Feb 05 2007
My new favorite T.V. show is heroes on NBC. An incredible adventure into the development of the human spirit and spirituality in a world out of control. An epic battle of good vs evil with ordinary people doing extraordinary things for each other and for the world.
Kind of what the church should be today
Popularity: 43% [?]
Nov 25 2006
New Line Cinema releases the movie Nativity Story this week. I had the opportunity to see a preview screening last week. I took the whole family. The youngest 5 loved it though he was scared when Herod’s soldiers killed the Hebrew babies. My oldest 12 could take it or leave it. My wife said it was alright.
The PR guy said the movie was 13 months in the making from idea to release. To me it felt more like a made for TV movie than theatrical release. It wasn’t tacky or cheap or cheesy it just didn’t have a big screen feel. Maybe that was by intent because the publicity notes say they are trying to tell the story on a more personal level. Looking at the story from the perspective of the people involved. On that level I think they succeeded.
They also did a very good job with casting particularly Kiesha Castle Hughes (Whale Rider) as Mary. The folks look middle eastern unlike passion of the Christ where even though they spoke in Aramaic they looked European. The magi provide some light humour.
Overall it rates B. I’ll use aspects of it in my advent messages series at Mosaic Life
Popularity: 51% [?]
Nov 25 2006
New Line Cinema releases the movie Nativity Story this week. I had the opportunity to see a preview screening last week. I took the whole family. The youngest 5 loved it though he was scared when Herod’s soldiers killed the Hebrew babies. My oldest 12 could take it or leave it. My wife said it was alright.
The PR guy said the movie was 13 months in the making from idea to release. To me it felt more like a made for TV movie than theatrical release. It wasn’t tacky or cheap or cheesy it just didn’t have a big screen feel. Maybe that was by intent because the publicity notes say they are trying to tell the story on a more personal level. Looking at the story from the perspective of the people involved. On that level I think they succeeded.
They also did a very good job with casting particularly Kiesha Castle Hughes (Whale Rider) as Mary. The folks look middle eastern unlike passion of the Christ where even though they spoke in Aramaic they looked European. The magi provide some light humour.
Overall it rates B. I’ll use aspects of it in my advent messages series at Mosaic Life
Popularity: 51% [?]
May 20 2006
Year: 2006
Writer: Dan Brown/Akiva Goldsman
Director: Ron Howard
Producer: Dan Brown/Brian Grazer
Category: Drama
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Rating from MPAA: PG-13
OK let me say that I didn’t get the chance to read the book before had so I can’t compare it. Which may be a good thing. After all the hype and hyperbole about this destroying the Christian faith DCV feels more like a second rate thriller than a life changing movie. This is no Matrix in terms of its spiritual overtones. it is more of a journey in to history and lots and lots and lots of convoluted theories and speculation. From a movie making standpoint I was disappointed.
This is not Ron Howard’s best work and Tom Hanks is not at the top of his game. French actor Jean Reno and Hank’s costar Audrey Tautou do a fair but unimpressive job. Alfred Molina also does a passable job as the single minded Bishop Aringarosa. By far the most outstanding cast member is Ian McKellen who plays his role as the Priory of Scion expert Sir Leigh Teabing with relish and enthusiasm without going over the top. Paul Bettany is effectively scary and convincing as the albino “servant” of the Opus Dei Silas. There are some interesting special effects related to cryptography. But the story could be difficult to follow and tends to drag, despite a couple of car chase scenes. There is only minimal character development done through flashbacks which I found more distracting than helpful. The historical flashback are presented in an interesting though not always effective way. There are several historical inaccuracies on which the basic premise of the movies is based. Maybe I should say that much of what is presented as historical fact is more like conjecture about historical events.
As to the problem of the movie attacking the Christian faith I think that the people who have the biggest axe to grind is the Roman Catholic church, in particular the Ops Dei group. Members of this group are presented as manipulative. deceptive and immoral in there effort to keep the secret that would destroy the faith undiscovered. There are some interesting questions posed about the import of the divinity of Jesus, the origins of the biblical canon and the role that doctrine play in faith. But all in all the is nothing ground shaking unless one has a completely literal an fundamentalist view of scripture faith and Christian practice
It strikes me that with all the conjecture buried layer on upon layer very few people of faith are going to turn away from their faith because of this movie. In fact I think it takes more faith to belief in circuitous trail of theories and conjecture in the movie that it does to belief in than the seemingly unbelievable aspects of the Christian faith. Those who are spiritually searching my well go down the rabbit hole trying to follow this trail but it could also lead then to seek more information from Jesus followers and ask more question of friends of faith.
Bottom line is it is an OK movie nothing to write home about from a spiritual perspective and so so film making. But my wife enjoyed it and she was not really exposed to all the hype and has not read the book. Doctoral studies will do that to you.
There are some pretty graphic scenes of self flagellation, violence, brief nudity, and sexual references and drug use that make this unsuitable for anyone under 13 so the rating is justified. This will not destroy the Christian faith or harm it in my opinion any more than the Last Temptation of Christ did. But all the hype will sell a lot of tickets. My opinion if you have some spiritually searching friends who are dying to see it go take it in with the and talk about it afterward. Use the opportunity to have conversations about spiritual matters with others. If you aren’t just dying to see it then wait for video. Though it might be a while because I do expect this to be in the theaters for several months. Can you say DVD release hype to come?
