Help Fund a Movie That Needs To Be Made

Owen Strachan:

You can be a part of movie history. A group of courageous and award-winning filmmakers are committed to doing a documentary film on Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist who killed dozens, hundreds, and perhaps thousands of babies by delivering them at his clinic and then severing their spinal cord with scissors. 

The film is being crowdfunded and needs $2.1 million dollars by May 12, 2014. It has currently raised $1.36 million through Indiegogo. That’s under 20 days. If you’re pro-life, I strongly encourage you to support this film. Just go to Indiegogo and sign up–it takes 2-3 minutes. If you’re on social media–Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc–I strongly encourage you to spread the word. Take a risk for the cause of truth! 

The mainstream media ignored the Gosnell trial. In the face of horrific killings of babies, America has averted its face. Let’s do all we can to see this movie funded.

A Review of "Man of Steel"

Michael Patton sums up his review with this:

This movie is no joke. I think I can safely say that this should be the best Superman you will ever see. Besides saying thanks to Nolan and Synder for taking up this dangerous ball and putting on the big screed everything this Superman fan could have hoped for, let me say thanks to them for not being shy about making Superman the Christ-figure he was meant to be (see more below) and for making Superman an American again!

Read the rest. Can't wait to see it.  

Before Viewing "The Hobbit"...

David Mathis:

At long last, Bilbo Baggins is back. Whether you’re fanatic enough to dress up for the midnight showing, or patiently awaiting a weekend outing, or even content to meander into a theater after the crowds die down, here’s some advice for how to make the most of your experience of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Read the rest.

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fans may still want to get this eBook before it goes up in price.

The Cast of the Hobbit Reflect on the Production of the Movie

RESTORE - Sometimes Helping Hurts

If you are committed to justice in the world today, take a few minutes and watch these videos. They are very well done and will likely lead to conversations that many church leaders and mission leaders need to have.

 





 Get the book here, When Helping Hurts (paperback for $8 and eBook for $3)

Les Misérables - Amazing New Approach to Music in Film

This is fascinating. Can't wait to see the movie.

     

 (HT: 22 Words)

Courageous - A Review

Trevin Wax reviews "Courageous".

Waiting For Superman - A Further Analysis

I recently saw the movie Waiting For Superman and wrote a mainly positive review.  I found the film to be heartbreaking and brilliant as it dug deep into the growing areas of dysfunction in our public educational systems.

John Armstrong also recently viewed the movie and wrote a very positive review.  Then today he wrote a "rethink" piece questioning some of his initial response to the movie.  It is a great example of humility, honesty, and critical thinking.  

If you have seen this movie you should read both of his pieces (part one and part two).  Here is his conclusion from his second post:

Here is what I should have written after seeing the film. This is a good, indeed a must-see, film. But like An Inconvenient Truth it offers far too many simple answers to complex issues and problems. Come to think of it conservatives are prone to this kind of reasoning and I am not sure why, especially if they believe in personal and systemic sin and the need for real community. Sometimes I wonder if they say they believe these things but then act as if the solution is to attack what we have and then embrace the easy solutions offered by films and media sources. Life is just a little more complex than this version of conservatism understands. What we need is a little of the older form of conservatism, the kind that we once called “classical liberalism” before these words got hijacked by modern political opinion shapers.

Why then did I miss all this when I saw the film? Like most everyone else I want answers and this film gives them. I want hope, and this film offers it. And I would like to see everything in the best light, a weakness of mine at times. So I was taken up by the powerful answer this film offered me about a complex issue that I think Christians must grapple with deeply in our present cultural breakdown. My thinking is now more sober but I would still urge you to see the film.

