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1.This is the home page of Visual Parables, the quarterly journal of film and faith. To see what a typical issue is like, click onto the "Sample Issue" tab. Also, you can see short reviews of current films that can be used in newsletters by clicking the "Film Capsules" tab. To view other issues of VP, from the current one back to Aug. 2003, you must be a subscriber. To subscribe, click onto the "Subscribing" tab at the left. Subscribers also have access, in between quarterly issues of the journal, to reviews of current films, so VP will keep you up to date as to what you should be seeing. We hope that you will find the free material so useful and interesting that you will want to join the Visual Parable community, a group of believers who believe that the God of the burning bush and boiling-over pot is still very much alive and calling to us, even at theaters and video stores.

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Visual Parables was started by Edward McNulty in 1990 as a monthly newsletter to alert fellow pastors about must-see movies. The newsletter grew into a magazine designed to equip church leaders to engage film and use it in preaching and teaching by means of reviews of theatrical, cable TV and video films; film discussion guides; a devotional column; a column linking film scenes to the Common Lectionary; and many other features exploring film, theology and the church. As a guide for film content that might be objectionable we offer our unscientific assessment of the content of a film in regards to Violence (V), Language (L), and Sex/Nudity is measured on a scale from 0 (None) to 10 (Highest). It is intended to give viewers some idea as to why a film is rated R, PG-13, PG, or G.

Because of printing and distribution costs Visual Parables is no longer available in print form, except for a Year-end Annual in 2007. (The last print issue is for Fall 2006.) The website (visualparables.net) has already enabled us to post reviews in a more timely manner than print allows. The Current Movies section of the site will continue to feature the latest reviews, and we will still post a quarterly issue that will include reviews with pictures, Lectionary Links, reviews of short DVDs, Praying the Movies, and Doug Sweets column on DVDs and film books. A new feature will be added, Film Capsules, which will include short reviews suitable for free use in the newsletters of churches and organizations subscribing to VP. The Year-end Annual will include reviews of the years most significant films, the index for the year, and possibly program articles. This will be available on line and also either on disk or in print, depending on readers interest; subscribers who pay $36 will receive thisthe on-line only subscription fee will stay at $30. Readers who do not use the Internet should contact me at 859-493-0286 (or the surface mail address on the back cover) for an adjustment of their subscription, which will have to be my sending you a copy of either one of my books, the Gospel & Comedy Retreat kit, or the Babe VBS kit. There have been many changes since I began using and writing about filmfrom 16mm film to VHS to DVD and downloading; from typewriter to computer; print to electronicso this is one more, a change that I hope will lead to your receiving the information more quickly and more conveniently.
 

 

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Film capsules are designed for editors of parish and ecclesiastical newsletters and/or Sunday church bulletins. They are far briefer than the longer reviews on the site and in the quarterly journals, but they still include a related Scriptural reference for the reader to consider. Permission is granted to subscribers to reprint these, provided the following is placed at the bottom of the review(s):
            Reprinted from Visual Parables. The full review available at visualparables.net.

Film Capsules August 2008

 

Henry Poole Is Here

Rated PG. Ecclesiastes 2:16 & Mark 9:24
One of the best examinations of the ambiguity of faith and miracle since The Third Miracle or Pulp Fiction, this simple story of a man who has given up on life will thrill Christians, but provoke atheists (See the atheistic rant in the Users Comment on the film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029120/). Henry has bought a run-down house in a suburban neighborhood and wants to be left alone to drink and stare at the blank walls, but his neighbors will not let him be. Esperanza is sure that she sees the face of Jesus in the poorly applied stucco of the house, and soon her priest and others are hanging around wanting to turn the space into a shrine, especially when a red blotch appears on the face. There is also a little girl next door who has not talked since her father divorced her mother, and Mom herself is both kind and beautiful. Although there is little doubt that Henry too might eventually rediscover hope (we discover that he has good reason to despair), the enjoyment is in watching the process unfold.

X-Files: I Want to Believe

Rated PG-13. Mark 9:24 & John 20:25b
One does not have to have been a fan of the TV series to understand or appreciate this stand-alone film. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have left the FBI years earlier, but are brought back when a defrocked priest claims to be having visions of a missing female FBI agent. Is he real or a fraud? Mulder, who does want to believe in the super natural, stands in sharp contrast to the scientifically inclined Scully, who has returned to practicing medicine at a Catholic hospital. Besides her Thomas-like skepticism is her loathing for the former priest, a convicted pedophile living in a community of pedophiles who watch and support one another in their struggle to go straight. Along with the usual elements of the action/thriller/crime genre is the theme of the radical grace of God, Scully almost sneering when she asks the praying ex-priest if he really believes that God answers his prayers.

The Dark Knight

Rated PG-13. Jeremiah 17:9 & Matthew 6:13
Both dark and violent, the film is nonetheless worth watching. Thrill seekers will be impressed by the action-packed sequences, and more thoughtful viewers will be impressed by Keith Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in which he is far more complex than the usual comic book portrayal of the villain. Relevant themes of vigilantism in fighting evil by extra-legal means, and the fine line between interrogation and torture seem to be taken out of the today’s headlines. After the fascinating comic-based films of this summer the super hero genre will never be the same.

Swing Vote

Rated PG-13. Proverbs 6:6-9 & 20:1 & Ephesians 4:25
A highly enjoyable populist tale based on a barely believable glitch in an electronic voting machine, the film is kept afloat mainly by the talent of Kevin Coster as Bud, a boozy out of work father, and his young daughter Molly, well played by newcomer Madeline Carroll. It seems that when he is too drunk to show up to vote his civic-minded daughter manages to sneak in and cast his vote. However a power outage causes it to be stuck, and throughout the rest of the state, it is a tie vote. When the authorities learn who cast the vote in the disabled machine, Bud is given ten days to recast “his” vote. Thus an army of reporters and both Presidential candidates descend on the little town. There are a number of funny scenes in this would-be “Washington Goes to Mr. Smith” film, but ultimately it raises and answers too readily in the affirmative the question, “Is it okay to commit voter fraud in a good cause?” Ultimately, this is a morally dubious tale so attractive that viewers are seduced into accepting the premise..

Mamma Mia!

Rated PG-13. Exodus 20:12
I was not among the 30 million who have seen the various stage productions of the play, so I am grateful for this version, filled with so many hummable ABBA songs. The plot is preposterous—that three highly successful men would accept an invitation to come to a remote Greek island for the wedding of the daughter of a lover whom they had not seen for 20 years—but the singing and dancing fortunately take up as much, if not more, screen time as the silly dialogue. And it’s great to see Meryl Streep have the opportunity to sing again, even if her acting this time is a bit over the top. However, accepting Pierce Bosnan’s “singing” is a bit painful: he should stay with action and drama films. The scenery is great, and the ensemble singing especially tuneful. Just don’t think much about the flimsy story.

 

Film Capsules July 2008

 

The Visitor

Rated PG-13.  Deuteronomy 10:19
Walter Vale, a still-grieving college professor, who lost his concert pianist wife several years before, returns to his little used Manhattan apartment to discover that two squatters are living there. Victims of a scam, the young couple, the young man is Tarek, from Syria, and his lover Zainab is from Senegal. She sells homemade jewelry at a flea market, and he plays the African drums at a jazz club and on the streets. Walter allows them to stay for a while, and they become friends, Tarek teaching Walter to play the drum. The latter returns to a love of life, joining his friend in a drum circle in Washington Square. Unfortunately their life together is threatened when Tarek is picked up by the police and turned over the immigration authorities. A powerful story friendship and liberation set amidst the current debate over illegal immigration.

Wall-E

Rated G. 
Add one more cute and cuddly robot to the list that includes Robbie (Forbidden Planet), R2D2 and 3CPO (Star Wars) in this wonderful movie that maintains the Pixar reputation of producing the finest movies for both children and adults. Wall-E has been rounding up and compacting humanity’s junk for over 700 years, ever since the last humans either died off or emigrated aboard a huge spaceship. Talk about a commentary on present day human waste! When he encounters a sleek scout named Eve, it is robot love at first sight, with the little trash robot following her back to the space ship exploring planets to see if they contain life, and then back to the huge space ark where humans have become so driven American nurse who rides horseback delivering food and pampered and fat that they no longer walk. This fascinating tale with an ecological moral affirms the human spirit, both that embedded in thinking machines and that within a listless humanity that still can be roused to meet a challenge.

Kung Fu Panda

Rated PG.  Acts 4:27-28
With nods to such films as Nacho Libre, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back, this is a fun film for young and old. Set in ancient China where the Valley of Peace is threatened by a villain once trained by Kung-fu Master Shifu, the unlikely hero destined to become the Dragon Master is the over-stuffed panda Po, whose father wants him to follow in the family tradition of making great noodles. How Po becomes transformed into a might hero (the sequence owing a lot to Rocky) is scarcely believable, but certainly amusing, Master Shifu motivating the rather lazy Po by withholding his food, forcing him to fight for every morsel of his food.