Tags: christianity, dan_brown, da_vinci_code_the_movie, faith, faith-&-culture, movie-&-tv, opus_dei, reviews
Popularity: 35% [?]
May 20 2006
Well I didn’t get to read the book before seeing the movie but here is one person’s Ben Witherington guidelines for Christian viewers
GUIDE TO CHRISTIAN VIEWERS This movie is not appropriate to bring: 1) young children to– the violence and self-flagellations scenes involving Silas the monk are too much for the young; 2) likewise this movie is going to raise numerous questions for people not well grounded in their faith, especially those of Roman Catholic background. I am not urging them to see it either. 3) Those who know the Bible, but not much about church history (including modern church history– e.g. what is Opus Dei) are not going to be able to dialogue with the inquisitive about this movie very well since it is more about church history than it is about anything in the Bible itself.
Thanks to mike for the link my review will be posted later.
Popularity: 23% [?]
May 17 2006
So far the reviews from Cannes have not been kind to the Da Vinci Code movie. I’ll still go see it this weekend but here are some quotes from early reviews
"…overblown so-so suspense flick…"
"There might be a riveting adventure thriller to be made from Dan Brown’s controversial bestseller, but this is not it. Melodramatic, overlong and dare I say occasionally boring, Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code gets lost in the maze of its puzzles and media"
"Part conspiracy thriller, part religious epic, part family melodrama, but not satisfying on any level, this vastly disappointing film will frustrate viewers who know the book and will bore those who don’t due to the rambling and confusing storytelling."
"Perhaps an interesting side-piece to those already fanatical about the book, but ultimately a lifeless adaptation that reveals the flaws of its source. So Dark, the Con of Dan Brown."
"A jumble of historical myth, religious symbology and international thriller-action makes for an unwieldy, bloated melodrama."
"An oppressively talky film that isn’t exactly dull, but comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material."
See here for more
Director Ron Howard is quoted as saying
“There’s no question that the film is likely to be upsetting to some people,” Howard told reporters. “My advice, since virtually no one has really seen the movie yet, is to not go see the movie if you think you’re going to be upset. Wait. Talk to somebody who has seen it. Discuss it. And then arrive at an opinion about the movie itself.” “Again: This is supposed to be entertainment, it’s not theology,” he said."
Supposed to be entertainment could that have been a self fulfilling prophecy. We’ll see come Friday
Popularity: 23% [?]
May 16 2006
Kruse Kronicle: writes an interesting critique of the emergent conversation with regard to the Da Vinci Code and treatment of story in general. Here’s a quote
Yet for Emergent types, of all people, to flippantly dismiss concerns about events like The Da Vinci Code as “just stories” seems just a little inconsistent and a little too convenient. When Evangelicals write books like Left Behind, we bemoan the way they twist minds. We pride ourselves that intellectually we have sufficiently evolved to see this foolishness for what it is. We recommit ourselves to telling better stories. When The Da Vinci Code comes along, suddenly it is no longer about the story but rather about those silly Evangelicals (God bless ‘em) who are so incapable of distinguishing facts and reality from fiction. (This despite the fact that all along we have said it is not about facts and propositional truths, but stories.) It is this kind of behavior that makes me suspect all the more that too much of Emergent is driven by being contra-Evangelical than by a new way of being the church. If there is to be a new way of being church, then we had better get our story straight, even when it might mean being confused with being a traditional Evangelical.
What do we do with stories? Is the gospel the greatest story ever told? Which cultural stories get told? Is the emergent conversation just contra-evangelical?
I’m planning to see the Da Vinci Code movie when it comes out this weekend, I’ll have more to say then.
Popularity: 22% [?]
Apr 28 2006
Michale Stipe from R.E.M. and producer of the movie Saved! talks about faith in a great interview I came across after reading a blurb on it in Relevant magazine. Here is a snippet.
Faith in general–and I am speaking about Christian faith in particular because it’s what I’m most familiar with–is an individual thing. But I think it’s easy to get lost in it and to maybe allow other people to tell you what is and is not right. I think a true Christian, and I’ll use my parents as the shining example in my life, recognizes what the teachings of Jesus represent and what that means to them, and then, in the not-simple day-to-day living and breathing those teachings, what paths do you take, what choices do you make, what do you support, what do you not support?If there’s a schism in this country, it might be not between the people who have faith and the people who don’t have faith, but people who have faith that is, in my opinion, pure to the teachings of Jesus and people who have taken that and turned it into something for other reasons, be that power, be that intolerance or ignorance. And that’s where a schism might have occurred in this country presently.
Popularity: 26% [?]
Apr 17 2006
Lady In The Water M. Night Shyamalan’s next movie comes out in June. I think this guy is the most phenomenal director since Hitchcock. He is by far my favorite living director. All his movies have significant but not overbearing spiritual undertones.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Apr 17 2006
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Disciplines of the Spirit by Howard Thurman
God of the Oppressed by James H. Cone
To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City by Mark R. Gornik
Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung
unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman
