Film Review: Spider-Man - Brand New Day

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

It has been 10 years since we first encountered Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Over the years we have watched him grow up from a "Spider-Boy" into the Spider-Man.  And this movie builds on all of that good will and familiarity to give us one of the most enjoyable Spider-Man movies.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day takes place after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.  To save the multiverse, everyone forgot who Peter Parker (Holland) was.  This includes his love MJ (Zendaya) and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon).  Over the course of about five years, Peter avoids his loneliness by throwing himself into crime-fighting.  As a result he is externally loved by the people, but inside his emptiness is eating him up.  But then Peter finds himself fighting a mysterious enemy who has to power to mentally posses innocent people.  This antagonist is attacking a government organization called "Damage Control" led by Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman), whose job it is to clean up post-superpower destruction.  The antagonist draws deeply into Peter's life just as he begins going through some complicated and violent mutations.  To help with this, he seeks out the help of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), who has learned to suppress his Hulk mutation.  But the strain of trying to catch the antagonist and the pressure to protect those he loves may be overwhelming for him.

Now with this fantastical premise, it may sound out for me to say that I love how this story is more grounded.  What I mean by that is this is not a reality-shattering crisis like No Way Home, Avengers: Endgame, or even Thunderbolts.  People are in danger and lives are at stake, but it is localized to New York City.  Despite all of the super-powers involved, the movie does not lean on some existential threat for dramatic weight.  Instead, it has to be much more character driven: the movie pulls us in because we care about the characters.  I genuinely feel for Peter as he sits on the outside looking in.  There is a scene where he wanders into a party hosted by Ned and MJ where he has to pretend to be a stranger.  The "so-close-yet-so-far" feel of the scene breaks your heart.

These MCU Spider-Man movies have a new director in Destin Daniel Cretton.  And he is a very welcome shot in the arm to this series.  The best part of his previous MCU film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," was the pratical fight choreography.  You can tell whenever possible he would have the actors do live stunt fights rather than use CGI characters.  There is a something more tangible and dynamic about this.  It gives a extra visceral punch and thrill to the scenes.  That isn't to say he doesn't use the special effects effectively.  Even the simple swinging scenes are enjoyable to watch.  Very early on in the film, I told my wife that we would have to come back and see it in 3D because his use of depth and height would be something to see.  The scenes with the Hulk are the most intense since probably Age of Ultron.  But Crettton brings visual personality and depth to even the quiet scenes.  This movie has better use of shadows and physical environments than any of the previous Spider-Man movies so that the movie feels more dramatically and emotionally grounded.  Even the effect of the mental possession is done primarily as an in-camera stunt rather than special effects.

The performances are some of the best of series.  Holland clearly still has a passion for this character.  He plays the part with such pathos and intensity, really letting us feel how Peter is almost trapped by his own goodness.  He's in a prison he would not break out of even if he could.  He lets you feel how Peter is buring the candle at both ends and his outbursts of rage are scary to see.  The movie also works so well because Holland has fantastic chemistry with the entire cast.

This is never more apparent than in his scenes with Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher.  Their good cop/bad cop repartee gives us some of the best lines of the entire film.  They foil off of each other perfectly where their disdain for each other is matched only by their unspoken affection.  Bernthal has been amazing as Frank in everything he's done and he sparks off of Holland in just the right way so that you can't wait for them to share the screen again.  Holland's chemistry with Zendaya on Batalon has not lost a beat and in fact is helped by this last decade of groundwork that has been laid.  Batalon is still affably nerdy and when there is something horribly comfortable and familiar when he geeks out with Holland.  And you can see the subtle grown in Zendaya from teen to young adult.  There is a little more self-possession and self-confidence.  Even Ruffalo, who I've felt has been phoning in his Banner performances for the past few years, brings subtle intensity.  This is probably his best MCU performance his debut in Avengers.  

I also have to mention Sadie Sink.  I won't say who she is playing until the spoiler section below, but her performance needs to ground much of the last half of the film.  She has to play someone who projects power and intimidation while also letting us in to see her vulnerability.  She showed that she was one of the best actresses on Stranger Things, but this shows that she has the potential to be a leading woman in a franchise.

The movie is long, but it never feels over-stuffed.  I never felt the length because I wanted to spend more time with these characters.  The story has enough enjoyable twists and turns without feeling like it is trying too hard to subvert expectations.  Instead, it simply won't let Peter get away with easy answers.  And his mistakes have consequences that he has to own up to.

Thematically, I love how this movie deals with very human struggles.  Ultimately, this movie is about human connection.  No matter how altruistic Peter is, he will lose himself and his humanity without some kind of community.  I'm reminded of the wisdom of Our Lord in that He creates His Church because He knows that humans cannot flourish unless they are in community.  I also like how the film tackles self-repression and change.  As Peter starts mutating, he works very hard to suppress his new powers.  When they start manifesting, he does everything he can to put them away and keep things the way they are.  But the movie tackles the truth that repression just makes the change stronger and will fracture us inside.  The goal is not to suppress our "darker side" but to integrate our shadow towards positive ends.  And the movie wrestles with the question of whether people are good or evil and whether they can be trusted.  This is where Peter's greatest super-power is on display: his compassion.  Because of who he is, Peter as the power no only to save lives, but to redeem hearts.

I do have a few critiques of the movie.  The first is that in every scene of Frank Castle in public, he should be swarmed by cops.  Frank is mass murderer who is wanted by the police, but the movie treats him like he is just another vigilante.  My other two critiques require spoilers so be warned:

SPOILERS AHEAD

The second critique is that one of the main bad guys is so obviously a bad guy that when the twist is revealed it has no satisfaction.  I don't know if it was because how this person was set up or the obviously aloof performance, but I remember thinking very clearly that they were not subtle enough in this person's introduction.

The third critique has to do with Sink's character.  We find out half-way through the film that she is Jean Grey who we can presume will be part of the upcoming MCU X-Men movies.  And while I think that this is actually an inspired and out-of-the-box choice for an antagonist, the movie may have accidentally burned their bridges with this character.  The movie wants you to movie from antagonism to sympathy for her and Sink does most of the heavily lifting here.  But the problem is that she crosses so many lines when she is the main villain.  Mind-possessing people is such a horrible violation, like Kilgrave (David Tennant) in the MCU Jessica Jones series.  And while it shown to be a scary power, it's moral consequence is mostly ignored.  But there is one particular moment where she possesses someone and lets him get hit by a car.  I hate to sound Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, but I really hope they address this sometime in continuity and make clear that this guy lived, otherwise Jean is an outright murderer.  And she would worse than Frank Castle who only kills the guilty, she would be a murderer of innocents.

