A Midnight Clear - A Movie Dialogue

Midnight Clear
Midnight Clear is a movie about tragedy on Christmas Eve and restoring meaning to one's life after broken relationships or the difficulties of life. It is one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen.

Despite that, it was really inspiring. Today, I want to be more focused in my ministry on meeting people's small needs. The little loving acts are oftentimes the most meaningful. The youth minister in the movie had lost his focus; he was worried about being hip rather than real. That gas station owner was frustrated that he had made a dead-end investment when he bought the gas station and could not see a way out of his investment. A wife struggled with her vegetable husband. A man struggled with losing his job and not having any visitation with his children. A grandma faced the loneliness of old age and the abandonment of her children. It was a menagerie of loneliness and through it, Midnight Clear weaves an interesting story of these lives and deliberate acts of kindness and generosity.

From Kirk the gas station attendant:

You know, you think about that one thing you can contribute. What's my thing? That I make a good pot of coffee. Most of my customers don't care about gourmet coffee anyway; they want gas and a styrofoam cup of pennies by the register. That's about it.

In another conversation he stated:

My mom had a stroke...It's funny though. I'm grateful for that time. It's easy to take care of someone who gives back or says thank you. Taking care of someone who doesn't even know what you are doing. It makes you figure out what kind of person you are.

Each life seemed to be filled with meaninglessness. Because it was a movie, they were made meaningful through love and taking care of little needs, but it made me think that a little love can bring more meaning to the lives around me. Isn't that one of the true meanings of Christmas?

Midnight Clear deals with heavy issues of alcoholism, suicide, and Christmas caroling. It's a heavy movie, but aren't all movies that have Christmas caroling?

It receives one check off the entertaining barometer because the dialogue gets too corny at times. True, it might be realistic because my dialogue frequently gets corny, but I expect a little more out of a movie. It never goes overt about Christianity, and that made it an exceptional Christian movie rather than a sermon disguised as a movie.

Entertaining: 4/5
Inspiring: 5/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

Worth searching for and watching despite not being known.

Midnight Clear

Reign Over Me - A Movie Dialogue

Reign Over Me is the story of a dentist who is miserable in his life, a former dentist who is wallowing in depression from the loss of his wife and children on September 11, and a society who refuses to love.

***Spoiler Warning Galore***

Reign Over Me attempts to inspire us to be patient and love those who are struggling with mental illness. The case portrayed in the movie was such an extreme case that it is tough to draw a comparison to my real life in which I need to be loving to someone who is temporarily mentally cracked. The point to be taken is that I need to handle everyone with love and gentleness.

The shadow of the colossus (a terrible video game but one that is used throughout the movie to portray a theme) will never go away. For Charlie, his shadow was the plane hitting the World Trade Center, engulfing his wife and three lovely daughters. The scene where Charlie teaches the dentist how to play Shadow of the Colossus is actually reflective of the dentist teaching Charlie how to live again, but it also reflects that they both had a good time doing it. Having friends around to show us how to live in the shadow of the past and become victorious once again is the way to learn how to live again when tragedy hits. That victory only comes when we let love reign, as is shown through the movie by playing the Pearl Jam remake of The Who's Love Reign Over Me throughout the movie. The director was a little overt in using other media to portray the themes with "Love Reign Over Me" and "Shadow of the Colossus" repeated frequently, but it was a good theme and excusable. Charlie was healed through a relationship with a friend who did not view him as a project but viewed him as a friend. Charlie brought his own brand of healing to the dentist as he brought healing to him. They were friends helping one another out.

The saddest moment in the movie is when state held a hearing to see if Charlie should be put in a mental hospital. The mental hospital was cold and heartless. This is probably unfair to many of the fine mental hospital doctors out there who plug away day in and day out to try to bring healing to the people in their hospitals, but the major point of the movie is that our society does not treat its mental patients with love and patience. That might generally be true. The conflict between love and punishment rose to the top when Charlie was at his hearing. He was so close to recovering, yet the process of recovering was making him fall apart. Society wanted to throw him in a hospital while his doctor and friends wanted to let him "find his own way." In the end, a wise judge places the decision in the hands of his n-laws. They decide right, and Charlie is on his way to recovery.

