Amazing Grace

Some time ago I found the Movie "Amazing Grace" for a very good price, and so I bought it, as I had heard some very good things about it, but it ended up taking quite some time to get around to watching it. The other night I remembered that the movie was sitting unopened on the shelf, and so my wife and I put it in and watched it.

I have to say, this was a very good movie. Very moving, and well worth the watching. I don't want to spoil any part of the plot, but I will say that if you haven't seen this movie, you should certainly either rent or buy it as soon as possible. I do not believe you could possibly regret it.

Is The MPAA Asleep At The Switch

I am someone who really likes movies. That is to say, I really enjoy a good movie. I like good, well thought out stories. I'm not one of those people who will say, well, I did like it because of the special effects. In this day and age, I kind of expect good special effects, so to say that a good job was done in that area should be a given these days in my mind, and honestly, I wouldn't care if a movie had substandard visuals, as long as there was a solid story as a base. I really like movies that make me think, where there is something under the surface, for the most part I don't really want to just sit there and be entertained, I would much rather be engaged.

Perhaps that is why one of my favorite movies is "12 Angry Men" with Henry Fonda, which was made in 1957, is in black and white, and nearly the entire movie takes place in a simple Jury Room. There is no question that this movie is 100% story driven, as there are virtually no (possibly none at all) special effects.

That being said, we all, especially if we have kids, look at movie ratings. You know, those letters that accompany all movies, and are set by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). For anyone who doesn't know, the ratings go like this, G For General Audiences, PG Parental Guidance Suggested as some material might not be suitable for Children, PG13 Parents Strongly Cautioned as some material might not be appropriate for children under 13, R Restricted no one under 17 admitted without a parent or guardian, and finally NC17 which means that no children 17 or under will be permitted under any circumstances. These are general guidelines, and of course, it is understood that different people will have different personal standards, and should take some care for themselves to make sure that they don't take their kids into a movie that is not suitable for them, but still, the guidelines should be reliable, in my opinion.

Lately I have noticed a trend toward rating movies lower than they really should be. For example, the other night my wife and I watched "The Dark Knight" which is the second of the new Batman movies, and a great movie in many respects, but violent and with a lot of adult themes and content. After the movie ended I asked my wife, "what would you think that was rated?" She said, "R, no question about it." So I picked up the case and there it was, "PG13." We were pretty stunned. Another great movie that came out in the past year was "Taken" with Liam Neason, a movie I highly recommend for adults, but again, another movie that deserved and R rating and once again was rated PG13.

On a more extreme note, the last of the Rambo movies, which came out at the beginning of 2008, was rated R by the MPAA, and certainly should have been at least that, but even the producers were surprised when they got back an "R" on their first cut. They had decided to make the movie that they wanted to make, and sent it in to the review board. They expected to receive a rating of NC17, and then follow MPAA guidance to get it down to an R. While they were happy that the initial cut came back with an R, and they didn't have to change anything, they were shocked, because they felt that they had made a movie that went beyond the "R" rating.

Even worse was the movie "Watchmen" which, aside from being one of the most horrible movies I've ever seen, and I'm very sorry I ever saw it, and if anyone ever whips out a DVD of it for you to watch, I have just one word of advice... RUN!!!! But aside from the fact that it is horrible, it was rated R, and there is no question whatsoever that it should have been NC17. On this one there really is no excuse for it having been rated R, being that no one should ever see it, but certainly no child should ever be exposed to a movie such as this.

Now, as I said, the MPAA is supposed to give guidelines, to help you to know how rough a movie is going to be, not to censor it, or to disallow certain aspects of a movie or story, with the exception of what is called hard core porn, or what most people know as X-rated material, which is simply not shown in normal theatres (although parts of Watchmen were certainly pornographic in nature, they did not cross over the line to actual, so-called, hard core porn).

My issue in this post is not with the type of movies that are being made, in a culture such as ours people are free to watch whatever kind of filth they wish to, and like I said, ultimately we are responsible for what movies we see (and believe me, if I had done some research into Watchmen ahead of time when my wife said she wanted to see it, I would have said no, and once I explained what I found she wouldn't have wanted to see it either) I still think that we should be able to trust the guidelines. Since the MPAA purports to evaluate movies and issue guidelines to help us to know which ones are family friendly, and which are not, and to what extent and so on, they should be consistent. I do have a problem with the lowering of standards in movie ratings, because this makes it harder to know what will be appropriate and what will not.

While at this present time the G and PG ratings are still pretty much on the nose, if the current trends continue, which there is no reason to think that they will not, it is only a matter of time before they cannot be trusted either.

I'm not asking the MPAA to adopt all of my standards and restrict what movies are shown, but just be consistent, and give us a fair shot at knowing what movies to see, and what movies to avoid.

