Thought and Practice seminar. This time it was on the worship wars in churches, although it didn’t really talk much about the wars. Aside from the unintentionally humorous introductions by the esteemed Dr. VanEaton (Mr. Moneybags) I learned a lot of things from it this weekend and, after it was over, was very glad that I went. I’ve written a bit more about this weekend, but thought I would just point out the main thoughts that got across to me from the very gifted speakers I heard this weekend.

In today’s culture, we come to worship as spectators wanting to see a performance.

When talking about worship services he has seen in churches, Professor Pullen said, “They had the science down, but not the art. Art is where feeling and meaning is portrayed in music.”

When it comes to hymns, music bonds with words to make a complete, meaningful whole.

By taking away hymnals in churches and only projecting words, we are facilitating musical illiteracy.

In today’s society, we don’t have our bodies or minds dressed very much for worship.

Any enthusiastic Christian can write a worship song, but only the good stuff will survive the test of time.

We must worship totally, personally, and humanly.

When the Bible talks about God’s glory, it is referring to God’s beauty. Love, truth, and beauty are grounded in who God is.

Music must be grounded in a theology of worship which is grounded in the being of God.

I wish my generation appreciated hymns more. I wish that new life could be breathed into my peers through the powerful texts of some of these songs. Dr. Pullen said that hymns are not old and rusty, we just need to be willing to dust them off and make them ready to use again. He led us in a couple of hymns, explaining how we should sing some of the phrases and really mean them! It was great. My room mate came away saying that it made him want to learn more about music. That makes me very happy.

I also came away from this weekend with a favorite hymn to add to my list. The words have really gotten to me this weekend ever since Dr. Price said them yesterday. It’s called, “If All You Want, Lord,” written by Thomas Troger. It has a pretty un-original tune but amazing words.

If all your want, Lord, is my heart,
My heart is yours alone –
Providing I may set apart
My mind to be my own.

If all you want, Lord, is my mind,
My mind belongs to you.
But let my heart remain inclined
To do what it would do.

If my heart and mind would both suffice
While I kept my strength and soul,
At least I would not sacrifice
Completely my control.

But since, O God, you want them all
To shape with your own hand,
I pray for grace to heed your call,
To live your first command.

New things ... and some old.

2007-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've been introduced to so many new things recently either by other people, or simply searching around and finding them. I thought I'd share them with you here.

No. 1: I've been reading alot of Flannery O'Connor. I really love her short stories because her vision is so fantastic. I have never seen a modern writer infuse a Christian Worldview into their stories as well as she does in every single one that I've read. I'm mad that it has taken me so long to find out about this woman ... truly a treasure.

No. 2: Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire are two of my new favorite musical artists as far as modern music is concerned. I don't listen to too much new stuff, but this whole Indie Pop stuff is really appealing to me, partly because the lyrics are so creative and thoughtful. We need more artists like these guys.

No. 3: Heroes. This is an amazing TV show and definitely rising to the top of my all time favorites list with each episode. This show has such a unique vision in that its style is so much like a graphic novel. The camerawork and lighting are unusually superb for a TV show and the recent casting of Malcolm McDowell as Linderman is absolutely inspired. Yes, it took that show a while to find itself: the Desperate Housewives ripoff monologues in the first couple of episodes were a bad idea and there was some unnecessary sexual content in the shows beginning chapters. Luckily now, though, Heroes has turned into a genuinely creative, clean (sans the violence), and wonderful show. It may be a bit of a Lost ripoff, but its the first real good one and is getting better as it continues to emerge.

No. 4: Through A Screen Darkly by Jeffrey Overstreet. Any Christian interested in film or art in general owes it to himself to read this book.

No. 5: Chloe on 24. Entertainment Weekly stated it best in their review of Monday's episode:

There was a Chloe Classic Moment last night: When she had to go into the CTU room where Logan was being detained to tinker with a computer, she engaged the ex-prez in some awkward conversation and then abruptly shut him down with ''Sorry, I'm feeling ambivalent — I'm gonna go.'' It's as if the writers suddenly remembered how to write for Chloe: She has to articulate with stiff propriety and frankness the inner thoughts other characters have but don't reveal.

I would write more but I need to be off. Maybe I'll continue the list later.

