Film Flash: Rental Family

  

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Heartfelt film that almost makes sin seem virtuous (but it's more complicated than that)

Film Review: Predator - Badlands

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

The original Predator is one of the greatest action movies of all time.  It is pure masculine mayhem in the best possible way.  It is unlikely that any movie will be able to come close to capture that lightning in a bottle.

In the years since, there have been several sequels that have attempted to recapture that magic, with varying degrees of success.  The latest attempt, Predator: Badlands, decides to do something radical: make the Predator the hero of the story.  As the sage once said: "It's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if pays off for 'em."

The movie centers around a Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatanji) who is the runt of the clan.  Because of this, he needs to prove himself by going to the most dangerous planet known as Genna and kill the unkillable creature known as the Kalisk.  Dek crash lands on the planet and soon discovers that everything here is deadly from the animals to the flora and fauna.  Along the way he encounters Thia (Elle Fanning) a Weyland-Yutani android who is is missing everything below her torso.  She makes a deal with Dek to help him find the Kalisk if he gets her back to her people.  What follows is the standard reluctant partnership that slowly turns into friendship as the journey changes both of them.

If that plot summary sounds like this is a kinder, gentler Predator movie, that's because it is.  This looks and feels a lot more like a Marvel movie than a standard Predator film.  The tone, the humor, the action, the characters, and the violence feel like the could have come out of Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off.  

And here is the catch: if that is a deal-breaker for you, then this movie is not for you.

If, however, you are like me and can accept this change in tone, then Predator: Badlands is fairly enjoyable.  There is something lost when you remove the mystery and mystique of the Predators.  But what you get instead is a fairly straightforward reluctant friendship adventure.  Some people I have read found Thia cloying and off-putting.  However, I found her to be the right counterbalance to Bek.  Her constant chattiness and optimism are foiled against Bek's stoic silence.  

Plot-wise, the film is fairly standard with no real depth.  But that doesn't mean that it is bad.  The chemistry between the characters is fairly decent.  And the movie does one of the things I really like which is that it has good payoffs in the 3rd act that are set up in the 1st act without you realizing that they are being set up.  The movie rewards you for paying closer attention to how this world operates.  And it is fun to see Bek adapt to the surroundings, going from barely surviving to thriving.  It echoes Dutch from the original Predator, but the callback works.

The special effects work nicely in this film.  You get a strong sense of the ever-present danger of the planet.  The overall look of the Predator suffers by bringing it directly into the light and not keeping him in the dark shadows.  The action is very competently executed, with excitement and flair.  Bek can't rely on the normal bag of tricks that we've seen in other Predator films, but has to get creative, which adds to the enjoyment.

As I mentioned, the story's simplicity is reflected in its themes.  But those themes are still pleasing to see play out.  Bek's clan hates weakness and sees mercy as poison.  But in finding friendship and cooperation, Bek becomes stronger and better.  Again, it isn't revolutionary stuff, but the writers understand what their assignment is and they hit the correct thematic notes throughout.

No Predator film has lived up to the original.  But Predator: Badlands is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours of sci-fi adventure.

New Evangelizers Post: The Purpose of Penance

                                 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

This post might seem more appropriate for the Lent. However, Advent is also a penitential season in the Church. We tend to forget that because of all the gifts, shopping, parties, and food during this time. But just like Lent, Advent should be a time of penance in preparation for the holy day of Christmas.

Here in this article by “penance,” I do not mean the Sacrament of Penance, also known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation. By “penance,” I mean those spiritual works we do after we repent of sin.

I have often puzzled about the true meaning of penance. For many years, it felt like it was some kind of spiritual punishment. After we receive absolution in Reconciliation, we do our penance. For many people this feels like the spiritual debt that we pay for our sins. Sadly, that is how I treated penance for many years of my life.

But the idea of penance being spiritual punishment doesn’t quite jibe with our faith. Christ paid the debt of sin on the cross. We therefore do not earn our salvation by contributing to the payment of that debt. That isn’t to say there isn’t a need for reparation. All sin causes damage to the community. That damage, even if forgiven, needs to be repaired. If I break old Mrs. Krestel’s window while playing stickball in the street, I have an obligation to repair the damage done, even if she forgives me.

