SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE review

I have found another film worth reviewing. I avoided this one for quite awhile, because I hate going to movies that get this kind of a gushing love fest in the media. Movies seldom live up to the hype of the “Golden Calf” that is created in the media to worship it.

I have finally gone to see Slumdog Millionaire, twice in one week.

This movie captivated me from the opening scene. It is refreshing to see a movie that does not rely on a $60 million dollar budget for just a few big name, overrated and talentless pretty faces to attract people to the box office. Director, Danny Boyle has a knack for creating movies in almost any genre that grab and interest the audience on “Indie” sized budgets. This one had a budget of only $15 million.

Slumdog Millionaire, is the story of a young man who grew up without parents in the slums of Mumbai and Bombay and ends up getting on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”. I will not give any more of the story away than that.

Boyle and screenwriter, Simon Beaufoy, illustrate the triumph of love over selfishness and greed. The films locations are amazing, captivating, depressing and scary all at the same time. The music is both foreign and familiar and deserves the Oscar nominations it has received. The actors are all incredible and Boyle has masterfully directed them in this movie. The film oscillates between brutality and tenderness, greed and selflessness, hatred and love in a give and take manner that keeps you engaged throughout.

The religious imagery throughout the film is fodder for much thought and discussion, that I won't go into now, but I will probably revisit down the road sometime after the DVD is released.

For now, if you haven't seen this film yet, make sure you catch it in the theater before its gone, at least once. If you've seen it once see it again, there is so much to unlock in this piece.

WALL-E: Movie review

Wall-E

Here is my first review for the blog. I chose a critically acclaimed thriller for my first review, well maybe not. It is however a movie I loved. So here is my review of Wall-E, the Pixar Animations release that came out this week on DVD.

Wall-E is a about a little robot left to clean up the planet earth, while the humans have been living on a ship in space for eight hundred years. He is the last remaining robot on the planet and has developed a personality and is lonely. Enter Eve, a highly sophisticated robot sent back to earth search for any living vegetation. Wall-E immediately falls for her.




This movie is an example of masterful writing and directing. The two lead characters have a vocabulary of about five words yet have the ability convey a wealth of emotions. It is a touching and humorous story.

On another level it is packed with symbolism and hidden meaning. The first and most obvious message is that of the over-consumption of mankind and how it could literally bury us. Some may or may not subscribe that viewpoint but it is worth considering.

The next message is symbolized by Eve. It is an obvious reference to the dove sent out by Noah that returned to the ark with the olive branch. She does look very dove like as she flies about searching for life.

Lastly, Wall-E himself is a messianic figure. Everyone he comes in contact with is set free in some way. They begin to follow him and help him. He finally dies and is resurrected as mankind is returned to earth ready for them to start over reign.

This movie is one of the best of the year in my opinion. It's masterfully done. I give this movie 4 stars.

So check out WALL-E.

The Almighty says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure your f**ked.

"The Almighty says he can get me out of this mess, but he's pretty sure your f**ked." You might recognize that quote from one of the battle scenes in Braveheart. It is one of my all-time favorite movie quotes. It also happens to describe the attitude many of us evangelicals have toward those who have not been “Born Again”. We have gotten caught up in a regimen of “Sin management”. We are focused on our behavior, we don't swear, we don't lie, we don't watch “R-rated” movies, so we are “IN”. Then, when we think we have our sin managed, we begin to take on everyone else's sin. We make sure that they don't do those wicked things that we used to do and if they do we make sure to try and shame or humiliate them into being just like us. When you see Christian's marching with signs that read “God Hates Fags” it just makes people line up to be just like us. Okay, well maybe not.

This “Sin Management” program is really only effective in one thing, keeping us from doing what Christ called us to do in the beginning. In Matthew 22:37-40 he says:

...‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

If we would concentrate on these commands we would be kept busy for a lifetime. I believe that it is the devil who gets us so caught up in worrying about morality because it makes us worthless. We believe we are saved by grace yet we waste our lives trying earn our salvation instead of loving our neighbor. If we begin to look at the ramifications of what it means to love our neighbor it would blow our minds.

In future updates I will talk more about just what "loving our neighbor" really means. But for now I just want to encourage fellow Christians to try forget about sin management and begin to live a life that Christ would applaud.

I have included a link to a video of the song “Grace” by U2 it defines what Grace is in a beautiful way.

Naked Aliens

Over the last several years I have become increasingly more uncomfortable and disillusioned with my belief systems, some things just didn't “fit”. Over and over I told myself I just needed to accept it all by faith. I'm not just talking about my religion, though that is a big part of it, but also my politics, my attitudes towards the world around me, the people, the planet, the systems I had grown to trust to keep it all working in harmony, everything.

I began to explore and search, reading books listening to podcasts. I really came to believe the old proverb, “When the student is ready, the master will appear”. The more I searched the more I sought, the more the answers started showing up in areas where I wasn't even looking.

I would stand back and stare at it all, and scratch my head. It was like staring at a naked alien, all green and slimy, not quite sure what I was looking at but I knew it wasn't quite right.

That's the purpose of this blog to study this naked alien standing before us and try to make some sense out of it. I promise to keep my posts short and (hopefully) interesting. I hope you'll read this and see, not something new, but something familiar, something that when you read it it's more like remembering something you had forgotten.

I hope you are entertained and informed, even if you don't agree with everything. Please feel free to comment and contact me if you like.

Paul

***In my next post I will share my favorite film quote of all time.***