Talking Pictures

Talking Pictures

Movies that have got something to say…

By McDozer

Alphabetical Index of Recommended Titles * 10 Inch Hero * 27 Dresses * 5 People You Meet In Heaven, The * 50 First Dates * A Good Woman * Akeelah and the Bee * Always * Amazing Grace * An Officer and a Gentleman * Angel On My Shoulder (TV Production) * Answer Man, The * Antz * As Good As It Gets * August Rush * Avatar * Back to the Future Trilogy * Beaches * Bend It Like Beckham * Best Little Whorehouse in Texas * Beyond Borders * Bishop's Wife, The * Bladerunner * Blind Side, The * Blood Diamond * Brainstorm * Braveheart * Brother Sun, Sister Moon * Bruce Almighty * Bucket List, The * Can't Buy Me Love * Chaos Theory * Charlie Bartlett * Charlie Wilson’s War * Checking Out * City Island * City of Joy * Coach Carter * Conspiracy Theory * Constantine * Cypher * Dan in Real Life * Dreamscape * Duchess, The * Edge of Darkness * Elizabethtown * End of the Spear, The * Endless Love * Entertaining Angels -- The Dorothy Day Story * Erin Brockovich * Everybody’s Fine * Expelled! - No Intelligence Allowed! * Field of Dreams * Finding Forrester * Firestarter

* Flatliners * Freedom Writers * Freejack * Frequency * Frost Nixon * Gandhi * Georgia Rule * Ghost * Ghost Town * Girl's Best Friend * Gospel of John * Great Debaters, The * Green Mile * Green Zone, The * Grey Owl * Groundhog Day * He's Just Not That Into You * Hearts in Atlantis * Heaven Can Wait * Holiday, The * Hurricane * I Am David * I Am Sam * Igor * In the Time of Butterflies * Incredibles, The * Inside I'm Dancing * It’s Compliucated * It's a Wonderful Life * Jack and Jill vs. the World * Jerry Maguire * Juno * Just Like Heaven * K-Pax * Kate & Leopold * Kingdom of Heaven * Kite Runner, The * La Vita e bella (Life Is Beautiful) * Last Mimzy, The * Legend of Bagger Vance * Life as a House * Life or Something like It * Lion King * Lion of the Desert * Lions for Lambs * Little Big Man * Little Lord Fauntleroy * Little Minister, The * Love In the Time of Cholera * Luther * Made in Heaven * Man of La Mancha * Manchurian Candidate * Martian Child * Master & Commander * Matrix

* Medusa Touch, The * Michael Clayton * Missionary, The * Mr. Holland's Opus * My Sister’s Keeper * New In Town * Next * Not Easily Broken * Not Easily Broken * Nothing But the Truth * Oh God Part 2 * Overboard * Over Her Dead Body * P.S. I Love You * Patch Adams * Pay It Forward * Pinnocchio * Pollyanna * Powder * Proof * Quo Vadis * Reign Over Me * Resurrecting the Champ * Ringer, The * Run Fat Boy Run * Scarlet Pimpernel, The * Schinder's List * Scrooge (A Christmas Carol) * Second Hand Lions * Shakespeare in Love * Shallow Hal * Signs * Sixth Sense * Somewhere In Time * Sophie Scholl – The Final Days * Spanglish * Splash * Surf's Up * Tenure * The Express * The Go Getter * The Inn of the Sixth Happiness * The Kid * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe * The Mask * The Robe * The Time Traveler’s Wife * The Truman Show * Time Bandits * Trading Places * Tron * Troy * Weather Girl * What Women Want * Woo Woo Kid, The (In The Mood) * Yes Man

The Robe I watched this movie for the first time around 1976, at the age of 13, and I was totally amazed that there were movies about what real Christians are having to go through, namely persecution, as I had just experienced in the fact that the folks who had turned me on to Jesus were being slandered and maligned by practically the entire European media apparatus, and having personally experienced a police raid, the cops' interrogations and mockings, followed by the flak from parents and other folks who thought they had a say in it, just as it is vividly described throughout the Gospels. So, if you want to watch a movie about what's expecting you if you're a real Christian, this is the one.

Quo Vadis

Certainly one of those good old historical classics that shouldn't be missing from this list of personal favorites.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe As a 16-year old I didn't watch a lot of TV, but one afternoon, something drew me irresistibly to the tube, as I was being fascinated and enchanted by a strange cartoon feature of a genre of literature that I didn't even know existed, and this was my first acquaintance with C.S.Lewis. While I'm still fond of other cartoon flicks, such as the Disney classics with their usual "do good" lessons and talking animals that have doubtlessly turned thousands of kids around the globe into vegetarians, I wouldn't waste my time writing something up on each of them. But this story of Aslan and his kingdom of Narnia is a classic, and this version sticks more to the original plot than the recent Disney version. Apart from a few flaws, such as the appearance of Father Christmas, I just love this allegory of Jesus, the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" and His Kingdom in a dimension parallel to ours, accessible only via a certain door. Doubtlessly, God's kingdom on earth has presently been usurped by forces equally wicked as those of the white witch in the story, but even though they managed to kill the King, He rose again and will return and conquer back what is rightfully His, descending from the sky for that great battle between the forces of heaven and hell, and rrestore the Kingdom to those who are His...

Brother Sun, Sister Moon Beautiful movie by Franco Zeffirelli about the life of St.Francis of Assisi, Italy. I saw this movie in 1981, shortly before heading for South America. We were staying with friends in Lausanne, Switzerland, and it was slightly embarrassing, because I don't think I had ever been moved this much by watching a film before, with the sole exception, perhaps of Bambi at the age of five. Amazingly enough, this movie hasn't lost its magic over the decades. While some flicks we enjoyed in the 80s can strike you as downright corny now, this movie is a classic, and it hasn't ever failed to move and inspire me since.

While not exactly trying to produce a totally historically correct documentary about St.Francis, in my belief, nobody else has managed to capture the true spirit of St.Francis in a movie ever since.

Endless Love During a stopover in Toronto on our way to Peru I watched this movie one night, and had to walk home crying like a baby all the way back to the hotel. Not that this 2nd movie by Zeffirelli I saw could ever be compared to the spiritual profoundness and richness of "Brother Sun," but it very beautifully and effectively drives home the concept of unconditional and thus endless love, love in spite of anything and against all odds... Plus, you'll get hit by one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written, just at the right, magical moment. And I'm not talking about "I Was Made for Loving You" by Kiss.

The Medusa Touch I saw this on a campground in Mendoza, Argentina around 81, and though it's not exactly an uplifting and cheerful movie, it sure gets you thinking about how God might see things different than we do. We always ask, "Why does He allow this and that?" But by this we insinuate that we believe we're better than to deserve what He's allowing. But are we?

It's a Wonderful Life If you've ever wondered if the world might not have been better off if you had never been born (Yes, all you "Bohemian Rhapsody" junkies from the 70s), then you'll definitely be able to relate to this movie, and you won't even mind that it's not in color. It's doubtful that a better version could ever be made. You'll even want to watch it a few times, just to make sure the lesson sticks.

The Bishop's Wife If you believe in Angels, as presumably most people in Western countries did around the time of the making of this movie, then you'll enjoy this old B&W movie, even if it may have some qualities to it we would consider corny nowadays. The problem is, as much as they're trying to eliminate the corniness in the remakes, some of the magic also goes with it.

Scrooge (A Christmas Carol)

Probably the ultimate lesson in generosity vs. stinginess. Nobody wants to be Scrooge anymore after watching this one...

Pollyanna Of course, poor Pollyanna has by now become the acronym for the inability of some inhabitants of the Western hemisphere to see reality for what it is, that out-of-this world optimism that keeps us from seeing the darker side of reality. But she's still right: "If you look for the bad in people, you're going to find it."

Bladerunner Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend this movie to the fainthearted, especially because of one gross scene, I have to mention this Sci-Fi classic as one of those that had quite an impact on me. Portraying probably one of the darkest Endtime scenarios ever to hit the screen, having watched this movie in a cinema in the early 80s, way before "Matrix" or even "Terminator" came out, this movie made me

so thankful for the reality of the times we for the reality of the times we were were (and still are, thank God) currently living in. Things could always be worse, and if nothing else, "Bladerunner" will certainly make you appreciate that. Apart from that, it has to be said in favor of the movie that it's absolutely not boring, but has one of those plots that will keep a Sci-Fi fan on the eadge of his seat.

Tron

One night around '82 I went to see this movie with a friend in Buenos Aíres, and when we came we felt like on an acid trip. Being the first of its kind and a pioneer of a genre, even before the technology that would eventually make the whole genre even possible, this movie not only has a fairly decent plot for 80s, but also a good message about an evil computer program usurping the system, which has to be resisted, eliminated and replaced. The DVD features some extras that show just what a feat and pioneer effort this movie really was for its time.

Gandhi

For the young man I was when I first saw this, the movie didn't have that much to offer. When you're young you still believe in your own strength and all you can do, what the Bible calls "the arm of the flesh." It took another 2 1/2 decades for the point to sink in of what Gandhi really did, and the great sample he offered of what can be achieved by passive resistance and civil disobedience based or a greater moral right. "The meek shall inherit the Earth," and as far as I'm concerned, Christian or not, may Gandhi be one of them.

Time Bandits

For its time, it was an epic, but unfortunately, over the decades the humor, and perhaps the special effects of the film have grown a little dull. This is not one of those movies that has kept all of its magic. Nonetheless, there are some classic scenes in it that make it worthwhile watching, exposing how the forces of evil manipulate us, using our greed, and showing how God (here called "The Supreme Being") will still intervene in the end to save us from the mess we're all getting ourselves in.

Pinnocchio I saw this movie once on a missionary retreat near Buenos Aíres where the kids were watching it, and something kept me stuck there to watch it with them. Maybe it's the fact that I used to lie a blue streak or the size of my nose that had me sympathize with that puppet, or the fact that I've been inside many a whale's belly myself (allegorically speaking), but I'm 100% convinced that if we do our stuff right, learn our lessons about unselfishness, eventually the fairy godmother will come down and make real boys and girls out of each of us.

Little Big Man This is one of my absolute favorite classics of all times, even though there may not be any deep spiritual lessons in it, unless you consider the truthful version of something that's been sold quite differently as "history" a spiritual virtue worth spending a little time and effort on. But Little Big Man is certainly no ordinary history feature, but rather a dramedy of the best kind, a movie that can make you laugh (because as a comedy, it's a master piece) and weep over the great "conquests" of the white man that practically extinguished a whole culture, and maybe over the fact that he hasn't learned a darn thing since, if you look around.

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Way before the first Christian movies ever hit the rest of the world (apart from those epics like Ben Hur, Quo Vadis and The Robe, here, in this incredible musical, you hear Dolly Parton, telling Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Burt Reynolds) about Jesus while lying in the grass and looking at the stars… That thanks to the media, such happiness can’t last forever, this movie shows, too. This one can be enjoyed even if you dislike musicals.

Man of La Mancha While the music from this film (and it is a Musical, be warned) may not be exactly hitting the nerve of our time, it's nonetheless probably still the best take on Don Quixote to date, and it's doubtful that any attempt at a remake would live up to its splendor. The message is simply great, and if you can look past all the clichés that make a 21st century movie hip, this thing can move you!

Splash If you're a so-called "realist" in whose life there is no room for mermaids and the "anything is possible" mindset of the believer, don't waste your time. Or if you're one of those ultra-religious who associate sex with sin and take offense in the most natural thing on earth, thou shouldest not offend thine righteous soul. But if you happen to have any idea as to what a cool God we really have, Who made all things for us to enjoy, including perhaps, a few things that modern scientists don't believe in and would mock you for, like mermaids and unicorns, then you might love this movie just as much as thousands of others have, I'm sure. You'll never see Daryl Hannah this cute again.

Heaven Can Wait

Comedy about the way things might happen in the afterlife. Not life-changing, but certainly cute and entertaining.

The Little Minister Cute but ooold B&W classic about a brave little minister in Scotland bucking the tide of public opinion by marrying a gypsy girl (Katerine Hepburn).

Officer and a Gentleman

This was of course a big hit when it came out, and it definitely had something to it, including a few lessons to take on for the school of life.

Somewhere In Time If you're romantically inclined, be sure to have some tissues handy. This one's a classic tear jerker. But if you're willing to risk it, and you dare to let the unfathomable pain get to you that lies in the experience of this "lost love" story - plus the inevitable only way left to regain it - then you'll certainly have enriched yourself by one more mind- and heart-boggling experience. Some movies are just pure magic. Everything fits together: the actors' skills (in this case, especially Jane Seymour's), the scenery, the plot, and in this movie especially, the music.