The most inappropriate storyline in the movie was the messed-up woman who eventually fell for Charlie. The relationship was contrived and undeveloped and really dampened an otherwise great movie.

Reign Over Me was a good movie, and I am glad I watched it. May we will deal a little more lovingly to those who are challenging to us. The reason they are more than likely challenging is because they are hurting.

Entertaining: 4/5
Inspiring: 3/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

Juno - A Minimal Movie Dialogue

I just finished watching the movie Juno. I thought it was going to be more of a movie for my wife, but I have not enjoyed a movie as much since Little Miss Sunshine.



I usually explain a movie and my thoughts throughout the film, but I really can't with this movie.

All I can say is that when life really, really sucks, there is still beauty.

Entertaining: 5/5
Inspiring: 5/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

Blade Runner - A Movie Dialogue

As with all of my thoughts on movies, this one contains spoilers.

Blade Runner gives us a Christ figure that pokes out someone's eyes to kill them; what a messed up movie. I really enjoyed the film until that scene: Roy, the head of the cyborgs, poked out the eyes of Tyrell, the creator of the cyborgs. From there, Blade Runner turned into a suspense thriller with a ham-fisted Christological figure shoved down our throats. Roy eventually sticks a nail through his hand, ala Jesus on the cross, to live a little longer and teach Rick about freedom. This happened during an overdrawn out chase sequence in which the superior Roy was violently playing around with Rick Deckard, the blade runner.

I guess I just missed the point of the movie or it did not connect with me. The story seemed to be about slavery in which the slave (or the robot) teaches Rick Deckard, the blade runner, how to be free. As Rick was hanging off of a ledge, Roy said, "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? This is what it means to be a slave." Then Roy saves Rick from dying. How noble of Roy after he killed his creator by poking his eyes out.

Blade Runner, released in 1982, pictures a future set in 2019 that is far from what it will be, but movies about the future always tell us more about the present in which they were made rather than the future they show. The problem with this movie revealing anything about the 80s is that it was such a convoluted movie that I do not know what it was saying about anything. Who are the slaves? Am I a slave? Who were the slaves in the 80s? How do I help the slaves? Obviously, I shouldn't kill the slaves.

The ending was great for setting up a sequel that never happened. We do not know if Rick is a cyborg. We do not know whether he will be successful in saving Rachael, his new cyborg friend, from being killed by another blade runner.

The movie was entertaining but it did not provide any meat to chew on.

Entertaining: 4/5
Inspiring: 2/5
Ethical Thinking: 2/5

Morgan Freeman's Top 15 Grossing Movies

Upon the recent news that Morgan Freeman was in a car wreck and in serious condition, I went and checked out all the movies he was in because he has starred in some of my favorites. I quickly discovered that he has also starred in some stinkers.

Here is a list I compiled using an inflation calculator to find out the top fifteen grossing movies that Morgan Freeman has been in.

1. Dark Knight
2. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
3. Batman Begins
4. Driving Miss Daisy
5. Deep Impact
6. Sum of all Fears
7. Se7en
8. Wanted
9. Million Dollar Baby
10. Evan Almighty
11. Bruce Almighty
12. Unforgiven
13. Outbreak
14. The Bucket List
15. Along Came a Spider

Good movies that did not make this list:
Amistad
Glory
Lean on Me
Shawshank Redemption

It is strange that Se7en is the seven highest grossing movie he has starred in. Shawshank Redemption is a must see for all of humanity.

My prayers go out to him for a quick recovery.

Into the Wild - A Movie Dialogue

Into the Wild is the true story of Christopher McCandless, an Emory Univeristy graduate who became fed up with society, traveled the country without any money, and made a trip to Alaska. As with all of my reviews, this one has spoilers.