The Children of Huang Shi
Rated PG-13. Matthew 9:36
Like the 1950s film Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Robert Spottswoodie’s film is set in war-torn China and based on a real-life person from England. Unlike Gladys Aylward, however, George Hogg is not a missionary but an ambitious cub reporter seeking adventure and fame. Almost losing his life to a Japanese executioner’s sword when caught with his photographs showing the brutal slaughter of civilians by the invaders, Hogg winds up reluctantly taking care of an orphanage full of sixty boys. He is greatly helped by Lee, a driven American nurse who rides her horse delivering food and medicines to various stations; Chen, a West Point graduate turned Communist; and Madame Wang, a local merchant and purveyor of opium. Also there is an epic trek over mountains to escape both the Japanese invaders and the Nationalist Chinese forces.

Hancock
Rated PG. Deuteronomy 30:19
Just when you think that the over-blown superhero genre has been exhausted, up pops another one with a new twist. Well, not entirely new, as before Hancock the animated The Incredibles raised the question of “What do superheroes do during their off hours?” Hancock’s twist is, “What are the consequences of the destruction of all of the property caused by a superhero’s titanic fights with his adversaries?” In Hancock’s case it is the opprobrium of almost everyone in Los Angeles, resulting in a flurry of damage lawsuits and hundreds of tickets served against him. When he rescues a PR man at a railroad crossing, the grateful man makes it his mission to change the superhero’s public image. The film spoofs its genre but also, like the best films based on a comic book character, has many touching moments of human anguish over loneliness and the necessity of self-sacrifice.

Mongol
Rated R. Psalm 44:6-7
Russian director Sergei Bodrov gives us a very different picture of the conqueror so often demonized by the Europeans who dreaded his seemingly invincible power. This, reportedly the first of a projected trilogy, could be subtitled "The Early Years," chronicling the tumultuous events from his boyhood to his middle years. Strong-willed from the start, 9 year-old Temujin insists on marrying the girl of his choice, rather than continue their journey to seek a political marriage desired by his father. (Temujin is his given name, the honorific Genghis Khan, meaning Universal Leader, bestowed on him much later.) How the boy escapes the clutches of his enemies after the murder of his father, grows up under the constant threat of death and eventually claims his bride, and then in turn is rescued by her from Chinese imprisonment makes for exciting viewing. The film contains gorgeous shots of the Mongolian mountains and plains, as well as bloody battle scenes.

 

Film Capsules, June 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Rated PG-13.
It is good to see ole Indy back fighting villains who threaten the free world, especially because he teams up again with his flame from his first film, Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). This time the villains are Russian Communists led by Cate Blanchett’s fierce Irina Spalko. Set during the Cold War of the 1950s, the film even touches upon the domestic villainy of McCarthyism, not bad for a summer action thriller. The film sends our heroes to the jungles of South America and a vast underground city, the origins of which are not of this world.

Iron Man
Rated PG-13.
This Marvel Comics-based film will be the gold-standard by which all other of this year’s summer action films will be judged, thanks largely to its star Robert Downey, Jr. He is Tony Stark, inheritor of a vast armaments manufacturing empire. During a tour of Afghanistan Tony sees first-hand the carnage that his products inflicts upon civilians as well as combatants. Captured by a war lord who hopes to force him to produce a super weapon, Tony works under duress, not only making an armored suit that can fly and resist all weapons, but also escaping in it. Back in the US he announces his intention to a startled press that he will convert his empire to manufacturing goods for peace. Not everyone is in favor of this, and thus Tony has to fight his close associate.

Son of Rambow
Rated PG-13.
What seemed like a spoof of the Rambo series turns out to be a tale of unlikely friendship between two boys and liberation from a stifling religious sect.. Set in 1980s England, under-sized Will Proudfoot is beset by school bully Lee Carter. Will’s widowed mother belongs to a strict, so he has never seen a movie, whereas Lee is being raised amidst squalor by a brother who uses him like a slave. Lee has secretly taped Rambo, First Blood so that he can make his own version with his camcorder. When Will joins him and enlists a bizarre French exchange student and his friends in the project, the results are both funny—and nearly tragic. Filled with crazy, dangerous stunts that the boys think up, the film should contain a warning for young viewers, “Do not try this at home!”

 

Film Capsules Apr 2008

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who
Rated G. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14
If you are looking for a film that adults can enjoy as much as children, then this latest adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book is for you. Children will love the kind-hearted elephant Horton who refuses to give up his belief that he has heard a cry for help emanating from a mote of dust. Led by the narrow-minded Kanngaroo who fears that her child will be infected by his outlandish belief, she leads the denizens of the jungle of Nool in a campaign against Horton, even if it means killing him. But Horton has heard a voice pleading for help. It is from the Mayor of Who-ville, worried that his planet is about to be destroyed unless the mote of dust is securely anchored. The Mayor also faces opponents who do not believe that there is anyone “out there” who can help them. How Horton and the Mayor stand firm at great risk and work to avoid disaster adds up not only to an amusing story, but also a lesson about the danger of narrow-mindedness and the need to affirm what we cannot see. (The book’s author wrote the story at the time when Senator Joe McCarthy’s ruthless anti-Communist campaign threatened basic civil liberties in this country.)

Leatherheads.

Rated PG-13
Patterned after the screwball comedies of the 1930s and early 1940s, George Clooney’s film (he also directed it) chronicles the rise of professional football from cow pasture to lavish stadium. It is 1925, and the Duluth Bulldogs are so impoverished that they can afford but one football, and when it becomes lost, they have to forfeit a game because the host team is required to supply the ball. Disbanded when their opponent they are to play declares bankruptcy, their captain manages to convince the reigning college football to play for them in the expectation that he will draw the crowds. This proves to be the case. Part of the hero’s draw is that he was also a war hero, but when a brassy female reporter discovers that his war exploit did not happen as believed, everything threatens to come crashing down. The feel of the Roaring Twenties is convincingly evoked in this story, the sports writers who wrote the script basing it on their research into the history of the NFL.

The Other Boleyn Girl.

Rated PG.
Forget about history, this Tudor soap opera, reversing the roles of the actual Boleyn sisters Anne and Mary, as well as transforming their parents from being scandalized by their behavior into schemers using their daughters for their own advancement. When King Henry VIII visits the Boleyn estate, Anne is put forward as candidate for mistress, but instead he becomes enamored with Mary, who goes to his court to satisfy his lusts, Queen Katherine having been unable to provide a male heir. Eventually, as everyone knows, the King’s fancy turns to ambitious Anne, who holds him at bay until he agrees to take the unprecedented step of divorcing Katherine. She does not want to become mistress, but Queen. Intrigue piles upon intrigue, the film depicting Henry as rather easily manipulated and not at all the strong monarch of history and legend. This history as lust and bedroom antics is a spectacle for the eye, the costumes and estates and palaces being suitably lavish, but not very satisfying for anyone with a regard for historical fact.

In Bruges.

Rated R.
In this dark comedy two hit men are dispatched from Dublin to the small Medieval city of Bruges, Belgium to wait until the heat over a killing has subsided. Ken, the older of the pair, is to baby sit Ray, who has just botched his first job. In dispatching his target, a priest, he also killed a boy who was present, and to their boss Harry, the killing of a child is unforgivable. Ken grows to love the city and its art, but Ray will scarcely look at anything, preferring to complain while longing to be back in Dublin. Then the two come across a crew shooting a film, a main character being a dwarf. One of the crew members is a beautiful girl, whom Ray befriends and arranges to meet the next night for dinner. Ken stays behind in their room to receive the expected phone call from Harry. When it comes through he is disturbed that his order is to kill his undependable partner. Meanwhile, Ray is launched on an adventure that includes his fending off a robber and befriending the dwarf as well as the girl. The dwarf turns out to be a racist. Back at their lodgings Ken wrestles with his conscience, believing that there is potential for good in Ray—and yet his orders are explicit, including instructions on where to go to obtain a gun for the job. The film takes several unexpected turns, resulting in loving sacrifice and tragic irony that will leave you thinking about the ending for some time to come.

Stop-Loss.

Rated R. Job 17:11-16.
Made by the same director who directed Boys Don’t Cry, this Iraq War film shows the corrosive effect that the violence of war can have on soldiers, and an issue that has not received a lot of public attention. The Army has inserted a clause in the contract that recruits sign when they join that permits the commanders to extend the length of the soldier’s service if conditions warrant. When one soldier becomes victim of the process (called “stop-loss”, he rebels and goes AWOL, sending him on a journey across America. He sees the darker side of the Iraq War as it impacts the wounded and others who, like him have fled, living one step ahead of their pursuers while they make up their minds about leaving the country. Although the ending is flawed, the film raises important issues worth discussing.

