When Good Stories Go Bad

My middle son and I just finished reading A Wrinkle in Time together.  I had never read this children's classic, so I started reading it aloud to the boys.  The blondie was the only one who wanted to hear more. 

 I was hoping to find a new favorite, but I just couldn't get into this fantasy/allegory book.  The writing seems clunky and it's hard to follow the twists and turns of the plot.  My son seemed to really enjoy it, but I was disappointed.

 We then noticed that Netflix had the movie version.  You can guess how much I loved that.  Ugh!  More awkward acting, poor special effects, and goofy lines.

Sometimes a good story simply doesn't effect everyone the same way.  I am sure I can find thousands of people who dearly love Wrinkle in Time and would hate me for saying anything critical about it. 

In the same way, I know a lot of people just LOVE the new Batman movie.  I couldn't get past Anne Hathaway as a dark, evil thief.  I like it better when she's a little nerdy, like in Princess Diaries.

I was really trying to believe it, but I completely gave up at the end where she grabs Batman and kisses him before he completes a final mission.  That was just plain hilarious.

Art is subjective - books, movies - they all move us differently or not at all.  Stories help us grow inside and teach us about ourselves.  But the best stories change us forever.  They make us want to approach strangers and say, "Have you seen this movie?  Have you read this book?!" because great stories demand to be shared.

What books or movies do you hate while everyone else seems to love?

Wow.

Aaron and I saw this last night.  Cried like a baby. 

I wasn't sure I wanted to see it, but I was so glad I did.  It's a better film than "Fireproof" in my opinion because EVERYONE can relate to it.  Well done.  Well done.

Please.  Go to this movie.  Take a crew of folks with you.  Bring strong tissues.  Yell things like, "Amen!" and "Yes, Brotha!" during good scenes.  Then go see it again. 

Pixar Makes Me Happy

Last weekend I took the boys to Cars 2. I gladly support pretty much anything Pixar does.

I was in the camp of "eh, it was okay." I prefer the quiet, more simple films like Up and Wall-E. By the end of Cars 2, I felt like having a couple Advil. It's a breath-taking spin around the globe with Mater and McQueen. But still a good time.

If you want to read a great interview with Jon Lasseter (Pixar genius) that is here.  Did you know he is the father of 5 boys?!  I knew I liked that guy.

He also talks a little about the next Pixar movie coming out next summer with the First. Ever. Female. Lead.  I guess I hadn't realized Pixar had never done a movie with a girl as the lead character!  Interesting...Enjoy the sneak peek!

The Life of a Saint

I finally got a chance to rent and view the movie, "End of the Spear" this past weekend -- the film based on the true story of 5 missionaries who were killed by the Waodani tribe in Ecuador as they tried to bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The film focuses mainly on Nate Saint, the missionary pilot who flies into the jungle with the other men to reach the people there. I've become more interested in this story because I teach with Phil Saint, Nate's youngest son. My son, Gregory, is in his 4th grade class.

Phil's older brother, Steve, has gone back to Ecuador several times to reconnect with the tribe and continue to minister the Gospel.

What an amazing story and film!

Who Moved My Cheese?

Tonight we watched a movie after dinner - The Secret of Jonathan Sperry.  It was a Christian film, which I usually dread because of ....how do I put this?

Cheese, folks.  Mozzarella.  Gorgonzola.  You get the picture.  I just can't handle it.  Taking the sacred and holy and mixing it with Colby, Swiss, and Cheddar....ok, enough.

But because I have children under the age of 10 (for a few weeks, anyway) and entertainment choices are limited, we put it in.  I was cringing to myself during certain scenes, but the beautiful thing is that my children are still innocent and young enough to be cheese-proof!  They were listening.  And I was feeling guilty for my snobbish ways.

In the film, a young boy becomes quite bold in telling others about Jesus and the importance of reading the Bible.  When the boys went to bed, A. read the Bible with them and they talked about the movie some more.

A few minutes after they were tucked and in bed, D. came up the stairs.

"I don't feel good," he said.  This reminded me of when I was little and whenever the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I felt like I was going to puke.  Weird, but true.  Do you need a bucket or do you need to obey God??

We encouraged him to go in our room and ask God what He might be saying to him tonight.  He came back after about 30 seconds :)

"God wants me to tell people about Him when I am older," he said.  We talked through that some more ("You don't have to wait until you're older!") and prayed with him.  And then after he went to bed, G. comes up and we go through the whole thing again.  He didn't share the same things as D., but he was definitely feeling some emotions.

Do I think God just called D. into the ministry?  I don't know.  Perhaps.

What I DO know is that God is writing the story of my children's lives.  I would like to write it myself, but I know that's not best.  Can God use a so-called cheesy Christian movie to move the hearts of my children?

Absolutely.

I really have to start getting out of God's way sometimes.

Have you met Armie Hammer?

Well, there he is.  Yes, he's the "twins" from the movie "Social Network," which I have not seen. 

More importantly (I think :) he played a young Billy Graham in the movie "Billy," which is an interesting film about Billy and his friendship with Charles Templeton, an evangelist friend who later became an atheist. 

Well, I just felt it my duty to inform the masses that Armie Hammer will play the Prince in "Snow White" - a movie coming out with Julia Roberts as the Wicked ...Queen?  Witch?  I can't remember. 

Now, this is not to be confused with another Snow White movie coming out at the same time called "Snow White and the Huntsman" -- that one stars Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Viggo Mortensen (ARAGORN!!) as the Huntsman.  They both sound pretty groovy to me. 

What is it with Hollywood and fairy tales?  Didn't see Red Riding Hood, but what's next?  Humpty Dumpty? 

Slowing Down

One of the things that concerns me about technology and the crazy-mad pace of our day is that no one has the patience or attention span for a movie like Get Low.

This movie is slow. Sometimes painfully slow. It's tempting to do something else, like grab a laptop and check email...or grab a phone to text....or --- wait. What if I just watch? What if I just slow down and let this story take me in, which is what we want all good art to do?

That's what I love about Get Low. It's just a great story told by great actors. There are no fast car chases or robots or pulsing soundtracks. It's quiet. And it's refreshing.