This is partly the meaning of penance. When sin has been done, there must be something done to repair in the world that which is damaged. I was speaking with a priest recently about one of his mission trips. While he was there, someone had desecrated the Blessed Sacrament at one of his churches. When Rome reached out to them regarding what needed to be done, one of the things that was required was that the entire community do penance. To be clear, the person who desecrated the Eucharist was apparently outside of this community. Nevertheless, the Vatican said that the community was required to do penance for the outrage. The penance was partial done because the community had failed to properly evangelize or witness to the perpetrator.

But the main purpose of penance is to live out your holiness.

In penance, I live out the life of Christ in me. When I do this, I voluntarily take up the cross. I don’t do this so that I can “earn” credit towards my salvation. Instead, by doing this I am uniting myself to Jesus, my Savior. And in doing so, I make my life more like His.

A penance can be passive. For example, fasting during Lent is a way to passively not partake in our desire for food. We can also passively accept some trouble or misfortune that comes our way and offer it up in union with the cross.

But you can also have an active penance. In this way, you can take on an activity like feeding the hungry or visiting the sick. The missionary priest I mentioned earlier asked his community what penance they wanted to do. They chose to perform an ancient tradition where each person picked the heaviest stone they could carry and bring it up the nearby mountain. He said that this penance was done as a community and the event was actually quite joyous. In carrying the penance together, the whole community drew closer to the joy of God.

And key to penance is that it should be done for God. This means that if you take up a penance of cleaning, it should be done as if you are doing it for God. This particular penance would be difficult for me, because my method of cleaning is basically to shove everything in a closet or cover it with a blanket. If I did it as a penance, I wouldn’t do it in such a slip-shod manner. Instead, I put all of my best efforts because I am not cleaning for myself, but for God.

A penance can be many things: it can be fasting, writing letters to the homebound, gardening, giving an hour of your expertise to help anohter, working a food bank, going to mass at a shrine, attending a funeral mass for someone, memorizing a new prayer, studying a book of the Bible, wake up at an early hour to prayer, a technology fast, domestic cleaning, going out of your way to help someone feel special, going on pilgrimage, etc. As you can see, there are many varied ways to live out your holiness so you can find one that is best at bringing your closer to God.

There are three things a penance should have:

You can read the whole article here.

Sunday Best: 100 Funniest Movies Of All Time

 

Recently, Variety published their 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time.  I saw a lot of websites comment on the list on how right or wrong they were.

This made me think of what would put on my own list.  However my mine is different.  Instead of "The 100 Greatest Comedies of All Time,"  these are the "100 Funniest Movies of All Time."  A comedy movie can be great without being the funniest.  For example, Life is Beautiful is one of the greatest films I have ever seen and it is at times very funny.  But the reason it is so great is that it uses the humor tell a story that is beautifully heartbreaking.  In the same way, Wag the Dog is a brilliant movie that uses comedy to make incisive commentary about modern politics.  But I usually don't watch specifically for the laughs.

So my list consists of the 100 movies that make me laugh the most.

A few notes:

1. Comedy is SUBJECTIVE.  You may not find my list of movies funny.  That is fine with me.  There are several movies that are comedy classics that didn't make my list (like Dr. Strangelove) that others think are hysterical, but really don't make me laugh.

2. This is indifferent to the MORAL CONTENT.  I know a number of devout Catholics who cannot help but laugh at movies like Blazing Saddles.  This does not mean that the movie is morally good.  It just means that the jokes are funny, even if they are inappropriate.  You will find some raunchy comedies on my list, only for the simple reason that they honestly make me laugh.

3. This list is in FLUX.  Because comedy is subjective, there are times when some of these movies make laugh a lot more than they do now.  This isn't just a matter of age, but it could be a simple matter of mood.  There are times when the old timey comedy wit really hits my funny bone and sometimes I just want some insane slapstick.  I don't imagine that if I make this same list in 5 years that it would be exactly the same.

So below is my list.  Anything highlighted in yellow are films that are also found on Variety's list.  