Oh God Part 2 Now here's a movie that finally talks about something we have always said that you have to count on experiencing it, if you're a true believer, namely persecution. And children are no exemption, either. Featuring George Burns in his probably best role (during his life-time on earth, that is), as God Himself, winking at the nonsensical little tiger story, this is a 5 star classic in my book.

Lion of the Desert Movie featuring Anthony Quinn in one of his best roles ever as Libyan resistance fighter Omar Mukhtar who tormented the fascist Italian occupants of Libya for years. Certainly the kind of figure the Muslim world cries out for in hopes of deliverance from the Imperialist forces that kill their citizens, rape their school-aged young woman and systematically destroy their houses in today's not any more enlightened world.

Firestarter

The first time I saw this movie I actually broke out into a fever because it was so tense. Definitely a classic about the way the sort of people here depicted as "the Shop" handle everybody else and hound those they think they can derive any kind of profit from. I also wish to believe that it protrays the kind of powers God will eventually equip some of His people with in order to defend themselves from that lot (see Revelation 11:3-5)...

Brainstorm Great plot & great movie for its time and one of the first stabs into the life after death dimension. The thought of being able to freely transmit and convey one another's personal experiences, feelings and perceptions is certainly fascintating, and in my opinion something we can look forward to. A Sci-Fi classic.

The Scarlet Pimpernel Similar to "Little Big Man" this movie picks up an otherwise very dark and tragic episode in history in a humorous and very entertaining way. Though this one won't move anyone to tears, it's certainly not boring, and, unless you have an aversion to British accents, it will entertain you in its delightful, British sort of way, mind you.

Angel On My Shoulder (TV Production) Unfortunately, this TV production is very hard to get, and sellers on eBay are asking horrendous prices for it, but it's simply another one of those classics that fulfill all the criteria of a good movie: good humor, good acting (probably Peter Strauss' best role), fairly good plot (based on the B&W original) and good morale. Anyone who knows the Devil is more than a fairy-tale to scare kids appreciates a movie in which his plans are foiled - so unlike all that's happening in real life.

The Missionary I loved that movie, even though it busts many of the modern taboos of our tabooladen society, especially in average religious circles which are being exposed in this movie. Anybody from any walk of life can be a mission field... You just have to have the necessary love of God in you and whatever else it may take to reach them.

Little Lord Fauntleroy Apparently there are other versions of this movie, but it's doubtful whether any of them could be as good and enjoyable as this one. Any movie that shows how a life can be changed, including that of an old grouch like Old Lord Fauntleroy, should be highly recommended, because it just shows what love can do.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness While this movie was certainly not shot in China (but in Wales), it's doubtlessly one of the great classics of the 20th century, even if the story has been a little reinvented by its makers. If you're in the business of winning your part of the world for Christ (which every authentic Christian ought to be), then you'll appreciate this movie, based on a true story, which shows that even if it may take a while sometimes, and some perseverance, you can change the world, and even some of the hardest hearts can be touched and changed by God's love.

Overboard Who, back in the 80s didn’t enjoy this nice American fairy-tale of “rich spoiled brat turns into actual human being?”

Dreamscape Quite a thriller for those days (1984), about lucid dreaming and people with the exceptional ability to enter the dreams of others, some with good intentions, some with bad... Gory scenes, but the good side naturally wins.

Trading Places I only recently found out what a far-out guy Aaron Russo was, and that's why I would certainly like to mention this movie here. I guess one day we'll find out just how much of a man's personal experiences and blood, sweat & tears went into bringing out a certain truth through a movie. If you get to know a little bit about Russo's work, you begin to realize that the making of "Trading Places" (not only in my opinion the best movie Eddie Murphy played in) must have been more than a coincidence. Even though it has that typical American fairy-tale slant, and an ending that we will probably never see in real life, it conveys the truth of "losers turn winners" and gives the kind of hope without which the average citizen might as well fold in and quit.

Made in Heaven One of the most daring takes on Heaven from the film industry, confirming what we've always hoped: there is sex in Heaven. While perhaps not exactly your theologically and doctrinally perfect document, it's a great love story with that "destiny" ingredient that makes it fun to watch.

Beaches Touching movie about two childhood friends who grow apart as they grow older and come back together again when one of them falls sick. Great songs by Bette Midler.

Flatliners Life after death plot which was quite sensational for that time, but doesn’t quite live up to the standard of all we’ve seen since…

Field of Dreams

Great movie about intervention from the Spirit World.

The Woo Woo Kid My kind of comedy. About a kid who made headlines in the 50s for being some kind of Don Juan.

(Yes, that’s Patrick Dempsey in his younger years.)

Ghost While the vast majority of Christians are totally panicky about the idea of ghosts (although their own God is a "Spirit," goes to work in us through something called the Holy Ghost and their own book, the Bible, reports some ghost sightings and apparitions), for those who know that ghosts aren't anything to be afraid of, but simply the state everyone transfers to after their earthly life while they await the resurrection, this one's an absolute classic.

Entertaining Angels -- The Dorothy Day Story Great movie about an actual, cigarettesmoking, down-to-earth saint of the 20th century. Every now and then there comes a catholic who makes up for all the rest of them…

Can't Buy Me Love Another Dempsey comedy, only this time he’s messing with gals his own age. Neat exposé on peer pressure and how (not only kids) just copy anything that the general consensus labels cool.

Always Great and touching life after death movie that’s worth watching again every once in a while…

City of Joy Patrick Swayze plays a young doctor who winds up dedicating himself to the poor of Calcutta. A life-changing movie about a changed life.

Freejack Fairly good Sci-Fi about “body-snatchers from the future” who plan to occupy bodies from the past, which they know from history would have died, anyway, until one of them comes across the wrong buddy…

The Mask I think this movie shows just what spiritual things (as in spirits) can do to and through you... or whatever is left of you, when they do.

Jerry Maguire

Just the realization of the fact what a different type of person someone can be with the right attitude is life-changing.

Schinder's List

Movie about the corruption within the sports industry and one outstanding young man (played by Tom Cruise) who decides he won’t play their rotten game anymore. Yeah, Baby, drop out! That’s the Spirit!

While I don’t believe that either party has learned very much from the events of WW2, here’s one lesson each one of us could still learn from it: How much more could you give to save another soul today?

Groundhog Day

Erin Brockovich

This is one of those I'd place in the "potentially life-changing" category, because it simply had that much of an impact on me.

About a brave young woman who exposes a big corporation that has wrecked hundreds of people’s lives and health with their pollution. We need a lot more folks like Erin!

Sixth Sense

Boo! Another ghost story. Brilliant kid!

Antz

Watched this one again some time ago, and it’s really a neat little flick about how a little guy can really do big things with the right kind of conviction.

Back to the Future Trilogy Braveheart

Watched this again recently, after a ten year break, and it’s still a great freedom fighter classic.

If you like Sci-Fi and time-travel movies, then this trilogy won’t change your life, but you might certainly get a kick out of watching it anyhow, if you haven’t done so already.

Conspiracy Theory

Surprising movie in which the idiot who believes all the conspiracy theories (Mel Gibson) actually turns out to be right about (at least some of) them…

The Truman Show

I like dropout movies. And the scene where Truman opens the door that will lead him to freedom beyond everything he had known to be reality this far is a classic. Wish there were more folks around with half the guts of Truman.

Matrix Shakespeare in Love

One of the great love films of our times. While historical accuracy isn’t the film’s aim, I wouldn’t know how the spirit of Shakespeare could have been conveyed to a new generation any better way.

Even after 9 years, this one still tops them all in my book. Probably because during those nine years I have discovered more and more areas in which we're massively being lied to and deceived, very close to the extent the plot of the movie goes, in which humans live in a made-up world by those who simply want to manipulate, control and exploit them

and use them as batteries. No other movie has been able to give me a clearer vision of what our task in life is, if we're not part of the System and refused to be duped by the machines. It isn't always easy, and it isn't always pretty, but at least we've got the truth, and the truth is that anything is possible.

Lion King

Signs

I specially like this Disney production because of the blatant allegory of the true king and his son and the evil usurper.

Life as a House

For the vast part of the first time I watched this movie I was shaking my head about what nonsense my friend had dragged me along to waste my hard-earned money on seeing. But that's how life sometimes goes. You wonder for years, "What the heck am I doing here?" and all of a sudden, within the final 10 minutes, everything starts making sense. What's beautiful about this movie is that it shows that no matter if you lived the main bulk of your life in the meaningless treadmill most people do, it's never too late to wake up, never too late to change, never too late for love.

Green Mile

anyone can be used to change to world, even a young teenager. Also a great truth is brought out in the movie, which is, "We don't find the book we should read, but they find us," and perhaps in some ways that also applies to movies (unless we get so addicted and watch just about anything). One of the outstanding lessons of the movie for me personally, though, is the fact that you can find total liberty and freedom inside a prison cell, because its overcoming our own demons that will truly liberate us.

Legend of Bagger Vance

Film that leaves you hoping for the true justice of the world to come, where the condemned innocent in this life receive their reward and the truly guilty ones meet theirs. Just too bad we only learn so little from all these lessons.

Hurricane

While there is some controversy as to whether Hurricane Carter was really innocent or not (at least there are some voices on the web claiming he's not), certainly the movie is worth watching. What's really amazing about it is that it shows that

Amazingly enough, this magical movie directed by Robert Redford is based on an ancient Hindu book, and somehow manages to translate whatever is worth keeping of that philosophy into the language of the 20th century West. The message - not only for golfers - behind the movie is (actually, similar to that of "Tarzan 2," which could have been based on Bagger Vance), to find your own, personal "shwingggg" to get you through life...

Grey Owl

The Kid

A nice example of how a greater good can sometimes be achieved by a lesser evil, such as that of pretending to be something you're not. This white man posing as an Indian did more good for the Indian culture and the preservation of not only their lands, than they ever could have achieved for themselves at that time. One of my favorite roles by Pierce Brosnan.

Neat little American fairy-tale with a far-out, "anything - is - possible” plot: Meet yourself as a little kid! Mr. Holland's Opus

Patch Adams

Great movie based on a true story, even though the actual Patch Adams seems to be slightly less idealistic than finance-oriented these days.

Beautiful story about a rather ordinary school teacher who foregoes the opportunity to run off with a younger girl and live out his dream to become a writer in favor of keeping investing his life into those of his students, and who lives to see some of the dividends of his sacrifice.

Pay It Forward

Certainly a classic on “how do I change my world?”

I Am Sam

What Women Want

I love this movie, because I'd love to know better what makes women tic. And I live in hopes that some day we're going to find out and with time we might develop the necessary skill (and interest?) to understand the fairer sex. It's certainly one thing on my "to learn" list.

K-Pax

The spirit and message of this movie is, “All you need is love!” It’s the most important thing, and the only thing that really matters – if you really want to live, that is.

Kevin Spacey as an inmate of an asylum, whose body appaears to be occupied by an extra-terrestrial, who promptly takes off with it…

Life or Something Like It

This is another movie that shows how swiftly things can change once God puts the heat on.

Finding Forrester

Powder

Regardless of the controversy around the director of this film, I still think this movie is one of the strongest statements describing human bias and bigotry versus anything and anybody who dares to be different, no matter how innocent. Certainly the fact that John the disciple was lying on Jesus' breast during the last supper would be frowned on by the same type of people who criticize this movie, the same type of people who live uner the illusion that they would treat Jesus any better than He was treated the first time around. They still didn't get the point, and God only knows if they ever will.

Shallow Hal

It is my personal hope that there are kids like the one in this movie actually around somewhere…

Pretty good comedy about not looking on the outward appearance, but someone's soul and true self.

As Good As It Gets

Hearts in Atlantis

Another one on “old grouch becomes pleasant type.” If you can ignore the “queers are the nice guys” message, you’ll enjoy this one.

Another fairy-tale (?) about how deeply two human beings from completely different age groups were able to connect once upon a time, not so long ago…

Luther Frequency

Where would we be without Luther? Where would we be if he hadn’t had the guts? And where would we be if God wouldn’t have been on his side to protect him, as He always does for those who do His job of telling an un-welcome truth in a world governed by lies…

Probably one of the best time travel movies ever, including the paradox factor of altering the present via input from the past. I like to see it allegorically in the sense of our being able to alter our present reality with the help of input from those who walked this earth in the past...

Bruce Almighty

One of my absolute top favorites, and, apart from the "monkey scene," in my opinion one of the top ten efforts to bring across God's point through the movies, especially for people who think they've been cheated by life... How anyone can give higher ratings to the recent sequel "Evan Almighty" perfectly eludes me.

Cypher

What I really liked about Cypher was: sometimes we get so entangled in becoming somebody else for “business purposes,” that it takes quite an effort to re-discover and remember who we really are.