Waiting For Superman - A Review

Waiting For Superman is a truly a remarkable film. Shot with careful narraration, interesting and dynamic cinematography, engaging real-life personalities, and beautiful music, it is no wonder it has won many awards.  Here is a brief description:

Every morning, in big cities, suburbs and small towns across America, parents send their children off to school with the highest of hopes. But a shocking number of students in the United States attend schools where they have virtually no chance of learning--failure factories likelier to produce drop-outs than college graduates. And despite decades of well-intended reforms and huge sums of money spent on the problem, our public schools haven't improved markedly since the 1970s. Why? There is an answer. And it's not what you think. From "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim comes "Waiting for 'Superman'", a provocative and cogent examination of the crisis of public education in the United States told through multiple interlocking stories--from a handful of students and their families whose futures hang in the balance, to the educators and reformers trying to find real and lasting solutions within a dysfunctional system. Tackling such politically radioactive topics as the power of teachers' unions and the entrenchment of school bureaucracies, Guggenheim reveals the invisible forces that have held true education reform back for decades.

Some reflections after watching:

I am humbled and grateful that I was raised in an educational system that was, by and large, very healthy.  I have two parents who love me, a school system with teachers who cared about me, and enough resources to enable a wide variety of educational experiences.  This is certainly not the norm.  It's easy for me to sit back and think, "Come on, you just have to work hard and you'll overcome!"  But that is easy to say from the vantage point of a stacked deck.

Having no aspirations is a huge problem.  That is one of the dominant themes in this movie.  There are thousands of high schools in our nation that are simply dropout factories.  These kids just don't care and they don't have the emotional or mental development to see beyond the immediate.  Why?  The answer to that question is far too complex for a movie or blog post to answer but in some ways has to come down to lack of support.  Kids need support.  They are kids.  You leave them alone and they'll just default to stupidity.  Believe me, I know.  I have four of them.  They needs parents.  They need teachers.  More than anything, they just need people to love them and attempt to point them in the right direction.  I had this my whole life and millions of kids in our nation don't.

But kids also need vision.  If all you have ever had modeled for you is single parent families, jobs that do nothing more than kill your soul, and have had very few people shepherd you towards anything different, why would you have aspirations?

Any institution that enables dysfunction needs to be eradicated.  The movie does not paint a very pretty picture of teacher's unions.  As I type this there are thousands of people marching on the capital of Wisconsin for the right to maintain power as a teacher's union.  I'm not sure if there is a one to one connection between the issues with unions in the movie and the issues we are dealing with here in WI, but it is clear that one of the major factors contributing to the decimation of the school system in places like Detroit and Washington D.C. is due to zero accountability for teachers.  The unions hold the trump card over anyone getting fired.  It's called tenure and in most places if you work for two years and are breathing you can get it.

Unions were a great idea when it was a means to protect women from being abused with very low pay.  It is clearly not a good idea when a union serves to protect thousands of teachers who are completely incompetent and ties the hands of anyone seeking educational reform.  Don't tell me "it's all about the kids".  Bull.  It's all about being lazy and getting paid.  There are many poignant scenes in this movie that demonstrate this.  These scenes will break your heart and infuriate you.  The way that the unions are structured right now needs to go.  That is clear.

There is little discussion surrounding the epidemic of fatherlessness in our culture.  This certainly has to be a major contributing factor to the success or lack thereof in any educational system.  It seems to be a bit of a no-brainer that two adults supporting a child is better then one adult supporting a child.   I was disappointed that this theme was not drawn out more in the movie.

A great teacher can change the life of a kid but there are very few that are gifted in this way.  But there are many teachers who are pretty good or above average and couple them with a stable home structure and most kids will thrive.  But place a kid from a single parent family into a system that in many places is designed to protect incompetent teachers and it's not hard to figure out why our kids can't read beyond a 3rd grade level.  The theme of fatherlessness seemed to be missing in the movie and certainly needs to be addressed as a primary factor in the deterioration of our educational system in America.

The Ivey Family

Many of you will have heard of Aaron Ivey because of his music leadership at Austin Stone church and his recording, Between The Beauty & Chaos.  We used the opening cut, "Found", quite a bit at my old church in Albuquerque.  Great song.

What many of you probably don't know is that Aaron and his family recently had a really great short film made about their adoption of an orphan in Haiti.  The film is the story of Aaron & Jamie Ivey trying to get their son home from Haiti following the earthquake.

Here's a link to Aaron talking about the film and adoption.

Here's a link to the director talking about the film.

Click over and watch the film.  It will be more than worth the five minutes of your time.  