Throughout the movie, I struggled with the idea of whether it is wise to go out and discover the "truth" in the wilderness all alone. The idea of isolation is a glorified concept ever since Thoreau and his experience at Walden Pond. Our culture is fascinated with the self-sufficent individual. My reaction to the individuality of our culture has been just the opposite. I long to share my life with people. I have always thought that God was experienced more in community than in a beautiful meadow alone. This movie made me question that. Would it be good for me to go and experience God all alone for forty days like Jesus did? Should I? It was a real wrestling match. Maybe in the end the healthy life is a combination of both isolation with God and a shared life with others.

At other times throughout the film, I envied Christopher and the community he experienced while traveling the nation without any money. Part of me wants that life. At times I was ready to sell everything and hit the road. I want to share my life with others and have a good time just like he did. It seems like money, selfishness, and material goods get in the way of doing that. The poor seem to have better community than the rich. If I have to become poor to experience life more fully, then that is what I want to do. Then I struggled with the idea of my children. I do not want them to grow up poor. Deep in my core, there is apparently a clinging to the belief that money is essential to happiness or I would be fine with raising my children without much money and material possessions. This movie revealed that about me, and I just do not know what to do.

In the end, Christopher began to die. The movie makes it look like he was poisoned from eating poisonous seeds. Apparently, outdoors men that know about nature and the area he was in do not know if that is the real story. He might have just been dying of starvation and thought it was the result of the seeds. Whatever the reason, Christopher was dying alone in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Before he died, the movie and his writings seem to show that he began to understand what life was all about. It took going into Alaska, living by himself for over 100 days, and dying to figure it out.  May we be able to learn the real meaning of life in time to enjoy it.

He inscribed in his book, "Happiness is only real when shared." This is a complete reversal of his previous thought, "You're wrong if you think the joy of life comes from human relationships." It was only when he was faced with death that he made the decision to forgive his parents, throw away his made up name, and take back his real name. There in that "magic bus," Christopher learned to forgive. He heeded the words of the old man that wanted to adopt him: "When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines on you."

This movie made me long for community, to share my life with people and get to know them. I know that when I go to work tomorrow, I will strive to be what I should be every day. I will try to listen to people who need to share their hurts, wishes, excitement, or any other thing. I will look for ways to help those around me. What a tremendous story. I am blessed to have watched it. I am sad that Christopher died.

Happiness is only real when shared. Let us share life.

Entertaining: 3/5
Inspiring: 5/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

The Dark Knight - A Movie Dialogue

The Dark Knight has smashed the records. It became the fastest movie to reach $200mil. It earned 158.4 mil on its first weekend, setting another record. A lot of people are seeing it, and then seeing it again. I won't be joining that list. As is the case in my movie writing, I will not be critiquing the acting or directing, just discussing the theme and prevailing thoughts of the movie. So there will be no drooling over the job done by Heath Ledger here.

*Spoiler Warning
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The movie is very scattered in developing a point. The name of the movie and the conversation at the end make the argument that a hero should be willing to be looked down upon in order to benefit the people he is trying to help. Batman was willing to be a "dark knight" rather than a knight in shining armor when he decided to take the fall for Two-Face's shift to evil. I would agree that a hero should not be concerned about how he is perceived, but I would not agree with the lie that Commissioner Gordon and Batman agreed to tell in order to let the people have hope. This point highlights my frustration with the movie, and American leadership in general. There is this general conception that the public is stupid and not able to handle the truth like those in leadership can. Left unchecked for a while, this view of leadership will lead to a lack of accountability, which in turn will lead to ever-increasing abuses of power. It is definitely not the characteristic of a hero, but that is why Batman is a dark hero.

After I left the movie, I felt that I just sat through a propaganda film trying to manipulate me into believing that it is okay to be violent to those that are unstable in this world. It was like an argument for American military involvment in any of the troublespots around the world because we always characterize the leaders in those places as unstable and impossible to negotiate with. Batman and others reiterated the point throughout the film that the Joker is the type of person that one can only resort to violence to get under control. The problem with taking this logic to its conclusion is that it would be done through impulse rather than some scientific criteria to define who is psychotic. Leadership, and the general public, would inevitably begin to loosely define what makes someone so crazy that he cannot be communicated with. Everyone that holds a different point of view would eventually be classified as a crazy person that needs to be brutalized into agreeing with us or restrained from being different. Soon we would have people fighting one another while both argue that the other is the type of person that can not be negotiated with. Actually, we might already have that. It is kind of like "just war" in that every side always makes an argument for why their view is just. In this scenario where we could use violence against the individual, or leader of a nation, who we perceive as being mentally off, everyone would make the argument that their foe is mentally off and a good example of someone that would only respond to violence.

