“Didn’t this movie come out a while ago?  Why are you talking about it now?”  Everyone that has asked me if I liked the movie has gotten some kind of awkward response like, “I thought it was pretty good.  I mean, it could have been a lot better but considering how this church gave up so much and all those volunteers worked so hard, it’s amazing.”

Sigh.  It’s taken me this long to get up the gumption to come out of the closet on this.

You see, the problem is that I watched the extras on the DVD.  You know, all the behind the scenes footage of regular church folk praying before each scene in the movie, volunteering their time, believing in the project, eating Chick-fil-A, doing morning devotionals, all while Third Day plays softly in the background.  It’s touching.  In fact, I was far more moved by the behind the scenes stuff than I was by anything in the movie itself.  But then I was confused.  The rules of criticism are different between a movie you pay for, and ministry you receive.  Is it ok for me to say that I really didn’t like a Christian movie?

Y E S !

If movies made by Christians are going to get better, they need to be held to the same critique as other films in the marketplace.  They need to be treated the same.  In my opinion, it’s patronizing to the good people that made the movie to pat the movie on the head and say, “For a Christian, you’re ok.  Bless your heart.”

Now, I know that many people really liked it.  They say that Kirk is a sexy-in-a-christian-kind-of-way male lead.  They found the plot riveting.  MANY MANY people say that it (and the accompanying devotional study) helped their marriages.  That’s awesome.  I’m not saying we should NOT like Christian movies.  That would be like someone saying that all Ninja movies are bad.  That would be crazy because any time throwing stars are involved, great entertainment is sure to follow.

Now THAT’s an idea.  A christian ninja movie.  Does James Caviezel know karate?  I bet he’s available.

Terminator 4

When I first heard about this one I was pretty skeptical.  But then I saw Christian Bale was playing John Connor, and I saw some hope for it.  The trailer looks great.

I like the gritty look to it and Bale will give it a little more realism and character depth. Either way, that “dundun dun dundun” gets me every time!

Star Trek

Another prequel with a grittier re-envisioning.  I think it will be great.  And I think it’s cool that they are using the same “Star Trek” font as the original TV show.

…And what kind of name is “Tiberius”?

Wolverine

He’s got to be one of the best (if not THE best) comic book hero ever created.  Hugh Jackman has really brought him to life too.

Are there any more that I haven’t heard about?

It’s interesting to me that Newman has very few lines in this scene and the camera focus is rarely on him yet he remains the focal point.  Maybe that’s what they call “presence”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVXKOb5EE7Y

I liked George because he got into trouble about as much as I did. I also loved the illustrations in the books. But, I always understood that the hero of the book was the Man in the Yellow Hat. He was the ultimate father figure. He was a safari adventurer. He was confident. He always corrected George when he did wrong, but he was also incredibly patient and understanding. He knew George was only a silly monkey and didn’t expect him to act like an adult human. He also loved George, but he loved him as a father not as a friend. He also had great fashion sense. He wore that yellow outfit before anyone else knew how cool it really was.

Recently I watched the Curious George movie. I was more excited than my kids were because I still really dig Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat.  Boy was I disappointed.

The production value of the movie was high.  It was very well done and the animation was amazing.  But, what they did to the Man in the Yellow Hat was wrong.  In the movie, he is a complete bumbling idiot.  he was totally insecure and inept.  He could hardly put a sentence together without saying something self-conscious or ridiculous.  They had stripped him of everything that kids love about the character.

You know how he came to wear the yellow hat?  He bought it because two salesmen sold it to him right after one of them said to the other, “You ordered the wrong color!  What kind of idiot is going to buy a bunch of yellow safari outfits?”

For the entire movie, George is the smarter one.  The Man in the Yellow Hat stumbles through the entire movie trying to make everyone happy and making a general mess of all his relationships.

I know that I should expect this from Hollywood.  I’m not naive.  It’s just that sometimes the way fathers are portrayed as idiots in our culture really steams me up good.  What kid wants to be like this guy?  I’d rather be the monkey with a brain the size of pea and a cute face than the whimpering idiot that got suckered into buying a yellow hat.  At least George has a good time.  As far as I can tell, being a father involves lots of wining, falling down, selfishness, and general stupidity.

Now, yes, the Man in the Yellow Hat wins in the end.  But he does so because George is smarter than he is.  I’m not kidding.  The monkey figures the whole thing out first.  Now, even monkeys are smarter than Dads.  They also make better friends.  Sad.  So very sad.