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence

I am so thankful that Desiring God is branching out into film as a creative medium for the spread of the gospel.  This looks very powerful.

Desiring God Blog:

On August 20 at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, we're hosting the premiere of a brand new Desiring God film titled Don't Waste Your Life Sentence (now available for pre-order). 

The Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA, is the largest and historically one of the bloodiest maximum-security prisons in the USA. In 2009, Desiring God and John Piper were invited to Angola to learn about prison life, hear from men who have been radically changed by the gospel, and minister to many of the 5,000 inmates.

Don't Waste Your Life Sentence confronts you with the realities of inmates who, though their lives appear to have been wasted, often have a greater grasp on eternity than those on the outside.

"This Is It" - Some Reflections

My wife and I watched this documentary a couple nights ago.  It was very entertaining.  For those of you who don't know, before he died, Michael was planning a huge concert that would play in London for 50 straight nights.  It was going to be the most amazing live show that was ever produced.  After he died they memorialize him through showing the rehearsal footage for the show.  That is what this documentary entails.  He said he wanted to do this final show, with all the classic songs, because his kids were old enough now to appreciate it and he was still young enough to be able to perform at a high level.   This was going to be his curtain call.  His final go around and he wanted to go out with a bang.
Some thoughts:

1.  Michael truly is one of a kind.  What a unique and amazing creation of God.  He truly was a culture defining force and you feel the weight of his power to do this as you watch him in recent form and then recall how he accomplished this in the 80's and 90's.  There have been few people that have walked the face of this earth that were as talented as Michael Jackson.

2.  Based on the footage from the movie you really get the sense that this show was truly going to be the most amazing concert that anyone would have ever been to.  I was sad for all those countless people who put so much work into this spectacle.  I can’t imagine the letdown for them.

3.  The band was freakishly good.  Usually in a huge production like this the band will be using tracks generated from a computer that helps enhance the sound and keep everything together.  Not with this band.  The whole thing was actually live because Michael would improvise certain aspects of the show in the moment as he felt it and band would simply have to watch him for cues and respond.  It was like Michael was the director of this huge orchestra and everyone was looking to him.  As an aside, I enjoyed seeing a female lead guitar play who could absolutely shred.  You don’t see that very often.  In fact, she is the first one I had ever seen.

4.  The opening scene of the movie has many of his dancers talking about what Michael means to them.  These reflections give evidence to serious idolatry but we probably shouldn’t expect any less.  For me, this shone a light on the devastation of the death of Jesus in the lives of his disciples.  For these dancers, Michael was their life and their participation in this show was the pinnacle of their artistic careers.  They would have done whatever he asked is unquestioning obedience.  They worked tirelessly for him and were on the edge of achieving something the world had never seen before.  When he died they would have been rightly crushed.   He was their Messiah and as you watch the movie you can relate to this sense of utter despair that they must have felt.

But Michael Jackson never walked on water.  Michael Jackson never raised the dead.  Michael Jackson never calmed a storm with a word.

Can you imagine who those disciples would have felt as they saw Jesus being murdered?  In a weird way, this movie really helped me get inside the world of the Bible and appreciate my Savior even more. Michael Jackson is going to stay dead and Jesus is alive.

I would highly recommend this movie. Definitely check it out.

American Violet - A Review

John H. Armstrong:

American Violet is one of those films I truly wish every Christian I know would see. It reveals the deep seated impact of racism on black America and shatters the typically conservative stereotype that the problem is all but over. The film, released in April of this year to a limited number of screens in apparently small places, is based on the true story of Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four living in the small Texas town of Melody. Dee is dragged away from work one day in handcuffs, and dumped in the women's county prison for twenty-one days before bail can be met. The local district attorney leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her housing project with military precision. Dee soon discovers that she has been charged as a drug dealer, crack-cocaine. Even though she has no prior drug record, and no drugs were found on her in the raid, she is offered an all too typical choice: plead guilty and receive a ten-years suspended sentence and go home as a convicted felon or remain in prison, jeopardizing custody of her four kids and risking a long prison sentence, perhaps as long as 16-25 years. She chooses to fight the unyielding criminal justice system, risking everything in a battle that forever changed her life and the Texas justice system. I will not spoil the ending or the consequences of this ordeal but it is a wonderful story with a mostly positive ending. The response of the community to their DA underscores just how deep-seated the racism is when you see the closing commentary of the film. Again, seeing is really believing in this instance. Just see the film. The San Francisco Chronicle called this “An ideal movie for an ideal time.” Entertainment Weekly says, “[A] powerful performance by newcomer Nicole Beharie,” giving the film a B+ rating.

