Risen

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I love me some movies. Going to an advance screening is something I've always wanted to experience. Being able to see a movie most people can't is cool.

I got to go to my first advance screening last night. The film was the new faith based flick Risen.

Christian movies are a really challenging thing to make... and rarely done well. It's easy to put the focus more on the moral/ message than on the characters and the story (a good story with real characters will convey a message better than a message with a story tacked on).

The best way I've seen to combat this is by setting your film around the life of Jesus. The story and the message go hand it hand. It makes for some really compelling stuff. Risen is a great example of that!

Risen is the story of a Roman centurion who is assigned the job of discovering what happened to the body of Jesus. It's a pretty clever set up really, take a story we all know... and add a slight twist.

It was a lot of fun to see Clavius (the Roman played by Joseph Fiennes) investigate the resurrection and wrestle with his own faith.

I also loved the way the disciples were portrayed. They really felt like sheep without a shepherd.

As is to be expected,
there was some poetic license taken. That being said, it was probably the best type of license you can take. It didn't change or effect the story in a negative way.

I give it a hearty thumbs up. However, I will say that the first 5 minutes does have a fairly intense action scene. Pretty brutal. I wouldn't recommend the beginning for kids. After that it's pretty tame... aside from shots of the crucifixion... again... which is to be expected!

It hits theatres this weekend. Check it out!

Selma

David Oyelowo says that God told him to play Martin Luther King Jr in the film Selma. When someone says something like that, I will hold them too it. In fact, my expectations are doubled.

I had really high expectations going into Selma.

It exceeded them all.

I haven't been moved by a movie to that extent in a long time. It leaves a mark on you. Makes you look at the world a little differently than you did when you went into it.

It did for me at least.

The part that stuck out to me the most, was King. He was a guy that wanted to make a change.
He dedicated his life to a cause that he felt called to. He put his career, reputation and even his life on the line. Selma shows that. What it also shows is the faith that motivated him to do that in the first place.

And David Oyelowo nails the performance.

It may be tricky to find a showing (limited release by the look of it). However if you can find a showing, check it out. It's more than worth the price of admission.

All that praise aside, there is some content that you may want to be in the loop about - http://www.pluggedin.ca/movies/intheaters/selma.aspx

A New Christ[mas]ian Movie

Some times my day starts with a lot of emails. Other times, I'm met with a bunch of things that need to be looked after ASAP. Others I'm greeted with the horrid feeling of realizing I left my lunch neatly packed by my door.

Today I was greeted with this.

My face melted into a cross between awe and wonder. Then to confusion. Was this some sort of awesome joke? Is that really Kirk Cameron exploding through a Christmas tree welding a candy cane and a manger?

Yes. It is.

Could this possibly be a real film and not some sort of twisted dream and/or parody?

It exists.

Is there a trailer for this sure to be wondrous film?

There is.




I honestly don't know what to think about any of this. Which is rare for me. Is the movie a documentary with a story? A drama? Over the top action?

It seems to have a bit of an irreverent tone too, which is also odd. Whether or not this makes it to the watch list has yet to be determined, however, I shall always cherish the memory of first seeing that poster.

What do you think? Watch? Pass?

Gravity

I saw a trailer for Gravity a few months back. I couldn't believe it. Someone actually made a film about two people trapped floating through space?!?! That's going to either be awesome or dreadful.

It's in space... that should help make it awesome. Still, an hour and a half of floating...

I saw it over the weekend. 

I couldn't believe it.

To quote a friend - "That was the fastest slow movie I've ever seen"

It doesn't stop. From 5 minutes in to the time the credits roll you're on a rollercoaster ride.

I saw it in AVX which was a first for me. Glad I went with it this time! There were parts I was shifting in my seat to avoid debris. I never do that!

There was another part were one of the characters is exposed to space. There was no sound from the movie during that scene... or from the theatre. I just sat there holding my breath.

Plus the first 14 minutes is one shot. As in, no cuts in the film. I know that's my film nerd geeking out, but is it ever awesome!