Kate & Leopold

The Gospel of John

Finally a Gospel movie that stuck to the book! No Nicodemuses in broad daylight, no mother Maries crawling on marbles floors, no happygo-lucky Hollywood Jesus, just the good old and plain Gospel truth, portrayed in the most powerful, blunt and yet anointed way ever. Henry Ian Cusack is the best Jesus you've ever seen on a screen!

Time travel movie of a slightly different sort, which brings out the qualities of the past (they weren’t all dumb Neanderthalers a hundred years ago, you know), which turns out to be the destination of choice for the protagonists… “Back to the past”, instead of “Back to the future…”

Master & Commander

Kingdom of Heaven

I liked the lessons on discipline and loyalty in this movie, though younger folks might find it a bit too slow…

The world is developing a new sense of righteousness and a new picture of who the good guys are. Are Christians really “in it” for the right reasons? Or could it be that the dreaded enemy sometimes has an even greater sense of true justice than we do? Sometimes the truly good guys are the ones who try their best to keep the peace between the warring parties and do whatever has to be done for the best of life, even when the peace efforts fail…

Troy

Manchurian Candidate

What I liked about this movie is the wise warning Achilles receives from his mother before going to Troy: “Your great exploits are your downfall.” Seems like whatever efforts we make to make a name for us and make ourselves immortal, that stuff always kills us…

Remake of old classic about using mind control in order to create assassins. Some folks believe there’s some truth to this story… Tsk, tsk, those conspiracy theorists…

Spanglish

Constantine

Sweet movie about the contrast between latino culture and average white suburbia, (for the viewer to decide which of the two is more real,) plus the conflicts that can arise from the same…

While I wouldn’t recommend this movie for everyone, nor consider it doctrinally kosher (like the role of “Gabriel” in this movie – ouch!), it generally does have a positive slant in the end, and any movie in which the Devil is licked gives me a little bit of personal satisfaction…

50 First Dates

Sophie Scholl – The Final Days

This comedy is just that, a neat little comedy, until you begin to realize how much we’re all like the girl in the movie, who has to be reminded each day anew of who she really is, and how much she’s being loved.

In the light of how we’ve become just another monkey see, monkey do society, my admiration for those who dare to stick out & rise above the norm grows by the hour. Two such people were Sophie and Hans Scholl, who died for their convictions of what was right.

The Incredibles

I Am David

Don’t you sometimes feel like an old, worn-out superhero whom nobody wants anymore? Well, teamwork, apparently, is the solution…

A different kind of WWII story. Not specially realistic, but beautiful.

Just Like Heaven

Bend It Like Beckham

Interesting slant of the life after death scheme: someone who appeared to be dead, isn’t dead, after all…

I’m not into soccer, and if you’re not either, this movie might help you relate to those who are, plus get a glimpse of Indian immigrant culture in England…

La Vita e bella (Life Is Beautiful)

How can you beat the eternal optimist? Apparently you can’t, not even if you stick him in a concentration camp, not even if you kill him…

Blood Diamond

Pretty rough movie on the exploitation of Africa by the white man, and what a lot of them are really in it for, down there…

Coach Carter

Great movie & must see for anyone dealing with young people.

The End of the Spear

The true story of 4 missionaries who were killed by natives in a South American jungle, who were forgiven and consequently ministered to by their widows… Sample of true Christian love.

The Ringer

Surprising comedy about a guy who’s talked into pretending to be handicapped in order to participate in the Special Olympics, and finds out that it’s not as easy to lick the “Specials” as he thought…

The Holiday

One of the better romantic comedies of late. Not exactly life-changing, but pleasant to watch.

Amazing Grace

Beyond Borders

Though this movie doesn’t have a happy ending, it breaks your heart for those relief workers (as well as the folks they’re trying to help) and all they’re up against. Angelina Jolie did a great job in this one…

Interesting what those guys who abolished slavery all had to go through, especially in the light of the fact that they finally won with a trick. Sometimes you’ve got to beat the Devil with his own weapons.

August Rush

Next

Aren’t we all erring through our lives looking for our heavenly Father & Mother, singing our songs & playing our music in hopes they’re going to hear us & find us? When they do, that’s the magic moment that makes it worth it all.

Pretty good Sci-Fi about a dude (Nicolas Cage) who can look just 2 minutes ahead into the future… It does open a lot of possibilities…

Proof

Juno

While some folks may not like this movie, it certainly bore some lessons for me personally. It’s not always the apparently smart and adored professor types who come up with the solution to life’s problems (though their meaningless garble can strangely contribute to someone else finding it), but sometimes it’s the person you’d least expect to, who holds the key…

Neat movie about a teen girl who becomes pregnant and looks for the right foster parents for her child…

Second Hand Lions

The Kid from “Sixth Sense” and “Pay It Forward” is back. Though this movie isn’t quite as much of a mind blower as those predecessors, it’s a wild American fairytale with a few possibly-real-life ingredients that can be thoroughly enjoyed.

Dan in Real Life

One of the better comedies of what’s come out lately. Enjoyable.

The Bucket List

The Last Mimzy

We really liked this one… apparently based on the whole “Alice in Wonderland” mystic, but cute & somewhat edifying. Again, it’s sometimes the seemingly useless little sister, not the smart alec big brother, who holds the key to the universe…

Yeah, this one was nice… What things would you do if you knew you were going to kick the bucket soon?

P.S. I Love You

Ignoring some of the negative ratings this movie got on some Christian sites like Crosswalk, we went ahead and watched it anyway, and were not disappointed. Plus, the movie reveals one of the big secrets of all times about what it is that women really want...

Michael Clayton

One of the better movies we've seen of late, and definitely one of the best roles George Clooney played in recent years.

Akeelah and the Bee

Great re-encounter with Laurence Fishburne (“Morpheus” from the “Matrix”) as tutor of a girl who participates in a spelling contest.

Charlie Wilson’s War

Shows what one man can do when he’s got the determination to do it. From an era when American foreign politics weren’t the bloody mess yet that they’ve become since.

Resurrecting the Champ

Checking Out

No, this is not just another boxing movie, but a movie about honesty vs. twisting the truth for personal advantage.

An aged Jew in N.Y. (Peter Falk, alias Columbo) decides it’s time for him to “check out,” but upon realizing that folks around him don’t agree, finds out what a dumb and selfish idea that was.

Run Fat Boy Run

The Great Debaters

The moral of this British comedy: “The hare never made it, but the tortoise did.”

Shows what the Afro-American population was up against in large parts of their country until not too long ago… Brilliant, if you like intelligent scripts.

Surf's Up Of all the penguin movies that have come out over the past few years, I guess this one’s my favorite. Light entertainment only, though, no big life-changing experience. (Of course, the story is about as true as Alice in Wonderland...) But wait... there IS a lesson to be learned from the story: Every now & then you've got to forget about the "contest" or (rat race) of life and whether you're going to be a loser or a winner, and just enjoy the ride for the fun of it... Once you get the hang of the fun of things (like doing your job for God), regardless of whether you're going to win the trophy (or crown), you actually start becoming good at it, and that's when you start becoming good at life itself.

Freedom Writers Ooops, almost forgot about this one! Great and a must see for anyone dealing with young people!

In The Time of the Butterflies Everybody has heard about the big bad guys like Hitler and Stalin, and maybe a few others. This movie tells the story of one more of the probably countless other little Hitlers most of us have never heard about and some of his victims. It makes you wonder where the people who stood up against them in spite of the odds took the courage. But they did. Somehow God must

have given it to them, and in the end, the good side finally won. It has always been like that, and it will always be like that, even during the time of the greatest Hitler this world will have ever seen. The greatest challenge, as this movie brings out, is always to wake up the sleeping masses who don't want to know what's going wrong. It's always been like that, and from the look of it, it always will...

Lions for Lambs During the first few minutes into "Lions for Lambs" I thought I was watching U.S. government propaganda justifying the "War on Terror" and presenting the official 9/11 fairy-tale as truth. For one thing, I have never met any U.S. troops in real life as educated, well behaved and civilized as in any of those movies (and God knows I've played for a lot!), nor could I imagine an American politician in real life as whitty as the Senator Tom Cruise played in this movie. Another 15 minutes into the movie I figured this must have been the smartest piece of U.S. propaganda I had ever watched. Thankfully, it turned out to be no Neocon propaganda, after all, just a pretty good screen monument to the times we're living in, some sort of "golden finger" on the pulse of our times. The type that carries a message, which, sadly, will require a miracle for any significant amount of people to grasp, but part of the message was that it doesn't matter if it's just a single person who gets it, as long as that person does something about it for a change.

As someone who grew up on the '71 album "Who's Next" by "The Who," THE album by that band that's worth listening to, I was particularly thrilled about the little historic gem woven into this film when Meryl Streep (posing as awakening journalist Janine Roth) quotes one of my favorite songs from the album. A line that has come to my mind repeatedly in my life, whenever I see one regime or administration replaced by another, only to change absolutely nothing, especially not for the better: "Meet the new boss; the same as the old boss!" Taken from the classical piece of rock music "Won't Get Fooled Again." Except that the title couldn't be further from the truth. If there's anything that hits you about the general public per se, it's that they've been fooled over and over and over again since the song came out. The bad guys in the movie are the politicians, sharing the blame with the news media, and the ray of hope is supposedly the beacon of education. What American producers like Robert Redford lack the guts to realize, of course, is that the sacred golden cow of education is just as much a hoax as politics and the media, and what's worse, movie makers who paint a reality a far cry from what's really happening. As long as people around the world can keep their Hollywood scope of things, the world isn't desperate enough yet for anyone to actually do something else besides watch movies and talk, even though this one was at least an effort to be a voice for the truth, even if the trumpet is sounding a signal that won't be understood by many, much less spur more than a handful to action, or even more than that special, chosen one...

Love in the Time of Cholera

Love is forever, and if this movie doesn't prove it - since it's based on a novel - then at least it proves that there are other dreamers beside myself who believe it. Set against the backdrop of one of the most gloriously beautiful countries on God's earth, "Love In the Time of Cholera" tells a slightly different love story, one perhaps too good to be true, and yet in some ways more true to life than the evening news, and definitely truer than the outgrowths of Hollywood's pop culture with its never ending hails to youth, and labeling anything past a certain age as unfit for life. That's probably what I love most about this movie: it tells the truth about who really are the dead ones and who are the alive, or at least rings home the fact that love - as well as life (truly lived) does not have anything to do with age.

By the somber review this movie received on Crosswalk, I expected a gory dram, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it's a witty comedy instead, to be enjoyed thoroughly. Looking forward to seeing more of Anton, although it's unlikely he'll easily find another role like Charlie Bartlett to play...

Elizabethtown

Charlie Bartlett I think the first thing one would have to say about this movie is, that it's refreshingly different. Maybe only so because of the performance of the main actor, a kid I'd never heard about, (Anton Yelchin,) or maybe because it was made in Canada... It only got a lukewarm rating on the Christian movie sites, probably because of it's blatant honesty, that's simply too much for that kind of religious hypocrisy, where it's okay to slaughter thousands in the name of God and President, but sex is a sin...

Every now and then something happens that threatens to shake all my "Woe-is-America" convictions and what some people would term antiAmerican sentiments in its foundations. Having watched the 2005 flick "Elizabethtown" recently was one of those events. As much as you want to hate Americans for their stupidity in actually swallowing the garbage their President is saying - or the majority of their paid-off preachers, for that matter - you can't help loving its culture, its music, and the people who show that side of America, even if the only place it actually exists is in its movies.

27 Dresses

Although the backdrop of this movie couldn't be more cliché-ridden: another wedding (or rather, a whole bunch of'em), in the "most wonderful city on earth," inhabited by "the most wonderful people on earth," - as if New York City were the epitome of paradise, instead of just another stinking, oversized, overcrowded, over-prized and over-rated city, the story has a refreshing twist, and is one of the best in-depth character studies I've seen of late. Especially those familiar with the Enneagram will be delighted to find the proto-type of a professional TWO, who is being thoroughly dissected by the man who dares to question everything she ever loved and stood for, but whom she also ultimately winds up together with - which, of course, is, where the realism stops again, but then, you never know... Wrap the whole thing up in the well-flavored humor, pretty decent acting, and try to ignore the seen-it-athousand-times-before "N.Y. = Fairyland" backdrop, and you'll find yourself an actually thoroughly enjoyable film.

Only Reality's More Bizarre Than "IGOR"

Ghost Town Yet another New York fairy tale, trying to get us to believe that Manhattan is filled with exclusively lovely people and ghosts, except, perhaps, for the dentist Ricky Gervais (the Brit we frowned upon recently, in "A Night At the Museum") mimics so superbly that you can even watch this film twice and still laugh at his antics. Another one for Enneagram freaks: This dude's a fairly obvious FIVE on his way to redemption via the path of love. Thoroughly enjoyable.