1	Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2	Airplane!
3	Noises Off...
4	UHF
5	A Night at the Opera
6	The 40-Year-Old-Virgin
7	Without a Clue
8	Ted
9	Ed Wood
10	The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad
11	Clue
12	The Court Jester
13	Top Secret
14	Animal Crackers
15	Duck Soup
16	Brain Donors
17	Ghostbusters
18	Spies Like Us
19	A Fish Called Wanda
20	Spaceballs
21	What's Up Doc?
22	Shaun of the Dead
23	Dodgeball
24	Game Night
25	Airplane 2: The Sequel
26	The Naked Gun 2 and 1/2
27	Stripes
28	Three Amigos
29	Foul Play
30	Dragnet
31	Couples Retreat
32	See No Evil, Hear No Evil
33	Real Genius
34	Sleepless in Seattle
35	Swingers
36	Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
37	Black Dynamite
38	When Harry Met Sally
39	Coming to America
40	Better Off Dead
41	One Crazy Summer
42	The Simpsons Movie
43	Ghostbusters 2
44	Shaolin Soccer
45	The Gold Rush
46	Hot Shots Part Deux
47	About and Costello Meet Frankenstein
48	The Big Store
49	A Day at the Races
50	Deadpool and Wolverine
51	Scrooged
52	Beverly Hills Cop
53	Beverly Hills Cop 2
54	3 Idiots
55	Kung Fu Panda
56	Groundhog Day
57	What Women Want
58	Grown Ups
59	Twins
60	Kung Fu Hustle
61	Galaxy Quest
62	Wayne's World
63	Billy Madison
64	Get Smart
65	Father of the Bride
66	Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
67	The Golden Child
68	Back to School
69	History of the World Part I
70	The Odd Couple
71	Seems Like Old Times
72	Father of the Bride 2
73	Sopadish
74	Arthur 2: On the Rocks
75	Bad Medicine
76	Room Service
77	Deadpool
78	Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
79	Hot Fuzz
80	Kindergarten Cop
81	This is Spinal Tap
82	Blended
83	Grumpy Old Men
84	Harlem Nights
85	Fletch Lives
86	Who's Harry Crumb
87	Men at Work
88	Horse Feathers
89	The Cocoanuts
90	Happy Gilmore
91	Liar, Liar
92	Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
93	Office Space
94	Young Frankenstein
95	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
96	Good Morning Vietnam
97	Tommy Boy
98	While You Were Sleeping
99	The Great Muppet Caper
100	The Hangover

St. Andrew Novena Starts Tomorrow - 2025

 Much of what is below is a repost from years earlier.

I think about St. Andrew quite a bit.  He was one of the first four called by Christ.  It was James, John, Andrew and Andrew's brother Peter.  But of that quartet, only the trio of Peter, James, and John ended up being Jesus' closest friends.

I wonder if Andrew was like us and got jealous.  According to the Gospel of John, it was Andrew who brought Peter to the Lord, and the Lord seemed to like Peter better.  How often have we introduced a sibling or friend to our inner circle only to have them become more popular or have a greater aptitude for what you enjoy?

But I bet that Andrew was better than most of us.  He was probably a model of humility.  I like to imagine that he was happy for his brother and he was content to have others loved and esteemed more than himself.

My favorite story is about when he died.  They tied him to the cross, but for days and days he preached non-stop to the point where the officials realized it was doing them more harm than good.

But when they came to take him down, Andrew looked at Jesus and told him he was tired and he just wanted to go home to heaven and be with Him.  So the soldiers were unable to take him down and Andrew finally went home to the Jesus and his brother Peter on November 30th 60 AD.


Tomorrow is the feast of St. Andrew.  And there is a special novena prayer that is prayed between now and Christmas.  It goes as follows:

St. Andrew Christmas Novena

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

That prayer is prayed 15 times a day until the ends.  My wife and I pray this together every year and have found many graces through the intercession of St. Andrew.  I pray that all of you do as well.

God Bless.

Thanks for Nothing (repost 2025)

    

 I am very grateful for all of the wonderfully positive feedback on this essay, so I thought I would share it again.

While the challenges of every day life don't stop coming, it can be so easy to get lost in the daily work.  So often we "just get through" the day, but when we do that, we don't pay attention to all the blessings that the day is providing.  

Over this past year I've tired to be more aware of those blessings as they are happening so that I can be more present to God and others.  I don't know how successful I have been, but on a day like today, I will redouble my efforts.

With that in mind, please enjoy this repost.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(originally published November 22, 2012)

Thanks For Nothing

When I was 15-years-old, I got a little sick.  In what was obviously an over-reaction on his part, my dad took me to the Emergency Room.  As it turned out, I had pneumonia and my blood oxygen level was down to about 50%.  If he had waited much longer to take me I might have died.