I don't think I'd see the film again. It one of those things you experience and then remember fondly. Maybe once I forget a lot of the key plot points in 5 years I'll try again.. Still, was more than worth the 10 bucks to get in!

There was a bit of language at the start. Something to be mindful of.  For the content advisory, Plugged In has you covered- http://www.pluggedin.ca/movies/intheaters/gravity.aspx

Christian Movies

Christian Movies have gotten a really bad reputation over the years. Sometimes deserved, sometimes not so much. And while I tend to not like cheesy stuff, even the cheesy ones can strike a cord with me. Though I'd rather they not be cheesy.... really.

With this in mind, my list of most anticipated Christian films of the next... 8-20 months? Basically -- here's a list!

I'm In Love With A Church Girl
I've always wanted to make a movie where
a. Someone is faking Christianity to get a girl and in the end relizations how messed up they are
or
b. tobyMac is a burnt out breakdancer that needs redemption.
This movie has both... sorta... (If Toby breakdances at any point I'm calling foul!)
Either way... TOBY MAC



God's Not Dead
The story of a philosophy class student challenging his professor's opinion of God? Sounds good. And did I mention Newsboys are in it? NEWSBOYS!!!! The acting doesn't look like it's going to be Oscar worthy, but the premise is something I can get behind. And David White is in it, which makes things even better.



Grace Unplugged
The story of a girl trying to make it big in music... against her parent's wishes and the compromise it brings.
This sounds really promising. The messages that a plot like that can convey are a plenty. Looking forward to it! Ooooooohhhhhh and by the way, Jamie Grace is in it.



And that's what I'm looking forward to this... ah... yearish?
Oh, and Noah, but that doesn't have a trailer yet... yet.

Man of Steel - Before

I'm really excited for Man of Steel. REALLY. I'm not 100% sure why either.

To preface this, I'm not that crazy about Superman in general. I think he's over powered. Super strength, flying, laser vision, ice breath, x-ray vision, bullet proof... shesh... he's only weak to kryptonite, which is cool... but that's his ONLY weakness!

New Superman movie? Who cares. Give me more Marvel.

Then I saw this trailer -



I still get chills watching it. I'm a sucker for tone, this trailer is full of it! No detail, just "Hey what's this movie?... wait...SUPERMAN?!?!"

I haven't seen a full trailer since (except for pieces I tried to ignore before Iron Man 3).

Trailers give too much away.

It's written by Christopher Nolan (Inception). That and the tone are enough to sell me.

It opens on the 14th. I can't wait! If it so inspires me, I will likely review this one!

Clever Movie

Cleverbot is a very (very) smart machine. You basically say stuff to it and it will reply.
Sometimes you think it's a real person, others you realize you are talking to a talking website.

I have spent a bit of time on it. Mostly to hilarious results.

One thing I never considered Cleverbot good for was writing movie scripts. Thankfully, this guy did.

Enjoy.

Pieces of a Plate

While doing some work near the kitchen sink, I heard a plate falling. Having fairly fast reflexes, I reached out and caught it without even looking. Had I looked I would have know it was not a plate... but PIECES of a plate.
I cut may hand up pretty good. Had to pull glass out of it and was wrapped up in bandages for the better part of a week. It also hurt a bit. Not a lot, but a fair amount. And there was a lot of blood. A lot.
While thinking about the state of my hand one day and how much that whole thing sucked... it hit me.
Jesus was whipped and pierced.
If my hand had caused me so much grief, imagine what Jesus would have gone through?
Jesus would have been beaten with a cat-of-nine-tails. A whip with pieces of glass in it.
Even thinking about it makes me sick. And he did that all for me. It's a sobering thought. One I thought I had grasped, especially after seeing The Passion of the Christ. I was wrong.
I know it seems like a loose analogy. My hand barely felt what Jesus would have. But still! That really is love. That he would lay down his life, in such a horrid way, for us. People that could have cared less about God or a relationship.
I never would have thought a shard of plate would boost my faith, but I guess that's how God works. He takes the bad and makes it good.

My iPod (Which I don't really have...)