Film Capsules, Mar 2008

Persepolis

(French, with English subtitles) Rated PG-13. Luke 23:34; Romans 12:2
Although the filmmakers use flat animation, this is probably the most realistic of films, thanks to the autobiographical story of co-director Marjane Satrapi , whose graphic novels form the basis of the film. beginning in Iran during the days of the Shah, this coming of age story follows the progress of a little girl coming to maturity amidst the regress of her country from tyranny under the Shah to a far worse one under the fundamentalist mullahs who rise to power. Determined to be her own person, Marjane resists her teachers trying to convince her that the veil is freedom that her liberal parents decide to send her to Vienna for her safety. Her clash with the nihilistic pop culture of the West and her series of mishaps that lead to deep introspection are wonderfully captured by the largely black and white animation and the expressive voices of the actors. Informative as to the recent history of Iran and inspiring through its feminist them, this is a good film for all ages above junior level to see and discuss.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

(In French with English subtitles) Rated PG-13. Matthew 10:29-30
How can one communicate when one’s body is so paralyzed that the only part of the body that moves is the left eye? And if one could, wouldn’t it be best to ask for euthanasia? Jean-Dominique Bauby had been the editor of the French fashion magazine ELLE when a terrible stroke left him paralyzed. The answer to how he can communicate comes from his ingenious therapist Henriette Durand who devices a chart of letters beginning in descending order with those most often used in speaking. He winks his eye when she (and family members and friends whom she trains) comes to the right letter, and then moves on to the next, and so on. It is so slow that the frustrated Bauby does want to give up, but Henriette will not allow this. How he and his loved ones struggle to communicate, eventually he writing his memoir, makes this one of the most inspirational testimonies to the human spirit that you are likely to see.

Juno Rated PG-13. Philippians 2:4

Juno is a pregnant teenager whose parents are unusually wise and understanding compared to the usual Hollywood teen movie. rejecting abortion, Juno, with the help of her best friend answers the newspaper ad of a yuppie couple anxious to adopt a baby. Juno decides to give over the infant, and then when matters do not go smoothly, she must decide whether to withdraw her offer. This tale of a spunky girl examining her relationship with her boyfriend and coming to a better understanding of herself is funny and poignant, a film to be enjoyed by youth and adults. In fact, it would be a good film for adults and youth to watch and discuss such issues as responsibility and developing self awareness.

Atonement Rated R.. Exodus 20:16; Psalm 32:3-5.

How can one set right a terrible wrong committed several years before? This question torments a young woman named Briony Tallis, whose false testimony, based on resentment and misunderstanding of something she saw, when she was a child tore apart her older sister Cecelia and her lover Robbie Turner. Convicted of a crime by Briony’s testimony, Robbie is sent to jail. When World War Two breaks out, he is allowed to enlist in the army, England desperately needing defenders. The two estranged sisters are brought together when they are assigned as nurses to a military hospital. Across the English Channel Robbie is a soldier awaiting evacuation from Dunkirk, vowing that he and Cecelia will be re-united. Will Cecelia’s efforts to reconcile succeed, and when Fate intervenes, can she discover a means to atone for her past misdeed? Plenty for a group to discuss, especially as to how the theme of the film relates to the Christian doctrine of the same name.

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep Rated PG-13. Psalm 104:24-26
If you liked Free Willy, you should enjoy this story of friendship between a lonely 12 year-old Scottish boy and a giant sea creature. Purportedly “the story behind” the famous Loch Ness Monster, the filmmakers have made the inland Loch Ness a large cove of the sea where during the Second World War the British have set up an artillery battery to counter any German invasion attempt. The boy living on the estate where the soldiers are encamped finds a large egg, and when it hatches, keeps secret from his mother the cute creature. However, it soon outgrows the bucket he has kept it in, and when he transfers it to the bathtub, his teenaged sister discovers it. From there event tumbles upon event, with funny and near tragic results. Good fun for the whole family.

The Savages Rated R. Ephesians 6:3-4.

An unhappy brother and sister must struggle with the problem of dealing with their once abusive father who is losing his faculties. How they cope with their feelings and meet the needs of the parent whom they resent is well worth watching. This is not your typical Hollywood feel good movie, with a scene of sweet reconciliation at the end, but a realistic depiction that has much to teach all viewers who will have (or already have) to cope with a parent whose mental faculties are in steep decline. Great acting by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman!

 

Film Capsules Jan. 2008

 

Michael Clayton

Rated R. Deuteronomy 16:20; Psalm 82:3-4
George Clooney again is outstanding as world-weary lawyer Michael Clayton, as are Sydney Pollack as Marty Bach, head of the law firm, and Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens, the loose cannon colleague who is fed up with the immoral tactics of the firm.. Michael as the “fixer,” cleaning up the messes that the firm’s clients get themselves into, has his own problems—divorced and unable to spend the time he’d like with his young son; bankrupt because of the incompetence of his brother with whom he shares a business; and addicted to gambling. How will he handle his most recent assignment of hunting down Arthur, who has run off in a fit after creating an embarrassing scene with an important client and apt to divulge secrets that could ruin the firm?

I’m Not There

Rated R. Job 27:3-5
This is the most unusual biopic that I have ever seen in that director/writer Todd Haynes uses six—yes, that’s right, six—actors to portray singer/writer/activist Bob Dylan in his many public manifestations. Or, to use the older parlance, five actors, and one actress. Cate Blanchett as always rises to the occasion—it was pretty far into the movie before I recognized her! More startling, perhaps, is the director’s choice of a young black boy with a good singing voice to depict Dylan at the beginning of his career when he was traveling in box cars, emulating his idol Woody Guthrie. The title is bound up with the film’s depiction of Dylan’s always being true to his own inner light and refusing to cater to the demands of his fans and critics. Every time they try to pin him down—as folksinger, social activist/protestor, Christian singer—he moves on, declaring “I’m not there!”

I Am Legend

Rated PG-13. Isaiah 9:2
Will Smith turns in a performance equal to that of Tom Hanks (in Castaway) as the last surviving human in a Manhattan depopulated by a deadly virus that transforms an infected person into a murderous zombie. Accompanied only by his faithful dog, military scientist Robert Neville, hunts wild animals for meat in the city streets and in his Washington Square townhouse conducts experiments in his search for a cure to the disease. He is joined by a mother and her young son, the woman believing that God has sent her to him. Event piles up onto event, including his discovering the serum that will cure the disease, but what will happen when the zombies follow him home and break into his laboratory?

The Bucket List

Rated PG-13. 1 Corinthians 15:55-56
During the Middle Ages manuals were written to aid mortals in preparing for death. With the rise of the Age of Reason, these fell out of use, leaving people to fend for themselves, usually by pushing off any thought of death as being too morbid. In this film two men, one super rich and the other a mere auto mechanic, are forced to confront their own demise when told that they have terminal cancer. After a rocky beginning, the two become friends, making a “bucket list” of things they’d love to do before “kicking the bucket.” An amusing, but rather superficial buddy film, crippled by its less than realistic depiction of the ravages of cancer—and the fact that one (Jack Nicholson, with Morgan Freeman, of course, playing the common man) is so rich that the two can do anything they want. Like most such films, this one fails to confront “the sting of death” or point us to the One who removes it.

T. Great Debaters

Rated PG-13. Ephesians 6:10-14
Instead of a black football coach (Remember the Titans) leading an underdog team to victory Denzel Washington in this film portrays real-life English professor and debate coach Melvin B. Tolson at a small Texas black school during the days of the Great Depression. Again we root for the underdogs as he trains four students to become the first black team go up against those of white colleges—at least if he can convince the authorities at white colleges to even consider debating a “colored” one. Life is precarious for Tolson and his family because he moonlights as a union organizer, attempting to organize sharecroppers, white and black, so they can gain better prices for their crops. The local sheriff, hoping to gather evidence to arrest him, keeps a close watch on him. Filled with scenes of potentially deadly racism, the film is an inspiring reminder of how far our society has come in the seemingly everlasting battle against racism.

Sweeney Todd

Rated R. Psalm 58:10 & Romans 12:17-19
Perhaps the most gruesome of morality tales, Tim Burton’s version of the Broadway play is one more example of the versatility of actors Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter, both performing their songs. His life destroyed 15 years earlier when Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), lusting after Sweeney’s beautiful wife, had him framed for a crime and transported to the penal colony in Australia, Sweeney Todd arrives back in London vowing vengeance. Mrs. Lovett (Carter), who has loved him all along, tells Todd that his wife and daughter are dead, and she becomes his willing accomplice when his demented mind drives him to murder a series of customers as he plots how to entice the Judge into his barber chair. The end results of his unbridled thirst for vengeance are as bloody as any Shakespearean tragedy and as inevitable as any tale from the Old Testament, wherein God commands us to disavow vengeance.

Charlie Wilson’s War

Rated R. Psalm 72:1-4
This history-based tale of how a venal US Congressman, a seemingly flighty society hostess, and a rogue CIA agent supplied Afghanistan guerillas to drive out their nation’s Soviet invaders will confirm the claim of believers that God uses surprisingly unlikely people to do his will. (Like calling a geriatric couple to leave the comfort and security of their home to travel into the unknown and begin a new people!) Tom Hanks, Julie Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (who seems to be everywhere during the past year!) are at the top of their form in this sometimes hilarious film. The latter touch has evoked criticism from some viewers as being inappropriate for such a serious subject, but they forget that the director is Mike Nichols, who years ago directed another film that shared a similar theme, the absurdity of war and its participants, Catch 22, based on Joseph Heller’s scathing denunciation of human cruelty and warfare.