I share this with you so that you will understand why I am a little bit of a hypochondriac now.  I don't freak out at every sneeze or obsessively lather myself in Purell.  But whenever I have chronic problem, I begin to have a persistent fear of the worst.

For the past 4 weeks I've had a persistent cough.  I cannot remember having one that has lasted this long.  So of course, my mind helplessly gravitated to the worst case scenarios, despite the constant assurances from my long-suffering wife.  After weeks of fretting, I went yesterday morning for a chest X-ray.

After they were taken, I was asked to wait for a moment alone in the exam room.  I stood there for 5 minutes in that room with its claustrophobic white walls and antiseptic smell and thought about all those people who came to that room and got bad news that resulted in a lot more time between claustrophobic white walls and antiseptic smells.

Finally, after hours of fretting (and trying to distract myself with a viewing of Wreck-It Ralph) we got the results.

And what did they find?

Nothing.

They found nothing.  I was worried about nothing.

I was put on some new medication and I've been feeling a bit better.

I didn't realize how much the storm clouds had been hovering over me until today.  I was walking around, doing chores and errands with such a light heart.  It was because I knew that my cough, though a bit annoying, was ultimately nothing.

Nothing.

Today is Thanksgiving.  It has always been one of my favorite holidays, and not because I eat enough turkey to put a man twice my size into a literal coma (although that is a plus).  I love that we take time out of our year to appreciate the blessings of life and give thanks to our Provider.

My boss, a man I greatly admire, once said to me that you cannot be truly happy unless you are truly thankful.  Happiness only comes when you acknowledge that everything thing you have is a gift from God.

I have tried to take those words to heart and be thankful for everything I have.  I have an holy wife, a loving family, loyal friends, a fulfilling job, and more action figures than you can shake a stick at (if that's your idea of a good time).  Bing Crosby sang that we should count our blessings instead of sheep.  But I never get to the end of count because God has been so very generous to me.

But all this time I have been overlooking something else to be thankful for.

Nothing.

I wrote earlier about how much I have come to realize what a blessing it is to feel normal.  But I did not take it the necessary step further.

There is nothing wrong with my lungs.  But it could have been something.  And that something could have been not-so-bad to catastrophic.  But God, in His goodness, gave me nothing.

About 2 years ago I was on the highway on my way to work in the middle of winter.  I was in the left lane when I noticed a car had skidded off the road.  I tried to get a better look, but I must have not been paying attention to the road.  Because I then hit a patch of ice and my car spun out and did a 180 degree turn that hurled me across the other lane.  And do you know what I hit?

Nothing.

For one of the only times I can remember, there were no cars around me on that part of the road.  I skidded off to the right embankment facing the opposite direction.  But I was fine.  Nothing happened.

A few weeks ago during Hurricane Sandy, the wind was so strong it blew down a tree in my back yard.  What did it hit?

Nothing.

A little to right and it would have destroyed my shed.  If it fell in the opposite direction it would have caved in the roof and crushed my wife and I.  But instead, nothing happened.

This world is so full of darkness and danger, disease and disaster.  Some of it falls on us.  But a lot of it doesn't.

So today I'm going to give thanks not only for the all of the things God has given me this past year, but I'll also praise Him for the "nothings" too.

No sudden falls down the stairs that break a limb.  No food poisoning from that new restaurant.  No angry student deciding to respond to his detention with his fist.  No home burglary in the middle of the night.  No careless accident to hurt anyone I love.

I do have my share of crosses, many of them of my own making, but I have not been crushed by them. And I am not saying that any of the aforementioned catastrophes won't one day be mine to bear.  One day, an X-ray may find something.

But not today.

Today, I am thankful for nothing.

Film Review: Wicked - For Good

 

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

Wicked: For Good is an emotional and ultimately satisfying conclusion to this epic movie musical.

SPOILERS BELOW FOR WICKED: PART ONE

The story picks up some time after the events of Wicked: Part One.  Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is an outlaw trying to expose the lies of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).  Glinda (Ariana Grande) is the poster girl for the regime and tries to smooth things out between the two sides when she can.  She is also engaged to the increasingly conflicted Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), with tension simmering underneath.  As all of Elphaba's efforts seem in vain, she makes a last attempt to confront or even compromise with Glinda and the Wizard, which leads to tragic results.