I have seen loads of these floating around the interwebs (and the LIFE dj blogosphere).
I don't tend to listen to songs on their own outside of LIFE... I usually listen to the entire album, but here goes nothing.

Owl City - When Can I See You Again



Anberlin - Someone Anyone



KJ-52 - Brand New Day



Mute Math - Typical



And that is pretty much what you will sit through when you go on a super long car ride with me.

Bible Movies Everywhere

Bible movies. There are a lot of them in the works. Rumors of a new movie based on Moses.
A David epic on the way... and Will Smith turning Able and Cain into Vampires.
Ya.
Aside from the last one, I'm stoked! At first I was a little worried that they would mess with the story too much (it is the 21st century), then I watched "The 10 Commandments."
It's a classic to most Christians... with a LOT of license taken. A LOT.
Which made me realize poetic license is going to happen. Let's just hope there's not too much (ahem, Will Smith)

I'm most excited for Noah.
It stars Russell Crowe as the title character with Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah. March of 2014 is a long wait, but I'm hoping it will be worth it. At the very least, I will put some faces to the names.

Talk Back Tuesday - July 10th 2012

Tonight on Talk Back Tuesday we were talking about movies. More specifically, terrible movies. So what is the worst movie you've ever seen?

The Amazing Spider-Man - Review

Back in 1990 Michael Chichton wrote a book called Jurassic Park. It's a really good read (despite some language). In '93 the book became a really good movie (despite the language). The catch though, was that they were two very different beasts (pun intended). The characters, locations and story were basically the same, however there were a lot of huge differences in the plot. But, they both worked.
Sam Raimi did the same with the first 2 Spider-man films (as said in my last post, the third didn't really happen). The characters, locations and story were basically the same, but the plot and way things transpired were way different from the comics.

The Amazing Spider-Man is a re-boot of that series.
It's selling itself as a dark, gritty, untold tale, truer to the original.

It's gritty, and that's about it.

I really, really wanted to like this movie.
However, I just can't. There is no character arch to any character, and even the attempt at an arch messes up. It comes off being a little fake.
If you know the comics, you will suto be able to call the shots with the film. That said, it sorta messes it up just enough to get you mad, instead of becoming it's own thing (see Jurassic Park or Spider-Man).

The villian is also drab. You never really understand what his motivation is.... other then moving the plot along.

On the bright side -- Emma Stone is really good as Gwen Stacy. She was great in The Help and really proved her chops here. She even looks like comic book Gwen. Kinda creepy really... Andrew Garfield was good too, he pulled off the "Punky Parker" quite well.

The action choreography was good. It stayed fast while not getting too complex.

There are already two (yes, TWO) sequels in the works for this film, here's hoping for a winner in 2 years!

Spider Time

I's a web-head. I think that's the name for a Spider-man fan... not sure.
My fan-boyism began after watching the first 2 movies (there was a third one that occurred in a nightmare once, people insist it was real, I'm convinced otherwise) and now we are going back to square one.
My first reaction was outrage. Reboot? Why?
Then I read the comics. Turns out while the movies were good, they were ripe with poetic license.
This one is supposed to be more true to the original. Web-shooters, Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy they're all there this time.
I'm excited. It could just be a re-hash, or it could be the start of a really awesome re-boot.
Plus it opens in one week.

U.F.O (...no not the Larry Norman song).

Happy New Year!
This New Year's weekend was a very normal one for me. I Listened to the Top 50 and then went to bed at 10:00... end New Year's Eve. New Year's Day we went over to my Grandma's for a dinner, which is where the title for this blog entry comes in (no I didn't see an alien on the way there). We watched a Christian movie called Unidentified.
A quick plot summery - Two journalists start to look into the possibility of U.F.O's and abductions.
I liked the film.


Firstly: Acting was good.

Secondly: The story was interesting and kept you guessing.

Thirdly: It had Rebecka St. James in it.

It provided a spin on U.F.Os that I had never concidered before and made for some interesting conversations afterward... it seems people put more thought to the subject then I realized.

Check out the trailer here