END SPOILERS

But above all, I left the movie moved and entertained.  The inner comic book geek in me thrilled at the strange cocktail of Marvel elements.  There is one moment where Spidey is dragging the Punisher away from the Hulk while Frank empties out his gun and screaming.  That shot brought me such simply delight that I turned to my wife and said, "I just got my money's worth from this movie."

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has everything that you could want in a Spider-Man film.  It has action, heart, and that special thing that makes Spider-Man stand out from all other heroes: no matter what specatcular adventure he is in, Peter Parker is and always will be one of us.

And after watching Brand New Day,  you won't be able to wait for the next adventure of Spider-Man.

Sunday Best: 50 Most Beautiful Moments in Cinema - #30-#21

   

This is a continuation of this series started here and continued here.

You can go there to see numbers 50-31.  You can also check it out to remember the ground rules and criteria for choosing.  A brief recap:

1. A moment can be only about 2 minutes (unless it is an unbroken shot).  

2. Only one moment per movie.

3. All the context matters.

4. The subjective element of beauty is real.

5. Beauty only.

So, with those in mind, I will now share #30-21 of the most beautiful moments in cinema.

I will provide Youtube links to the videos rather than embed them here.  I would imagine that because this is critical commentary it qualifies for fair use, but I'd rather not take that chance.

You can click any of the links below to see the clips (most of them should be timestamped to begin at the moment referred.

SPOILERS FOR ALL THE MOVIES BELOW

30. Sleeping Beauty - "Final Shot"

I have a strong attraction to traditional romantic imary, and I blame this movie for that.  I saw this when I was a kid, I didn't realize what an impact it had on me.  You can argue that the couple dancing in the end have very shallow character arcs.  But they are there more as archetypes.  The operatic nature of the music and the classic, idealized medieval setting would set my young imagination on fire.  And in that innocent mind, this image was burned into me as an ideal of romantic love.  Sometimes I'll dance with my wife while singing this end tune.  The two glide on the screen to that timeless ballad as they literally dance on the clouds giving us an eternal yearning for that "happily ever after."

29. The Truman Show - "Touching the sky"

What I love about this scene is how much it emphasize the tactile nature of our bodily existence.  Truman believes that his world is not real.  And even seeing the fake horizon isn't quite enough.  He has to reach out and touch it.  The look of utter relief on his face as he does is so cathartic.  When he rails against his cage you can tell that he has finally been set free from all of his doubt and that he has been vindicated.  Director Peter Weir wisely drops the sound from the scene and let the visuals and music take over so that can move into Truman's heart.  And I love the way he shows him "walking on water" as he moves to ascend out of his prison.

28,  Ghost - "Seeing Sam"

I know that this movie is remembered, but I don't think it ranks high enough in people's minds as it should.  While this sequence is about 4 minutes long, I'm going to focus on the first 2 minutes.  The entire movie has been about Sam no longer able to connect to Molly.  Earlier we had the scene where he possesses Oda Mae and they can finally touch.  But in this scene she can see and hear him one last time.  I love the way they use the ethereal light to make Sam look like he is made of that same light.  And that light rises as the orchestral version of "Unchained Melody" swells.  What makes this even more beautiful is the wonderful contradiction of overwhelming emotion that are surging through this scene.  Look at the way Sam turns to look at Molly with a big smile on his face because he is going to heaven, but watch as it turns to heartbreak because now they have to part.  And she communicates her sorrow, but also her joy for him.  And this is followed by an ethereal kiss that is such sharp contrast to the very earthy, tactile love scene from the beginning of the movie.  And almost all of this is communicated wordlessly.

27. Henry V -  "No Nobis Domine"

This might be the longest clip I have on this list at over seven minutes long.  But it fills my excemption because it is one single shot.  I remember seeing this movie in high school and this shot stayed with me a long time.  First of all, I love how the music starts diegetically with the singer praising God for the victory, but then it swells into a full orchestration.  Director Kenneth Branagh does two contradictory things simultaneously: he gives you a powerful victory march while at the same time making you feel the carnage of war.  The mud, the bodies, the arrows, and the wounded all remind you that horrible things happened on the field.  But the song reminds us that God brought them through the horrible things.  The relentless single shot makes you feel like the battle took place in an absolutely grand scope, which makes the miraculous victory all the more impressive.  And keeping it all together is the shot of a king carrying the body of a lowly squire, idealizing the nobility of what a monarch should be.

 

26.  The Passion of the Christ - "Pieta"

If you asked me what the greatest movie in the world is, I would say it was a tie between this movie and another to be mentioned later.  Mel Gibson was able to tell the story of Jesus almost completely through the visuals, and he does it in a way that is so powerful that you don't feel like you are watching a movie, but are transported to another world.  There are so many amazing shots in this film, but the one that stays with me is this one.  When Mother Mary breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at you, it is piercing.  She doesn't have to say a word, but you can feel volumes spoken right to your heart and soul.  She looks at you and takes the movie out of being a passive observance and hands the Gospel story to you, presenting her Son to us.  I cannot help but be stirred and challenged every time I look into her eyes and behold the Body of her Son.

 

25. Pride and Prejudice - "Darcy on the Moors"

I had not seen this movie in years, but this shot always stayed with me.  It is such a bold choice to stay on the figure of Darcy walking towards the camera for almost a full minute.  Any actor will tell you that one of the most difficult things to "act" is simply walking.  It sounds odd, but true.  But the beautiful gloom on the dawning moors reveal Elizabeth's love breaking free from the clouds of her bride.  And the use of music is just stunning.  It starts as a soft piano as he is far away.  But the music stands in the place of her beating heart.  As he approaches, all of her swirling emotions rise in a cacophony of love as he approaches.  Those who have fallen madly in love know this feeling, which this moment captures.  And Darcy is scene here as the most masculine of men, striding through nature, directly toward the woman he loves to sweep her off her feet.

24.  Camelot - "Never Could I Leave You"

(I could only find this shot in a montage on Youtube)

I love this movie.  I love that it perfects the classic trope of movie musicals by being innocent and happy in the first act and then tragic and heartbreaking in the second act.  I remember seeing this movie when I was very young and it was one of the first times I understood that movies use visual symbolism.  The final shot of the song shows Lancelot and Gwyneviere with a cage in the foreground.  They are trapped by their illicit desire.  All of the tragedy that follows could be avoided if they just turned away from their sin.  What makes this shot work so well is that by using the cage in the foreground, you can see that they are not in an actual cage.  They are free but they choose to be trapped and cling to each other as they damn the world around them.  It is a shot that stirs me every time I see it.

23.  All is Lost - "Drowning"

This is a beautiful film in general, one filled with struggle and despair.  With almost no dialogue, Robert Redford fights a losing battle to stay afloat in the ocean.  This final moment is so powerful in its resigned sadness as he lets go and allows the ocean to take him.  The shot looking upwards at the moon and the burning raft contrast the distant celestial beauty of the moon and the chaotic agony of his struggle: a shot of heaven and hell.  It captures that moment when life is slipping away how its beauty is more manifest.  But in all that comes the light of grace.