 

Film Capsules Dec. 1-15

The Golden Compass
Isaiah 5:20-21 & Luke 17:2
Thanks to an amazing display of special effects, Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel about a girl striving to rescue a friend in an alternate universe is wondrously brought to life. The special effects are necessary because Lyra and everyone else has a daemon that stays close by, a daemon being an external soul that takes the form of an animal. Atheist Pullman has struck fear into some, lest their children be harmed, but viewers need not worry, his brand of atheism (toned way down in the film version) being the kind that Christians can ally with in a common struggle against any form of tyranny in church or theology that strips humans of their dignity and freedom.. The film follows our heroine on an epic journey to the frozen north as she learns to use “the golden compass,” called an “alethiometer,” a device through which the mysterious Dark Matter or Dust, forming the foundation of the universe, seeks to communicate truth to the device’s owner. She will need it in this world of armored bears and witches, strange flying machines, and a cruel church called the Magesterium, seeking to maintain its harsh control of society.

Lars and the Real Girl
1 Corinthians 13:7 & 11 & Romans 15:1 & 7
Despite the quirky center of the plot, an ultra-shy man’s so obsessed with an anatomical doll that he believes she is a real person, this is a totally engrossing film, celebrating the healing power of supportive acceptance and love. From Lar’s immediate family to his doctor to the pastor and members of his church this acceptance and love spreads out like a ripple in a pond. Warm, and often funny, the film avoids any trace of condescension in regards to its deluded hero. Seldom has the church and small town life been shown so positively, at least not since the days of Frank Capra.

August Rush
Psalm 98:4-9 & Isaiah 55:12
If you like music, you should enjoy this fantasy set in Manhattan about an abandoned boy seeking his long lost parents. Conceived by musician parents during their one and only night of meeting and then abandoned through circumstances not of his parents’ making, young Evan Taylor grows up in an orphanage where he refuses to be considered for adoption. Running away to NYC, he becomes a member of a group of street children led by a Fagin-like man calling himself the Wizard (played by Robin Williams, for once in a non-manic mode). The boy discovers that he has a gift for music and believes that through it he will eventually be able to contact his parents. Lots of ups and downs to the story, but always there is the gorgeous music. A very good film for the whole family.

Enchanted
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
This fun-filled Disney concoction, with its tongue firmly curled up in its cheek, lives up to its name, largely due to the charms of Amy Adams playing, Giselle, the heroine. In the animated portion of the film she finds herself banished by the wicked Queen (delightfully portrayed by Susan Sarandon, noted for her playing a long line of fierce mothers) to the wilds of Times Square. The Queen is fearful that her love-smitten son the Prince will marry Giselle, thus displacing herself as queen. Giselle is given shelter for the night by the widower Robert and his adorable daughter Morgan, who wonder about her strange ways, and—lots of complications ensue, including the Queen following her son into Manhattan because he had set forth to rescue his bride to be. Thus there are love triangles (Robert has a girl friend), and we are supposed to pretend that there could be a doubt as to whether or not he and Giselle will discover they are true soul mates. As formulaic as they come, the great fun is what happens along the way—terrific family fare.

The Martian Child
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Is little Dennis from Mars, as he claims when David first spies him at an orphanage, or not? David is still grieving over the loss of his wife, but, despite the advice of his sister, he decides to follow through on the plans that they had made to adopt a child, the only real question being whom? Being a science fiction writer, he is intrigued by the boy whom he first sees through the hole in a large crate, Dennis fearing that the sun would be too much for his Martian skin. A couple of strange things happen when the boy claims the use of a mysterious power. However, the fearful boy is going to need all the love and patience that David can muster before his fears and feeling of abandonment can be overcome.

 

for November 15-30, 2007

No Country for Old Men.
Rated R. Job 24:1-4, 13-14

Tommy Lee Jones’ lived-in face is perfect for that of Sherriff Ed Tom Bell, a compassionate lawman, in a long line of lawmen in his family, who has seen two much human depravity during his long career. When he discovers that local acquaintance Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is connected with a recent massacre of drug dealers out in the south Texas desert, he sets forth to locate the fleeing Moss before Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), the hit man of the drug lord can find and kill him. Moss makes the deadly mistake of taking a suitcase stuffed with two million dollars from the site of the shootout which he has come upon while antelope hunting. Javier Bardem turns in a compelling performance as the killer who uses a cattle stun gun to blast his way past locks and to murder anyone who stands in his path. One of the most suspenseful moments is when he toys with a gas station clerk over wagering with a coin over payment of his tank of gas. This figures also at the end of the film, one which does not at all tie everything neatly together. Too grisly to be a family film, so beware—this is a Coen brothers film, but not anything like their O Brother, Where Art Thou..

Darfur Now
Documentary, Rated PG Proverbs 31:8-9

This compelling documentary puts a human face on what our own government calls “genocide” in Darfur, which is located in the southwest portion of the Sudan.. Six people, some citizens of Darfur and some American activists speak out as they go about trying to prevent more atrocities. Since protesting against their government’s policies in Khartoum, the government has backed a group of mounted killers known as “Janjaweeds” who have killed about 200.000 and displaced into refugee camps over 2 and a half million. Among the native Darfurans is a woman who has joined the armed rebellion and a village leader who has become sheikh at one of the 160 camps that have been set up to house the refugees. Don Cheadle and George Clooney assist a student activist to bring the situation to the attention of the public and the California legislature and governor. A good film on how you can become involved in a crisis calling for compassionate attention.

Dan in Real Life
Rated PG-13. Philippians 2:3-4; Ephesians 4:25.

If you enjoyed Steve Carell in Evan Almighty, you should even more in this romantic comedy in which he is paired opposite the stunning Juliette Binoche. He is Dan Burns, newspaper advice columnist who is a widower struggling to raise three daughters: Jane (Alison Pill), Cara (Brittany Robertson), and Lily (Marlene Lawston). Two of them are teenagers, so neither would accept any advice from their father. When they attend the annual Thanksgiving weekend gathering at the grand parents’ sea-side mansion, Dan meets Marie (Binoche) at a bookstore, and the two become so drawn to each other that they spend an hour or more talking over coffee. Dan is elated that he has met such a woman, but is crestfallen when his brother Mitch shows up with the girlfriend he has been telling everyone about. She is, of course, Marie. How can they spend so much time that weekend without revealing their attraction for each other and thus spoil things for Mitch and family?

American Gangster
Rated R. Psalm 101:1-4; Ecclesiastes 3:16-17

Denzel Washington as master criminal Frank Lucas and Russell Crowe as lawman Richie Roberts head up an impressive cast in this sweeping story set during the last half of the Vietnam War era. Lucas creates a drug empire in New York City by traveling to Vietnam where he makes deals with corrupt US service men to transport back to the States the pure drugs which he buys from a Chinese war lord up river, thus cutting out the middle man and selling a better product at a lower price than his competitors: just good ole American business practice. Meanwhile across the river in New Jersey no one wants to work with honest cop Richie Roberts when he turns in almost a million dollars he and his partner seized during a drug arrest. The corrupt cops are afraid that Richie will turn them in. How the lives of the crook and the cop converge adds up to a gripping tale that despite its over two and a half hour length never drags. Plenty for Bible students to ponder amidst the violent events of this fact-based film.

 

Film Capsules

 

November 1-14, 2007

 

Rendition
Rated R.. Ecclesiastes 4:1; Isaiah 5:20 (RSV); Matthew 5:7

This disturbing film puts a human face on the practice of our CIA of “extreme rendition” in regard to treatment of suspected terrorists. An Egyptian-born US businessman is returning home from South Africa when the CIA picks him up as he disembarks at a Washington DC airport, places a hood over his head, and ships him off to a north African nation for “interrogation.” No charges leveled against him; no explanation; no word given out to his anxious wife—indeed, the CIA erases his name from the passenger manifest so that there is no record of his ever boarding the plane! As she pursues the case, the State Department continues to deny any knowledge of his fate. All this because of a bombing in the north African nation and phone records that show that terrorists made several phone calls to his cell phone—or to someone with his name. Scenes of water boarding, electro-shock, and beatings, with the CIA agent looking on while the foreign agent does the actual dirty work fill in the meaning of the euphemism “interrogation.” This has not been a popular film, but as a movie that matters, it should be seen and discussed by all church folk who value our Constitution and its protection of human rights.

Gone Baby Gone
Rated R. Psalm 64:6

Ben Affleck moves behind the camera as co-writer and director of this haunting thriller. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, who also wrote Mystic River, it shares the latter’s dark outlook on the depths to which even good people might resort when desperate. Casey Affleck as Patrick Kenzie and Michelle Monaghan as Angie Gennaro are a team of young detectives hired by the family to assist the police in the search for their missing little girl. Morgan Freeman plays the man in charge of the case, Detective Jack Doyle, who reluctantly agrees to cooperate with the pair—if they keep out of his way. The family thinks that people in their blue collar Boston neighborhood might open up more to them than the police. This proves correct, with many secrets dragged into the light, leading the pair to a startling conclusion and an agonizing decision by one of them that will threaten their romantic relationship.