Combine these first two points and we are left with a handbook on being a dictator. Christopher Nolan is the Machiavelli of our time.

Commissioner Gordon was almost a hero in the movie, but then he decided to go along with the lie to protect the citizens from losing hope from reality.

Two-Face was an example of falling when the cards don't go your way. When tragedy happened, he folded and used his disfigurement as an excuse to be the evil person that he always had inside of him. He was not strong enough to withstand difficult circumstances.

In the end, the only redeeming people in the whole movie were the citizens on the two boats who the joker tried to have kill each other; the criminals moreso than the regular citizens because the prisoner took the trigger away from the guard and threw it out of the window while the citizens decided to kill the prisoners. However, the logic behind the general public being the true hero was kind of strained because earlier they blamed the people for allowing the city to become the way it was. This view also does not go along with the idea that the public cannot handle the truth. The refusal to by the people to blow each other up was the redeeming moment in the movie, but the theme was not developed consistently or well.

I left the movie disgusted by the thoughts, but it was an entertaining flick and led to a good hour and a half discussion afterward about the themes. It inspired me to go kill that stupid guy that just won't agree with my points in my movie reviews because he is just irrational and not one that can be dealt with by reason.

Entertaining: 4/5
Inspiring: 1/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

The Happening - A Movie Dialogue - What is the Happening in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening?

Spoiler Warning
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If my interpretation of the Happening is actually what M. Night Shyamalan intended rather than what everyone is concluding, then the movie is a great social commentary but a lackluster movie. The almost overwhelming internet consensus is that the source of the disease is an attack by the plants on society. That is the overwhelming argument made by people throughout the movie.

But right at the beginning when Mark Wahlberg's character is teaching his high school science class, I leaned over and said that there is no reason for the happening. I came to this conclusion because the discussion in the class debated why the bees were dying off. The conclusion was that some acts of nature are not understandable and that we, humans, will come up with an explanation to explain them whether it is true or not.

Then the movie continued to happen, the disease spread, and everyone started claiming that the plants were the source without any real verifiable evidence - actually with evidence to the contrary: The safest spots seemed to be places that had the most plants.

The movie is a debate of post-modernism, inappropriate application of the scientific method, and the desire of the human mind for conclusion. If that is actually the case, it is a very interesting commentary on our society and a great place to start discussions. If it is the plants just attacking humanity, then it is possibly the most ridiculous movie I have ever seen. I would not have thought it was the latter except for the people I went to see it with concluded that the plants were the source; an investigation of the internet leads to an overwhelming voice that claims the same.

The point that humans desire conclusions and explanations even when there are none might just be manifesting itself in the viewers of this film. The real meaning appears to be that there is actually no known cause of this act of nature but we like to make a cause up to feel comfortable; we need conclusions. The people in the film concluded that it was the plants, so the viewers went right along. Although there were many causes presented throughout the film, most viewers chose the easiest cause to cling to, but in the end the true cause was still unknown. Many viewers were happy with the cause being those vindictive plants because it brought them a conclusion to a movie that purposefully had no conclusion, but this led them to hate the movie because of a silly story about plants attacking. Shyamalan might have just outdone himself and created an inaccessible masterpiece that actually created the desire in humans that the movie was making the point that we should not have. It would be a lackluster movie in that many people did not enjoy it because of their conclusion, but it would be a masterful social commentary.

Entertaining: 3/5
Inspiring: 2/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

I will never, ever watch this again. Too many gruesome suicides. But then again, I might show it in a class or make it required viewing outside of class to start a discussion of what is the proper interpretation of past events.

Tsotsi - A Movie Dialogue

I just watched the movie Tsotsi. I'm on a subtitled movie streak.