22. The Ten Commandments - "Final Shot"

There is a reason that when this 70-year-old movie is played on network TV, it has more views than all of its competition.  It's themes are as relevant today as when it first came out, with a defining performance by Charlton Heston.  But this last shot always takes my breath away.  If you had told me that the final moment with Moses was actually from a Renaissance painting, I would not doubt you.  The composition is pefrect and gorgeous.  Moses, bathed in the light of heaven stands as the intermediary between God and man.  He waves goodbye so that there is sorrow, but there is triumph and hope.  He is off in the distance because he stands as the great teacher whose wisdom will guide generations of civilization.  The colors mix with subtle life while the bombastic music swells.  Even though you don't see it, you can feel the heavens open up.  A truly beautiful moment.

21.  Dead Poets Society - "Final Shots"

I remember this movie's ending was so unexpected for me when I first saw it when it came out.  The utter saddness and injustice of what happens was hard for me to overcome.  The world is unfair and the world has little use for men like Mr. Keating.  But the world is just men.  And if these boys can stand up as men then the world is changed.  That is what is really at stake in this movie.  It isn't just about honoring their teacher.  It is a statement that they will rise above and make their lives extraordinary.  I love that the show Keating from their point of view, a high angle shot.  High angles diminish the character, but this works because that is Keating's goal: he wants his students to rise above him.  The wide shot of the 10 students standing is the best.  It is a low angle so that they tower over.  The look on Keating with love, gratitude, and admiration.  They are not standing on desks; they are standing on his shoulders.  And then the remaining boys keep their heads down, ignoring Keating and the other boys, hunched over into annonymous, faceless lumps.  Gone is the headmaster from this shot.  This is one shot is about the future.  It is about who they will become.  And from Keating's point of view he can see that there is hope for the future.  What more could any teacher ask?

Film Flash: Spider-Man - Brand New Day

 

 

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

Pure, super-hero awesomeness!  Great action/performances and characters that we have grown to love.

Trailer Time: Avengers - Doomsday (Official Trailer)

 

CLICK HERE FOR THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

"Hey, pal."

I think this might be the make-or-break moment for the MCU.  In TV series parlance, the MCU seems to have "jumped the shark" after Endgame.  This movie is an attempt to recapture that magic.

For me this trailer has some pros and cons.

PROS:

1.  Doom look great.

I know we don't get a great view of him, but I love the sense of raw power and menace that we get from him.  

2. Thor looks awesome.

I like this return to the serious warrior of the original Thor films, which gives him the gravitas needed for this trailer.

3. Action looks great.

I've heard that this is going to be the most expensive film ever made.  If so, I'm hoping to get my money's worth out of the spectacle.

CONS:

1. Heavy focus on Post-Phase 3.

Even Thor narrates, most of the shots are focused on the heroes from the MCU after Endgame.  While I don't dislike them, if the strategy is to bring back the fans who have dropped off, showing off Namor probably isn't going to help with that.  Though, seeing phase 4 Loki was cool.

2. Wiping the slate?

Based on this, I fear that they might be reaching back to pre-MCU films as a way to wipe them out rather than incorporate them into the MCU.  But I could be wrong.

3.  Spider-Man?????

Now, as if often the case, Marvel may be keeping their powder dry by not showing us some of their biggest hit characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Deadpool.  But the thing that I am most interested in is seeing how Spider-Man reacts to this new villain, and I got nothing.

Thoughts?

Film Review: The Odyssey

  

Sexuality/Nudity Mature

Violence Mature

Vulgarity Mature

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Mature

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey was assailed with controversy before it opened.  There was a lot of buzz about what this would ultimately be.  And if you read reviews, they are all over the place.  I've read some that say it is an absolute masterpiece.  I've read others that say that it is a travesty and desecration of Homer's original.  As with all art, you will bring your own subjective perspective to the judgment of this film.  All I can do is give you my honest assessment and analysis.

And I think this film is excellent.

It isn't perfect.  It has some flaws that are not deal-breakers, but they are real and act as spell-breakers to the enchantment of the story.

As with most Christopher Nolan films, the movie is told in a fragmented timeline.  Odysseus (Matt Damon), the king of Ithaca has been missing for many years, having not returned from the Trojan War.  Several suitors, including the noxious Antinous (Robert Pattinson), abuse the hospitality of Queen Penelope (Anne Hathaway) while waiting for her to choose a husband.  They plot to supplant her young son Telemachus (Tom Holland), who eventually seeks out Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) for news of his father.  Meanwhile, Odysseus is lost in a daze on an island with Calypso (Charlize Theron) who slowly revives his memory about the fall of Troy and the many trials he has endured in order to get home.

Nolan has brought to the screen a bold and epic vision that seeks to be as spectacular as it is deep.  Nolan also wrote the screenplay and has attempted to adapt this ancient classic for a modern audience.  His attempt to do this is a mixed bag and where the movie stumbles the most.

The biggest problem is the distraction caused by the modern style.  He made the choice for the cast to do American accents and to use modern American diction.  Telemachus says things like, "My dad is coming home."  When listening to the dialogue it is like hearing Mozart through an untuned instrument.  Perhaps this is an unfair critique, but it is similar to the feeling I get when hearing Shakespeare with an American accent.  I've only heard three American actors who speak Shakespearean lines without feeling off to me (Charlton Heston, Denzel Washington, and strangely Billy Crystal).  For everyone else, it is jarring and pushes me back to the real world rather than drawing me in.  It is the same with The Odyssey.  

What helped me with this was to think of this production like live theater.  There is an artificiality to live theater that the audience accepts.  We are not under the illusions that the sets are really towns and castles.  We invest our imagination into a theatrical production in a different way than when we suspend disbelief in a movie.  But if we use the theatrical imagination and apply it to this movie, it helps not only with the language but other incongruities.  A lot of people online made hay about Lupita Nyong'o being cast as Helen of Troy.  But I found Bernthal's Menelaus more distracting as he played him very much like a weary Frank Castle from modern New York than an ancient Greek monarch.  But when I embraced the movie in the way I was able to enjoy the movie more.  However, the irony was not lost on me regarding this.  Nolan goes out of his way to make everything feel as tangibly real as possible, filming on real location and using as little CGI as possible.  But in order to allow the spell to work, you have to create an artificiality in your mind that Nolan avoids everywhere else.