In the Shadow of the Moon
Rated PG. Genesis1:1

This documentary film by a British director comes at a good time, with all the recent news about two women astronauts leading the teams that are adding another room to the international space station. Almost all of the 24 survivors are interviewed, clips of them being sandwiched between lots of familiar NASA footage, and considerable shots never seen before, much of it very spectacular. While I expected to admire the courage of the group, I was also pleased at the great amount of humor expressed, much of it at the speaker’s expense. This film can serve as a tonic to the melancholy induced by In the Valley of Elah and Rendition, the film taking us back to the all too brief time when the US was admired around the world (many of the people cheering the moon landing speak of “our” achievement, identifying themselves with America), and then came the 70s when the Vietnam War overshadowed everything—and now Iraq. And to think, it is a Brit behind this feel good about America film!

 

Balls of Fury
Rated PG-13.

This is a funny sports movie send-up that provides a brief escape from the troubles of the world. If you liked the crazy Talladega Nights, chances are you will enjoy the antics of a fallen ping pong star invited to compete in a life or death (losers are actually executed) series of matches at the elaborate estate of master criminal Feng (the latter delightfully played by Christopher Walken in Oriental make-up). There are some of the usual touches of sophomoric humor to put up with, but all in all, this is a fun movie with virtually no connection to reality, other than the good versus evil theme.

 

 

Film Capsules

October 2007

 

In the Valley of Elah
Rated R . Habbakkuk 1:2-3

Like a lamentation by the ancient prophets Jeremiah or Habbakkuk, this moving film is not meant to send us out of the theater feeling good. Tommy Lee Jones’ performance as retired military policeman Hank Deerfield is Oscar caliber. He is searching for his just-back-from Iraq son who has gone A.W.O.L. Was he murdered, and if so, is the Army covering it up? During his search, aided by a small town woman police officer, he finds more than he bargained for, the symbolic ending strongly declaring that as a people we are in deep trouble because of what our “War on Terror” is doing to the psyches of our soldiers. Considerable swearing and violence make the film unsuitable for family viewing, but offers a great opportunity for adults to reflect together upon war-time violence and its effects. It is not surprising that this well-crafted film has not done well at the box office, but it is one that every American concerned for the nation should see.

The Kingdom
Rated R. Psalm 10:8-9. 1 Chronicles 12:17

Those who love thrillers will find plenty of interest in this film, though some might think that it is exploiting the headlines about Arab terrorists. Best part of the film is the opening sequence, a thumbnail history of the founding of “the Kingdom” (Saudi Arabia) and the emergence of oil. Next best part is the growing friendship between FBI investigator Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) and Col. Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), the Saudi officer assigned to keep him in line when Fleury leads a team to investigate a horrible bombing that took the lives of so many Americans housed in a walled compound. The scenes of violence are extreme, and the viewpoint either accepts it as a fact of life, or maybe suggests that there is an agreement on both sides in the War on Terror that violence is the only way. Lots for adults to discuss here.

 

T. Brave One
Rated R . Psalm 58:10-11. Romans 12:17-19.

 

Jody Foster again shows what a consummate actress she is in the role of a radio talk show host whose whole world collapses one dreadful night in New York’s Central Park. She is out with her fiance walking her dog when three thugs attack them. Her lover is killed, and she spends weeks hospitalized, slowly and painfully recovering from her own severe beating. Her body mends, but her soul is permanently scarred, the city she had once so loved now being a frightening place. Her decision to purchase a gun leads her into a morass when she finds herself witnessing a series of violent attacks—only her gun makes her more than a helpless witness. She is now able, and willing, to use it to get back at the bad guys. This is not a Charles Bronson in skirts vengeance tale, but one that describes the terrible change that can come over a traumatized person who decides not to be a victim again. Gun control advocates and NRA members will both find much that they will like in this unusual film. Definitely not for children.

 

Eastern Promises
Rated R . Proverbs 4:14-17

A London hospital midwife seeks to find the family of a young Russian woman who dies in childbirth. As the body is being taken away, the nurse slips a notebook out of the dead girl’s purse. Her quest takes her to a Russian restaurant where she meets the elderly owner and one of his drivers who also serves as a hit man. The restaurateur is actually the head of a Russian crime family, and when he learns that she has the dead girl’s diary he becomes obsessed with obtaining it. The hit man is attracted to the nurse, and eventually she to him as their lives become entwined, hers in danger of ending soon. The killings are shown so graphically that some will need to look away, so be warned. A powerful character study that ends on a note of grace.

 

Film Capsules

 

September 2007

 

Resurrecting the Champ  Rated R . Proverbs 17:9 & 19:2

Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett), a Denver sports writer, sees a chance meeting with an old black man in the street who has just been beaten up by several young white thugs out to prove themselves as a way of re-invigorating his faltering career. Having heard the thugs call the man "Champ," Erik asks his name. "Bob Satterfield," the old man (Samuel L. Jackson),  answers. Having heard that Satterfield died some years before, Erik sells the magazine editor of his newspaper on a story about the former boxer and sets forth to interview Champ, growing attached to him along the way. However, when a sudden revelation arises, Erik's career and his relationship with his young son and estranged wife are threatened. He must deal with something that all reporters must face, but at a deeper level than ever--the truth, about his story and himself.

 

3:10 to Yuma  Rated R. Psalm 11

The Western arises again in this psychological character study of a good man and a bad man and the choices they make. The "good man" is Dan Evans (Christian Bale), a veteran who lost his leg in the Civil War, now struggling to keep his Arizona ranch from a group of hoodlums who want to buy up all the land because a railroad is due to be built through the area. Neither his discouraged wife nor his teenaged son seem to think he is capable of holding out, so he accepts an offer to join a posse of four others to transport the newly captured robber Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to a distant town where he will be put on the 3:10 to Yuma train. The $200 pay will be enough to save his ranch. However, Wade's gang is still in the area, vowing to rescue him and gun down anyone standing in their way. When, after several adventures, they arrive at their destination, the gang frightens the other men, including a US Marshall, into abandoning their mission. Dan has to decide whether to stay with Wade and risk everything in face of the overwhelming opposition, or to melt away as the others did. Along the way Wade has been playing mind games with him, even promising to pay him many times his pay, if he will just stand aside. A powerful film in which ultimately the character of each determines the choices they make.

 

The Hunting Party  Rated R. Psalm 94:1-3

Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) is a veteran TV reporter who has seen too much bloody violence in Serbia during the 1990s. When he finds the brutalized body of his fiancé just moments before going on the air live, he breaks down right on camera, derailing his career. His friend and cameraman Duck (Terrence Howard) goes on to become a successful member of the anchorman's staff back in New York, whereas Simon, steeped in alcohol and drugs, drifts between small assignments for obscure television outlets. When they meet again in Bosnia, Simon comes up with the crazy scheme of hunting "The Fox," a Serbian war criminal. Duck is very reluctant, but his friendship and curiosity overcome his better sense of judgment, and he agrees to go with Simon.  Joined by young Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), who obtained his job as Duck's assistant due to his father's influence, the three form the hunting party trekking into the mountains in search of the terrorist. They find, of course, more than they bargained for, and we are left with questions as to why the UN and US have not been able to track down the real life terrorists still residing free in the region.

 

Elizabeth: The Golden Age  Rated R. Psalm 9:1-4

Cate Blanchett repeats her earlier triumph as Queen Elizabeth I in this sumptuous film that takes place during the late 1580s. Things seemed anything but golden to the Queen, beset as she was by plots to kill her at home and the threats of Spain's King Philip II (Jordi Molla)
 to stamp out her religion and make Catholicism again the religion of England. Clive Owen plays Walter Raleigh, who arrives at court from the New World bringing her golden seized from the Spanish, along with tobacco and a contingent of Native Americans. Drawn to him, she cannot act on her desires, so to keep him close at hand, she puts forth her chief lady-in-waiting, Bess (Abbie Cornish), to befriend him. Lots of court intrigues, assassination plots and betrayals, and some cruel prison/torture scenes, culminating in the Spanish Armada sailing toward England in 1588. A superior costume drama showing that the Christian faith was but a thin veneer for both Catholics and Protestants of the time, easily stripped aside when the high stakes of national security demanded it.

 

Film Capsules

August 15-30, 2007

Feast of Love.
Rated R. Song of Solomon 8:6-7; Isaiah 32:1-4a
Director Robert Benton brings the same sensitivity to this adaptation of Charles Baxter’s novel that he did with his own Places in the Heart. Narrated by Morgan Freemans’s Harry Stevenson, it follows the loves and foibles of several couples centered around a coffee shop at the edge of a college in Oregon. A visual meditation upon the importance of love and the need to see what is going on in front of our eyes, this is a film that every church leader should see—but be cautious in taking a group to see it, as there are several scenes of the naked bodies of the lovers. Definitely not a film for those easily offended by too much exposure of skin.