**Spoiler Warning**

The theme of this movie is redemption if you could even call it that. This is a slightly flawed redemption in that he still pays the punishment for the crimes committed. The movie deals with a kid from the slums who lives a life of crime. He carjacks a vehicle in the nice area of town only to find out that the baby is still in the car. This was the most frustrating part of the movie. After receiving the baby, the kid straightens out his life only to wind up killing a fellow gang member and get arrested while returning the baby to his parents.

The best parts of the movie are the kid interacting with a crippled man. In these conversations the hard kid starts to understand what it is really like to (heck I really don't know what he was supposed to understand in these conversations).

This movie seemed to miss the mark. It was almost a good movie. To its detriment, the movie never touched on the economic disparity between the rich victims and the impoverished criminal. The creators seemed to make the point that the kid is the way he is because of his poor family life as a child. I also think it was to the movies detriment to fail in mentioning personal responsibility for ones decisions.

Entertaining: 2/5
Inspiring: 1/5
Ethical Thinking: 2/5

I really cannot understand why this movie was nominated for anything. I felt it was a waste of time to even watch it the first time. Lindsay liked it slightly more than me, but she probably was moved by the cute baby.

Apocalypto - A Movie Dialogue

I just finished Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.

The theme of this story was that a person should not have fear. Jaguar Paw struggled with surrendering to fear many times during his plight. This theme was powerful as it did motivate me not to succumb to fear if I ever was in a jungle village and faced an invading army. Seriously, I do think this film would come to mind to remind me of how I should not give into fear if a situation where that would be a problem did arise. I just pray that a situation like that would never arise. Not surrendering to fear is a great principle. One thing I have discovered in life is that fear usually creates that which the person feared. This is especially true in relationships.

The fear theme was surrounded by the opening quote and ending scenes in which Mel tried to develop a separate theme of civilizations destorying themselves from within. The opening quote - "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within" from Will Durant - was never really explained in the movie. What about the Mayans was destroying themselves from within? I could make guesses, but I do not really know what Mel Gibson was trying to say. Would a unified and righteous Mayan culture have been able to survive the far superior military technology of the invading Spaniards?

I really would have enjoyed more of a story centered around the Mayan city, although the constant falling of heads down the steps of the temple was a little too silly. The city scenes made me want to find a history book that explained the city layout and the lives of city residents at that time. I am always fascinated with how much ancient civilizations actually could do and how it always amazes how little we think of their civilization compared to how productive they actually were. I do wish that I could go to the Mayan ruins I once visited and imagine the scene of it packed full of people. When I was there, I imagined it much more sparsely populated.

I was impressed with Rudy Youngblood's performance as Jaguar Paw. He made what was a little too extreme of a movie enjoyable. The story of the movie was great, albeit a little too violent for my tastes, up to the point that Jaguar Paw escaped from the Mayan city. After that, it became way too cliche. The other disappointing overused storytelling devices were the disappearance of the the chasing soldiers in order for Jaguar Paw to have exciting showdowns and the delayed appearances of the chasing soldiers while Jaguar Paw was spending too much time wallowing in pain or being stuck in a mud pit.

A lot of the movie was sadly predictable. At one point, I told Lindsay that a guy jumping off the waterfall would smash his head on the rocks below. Two seconds later, he did. I then told Lindsay that it would start to rain, so that we would have the tense scene of the pregnant wife almost drowning. It did. The movie was so predictable after the escape from the Mayan city. If you could figure out the worst case scenario, then that is what would happen.

Entertaining: 3/5
Inspiring: 4/5
Ethical Thinking: 2/5

I will never watch this show again. The only reason it got a 2/5 on ethical thinking is because it made me wonder if being non-violent in all circumstances is a privilege we have because of the era we live in.

Little Miss Sunshine - A Movie Dialogue

Well, I am still recovering from Little Miss Sunshine.

The movie centered around a self-help teaching father, a normal working mom, a suicidal Proust professor/uncle, a drug/sex addict grandpa, a teenage brother obsessed with Nietzsche, and Olive, little miss sunshine. This is the story of their journey. I cannot really tell what I liked about the journey without giving away too much.

