The Descendants
I had the chance to go and see George Clooney’s new film The Descendants this past weekend while in Dallas with the family. I have been really excited about seeing this film after reading the Critics reviews. After seeing so many 100 out of 100 reviews I knew this was one that I was going to have to check out.
This is a powerful movie. Clooney’s character is being pulled in so many different directions. His wife has had an accident and is lying in the hospital. His workaholic lifestyle has kept him from developing a deeper relationship with his two daughters. His extended family is betting on him to make a decision that will result in them inheriting a huge sum of money. He finds out that his wife, who is lying in the hospital in a coma, has been having an affair. That is quite a load to carry on your shoulders.
As I sat and watched this film I began identifying the stories that were happening to Clooney with those of the people that I help oversee. It helped give me insight into what they went through this year and gave me hope that the trials that we encounter help refine us into a person that is more closely connected to God and His purposes. Don’t allow bad circumstances to pull your faith and hope away from Christ.
What will it take for you to change your life and commit to a deeper relationship with our God? These pivotal circumstances that we have little or no control over can wreck your life…or they can help you get back on track with God. They will help you realize what is really important in life and what you should really be thankful for and focusing on.
Check out this video and share some thoughts about a pivotal circumstance that God has used to redirect your path.
Hanna
Friday is for Film in my world and this past Friday I had the chance to see the new film Hanna by Joe Wright who directed Atonement and The Soloist, both of which I enjoyed. Hanna is the story of a young assassin who sets out to right wrongs that were committed while she was a young child.
The movie was a mix of art house film and action flick. The last film I would have categorized like this would have been The American with George Clooney, but Hanna had much more action. I would easily go back to the theater this week to see Hannah again. The acting, direction, and look of the film were superb.
You really find yourself connecting with the characters. Highly recommend this one.
Twilight: Book and Movie Review
It has been awhile since I have had the opportunity to review a film and a book at the same time. I think the last time I did this was in my Film Criticism class at UCO a few years back. This week I read the book Twilight and went to see the movie with some friends on Monday night. I will tell you up front that I liked the book much more, but you probably would have guessed as much. The book is always better.
Book:
Yesterday I was listening to NPR and a listener described the book as, “smoldering.” I think that is the best description as this book is pretty long and has relatively few action moments. Most of the book is spent on the relationship between the main characters Edward and Bella. One of the things that I like about the book is that it breaks some of the conventional vampire rules and spends time humanizing the vampires instead of getting wrapped up in the gory details of feeding.
I can easily see why so many girls are wrapped up within this series of books. Slightly dorky and clumsy girl meets hot and intriguing vampire, who falls in love with her and helps her escape from the reality that has become her life. A lot of the girls that couldn’t wait for the movie to come out and talked about the book on Facebook best match the description above. I didn’t feel like the supernatural side of the story outweighed the human side of the story. The majority of the book is spent on the relationship between Edward and Bella and their burgeoning love. As I told my friends as I talked them into going to see the movie, “this is a love story with a little interlude with vampires.” I grew up reading Anne Rice during High School so this story seemed really tame and had very few vampire moments, but I liked what happened and where it went.
If you have the time read the book or get the audio version on iTunes, which clocks in at just over 12 hours.
Movie:
What a let down! I was expecting more from this film and would say that it delivered on nothing. The only casting choices that I liked were Edward, Bella, and Alice. The director brought out the vampires as being weird instead of just being outside the crowd, which are two different things. With very few supernatural things to create on film I thought that what we got was very hokey and cheesy. I laughed aloud many times during the film, as did the couple sitting behind us. The film was very fragmented and seemed to introduce moments from the book without explanation. I also felt that there was too much over acting during the film.
Skip the movie if you can read the book. It will only stand to keep you away from the books, which are far superior.
*edited
Friday is for Film
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I have had a full weekend of film so far. I watched The Changeling last night with John and Paige. It was made in 1980 and is destined for a treatment by the MST3000 crowd. John got scared about half way through the movie and left. Sydnie got bored shortly afterwards so I was the only one to finish the movie. Elizabeth was a great film. I don’t really get into period pieces like this, but I tossed in and was happy I did. Trying to keep things light this afternoon by watching Hot Fuzz and Knocked up. I have seen both of these like 3 or 4 times before. It is amazing how much more stuff you pick up each time you watch a movie again.
How many movies do you watch in a week?
Friday is for Film
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The theatre we watched Max Payne in had a brand new Christie projector in it and was probably the best picture quality I have ever seen. The movie looked incredible. Visually the film is amazing. There are scenes in the film that are breathtaking and the special effects were superb. Mark Wahlberg’s performance was weak though. There were moments when I thought he is just not mature enough to pull this scene off. Mark is the new Keanu in my opinion. Still this film was good, but not great.
The best part of the weekend was seeing the trailers for two of Clint Eastwood’s new movies. Go to www.imdb.com and check them out.
Friday is For Film
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Ordinary People with Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, and Timothy Hutton. As the movie begins you know that something tragic has happened in the life of young Conrad that is keeping him from sleeping. Robert Redford directed this movie that won four Academy Awards in 1981 including Best Director, Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Timothy Hutton, which seemed strange to me because I would have put Timothy Hutton as the lead in this picture, but he never would have beat out Robert DeNiro that year who won for Raging Bull, but I also would have made him share the award with his fellow nominee Judd Hirsh who plays Hutton’s therapist. First of all, this was an amazing movie. It has all of the drama that Noah Baumbach is going for is his recent pictures, without all of the raunchy interludes. There are several shots within this picture between Hutton and Hirsh that prove to be the precursors for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Good Will Hunting. Hutton’s character of Conrad is going through a difficult period in his life to say the least and has a lot of people speaking into his life on their own terms and for their own benefit. What I enjoyed about the progression of Conrad’s character was that he was able to find his own voice. He learned how to express his feelings and be heard.
What was interesting for me to see in this movie was the opening establishing shots which were underscored with the school choir singing Canon in D Major with its chorus of Hallelujahs. I finished reading Dan Kimball’s They Like Jesus But Not The Church, which I will blog about in another post, and within the last chapters of the book he talked about the new gap that we have placed between people and God. Kimball states that we are telling people that in many ways they must conform to the Christian subculture before they can even get to the place where they must deal with their sin and the gap that separates them from God. You can get a better picture of this in John Burke’s No Perfect People Allowed. Conrad’s mother seemed unwilling and even embarrassed by what was happening within this family and would rather leave than work it out. This has made me think about how far are we willing to travel down the road with someone walking on their way to becoming a Christ-follower. The church wants people to change in an instance, but that rarely happens. Discipleship and sanctification is a process and we must allow imperfect people into our fellowship so that they can see how more mature followers of Christ handle life. Discipleship is not just what you know, but it is also about how you live your life and how you react to life as it happens. I think that this has a lot to do with the lack of intimacy that has overtaken the church. When we are afraid to share life together we unable to become a body.
- How far are you willing to walk with someone on their journey?
- Are you quick to give up on someone or are you willing to travel with them?
- Think about the farthest you have traveled with someone. Can you go farther?
- Are you relationships suffering because you are afraid to open up?
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