My childhood fascination for cartoon movies is paying off big- time these days, in a way I'd never expected. Because modern cartoons seem to possess a quality that news channels and official media sources seem to have lost decades ago, and thus you can probably learn more about the reality we currently live in from this movie than from being tied to an arm chair and forced to watch Fox News for 72 hours in a row.

Of course, they wouldn't tell you the truth about the fake reality that our evil kings are making us take at face value, forcing us to resort to evil, and especially all sorts of evil inventions, in order to survive. Nor would they imply that the underdogs and "Igors" of this world (in News lingo also referred to as "rebel forces," "insurgents" or "terrorists") are often a lot smarter than the evil inventors who run this place. Well, you'll have to find out who the monster created in this film resembles in your life. But when you find out, be careful who you're going to reveal this discovery to, if you want to enjoy a peaceful and quiet rest of the evening. Oh, did I mention it? The sarcastic humor in this movie is highly contagious, so junkies, watch out! Then again, some folks - just as with the "Matrix" or any other movies that are truer than life somehow never dig it, and for them it's just a pretty odd movie... Possibly because they've never been an Igor...

It certainly drives home the feeling of vindication the racially discriminated part of the American population must have felt after Obama licked McCain... The acting & directing of this movie are both great. You'll have to blame the ending on real life & its sometimes weird ways.

The Go Getter

The Express

Isn't it weird sometimes, how something you don't have anything to do with in real life can nonetheless be a great inspiration to you via the movies? Take football, for instance, in Texas a religion, as they say in this movie, but zero relevance to my actual life as a musician... And yet some of the most inspiring movies I've seen over the past year were about football. Seems like God can use anything. Even a 23 year old kid to kick some racist ass and change the course of history while he was at it, maybe - just maybe - paving the way for the elections of 2008, nearly 50 years after the incidents of the story this movie tells...

While this road movie probably wouldn't rank among my favorite, potential life changers (I like my life changed regularly, if not frequently, so I allow what some would call fate -and I prefer to call Godgreater access to that possibility, even via something as trivial as movies), I liked it because of its positive twist, compared to, for example, Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" with its sobering, if not depressing ending. But I still wouldn't have bothered featuring it on this blog, hadn't it occurred to me sort of retrospectively that it has one of those metaphor factors in it, that I've discovered a few other times, as in "Serenity" or, of course, "The Miracle Worker," which triggered a torrent of reactions in my mind that still hasn't come to an end... Some people see ghosts, others see the Devil everywhere; well, I prefer to see God everywhere or in everything, and holy ghosts, for that matter. And I happen to be able to see His fingerprints on this movie, too, although I doubt that the makers of the film intended it any more than Paul McCartney intended writing a song about an Endtime prophetess when he penned "Let It Be." Inspiration's a funny thing.

Okay, the plot in my mind is this: The kid in the film is a lot like many of us on the road of life, who sort of break free from the System (he quits school), not really feeling much at home in that place to begin with. So, first he runs into the kind of stuff the world has to offer: a fist in the face, false love and counterfeit thrills in drugs, all the while, though, communicating with a voice that he feels "at home with," even though it belongs to someone he's wronged (since he stole her car, and hey, who of us gives God the credit for lending us the vehicle with cruise through life with?), met only with forgiveness on the condition of regular communication with her (sounds to me like the way we can obtain forgiveness via prayer...) When things look pretty dark & bleak, all of a sudden that embodiment of unconditional love stands right in front of him, ready for more than just comforting words, and while that relationship is not without its ups and downs either (as I'm sure all of our relationships with God aren't, either), there is, lo and behold, a happy ending in sight - and that in spite of disappointments galore from anywhere else, which again confirms my personal experience: only God cuts the cake. Some folks have great difficulties with any insinuations or attempts to ascribe female attributes to God or the Holy Spirit, but in my opinion they're trapped in some chauvinistic mindset that shaped their ideas of God more on the John Wayne movies they saw in their childhood than Genesis 1:27 and the rest of the Bible, thinking they're doing God a service by going to other countries & shooting off Hottentots, because that's just a real macho thing to do. Well, you can keep doing that, and keep watching your John Wayne movies, if you wish, I prefer neat little love stories with happy endings. After all, the Good Book doesn't picture our Maker with a gun strapped around his hip, stepping out into the glistening midday sun to bring a swift end to his evil opponent, but in childlike and what some I'm sure might call naive fashion simply states that God is Love.

A Good Woman Thoroughly enjoyable lessons on prejudice and gossip that we caught up with almost 5 years after release. Just the way a movie ought to be.

Jack & Jill vs. the World

Unbelievably, yet another flick cast in N.Y.City, "that great city" which, apparently, a lot of movie producers consider the "stage of the world." Possibly so. Well, it's nice to find - on that stage - a role played as nicely as that of Jack & Jill in this movie, as strongly opposing each other as they may initially be, and preaching a message that goes so much against the New York City Groove and its Wall Street Shuffle, and even has the audacity to label its game "stupid."

Thank you, Vanessa Parise, for making such a nice movie. My better half specially appreciated it, since she very much resembles "Jill," and Jack's conversion probably very much my own... that mysterious conversion taking place when someone stops chasing temporal things (as in "the pursuit of happiness") and actually starts living...

Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed!

10 Inch Hero

Behol d, truly one more American fairy-tale, but alas, one of hope and peace, justice and free sex for all... And that even during a time when you would have thought hippies had all been wiped out by the "war on terror." But there is a God and He loves us, even those of us who are hippies at heart, and even if there don't seem to be many other confirmations of that fact around than these concocted fantasy tales by dreamers like us, it's enough to keep us dreaming, or hoping that some day - against all odds - there are really going to be people like that walking on this planet, actually getting along wonderfully, and making love, not war.

I haven't featured any documentaries on this list so far, but I think Ben Stein's courage to be one of the few (secular) voices of truth, butting the media and mainstream description of Intelligent Design, deserves an exception. Even the title of the documentary alone, "Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed!" is a stroke of genius in itself, because by refusing to recognize the existence of intelligent information within the very basest form of life, namely within every living cell, and by refusing to acknowledge the fact that there can be no form of intelligent information without an Author, thus leaving the Evolutionary theory flawed at best, if not totally insufficient to explain where we came from, and thus crying desperately for a more sensible answer, the so-called "science" lobby Stein addresses in the movie prevents intelligent thought from happening altogether within their institutions. Equaling their bias to practices of both the 3rd Reich as well as formerly Communist East Germany (both nations heavily influenced by the teachings of evolution) couldn't be more appropriate. Apparently Ben is beginning to pay the consequences for his boldness, like any other lonely voice for the truth, but history will tell who were the blind, misled masses and who were the heroes that dared to speak up for the truth when nobody else did it...

Yes Man

I had read a few reviews of "Yes Man" before I finally dared to watch it. I like Jim Carrey, and have forgiven him for antics like "Ace Ventura" latest since "Truman Story," and, of course, "Bruce Almighty." I understand that some folks can't deal with some of the lessons that movies like "Bruce Almighty" or "Yes Man" have to offer. Maybe they're not the personality types that this type of lesson applies to, so they can't relate to them, or they have a "Smells Like Teen Spirit" attitude toward movies: "Here we are now, entertain us!" and don't want to be bothered with lessons from a movie screen. Well, I'm not a notorious "Yes Man," so I enjoyed what this movie has to say, and at the same time found it thoroughly enjoyable. Being a former owner and fond conosseur of Third Eye Blind's '99 debut album, I particularly enjoyed Jim's rendition of "Jumper," probably one of the best 1000 rock songs of all times. I was laughing till I cried... Apparently I wasn't the only one, judging by the amount of uploads of that scene to Youtube.

The "Making of" reveals that John Cusack originally didn't jibe too well with the kid who was to play the "Martian Child," which shows that regardless of our preferences or reservations, when it comes down to it, we've got to trust the Director of the "Big Picture" for the choice of our partners in the cast of the movie of our life... He knows best, dude.

Inside I'm Dancing

Martian Child I was just reminded of "Martian Child" this morning, a movie I must have watched before I started this list, because it belongs here, I'd say. Somewhat reminiscent of "K-Pax," the difference being that this one's based on actual events.

God bless the Irish. Because that's what it took to make a brilliant movie like the 2004 gem "Inside I'm Dancing." Remotely resembling British humor, yet the latter is infinitely less divine than what the Irish

come up with in their joix de vivre, as opposed to English cynicism, and in embracing that glimpse of spirituality that the Brits have traded in exchange for Darwin. Don't know why we missed this one for so long. Probably because our corner of the world is in a similar dilemma to her Majesty's. But better late than never. If you can handle hardcore humanity, try to see this one if you haven't yet.

your life from a different direction than we expected. If you like true-to life stories with a twist of determination to make lemonade out of the lemon life has handed us, and a glimpse of hope, then you'll probably enjoy this film as much as we did.

New In Town

Georgia Rule

I only like to feature movies here that either really moved me or have had some other kind of lasting impact on me through some lesson or other valuable information or message it conveys, and "Georgia Rule" lives up to those criteria. Probably anyone can in some way relate to or learn something from this pretty much true to life family story, whether they're a perfectionist distanced grandmother, a disillusioned parent, or a rebellious and confused teenager looking for a glimpse of real love and truthfulness out in that lost & lonely world of ours. For those of us who are certain that we have found our path it's a good reminder that no matter how well that path may work for us, we might have to adapt somewhat to those close to us who can't accept that path for themselves. For those of us who think we know all about people, it's a reminder to "look again" (the meaning of the word "re-spect"), because things people do or say aren't always what they seem; and for those of us who flee to poor substitutes in our sometimes frustrating quest for love it bears a glimpse of hope that true love is on its way, even if it may come into

I used to be a city slicker, brainwashed by the politically correct dogmas of our time until I discovered that the gist of what life is all about was found in a totally different direction than the pseudo-coolness and artificial hipness society forces on its victims in the process of finding players for its game. So, I could perfectly well relate to the role Rene Zellweger was playing in "New In Town." Coincidentally, I recently recorded the German version of the very Christmas hymn ("Come All Ye Faithful") that the villagers of "New Ulm" sang in the freezing winter of Minnesota - a hymn that the bulk of my former city acquaintances and "friends" would certainly sneer at and would not be able to relate to, but then I doubt if they've come to experience mere fractions of the joy the Christian life has to offer (along its many trials). While the heroism involved in moving from Miami to Minnesota remains the type that's probably purely reserved for the movies, I also share the belief that what really counts in life is the spiritual sunshine that springs forth from the believing hearts of friends, more so than fun in the sun (as much as I enjoy the latter). And if you should have made similar experiences in life, I'm sure you will enjoy this movie, too.

Girl's Best Friend

ever seen, and definitely more intellectually stimulating. For some, back in the 70s, Richard Nixon was the personification of evil. But what this movie sets out to show is that there's hope for anyone who is willing to admit their mistakes.

The Duchess

If you're one of those types of people who tend to regularly get upset with their fellow humans' nagging quality of sheer imperfection, and you're open to the possibility that "anything is possible," even that your life and critical character might be changed by a quadruped not much bigger than a football, (even if "its" name should be as corny as "Binky"), then you might enjoy this movie. It's an example of how life sometimes seemingly unjustly rewards the cold and cynical with undeserved happiness. Now, isn't that what life has been all about, for many of us - enjoying the undeserved?

Frost Nixon

While initially reluctant to watch a movie that was "only" about an interview with an illreputed politician from the 70s, all doubts were gone with the wind, pretty much as soon as it started. The actual interview turned out to be more exciting than any boxing match we'd

This one was definitely the pleasant surprise of the month. While it may not appeal to followers of the current Hollywood type of Christianity where extra-marital sex will wind you up in hell, but killing Muslims will land you in Heaven with the (former) President's personal blessing, those who have learned that the ways of God, love and life itself can sometimes indeed be mysterious and lead us beyond the confines of convention and artificial correctness, may find it quite enjoyable. I never get into any of that stuff of how brilliant the actors were. If they hadn't done their jobs well, I wouldn't waste my time recommending this movie. What I care mostly about in movies is the message (since I consider myself a messenger howbeit using a slightly different medium), and in this case we've got another beautiful testimony (since it's based on actual events) of how forgiveness is an integral part of love, and something be both need and need to learn to give, even if the circumstances may be less than fair and just, as well as of a time in which not everybody had the same freedoms, privileges and rights they may enjoy today, but still managed to be much happier and more fulfilled anyhow.

If you want to get a taste of how different life has been (and perhaps still is and can be in other cultures than our plastic Coca Cola culture), this movie is certainly an opportunity.