Another controversy is that it takes the original story and it focuses on more modern virtues and issues than are found in Homer's story.  At the heart of the movie, Odysseus deals with the guilt of his part in the destruction of Troy and is struggling between his desire to come home and his sense of unworthiness to do so.  This has nothing to do with the original.  As far as I remember, Homer's Odysseus feels no guilt about Troy.  In fact, he speaks plainly about how on the way home he and his men raided villages, killed all the innocent men, took the women, and plundered the supplies.  This is not presented with any guilt or angst.  It was just what Odysseus did.  

I have no real problem with Nolan changing this.  I would have trouble with engaging with a story Odysseus blithely leading a marauding band of mudering rapists along the coasts without any moral quandary.  To be sure, there are scenes where Odysseus and his crew plunder innocent villages, but even though it is done in the context of necessity, Nolan lets the immorality of this play out in the characters.  However there are a few times when this adaptation to modern sensibilities goes a little out of balance and it feels like he wants to make a commentary about social-political topics of today.

Having said all of this, Nolan has created a truly epic film.  By the end of the movie, you feel like you have gone on a journey.  Not enough films today feel that way.  He takes you to dangerous and enchanting landscapes, that are all the more dangerous because of their enchantments.  But more than anything, he takes you on Odysseus' journey of inner discover.  Each horrific encounter reveals something about his character, both good and bad, that moves him forward.  We see his wrath in the scene with the Cyclops (Bill Irwin), his greed to hear the siren song, and his defiance against the gods in the face of prophecy.  But we also see his courage, his cleverness, his guilt, and eventually his faith.  By the time he gets to the end of his journey, he has suffered much inwardly and outwardly that the resolution comes to a satisfying payoff.

At the thematic heart of the movie is something called "Zeus' Law."  It is basically the Judeo/Christian "Golden Rule" where you show hospitality to strangers.  The suitors abuse this hospitality by feasting off of Penelope's wealth for years.  Odysseus and his men abuse this when the raid villages in their journey.  But this main focus of this is Odysseus' Trojan Horse.  I will not get into all of the details, but Nolan is meditating on the social fabric/social contract of a society.  Once the foundational understanding of human relationships is lost, then nothing can hold.  As a theology teacher, one of my main focuses for the year is reminding my students that everyone is made in the image and likeness of God.  Holding to this principle sets the foundation of all human rights, our civil laws, and our interpersonal relationships.  In today's society, the further we move away from that principle the more we fall into darkness.  Nolan is making a similar point in The Odyssey.  Once we break what is sacred to the world, the world begins to fall apart.  

The movie also wrestles with big ideas like fate vs. free will, pragmatism vs. principle, control vs. faith.  One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Athena (Zendaya) asks Odysseus "When you see your men die, do see chance or consequence?"  This gets at the heart of the ancient Greek dilema of fate.  Odysseus defies the gods because they say that his men are doomed to die, so he does his best to save them.  But they don't listen and engage in the activity that incurs the wrath of the gods.  So is it the gods fault because they put them in the situation where they sinned or is it the consequence of their sinfulness.  The ancient Greeks did not have a strong understanding of free will, but we moderns do.  Part of the journey for Odysseus is coming to accept that his choices were his own and he cannot blame them on anyone else.  In accepting responsibility, he has to place himself under the gods as an act of faith.

In terms of the visuals, Nolan does such an amazing job.  As mentioned before, his desire to film at real, atmospheric locations brings a tangibility to the movie.  He takes you into the chaos of war, the grandeur of sailing, and the awe of nature.  His use of light and shadow are particularly powerful in the cave of the Cyclops.  The scene with Circe (Samantha Morton) is literally horrifying.  Most of Nolan's movies have an emotional stoicism, but here it fits harmoniously with the harsh life of Ancient Greece.  The entire sequence of the sacking of Troy is both exhilarating and devastating.  You feel the sweaty desperation of the ben hiding in the horse, the rising tide of violence in the blood, and then the horror at the devestation unleashed.

Damon is great as Odysseus.  He has to carry the weight of the film.  And his presence is felt even when he is not on screen.  He lets you feel the weight he carries without ever being too showy, but bears with appropriate restraint.  Hathaway matches this energy with her Penelope with her love mixed with resentment at his absence.  I've heard some people not like Holland's performance, but he played the roll of the callow youth who has to grow into a man.  As jarring as Berthnal's sensibility is, his performance and Nyong'o bring charisma and talent to the screen.  I loved John Leguizamo's irascible Eumaeus who struggles to hold onto hope as his world slips away from him.  Himesh Patel also does a good job as Eurylochus, the staunch sidekick who slowly loses faith in his leader.  The two performances that I did not enjoy were Pattinson and Eliot Page.  I've read a number of reviews that praised Pattinson for his smarmy, slimy performance.  But his performance has the same problem as Page's: they lack believability.  Neither disappear into their roles being intentionally mannered and artificial.

Since seeing the movie, not only have the visuals been sticking with me, but I have been thinking about it quite a bit.  It is rare that a movie is both this stunning and this provocative.  

But I would expect nothing less of an Odyssey from Christopher Nolan.

Sunday Best: Ranking Christopher Nolan Movies (Update 2026)

 It's been been 3 years since I've ranked the films of Christopher Nolan.  To my mind he is one of the best directors working in the industry today.  With The Oddyssey being another enormous hit for him, I thought it would be a good idea to look back at his filmography.

The man has not made a bad movie in his entire directorial career.  It helps that he is very selective about his films and he has incredible personal control over all of the stories he's ever filmed.

So below are all 13 of Nolan's movies ranked in order from least to greatest.

13.  Insomnia

Of all Nolan's movies, this one is the one that feels the least Nolan-y.  And as far as I know it is the only one that is a remake of another film.  But it is still very dark and moody with some excellent performances.  Pacino's guilt is so visibly felt throughout the film and Robin William's turn as a mastermind killer showed a bold choice.  And the film still deals with big ideas about truth and conscience.

12.  Following

I caught this one on Netflix and it is a fascinating noir film about a man who becomes obsessed with following random people that he sees in public.  This could have easily devolved into some kind of psycho-sexual nonsense.  But early on he makes it clear that it is about a man who cannot connect to people who is drawn into a strange world by pulling the curtain back on people's lives.  It also is the first film that shows Nolan's funky use of chronology.

11.  Tenet

There is a line in this movie where someone tells the protagonist something along the lines of "feel it, don't think it."  This is the way you are supposed to watch the film.  However, Nolan's movies tend to lack the strong emotional core that would allow for this.  Tenet is technically a brilliant film.  The use of reverse time is fascinating.  But the story is so convoluted that it sounds smarter than it actually is.  

10.  Dunkirk

Again, I don't think anyone can criticize Nolan's technical mastery of cinema.  All of his powers behind the camera are on full display in this movie.  The film draws you into the harrowing life of the men who went through that horrible battle.  But there is an emotional distance that keeps this movie from forming a permanent bond in your memory the way something like Saving Private Ryan does.