Talk to Me.
Rated R. Job 27:4; Proverbs 12:19; Romans 12:3
Bearing a superficial resemblance to Good Morning, Vietnam, this fact-based story of Washington DC radio personality ‘’Petey’’ Greene Jr. is another triumph for actor Don Cheadle. Emerging from prison, where his witty talent had emerged during his stint as DJ over the prison PA system, Petey gets off to a rocky start at a R & B station when he calls Washington Mayor Barry a “pimp.” However, the audience responds so well to his brash, vulgar honesty that his superiors stick with him. However, when he branches off into entertainment, winning a spot on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, there is an unexpected turn in his career and life. The sequence in which Petey goes on the air when riots break out due to the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. is very powerful!

Death at a Funeral.
Rated PG-13. Luke 12:2-3
This delightful British farce directed by Frank Oz displays about everything that can go wrong at a funeral at an English rural estate, beginning with the arrival of the wrong body; to the accidental drugging of the daughter’s fiancé, causing him to take off his clothes and perch atop the roof; to the humiliation of the younger brother asked to give the eulogy despite the presence of his older brother who is a famous novelist; to the revelation by the unrecognized guest of a dark secret shared with the deceased. Despite several potty jokes, this is an enjoyable escape from the real world—I have seldom seen an audience laugh so much at a screening.

The Nanny Diaries.
Rated PG-13. Isaiah 32:9-11
The first part of the film in which newly graduated Annie conducts us on a tour of imaginary displays at New York’s Museum of Natural History as if she were an anthropologist exploring child rearing customs of natives is hilarious, as is how she mistakenly becomes a nanny for Upper East Side denizen Mrs. X and her obnoxious, but love starved son Grayer. The plot and the satirical approach will remind you of The Devil Wears Prada, but the insights (read “life lessons”) are presented in a more heavy handed manner.

 

Film Capsules

August 1—15, 2007

Hairspray. Psalm 123:3-4 and Philippians 4:11b
This remake of John Waters 1988 film features a heavily padded John Travolta playing hefty Edna Turnblad. Her daughter Tracy, also large sized, shares her mother’s comfortableness with a large body. An excellent dancer, she longs to become a part of the teenage dance troupe that she watches every day after school on Baltimore’s “The Corny Collins Show.” She gets her opportunity and then almost loses out when she makes friends with several “Negro” (it is 1962) teenagers banned from the show and joins them in protesting their treatment. The combination of the civil rights theme with that of accepting oneself despite the opinion of others make this more than just a hugely entertaining teenage musical. Queen Latifah’s song “I Know Where I’ve Been” is so movingly beautiful that it could have become an anthem of the civil rights movement had it been written earlier.

No Reservations. Luke 10:41a
This remake of the German Mostly Martha, is far better than most Americanized versions of European films. Catherine Zeta-Jones as the celebrity chef Kate and Aaron Eckhart as Nick, the admirer who comes to the kitchen because he wants to learn from her are very appealing. When her sister dies in a car crash, Kate becomes the guardian of her young niece, which complicates her rigidly scheduled life, as does Nick’s presence, which she resents, and also fears because he might be after her position. A charming story of character transformation set amidst some colorful shots of glorious food.

The Simpsons Movie. Ephesians 6:4
It has taken a long time for the longest running TV sitcom to become a movie, but the wait was well worth it. The fast-paced humor centering on the stupid antics of Homer Simpson and his hapless family will keep young and old roaring with laughter. Homer’s attempt to dump the refuse from his pet pig into the lake instead of at the city recycling center leads to a national pollution crisis, the EPA sending the Air Force to lower a dome over Springfield in order to protect the rest of the country. Driven out by the citizens who are angry at being cut off from the rest of the country, Homer takes his family to Alaska, where even the long-suffering Marge decides to pack up the kids and leave him. How he finds redemption and reconciliation includes several poignant moments, the most notable sequence being Bart looking to neighbor Ned Flanders for the fatherly affection that Homer fails to provide.

Rescue Dawn Psalm 3:1-2
The respected German filmmaker Werner Herzog again sets his main character in the midst of a cruel wilderness, as he did in Aguirre the Wrath of God , Fitzcarraldo, and Grizzly Man. Christian Bale portrays real life Dieter Dengler, a Navy pilot who was shot down during the covert bombing of Laos in the 60s. Held prisoner and tortured for six months, he becomes the focus of resistance and hope for his fellow prisoners, finally, when they learn they are to be killed, breaking out and trekking through the jungle as he hopes for either rescue or arrival at the Thai border. A powerful tale of courage and perseverance, the film surprisingly has many moments of humor as the prisoners comment on their life and treatment.

 

Film Capsules

July 15-31, 2007

 

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix Rated PG-13.
Harry and his friends are well into their teens now, so their world is more complicated—and certainly more dangerous. Lord Valdemore is making a come-back in the flesh, but the Ministry of Magic refuses to recognize this, publicly labeling Harry a liar and troublemaker. Harry has his first kiss, struggles with his quick temper and desperate feeling of abandonment by his mentor Dumbledore. He finds himself training some of his fellow students to defend themselves against the dark arts when the Ministry of Magic sends the imperious Dolores Umbridge to “clean up” matters at Hogwarts School and she insists on teaching them only theory and not practical magic. Perhaps the best of the five, films this is a good condensation of the 700 + page novel.

Ratatouille Rated G. 1 Peter 4:10-11
Brad Bird, creator of the wonderful animated film The Iron Giant, gifts us with another delightful tale that will satisfy adults as well as children, especially those who tune in to Food Channel. Remy, a rat in a French village, has the gift of keen taste and smell, but at first these seem to be of little use, as they make him disdain the common garbage that his fellow rats devour. But when they discover that he can easily tell when their food is tainted with rat poisoning, he is put to work as the tribal food tester. His gifts come in even more handy when a storm washes him into a sewer and then into Paris, and Remy finds himself entering the kitchen of a once famous restaurant. How he manages to help a hapless bus boy named Linguini become a great chef and revive the reputation of the restaurant is both funny and heart warming.

Once Rated R.. 1 Cor. 13:4-5, 11
Forget Music and Lyrics: this is the wonderful little film that convincingly shows two gifted people collaborating to create songs of love and hope. Set in an Irish city, the principals are not named: the “boy” works by day in his father’s vacuum cleaner repair shop, and “the girl” cleans houses. At night he is a busker, playing pop songs for the coins thrown into his guitar case by pedestrians. She sells flowers on the street and longs to be able to afford a piano. They meet, and when she takes him to the music store where the friendly proprietor allows her to play the pianos, he shares some of his songs with her, and she agrees to work with him. Soon they are seeking other musicians for a pick up band to record an album. She has a child but is estranged from her husband, and he has a girl friend who has moved to London when they separated. He tells her that he plans soon to go and seek reconciliation. However, in the light of their mutual attraction we wonder: where will their paths lead? The ending is both satisfying and realistic in a way that most Hollywood filmmakers seem incapable of conceiving.

Becoming Jane Rated PG. Luke 10:38-42. I Timothy 2:11-15
Jane Austen is herself the center of this charming film set in Hampshire during the season leading up to Christmas 1795. Irish apprentice lawyer Tom Lefroy prefers dancing, boxing, and drinking to the study of law in London, so his disapproving uncle ships him off to Hampshire in the hope of him changing for the better. Expecting to be bored, Tom enters into a semi-adversarial relationship with the young Jane Austen, who has been resisting the efforts of her mother to marry her off to a local landed gentleman. Tom, intrigued by Jane’s desire to become a writer and thus support herself without having to marry a man she does not love, widens her horizons, eventually becoming so enamored with her that he proposes to throw aside all family obligations and elope together. The filmmakers have elaborated upon a brief relationship that Jane Austen had when she was 20 years old, giving us a fictional, bittersweet tale of the woman destined to become one of the great novelists of the English language.

Weeks of June, 2007

 

Away From Her Rated R 1 Cor 13:4-7
Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Julie Christie) have lived happily together for many years since his retirement from university teaching. When Fiona keeps forgetting things, she insists that they look into a home for Alzheimer’s patients, despite Grant’s reluctance. When she becomes lost during a cross country ski excursion, he reluctantly agrees. However, when the institution’s rules require that he not see or even talk with her on the telephone for 30 days, he is distressed to see that she has deteriorated so much that she no longer remembers him, transferring her attention to a male patient who is even worse off than she. This is one of those films that really grabs the heart of viewers, demonstrating what a truly good film can do. It is so true to what I have seen over the years of the Alzheimer-afflicted that I wish every older person and their family would see this film. Those who remember Julie Christie in Dr. Zhivago will be thrilled to see this great actress at the peak of her powers. (Was it really 42 years ago?)