Nothing But the Truth

"Nothing But the Truth" is a great movie in my opinion, but can probably only be appreciated fully by those who can relate to having to pay any sort of price for standing up for one's convictions or staying true to their principles. It certainly isn't for those who tend to get bored if there isn't a shoot-out happening every 3 minutes in a movie, in intervals with something being blown up. On the other hand, as I've said elsewhere, the only place we really seem to find the heroism portrayed in this film, remains the movies, since the actual story it is based on doesn't seem to be quite as clear in defining martyrdom for the truth. Nevertheless it's a good reminder of what we all really should be: un-nudging, relentless, furious voices for the truth sticking to our convictions and principles at any cost, even though in real life those may not be working for the N.Y.Times... One fact the movie brings out, though: Freedom of speech and of the press is, and has been, and remains a thing of the past, (and not just under the Bush Administration), embraced by hopelessly idealistic men who fought to uphold human rights and freedoms long before they were replaced by the one right we have left: the right to remain silent. As far as tattling on your friends goes, an interesting question comes up: how far would

we go to protect our friends, acquaintances or brothers-in-arms in our fight for the truth? If the Pre-Tribulation-Rapturists are wrong (of which I'm unfortunately certain), we may all yet have to find out...

He's Just Not That Into You

I wasn't sure at first, if I was going to include this movie on this list, because in some way it resembles the experience I had when I watched "Signs" for the first time in the theater, shaking my head at the apparent nonsense I had paid to watch, until everything finally started making sense during the last 10 minutes or so of the film. The first and major part of "He's Just Not That Into You" is pretty much sheer, painful agony. Partly, because it's so true. Human beings are really that rotten, that motivated by cliches and Hollywood indoctrinations, and for the larger part of all that agony, you simply have to agree and understand why Jesus compared this mating game to the way things were before the days of Noah, and you come to the conclusion that our just punishment would be another flood to wipe us off the face of the earth. But then that's where grace comes along, and plays the sweetest trick on us and gives us just what we don't deserve in spite of ourselves; and contrary to all natural expectations and calculations, love will come

to you, pretty much like that wind that bloweth where it listeth, and canst not tell from whence it cometh or whither it goeth. All in all, suffice it to say that there is a lesson to be learned from this movie, even if in a little bit of a painful way... that way it hurts when we discover a bunch of awful truth about ourselves, and it makes you feel like the only thing we'd deserve is hell, while all along Salvation and Heaven are just waiting around the corner.

"Not Easily Broken" - The Definite Winner of 3 "Marriage Crisis" Features

Comparing "Not Easily Broken" with the "white" version of a similar, "Marriage gone bad finds redemption" we watched recently, "Fireproof," the former is definitely the winner in that it feels infinitely more like the real thing. Although "Fireproof" definitely has some lessons in it, and would urge us all to be the nice, good and clean white Christian that is portrayed as the hero of that plot, it wouldn't have much to offer to anyone who doesn't already attend the pews on Sunday mornings... In fact, people out in the real world with real problems, and often graver ones than being attracted to internet porn or the usual materialism, superficiality or just plain

horniness, probably wouldn't be able to relate to the nice, white, clean American Christian world that the makers of "Fireproof" live in. Whereas "Not Easily Broken" comes along much less preachy, and speaks from the heart instead, and thus, to the heart. You can relate to it, and even if you don't know anybody as well-tempered in real life as the main protoganist in this (after all, a) movie, you wish you would, and you kind of wish it was you. Probably a lot of people can relate to it and feel like "been there," and the lessons and good advice this movie offers aren't just head stuffing you can rave about with the brethren on Sunday morning. It's an everyday type of gospel, and what's even nicer, an everybody type of Gospel that not only the chosen few can relate to. Yet another feature on a similar theme, offering a re-encounter with "Titanic" dreamcouple Di Caprio and Winslet, presents the other side of the coin, what you could probably term the atheist version, in which the marriage gone bad winds up in total disaster. Although "Revolutionary Road" definitely has some valuable lessons to teach about the danger of compromising one's true vocation, or even staying true to himself for material gain and safety, it's a painful lesson indeed, and while the first 3 quarters of the movie are definitely promising, intellectually stimulating and challenging, the ending (spoiler intended!) is too depressing to consider it worth it, and the only thing the movie has got going for itself in the end is that you can tell your teenage daughter, "You see, that's what would have happened if the Titanic would not have gone under!"

The 5 People You Meet in Heaven Although perhaps not your average multimillion dollar production of cinematographic exuberance and extravaganza, since it's a TV production, and probably produced with a fraction of some piece of trash like "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," or many similar recent Hollywood outgrowths, this film has probably more to say than perhaps the last dozen of "big" movies I've seen, put together.

The Kite Runner A story of honor and courage from a culture as alien and foreign to most of us as the two aforementioned virtues in our society, in which the only virtue required is to be an obedient cog in the machine, and battles are fought with sophisticated weaponry that allow you to murder your enemy without even having to face him... As foreign as a tale from another world, except for such stories as these, brought to us by some story teller who happens to have found enough listening ears to make himself heard. A story of a world that once was, and what has become of it, leaving us with the only hope that God will fulfill His Promises to us that someday it will even be a better world than it ever was... It gives you a tiny glimpse of the fact that seems to totally elude most of us super smart, "evolved" and developed 21st century people, namely how little it is we really know, even about our own lives and the people who have touched it, and, thus, perhaps a little preview of the Eternity of surprises waiting for each of us at the end of our road.

The Answer Man: The Truth about Prophets

May your surprises be as pleasant as those of "Eddie Maintenance." "...And the world is full of stories. But all the stories are one."

Not every movie we watched over the past month or more has been worthy of their own post on my favorite movie list. There were two more outstanding ones for brilliant performances and nice plots: "Phoebe in Wonderland," featuring a stunning Elle Fanning (Dakota Fanning's younger sis), and "The Soloist," none of them really bearing a unique message that I look for in movies, at

least not any other than "The Man of La Mancha" did 50 years ago. So, I was happy for the privilege to watch another "winner" last night: "The Answer Man." While not altogether free from cliches & beentheres, the movie definitely has its own, new and unique message in spilling the beans about what a prophet actually is. Folks who are familiar with my considerably crazy ideas know that I believe God capable of communicating with us even via things like comedies. And in this case, He tells us how easy it is to be a prophet: You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to be a sinless saint, you don't even have to go to church. God is so desperate for folks who'll listen to what He's got to say these days, He'll communicate with anyone under the sole condition that they're interested. And I'm speaking from experience. God may have a lot of "fans" in the 21st century, and a whole bunch of acquaintances who come to visit Him in mass gatherings on Sundays, plus, of course, a lot of folks who are too scared stiff of Him to skip their daily prayers, but not a lot of friends who care to listen to what He's got to say. So, occasionally, he'll even make do with a rotten sinner like me or you or Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels), the hero of this story, for whom his questions to God (which he promptly found answered upon writing them down) spell both luck and misery at the same time, since the results turn into a best seller and make him famous as someone or something he knows best of all he's not. Throw in a little romance and a cute kid, and you get a fabulous twist on "Moses goes to Hollywood." - Or rather, to Philadelphia, which made for a nice break from the endless Big Apple backdrops of late.

My Life In Ruins: Coping with Cotravelers on the bus of life One of the deceptive factors about the theory of evolution is that people in this day and age think that no matter what they do, how many of their brain cells they drown in alcohol or drugs, thanks to the process of evolution, they're automatically bound to get smarter all the time.

When nothing - I mean, absolutely n.o.t.h.i.n.g. - could be further from the truth.

As a result we have a bunch of wise guys sitting along with us on the bus of life that aren't always exactly easy to love. While this movie won't exactly knock your socks off, it does give a few clues, or even if nothing but some glimpse of hope, that it's not entirely impossible. So, if you have a hard time coping with the devastating gap between what the world (and folks in it) ought to be like (according to your personal standards and ideas) and the way it actually is, this story might cheer you up a little.

Waitress After the last two dozen of mediocre movies we watched that wouldn't have been worth wasting any web space or time on, (if you're out for something more than entertainment and happen to need something that grabs you by the... well, whichever place a movie's supposed to grab ya), it was good to finally enjoy the privilege of watching another "winner," which in my opinion, "Waitress" definitely was.

After the last two dozen of mediocre movies we watched that wouldn't have been worth wasting any web space or time on, (if you're out for something more than entertainment and happen to need something that grabs you by the... well, whichever place a movie's supposed to grab ya), it was good to finally enjoy the privilege of watching another "winner," which in my opinion, "Waitress" definitely was. I like movies that teach you something about life, even if the plot isn't all as intricate as the "Matrix," and one of the things you can - if you're attentive - already grasp from the first twenty minutes of this film is a fact that seems to elude some folks for most, if not all of their lives: The fact that we're not all the same. People are different. You may have certain goals and ambitions in life, you may want to be successful, rich or famous, but don't try to squeeze everybody into that same frame of mind of yours. Because there are different types of personalities around, and one person may have the need to dominate, another may have the need to succeed, or be secure, or to just be left alone, while yet others simply have the need to be loved for who they truly are. And then there's another clue about that weird little thing called life: not only are people different from each other, but the person you are today may also be a totally different person than the one you might be tomorrow, or next year, or definitely in twenty years from now. Some people change the moment they marry and become the monster they wouldn't have dared to show before, and others change the minute they have a baby and realize that something's been at work here that busts all previous confines and mindsets and schisms. The master of the game may have drilled the

Gospel of conformity into all of us for a century, getting most of us perhaps to accept that we're nothing more than mammals, and no matter how well your species may have mutated over the past 50 billion years, that's what you'll always be. But every now and then something happens that dares to defy all that - excuse my French bullshit and reveals that certain spark that makes the difference between us humans and our four-legged friends, even if some will refuse to see it until their deaths. It's the kind of "something" that happens while watching a movie like "Waitress" and even blows a magical breath of life into an otherwise totally idiotic ditty about baking pies, all of which (the "something," the "magic" and all that goes with it), only perceptible to those who actually walk through life with their spiritual senses activated. Well, you may not be getting all this same stuff out of watching this movie, but that's because we're different. And if you're into people - I mean other people apart from the doubtlessly most important person to you: yourself - then you're going to enjoy this one. I suppose it will always take a woman to make a movie like that. Perhaps because women don't restrict their thinking or knowing to that rational process men use the thing between their ears for - and as a man I'm allowed to say that. "Waitress" is definitely not one for our pious brothers and sisters who insist that love can only be found within the sacred boundaries of marriage. But if it's reality you're after, you'll probably get a better taste of it with this pie than from a bucket full of evening news... The reality of being human to the core, that is so utterly different from the advanced ape-man mentality we're usually told to take on. Call us decadent, call us shameless, sinful, and blame it all on that odious Creator who obviously didn't know what He was doing, but Who loves us humans to pieces anyway, and maybe - just maybe one day so will you.

Chaos Theory Over Her Dead Body

I guess I wasn't ready for the implying message of this movie when I first saw it some years ago. Probably I was still too stuck on the fatalistic, Hollywood cliche revolving the "falling in love" and "soul mate" myths, and would have seriously doubted the veracity of the statement made toward the end of the film that one can pretty much determine to love anyone. It's not a magical thing that happens as destined by the fates or it won't. We have the power to make it happen. "Coincidentally," on the very day I watched this film for the second time last week, during one of the usual crises life brings that make you wholeheartedly agree with the father of the bride when he tells the groom in the movie, "Life's a mess!" and that make you concoct your own "chaos theories," I had read { HYPERLINK "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/12/24/AR2009122400 057.html" } about a new book by psychologist and author Robert Epstein who has proven in his own life the message to be true which I (like probably a lot of fellow Hollywood junkies) had previously not been ready to accept. Life is a mess; life is a mystery; but the good thing is, we still have some say in the matter.

I like ghost movies. Perhaps because they're one of the few places where life after death is being dealt with in a way that people aren't scared of. And so, I definitely like this one, which may not change anybody's life, but at least guarantees some decent, fairly wholesome entertainment (including a surprising twist on the obligatory usual show of political correctness toward the gay issue...).

The Time Traveler’s Wife

While there is no deeper spiritual lesson to be found in this movie apart from the sheer beauty of people who for some reason are open to the supernatural, it is so well made and emotional that I've just got to feature it in this list among my favorites. It's simply thoroughly enjoyable.

Weather Girl

We all know it - in theory: money and success don't really make you happy, and security is only an illusion, but how many of us really live according to that knowledge? Most of us keep chasing paper as if it was the holy grail, and we settle for the "safe" option as soon as it comes along. After all, it's been drilled into us: we owe it to society. "Weather Girl" is another reminder of life's lesson we constantly forget, that there are, indeed, more important things than money and our elusive security (as in: a "good" job, a wealthy husband - if you're a woman - etc.), such as friends, real love and honesty. If you're anywhere near as idealistic as we are - my better half and I - when it comes to these things (and I ought to know: she stuck with a "loser" for love's sake), then you'll like this movie as much as we did.

