Movie Reviews

Iron Man – 5/5 Loved It
This movie has renewed my faith in comic-based movies. Well, this and the new Batman franchise. Robert Downy Jr. was incredible. I so want to buy this movie now. Really hoping The Dark Knight can top the bar now set this Summer.

The Martian Child – 4/5 Really Liked It
John Cusack continues to put out some really good movies. I love the story of this movie. If you’re at all interested in adoption or foster care or kids in general I think you will too.

Lost In Translation – 3/5 Liked It
Interesting and artsy, and kinda slow. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson both were great, but it just didn’t hold my attention tremendously. Could have been the timing, but I thought it was just alright.

War Games – 4/5 Really Liked It
To my amazement I had only seen bits and pieces of this movie and never the whole thing. I thought it was really well done. Wonder how much Burger King paid to have that machine named WOPR.

Munich – 4/5 Really Liked It
This was like a much slower paced, and more serious James Bond movie. And it was roughly based on true events. My appreciation with this movie came especially with the internal struggle with the main character.

Highlander – 3/5 Liked It
Not bad for an 80′s classic. I’d be interested in seeing the next in the series, but it wouldn’t really hurt my feelings if I didn’t get around to it.

This Is England – 3/5 Liked It
Not a bad little flick. I felt bad for the little guy.

Rendition – 4/5 Really Liked It
Saw this on recommendation of Shaun and Portorikan, but knew nothing about it going in. I really liked the story and the internal conflict the characters played. The practice of rendition is real, and it is also real stupid.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – 2/5 Didn’t Like It
Wow. I’m starting to question the whole Indy franchise at this point. Hopefully when I watch Raiders again my faith will be redeemed, but Crystal Skull was just bad all around. I laughed out loud a few times, but I suspect they weren’t intended as laughing points.

Next 3 in the Que:
The Constant Gardener, What Would Jesus Buy, Walk Hard

Filed under: 80's, Adoption, Comics, Culture, Eighties, England, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, Movies, Rendition, Reviews, Robert Downy Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Shia LaBeouf, War

7 Burning Questions

The current issue of Relevant features an article with the 7 burning issues of our generation. They had some of the leading voices in the Church today respond to them. Click the links below for a synopsis of their answers.

1. InJustice
2. Homosexuality
3. Faith
4. Politics
5. Culture
6. Consumerism
7. War

Check out the May/June 2008 issue (#33) for their complete answers.

As a followup to this series, I listened to a recent edition of American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith, where host Krista Tippett presents a conversation among three generations of evangelical leaders (two of which were involved in the Relevant article) — Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne — about how (or if) Christians should be involved in politics. The event was part of a larger pastor’s conference in San Diego sponsored by Zondervan.

You can listen to or download various audio formats on the Speaking of Faith site or watch the video online.

Very good stuff!

Filed under: Brian McLaren, Chuck Colson, Church, Cindy Jacobs, Culture, Homosexuality, N.T. Wright, Nancy Ortberg, Politics, Religion, Shane Claiborne, Steve Brown, War

7 Burning Questions – War

The current issue of Relevant has a feature article with the 7 burning issues of our generation, and they have some of the leading voices in the Church today respond to them. I thought I’d highlight them in seven separate posts. Here is burning question number seven…

War: How should we respond?

The real problem here is the cultural captivity of the Church in America. Most American Christians are Americans first and Christians second. National identity trumps commitment to Jesus time and time again. When American Christians show a moral preference for war as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, they have not discerned the true meaning of the Gospel. They’re blinded by nationalism, rather than having their eyes fixed on the Prince of Peace. — Jim Wallis

Some of the leaders of America and Britain over the last 10 years have spoken quite openly about getting rid of evil and doing so by means of violence. That seems to me extraordinarily lacking in historical awareness, theological substance and just sheer human wisdom. — N.T. Wright

People are pretty hunkered down in their positions-the vast majority favoring war as an acceptable option, and a small but growing minority either committed to pacifism or growing ore suspicious about war. We need to move to higher ground, and move from binary yes-no questions like, Are you for or against pacifism? to questions that force people to think more deeply. — Brian McLaren

How do we as a Church become communities in our nation that really advocate for peace? I don’t see a lot of churches doing things that make me think, or give ma a lot of hope that the Church could be a force for peace in this country. — Nancy Ortberg

Now, when one gets into the specifics of which war to fight, how to go about obtaining justice, what kind of force should be used and how in particular one should protect the innocent, the way gets muddy. I sometimes fear that Christians (both pacifist Christians and “Kill the enemy for Jesus” Christians) have never taken the time to go through the complexity. — Steve Brown

It’s unmistakable to me, when I look at the cross, what love looks like when it stares you in the face and says, “Forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Now the Sermon on the Mount may not look like the best way to lead the biggest superpower in the world and the biggest military–maybe that should tell us something. — Shane Claiborne

This seems to pose the question of whether or not we should be pacifists as Christians. Sometimes one has to go to war to make peace. Ask the veterans of World War II when they battled against the evil tide of Hitler’s regime. The Bible clearly states there is a time for war and a time for peace. — Cindy Jacobs

We live in a fallen world, which is why Augustine first formulated what is known as the “just war doctrine.” Thomas Aquinas was perhaps the most articulate on this when he included the just war doctrine under the section in Summa Theologica on love. He considered it a supreme act of charity to give one’s life in defense of innocent civilians. I agree with Aquinas. — Chuck Colson

Check out the May/June 2008 issue (#33) for their complete answers.