Comforts and Concerns

2007-03-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

It’s good to be home.

This morning at church was one of the best church services for me in recent memory. One reason was that the music selection was superb (“Wonderful Grace of Jesus,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” etc.). The pastor’s sermon was good, too. I got to play special music and received a few complements. It was encouraging, even though I don’t really like complements that much. I’d rather hear people tell me they were blessed by what I played than impressed by it.

In that same vein, I’m reading through Jeffrey Overstreet’s book, Through A Screen Darkly, at the moment. What a wealth of insight about faith, art, and culture! The thing that has stuck with me most from the book so far is something he says in the first chapter: “When we give others something excellent, we reflect that standards of heaven.”

It’s such a blessing to me when something I have put my heart into blesses someone else. That’s why I love art and believe so much in its power … excellent art, in any form, can give us a glimpse of glory. I can’t imagine that that momentary transcendent feeling I feel while watching a powerful film or listening to beautiful music is what heaven is going to be like all the time!

I’ve been on an Ennio Morricone kick since the Oscars. I find that I don’t like his older stuff as much as his newer stuff. His older music was for a lot of westerns and doesn’t make for extremely easy listening, even though it is still good music. His later music has such musical maturity and passion that really could only come from a lifetime of experience. It’s gorgeous.

I’m listening to the score from The Mission right now. If you haven’t seen that film, you should right away. Morricone wrote a beautiful theme for oboe that represents a priest in the film. To make a long story short, the priest is a missionary to a remote tribe. In the end of the film, Morricone unites that longing oboe theme with tribal drums and voices. It’s a bit of very powerful musical storytelling. God has given Morricone a gift and has given the world some excellent music through him.

We had four friends over tonight. Two of them are very committed Christians, and two are not saved. During the course of our dinner, one of our Christian friends (whom I love dearly) had absolutely nothing good to say about anything. Now, I know I have my vices, but it hurt me to see a good Christian person eating with a non-Christian without anything good to say … at all. No wonder culture thinks of Christians as demeaning idiots. Many Christians complain about our culture’s views of Christianity without looking at the trouble inside of them. I’m included in that number sometimes.

Well, if you’re reading down here, you have a good amount of patience. I applaud you. Thanks for reading and I promise to make things a bit more entertaining next time. Today was a day for thought, though … and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

A good show ... with major disappointments.

2007-02-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Last night’s Academy Awards ceremony was a good one. Ellen was very funny (surprisingly clean) and did a great job of hosting the show (starting out with a black gospel choir running down the aisles of the Kodak theater singing “Hallelujah” for the nominees was a neat touch). There were lots of good tributes to actors, directors, and movies in general that were, as usual for the Oscars ceremony, very impressive.

Although the ceremony part of last night was very good, I was disappointed with some of the awards.

First of all, why in the world did The Departed win best picture?! Having seen all the nominees for this category, I think that every other film was better than The Departed in some way or another. The other films are meaningful works of art filled with insight and even one with a few laughs (Little Miss Sunshine). I found The Departed to be an all-too-crude good-cop-bad-cop film that even bordered on cheesy some of the time due to its bombastically overplayed violence and a heavy-handed, over-acted performance by Jack Nicholson. Even though it has its merits (it’s impeccably acted by most of its all-star cast, has some very cool editing, and greatly benefits from the direction of Martin Scorsese), I didn’t like and am very disappointed in the Academy for choosing the entertaining over much better aesthetic achievements.

Cinematography was also a dud award last night. Pan’s Labyrinth won. Yes, it has gorgeous cinematography but the cinematography in Children of Men is absolutely awe-inspiring. They did some things in that movie that were beyond belief and they should have been recognized for it. That was the second biggest upset of the evening.

Best Original Score was disappointing. Although the Babel score was good, Philip Glass’ Notes On A Scandal is a musical masterpiece and Navarrette’s Pan’s Labyrinth has a rare gothic beauty that isn’t heard very often in film scores. This is the second year in a row that Best Score hasn’t turned out the way I would like.

Last night, by any means, was not a total loss. I think I cried when they gave tribute to Ennio Morricone … a tremendously gifted composer who has written over 400 films scores. All of the music I’ve heard from his music conveys such a sense of longing has a rare beauty that I’ve never found in any other film composer. I got sappy when Robert Altman’s name was shown, too. Such a legend.

