I want to discuss two films. One from a general moviegoer's perspective and one from a Christian perspective. Both deal with the question of whether or not it is appropriate/ok/wise to see the movie concerned. Let's start with the one opening this week.
1.United 93. There has been an absolute ton written about this movie. Many are asking whether it is too soon, or whether the movie should have been made at all. Personally, I tend to think it's too soon, but that it should have been made and needs to be watched. This may sound like a contradiction, but I think not. I still remember praying with Jon and Toby the morning of 9/11. I remember waking up Joel. I remember Remy and the guys coming over to watch the news. I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps that is why I can't watch a trailer or read a newspaper article about this movie without getting tears in my eyes. People in NYC shouting "TOO SOON" at the premier certainly have a point....but I still think this movie should have been made and needs to be watched. It sounds like the director and crew went through a lot to make an accurate, important, non-sensational tribute to the men and women who died on that plane...and a tribute to the people involved in 9/11 period. We need to remember those people, and remember what happened. This helps us do that. To forget is to allow things like that to happen again. And this is as good a time as any to offer up a reminder of the terrible events of that day, but also the heroism. Comments? Questions? Issues?
2.The Da Vinci Code. I know, I know. This is a completely separate topic, in no way related to #1, except that they are both movies. But I wonder (like I wondered with The Passion) if Christians should be discouraged to see it, because of the content? I am guessing it is a very well-made movie. I would expect no less of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. And it is strictly fiction, based on a novel. It is not trying to pass itself off as fact or something that actually happened, or even based on semi-true events. But should something even DEALING with this kind of subject matter be allowed into our heads? All I know is what my Dad told me after reading the book. It had a lot of garbage about Jesus sleeping around, not rising from the dead....basically a LOT of crap, that pretty much should disgust every Christian. That is why I'm saddened even by the fact that it's getting such high-profile attention (i.e. big director and big stars equaling a blockbuster). But is knowing that it's probably a tense, really good MOVIE, and quality entertainment enough to warrant watching it given all of the bad points? I tend to think the opposite of what I thought in #1: no. Questions? Comments? Issues?
Here's what I'd spend it on:
www.lollapalooza.com
Just go there and check out the lineup (click on lineup). It's unbelievable. Even blasts from the past like Nada Surf, are alongside some of my favorite artists. The whole Garden State soundtrack is practically on there! And the rumor is, Pearl Jam is the secret headliner, and Smashing Pumpkins will be reuniting in the finale. Should be amazing.
We finally did it. The dry spell is over. Lacey and I finally went to see a movie a week and a half ago. We were at Circle Center mall in Indianapolis, and I put my foot down. The top choice was V for Vendetta, but the times were terrible, so we decided to see Inside Man. And even though Remy would hate it (since it was a Spike Lee Joint and Denzel was in it) we really liked it. It was clever, not too action-packed, funny, and the performances were dynamite. We both have lost a lot of respect for Clive Owen after the Closer debacle, but he came back up a few notches after this. I really liked the script, not just plot-wise, but the dialogue packed a few punches as well.
In other news, I got a Harmony remote. For those of you who have no idea what this is, it is a universal remote made by Logitech. It is pretty much the only one out there that's easy to use and easy to program. You do it all on the web, and then it's ready to go. It has buttons on it like "watch TV" or "listen to music" and all you have to do it push it, and it turns every component you have (receiver, tv, dvd player, cd player, cable box, etc) on and off as necessary. And it knows by the model number you put in exactly what buttons were on the manufacturer's remote, so it can download all of the same buttons. It's pretty amazing. We were at 4 remotes and are now down to one, and finally have our coffee table back. Granted it cost a cool 70 bucks on Ebay, but that's better than the retail price of 135.
Finally, Lacey and I are going to the Indiana Pacer game tonight!! It is the last regular season home game against the Orlando Magic down at Conseco Fieldhouse, and I'm looking forward to taking Lacey to her first professional game of any sort (I think), let alone just basketball. Conseco is a beautiful building inside and out, and this game is important, so it should be a lot of fun.
Update: we had a blast at the game, Conseco is a fantastic arena! And to top it off, they did a promotion where they were giving out prizes...and I got 2 tickets to the playoffs against the Nets! We will be going to game four of the playoffs at Conseco next Saturday, and that atmosphere is very exciting. It makes it so fun! So I am definitely looking forward to it.
So yeah, I guess it's been 3 years this month that I've been on chattablogs/monroeblogs. Longer than that if you count blogspot, but I don't. So I thought I'd give you a taste of my first three blog entries:
Driving
So I made the 12 hour trip from Indiana to Monroe. And I have decided that the best CD to drive to of all time is Vs. By Pearl Jam.
Deep Thought For The Day
Sometimes when I feel like killing someone, I do a little trick to calm myself down. I'll go over to the persons house and ring the doorbell. When the person comes to the door, I'm gone, but you know what I've left on the porch? A jack-o-lantern with a knife stuck in the side of it's head with a note that says "You." After that I usually feel a lot better, and no harm done.
That's Chicago
Once again, a very mediocre movie has won the Academy Award for Best Picture. I went and saw Chicago last night, and I have to say, I enjoyed it. There was a lot of fun stuff in it...the music and dancing were great. But does this make a great movie? Absolutely not. There was no message to the film. The acting was ok (I still hate Richard Gere). The cinematography was passable. The script was a joke. For there to be fabulous films out there like Lord of the Rings and Gangs of New York and this movie to beat them out is pathetic. That's what makes me mad. If Chicago had not won Best Picture, I would have liked it much, much more. But to be perfectly blunt, I'll take Moulin Rouge every day of the week and eleventy billion times on Sundays.