Just as with the first movie, what makes this film work are the musical numbers and the performance by Erivo.  Composer Stephen Schwartz even added a couple of original songs, but they don't really add much to the story.  But when the music and the performance match, it is movie magic (pun intended).  This is especially the case with Erivo's powerhouse voice in "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" and in her duet with Grande of the title song "For Good."  That last one in particular is the emotional catharsis of the entire story that got me very emotional.  For that alone, I think the movie is worth it.

The difficulty with this film is that it is Act Two of a 2-part musical.  As is often the case as in shows like Camelot or West Side Story, the first half is lighter and happier while the second is dark and tragic.  The juxtoposition of the two creates a pwerful and balanced emoitonal experience.  But splitting the film into two movies, most of the fun numbers (e.g. "Popular," "The Wizard and I," "Dancing Through Life," etc) are in the previous film.  As a result, this film is a little lopsided towards the tragic.

The other performances in the movie are a mixed bag.  Grande is better in this film than in the first.  There is one part in particular where Elphaba asks Glinda to look at her "not with your eyes, but with theirs," refering to the crods that hate her.  There is a subtle and strong emotional shift that occurs in Grande's experession that I didn't think she was capable of doing, but there you are.  Bailey does a good job of showing Fiyero's emotional arc and his chemistry with both Grande and Erivo is good.  Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible was tolerable in the first film, but as this movie requires more of her, she does not seem connected to ramping emotionality of the piece.  Goldblum plays the humbug as well as in the first film, but you can see him getting wrapped up and spun around in his own machinations.  The Wizard needs a powerful emotional turn to his character, but he is given very little to work with from the script, but Goldblum does it like the pro that he is.  Ethan Slater as Boq and Marissa Bode as Nessarose turn in good performances, but their characters feel so different in emotion from the first.  It would have been nice to spend a little more time on this slow devolution, though this is a problem that the stage musical has as well.

Returning to Boq and Nessarose, I love how the movie shows how love is corrupted by possessiveness.  There is no doubt that Nessarose has deep affection for Boq, but instead of being moved to selflessness, she turns inward to selfishness, trying to capture the feelings from when she originally fell in love.  This turns the person who is loved into an object of obsession, there only to service the emotional needs of the lover.  The movie captures this corruption very well.  

And as with the first movie, I think this is a wonderful example of female friendship.  Despite all the ways that their choices spilt them apart, Elphaba and Glinda really do love each other.  And it is a clear love of friendship, without it being mixed with romance.  There is a power to seeing this type of friendship, which has its ups and downs, but ultimately transforms into charity.  In the end, Elphaba only seeks the good for Glinda and Glinda seeks the good of Elphaba.  When Nessarose tells Boq that she loves him, it feels hollow because it has been tainted.  When Elphaba and Glinda declare their love, it works because it is pure.

I was a bit annoyed that they introduced sexuality into the Oz universe.  I know that this film is supposed to be a more mature and darker take on this universe.  But it felt a bit unnecessary, considering how many little children were in attendance in the show I saw.  It isn't graphic, but it is very clear that two characters are moving towards sex as the sing and slowly undress.

Director Jon M. Chu was overlooked for Oscar awards last year, but I'm hoping the Academy does not make the same mistake.  The production design is as good as the first and he is able to incorporate the CGI in a way that brings Oz to life in a way that is believable.  As I said about the original, he stages the musical numbers in a way where it doesn't feel like you are watching a music video, but he captures the big, bold choreography of the stage.  He also knows how to frame a scene and when to linger.  There is a moment between the two main characters and closed door that holds for an unusually long time.  But the composition punctuates the entire tragic emotion of the scene and gives the characters a proper and poignant farewell.  But as with the first one, the main critique I have is that it could have been tighter and feels just a touch long.

The two parts of Wicked really should be seen and experienced as a whole.  And as the final act of the Wicked saga, Wicked: For Good satisfies.  

Film Flash: Wicked - For Good

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Beautiful tragedy with sweeping music /lavish visuals (though the first film had all the fun).

Film Review: Regretting You

 

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

This movie is the tropiest of romantic trope movies.  It doesn't set out to be anything else but a typical weepy romance. 

And in that sense, it accomplishes its mission very well.