The point of the movie was that we need to be true to ourselves no matter what our society says we should be. And they make that point in extremely dramatic/nearing vulgar fashion. Unlike other movies, I just do not feel like I can go into explaining things without completely ruining the movie.

It was definitely a movie that emphasized family albeit in a backward sort of way. This family was about the worse family imaginable at the beginning. The brother had taken a vow of silence, the uncle had just tried to kill himself, and the grandpa was kicked out of a nursing home due to improper behavior. Everyone's life falls apart in just this little weekend, but Olive seems to be loving and sensitive enough to help bring healing to everyone.

It gave me a lot to think about, and I doubt I will be able to get this movie out of my head quickly. I have not laughed so much in a while. I think you would have to be in a certain mood to enjoy this movie, but I was in that mood tonight. It was refreshingly funny yet insightful.

Now to the ratings.

Entertaining: 5/5
Inspiring: 5/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

This movie is worth owning and watching over and over (okay, I have only seen it once so I really do not know if it stands the test of time). I must warn that it is rated "R" for a reason and would not be appropriate for the whole family. I also must give the disclaimer that a high "ethical thinking" rating does not mean that the movie was ethical but that it makes you think about ethics.

Hitch - A Movie Dialogue

Okay, I am going to lose all street cred on this one.

I watched Hitch. This was a Lindsay choice although it was a pleasant viewing experience. I would put this up there with Notting Hill as one of the more enjoyable chick flicks.

Nothing too heavy in this movie.

The movie's theme centered on bad guys make it impossible for good guys to get women. I have always thought that women just did not want good guys rather than bad guys hurt good guys chances.

The movie also focused on the theme of allowing yourself to be vulnerable again despite being hurt in the past.

Entertaining: 4/5
Inspiring: 2/5
Ethical Thinking: 3/5

Although fun and enjoyable, it gets the low "inspiring" score because it really did not inspire me to do anything.

I would watch this movie again, but I would not leave the room if it was on.

Good Night, and Good Luck - A Movie Dialogue

I just finished watching Good Night, and Good Luck. The ending credits are still rolling.

The movie was a worthwhile view. It might have been a little on the boring side, but it was a redeeming movie.

The movie centers around the story of CBS newscaster Edward Murrow's battle against Joseph McCarthy. It deals with so many various issues. I think that might make it less entertaining than it could have been.

It focuses on the struggle of a newscaster revealing the truth, what is the proper use of television, the plight of justice in our society and the reward (or lack thereof) for those who pursue it, and the struggle to preserve individual rights in our country during a period of fear.

I was intrigued by the conversation about how television should be used. The movie proposed that it should be used for public service rather than just entertainment. I would agree, but then I do like my silly reality television shows. We have decided to allow Isaac to stay up this week and watch American Idol. It will become a new family tradition. Isaac sings all of the time, so we want to encourage him to pursue that. We also figure that he will enjoy that show. Is that using television for more than entertainment or is it justify the entertainment of television? It definitely isn't public service. By no way is American Idol a high culture program, but it does seem to be more than just entertainment.

The other area that was most interesting to me due to the research I am presently pursuing in regards to conscientious objectors in WWI and WWII was the treatment of those who are not in line with our society's way of thinking. I find the whole McCarthy era fascinating in that America actually imprisoned people who had a political posture different than the dominant view. I have come to the conclusion that how a group or society treats those who are different than them reveals more about that group or society than almost any other action. I am fascinated at how much America has improved in this regards and am encouraged that we will be able to continue on the path towards accepting those who are different than the mainstream. The struggle is how do we tolerate without losing our identity.

The most striking thing about the story was how both McCarthy and Murrow lost. However, Murrow's sacrifice was for the better of the country, and his career continued on.

The movie brought up a lot of interesting subjects that would spark an evening of good conversation.

Entertaining: 2/5
Inspiring: 4/5
Ethical Thinking: 5/5

I will probably never watch this movie again unless I show it in a history class, which is pretty likely.

