"Stand in the place where you live, now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before." -R.E.M.

Movies

Why I'm Clueless and the Genius of Michael Moore

07/09/2007 06:56 AM

I have a confession to make: I'm not sure what I think about a whole host of important political issues. Now, I know what you may be thinking: "Hey! You're a Christian! You should know exactly what the right way is to vote on everything!" Oh, if only it were that black and white. Allow me to illustrate...

Review: Children of Men

01/17/2007 12:33 AM

There’s an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel like I’ve just been to hell and back, and the aftertaste is less than pleasant. I have seen a graphic depiction of the depravity of mankind, and it’s not pretty.

I just finished watching Children of Men. I could get into a long synopsis of the film to explain what follows, but you can find that here. Without some background, much of this article won’t make sense. If you haven’t seen the film and don’t want anything spoiled, you should probably stop reading right now.

I loved Children of Men, but not in a way that is easy to describe. I left the theater feeling awful and it wasn’t an easy picture to watch. Sure, the cinematography was breath taking, with extremely long single-shot takes dominating the film even during spectacular war scenes and car chases. The direction and acting are superb and the special effects, for a movie that is not particularly an “effects film,” work well. But technical excellence is not what makes good films great, and that is not the heart and soul of Children of Men.

At its heart the film is about the human condition, the significance of human life, and the degeneracy of humankind. There are quite a few biblical allusions and, though the film is not “Christian” by any means, it does cause a Christ-follower to reflect quite a bit on the state of the world and what our place is in it.

The main character, Theo, is charged with protecting the first pregnant woman the world has seen in almost 20 years. Her name is Kee, and she is certainly “key” to the survival of the human race. Theo is a Moses character, facing great adversity in order to lead Kee safely to the “promised land,” which is in this case is something called “The Human Project” that will hopefully analyze Kee and her child in order to help the world solve the mystery of its infertility and thus ensure the survival of humanity.

Children of Men paints a picture of the future that isn’t very distant from our present. The world has been overtaken by anarchy. Death is everywhere as people war and kill for no reason. Great Britain is the only standing government and for all of its danger, it is one of the safest places on the planet. There are no doubt allusions to the type of violence and senseless slaughter that is occurring in the Middle East right now, but it has become more widespread. This violence and depravity is displayed from the first sequence in the film until the bitter end.

People cling to life. Though they are in a depressing existence, a world without children, we see people mourn for the dead in almost every scene. They hold dearly to their dogs, cats, sheep and other pets. Even when humanity is at its worse, it longs for something, anything, to love…even if that something is an animal instead of a newborn child.

It is into this dark and dreary world that a child is born. Sound familiar? For all of its faults, this film more clearly and powerfully demonstrates the dark and mutilated world that Christ was born into than any other I’ve seen. Yes, the director portrays a depressing and bleak world, but he must in order for the light and hope that this child brings to shine that much brighter.

Highly recommended; in theaters now.

Tags: Children of Men, Clive Owen, Jesus, Moses, symbolism

Review: Superman Returns

06/28/2006 02:30 PM

Well we did it. Most of us have to be at work in the morning, but we got tickets to see the 1:00 am showing of Superman Returns at the Imax theater anyway. I’ve loved superheros since I was a kid, so I always get a little gleeful when a new comic book movie hits the silver screen (especially Spider-man flicks).

I can’t believe that I’m writing this, but I have to say that I’m severely disappointed.
Read More...

Tags: Superman, Review

Why I'm Glad I Saw Brokeback Mountain

03/09/2006 05:43 AM

Say what you want about Brokeback Mountain, but there’s no denying that the film has taken the national media and popular culture by storm. The movie has done more to force the homosexual agenda into the national spotlight than any other single issue, policy, or debate in the last ten years. Thursday I sat down for a free screening of the film.
Already there will be some Christians who will be upset with me. “How can you watch that?” “That movie is from the Devil himself!” “A Christian has no business seeing that filth.”
So why do most Christians feel that they shouldn’t see the film? In general I continue to hear two basic reasons:

Many Christians are (understandably) uncomfortable with the subject matter. They believe that homosexuality is sin (a belief that the Bible teaches, and that I whole-heartedly agree with) and they don’t want to see it portrayed in the cinema.
Many Christians don’t want their money to go toward what they perceive as supporting the homosexual agenda (as of the time of this writing, Brokeback had taken in nearly $79 million).