Read the rest.

Oh My God

His Peace Upon Us Blog:

I’ve only seen the trailer, but I hope I will be able to see the movie. The premise of the movie is simply someone going to 23 different countries asking the question, “What is God?”

Hugh Jackman is in the video and states that if you put a bunch of religious leaders (Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, etc.) at a table he “can’t see them having an argument.” This sentiment sounds great as people try to build bridges between people of different religions, but it is empty and won’t work. They would have arguments (read the New Testament and see how Jesus argued against the religious leaders of his day). My point is that arguments don’t negate peace. In fact, I believe that true peaceful dialogue between people of different faiths depends on having people who will be honest enough to tell someone else that he or she is wrong, but to do it in a respectful, honorable, and loving way.

I’m not offended when someone tells me wrong if he has first listened to me and sought to understand me. I welcome such honesty. It gives me freedom to say what I was already thinking, “You’re wrong!”

Another thing that looks interesting is that the filmmaker doesn’t just ask religious experts. I like the idea of asking regular people about their concept of God.

The Blind Side - A Review

Ben Witherington reviews The Blind Side. He writes:

You can count on the fingers of one hand the number of memorable football movies there are out there in which there is actually some decent acting and a good plot. When you add the requirement of it being a true story, there are even less to choose from (e.g. 'Radio'). It was then with considerable skepticism that I went to see 'The Blind Side', taking with me my best Missouri attitude (i.e.-- 'show me!'). Part of the skepticism was because this movie starred Sandra Bullock, not noted for her Oscar winning performances in the past. Let me just say--- I didn't see this coming, was blindsided by this movie. It is not only a thoroughly enjoyable movie based on a true story, Sandra Bullock actually deserves to be nominated in the best actress category for this film. Who knew she had it in her? Not me at least.

Read the whole thing.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

My wife and I watched this movie the other night. It was actually quite entertaining and thought provoking.

An Interview with the Director of "Collision"

(RSS will probably need to click through to my site)





You can buy this DVD here.

Ten Reflections on "Collision"

1. Artistically, this film is very well done. The music is quite diverse and impactful. As a musician, when I watch a film, if the music is engaging right from the start, I know that I will probably like the movie. I am weird with first impressions like that, but it seems to always play out that way. This film did a great job with the music. The editing is also very well done and will keep you visually interested.

2. This film is fast paced. For those of us who don't have much training in differing world-views or philosophical reasoning, you might find that you'll need to hit the pause button and reflect on what these guys are kicking back and forth. That was my wife's first response. I wouldn't let that stop you from watching it. You might miss a bit, but you'll catch quite a bit as well. It would be worth watching a couple times, just to review and rethink what is going on.

3. Hitchens is a bit of a rock star today in pop culture for good reason. He has the cool British accent, he is very quick, witty and funny. To me, he just kind of looks like a guy who is an atheist. I know that sounds weird, but the way he holds himself makes me thinks that his face bears out the implications of his worldview. He looks sad, heavy and downcast. If all we are is just random matter in motion, then why be happy?

Hitchens is a great pop-atheist, but a guy like William Lane Craig would eat him for lunch, and I think already has (if anyone has a link to this, please pass is on in the comments section). There is not a ton of content in what he brings, but he sure is engaging. I would like to hang out with him.