Although I didn't like his film, it was so great last night to see Martin Scorsese finally get an award for Best Director! It’s long overdue and always encouraging seeing such great talent rewarded by the Academy. The same goes for Alan Arkin … a long-time staple of American cinema and a great actor. Helen Mirren gave a stately, wonderful acceptance speech for her much-deserved award and Forest Whitaker took home a statuette as well for what I’ve heard is one of the greatest screen performances ever (even though it would have made be happy to see Peter O’Toole win after all these years).

By far the funniest part of the evening was Clint Eastwood and his presentation of the honorary Oscar to Ennio Morricone. Poor Clint forgot his glasses and couldn’t read the teleprompter. He ended up calling Morricone a “movie scorer” and fumbling over a ton of his words. I even think he was making up what Morricone was saying in his acceptance speech because he couldn’t read the translation from teleprompter! Hilarious. Poor guy needs to stick to directing.

A few other highlights were the amazing dance troupe, the sound effects choir, George Lucas on the Oscar stage, the mini-musical by Jack Black, Will Ferell, and John C. Rylie, Jerry Seinfeld's little stand-up blurb, and the Dreamgirls performance where Beyonce brought down the house with an awesome vocal performance

I love the Oscars. I think they’re a lot of fun. Since I’m not a sports fan, this is the one night of the year I act like one when the films I want to win … lose. Needless to say, I was very mad when Jack Nicholson opened that envelope to reveal the best picture winner. But, in the words of my friend Joseph, “There’s always next year.”

A busy week...

2007-02-23T14:15:00.000-08:00

This week has been crazy busy for me. I've had a ton of projects, essays, and tests to work on. Plus, intermediate algebra is being a real pain the the butt. It's bringing back memories of those days where I needed constant help from Mrs. Goetz and, trust, those are not good memories. But Spring break is coming ... things will get better because, after all, I'll be home a week from this evening.

I'll be working at the pharmacy over spring break. I'm surprised to hear myself say this, but I'm actually somewhat excited about going back to the place. Maybe these feelings will dissipate after about 15 minutes of work, but nevertheless, I need to money badly.

My room mate is doing his big 35mm film shoot tonight. I helped light the set last night and I think it is going to turn out well. He was having a little trouble loading the magzine with film, so I hope that the old Russian beast of a camera (that literally makes the sound of an aged KGB helicopter) doesn't eat all of the expensive film. That would stink. Very badly.

I decided that I simply don't have time to come up with a serious project worthy of stamping my name on for the college film festival this year. I was encouraged to submit the Hummingbird video that I did last semester, so I'm going to touch it up a bit and send it in. If anything, it'll get a laugh or two and that will make me very happy. If you haven't seen the Hummingbird video, it can be found here. I'm also going to help shoot and edit a project for some friends. I'm looking forward to it ... should be fun.

This week I watched Inarritu's Babel. It's nominated for best picture this year and is undoubtedly a great film. Essentially, the film shows that in every culture there is some sort of pain: physical, emotional, or spiritual. Hence, it is a very painful film as we watch people suffer in their lives due to lack of communication and become lost both emotionally and physically.

Some have compared it to Paul Haggis' Crash, but the two films are very different even though they share the same kind of narrative structure. Babel is as confusing as Crash with intersections of characters. Although Crash packs a major punch message wise, Babel's tone remains soft and contemplative even in the end.

It would be one of the most depressing films I have ever seen were it not for the amazing last shot that conveys a beautiful message of hope and healing. In my opinion, it's one of the best emotionally powerful shots in movie history and ranks with Andy Defresne's emergence from the sewage pipe in The Shawshank Redemption. It's a beautifully composed image that I hope stays with me for the rest of my life.

Trying to give my best...

2007-02-18T20:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, I was sitting at my desk trying to find an inspiration for a short film ... what I've been doing alot, but to no avail, the last few weeks. iTunes was on shuffle and a live rendition of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb came on (a song used excellently in Scorsese's The Departed). I like Pink Floyd when I'm in a certain mood ... when I'm really tired ... so tired that I feel high (not that I know what that feels like).