9.  Oppenheimer

 The main problem with Oppenheimer is that Nolan's wants to do too much in one movie so that the movie feels too long and too short at the same time.  Having said that, it highlights some of his best cinematic work.  Many will point to the Trinity test, but I would look at Oppenheimer's post Trinity speech, where Nolan shows you visually what the main character is feeling in a unique way.

8.  The Odyssey

I will have the full review for this one up soon.  This movie works in so many ways because it is truly epic.  And I mean that in terms of both its scope and its themes.  Nolan takes you on journey around through the wide world but through the depths of humanity.  He wrestles with big questions while putting on big spectacle.  It has some issues that prevent it from being higher on the list regarding stylistic choices and pacing.  But watching this movie makes you feel like you have also gone on a journey, and not enough movies do that.

7.  The Prestige

This is a movie that will mess with your head.  Even when you figure out one twist (which I did a bit too early), when the film finishes and you understand the implications of what the last 5 minutes reveals about obsession… it sticks with you long after the movie is over.  This is a movie that gets better with every subsequent re-watch.

6.  Batman Begins

Nolan modeled this film after Richard Donner's Superman and it shows.  He tells a story that is epic in its scope and takes us on Bruce Wayne's journey in a way that no other cinematic Batman has.  In many ways this is very different than most Nolan films.  You can almost feel him trying to adapt his style to the comic book genre.  But even within those constraints, he gave us a great Batman movie.

5.  Interstellar

This is easily Nolan's most emotional movie.  It is not that his other movies are cold or are not moving.  But this was the first time I ever saw him reach deep and pull at the heartstrings while once again wrestling with the big ideas of life.  While the ending does stumble a bit, the emotional themes carry through all the way to the end.  On top of this you have some real edge-of-your-seat moments that hold your attention all the way through to the end.

4.  The Dark Knight Rises

Unlike many of its detractors, I think the final chapter of Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy is fantastic.  He does an excellent job of drawing elements from the previous movies and weaving them into a film that feels like a definitive goodbye to his story.  To this day I get chills when Selina Kyle tries to get Bruce to leave with her saying that he doesn't owe anything to people of Gotham and that he already gave them everything, to which he responds: "Not everything.  Not yet."

3.  Inception

I have seen this movie over and over and I find it fascinating every time.  The layers that stack upon layers never suffocate the action through line of the story that holds you up until the very last second.  I love the way the movie keeps you enthralled and fascinated.  It lays out the plan so meticulously and then throws the plan out right away.  Someone pointed out how the movie is partially an allegory for film-making itself.  Usually I find these kind of analyses reductive.  But in this case, it makes the movie all the more enjoyable for me, since it gives me a glance into Nolan's artistic process.

2.  The Dark Knight

Arguably the greatest super hero film ever made, Nolan understood that he could make a film that transcends traditional genre walls and talk about something deep about human nature.   People often play up the violent and dark nature of the Joker, but it shouldn't overlook Nolan's ultimate message which is that people are naturally decent.  That is a radical message in today's cinema.  You can see the evolution of his style between this and Batman Begins.  If I didn't know better, I would have said two different directors were used for each film because of how different they look.  But Nolan's insistence of grounding The Dark Knight in the real world makes it all the more terrifying and engaging all the way until the final line.

1.  Memento

I have never seen a movie like this.  The level of complexity, artistry, execution, and transcendence continues to blow me away more than a decade later.  When I used to teach film, I would show this movie to my students to walk them through how a great director plans his shots and what they mean.  The movie has Nolan's trademark sense of intelligence, but it also has at its heart the primal desire for retribution, which marries the logical with the emotional.  When people see this movie they rethink what movies can be.  And that is why this is his best film.

Thoughts?

Film Flash: The Odyssey

 

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

Excellent epic with big themes, sweeping scale, great performances, with minor (but real) flaws.

Trailer Time: I Play Rocky

 Here is the link to the trailer on YouTube.

I have always loved the story of how Sylvester Stallone made Rocky.  What always resonatted was how much the story of making the movie paralleled the movie itself.  It is really the same story, except one is about sports and the other about the movies.

It is a fundamentally American story.  There are a lot of people who fail at their dreams who believed in themselves.  But the only way to make your dreams come true is to have that unshakeable belief.  And in America, you can risk it all and win.

Anthony Ippolito's portrayal of Stallone seems spot-on.   He has his cadence, voice, and body language down.  Now an impression is not the same thing as a great performance, but he drew me in.  

And of course, this could all be a gigantic nostalgia-bait film.  So many of the shots in the trailer are either direct recreations of Rocky or are homages to it.  But that worked out really well for Michael, so I am excited.

Thoughts?

Sunday Best: 50 Most Beautiful Moments in Cinema - #40-#31

  

This is a continuation of this series started here.  

You can go there to see numbers 50-41.  You can also check it out to remember the ground rules and criteria for choosing.  A brief recap:

1. A moment can be only about 2 minutes.  

2. Only one moment per movie.

3. All the context matters.

4. The subjective element of beauty is real.

5. Beauty only.

So, with those in mind, I will now share #40-31 of the most beautiful moments in cinema.

I will provide Youtube links to the videos rather than embed them here.  I would imagine that because this is critical commentary it qualifies for fair use, but I'd rather not take that chance.

You can click any of the links below to see the clips (most of them should be timestamped to begin at the moment referred.

SPOILERS FOR ALL THE MOVIES BELOW

40. Jaws "Quint Sunset"

There are so many amazing moments and amazing shots in this movie, which is part of the reason it is in my top 10 movies of all time.  But in terms of beauty, there is something special about this shot.  It is maybe the last time that Quint carries with him an aura of some kind of omniscience.  Throughout the the movie he has been the one who really knows things.  Everyone else is wrong but him.  We see this especially in the scene where the shark first bites the line.  And now after Hooper has screwed up, He stands there at the end of the bow and just stares at him with a knowing smile.  The light behind him gives him an ethereal glow like Zeus in Clash of the Titans.  But as the sun sets, he is backlit and shrouded in darkness.  The sun is setting on him.  This is his last sunset.  From this point on, he will not be the one in control.  Even when he gives his amazing USS Indianapolis speech, he does so in a drunken stupor.  He must decrease so that Brody can increase.

39. Die Hard "Jump from the roof"

This might be the only shot from a purely "action movie" that is on my list.  But it really is a beautiful shot.  The action has been violent and frantic up until this point.  The music carries with it a frenzy of activity.  Emotionally, John (who is terrified of heights) is yelling at himself in incredulity of what he is about to do, but he has no choice.  Willis' performance is undervalued here.  Listen to his prayer when he says "Please, God, don't let me die!"  The scene cuts between him, the FBI helicopter, and the terrorists.