The story centers around Morgan Grant (Allison Williams) who gets pregnant right out of high school by her boyfriend Chris (Scott Eastwood), who she marries.  Seventeen years later, her sister Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald) has just had a baby with Morgan's best friend Jonah (James Franco).  Meanwhile her straight-laced daughter Clara (McKenna Grace) is falling for the dangerous, but artistic and sensitive Miller Addams (Mason Thames).  However, tragedy strikes as both Chris and Jenny die in a car accident where Morgan and Jonah come to realize that the two that died were having an affair.  Morgan grieves this while hiding it from her daughter who begins to act out and cling further to the "bad boy" Miller.

All of this is very boiler-plate romantic melodrama.  If you accept that, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.  

This movie does not try to be self-important.  It knows what it is.  It marries the heartache of tragedy with the thrill of new love.  This is especially true with Clara and Miller.  The movie delves into all the silly high school drama of young love that feels so awkwardly familiar.  You can feel her heart flutter as Miller places gas money into the front pocket of her jeans.  It is a moment that is ambiguously intimate, like most encounters with your high school crush.  Morgan's story taps more into the mid-life crisis romance, where someone can still see you and desire you despite the changes over the years.

There is the enjoyable push/pull of the will-they/won't they throughout the movie.  Morgan and Jonah bond over their shared tragedy and Clara tries to lose herself with Miller.  Since I bought into the romances, I felt invested in what would happen with them, even though there is very little depth here.

The movie also does a decent job of capture the complicated relationship between a mother and a teenage daughter.  There is special emotional closeness and distance, the love/hate that comes from the tension between rebellion and control.  Any mother with a teen daughter will find familiar patterns here.

For the most part, the performances are decent.  Grace and Thames have the best chemistry and really make you believe in their budding romance.  Williams is serviceable, but not great.  There are many times where it looks like she is about to burst out laughing.  Franco does a good job as well, but he isn't given much to work with.  Sam Morelos plays Clara's sassy sidekick Lexie.  She could have turned into an incredibly annoying presence a la Kimmy Gibbler.  Instead, she brings some much needed levity to the melodrama.  Also Clancy Brown as a small role as Miller's ailing grandfather.  Now, I love me some Clancy Brown (he is the Kurgan after all), so any scene he is in automatically improves.

MILD SPOILER AHEAD

The movie does lose a point with me over a scene where Clara and Miller have sex.  I am usually fairly annoyed by fornication in mainstream movies, but I've come to not be surprised by its content.  However, I am particularly turned off when teens are involved.  Sexual immorality is already destructive enough of the human person.  But when it happens with the young, it is also particularly corruptive and corrosive.  There is something so incredibly sad to me about this unnecessary loss of innocence.  And while the movie does show some negative consequences of impetuous lust, it still detracts from the overall enjoyment of the movie.

END SPOILERS

There is a reason that Hallmark Movies are so popular: the have an enjoyable formula that people like and they stick to it.  This movie does the same thing.  And though this movie does not swing for the fences, it mostly hits its target.

Film Flash: The Running Man

  

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Starts strong, like a sci-fi version of The Fugitive.  But mid-way it gets exponentially worse 

New Evangelizers Post: Is the Trinity in the Bible?

                                

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

The Trinity is the central dogma of our faith. It is the revelation of the ultimate reality of God Who is Three Persons, but One in being. In a sense, all other doctrines and dogmas flow from this paramount belief.

But is dogma of Trinity found in the Bible?

The answer would seem to obviously be “Yes,” since all Christians, even fundamentalists, believe in the Trinity. But the answer is a bit more complex.

First of all, the word “Trinity” is not found anywhere in the Scriptures. We also will not find the explicit description of God as three Co-Equal Persons in One God.

In the Old Testament, the focus is on God’s oneness and unity. He is called most often “King.” But He is also called at times Yahweh and Father. One of the most important prayers of the Hebrew people is “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” This is statement stands against the polytheism of the other religions of the day. This is a clear embrace of the monotheism of God’s revelation.

In the New Testament, the doctrine is also not explicitly stated. The formula of “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” is found only three times in the New Testament (Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:13, and 1 Peter 1:2). And while the name of all Three are invoked, their relationship is not clearly explained. Even the references to Jesus as “Son of God” are not clearly explicit in meaning a second Person of a Trinity. In Jesus’ day “Son of God” could have meant things like an angel or the entire nation of Israel. Paul connected “Son of God” to Christ’s resurrection. Mark connects it to His baptism. Matthew and Luke point to how He is born the “Son of God.”

So does that mean that the Trinity is not found in the Bible at all?