Last night something hit me though as I was listening to the guitar solo at the end.

I was listening to mindless noise.

Then I thought, sure, it takes talent to play the guitar and other instruments like Syd Barrett and company. It is art on display and the men are very talented. BUT, this is art without substance like so many things out there today.

In our culture, there is a barrage of mindless noise. Every week we get new films out of Hollywood that are devoid of substance and meaning wanting only to entertain an audience and give them cheap thrills (just from this week, Ghost Rider and Norbit come to mind). Take a look at iTunes on new music Tuesday. You'll see a barrage of fluffy music that is devoid of any significance whatsoever. Hords of pop literature is also released every week ... from harlequin silhouette novels to the latest repetitive James Patterson fare. Sure, there is room for fun, but should things made simply for frivolity really so greatly overshadow things that are made for enlightenment?

You really have to look hard sometimes to find worthwhile artistic endeavors in today's culture. Maybe that's why it's taking me such a long time to think of an idea for a short subject film: I've felt convicted lately to not put my talents into things that aren't of value. I so badly DO NOT want to come up with something shoddy and second rate like so many Christians nowadays. I know I'm not all that experienced yet in the whole filmmaking department, but I at least want to try my best. I pray that God gives me the strength to do so because, quite frankly, He deserves nothing less.

Two years ago at Csehy, Dr. White talked about the Luke 12:48 concept of "to whom much is given, much is required." With this message, he passed each of us a piece of paper that had two hymns printed on it. One of them was "Give of Your Best to the Master." I've had the paper in my Bible on the Luke 12:48 page ever since, and just passed by it a few moments ago.

Give of your best to the master,
Give of the strength of your youth;
Throw your soul's fresh, glowing ardour
Into the battle for truth.

Give of your best to the master,
Naught else is worthy His love;
He gave himself for your ransom,
Gave up his glory above.

That's just part of the hymn, but I thought it spoke to what I had written above.

With that, I'm off to bed...

Flags of Our Fathers

2007-02-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

Last night, I watched Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers. It's the companion piece to Letters from Iwo Jima detailing the same kind of story but from the American side. Flags of Our Fathers is unlike any other war movie out there, though, because of its exploration of the true definition of heroism. It's worth watching simply for what it says about American culture. The men that are immortalized in the famous flag raising picture from Iwo Jima were not the true heroes of that battle and they would be the first one to tell you that. During a time that there was no fighting, they were asked to put up a replacement flag and someone happened to take a picture. In essence, they were made "heroes" by American culture when they were exploited on a big publicity tour. One of them felt so unworthy of being treated like a hero that he became a despondent drunk. Pretty sad stuff.

It's an interesting movie, but certainly not perfect. The acting is flat at times, and the story is sometimes confusing with flashbacks and flashforwards from Iwo Jima, the publicity tour, and the son of one of the "heroes" interviewing older veterans, trying to write a book. Cut 20 minutes from it and it would be a truly great film. It still packs a great message, though.

"Maybe there are no such things as heroes. Maybe there are just people like my dad. I finally came to understand why they were so uncomfortable being called heroes. Heroes are something we create, something we need. It's a way for us to understand what is almost incomprehensible: how people could sacrifice so much for us, but for my dad and these men the risks they took, the wounds they suffered, they did that for their buddies. They may have fought for their country but they died for their friends. For the man in front, for the man beside him, and if we wish to truly honor these men we should remember them the way they really were ... the way my dad remembered them."

Thoughtful "Letters"

2007-02-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:43-45

I’m putting off writing an English essay right now because my head is spinning with thought after going to see Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima. The film is about the battle for Iwo Jima told from a Japanese perspective and is a perfect example of how a war movie should be made. Eastwood has made an extremely profound film and has done some of the best directorial work of his life. This is the best war movie I have ever seen.

Clint Eastwood is a director whose films always make me think about life and tough issues to the point that I get a headache. Million Dollar Baby (one of my favorite films) made me think long and hard about the issue of assisted suicide and whether it is right in some situations. Letters from Iwo Jima is making me think about the horrors of war and all the people on both sides that have no choice but to be caught up in it. Some Christian reviewers are bashing this film, saying it is anti-American. Don’t listen to them. Sadly, they are often very wrong when it comes to films like this.