And then comes the jump.  Everything gets whisper quiet and moves in slow motion.  The first flare goes up as John jumps almost like a strange angel as the explosion billows up behind him.  This is one of the most iconic shots in movies for a reason.  It is pure cinema.

38.  Quo Vadis - "The Crucifixion of Peter"

One of the things that grabs me about this is how much it looks like a Renaissance painting.  The use of the colors and the framing are gorgeous.  The slow tilt up from the misty waters to the horrible sight of the crucifixion is oddly beautiful.  Captured in that is all the holiness of St. Peter, dying in humility, the same and different as our Lord.  The cross there is not just a place of death.  It takes place at Vatican Hill.  The cross is Peter putting a permanent stake in the world for Mother Church.  All of this is communicated in just a few small seconds.

37. The Way - "The incense" 

(I could only find this shot in a montage on Youtube)

I love this movie.  It makes me want to one day walk the Camino.  But this conclusion always gets me.  Director Emelio Estevez captures how a cathedral draws us up to heaven.  He makes our Catholic rituals feel the way they should: richly symbolic of the world to come.  Watching the giant thurible fill the church with incense as the main character's dead son aids in the blessing is beautiful.  It feels like a foretaste of what we will do in heaven.

 

36.  Batman (1989) - "Final Shot"

You can call me a fool if you like for choosing this shot from a comic book film over so many others, but I maintain that this is an absolutely fantastic shot.  There is a principle in film making that says you want to end with an exclamation point.  You want to give your audience a powerful moment to take with them right before the credits roll.  And this moment is that.

There is a sadness a the separation between Bruce and Vicki because he literally has a higher calling.  Director Tim Burton pulls us up higher and higher above the heights as the music swells.  And notice that it is not an unbroken shot.  He cross disolves to the final moment so that you get the feeling that Batman is higher above us than you can imagine.  He stands staring at the Bat-Signal.  He stands like a statue to show his constant vigil from this point forward.  It is a moment of triumph but one that implies not finality but perpetuity.  And notice that the signal is above him.  The call is bigger than the man.  That shows his real heroism.  He is not above looking down on us.  He is looking up at our call because he is serving us.

 

35.  Spirited Away - "Through the flowers"

(I could only find this shot in a montage on Youtube)

There are so many amazing moments in Miyazaki's movie.  But this moment, which is only a few seconds, always takes my breath away.  I think partly its because it is unlike almost any other shot in the movie.  I have not done any research on it, but it feels like it uses elements of computer graphics while at the same time never breaking out of its hand-drawn style.  And the colors are so vivid and beautiful.  It fits into this world that our main character is entering, full of beauty and wonder and danger.

34.  Up - "Final Shot"

This is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen.  There are so many moments that we could unpack.  But the final shot of the house on the falls is the one that really takes the cake.  It symbolizes Carl's hopes and dreams.  There is something so thematically beautiful about it.  Pope John Paul II said that the human person is the one who finds himself when he gives himself away.  That is summed up in this shot.  Carl was obsessed with getting the house to the falls.  But he ends up sacrificing this dream in order to save Russel.  But in giving up that dream, he achieves it.  In the end, love fulfills us in every way.  The shot is so beautiful, capturing the color and grandeur of Ellie's dream.  And it is also tinged with sadness that Carl will never know that he did it.

33. Life is Beautiful- "Final Shot" 

The entire movie hinges on Guido trying to shield his son from the horrors of the holocaust.  Guido wasn't just trying to save his life, but preserve his innocence for as long as possible.  And he did everything he could in the end ot save his wife.  This final shot shows his ultimate triumph.  Joshua's final words, "We won!" resonate that his father has the victory because he achieved what he set out to do.  As his mother raises him in her arms under that tree, there is something almost Edenic in that shot: a return to the original innocence lost in the horrors of war.  And as the music swells, the tears flow.

32.  Field of Dreams - "Final Scene"

Very few movies capture the complex relationship between fathers and sons like Field of Dreams.  And it is a mystical and mysterious movie that never explains the magic.  But the movie is so good that we never want to know how it all works.  We just want to believe that it does.  So the final shot has a return of father and son, a restoring of that relationship.  While it is a return to childhood simplicity, it is not a regression.  They finally see each other as men, as equals.  And as this happens, the cars come pouring in.  I remember seeing this final moment in the theater and it taking my breath away.  The scope pulls out from the intimate to the universal.  That is a such a good metaphor for the power of stories.

31. West Side Story (1961) - "Tony and Maria meet"

We saw something slightly similar and more subtle with Lars and the Real Girl.  But here it is bigger and bolder.  And for this scene I am only referring to the moments before the dialogue begins.  Everything is communicated visually and with the music. It is definitely more artificial than in most movies.  The lighting and music change, the dream like dance sequence occurs like something that you would see on stage rather than in a movie.  But this film doesn't try to hide from its theater roots, but embraces them.  It creates a haze of fantasy that captures what that love-at-first-sight feeling is.  When Tony and Maria later sings "I saw you and the world went away," you feel it more intensely because you saw it with your own eyes.  The visuals help you enter into their hearts.   

Film Flash: Minions and Monsters

 

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

The best Minions movie.  A love letter to the pioneers of film-making and old Hollywood.

Film Flash: Young Washinton

 

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

A weak first act gives way to an engaging war drama, full of patriotism.

Sunday Best: 50 Most Beautiful Moments in Cinema - #50-41

 

A few months ago, a friend of mine asked me to make a list of the top ten most beautiful shots in movie history.  Because of my crazy brain, I was able to keep it to a tight fifty.

I also had a lot of trouble coming up with the list because a shot is a single, uncut moment from a film.  But there are so many moments that require the intercut between shots to accomplish its beauty.  So I decided that instead of most beautiful shots, it would the moment beautiful moments.

So there are a few ground rules for this list.

1. A moment can be only about 2 minutes.  

There are some scenes that are absolutely amazing.  But if the scene goes on long enough, I'm not sure you can call it a "moment."  So for this list, the moment had to be two minutes or less.  The exception is if it is a single shot.  There are a few on this list that last much longer than 2 minutes, because the entire moment is an unbroken shot, so there is no logical place to cut it.

2. Only one moment per movie.

This one was difficult, but it had to be that way.  Take a movie like The Sound of Music.  I recently rewatched it and nearly every scene is gorgeous.  If you said to me that it was the most beautifully filmed movie of all time, I would not object.  In fact, I would say that 90% of that movie is more beautifully shot than most films that have ever been made.  If I allowed multiple beautiful moments from the same movie, The Sound of Music would be too dominant.