Though I understand both of these reservations, I think many of us are doing a disservice to ourselves by not seeing it. I think a logical refutation to previous arguments is as follows:
Most Christians have no problem going to see movies that portray violence, divorce, gossip, lying, profanity, drug use, or a host of other things that the Bible teaches against. Even PG and G rated films often portray some of the above. To compound the argument: gossip, divorce, and lying are preached against much more in the Bible than homosexuality is. For most of us to say that we won’t see Brokeback Mountain because of the fact that it portrays sin is hypocritical.
But why should we see the movie? Please don’t misunderstand me; I don’t think every Christian needs to see this film (although I certainly would encourage ministers to). However, I think it helps us in an area that we desperately need help in as a Christian community: coming to a point where we can, at least to some degree, understand and sympathize with homosexuals. And I believe that is the number one reason most Christians don’t want to see this movie: we want nothing to do with the homosexual community, and we certainly don’t want to sympathize with them.
[Warning: Spoilers Ahead]
The film itself is very well made. The acting is superb, and the cinematography of the Wyoming mountains and sky is breathtaking. However, the content is what has made this film so important. It portrays two young cowboys who fall in love with one another over the course of several months while keeping watch over a large flock of sheep.
When the time comes for their job to end, both men part ways, marry women, have children and begin families of their own. Over the next twenty years they see each other when they can, continuing the love affair that began when they were young men.
As a Christian, there is nothing comfortable about this subject matter. However, the film does a remarkable job of showing the pain that their relationship caused them, their wives, and their families. One man ends up divorced while the other is eventually murdered for his sexual persuasion. Unfortunately, the unspoken message that seems to come through is that if only the two men had decided to see each other exclusively from the beginning, no one would have been hurt.
No matter what your opinion on the morality of homosexuality is, this is a sad film. Two women are emotionally scarred for life; another is made to feel like it’s her fault that a serious relationship ended. Heath Ledger’s two daughters are left torn between their mother and father in a difficult divorce situation. Two men that love each other are left heart broken over the way their lives have turned out. If you say you are a kingdom of God person and that you love people, this is a sad story.
Sadder still is the fact that there are homosexuals all over the United States that feel much the same way as these men feel in the movie: sad, beaten down, disappointed. What they don’t need is for the church to come against them in anger and show them their sin while bashing gays and yelling about morality and the sanctity of marriage (more than a few critics of Christianity have noticed that, ironically, the divorce rate is higher among Christians who are screaming about the sanctity of marriage than among unbelievers). What they do need is for the church to show them the love of Jesus Christ and wrap their arms around them. We need to embrace homosexuals, not shun them.
Does that mean that we embrace homosexuality? No—not by any means. Homosexuality is not the problem, though; a fallen world that needs Christ is the problem. Homosexuality is merely one symptom. Once homosexuals or liars or drug addicts or gossipers or pornographers or murderers come to Christ, then they can worry about having Him clean them up and rescue them from their sin.
We all struggle with something whether it is homosexuality or anger or gossip. What I’m desperately tired of seeing the Christian church do is elevate the sins that most of us don’t struggle with (i.e., homosexuality, abortion) above the ones that we do (i.e., divorce, judgmentalism).
What Brokeback Mountain did for me was open my heart a little more to the homosexual community. Though we can’t and shouldn’t try to justify the sin, we should make every effort to love and understand the people. They don’t need an angry mob waving signs (honestly, has that ever worked?). Just like us, they need Jesus Christ to rescue them from a fallen condition.
I’m glad I saw the movie.

Tags: Brokeback Mountain, Homosexual Community, compassion

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

01/17/2006 11:20 AM

emily_rose

One thing I have always been interested in is the demonology of Hollywood. From The Exorcist to Constantine, and Rosemary’s Baby to Hellraiser it’s interesting to see Hollywood’s take on God’s greatest enemies.

What’s fascinating about The Exorcism of Emily Rose is that it chooses not to go over the top in its portrayal of the possession of a college age girl. There are no images of heads spinning around, crosses being defaced, or projectile vomit that encompasses family members or priests. No, what we are left with is something much more frightening.

We are left with a story that has an heir of truth about it. The movie is loosely based on the true story of a German girl named Anneliese Michel. You can find out more about Anneliese by checking out another story posted on my site here. However, though the story seems to ring more true and touch us at a more human level than The Exorcist, it certainly still has its fair share of Hollywood flare.

The good news is that we don’t have to be internet sleuths and find out just how accurate (or inaccurate) Emily Rose is when compared to true events. Intriguing as the movie is and regardless of how grounded in truth it turns out to be, it is my belief that it raises some questions for the Christian.

It has long been believed by a great many Christians that it is not possible for a Christian to be possessed by a demon. I hold to this belief as well, and the logic goes something like this: to be filled with Christ is to leave no room for demonic habitation. However, the movie begs the question: is it possible that this is merely wishful thinking?

*Warning, spoilers ahead…if you haven’t seen the movie, and don’t want anything to be ruined, cease to read immediately!

Emily Rose’s priest ends the movie by reading a letter to the jury that Emily wrote shortly after a dramatic exorcism attempt on the day after Halloween. Emily explains to him that after the failed attempt she fell asleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by someone calling her name. She leaves the house and walks toward a field, where she falls to the ground. Moments later, she has an out-of-body experience where she is greeted by the Virgin Mary and told that God sees her anguish and is offering to take her home to be with Him immediately.

However, the Virgin Mary tells Emily, if you choose to stay you will face great torment; but many people will hear of your struggle and will come to realize that there is a God by their knowledge that you fought with the Devil.

Obviously this scene is very Catholic in nature; obviously this entire encounter and conversation with Mary was scripted for a Hollywood movie and not taken from the life of Anneliese Michel. But just because this is a fictional story does not diminish the question: Is it possible for there to ever exist a circumstance that would require God to allow one of His children to withstand the horrors of possession in order for Him to further His purposes and propagate His glory on Earth?

It’s hard not to ask the question in light of our study of the book of Job. Job underwent so much torment; but what we ultimately find is that this torment was not for the purpose of testing Job, but for advancing the kingdom of light against the accusatory kingdom of darkness.

I continue to stand firmly in the camp that a Christ follower cannot be possessed by a demon. However, I would love to hear from others who feel that under certain circumstances, or in particular crises of spiritual warfare, there may very well be room for God’s allowing of the righteous to be turned over to the enemy in body alone.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” -1 John 4:4

For further reading on this topic, feel free to check out the appendix of the fabulous book Across the Spectrum. It can be viewed in PDF form here.