City Island

My biblical guiding theme for the year is Luke 12:2: "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known," and there is probably hardly a movie that brings out this point better than "City Island." In a world where cover-ups and lies galore all contribute to the great confusion surrounding us, it's a ray of hope to know that eventually, as truly as there is a God, the truth will come out, and all secrets, and the way things really happened (as opposed to the "official" fairytale) will be revealed. So, if honesty's your policy, you'll enjoy this movie the way we did, and you can join us looking forward to the day the above Promise will be fulfilled.

The Blind Side

It promotes a fresh and strange openness and honesty that strikes you as totally not-of-this world. Long live not-of-this-world!

No matter how ridiculous and perhaps somewhat barbaric American sports, politics and worldviews may seem to the rest of the world, or how naive their religion and patriotism (the two of which are often hard to

tell apart), you simply don't find a lot of stories like the one told in "The Blind Side" in other parts of the world, - The kind of story that grabs you emotionally and at the same time tempts you to brush it off as just another "American Dream" or fairy-tale, until the real folks the movie was all about show up at the end and you find out it was actually based on a true story. Perhaps the countries and peoples with the greatest weaknesses and flaws are at the same time also those with the greatest strengths and vice versa. Perhaps God is simply showing off that He can use anything; whatever it is, it just makes you thankful that folks like the Tuhoys actually exist, no matter how rotten the rest of the world may seem at times. Folks who somehow manage to practice that magic of "Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of My brethren, you have done it to Me." It makes all the other rubbish: the politics, the idiotic sports, the naivete, vanish and for that moment speak louder than all those other factors. Maybe it's all just Hollywood hype and manipulation, but idiots will always exist anywhere, even without Hollywood, and if there's only a quarter of truth in this story and the way it is told here, then it's commendable, certainly watchable, and - for whatever it's worth - inspiring. After all, the cynics of the world accuse us believers of just swallowing cooked-up stories about our Savior Who walked on water and fed multitudes with miracle bread, too, but it doesn't make them any happier, either, and for the most of what I've seen, not any more charitable citizens, either. So, may Christian nuts believing in outstanding Christian values, spurring them on to outstanding Christian acts live on, and the cynics do whatever they may do. May the critics tear apart Sandra Bullock's "distortion" of the original character of Leigh Ann Tuohy, we still think she was great in this one. If "blessed are the poor in spirit" means to be dumb and simple enough to be enjoying a movie like this, then I will wholeheartedly join the ranks of those blessed and let the intellectuals torture themselves to death with

their never-ending cynicism. Sometimes it's cool not to know that certain things can't happen or can't be done, and ignorance truly is bliss when the ignorant happen to know a few things that the sages simply don't dare to believe. I'd definitely rank this one among the top ten movies of 2009.

Avatar

I know, I know: "Avatar" is a bad movie with evil New Age doctrines that should in no way appear on any Christian's list of favorite movies. Well, I've covered that more than sufficiently (in the “Other Movies” section), and why I dare to disagree. This is my personal list of favorites, and I understand that people will beg to differ, just as I understand that some folks will listen to Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra or Britney Spears rather than the type of music I prefer... Feel free to make your own list if you don't agree with my personal taste, that's just fine. I had my doubts about watching it, too. But it was a whole lot better than I had expected, including the message. You see, the bad thing about Christianity - as in, the way our faith is currently being practiced by the majority of Christians - is that a lot of what our enemies have to say about us is sadly but actually true. Let's face it: Christians are generally a bunch of greedy,

materialistic, separatist bunch who will gladly follow any maniac - as long as he sits in the White House - to butcher the god-damned pagans in the four corners of the world in the name of the figment of their imagination they call "god." But I have personally experienced the true God to be too much of a "tree-hugger" Himself to coincide with His Corporate, officially advertised version. Yes, in some aspects, this movie is antiChristian. But the amount of truth in it still outweighs that factor, because a lot about the way modern Christianity is being practiced on a large scale (and by "modern" I'm referring roughly to the past 1700 years), is not based on the truth of Jesus Christ anymore, but is ridden with lies, half-truths and compromises with other evil deities like Mammon, Mars, bringing a lot of Hades (death) to its victims. I don't expect you to agree with me. I've considered other movies crap that others raved about (such as the original Star Wars trilogy). But I genuinely liked this one. If the Western life-style of Corporate America and its colonies is more important to you than the raw truth of God, then, ouch, I believe watching this movie can hurt. But if you have truly come to know that all the truth you'll ever need is wrapped up in the 3 words, "God is Love," you might enjoy it even in spite of the parts of its message that come across as "New Age" or whatever. I'd rather have peaceful New Age than warmongering "Christianity," because both are a lie, the former being the lesser evil. Read the Gospels, if you don't believe it!

It’s Complicated

If you have a bigger problem with adultery than with the absurdity of your President receiving the Nobel Peace Prize while waging war in 3 countries, you obviously won't like this movie. If, however, you're into people: what their needs are, their feelings and what makes them tic, instead of religious dogmas that artificially make you feel better than your fellowmen, you might enjoy it as thoroughly as we did. Granted, the movie has a few moments that come across as a little less than real or even right. For instance, you might catch yourself thinking, "Gee, I never thought I'd ever have to watch Steve Martin kissing Meryl Streep." But latest by the time they both light up a joint, you'll know why he was chosen for this role, and the laughs and brilliant "people moments" in the film will rapidly make up for any of its flaws. For anyone who has ever been divorced and knows that these things indeed are complicated, this should be quite enjoyable, although the ultimate lesson to be gleaned from it may be nothing more than a reminder of the way Joni Mitchell once put it: "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?"

Everybody’s Fine

To be quite frank, this is not the type of movie I'd be looking forward to watching a seond time, since the bulk of it is ridden with the bitter taste of reality - that of children lying to their parents as a result of parents lying to their children, to each other, etc. - and, after all, isn't that the one thing we're all escaping when watching movies - reality, and the principal reason why movies are a trillion dollar industry? But then, this movie certainly has its lessons to teach, the protruding one of which might be summed up in the sigh, "If people could only accept one another for who and what they are, instead of expecting them to reach some selfimposed standard of their living our own 'impossible dream,' this world might be a better place. In a society where achievement is what defines you, rather than your character or other inner values, the way to reach that goal of achievements - or at least the pretense of them being there - is paved with one thing that has been prominent in a few recent movies, like "The Informant" or "City Island:" lies. It's as if we're all creating our own little matrix for our fellowmen in retaliation for the Matrix of the big lies our leaders are creating for us, and - aren't they showing us which way we're supposed to go, after all? Most of us, frankly, don't care too much about the truth to begin with, so, they're quite comfortable with that. Others, like De Niro's character in this film (some say his best yet), wouldn't mind occasionally being told the truth for a change. Once the illusions are destroyed and forgotten, lo and behold - who would have ever thought so? - life actually becomes enjoyable again, and "they all lived happily ever after."

Tenure

You know those movies featuring a total loser who's doing so bad that it actually becomes embarrassing? They're probably aimed at making us feel better about ourselves, the real losers, out there in that strange dimension called reality-land, trying to cheer us up that every loser can strike a happy ending and somehow, thanks to Hollywood magic, turn winner again... Well, "Tenure" is one of those, with the relatively fresh twist that our "hero" is a college teacher. He's great at teaching, but not really good at anything else. His students love him, but his colleagues hate him. Plus, his best friend falls into the category of "With friends like that, who needs enemies?" It's got heart, though, and though this film is by no means guaranteed to knock your socks off, if the same thing can be said of you, I mean, the "heart" thing, then you might like it. Especially if you've ever been in a situation trying to figure out how to get through to members of the younger generation, or you believe in Bigfoot, or you happen to like Gretchen Mol... At first I wasn’t going to include this film on my list of favorites, but then I was reminded that among all the balderdash of loserdom and Yeti-hunting, there lay a lesson far too important to ignore. When Charlie Thurber (Luke Wilson) is asked to share his secret to his popularity with his students he wisely states that part of being a good teacher is to always remain a student to some extent.

That’s one of the major lessons in life right there. The problem with most people is all the stuff they think they know. There’s no room for anything new, much less the recognition of anything valuable you might learn from others, even if they’re your students. Any fruitful process in life has always got to be a two-way street. Think of it: if even God needs us, who are we to refuse the input from our fellowmen, even if it sometimes seems to be pretty weird stuff?

Edge of Darkness

way of all flesh and the Travoltas of this world in this aspect. Apart from the political message, the plot is also infinitely more intelligent than your average "Kill the Ayatollahs" rah-rahs. There's always a lot more suspense involved in watching someone fight a real enemy, a ruthless and well protected enemy. Enemies that have the power of the authorities on their side, and it's so much closer to reality. Needless to say, I'd highly recommend this movie way over the formerly mentioned type of Rambo-garbage, and would like to express my sincere gratitude to director Martin Campbell for creating a film that was not destined to insult the relatively few properly working intellects left on planet earth.

My Sister’s Keeper

I like movies in which - for a change - the culprits are not your usual bearded, dark skinned, carpet-cutter wielding Hottentots from the outskirts of Godforsakistan, but the ones who are much more likely to be the real culprits, and I honor every director and actor who participates in such a screen statement, which requires a lot more courage than blaming it all on the Arabs, like the recent "From Paris With Love."

Death, I believe, isn't as much the terrible thing many of us make it out to be as is their terrible lack of maturity shown in the inability to deal with it.

I also like movies which show that sometimes perhaps often - you have to give your life in your fight for the truth, because, after all, life may be a lot shorter than some of us think, and the only thing that will have made it worth living in the first place will have been the amount of truth lived during those years we will then look back on.

Of course, if you believe that life is merely the result of random chemicals having met under one hell of a bunch of lucky circumstances, and that when the lights are out, "game's over" for good, you'll beg to differ, & you'll hate this movie. But when you actually happen to know the mathematical probability for that scenario, you'll like it.

Hollywood producers always have this choice to make, about how much they're going to compromise with the truth for the sake of political correctness, popularity and gain, and I'd say kudos to Mel Gibson for not going the

Apparently, most folks are real bad at maths, & so they hate thinking, talking, or watching movies about death. Some fight it tooth and nail, like the dear mother Cameron Diaz portrays in this story.

It's tough for some folks to let go, tough to admit that another should determine some things that concern the outcome of their life, or some aspect of it they feel they're in charge of. Ultimately, we'll all have to cope with the fact that Someone else is and was in charge all along, and that's when life will finally become livable again for those around us. On a positive note, imagine you knew you were going to die within a certain amount of time, and you'd invest that time in creating a beautiful gift for your loved ones to let them know how much they meant to you... Personally, I prefer that scenario over the bad surprises that people get who have allowed movies of super heroes surviving hundreds of explosions and thousands of bullets to convince them of their immortality... Sooner or later it's going to be wake up time for everyone, & we'll find out it won't be half as bad as we thought it was before we started doing our maths.

Green Zone: So Much for "Weapons of Mass Destruction"

folks on the globe who still use that stuff between their ears and don't swallow every bit of NWO propaganda blowing their way. Green Zone, which also could have been titled, "The Way to Start a War in the 21st Century" describes the reason why in our era of enlightenment 1.5 Million Iraqis had to bite the dust thus far on behalf of our democratic concepts of liberty and justice for all... cough, choke... excuse me, that was my lunch! Who cares? Right. Who does, when you're sitting up on the top of the world with your remote and a cool Bud? Well, apparently the makers of this film cared enough to put a few million bucks in the sand for the love of that greatest of taboos of the 21st century called truth, and while it certainly isn't your average fix of "Here we are now: entertain us!" you can learn something from it. Namely, how to start a war in the 21st century: You take some high ranking government official from D.C. and have him call some career-horny journalist (what better place to find those than Wall Street?) and tell them some fairy tale about an inside informant on WMDs hidden in Big Bad Terror Country (remember: anything that wears a head covering is guilty, if you're a true American), and off the boys are to wreak havoc over there, yielding millions of bucks in those politicians' pockets, trillions more for the tax payers' unpayable debtload (and their children's and children's children's), heaps of corpses, and just about any evil imaginable beneath the sun, except them darn WMDs which seem to have dissolved into thin air like the Scarlet Pimpernel: "Some seek them here, some seek them there..." But no worries, those politicians know their flocks: they know that after a few months of slaughter, nobody will give a hoot about that cheap excuse to just start another war. After all, it's just another one in a long line of wars since the beginnings of the greatest icon of democracy and enlightenment since the world began... And the good thing about bearing that image is, you can't possibly ever be wrong, no matter how much blood you shed in the process.