The Departed - A Movie Dialogue

Since I am on school break, we have decided to get somewhat caught up on movies. I wanted to post a little on each one so that I would have to interact with them on more than just an entertainment level. These are not reviews; I will leave those to the experts. These are more of the thoughts and ideas of the movies along with the ideas they caused me to have. I am not going to summarize the movie. Go to Amazon for that. Nor am I going to give a traditional review on movie quality because I am no expert on that. I am just going to share my thoughts on the themes of the movie and what they made me think about.

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The Departed

This movie addressed committing acts of evil for different reasons. The three categories of people are being evil for noble purposes, being evil to keep the status quo, and being evil out of pure selfishness. The movie showed the lives of people who believed that the first two were okay, and a few who lived as if the last one was. I just can't pull myself to saying that any of the three are okay.

One of the major questions running through my mind lately is how can we create peace with selfish and violent people without resorting to violence. I am not trying to address this on a philosophical or theological level, but on a purely practical level. What can we do to bring peace with those willing to resort to violence without resorting to violence ourselves? I cannot really figure it out. Can there be victory (and does victory matter) without wallowing at their level?

Also, addressed in the movie is the tendency of our society to place people into categories based upon their biological predecessors. This only played a role in the movie in the first thirty minutes. I guess it is true. I have seen special given to others based upon their parents and have received special treatment based upon my parents. It all depends on the people and what they think of your parents.

Here is my ranking system:

Entertaining: 5/5
Inspiring: 1/5
Ethical Thinking: 4/5

I probably will never watch this movie again.

Studying Christ and Learning From God Through Hollywood Movies

Tomorrow night is our first high school movie night for the summer. I thought we would get together every week, watch a movie, and discuss the themes of the movie for 10-20 minutes afterword. This morning I'm working on a list to hand out to parents, so they will know what we're watching when and why we're watching it.

However, we are not just focusing on Christological themes, those are themes that show us about Christ. Theological (study of God), Ecclesialogical (study of church and community) themes or, for that matter, any other themes make the grade. As long as they have something to talk about that can be brought back to the Bible it is a go.

Here is the list of movies and the dates we are watching them. If you can think of a better theme to discuss in them, please let me know.

June 25 – Field of Dreams – How far will we go when God calls us to something?

July 2 - Unbreakable – Rated PG-13 for violence and mature themes. How can we be a hero in our world?

July 9 - Chocolat – Rated PG-13 for mild sexual content that we will skip. Why do people feel that the church isn’t loving?

July 16 - Dead Poets Society – Rated PG. How can we make our lives extraordinary?

July 23 - Gattaca – Rated PG-13 for mild nudity that we will skip. How do we discriminate? What are the consequences of playing with God’s design for the world?

July 30 - K-Pax – Rated PG-13 for Violence and slight language. What would an outsider see as our flaws?

August 6 - Signs - Rated PG-13 for frightening moments. Christians seem to have a lot of coincidences. Is God watching out for us?

August 13 - Mr. Holland’s Opus – Rated PG. How do we deal with our dreams being squashed by events around us?

August 20 - Dancer in the Dark – Rated R for violence. What does it takes to truly make a sacrifice? If you’re in question about allowing your child to see this movie, feel free to see it beforehand or talk to me. It is a very traumatic movie that will help all of us see what true sacrifice is.

Here is a list of movies that didn't make the cut this year. If movie night goes over well, they might next year.

Didn’t quite make the cut yet:
Shawshank Redemption - Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. Where do we find hope?
Secondhand Lions - Haven't seen it yet. Just thought it might work.
Cocoon - How do we experience life to the fullest? Having more prosperity only leads to exaggerating our faults?
Cool Hand Luke – Not rated due to it being released in 1967. How do we respond when we feel that God isn’t communicating with us?
Truman Show – Rated PG. How do we view God?
Contact – Rated PG. How do we relate to the world? Is there a God?
With Honors - recommended. haven't seen.
Bruce Almighty - recommended. haven't seen.
Radio Flyer - recommended. haven't seen.
Big Kahuna - How does the world view Christianity? How can we be more loving?

Watch out for the potholes.