3. All the context matters.

One of the other reasons I did not make this only about shots, is that a shot implies only the visual component.  But a movie is more than just the visual.  You have the convergence of story, music, performance, and editing that bring about the beautiful moment.  All of these things need to be taken into account.  Particularly, the context of the story gives a great deal of meaning and beauty to what is on the screen.  

4. The subjective element of beauty.

While I believe that there are some objective elements to what is beautiful, there is always a subjective element when it comes to any art.  I accept that there will be many who will disagree with me about what is on this list and what I have left off.  And it is possible that over time, my mind can change.  But I can only speak about that which affects me deeply.

5. Beauty only.

There are some moments in cinema that are deeply affective.  The show scene in Psycho is terrifying.  The moment Brody blows up the shark in Jaws is exhilarating.  Arthur's fight with the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail is hysterical.  But even though these moment provoke powerful emotions, it is not necessarily beautiful.  Something beautiful should touch the heart in a way that makes it ache for something deep and transcendent.  It should feel like it somehow touches something ethereal in some way.

So, with those in mind, I will now share #50-41 of the most beautiful moments in cinema.

I will provide Youtube links to the videos rather than embed them here.  I would imagine that because this is critical commentary it qualifies for fair use, but I'd rather not take that chance.

You can click any of the links below to see the clips (most of them should be timestamped to begin at the moment referred.

SPOILERS FOR ALL THE MOVIES BELOW

50. Gross Pointe Blank - "Under Pressure"

This is a strange black comedy from the '90's that I have great affection for.  Almost all of it is cynical, violent, and dark.  That's what makes this moment so strangely beautiful.  The main character is a hit man, but in this moment when he looks into the baby's eyes, you can feel the change come over him.  It is a moment where no words are needed.  The juxtaposition of the joy in the baby and the wonder in Martin's eyes is so affective that I am completley convinced about his change of heart in those few seconds.  And the use of "Under Pressure" creates the perfect emotional crescendo.  I have never forgotten this moment since the first time I saw it.

49. It's A Wonderful Life - "End of my rope"

This is a simple shot.  But I was fortunate to see a restored print of this movie on the big screen and the biggest takeaway I had was how beautiful the movie is, particularly this shot.  The happy music only seems to isolate George even more.  The slow push in and the use fo shadow and light highlight the drama.  On top of that it is one of the most affective performances I have ever seen in a movie.  When he says, "I'm at the end of my rope," I feel it deeply.  Normally, the moments on this list are this tense and sad.  But they do such an amazing job here I could keep it off the list.

48. Forrest Gump -"Peace with God"

There are so many things at work here.  This is really the culmination of Lt. Dan's character arc.  When he says, "I never thanked you for saving my life," he means that he didn't think his life was worth saving until this moment.  What is so visually striking about this is that they emphasize what he has lost.  His physical injury has not been healed.  But as he swims in the water, it is a beautiful baptism metaphor as he is washed in the this new life as he floats towards heaven.

47. Apollo 13 - Landing on the moon."

This is an amazing film.  But one of the things they do so well is emphasize how important landing on the moon is for Jim Lovell.  This fantasy sequence captures wordlessly the the awe, joy, and majesty of landing on another celestial body.  You feel the momentousness of leaving your permanent footprints on the moon.  But for me the shot that really captures it is Jim's hands raking through the lunar dust.  I can feel that moment in my own hand, in wonder at what that must be like and aching that this moment is snatched from Jim forever.

46. Lars and the Real Girl "Bowling with Margo"

This is such a delightful, small movie.  Lars is a crippling shy man who begins falling for his co-worker Margo.  I love the absolute simplicity of this scene: just going out and bowling.  Meanwhile there are all the little moments and longing looks so familiar to those who have crushes.  But the moment that puts it over the top for me is that shot towards the end where they use a very shallow focus so that from Lars' point-of-view, all he sees is Margo and you really begin to feel what Lars is feeling.

45. The Last of the Mohicans - "Final Scene"

This is one of the most under appreciated movies of the 1990's, in my opinion.  I always felt that this movie should be more popular than it is.  This final moment has Chingachcook mourning the death of his son Uncas.  This moment does something that few movies do so well: it makes the title of the movie the most powerful line of dialogue.  And as you see our survivors look out at the vast wilderness, there is sadness, despair, and hope all rolled into one.

44. The Untouchables - "The Strength of Righteousness"

The scene plays out like a very typical action scene.  But the one moment that makes it stand out is the shot of all four Untouchables as they ride along the river.  It is a powerful shot of heroes sallying for to do heroic things.  This is put over the top by Ennio Morricone's amazing score titled "The Strength of Righteousness."  I mention the title here, because the shot perfectly summarizes the song's title.

43. Jurassic Park - "Running with Dinosaurs"

There are a lot of shots from this movie to choose from.  I would imagine most people would choose the first time Grant and Ellie see the dinosaur or perhaps the sick triceratops.  But this incredibly short moment is the one.  Notice it doesn't even need any musical flourish to accompany it.  It is a dynamic shot, perfectly framed, with a paradisal backdrop.  If there is a single moment that encapsulates the thrill possibilities of what this park could hold, it is the moment when the humans and dinosaurs run together.  Even in the fear, there is a sense of joy and awe in their faces as they cannot believe that they are living out this moment.  It is the moment that I would imagine most people watching the movie wish they could experience themselves.

42.  Dances with Wolves - "Waves Goodbye"

(I could only find this shot in a montage on Youtube)

This small shot packs a big punch.  At the beginning of the movie, John Dunbar begins the movie in a suicidal state, but it is really only in this moment that we see that things have turned.  He has just spent the day with the Sioux and he has found his people.  You can see in the costuming that he is at this point still a man of two worlds, but that the change has been made.  As the sun sets the sky on fire behind him, there is an enlightenment that settles on him as this warrior raises his hand in friendship as the music swells behind him.

41.  Aliens - "Final Shot"

This is a very simple shot.  James Cameron does some amazing work with the camera in this movie.  But this is the shot that gets me.  This is the culmination of the journey of these two characters.  They have both been plagued by nightmares, but have now vanquished them.  Not only is it a shot showing how they have finally achieved peace through adversity, but the composition shows their emotional closeness.  They are now a family: mother and daughter.  Newt, the wild child, can now rest because hovering above her, protecting her like a guardian angel is Ripley.  

The Declaration of Independence: 250 Years Ago Today

 

The United States of America is 250-years-old today.

This is an amazing milestone for our nation.  But in many ways, it emphasizes how short a time our country has been around.

Recently Mel Brooks celebrated his 100th birthday.  I saw something on the internet that said that he has been around for 40% of our nation's existence.  I also saw something that said his birth was closer to the death of Thomas Jefferson than to today.

That is incredible to me how few generations we are from the 1776.  