While this film may not have the visual quality and technical special effects that make the masses flock to see movies like "From Paris With Love," it contains the rare element of truth that has become the object of the affection of a small minority of

Would I recommend this movie if you're looking to be entertained? Not in your life! Would I, if you intend to make use of that clot of mass between your ears in this life-time? You bet.

Other Movies Additional Input on Some Films, Recommended or Not Index: Amadeus Antwone Fisher Avatar Away from Her Desert Flower From Paris With Love Funny People Harry Browne I Love You, Man Interstate 60 Matrix Miracle Worker, The Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind New Moon Pan's Labyrinth Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Precious Reign Over Me Rushmore Serenity Skellig Taking Chance The Combination The Corporation The Lovely Bones The Road Triangle Twilight Whisper of the Heart

ALL ABOARD SERENITY!

The Message Behind "Serenity" It wasn't the obvious type one would catch at first glance. But one statement in the otherwise quite action packed & entertaining movie was too true to be just entertainment. The part in which we get to know the 'Serenity' crew and they talk about how survival is being made tougher & tougher for independent little guys like them - 500 years into the future - so similarly to the way it is for folks like us here & now, independent little artists & movie makers. There had to be something else beside that. And then it dawned on me: "Pax," (latin for Peace), the gas that the government, "the alliance" (New World Order?) had added to the atmosphere of the planet Miranda in order to free the population from its aggressions had made 90% of the population so "peaceful" that they not only stopped fighting, but eventually everything else, too, including eating and breathing, so they just died, while it converted the other 10% into ravenous & hideous cannibals, attacking everything that moved in order to eat them alive... Sounds just like the wonderful "Peace" programs the New World Order so all-knowingly imposes on us, its victims, 24/7 via the poisonous gases of deceit it dispels into our ether in form of the constant propaganda that's lulling the majority into a peaceful sleep, do-nothing attitude and spiritual death, while forcing the minority who won't swallow that stuff into positions of total antagonism and opposition without limits, also known as terrorism. In other words, just as the "Alliance" was creating the cannibalistic "Reavers," (if that's the spelling... I didn't read the subtitles), so the New World Order is really creating terrorism and the anti-western and anti-American antagonism that's making the poorer minorities cry out for Jihad, a holy war against all that New World Order tummyrot. The demons those wise guys on top are creating are literally eating the population of the world alive, because, as usual, they were too smart to think they had to include God in their program, and as they say in Germany, "they made their bill without the keeper of the inn." So, "XLNT!" is my personal rating for "Serenity" on second thought. From what I gather, (as an outsider, since I never heard of the "Firefly" TV show until I saw the specials on the DVD), the makers of this movie were a little bit in the same fix that a lot of bright minds find themselves in who are just too bright to be dimmed by the mainstream hogwash: the fate of being met with a lot of resistance & cold shoulders. But then there are always those who still appreciate good work when they see it. True Art fans of the world unite & hop aboard the "Serenity"!

Interstate 60

April 9, ‘07

Once again, we were watching "Interstate 60" last night, an outstanding little movie about an imaginary but legendary character, sometimes named O.W.Grant, (he's got a few other names besides), whose job in life it is, to grant one wish to those he comes across, most of which - to his amusement - are quite foolish and often selfish, resulting in the usual "leanness to our souls" that the fulfilment of such requests bring. All until he comes across a different kind of young man who instead of the usual selfish ambitions only has one wish: to find an answer! His quest takes him down a bizarre road of events and encounters which first of all seem to open his eyes to where the answer is not found: Those who seek it in selfish pleasure, intoxication, clichés, in fact, anywhere else but in the truth, inevitably will be disappointed. But by refusing to compromise and yield to the ever-present temptations in life, he not only finds the answers to life's riddles he's been seeking, but also the love of his life. Sounds like a dream - which, in a way, it is - but it's also that very same day-to-day's realityturned-to-dream that we live once we have found the Answer-Man, Jesus, Who supplies us with the answers to everyday's riddles that life presents us. As long as we go through life seeking anything else but answers, or even refuse to recognize the question marks, I reckon, we're not even really living. But for those who truly wish to see and know and don't settle for any fake, there will be an answer! The cynics laugh at such starry-eyed naiveté, but they can laugh all they want: it's inevitable -There will be an answer!

The Miracle Worker

April 18, ’07

We've seen the 1962 movie "The Miracle Worker" the other day, about the early life and conversion of Helen Keller, the girl who was blind and deaf from the time she was 19 months old, and who was destined to see what many seeing people could not see, and still can't. The secret all lay in the discovery of MEANING: that every thing – everything - has a meaning, a name. Before that, her life was a meaningless existence, a simple grabbing whatever she could in order to feed and still her hunger without any sense or purpose, just darkness and ignorance. Just like the countless lives of seeing and hearing people today who are totally oblivious to the fact that there is such a thing as a meaning and a purpose to their existence, other than feeding and dressing their bodies, the outer shells of who they really are, or moving that shell from A to B in the most elegant manner or vehicle. Oddly enough, this confrontation with meaning sparked the fuse of my own meaning and purpose of existence, which from this moment on will be to help others become aware of the existence of meaning. Just like Ann Sullivan, the formerly blind teacher who painstakingly managed to convey the meaning of Helen Keller's world by spelling out the words into her hand time and time again in an alphabet for the deaf and blind, consisting of hand signs, I am determined to make it my goal to bring awareness of the fact that there is such a thing as a meaning and a purpose to this life to the spiritually blind and deaf I am surrounded by on this planet, fully aware of the fact that I will be met with even much stronger resistance than Ann Sullivan by the initially stubborn and furious Helen Keller (especially by those who already think they see - as Jesus experienced in the 9th chapter of the Gospel of John). In fact, my own life will be meaningless unless I manage to convey to someone, anyone out there the concept of meaning, the awesome but true notion, that in fact, our life - and everything in it - does have a meaning. Drilled and brainwashed into believing that as results of innumerable random "coincidents" in Space, zillions of years ago, there is nosuch thing as "meaning" to all of us insignificant "accidents," conveying the concept of meaning to people will certainly be a tough job, but the only worthy cause I can think of. How could I join the masses in their endless game of routinely feeding, dressing and spoiling merely the empty shells of their true beings, when I have once been blind myself, void of the knowledge that there was a light, oblivious to the concept of a meaning to anything, much less my own existence? It was a medicine I didn't want to swallow at first, a truth I initially refused to hear, the one that eventually healed me of my spiritual blindness, deafness and inability to truly communicate. I was just as reluctant to accept and embrace the Teacher as Helen, kicking and slapping His face over and

over again, only to finally succumb into the arms that assured me of their everlasting, unconditional love. Yes, there is a purpose to life, ladies and gentlemen, including every oh so seemingly meaningless thing, event and paradox in it, and thus there has to be One Who puposed it, planned it. And what other, simpler meaning could there be in life, than discovering that Maker, and finding out from Him, personally, what exactly it is He destined and purposed us to do? If you don't know who you are or what you're on this planet for, or you refuse to believe that a superficial existence is all there is to it, I can personally promise you that - as unbelievable as it may sound - you can and will find the answers to all those question marks in your search of God, Who, by the way, is very eager to be found by you! He knows you can't make it without Him, anyway, at least not truly successfully, and definitely not happily, and He's just waiting for you to wake up to the fact that He's there. He's been there all the time. With the answers to all your questions, the key to every door, and a meaning, a name and a purpose to every little thing you have thus far been clueless about. If you don't believe me, ask Him!

Antwone Fisher

May17, ’07

There's a beautiful scene in the movie "Antwone Fisher," which describes death for a believer, or coming Home to Heaven better than anything else I've ever seen, and is all the more touching when you realize that the film is a true story. Antwone Fisher is one of those beautiful people still walking on this earth who never had a true home on this earth during his early years, having been raised in orphanages & foster homes accompanied by traumatic childhood experiences. His Navy Psychiatrist (one of Denzel Washington's best characters ever) encourages him to go and find his real family in order to get at the root of his problems with aggression & feelings of worthlessness. And so, when he finally does find the family of his deceased father, there comes the most beautiful scene in the whole movie, where he enters his aunt's house and meets all the relatives he never even knew he had, everybody eagerly welcoming him, introducing themselves briefly to him with excitement, until finally his aunt gives the signal to open a double door to the dining room, where the old members of Antwone's family sit awaiting him at a richly decked table, very similar to a dream he had at the start of the movie. An old lady (presumably Antwone's grandmother), obiously too weak to even speak, knocks on the table in an effort to demand attention and beckons Antwone to come to her with

outstretched hands. Gazing into his eyes, hands in his, and recognizing her long lost son in this, newly found grandson, she finally utters one heartfelt "Welcome," and in this moment you feel like, if you'll ever make it to Heaven, this will be the only word you'll want to here. So many of us are wandering through life like Antwone Fisher, like Orphans, oblivious to the large family that awaits us when we'll finally come Home from this life's search and journey. We sometimes feel abandoned, too, worthless, often not even due to any wrong we've done, but simply because we figure that there is nobody who loves us enough to have stuck it out with us. And yet, I am convinced that every person has a huge family awaiting them in eager anticipation, like Antwone Fisher, consisting of ancestors we may never even have heard about. We may not know them, but they know us alright. Some folks may not be all too keen on being confronted by no high and mighty angels when they get to Heaven, perhaps confronting them with all the wrong they possible might have done. But everybody, I'm sure, can be looking forward to coming Home to their true family, the ones of whom you'll know, "that's where I belong. These are my people," and I bet that's one event making Heaven a worthwhile Place to look forward to and hope we'll eventually wind up there. Maybe it will take some of us a longer detour to get there than others, but I have a notion that sooner or later we all will. We all will (John 1:9).

Pan's Labyrinth (NOT a Recommendation!)

July 5th ’07

This was the second time we fell for some totally screwed up movie rating from Christianity Today's movie section. The first time was a while back, when we went out of our way to get "Millions," CT's "most redeeming" of 2004 or 2005 or whatever, which turned out to be about as "redeeming" as "George of the Jungle." But to give "Pan's Labyrinth" a 4-star (highest possible) rating was downright sick. The only thing it did for me was to give me a speck of greater understanding of Revelations 12:15-17: "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." It doesn't matter what sort of vomit the Devil spews out, earthly-minded and carnal minded people will always swallow it, even if they call themselves "Christians." I never understood why this was supposed to be all that much of a help for the true church, though, until last night. The "help" consists

of that one and only painful lesson: you can't trust them for anything. Not even their movie tastes and recommendations of what's good or bad. You can only rely on the Lord. The people the Devil hates and tries to destroy are those who "have the testimony of Jesus Christ," and in a later verse in Revelation we find what exactly that means: "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev.19:10). The Devil couldn't care less about pseudo-intellectual pseudo-Christians who swallow his crap, because he knows he's already got them in his pocket. In fact, his legions of demons are riding on their backs in their war against the true believers, as depicted in Rick Joyner's visions in "The Final Quest." Such people only lead others astray, they think they're doing God service, but are in fact fighting for the other side, they don't gather with the Lord, but scatter abroad, deceiving themselves and others. The ones who pose any threat and challenge to the Devil are those who have the testimony of Jesus: the spirit of prophecy, those who use the gifts of the Spirit (instead of their own misled and misleading carnal reasoning) and are being led and guided by God's Spirit of truth and accordingly show forth the fruits thereof. The total lack of any trace of God's Spirit, of discernment, and instead, their pseudo-intelligent babble, finally only serves to help us realize that you can't rely on such people's judgment at all. They swallow the Devil's lukewarm puke, hook, line and sinker, and go, "Yummy! Moooore!" They are those whom the Lord will spew out of His mouth, because they are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, spiritually wretched and don't even know it (see Rev.3:15-17). It's because their God isn't really the true God, the God of truth, and the God of love. The only reason any so-called Christian ("because my daddy was a Christian, and the USA are a Christian nation"?) could give a top-rating to a ghoulish and hellish nightmare concocted by some demoniac, such as "Pan's Labyrinth" is because he finally found a movie featuring his true god: Pan himself, the demonic principality of the mind, the god of (pseudo-)intellectualism and carnal reasoning per se, worshiped by millions of Satanists and occultists throughout the world, and recognized, fought and resisted unto blood only by a few who have the testimony of Jesus Christ, the spirit of prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit, such as discernment. Any true Christian or true believer in the true God, or even a sane non-religious person with a halfway properly working mind wouldn't have given that movie more than half a star, because it is anything but edifying. It only glorifies murder, cruelty, bloodshed and Satan's wickedness, and only a spiritually totally deaf and blind person would have fallen for the thinnest layer of sugar coating the Devil ever had to apply to any of his deceitful devices: the worn out line about preferring to shed one's own blood to shedding the blood of the innocent. Now, what a revelation! And such wisdom coming from Pan's mouth in the movie probably means that he must be a "good" spirit, right? If Pan be your god, then keep on, dude, and serve him, but me and my house, we shall serve the living God of truth, Whom you know not, probably have never known, and which is probably why He will say to you, "I have never known you" (Mt.7:23; 25:12). Thanks for opening my eyes yet another bit more about where Christians and Christianity today truly stand: certainly not on God's side. So, get out of our way, and stop wasting our time! We have a war to win!