Gracie Rated PG-13. 1 Cor 14:33b-35
The sports formula of the underdog struggling to achieve her goal despite great obstacles is alive and well in this film, loosely based on actress Elizabeth Shue’s teenage years. She plays the doubting (at first) Mom to Carly Schroeder’s Grace Bowen, who had idolized her older brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer). A champion soccer player, Johnny also saw great athletic talent in his sister, and was always supportive of her. When he is killed in an auto accident, Grace and her family are devastated, and then she sees a way to overcome her grief. She announces to the family that she will take Johnny’s place on the high school team. The doubts of her parents (her father had been a champion soccer player himself and had trained Johnny) are considerable, but they fade away in comparison to the scorn and skepticism of her classmates, the male soccer players, and the coach. How she overcomes this (as did Elizabeth Shue herself) makes for inspiring watching!

Knocked Up Rated R. 1 Cor 13:11
I intended to stay away from this because of the vulgar title, but all of the buzz saying how good it is won me over, as did the actual film itself. If you can put up with some of the crude humor, this tale of two people who ordinarily would never think of marrying each other is very heartwarming. Sleek svelte Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a rising television interviewer and pudgy Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) lives with a bunch of slackers whose ambition is to start up a movie website dedicated to showing the scenes where the stars take off their clothes. After an alcohol-induced one night stand, Alison discovers that she is pregnant, Ben tells her that he will stand by her, even when she decides to keep the baby. During the process of becoming acquainted they discover that they like each other, this leading to a decision to marry. How Ben becomes a caring, responsible adult is a delight to watch, making this a film a value-affirming one, as well as funny.

Waitress Rated PG-13. Proverbs 13:12
Jenna ( Keri Russell), a waitress and pie baker at Joe’s Pie Diner, is trapped in a marriage to her abusive husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto). Her escape is to create a new pie such as “I Hate My Husband Pie or “Kick In The Pants” Pie,” and when she discovers that she is pregnant, she conjures up “I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby Pie.” Her dream is to participate in a national pie baking contest so that she will win enough to free herself of Earl. Then she becomes entangled with the new gynecologist who comes to town, and —. Although put off by the too easy acceptance of adultery, this is a funny and heart-warming story—and Jenna at last does make the right decision concerning her tryst with the married doctor. Andy Griffith plays Joe, owner of the diner, a curmudgeon who turns out to have a heart of gold.

Surf’s Up Rated PG. Mark 8:36
Bet you didn’t know that penguins invented surfing, did you? Although not as good as last summer’s animated penguin film Happy Feet, this one is still good for plenty of laughs—and for young viewers, a good moral lesson that friendship is better than winning. Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) leaves his doubting family and friends in Antarctica to travel (by whale) to the tropical island where the world surfing championships are held. The arrogant Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader), nine-time winner, is expected to win again. Cody is overly self-confident, and so his trial run ends in disaster, but he becomes friends with life guard Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel), as well as the one he met enroute, Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), and most inspiring to him, Big Z (Jeff Bridges), the champion and founder of surfing whom everyone had thought had died. Part of the fun of this film is its pseudo-documentary structure, making this seem like something Christopher Guest would make were he to create an animated film.

Ocean 13 Rated PG-13. Psalm 82:3-4
If you are really bored, I suppose this overstuffed revenge caper beats cutting out paper dolls. Lots of big name stars, whose dialogue I did not understand half the time, cooking up gadget-based schemes to break a Las Vegas casino whose owner (played by Al Pacino at his hammiest) cheated their mentor so badly that the poor guy went into cardiac arrest, and can be revived only by his buddies taking action against his nemesis. This is one that’s best to wait until it comes to a cheap seat theater!

 

Film Capsules

Weeks of May1-13, 2007

 

SPIDER-MAN 3.
Rated PG-13. Deut. 30:19; Romans 7:21-23; Matthew 18:21-22.
The critics haven't been too kind to the third film in the Spider-Man franchise, but the public apparently has not paid them much attention. The film took in another $60 million during its second week, boosting its revenue to almost a quarter of a billion dollars. There is plenty of action, Spidey fighting not one, but two super villains high above the streets of New York (as well as his best friend Harry, who blames Spidey for the death of his father), and there is equal attention given to his tangled emotional and personal life. We see the dark side of Peter Parker when he is puffed up by public adulation and becomes obsessed with seeking revenge for the death of his beloved uncle. His plans to propose marriage to Mary Jane go awry, and he has to face two new super villains. The film might not be as good as the second one, but there are still enough important themes similar to those in the gospel to make the film well worth taking in.

AFTER THE WEDDING.
Rated R. Proverbs 13:22; Luke 6:45.

This Danish film, also up for a 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, must have made it difficult for the Academy members to choose, the film being just as good as the winner from Germany, The Lives of Others. There are two "good men" in this film, just as in the German one. Jacob loves working at an orphanage in India, and so is reluctant when he is asked to return to Denmark where a rich man has offered to make a large donation to the project, but only if he returns in person to meet with the benefactor. In Copenhagen, Jacob meets Jorgen, who invites him to his daughter's wedding that weekend. Although somewhat arrogant, and with a drinking problem, Jorgen turns out to be a good man, one who will go to great lengths to ensure the welfare of those whom he loves. During the weekend Jacob is in for quite a series of surprises that will change his life forever.

BLACK BOOK. Rated R. Psalm 144:11-14.
Deserving of its R rating due to full nudity and torrid sex, this thriller is nonetheless well worth seeing, being one of the best WW 2 era films to come along in a long time. Rachel Stein is a Jewish woman who becomes involved in the Dutch Resistance in 1944 and 1945, deliberately attracting the romantic attention of the head of the Gestapo Ludwig Muentze. There are so many plot twists due to betrayals and fast-moving action that the film will surprise even the most experienced viewer. This is an action/romance thriller for the thinking person.
 
FRACTURE. Rated  R. Psalm 9:16.
Anthony Hopkins has played heroic figures and characters horrendously evil (who can forget his Hannibal Lector!). In this murder film he is closer to Lector. He does not eat his victim, but he does shoot his adulterous wife in the head, confesses to the investigating detective (who is her lover), and then sits back and relishes the legal proceedings--the gun he allegedly used shows no mark of having been fired. Several searches of the house fail to turn up another gun, and the interval between the shooting and the arrival of the police allowed for no time for Hopkins to have disposed of the actual weapon. Thus it appears that the full-of-himself Assistant D.A. will be made a fool of in court, allowing the murderer to go free because he has repudiated his confession, claiming that the detective intimidated him into making it. Both a teasing film and a story, in the case of the assistant D.A. of character transformation.

Preaching Moments
from theMovies
By Edward McNulty

This is the first of two articles not only suggesting that many films offer great opportunities for preachers to connect their message with the movies, but also providing an example. We begin with the review of the selected film that was carried in out sister publication Visual Parables so that the reader will have a good idea of the plot of the film, and from the discussion questions will discover some of the issues raised by the film. Then

Sweet Land
Rated PG. Our ratings: V- 0; L- 1; S/N-3 . Running time: 1 hour 50 min.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
1 John 3:14-22

“Drive out the wicked person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 5:13

There are two deaths and two reckonings that conjure up the past in director Ali Selim’s film, his script based on Will Weaver’s short story “A Gravestone Made of Wheat.” At the death of his grandfather Olaf Torvik, Lars visits with his grandmother Inge (Lois Smith) and helps bury the old man in the middle of a wheat field. Through her stories and old photographs he is drawn into the story of her youthful days when she came from Norway to Minnesota just after WW 1. The second death is that of Inge herself, and now older and bearded, Lars wrestles with the decision as to whether or not to sell the farm, now that his grandmother no longer lives on the land. His wife sits by him for support as he again looks through his grandmother’s photographs and papers.

One of the photographs is of a young and beautiful Inge (Elizabeth Reaser) taken in front of the house, not long after she had arrived in town by train lugging two suitcases and an unwieldy horn-speaker phonograph. She practices the one sentence of English that she knows, “I could eat a horse.” Unable to understand the words of the two men—Olaf (Tim Guinee) and Frandsen (Alan Cumming)— who come long after her arrival to pick her up, she identifies the wrong man as the one whom she is to marry. Her pick, the talkative Frandsen is very married, he and wife Brownie (Alex Kingston) being the proud parents of nine children!

Her intended, Olaf, takes her to his church where the pastor Minister Sorrensen (John Heard) and the congregation apparently have gathered for their wedding. However, Inge does not have her citizenship papers, and when the pastor learns that she is a German who had been living in Norway, everyone is aghast. The final straw leading to his refusal to marry her is the revelation that she was a Socialist. Although the war has been over for two years, anti-German feeling is still strong, along with the new anti-Red phobia sweeping through the country.

Unable to marry, Inge accompanies Frandsen to his farm, where his wife Marta (“Call me Brownie”) welcomes her with a hug and the offer of a bath. Seeing her hosts nine children lined up waiting for their turn in the tub, Inge declines the honor of going first while the water is still clean. Over the next several days, Brownie helps Inge with her English and shows her the secrets of upper Midwest cooking. The scene in which Brownie introduces Inge to pie is a delight, the two finding their pieces so good that they go on and consume the whole pie.