Wiser and more poetic people than me have waxed eloquently about the virtues of America.  But please allow me a few humble words to express my love for my country.

My father is an immigrant.  He came here because America is the land of opportunity.  I asked him once why he didn't stay in his native nation.  He told me that if he stayed there was a very low ceiling to how far he could go.  But in America, there was no limit.

He also told me that the thing that surprised him the most was how big our country is.  Before coming here, he imagined you could drive from New York to Chicago in a few hours.  But the vastness of our land blew his mind.

When he got here, he started off staying with his brother who had also immigrated.  He then met and married my mom.  And together they had very little.  They saved and scraped just to get by, all the while my father worked himself constantly to provide.  Many years later when my parents got divorced my father told me that he would always take care of my mom because "she stayed with me when we had nothing." 

But they did not always have nothing.  He worked to provide a better life for his family.  He took in his mom and dad, who also became US citizens.  He loves this country and has always been grateful for all that it provided.

My love for America is rooted mostly in my father's story.  And it isn't about any simply about material success.  It's about what America meant to my father:

It is the land of opportunity, because it is the land of freedom.

A few years ago I was out after dark on a summer's night getting a late dinner for my wife and I.  And as I was walking through the parking lot, I took a moment to think about how through so much of human history and even in parts of the world today, people did not experience these kind of simple freedoms.  Not only was I able to earn a living to pay for that meal, but I have the freedom to choose where to go, where to live, where to work.  While there are always dangers around, I live in relative peace and security.  That is a blessing that I often take for granted because I have lived under it for so long.

In America, I have the freedom to become who I choose to be.  I think of my favorite patriotic song, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.  His opening line says, "If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd worked for all my life and I had to start again with just my children and my wife, I'd thank my lucky stars that I'm living here today, 'cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away."  My life has had ups and downs, same as everyone else.  But even at the lowest of times, I was grateful to be in America.  Because here, we have the freedom.

Today, I focus my gratitude to God for our country.  No nation is perfect.  There are still many areas where the fight for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness still rages on.  But it rages on because we are committed to the ideas given to us in our founding document: the Declaration of Independence.

When I taught World History, one of my mentors pointed out to me how unique the American Revolution was.  Most revolutions in history turn into horrific bloody reprisals of vengeance.  But America was built on ideas, philosophy.  Great thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu helped lay the rational foundation for our country.  Our revolution was not just one of arms but one of thought.

In America, we see the world in a different way.  We take very seriously the Christian principle that every single human life has value.  Because of this, it is the individual and not the state that is the bedrock of our nation.  It is one of the reasons we are not a pure democracy: our rights do not come from the majority.  Our rights do not come from a king.  We do not get our rights from the Constitution. Our rights do not come from the government at all.

They come from God.

I read somewhere that the Bill of Rights should not be read as a list of rights that the government gives the people.  Instead it should be read as a list of rights that all citizens have from nature that no government has the right to take away.  When I see how things like freedom of speech and freedom of religion are absent in so many countries of the world, it fills me with gratitude that I live in a country that enshrines those rights in our very nature.

Our founding fathers pledged everything, risked everything so that we could live in the freedom we have today.  They fought and sacrificed so we could have this beautifully simple thing called "normal life."  The family dinners, Sunday drives, drinks with friends, quiet walks, football tailgates, school plays, backyard gardening, reading books on the porch... all of these things are possible because we live in the greatest country in the world.

Today I will continue to pray for my country, that she may overcome all of the injustice that still plagues her and for her protection from all of our enemies.  I will also pray in thanksgiving for my country, for all that she provides for us.  I will pray for all those who have fought for us, those that have died for us, and those who have given to us so that we could live this life.

Below is the entire text of the Declaration of Independence.  

As I have written in years past, I encourage you to read the entire text below on this birthday of our nation.  Particularly, I am struck by the last line:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,  we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Those who wrote their names on that document held up as collateral for the investment in our freedom:

1.  Their Lives.  I am humbled when I remember that so many gave much more than I will
ever give so that people like me could live free.  The only way we can hold onto our freedom is if men and women are willing to pay the ultimate price.  Too often tyrants, both fearsome and soft-spoken, try to snatch away our freedom.  They depend on us to lay down our resistance and give in.  We must never do so.  The Founding Fathers gave us that pledge.

2.  Their Fortunes.  I will likely never see combat.  But how do I spend my money to
ensure freedom?  Do I take care of our wounded warriors?  Do I support laws and
representatives I believe in with my capital?  And do I take payments from those who
would make me dependent?  This pervasive bribery must lead inexorably to subtle slavery.

3.  Their Sacred Honor.  Do we even believe in honor anymore today?  Does our name mean anything?  In A Man for All Seasons, when asked why he would not take an oath of

loyalty to Henry VIII, Thomas More said, "When a man takes an oath, 
he’s holding his own self in his hands. Like water.  And if he 
opens his fingers then — he needn’t hope to find himself again." 
 We are free and we must stand by our commitments. 
 Otherwise who we are, our name, means nothing.  

These great men signed their names to this document. 

For each of them it may have been a death sentence.

But they signed it nevertheless.  They their day they took a stand against tyranny and stood for freedom.

In their day they stood as men.

Today they stand as giants.

And the challenge of today is this: could we stand with them?

Do we have what it takes to be the patriots at Valley Forge or the resistance at Boston Harbor?  Does that same noble spirit of freedom stir in us?

Or do we stand with those who try to tear down their memory to only have us remember their faults and failings and not the fact that they gave us the greatest nation that the world has ever known?

Perhaps reading this document again will renew and refresh the spirit of liberty.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:

Column 1

Georgia:

   Button Gwinnett

   Lyman Hall

   George Walton

Column 2

North Carolina:

   William Hooper

   Joseph Hewes

   John Penn

South Carolina:

   Edward Rutledge

   Thomas Heyward, Jr.

   Thomas Lynch, Jr.

   Arthur Middleton

Column 3

Massachusetts:

John Hancock

Maryland:

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Column 4

Pennsylvania:

   Robert Morris

   Benjamin Rush

   Benjamin Franklin

   John Morton

   George Clymer

   James Smith

   George Taylor

   James Wilson

   George Ross

Delaware:

   Caesar Rodney

   George Read

   Thomas McKean

Column 5

New York:

   William Floyd

   Philip Livingston

   Francis Lewis

   Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

   Richard Stockton

   John Witherspoon

   Francis Hopkinson

   John Hart

   Abraham Clark

Column 6

New Hampshire:

   Josiah Bartlett

   William Whipple

Massachusetts:

   Samuel Adams

   John Adams

   Robert Treat Paine

   Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

   Stephen Hopkins

   William Ellery

Connecticut:

   Roger Sherman

   Samuel Huntington

   William Williams

   Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire:

   Matthew Thornton