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.  

Courageous - A Review

Trevin Wax reviews "Courageous".

Crazy Stupid Love - A Review

Dr. Zack Eswine reviews this new movie.  He writes:

It surprised me. For a while it glamorizes the hook-up lifestyle alongside of a broken marriage. For a while it tells us that we are right to have cynicism of marriage and lasting love and that we need to learn how to embrace the sex without commitment way of relating as men and women. But gradually it shows us how this way of life is more like a “creepy game,” that hides what is personal and true in favor of what is formulaic. A habit of this unravels us and leaves us saying to a stranger, “Would you mind asking me something personal?” The movie shows our unraveling by subtly reminding us that every woman slept with is someone’s daughter or our kids’ school teacher or someone’s wife. It also shows us the impact on our kids, the next generation, who are watching and learning from us. It even suggests that instead of married people needing the mentoring of the hook-up culture, the hook-up culture could stand some mentoring from those attempting a life of real and lasting committed love with all of its challenges and gifts. The movie is imperfect. For example it shows how porn informs the way young people think about what it means to love. But it doesn’t push back on this. That being said, the humor and the dominate question this movie raises along with the insight it poses for us is a welcomed change. For any of us who feel the temptations in our own hearts and especially for counselors and pastors, who daily see behind the veil into the actual damage done to many young men and women by the misuse of sex and drink, this was a good use of a couple of hours. Echoes of Jesus’ wisdom and grace as it relates to sex and marriage were surprisingly affirmed. Some may feel it was “preachy” near the end. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt us to hear this decent “sermon” found in such an unlikely place.

Read the rest.

Senna - A Review

Adrian Warnock writes:

I more moving film I cannot remember. Senna’s personality is powerfully portrayed. You see a young man infused with a sense of purpose and destiny. He was convinced God had given him this journey. He speaks often in the footage of his relationship with God. As my son pointed out he was far from perfect, for example swearing with relief after one particularly challenging victory. But his determination to achieve the best he could with the talents he had been given is very clear in the movie, and hence inspirational. Every young man needs someone to be inspired by like that. How easy it is to drift through life. How easy to allow others to excel while you are mediocre. We also learned of Senna’s efforts to improve the life of his fellow Brazilians.

Read the rest.

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.

True Grit - A Review

Christianity Today:

Lest this all sound rather heavy, I'll reiterate: This movie is absolutely delightful, the dialogue so rich in humor and fine characterizations, the actors moving through this thing so effortlessly. Bridges is a riot, and impressively unlike the character he played in The Big Lebowski, while Damon proves himself once again to be both a stalwart character actor and an impeccable comedic one. But it's Steinfeld who most amazes; she is not a child actor who's simply given room to be a child, but an actual performer, playing a character. That the movie is filmed beautifully, or that the score—based on old-timey hymns, actually—is perfectly evocative … well, it's a Coen Brothers movie. These things don't really need to be said.

What might need to be said is this: For all its pleasures, there is a sort of lingering melancholy that makes the movie stay with you. In the theater, I thought it was a zany Coen comedy along the lines of Raising Arizona or Lebowski, but as I reflected on it later I realized it to be a much sadder and wiser film than it initially seems. It's a movie about death, and about justice and revenge. It's also a movie about manhood, as seen through the eyes of a young girl whose only examples of manhood are limited and flawed. (Aren't we all?) We see these men through her eyes, and we see how it shapes her into the woman she becomes. In some ways, the way all this plays out is a little bit subversive for a Western; of course, it's also about as pure and unironic a genre picture as these filmmakers have yet made. In other words, typical Coen Brothers.

Read the rest.

Waiting for Superman

This looks like a very interesting documentary.  Read the review here.

Get Low - Another Take

John Armstrong:

"Get Low" is a truly great movie. I cannot recommend it too highly and believe it is clearly worthy of several Oscar nominations. It carries a great message communicated in a studied and subtle manner. It is a beautifully filmed tale of love, regret, repentance and redemption. If you like great stories, humor and a message told by great character actors then this is it. By far this is the best film of 2010, at least so far.

Read the rest.  

Inception - A Review

Michael Kelley reviews the movie, "Inception".  His conclusion:

But what captured me about the movie most, other than what’s above, is the idea behind it. I think this movie is about creativity. It’s about ideas and where they come from, and how a simple idea – just a though – can eventually completely take over your life. It can become like that song you hear in the morning that gets stuck in your head and you can’t get out. It’s a truly creative and original movie dealing around the subject of true creativity and originality. Brilliant.