The night scene in which Inge wanders the fields while gazing at the northern lights is beautifully photographed. She finds that she has come to Olaf’s house, so she enters, and thus begins her long but chaste stay with him, he sleeping out in the barn. As they grow closer, she works the fields with him. Their living together does not escape the church’s notice, Minister Sorrenson declaring that the couple are going against God’s way. The two leave the sanctuary, as does their friend Frandsen, despite the reluctance of his wife.

How this conflict is resolved, with a satisfying change of heart of the minister makes for a deeply moving, lyrical film. Although born in Minnesota and the creator of hundreds of TV commercials and company films, Ali Selim’s film (his second) is more European in style than American. His is a minimalist style, far more being shown than spoken. When Inge speaks German and Norwegian, there are no subtitles, and thus we must rely on her expression and tone to surmise what she is saying. Like another of my favorite films, Tender Mercies, much of the action takes place off camera; and like that film, Mr. Selim’s is full of grace. Minister Sorrensen could have easily been portrayed as one more narrow-minded hypocrite, so dear to many Hollywood filmmakers, but he is as multi-dimensional as the strict minister-father in Footloose. Relegated to the art house circuit, no doubt because the independent distributor lacks promotional funds, this lyrical film deserves a wider audience.

For Reflection/Discussion
Beware of the spoilers toward the end of this section.
1) What kind of a person do you think Inge is? What must she have in order to cross an ocean to live among a people whose language she does not know? What does her belonging to the Socialist party in her native Germany suggest about her mind and education? Do you see any symbolism in her carting her large phonograph across the ocean? What role does music seem to play in her life? Have you found music a must in your life, and if so, why?
2) From the scenes in which characters react to Inge’s German origin, what is the common view of Germans in 1920? Judging by what the law clerk says about Germans, is this view much different from prejudice against blacks or Jews?
3) What do you think of banker Harmo (Ned Beatty)? He is a church attender, but do you think he has imbibed much of the spirit of 1 John? What does his statement concerning foreclosure on Frandsen and Brownie’s farm (“Business is business.”) reveal about the connection between his ethics and his faith? How is it necessary to put religion and business in tight compartments for him to live with himself?
4) From what you see of Frandsen and Brownie, who probably actually runs the farm? How is Brownie a good embodiment of the passage from 1 John?
5) When Minister Sorrenson says in his sermon that he believes in “a God of love and compassion,” but also in the necessity to follow the narrow way, what conflict do you see in this—and perhaps within himself? Describe the tension between the two passages quoted at the beginning of this review. Do you think that this is a problem still for the church? How do you think that the church can be welcoming and yet also stand for certain beliefs and a code of conduct?
6) What do you think of Olaf’s bidding on his friend’s farm? A major act of grace? From a business standpoint, how is it foolish?
7) When Minister Sorrenson confronts Olaf and Inge about their living together, what do you think of her reply that in her heart they are married? And then to his assertion that in reality they are not, her challenge to him that her belief is similar to his own faith in God, not something that is “real,” but is a matter of the heart? How is this exactly the answer that can get through to him?
8) How is the arrival of the minister and other farmers a matter of grace, of the community responding to a neighbor’s need, as John urges in his letter? What apparently had the minister been doing between the auction and that moment? (Similar to the minister’s acts in Tender Mercies.) How is the “dance” scene that closes the film appropriate? How does this film make you feel at its conclusion?
9) The film’s official website offers a number of excellent clips that you can download and use with a group. Go to http://www.sweetlandmovie.com/ and click onto “Clips.”
Reprinted from the Summer, 2007 issue of Visual Parables,

Preaching Choices

The film is so rich in themes—the courage exhibited by Inga when she leaves her country to come to a strange country and marry a man she has not met; the hospitality and love of Frandsen and Brownie; the love that grows between Inga and Olaf as they live together and strive to raise their crops; the narrowness of the minister and church; the disconnect between the banker’s professed faith and his foreclosing on Frandsen and Brownie; the grace seen in Olaf’s bidding on the farm at the auction, and then later that of the Minister Sorrensen and the church leaders. The preacher could build a topical sermon around any of these themes. The one chosen for the sermon below is the theme of fear, or maybe better, how love overcomes fear.

The Antidote to Fear

O.T.: When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 19:33-34

N.T.: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
1 John 4:18

Fear is a basic fact of life. In small doses it is a necessary part, warning us of danger. But uncontrolled it can be disastrous, paralyzing both rational thought and action. It is this uncontrolled fear that the writers of our Scriptures contend with. “Fear not...” the angels said to the shepherds on that first Christmas night. Long before that first Christmas God had said to their ancestor, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” During the tumultuous time at the end of the Babylonian Captivity the prophet known as Second Isaiah many times said “Fear not...”, as when, “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: / “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine./ When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you...” I wonder if Jesus had this passage in mind when the disciples, fearing that the raging storm was about to swamp their boat out on Lake Galilee, woke up their master, “And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?”

Were we people “of little faith” left to ourselves, we would be most pitiable, much like those rain and wave drenched disciples fearing for their lives in their little boat. However, God has not left us to dwell alone in our fear. As people of faith we are given something stronger than fear—love. The Scriptures bear witness to this God-given love throughout their length and breadth. The Old Testament proclaims the love of God for Israel, and his expectation that they will share that love—not only with other Israelites, but even with foreigners—or as such are called in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, “aliens,” “strangers,” and “sojourners.” A word search in these books will turn up several dozen passages in which the people are commanded to make special provision for the welfare of the non-Israelites who lived amongst them, culminating in today’s commandment, “you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”

Our natural tendency to fear, rather than to love, the alien is well dramatized in the delightful film directed by Ali Selim Sweet Land, set in Minnesota shortly after WW 1 when anti-German feeling was still strong, and a new fear of “the Bolsheviks” or “Reds” was growing. Inge is a young woman just arrived in this country from Norway, a mail-order bride for farmer Olaf Torvik. The only English she knows is the phrase, “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.” She stays at first with Olaf’s best friend Frandsen and his wife Brownie. When she and Olaf appear in the little Lutheran church to be married, Minister Sorrensen asks for her citizenship papers, but she does not have any. To his surprise he learns that she is not Norwegian, but a German who was living in Norway when she accepted Olaf’s marriage offer via mail to emigrate to America. He is even more upset when his questioning reveals that Inge was a member of the Socialist Party in Germany, as is the gathered church members. He refuses to go on with the wedding.

To make a long story short, Inge, after staying with Frandsen and Brownie for a period, decides to move in with Olaf and set up their home. This further scandalizes the minister and people, leading to them being banned from attending worship. The pair work hard to plant and tend their crops. There is a confrontation between Inge and Minister Sorrensen in which she apparently touches his heart when she compares their common-law marriage with his faith in a God whom he cannot see or prove. When Frandsen and Brownie’s crops fail, and the banker, a devout church member, holds a farm auction because they cannot meet their mortgage payments, Olaf somehow comes up with the money and “buys” their farm. It is not too long before Olaf and Inge are also in financial straits, and they also face the grikm prospect of losing everything for which they have worked so hard. Then comes, during the night, a knock on the door. It is Minister Sorrensen, accompanied by several church elders. He hands over to Olaf an envelope containing the money they need, obviously taken up from the church members.

This is a film in which we are not shown everything that happens. Earlier we watch Minister Sorrenson deliver a sermon in which he states that he believes in “a God of love and compassion,” but also in the necessity to “follow the narrow way.” This narrow way, based on the fear of the alien and prejudice against opposing beliefs, stands in stark contrast to love and compassion. The minister and his people have apparently struggled with this, and to their credit and the glory of God, love and compassion had won. As surely as it must in our own spiritual journeys, if they are indeed to be journeys of faith.

I am not certain where the above leads us during this time when fear reigns in our national life and we are beset by politicians and the media who would use that fear for their own ends. There are real terrorists out there who would do us harm. There are economic forces beyond our control that would shrink or wipe away our savings and threaten our retirement plans. Violent forces of nature, fire, winds, flood, can render us homeless, as they have thousands of our citizens. Our loved ones are taken from their families and sent overseas to dangerous countries, from which too many come back injured or dead. Millions of desperate foreigners slip into our country to work at low wage jobs, changing the social, economic and political make-up of our communities.

There is much to fear, and it is especially at such a time as this that people of faith have the antidote needed, lest our fears cause us to act in harsh ways that we will live to regret. Like Minister Sorrenson in the film, we need to replace our fears and prejudice with love and compassion—not that these will give us easy answers. Such issues as immigration policy or the threat of terrorism are too complex, with perhaps neither the harsh desire to “send them all back to their own country” nor that of granting amnesty to all being realistic. We will not tar all Muslims with the label “terrorist,” nor will we dismiss real terrorists with such “answers” that they act “because they hate our freedom,” when in reality they hate us because they perceive our policies as one-sided and anti-Muslim.

Living up to our belief in a God of love and compassion will be difficult when our government and society have given in so much to fear. But what is the alternative for those who believe in a God who declared, “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” And who later sent his Son to bring us out of bondage far greater than that of Egypt through his death on the cross, the result being that a man freed by that sacrifice could declare, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”

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