Friday is for Film

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he selection for today is Neil Young: Heart of Gold. I have long been a fan of Neil Young and the work of director Jonathan Demme. You may have seen some of Demme’s other films like Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. Recorded at the Ryman Auditorium, this beautiful film features Emmylou Harris singing background vocals and the Nashville String Machine. Young, who had just recovered from an aneurysm and lost his father when this movie was shot, progresses through some sweet sounding melodies, love songs and wistful lyrics. The standout performance on this album is a tie between the lulling Nashville String Machine and the work of Dobro player.

Neil Young has been an artist who pours his heart and soul into his work and the intimate songs that Neil shares with us in this work connects us with the history that has made the man. There are some intensely personal songs here for his dad and daughter.

I enjoyed this film, but know that I have to be in the mood to sit down to watch it. Slow at times, with some of the songs dragging out longer than my attention span can last. I am going to give this one 7 out of 10 pics.

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      Step Brothers will be the first movie to be rated using my new Pick Scale. Zero picks is bad. 10 picks is a masterpiece. Step Brothers gets 4 out of 10 picks.

& Cinemagogue. Cinemagogue is a small group ministry of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and a class that breaks down films, the pulpit of our age, and sheds insights into what is taking place every day inside the theaters and homes in the world. Cinemagogue is a play on the words cinema and synagogue. The class watches a film, the pastor teaches on it, and then they discuss it. Pastor James Harleman breaks down so much of the history and thoughts of Batman in his blog this week. Listening to the blog posts at Cinemagogue reminds me of sitting in my film classes in college. I think this small group is a brilliant idea. People today love film and enjoy talking about movies. If you are ever interested in going to see a movie remember that Friday is for Film here at Leading Up and I would love to go to the movies with anyone interested. This Friday’s options are Step Brothers with Will Ferrell, American Teen, and The X-Files: I Want To Believe.

      If you enjoy Pastor Harleman’s exposition I would recommend that you listen to and read his commentary on the film Juno and the role that relationships and men played in the film. Amazing stuff. There is really more than meets the eye in films these days people.

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Are you going to see it this weekend?

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The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.  It is the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the 43 year old french journalist who suffered a stroke in 1995. After suffering a stroke he was left with only a little movement in his head and left eye. He wrote his memoir one letter at a time. A transcriptionist would work her way through the alphabet until she got to the letter he wanted and he would blink his eye. It took over 200,000 blinks to write the book and two minutes per word. Julian Schnabel directed this masterpiece and I can’t sing his praises enough. I won’t use the word masterpiece very often, but this is a film that makes you feel alive and really consider life and death. The film is spoken in French with English subtitles.

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My friend Matt would love to hear your input about the significance of the eagle. What are your thoughts?