No, it does not mean that.

The Trinity is revealed in the Scriptures, even if it is not explicit.

First, it must be noted that reality of the Trinity is something that is experienced in the salvation of the Christian. In the post New Testament period, the believers had to understand the Scriptures in light of that experience of salvation. Particularly they had to answer the questions of how Christ and the Holy Spirit play a role in the saving power of God. It took several centuries and a number of Church councils until the dogma of Trinity became explicitly laid out. During that time, Christians reflected on how God revealed Himself as Trinity in the subtlety of Scripture.

In the Old Testament, God is spoken of as Father, which depicts Him as the Source of Life. But God is also spoken of as Word or Wisdom, which shows us His creative power at work in the world. He is depicted as Spirit, which falls upon His people and is filled with His redemptive power. Even though the Old Testament does not explicitly talk about three Persons in the Godhead, speaking of God in these ways lays the groundwork for speaking about Him as a Tripersonal God.

In the New Testament, we see this especially in the Gospel of John and its understanding of the Logos or Word. John wrote “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1). Throughout this Gospel in particular, Jesus’ unity with the Father and His Divinity are clearly established. Jesus says, “”I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) And at the same time there is a clear distniction between Christ and the Father, as Jesus is always in relationship to the Father. As Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) wrote, “The discover of the dialogue within God led to the assumption of the presence in God of an “I” and a “You,” an element of relationship, of coexistent diversity and affinity, for which the concept of a persona absolutely dictated itself.” (Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, pg 182)

You can read the whole article here.

Film Flash: Predator - Badlands

 

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Enjoyable if you accept that it should be called "Marvel's PG-13 Predator." 

Trailer Time: Toy Story 5 - Teaser

Okay, this has me intrigued.

I am a big fan of the Toy Story franchise, but I did find Toy Story 4 underwhelming.  It wasn't a bad movie at all and it did have some interesting themes.  But it didn't feel like it really had something to say.

This movie seems like it has something to say.  

The tablet has the ability to rob the imagination of children and turn them into screen addicts.  This is an awful problem for kids who are being fed screens younger and younger.  The whole world of toys is one that is fueled by imagination.  You create stories in your mind that you bring to life in the palm of your hands.

The fact that this movie is tackling this issue in a creative way... like I said, I am at least intrigued.

Thoughts?

Film Review: Springsteen - Deliver Me From Nowhere

 

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

I have to say in advance that I am not a fan of Bruce Springsteen.  I do not dislike the man or his music.  But I have never had the emotional connection to him that he seems to inspire in his fans.  This fact may be one of the reasons that I did not enjoy Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

It may also be the fact that the movie is not very good.

The story takes place in 1981.  Springsteen (Jeremy Allen White) has just come off an incredibly successful tour.  But he feels like he is losing something with all of the fame.  He wants to "find something real in all the noise."  So he temporarily moves back to New Jersey.  He begins a seemingly doomed relationship with a single-mother/waitress Faye (Odessa Young), while being haunted by bad memories of his abusive, alcoholic father (Stephen Graham).  Here in this emotional state, he works on what would be his "Nebraska" album: something more akin to a folk album than a pop/rock staple.  His manager Jon (Jeremy Strong) constantly fights the executives to help Bruce execute his vision, no matter how odd.  And Bruce is uncompromising to the point of sounding a little crazy.  The movie focuses on the artist trying to fight for his art in its purest sense.

The best thing I can say about this movie is that the performances are very good.  White is excellent as Bruce.  He makes him mostly affable and sympathetic, even as he keeps you at a distance.  And even as his behavior starts to wear on you. White's performance is still incredibly intense and interesting.  Strong has a good understated performance that balances out the artistic fire of Springsteen.  Paul Walter Hauser elevates any movie that he's in.  Here, he has a supporting part of one of Bruce's friends who has to become a makeshift sound engineer.  His everyman voice brings some much needed levity to the story.

But as good as the performances are, the film is slow and plodding.  While it was wise to focus only a small sliver of the singer's life, the story felt like it lacked focus and structure.  There were several times where I found the story more fatiguing that engaging, hoping that it would move the plot forward.