[tags]curious george, the man in the yellow hat[/tags]

He makes me laugh when he’s not being funny.  That’s not a good sign.  He should do a movie with that other rapper/movie star with a funny name: Ice-Cube.  After all, you really can’t have Ice-T without Ice-Cube.

The thing that puzzles me about this movie is the whole premise.  We only use 10% of our brains, so they say.  Why not use the rest of the un-used space to traffic illegal information in an apocolyptic Mad Max world where all the buildings are rusting and everyone wears punk rocker clothes?  Makes sense, right?  Right?

Then there’s the random dolphin/brain hacker that can blow stuff up by shooting powerful brain waves out of a satellite dish attached to its head.  Don’t try to tell me that plot twist wasn’t conceived of after a few too many shots of tequila on a lonely night.

Then there was Tron.  Anyone remember that movie?  That was a movie that only Commodore64 geeks could understand (or want to).  Bruce Boxleitner and Jeff Bridges dancing around in neon blue suits with bike helmets in front of a blue screen for 90 minutes.  The video game was cool, though.

The Fountain was NUTS.  Look, I was an English major and I usually like quirky and trippy movies.  I actually cut this one off half way through because I was so lost and confused.  Seeing Hugh Jackman, in all his shaved head glory, hugging and kissing a tree and crying because it was somehow the same thing as his dying wife was enough to give me nightmares.  Well, not nightmares but I definitely got the heebie-jeebies.  Or was it the willies?  Which is worse: the heebie-jeebies or the willies?  Whichever is worse, that’s what Hugh Jackman gave me in this movie.

Memoirs of a Geisha was boring.  I didn’t get it because I didn’t care.  I tried to care, but I just didn’t have the self discipline to endure the pain.  It won an Oscar for “Most Character Building Film of the Year”.

From Justin to Kelly doesn’t have a difficult plot.  I just don’t understand whythis movie exists at all.  Why would a loving God allow such movies to exist?  It’s like watching a train wreck, only Kelly Clarkson is on the train singing about puppy love and kickin’ it with her girlfriends while Justin leans one arm out the window throwing a Malibu gang sign while showing us his huge teeth.

I’ll stop now or this post will turn into “Movies that Make Me Not Want to Ever Watch a Movie Again.”

Do you have any movies that you didn’t get?  Tell us in the comments.

Here’s one guy that would disagree with me about Tron.

[tags]tron, johnny mnemonic, confusing movies, worst movies, bad movies, from justin to kelly, memoirs of a geisha, the fountain[/tags]

• Thanks for the feedback on what you’d like to see more of this year from Live.Awake. Heather and I are planning on doing some combo posts on topics like “How to Fight with Your Spouse” and “Maintaining Intimacy” and others. I’m planning on doing a combination of short quickie posts and longer articles both serious and funny (or at least idiotic).

• My son, Owen, has discovered that he can push the dining room chair around and gain access to all kinds of exciting and deadly areas of the house. Like the knife drawer.
• I’ve added a “What Heather’s Reading” widget on the left sidebar. Now you can see things that either of us think are worth sharing from our feed reader.
• I’m reading “Comeback Churches” by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson. It’s a great book. Extremely practical help for any pastor or church leader (from a “comeback” church or not). Here’s a quote:

It’s ironic that most evangelical churches are filled with people who live very much like the world but look different from it. It should be exactly the opposite. We should look similar to those in our community but act differently. Study after study has shown that North American evangelicals engage in the same lifestyles and sins as the unchurched. Yet, their church preferences are quite different than the world. In other words, we look different from the world, yet live the same as the world. How ironic that many churches have chosen to live the opposite of the biblical commands.

• Seth Godin has written a really interesting article on lessons to be learned from the Music Industry (as it falls apart). The music industry has been a gradual casualty of the digital age and a case study in what NOT to do. The article begs the question: How can the church join the fray in the digital domain?
• I’m excited about “Cloverfield” coming out on the 18th. I’m a total sucker for “monster attacks New York/LA/Tokyo/Raleigh” movies. Here’s the trailer…

[tags]cloverfield, trailer, youtube, comeback churches, ed stetzer, mike dodson, seth godin, [/tags]

It’s like my cynical side takes a vacation and I turn into a blathering 12 year old.

Here are two movies that I can’t wait to see and their trailers.

Have a great weekend!

The Simpsons Movie:

“Spider pig, spider pig. Does whatever Spider Pig does…” Need I say more?

The Bourne Ultimatum:

“If you were in your office right now we would be having this conversation face to face.”

Best series of action flicks ever.

[tags]trailers, youtube, the simpsons, the bourne ultimatum,teasers[/tags]