4. Wilson keeps pressing, over and over again, for Hitchens to give a ground or foundation for his worldview. For example, Hitchens, repeatedly lambastes believers for not condemning the slaughter of the Amalekites in the Old Testament. How Christians make sense of that is another post for another day, but Wilson keeps pressing Hitchens on WHY he believes that biblical scene is objectively wrong. Why should we listen to Hitchens in his complaint? If he has no objective moral standard to which he appeals, then he is simply reduced to preferences. Why should we listen to Hitchens? Hitchens claims over and over that things like this are WRONG, but he fails to ever explain why we should care. Why is his view of the world better than say, Hitler's, who thought slaughtering a certain sect of people was completely sane and good. Hitler or Hitchens? Based on what standard can we say one is better than the other? Unless you appeal to an objective standard outside of yourself (God) you are simply reduces to preferences. I prefer life, you might prefer death, but who is to say one is better than the other with any sense of authority? Hitchens always has to borrow from the Christian worldview to make his worldview coherent, but he never admits this.

5. There is a pointed scene where they each talk about their upbringing as children. Hitchens was subjected to Christian education, but his family was completely uninvolved in seeing any of this teaching take root in his life. On the other hand, Wilson's family taught and modeled the Gospel intentionally and consistently for him. This was a great point of reminder and conviction for me as a parent.

6. One of the funniest and oddest scenes in the movie is when they are filmed getting out of the helicopter and walking on the tarmac towards what I would assume to be a car to pick them up and take them to their destination. The way it is shot is completely like a hip-hop video, where the rock stars exit the helicopter with the win blowing in their hair while they strut away with all the bling and half-dressed ladies. It's just quite oddly funny that their scene is shot exactly the same way, with the head bobbing hip -hop music in the back ground, but it's chubby Hitchens and Wilson, sporting the kakis and briefcases, walking away from the helicopter. They are the anti-rock stars, but it's shot the same way. Very funny in my view.

7. Hitchens states that if God actually exists and then inflicts so much suffering on us (like 9/11 for example), why should we ever believe in Him? Why run to him? He is just a big fat meanie in the sky. This begs of the question of purpose in suffering. What is extremely important to note is that Christians have a God who suffers with us and for us at the Cross. Hitchens does not get this, but if you do, much of your suffering will be endurable, still painful, yet meaningful. There is a telos to our suffering and there is comfort in the fact that one day ultimate justice will be served. It is interesting to note that Hitchens does admit that in his worldview ultimate justice for say, Hitler, will never be served and this is an unavoidable conclusion.

8. It's great to see these guys model engagement with one another without any screaming and yelling. It's as far from Jerry Springer as one could get. I found it to be a great picture of seeing two guys who vehemently disagree on worldview issues, but can still laugh together over quotes of literature that they both share an appreciation for. Most in our culture would say that we should relegate worldview discussions to the realm of taboo, and simply talk about where we agree. We wouldn't want to get anyone offended. But this film portrays two men who can interact on matters of utmost importance and still seem to maintain a healthy respect for one another. You get the sense that these guys actually like each other. This is important to view in our culture of pervasive political correctness where feelings are more important than Truth.

9. There is a scene where Hitchens describes the immense and crushing beauty of the Universe. It's a quite moving description. I find myself wanting to ask him, does random evolutionary matter in motion perceive beauty? How? Where does a sense of beauty come from? Seems that evolution from primordial slime has nothing to do with nor could ever produce a sense of beauty in a thing. Beauty implies some sense of objectivity and order. Where in the world could this possibility come from?

10. The last scene leaves you with a feeling of mystery that I find to be very post-modern, but I like it. I'll leave it to you to watch it and make your own conclusions. Hitchens gets the last word, but it's a word of hope... sort of.

You can buy this DVD here.

Mac Documentary

(HT: Los)

Collision Avaliable for Pre-Order

Tony Reinke:

The documentary, Collision, filmed during the debates between Douglas Wilson (Christian; right) and Christopher Hitchens (atheist; left) is now available for pre-order from Amazon ($13.99). The film will be released at the end of October. I’ve watched the film and was impressed with both the aesthetic qualities and the amount of substantive debate captured in the 90 minutes. The debates between the two—which spill over into the train depot, the limo rides, the dinners and lunches—is quite engaging. The DVD is a nice compliment to the book and the full debates, but it will not satisfy the viewer who wants to understand all the arguments on either side. All that said, I recommend the DVD.