Other Burning Questions:
1. InJustice
2. Homosexuality
3. Faith
4. Politics
5. Culture
6. Consumerism

Filed under: Brian McLaren, Chuck Colson, Cindy Jacobs, Jim Wallis, Love, Love Wins, N.T. Wright, Nancy Ortberg, Politics, Religion, Shane Claiborne, Uncategorized, War

Documentary Reviews

I decided to throw my hat into the documentary arena. I have never rented or watched a single documentary before, and it wasn’t half bad. I think I may have spoiled myself a little by the order I watched these, as they got progressively worse. But I think as a whole it’s been a good experience and I’m looking forward to watching many more.

An Inconvenient Truth — This being my first documentary, I was extremely impressed. The flow and artistry of this film was awesome. It seemed to flaunt the fact that it was done using a mac, so that too was nice. I admit I went in skeptical, but I really enjoyed this documentary. Al Gore may be robotic, but he sure is passionate about this subject, and for that he should be commended. Although you will come out of this thinking that the sky is falling and that we will all die very soon (which I don’t believe), I do think there are some very good points about the direction we are heading on this planet. The only real problem I had with this film is that he spent very very little time on ways we can help solve the problem. Actually, it was mostly during the credits that we received solutions. I would have liked to have seen more discussion on the simple ways we can fix this problem individually.

Helvetica — Let’s say I gave An Inconvenient Truth an A. This one was off the charts. A+++ with bonus points and smiley stickers. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with my profession and passion, and a lot of people wouldn’t find it as appealing or informative, but I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy. I’m even buying it as a gift for a few people I know. Not much more I can say about this. It’s just a great piece on a classic font. A must watch for designers.

Sicko — I’ve heard so much praise for Michael Moore in the last few years that I fully expected to not agree with him but still be impressed with his presentation. The complete opposite happened. His presentation was terrible, and he was painfully unfunny. However his case for a nationalized health plan was intriguing. I don’t think the idea is something that we should just throw out without putting some serious thought into. Our current health system is a joke, and only makes money when it denies you service. But that part of his film is where his idea falls apart. He goes on in length about how corrupt the government is, yet he thinks it’s a good idea to put our health care in their hands. Not sure that’s as brilliant as he made it out to be.

Jesus Camp — Documentaries like this one display some very real problems within christiandom. The problem is that they only further add to the stereotype and pigeonhole that the rest of us get lumped into. I wish there were some way we could impress upon the rest of the world that people like this, and the church in Westboro, are the extreme exception to those who follow Jesus. But for some reason these people get all the attention. As for the film itself, it was alright. It really didn’t have a direction or a point, other than to show you how crazy these people were.

No End In Sight —  Boooooorrrringgggggg. The war in Iraq was ill-concieved and mismanaged. Yeah? Tell me something we don’t already know. I thought maybe this would uncover some new material or hard hitting facts, but really it just chronicled the war and occupation, and all the missteps along the way. It didn’t get too much into our reasons for going into Iraq. It mainly focused on our lack of preparation for a post-war Iraq. Which is really why we’re still there today—a serious lack of planning. I almost fell asleep during this one. Twice.

Filed under: Al Gore, Culture, Documentaries, Fonts, Global Warming, Health Care, Iraq, Michael Moore, Movies, Reviews, War

Invisible Children

A fellow blogger and great photographer, Greg Kendall-Ball, has an opportunity to do some life changing work.

In January he will travel to Gulu in Northern Uganda to shoot a series of documentary photo essays on behalf of Invisible Children. Since this is a volunteer trip, he has to foot the bill for the airfare. He’s looking for a few people with a couple extra dollars lying around to help him out. So swing by his site and encourage him with your words, and with your wallet. (Read more here)

A Long Way Gone has been high on my reading list. I imagine after reading that book might be a good time to watch this film. Or vice versa.

Filed under: Invisible Children, Photography, War

The Anniversary

It was one of the first tragedies in my life where I can remember vividly where I was at the time it happened. I can recall the entire days events as if they were yesterday. I can also remember the one year anniversary. I wore a symbolic American flag tie, while two of my co-workers wore all black. That was a time of change for me. It was smack dab in the middle of some paradigm shifting, and today my entire perspective has changed. Today I would have wore all black as well. My focus now is more on the lost than on bucking up and showing my true American pride. And not only for those that suffered that fateful day, but also for those that continue to suffer as a result.

And now on the Sixth Anniversary, the man behind the whole thing has surfaced again.

There are two solutions to stopping it. One is from our side, and it is to escalate the fighting and killing against you. This is our duty, and our brothers are carrying it out.

The second solution is from your side. I invite you to embrace Islam. —Osama Bin Laden

Read More »

It appears Bin Laden is in fact alive, and still loathing all things American. I feel like I may have watched one too many movies, but I can’t help but wonder why we can’t eliminate this man. The entire world is resigned to the fact that he’s in Pakistan.

Filed under: 9/11, Hope, Mourning, Osama Bin Laden, War