Sometimes you can dwell in a scene if it draws you in.  Here the music should have been the hook.  But this is a musical where the music is more of an idea than an experience.  Bohemian Rhapsody did a good job of encorporating Freddie Mercury's music throughout in thematically strong ways (e.g. "Who Wants to Live Forever" as he realizes his HIV diagnosis).  A Complete Unknown made me appreciate Bob Dylan's music even though I was mostly unfamiliar.  But I never really connected to Springsteen's songs in this film.  

And I do have to say that I am quite tired of the "tortured artist" trope, where we are supposed to excuse to boorish behavior of main character because of his artistic genius.  I have never liked this idea and it always wore thin with me.  I remember in movies like Amadeus or Immortal Beloved, the musician treated others horribly.  We see the same thing here, though not to the same extreme.  Bruce leads Faye on and says something to the effect of, "I can't love you more than I do now."  And yes, there is some brokenness from his childhood that causes this, but it feels more like self-indulgent crap.  He's not like most people, you see?  He's special.  And because he is special, he can't go around committing himself to people like us normies do.

The movie wants to be about big things like trauma, art, forgiveness, and depression.  But it never really gets beyond the surface.  I think the filmmakers wanted the music to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but they miscalculated how much depth it would provide.

When the movie ended, I didn't feel like I really came to understand Bruce Springsteen any better than when I walked into the theater.  The movie treats him with such kid gloves that it never really tries to take to deep a look.  I am so glad that they cut a line from the movie that was in the trailer where Jon says that Bruce's music "is going to repair the world."  It's this near-hagiographic reverence for the man and his music that is much more of a barrier than and opening into his life.

In the end, this movie ends up in the place it wants to deliver you from: 

Nowhere.

Trailer Time: Michael - Teaser

After watching the disappointing Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, I am hungering for a good music biopic.  Michael Jackson's story is rife with drama and amazing music.  I don't know if they are going to try to make him look good, bad, or something in the middle.

Hearing the music and seeing the set pieces made me very nostalgic for the 1980's.  Jaafaar Jackson sounds like Michael, but in the one scene where he talks, it feels a lot more like an impersonation than a fully lived-in character.  As much as I didn't like Baz Luhrman's Elvis, Austin Butler did an amazing job of going beyond the caricature and creating a fully realized character who was at the same time larger-than-life.

I need to see more before I get too interested.

Thoughts?

New Evangelizers Post: Sleeping Beauties

                               

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of All Souls.

On this day we remember those who have gone before us in death and pray for their quick release from Purgatory. But it also a day for a memento mori where we remember our own death. For all of its macabre trappings, the festival of Halloween at least gets us thinking in this direction. This is not meant to a morbid or maudlin exercise, but one that gives us wisdom. As the Scripture says, “Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.” (Psalm 90:12).

Death is the destination all of us are headed. The pastor at church told the story about a vacation he had with some brother priests. They heard of a town where there was some good restaurants and recreation so that got in the car and put the address into the GPS. But something was typed out incorrectly, because when the GPS said, “You have arrived at your destination,” they were parked in front of a cemetery. The pastor said to his friends, “Well, it’s not entirely wrong.”

One day we are going to end up in the grave. We do not know how much time will be afforded us. If I live as long as my mother did, I have less than 20 years left on this Earth. But that is no guarantee. I often come to prayer asking God to change me into the man He is calling to me. But if I know that my time is getting short, I will take the task much more seriously. I remember being a student and putting off projects until the last minute. If we were given extra time I would rarely use it to do more work. Instead, I would put the task off even more. But now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I will get to the task at hand before time runs out.

But even that phrase, “time runs out,” is not an entirely accurate description of what lies ahead. Because the grave is not our final stop. And I don’t mean simply the afterlife where our souls go up to heaven. I mean that even our bodies will not permanently rest in the grave.

Pope Leo XIV recently stated, “Christians do not call burial places ‘necropolises’, that is, ‘cities of the dead,’ but ‘cemeteries,’ which literally means ‘sleeping places,’ places where one rests, awaiting the resurrection.”

“Necropolis” is a Greek word that reflects the pre-Christian thought on death. Going into the grave was a final goodbye and the dead were placed in these “cities” because that is where they would permanently reside. No matter how well you fought the battle of life, death was always going to be the final victor. But it was the early Christians who first used koimeterion to describe their burial cites. Instead of being cities where the dead will reside forever, koimeterion (“cemetary”) is closer translation as “dormitory.” The image is that it is a place of rest before you wake up at the dawn of a new day.

What an audacity our Christian ancestors had!

You can read the whole article here.