Seven Pounds

This weekend we went and saw the new movie with Will Smith titled "Seven Pounds." Even after seeing the movie we couldn't figure out what the "pounds" part was about, apparently it's an obscure reference to Shakespeare. Perhaps not so obscure if you give a hoot about Shakespeare, but as I don't, I'm calling it obscure. Anyway, it was a good movie, and an interesting, and somewhat moving story... but LONG! I'm not just saying that because it's 2 hours long, I've set through 3 hour movies that didn't feel nearly as long as this one. But I'm not sure everyone felt that way.

I guess the problem for me is simply that the movie is supposed to be suspenseful, with the audience not understanding what is going on. For me though, I suspected what the plot was when I saw the TV spot, and it was confirmed for me in the opening moments of the film, so, without the suspense, it was a VERY LONG, yet still good, just long, movie.

At one point, I figured we had to be getting close to the end, so I stole a look at my cell phone and realized that we were only about half way through... did I mention it was long?

I can't really tell you anything about the movie, because, to tell anything is to give away everything, as far as I'm concerned, but I will say that I found it very interesting. The actions of the main character do not fit with a Christian Worldview, which would be my worldview, and so, from that angle, it really was a very interesting movie. Seeing what this man was doing, and felt that he had to do, and pitting that against what would be the appropriate actions for a Christian gave me a lot to think about.

Really, this was a good movie, and I enjoyed it... for a really really long time. I did stay awake for the entire (extremely long) movie, so that tells you that it wasn't boring... just long. But, if you don't see what's coming, you might find that it doesn't feel as long to you as it did to me, either way, I think you would enjoy it, I know I did.

Fireproof

We went with our Small Group last night to see the new movie "Fireproof". This is a Christian movie from the creators of "Facing The Giants" and starring Kirk Cameron.

First, yeah, some of the acting was a little sub-par, though Kirk Cameron's performance was phenomenal, but then, he's an actor by trade, so I guess you would expect that. Really though, most of the actors were decent, but then, most of the really good, not to mention big name actors, make more money for a part than the entire budget for this movie, so, I guess you have to cut them some slack there also, but really the acting was better than I had expected it to be, so, no complaints. As for the production quality, again, considering the budget, I think they did a very good job.

As to the story, which is the really important part after all, I thought it was excellent. Admittedly, it's a little preachy in places, but when you are really trying to get a message across, I guess you go to great lengths to make it unmissable (is that a word?). After all, if you really made the movie to send a message and have an impact, do you really want to take the chance that the very people that you most want to catch the message are going to miss it? Or to leave enough room for them to fill in the blanks with their own theories or some of the misguided "Theology" that's floating around in our culture today? I don't think you would.

We live in a culture today of disposable marriages, based on the idea that if it doesn't work out, we'll just scrap it and try again on down the road. This is never what marriage was supposed to be about, and that point is made clearly in the movie, along with a very strong and in your face presentation of the Gospel, which is why I said it's kinda preachy, which I might have meant as a criticism before I gave it a little more thought. If we spend so much time being afraid to give the Gospel, then no wonder it's not getting out.

I think that most any Christian would really enjoy this movie, and I would encourage all Christians to go see it. As for Non-Christians, I think they can enjoy it too, but I wouldn't go gather all your non-Christian friends and drag them to go see it, they will probably resent it, as strong as it, if they feel you're trying to force it on them. On the other hand, there is no problem with recommending it to them, it's a wonderful story, or with inviting them to see it with you, as long as you don't misrepresent it. And if anyone tells you that they are thinking of seeing it, just be honest, it's a good movie (it would help to see it yourself before saying this however) and can be enjoyed by anyone.

I think this is a good movie, and strongly recommend it. I hope you all go to see it and that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Prince Caspian (NO SPOILERS!)

Last night my wife and I took the kids, along with some friends kids, to see the new Narnia movie; The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

First let me say, what a great movie. I'm sure a lot of people are asking the question, "How does it compare to the first movie?" And I would answer that you can't really compare them, they are both great movies, but they are different.

I should also say at this point that I have never read the Narnia books, so I cannot offer any thoughts on that matter. I did hear an interview with the Producer on Focus on the Family and he said that there are some big differences, but they had no choice if they wanted to put the story on the big screen.

From the standpoint of just watching a movie, I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It is a big movie, being two and a half hours long, but it doesn't feel that long. It's a fast paced story that keeps things moving, and is utterly enjoyable, just from a basic entertainment standpoint, but there is a lot more to it than that.

As a thinker, I saw a lot of deeper truths in the movie, a lot of moral lessons that parents can take advantage of in explaining to their kids after the movie is over. In fact, we had one of those discussions as we were leaving the theater. My daughter asked about a very tense moment in the movie (I'm being careful not to give anything away) and it gave me the chance, which I took, to explain the lesson to her.

There is a lot more stuff I'd like to say about this movie, but I really am committed not to giving any spoilers here, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

I welcome comments on this movie, but I have to warn you, I will not post any comments that contain spoilers, so just be careful about that.