Although told from the Japanese perspective, Letters does not shy away from showing some Japanese soldiers murdering wounded American soldiers in cold blood. Then again, it also showed some different Japanese soldiers helping a wounded American and nursing him to health. The film shows ruthlessly evil American soldiers killing two surrendered Japanese, but then shows merciful Americans who do the right thing toward the Japanese in rougher circumstances. Eastwood shows us that there are good and bad men on every side, something we rarely see in American war films that usually end with broad strokes of American Patriotism. I don’t think that Patriotism is a bad thing … I just think we tend to have too much of it sometimes.

There were so many good things about this movie that it’s very hard for me to comprehend. Universal themes of grace, mercy, honor, and justice abound in this fantastic film. Out of all the nominees for best picture this year, this is the best and most meaningful. It’s a morally uplifting movie that I would strongly recommend to anyone who can stomach a bit of war violence.

After the Japanese rescue a wounded American, they find a note in his pocket from his mother that says, “Do what is right because it is right. Always.” Toward the end of the movie a Japanese soldier tells his friend that those were the exact same things his mother told him before he left for war. We are different, but essentially we are all the same. We are all human beings. We all feel pain, love, joy, fear, and hatred equally at points in our lives. This is what Letters from Iwo Jima shows us and this is why it is better than any other war movie I have seen.

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-01-20T21:45:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I am washing my friend Joseph's sheets for him. I took a look at them and they were some of the grossest things I've ever seen in my life. I decided to do him a favor rather than have him live in complete squalor.

My room mate went home for a weekend, so I have had the room to myself for a little while. It's been nice. Not nice that he's gone of, course, but nice to have a bit of solitude. We all need that every now and then. It's given me time to clean up the room and get some homework done without distraction.

I saw Pan's Labyrinth at the theater today with Jason. I am very glad that I got to see it on the big screen (first time was on the computer) because it's such a great film ... one I would definitely not hesitate to see again. I appreciated it so much more the second time around. It's a beautiful, brutal, passionate, film that's filled with subtext. I have no doubt that upon a third viewing it will become one of my favorite films.

I read the Focus On The Family review of Pan's Labyrinth and was extremely disappointed with it. It seems as if their reviewers go into a film with a checklist. The checklist has a list of every swear word and so they can tally up how many they here. It has a spot for them to detail every violent act or implication. It has a box for sex, too, but they didn't need that one for this film (although in order not to keep the box empty, they had to mention that the main character takes a bubble bath during the course of the movie). They make these huge paragraphs listing everything they find offensive and them often sum it up vaguely at the end with either a very bleak or very hopeful paragraph.

In this case, the last paragraph describes the film as a "Saw-meets-Narnia-like film." This could not be further from the truth. Pan's Labyrinth is very violent, but it is not a violence meant to titillate a group of teenage boys with raging hormones. It is a serious, horrifying kind of violent. Saw is a sadistically violent gore fest with absolutely no meaning. Disney's Narnia film was a second rate envisioning of C.S. Lewis' classic tale. Pan's Labyrinth is a cinematic masterpiece ... through and through. It's a story about magic, innocence, and so many other things.

Go see it. Find it at a theater. Sit in your seat and be engulfed by it's beauty ... and it's horror. It's not a film for children, so leave them at home. If you're like me, you'll leave the theater very affected and having seen one of the best movies in recent years.

One week down ... too many to go!

2007-01-13T22:03:00.000-08:00

The first week of the spring semester went pretty well. I got a fitting introduction to all my classes and I think most of them will go well. I'm a little mad that I have to take intermediate algebra, but that's the way it goes when one side of your brain doesn't work well. I'm really looking forward to Biblical Foundations class this semester because I really want to learn to study the Bible well and study it accurately. I'm enjoying English so far as well (which has surprised me). I think it's because I'm more interested in the material. I do miss chorale, but that's OK. My audition for Spring chorale was probably my worst musical performance ever in history period.

Speaking of music, I sent in my Csehy counselor application on Friday and have contacted all my references (although one hasn't replied yet). As said before, a year without Csehy would be very hard.