I’m left asking myself those questions as a writer – what is the beginning of inspiration? What’s the origin of an idea? And how do I generate that on my own without having Cobb invade my psyche? It seems to me that in some ways, the world is becoming less and less creative all the time. Though technology is constantly and rapidly developing, it seems like we always get the newest version of something else. Not much completely original. Not in film. Not in literature. Not in technology. Not that often.

In short, the movie made me want to have an idea. An original one. One that can be cultivated and grown. 

Read the rest.

Despicable Me - A Review

Ben Witherington's conclusion:

I will not spoil the plot for you, but I'll say that there is no fluff in this one hour and 35 minute film, and plenty of action, funny scenes and really amazing 3D effects. I will offer a small trailer sample in another post... here I will say, this is the best children's (and parent's) movie of the summer. It has a good heart and message, and those little yellow minions---- well your children will want one for Christmas, so brace yourself.

Read the rest.

Toy Story 3 - A Review

Ben Witherington has a good review of this new movie.  His conclusion:

But for most, Toy Story III will be a worthy succesor to the previous two films. Just don't laugh too hard at the soap opera which is Ken and Barbie, or Buzz Light Year for that matter. Besides at only one hour and 49 minutes, counting even the final credits and with a G rating, this creative film is over far too quickly. It may be the best movie of the summer of its sort.

Read the rest.

Crazy Heart - A Review

Last night my wife and I went to see Crazy Heart.  It was a great movie. 

Here is the synopsis:

Four-time Academy Award nominee JEFF BRIDGES stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake in the debut feature film CRAZY HEART from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Golden Globe® nominee MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart.

Here are the things I liked about it:

1.  It was the anti-Transformers.  Low budget, great story, great realism, great acting, great script, no CGI, and completely engaging.  It was what John Coltrane is to Britney Spears.  Real artistry on display as opposed to a dog and pony show without any substance. 

2.  Jeff Bridges' performance was the best performance I have seen on the big screen since Heath Ledger as The Joker.  From the second he utters his first line I was totally sold on him BEING the character.  He completely consumed the part and it was totally worth my $10.50 to see such a strong performance.  He better get nominated for an Oscar or something is seriously wrong in the universe. 

3.  The music was great.  I am no country music fan, but as with all good movie music, this music set the tone for the whole film and created a cinematic atmosphere that was completely enthralling.  You were transported to their world partly due to the mental associations that most of us have that were conjured up through the music. 

4.  Amazing cinematography.  I think much of the film was shot in my home state of New Mexico.  (One scene for sure was shot at the local aquarium that we have been to many times). This is such a beautiful state.  I am going to miss it when we move to Madison, WI. 

5.  **Don't read this if you don't want a spoiler.**  I loved the fact that there was not the sickeningly "happy ending" where the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after.  Sin has real consequences in the real world and I appreciated the fact that this was not glossed over or minimized in any way. 

If you think Transformers was a great movie, don't see this one, but if you like real art, go see this movie.  It won't leave you sorry. 

Click here to read more reviews.

The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2009

Christianity Today posts a good list here. 

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.

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.

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.

Where The Wild Things Are - A Review

Russell Moore writes a short review of Where The Wild Things Are. His conclusion:

Where the Wild Things Are isn’t going to be a classic movie the way it is a classic book. But the Christian discomfort with wildness will be with us for a while. And it’s the reason too many of our children find Maurice Sendak more realistic than Sunday school.

Too many of our Bible study curricula for children declaw the Bible, excising all the snakes and dragons and wildness. We reduce the Bible to a set of ethical guidelines and a text on how gentle and kind Jesus is. The problem is, our kids know there are monsters out there. God put that awareness in them. They’re looking for a sheep-herding dragon-slayer, the One who can put all the wild things under His feet.

Your kids might be bored by the Wild Things movie. They won’t be bored by the Wild Things book. It’s their story, and mine. But read them the story of Max and his monsters, and then show them the Story they were knit together to love.

And let the wild rumpus start.

A Review of "Doubt"

Ben Witherington concludes his review by writing:

And herein lies the cautionary tale for all religious authorities in positions of power--- the onus is entirely on you to maintain the proper boundaries in an inequitable power relationship such as that between a priest and an altar boy, or a minister and a choir director, or a teacher and a student. It does not matter if there is no age difference between the two persons in the relationship, what matters is the power inequity in the relationship, such that one person has control, and the other will have a difficult time saying no, especially if they want to keep their job, their position, their relationship with the powerful person. A priest or minister must not only err on the side of caution, their behavior needs to be above reproach, and if possible above suspicion. And on this matter I have no doubts. Nor do I about this movie--- almost every adult Christian needs to see this movie, and ruminate on it.