My opinion though is that it's a great movie, and I highly recommend that you see it. I also did not find it to be inappropriate for kids at all. My son is 4 and my daughter 8, and there were no issues with either of them seeing it, and yet, it's a great movie for adults too, with some deeper meanings that the kids may not pick up on, but as I said before, we could still explain many of these things to our kids, and that would be a good thing.

Rambo

Ok, so I know that I was said I was planning to post about Politics yesterday, but didn't end up blogging at all, but fear not (cause I'm sure you did) I'll get to it at some point.

I had a Darden Restaurants gift card from a contest at work. We looked at the choices listed on the card, and two we didn't recognize, and other than that there were "Red Lobster," which neither of us care for, and "Olive Garden," which is my wifes' favorite Restaurant, but doesn't do much for me. So she said to look and see there were any locations of the other two in our local area, but there weren't, the closest of either was over an hour away. So I Googled Darden to see if they had anything that wasn't listed on the card. Apparently they just bought Longhorn Steakhouse, which is awesome. I was so excited. I was sitting in front of the computer yelling "honey, they have Longhorn listed here, they have Longhorn listed here!!!!" So we called Longhorn to be sure they would take the card, and they said yes.

So, we decided to go see a movie, and have a nice dinner. My in-laws said they would watch the kids, so that was cool too. So I looked up the theater that is closest to Longhorn, and was again overcome with excitement as they were still showing "Rambo." I'm not sure my wife shared my enthusiasm, but she went along with it.

So, we dropped the kids off at her parents house, and they got pizza for dinner and got to go to the park, and found out Grandpa could still run! Even at a whopping 57 years of age! Ok, well the kids were surprised, but anyway, they had a great time.

So we went to the theater first, and got there with quite a bit of time to spare, and settled in to watch the inane program that they show in between movie showings. I'd describe it, but first I would have had to have been paying attention to it, and I can't say that I was. Anyway, and keep in mind we were seeing "Rambo," which is rated "R," which, in this case could be, "With Very Good Reason." So, we're sitting there watching other people file in, and what do we see? Some guy comes in with a kid that couldn't have been more than 5 years old. My jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe it. I'd have trouble thinking of a more inappropriate movie for kid that young. But I digress.

Of course, once the inane show was over, the commercials started. Now, I've always enjoyed previews of other movies before the movie. I like them. But commercials? I mean, come on, and especially given that they showed around five of them. Then the previews finally started, and there were quite a few of them, everything from "Midnight Meat Train," a horror flick that I imagine I would sleep through, and likely will never bother seeing, all the way to the new Narnia movie due out in a couple of months, which we've been waiting for.

So, finally, at 4:25, for a movie that had a start time of 4:05, the movie finally got started.

I do not intend to give away any plot points here, as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who wants to see this movie, but hasn't had the chance yet. What I will say is that there was some foul language, but if you've seen the other Rambo movies, you would expect this, and there was action. Lots and lots of action. I would say that this was, by far, the bloodiest of the Rambo movies, but it was still a really good movie. If you can get past the language, and aren't too squeamish (my wife had her eyes closed quite a few times) I would highly recommend this movie.

I think that the "Rambo" franchise has gotten a bad rap over the years. Quite often I have heard lots of different people talk about any generic Rambo movie as the ultimate in senseless violence movies, but really this isn't true. If you are not familiar with the movies, bear with me for a moment. All four of the movies are intended to make a very valid point. The first one, "Rambo: First Blood," was meant to draw attention to the very poor treatment of Veterans who returned from the Vietnam War. The second movie, "Rambo: First Blood, Part 2," was intended to raise public awareness of POW's from the Vietnam War still being held in North Vietnam after so many years. I remember watching that one with my Dad, and the passionate response he had. At the end a CIA guy asks "What do you want us to do, Bomb Hanoi?" My dad jumped right out of his chair (we were at home, thank God) and yelled "YES!!!!" The third one was to make people aware of what the Soviet Union was doing to the people of Afghanistan during their occupation of that country. And this last one, simply titled "Rambo," is meant to spotlight the atrocities that are happening right now, today, in Burma (AKA Myanmar) and can be checked out at http://www.witness.org/ and is a very real thing.

I know that these are action movies, and they involve a lot of killing and such, and certainly, a lot of violence, but I just wanted to point out that this is not the full extent of what the movies are.

It's also interesting to note that the hero of the movies, John Rambo, played by Sylvester Stalone, always just wants to be left alone. He never wants trouble, never wants to get involved, but that option is never really left open for him, much to the chagrin of his eventual enemies. There is also a surprising Christian presence in this movie, as it is Christian aide workers that he goes in to rescue, and I'm not giving anything away here, you can see that much in any synopsis at any movie theater web site.

Anyway, I thought that it was a great movie, and am glad that I got to see it in the theater, but thinking back to that little kid (who did stay for the entire movie), all I can say is, I really hope they Scotch Guarded those seats!!!