Since this is the first week of the semester, there hasn't been much homework at all. I've had lots of free time where I've done alot of reading and movie watching. I'm reading Fahrenheit 451 for class (I've read it before, but it's worth reading again), Perfume by Patrick Suskind for fun, and some more Spurgeon sermons for general edification. I'm trying to read more this semester. It's definitely something I don't do enough of. As Doc Noebel said this summer, "If you want to be a leader, you have to be a reader." He also said that at our age we should be reading at least a book a week. So much for that. I miss that man ... he was fun.

On Monday, Brett let me use his car and I took a load of books and other things to McKay's where I got a whopping $105 check. Needless to say, I was happy. I signed it and sent it home the other day so my parents can put it in my bank account. After I got done at McKay's, I drove down to The Rave (movie theater) and saw Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

I expected alot out of this film and it does deliver in a few ways. The performances are great and the cinematography is astounding (there is a very large shoot out scene done in a single shot that lasts about 10 minutes and goes from upstairs, to downstairs, around buildings, etc). I was disappointed in this movie because it took what coluld have been a powerful statement about valuing life and children and turned it into a political statement about illegal immigration and the war in Iraq. It also acts as a New Age retelling of the Nativity Story in that women can no longer have children and there is one baby waiting to be born that will save the human race. From what I've heard, the original novel by P.D. James (called The Children of Men) was a book that came from a Christian perspective that ended with the new baby being baptized. In this new film version, the ending is a bit different: we hear a Hindu/Buddhist chant, praying to the gods for safety. It's also a very dark film and, essentially, not enjoyable. But that's just my opinion. I've talked to other people who have liked the film.

I was thinking this week about those hymns that we never sing anymore. In fact, the one I have in my head right now is one I only recall ever singing at Csehy ... never anywhere else. Just take a look at these awesome lyrics:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”

Here see the bread of life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.

The Girl in the Cafe, etc.

2006-12-22T20:55:00.000-08:00

I watched The Girl in the Cafe with Dan last night and I'm watching it again with my mother right now. This is such a good film, in my opinion. It takes a really clever concept and weaves its characters into a great film that flows right off the screen with a message and a challenge for the audience. Why can't Christians learn to make movies of this caliber that challenge an audience as well as this?

I'm trying to think of a point where Christians went down the drain as makers of great art. Was it when we started making products, music, and movies aimed for a "Christians only!" audience. I went to a play on Sunday at a really really big church in the Carlisle area. It was an annual thing that the church does and they usually do it quite well. This year was different. It was a slip-shod story that contained a few morals engrained in the plot of the story, but otherwise the message was brought to the audience by characters giving hackneyed soliloquys that seemed extremely out of place and thrown in simply out of necessity because it's a "Christian" production. It was very discouraging and if I were an unsaved person watching, I would be turned away by all this overpowering message that breaks up the story.

Anyway, Christmas is in three days. Uncle David comes tomorrow around 3:00. It will be nice to have him home for a while. I've been working at the Pharmacy again and am reminded again of how much I LOATH the Franklin County dialect. I don't mind the Southern accent down in TN, but coming back up here I am getting so annoyed at people not realizing the simple rules of phonics and saying their letters right. I also need to make a bumper sticker: "LEARN ENGLISH OR LEAVE!" Not to be mean or anything, it just gets annoying.

Christmas is approaching!

2006-12-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming, people. Are you in the spirit yet? I'm getting there. Today I helped with some inflatable games in downtown Dayton for the pre-Christmas parade activities. It was somewhat fun. Who knew that Dayton had a dog show. The coolest dog I saw today was (get this) a three-legged whippet. Even worse, its owner had put reindeer antlers on it. With only three legs, it walked really weird ... almost like a gallop. It sort of looked like a real reindeer.

This was quite the week. I was sick for the first three days, but then gradually got better. Then I learned that my ride back home for Christmas has to leave early and that I would have to find another ride. I did, so we’re good on that. Plus, I got TONS of sleep this week. On Wednesday, all I felt like doing was sleeping. And I did. 6 hours during the day and then my normal allotment at night. It was great.

Last night was the Christmas banquet and those of us in Long 2nd that didn’t go went down the Chattanooga to eat and see a movie on the hall’s money. Two guys saw Casino Royale (which I had already seen and didn’t feel the need to see again), Colton went to see The Nativity Story (which I will see with my family when I get back for Christmas), and I went to see Bobby.

Bobby was a great film, in my opinion and included some of the greatest actors from many generations of the Hollywood tradtition. It was the story of people living and working in the Ambassador Hotel on the day that Bobby Kennedy would be shot. It delved into some very important issues in the lives of the characters. Each character's story ended with a bit of an epiphany … the character realizing something about their lives, their importance in the scheme of things, things they had done wrong or right.

After Senator Kennedy was shot, the movie ended with an exceelent montage with Senator Kennedy delivering a speech in the background on the menace of violence in our society. Although some of what he said may simply be meaningless liberal platitudes, some of it really stayed with me and I will post it for your enjoyment and enlightenment:

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

Do you agree? You can read the whole speech here.

Sleepless Nights, Steve Green, and Magnolia

2006-09-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night. My roommate decided that he wanted to stay up until 2 A.M. with the very bright white sink light and his desk lamp on, so basically, it was like all the lights were on. Also, for some odd reason, he had the air conditioning turned off. I was wondering why I felt so hot and sticky until 1:30 when I said, “Is the air conditioning on?” This prompted him to turn it on. I don’t care if it’s cold … that’s what blankets are for.

The half hour from 1:30 to 2:00 was one of the longest half hours of my life. I laid my head on my pillow hoping that I would fall asleep, but just my luck, the song that has been in my head ever since I came here to Bryan decided to play again through the speakers of my cranium and not stop. It doesn’t help that this song is one of the most convicting songs I have ever heard in my entire life. And here it is, circling through my head constantly for half an hour, making me think about my life. I think the best help will be to quote the lyrics that were in my head:

May all who come behind us find us faithful.
May the fire of our devotion light our way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe.
May the lives we live inspire them to obey.

Having those lyrics run through your head as you are trying to go to sleep is very disquieting. I finally prated that I would be able to fall asleep and eventually did although I was very tired in the morning and the lyrics were still running through my brain.

They don’t write songs like this anymore. Going back and listening to the lyrics of Steve Green’s older songs has been quite the journey. They are all poetic and beautiful, unlike any of the music I have heard come out of most Christian artists today.

In other news, I was sitting watching the end of Magnolia the other night and the whole message of the movie finally hit me like a ton of bricks. I don’t know why this didn’t happen to me the first time I watched the movie. Maybe I was just so overwhelmed in cinematic ecstasy that I didn’t take the time to really think about what Jim Kurring says at the end of the movie.

Every character in the movie essentially has an issue with their past or present that needs forgiveness by another character. Jim gives a monologue at the end all about forgiveness and what we, as humans, can forgive. It has turned into, at least for me, one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen.

Enough for tonight.

India's 'Harold Hill'

2006-08-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

About twice a year, this missionary comes to my home church in Chambersburg. Lets just say that his name is Behrooz. Ever since I was a little boy, I get this weird feeling every time Behrooz gets up on the stage. This mysterious feeling can be explained by a simple notion: I think that the man is a shyster … a con man … a thief … a swindler … an embezzler!

If you have ever seen “The Music Man”, you know the story of Harold Hill, another con man. From Wikipedia, “’Professor’ Harold Hill travels from town to town, taking pre-paid orders for musical instruments and uniforms, claiming that he will teach youngsters to play and form a town band” but plans to skip town after he gets the money.

This is what I have always fantasized Behrooz does to make his living. I imagine him setting up a bunch of under-paid Indian people on a soundstage in Southern California and telling them to act like they’re poor and destitute while he shoots low-quality video footage and takes really stupid looking pictures that are supposed to tug at people’s heart-strings.

I imagine that Behrooz is a born and bred American with no natural accent. I imagine that he gets up on the stage and starts speaking in an excellently perfected Indian accent, telling us about the poor women that are brought to the “sewing center” and given a new life. He gives a plea for money that will go to (with Indian accent) “vuying new zo-ing ma-zheanes and vund a new wideo CAM-ra.”

When Behrooz leaves church, he hops into his junker of a car and goes to a special place where he is able to deposit his earnings from the previous church into his Swiss Bank Account, which he draws from frequently at his leisure. He flies home to Southern California to his huge house which overlooks a vineyard where concord grapes grow to support the winery which he built from the ground-up using the money he had received from offerings at churches all across the United States.

I highly doubt that this is the case, but this is what passes through my head every time he gets on the stage. Why? I have no clue. Maybe it’s because all the pictures of him and his family look so comical! I mean, they look so happily placid and resigned to their lifestyle. It is absolutely hilarious to see! I wish I could find a picture, but, alas, I can not.

So watch out … anybody can be a con man and, even more importantly, anybody can be conned.

It's Been A While

2006-08-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated this in a long while. A drastic change in the continuity of life leaves a very little amount of time to write "good" material. I am going to start writing on this again tonight because I have so many thoughts that I need to post on an intelligent-looking blog. Expect a post later...

"I'd Rather Be Lucky Than Good"

2006-08-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

The man who said, “I’d rather be lucky than good,” saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependant on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.

So begins “Match Point”, last year’s well written and extremely thought provoking offering from famous director/comedian (and avid atheistic nihilist) Woody Allen. This is not typical Woody Allen territory; “Match Point” is in no way humorous. It is a journey in to the dark recesses of the human heart. It speaks of those times in life when we are overcome by temptation and are pulled into such a trap that it seems nearly impossible for us to get out.

“Match Point” is the story of Chris Wilton, a famous tennis player who gets a job teaching tennis and soon falls in love with one of his rich students’ sister, Chloe. While dating this girl, he meets her brother Tom’s fiancé; the beautiful and seductive Nola. There is an immediate attraction between them that lasts through the film.

Chris and Chloe get married. While at the rich family’s summer home, Chris and Nola have a sexual encounter. Chris knows of his attraction to Nola, but marries Chloe nonetheless. They work on having children, but soon find out that Chloe is having trouble conceiving. Meanwhile, Tom breaks things off with Nola and Chris begins seeing her … often. While begrudgingly working on conceiving with his wife, Chris impregnates Nola. Nola refuses to abort the child and makes Chris’s life a living hell, saying that he needs to leave his wife and to do it soon!

(SPOILER WARNING) Chris knows that leaving his wife would ruin his career. He hatches an extremely flawed plan to kill Nola which includes killing one of Nola’s neighbors and stealing many things (including prescription drugs) from her house to make it look like a drug robbery, thus making his murder of Nola look like an accident. As Chris is disposing of the old neighbor woman’s belongings, he goes to throw her wedding ring in the water. It hits a railing and misses going in the water, just like the tennis ball at the beginning of the film.

The police find Nola’s diary that talk of Chris. They interrogate him and he admits their relationship but denies her murder. A heroin junkie finds the ring that bounced off the railing. He is arrested later, the ring is found, and he is charged with murder since he is a drug addict and it looked like a drug robbery.

You can learn to push the guilt under the rug and go on. You have to. Otherwise it overwhelms you. The innocent [neighbor woman was] slain to make way for a grander scheme. … It would be fitting if I were apprehended and punished. At least there would be some small sign of justice. Some small measure of hope for the possibility of meaning.

Luck. That is, essentially, the message of this film. Chris would find it good to be caught for his crime, as explained above, but he chooses to see the lack of justice as luck … the ball hitting the net and falling back. As far as we know (and as far as Woody Allen would like us to know), Chris will never suffer the due penalty for his crime. His character of Chris would “rather be lucky than good.”

Justice. Chris is unable accept the reality of what he did or realize that he is being held accountable to God. He would welcome being proved wrong but sees that luck rules everything. Since life is all about luck, life has no meaning.

You are always righteous, O LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
Jeremiah 12:1

As a follower of Christ, I know that all goodness and all suffering is not weighed out on an earthly scale. In the end, the wicked will not prosper because they will be judged by God. All people who say that there is no God are going to come to a stunning realization the minute that they die. When Chris Wilton takes his final breath, he will see the faces of Nola, the child she was carrying, and the dead neighbor lady; and then he will see the face of God. Then he will go to hell with the rest of the world that refuses to recognize a wholly sovereign creator.

Opening

2006-08-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

I finally decided that since I finally got a laptop, I could write a little more. So here it is ... basically just thoughts from my head. They will probably include some movie reviews, cultural observations, thoughts on TV shows, music, etc. Hope you enjoy!