The Corporation Nov.9 ’07 Last night we watched "The Corporation," and it confirmed just about everything I often voice so vehemently, that I later find myself having to apopogize for it, such as in a reaction to an email from my sister about a book about how Islam is supposed to be the great evil menace of world peace. You can wrap up just about any old b***sh*t and sell it to people as truth, if you just make the wrapping appealing enough. After all, it's so much more comfortable to believe that those bloody Arabs & Muslims are to blame for everything, instead of those liars who are running our everyday lives, enslaving us by promising us freedom. It's much more comfortable, especially for people who are easily frightened, than all those uncomfortable movies & books by people such as are featured in "The Corporation." For weirdos like me, it's so comforting to find out I'm not the only lunatic who doesn't swallow all that crap they're trying to shove down our throats, who sees the connection between the 3 rd Reich and today, and who refuses to watch another minute of the mass-manipulation they're spouting out through television. I even believe that "The Corporation" disproves the paradigm of Evolution. See, according to today's level of "education," evil is a thing of the past. That was back in the stone ages with that Australian dude, Hittler, or something, and his cavemen. But since then we've evolved into good people, and all them wars and stuff that Mom and Dad sometimes watch on the tube, you know, the "Nooz," or something, they're just necessary, because there are still a few backwards folks around, like them dudes with terbuns and stuff, that haven't evolved yet as much as we have, so that's good. Well, according to my beliefs, and "The Corporation" has wonderfully - though sadly - confirmed that, evil has all else but disappeared. In fact, it's more sophisticated, more cunning, and more omnipresent than ever, to an extent that all those remote control junkies out there couldn't even begin to fathom... In other words, we haven't evolved at all, but to the contrary, if anything, we have devolved & gone further down the drain & the flow of the path the slimy old serpent started us off on 6000 years ago. His people are getting better at it all the time, and more skilled at making ever dumber and more ignorant zombies out of the rest of the masses, who couldn't care less what's going on, as long as they've got their entertainment & their fast food... They're even so smart that they make the only solution & way out of this whole mess, namely Jesus and His dropout and anti-System message, look like part of the game by having all those duped, lukewarm, flag-waving patriots pose as "Christians," and making the rest of the world sick of "Christianity." Time for God's genuine Endtime Army to get movin'! Hold on, Baby, we're coming!

Away From Her April 25, 2008 While a small minority of still clear-thinking Americans, scholars & hobby-psychologists is trying to figure out what evil schemes are being put to work in order to hypnotize the vast majority of the American public and keep them in the indifferent stupor that not only enables them to tolerate what's happening with their country, but to even give standing ovations to the 500th repetition of Bush's "Anti-Terror" spiel and "We did this to protect our country" garbage, the answer was being revealed to me the other night while watching a movie called "Away From Her." Now, while this was not exactly your average action-packed Rambo-type of thriller and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, sometimes just one little line in a movie can unveil a mystery that keeps puzzling thousands. In the movie we see an aged Julie Christie (big star in the 70s) suffering from Alzheimer, and as her sickness progresses, she finally insists on her husband taking her to a special foster Home for Alzheimer patients. He does so reluctantly, and for a while comes to visit her every day, spending a lot of time at the institution. In one particular scene they're sitting in the TV-lounge and, while watching news clips from the Iraq war, Julie, during one of her clear moments speaks the words, "How could they forget Vietnam?" And then it hit me! It's obvious! They've all got Alzheimer! Maybe the government has found a secret way of infecting nearly the entire population with the disease, and now the President can get away with nearly anything: they'll just stand up and clap non-stop for 25 minutes whatever he says or does, because they wouldn't even remember what to do if they would dare stop clapping. While this is not your run-off-the-mill movie review, let me add that the movie does end with a surprising little twist, and if you're not the Rambo type, you might consider it well worth watching. And, hey, at least you won't be one of those desperate losers anymore trying to figure out what the hell went wrong with America! Now you know.

Reign Over Me Oct.5, 2008

Last night we watched "Reign Over Me," the probably first serious movie with Adam Sandler in existence, or at least the first one I saw, and apart from being a wonderful character study (especially for those familar with the Enneagram), the movie addresses a few interesting points in regards to 9/11, some of which may even say more than the movie makers originally intended. Or perhaps that's just my interpretation of it, but as with everything in the world, I think it's up to each one of us and our individual perception, what we make of it, and learn from it, and I have made it clear elsewhere that I believe that the Almighty has placed more lessons all around us than most of us are willing to notice, even availing Himself of the creativity of our fellowmen to drive home points that they may not even have intended to (and that is nowhere as much as a reality as in the art of moviemaking). Sandler plays Charlie, a former dentist in New York who lost his wife and 3 children during the 9/11 so-called "attacks," which by a growing number of people around the world, and even Americans, are rather referred to as an "inside job." Charlie refuses to deal with his loss and ( - in the manner of the Enneagram's personality type SEVEN, whose driving force is defined by Enneagram authors Rohr and Ebert as "The Need to Avoid Pain," taken to the extreme), he refuses to remember what happened, and that he had a family at all, and reacts very aggressively to any third party attempts (such as those of his in-laws) to confront him with what happened. The friendship of his former college room mate - with the help of a too-cute-to-be-real therapist (Liv Tyler) - very gradually pulls him out of this, and we watch how beautifully friendship and communication can change people's lives for the better. The point which the blessed creators of this movie may not have intended to bring across, but nevertheless insists on jumping in my face (as I'm sure some readers would), is how Sandler's role portrays the refusal of the majority of the American public (as well as a substantial percentage of the rest of the Western populace) to deal with the realities behind 9/11. Although evidence abounds that the official version of 9/11 is as likely to have happened as the Twin Towers having been erected by an army of ants, in the typical fashion of pain-avoiding hedonists, most Americans refuse to face the facts of just how rotten to the core their government really is and how astray they're being led, willingly manipulated into one war after another and never-ending bloodshed, reacting quite aggressively to those who would try to confront them with the truth. If there was any intention from the side of the movie's makers to bring across that sort of message at all, then the message would read on: "Give us time to deal with all of this in our own fashion!" The sad part of the real story is, time's running out! If time is money, as they always say, then it's definitely running out, and whether people want it or not, the truth is going to come crashing in on them, and already is, as things turn out to be never the same again on Wall Street and elsewhere around the world.

Today, little Mr. and Mrs. Jones may be pointing their fingers at the greedy stock brokers and shake their heads at them, "Tsk tsk, those greedy, naughty boys." But in a year from now the repercussions of what really happened here will have affected their lives to such an extent that there will be nobody there to shake their heads at, similar to the way it happened in 1930, a year after the first global stock market crash, which, it seems, is finally finding its match in the events unfolding before us right now. Of course, way over 90% of the population vehemently refuse to acknowledge what's going on. They're choosing the blue pill (as in "The Matrix") every day: "Put me back to sleep and let me know none of all this!" Well, just as dear Charlie in our movie eventually had to sit down and face the truth and reality of what happened, sooner or later that will have to be the case with everyone else. The only question is when and where; whether it will be in this life, or the next. As far as I'm concerned, an integral and indispensable ingredient of love is truth, and without it, I wonder how real any of all that love is that people would like to reign over them, or if it's perhaps not just a bunch of good intentions paving their road to hell. If you want love to be real, you've got to have truth in it, and when that's the case, I'll agree: Let that love reign over all of us! P.S.: Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like we don’t all do it. After all, what makes us watch movies by the dozens in the first place? We all like to get a break from reality, and it’s not like I can’t wait for all the gory stuff to happen, that’s awaiting the world, according to the Book of Revelation. I remember the first time I read it, I actually felt physically sick, the way Neo in the Matrix did, when he found out the truth about what the Matrix was, and what his life thus far had been… But there’s a difference between being optimistic or positive and being naïve. It’s obvious, that basically we’re all wonderful and often can’t really be held to blame, because we simply don’t know any better. But there also comes the point when we should know better, because we have been told the truth, and it’s up to us to either accept or reject it, and I’m afraid that a lot of stuff is coming up around the bend that is going to test our love for how real it is, and I’d just advise anyone to fasten their seat belts.

Ten Years After: Matrix

November 16, 2009

If the 1999 epic “Matrix” ranks first on the list of my top 20 favorite movies of all times, even after ten years since its release, it’s not just because I liked the special effects, but because I believe that despite its bleak description of our world, it’s probably also one of the most accurate ever to have been portrayed in any movie. The vast majority of people live in an artificially created mindset that was ingrainded in them over decades, and to get out of it is just about as cumbersome as Neo’s exit from the “Matrix.” I remember the first time I saw the Matrix pretty much exactly 10 years ago, I knew I had seen something very special. I had watched films before that had had a touch of the supernatural, almost like a message form God, like Zeffirelli’s “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” and a few others, but this was special, and there have been very few movies since, that got anywhere near the deep spiritual significance of the Matrix, as far as I’m concerned. Don’t get me wrong, I know all about the way the powers that be use Hollywood and all that goes with it to manipulate the masses. But I believe that there is a greater Matrix that envelopes the smaller matrix of the NWO schemers and their god: the bigger Picture of God, that happens to include the picture of our present reality including its evils, and that when it comes down to it, the Devil is just playing a part if God’s plan, whether he wants or not. Which doesn’t mean I’m a fatalist, either; nor can I say exactly to what extent free choice effects destiny or vice versa. As much as we hate it: we have to leave some of the facts and details up to God & trust we’ll find them out in His good time… Some people didn’t understand all the rave and ado about it. They didn’t get it then and they don’t get it now. They figured, “Cool effects,” but they prefer “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars.” I guess it’s like musical taste: some liked the Beatles, some liked the Stones, or some like Britney… Matrix was a movie you’ve had to watch it a few times until you really got all the details. Back then I was still with one foot in the System and one on a banana peel. But with all that has happened since then, you might say I’m definitely unplugged now (as in living by faith). Back then, I may have known the way in theory, but I hadn’t really begun to walk in it yet. I had some rough thoughts and ideas about how the dark forces are manipulating us from behind the scenes, but I wasn’t aware to what extent.

I was affiliated with what you might call “The Resistance,” but I wasn’t nearly as active a part in it as now. Not until 9/11. In a way, having seen the Matrix was perfect preparation for not falling for the lies they told us since 9/11. While the towers were still burning, Rumsfeld spoke of “retaliation.” And I knew that what I was watching was propaganda. – The machines at work. Six months later we watched television for the last time in our home. We unplugged ourselves from the current of the mainstream media brainwash and started getting plugged in to the line of communication with the “Top,” call it Zion, call it Heaven… …Call it Jesus. I guess if Neo represents any one thing it’s Jesus, but also what Jesus can do through each one of us if we dare to let go of the lie they have told us all our lives and believe that “There is no spoon.” – The knowledge of the Matrix being a fake enables you to do things that most people in the Matrix can’t do. I’ve often wondered if that’s what perhaps empowered Jesus to walk on water, etc.: the knowledge that there is no spoon. If our physical world was just a bunch of encoded information (and they’re finding out that there are gigabytes worth of information in every living cell… who knows what we’ll yet find out about the make-up of our universe…), and He knew the code (since He had obviously written it: “In the beginning was the Word = logos = information…”) then the program He had written was subject to Him, and it was not that He was – as we are – subject to or victim of the circumstances. – An idea that drives home the level to which His crucifixion was an absolutely voluntary sacrifice. Similarly to the way Neo had to decide to risk (and give) his own life for his friend Morpheus, I have also learned since, how much truth there is in not thinking it’s you, or that we have to do it ourselves, but sometimes we just have to be there for someone else, and like Jesus said, be willing to lay down our lives for someone else, and that’s when all of a sudden you find yourself “in the way,” actually walking in it, not just merely talking about it or dreaming about it. The big surprise at the end is that not even death can stop that kind of love, but it totally overcomes the Matrix and its agents. No wonder, if you keep in mind that God is love… After a while of living in the consciousness of the extent of the Lie, the fake steak of the Matrix becomes meaningless to you, and money – since you know it’s just part of the lie – becomes almost irrelevant, and in its present form on its way to history, anyway. Since Obama, the powers that are working on introducing the new global economic order have shifted to turbo, and it’s not as if Revelation 13 was like Sci-Fi in some distant future anymore. Other people apart from us “loonies” can actually see it happening somewhere in the not too distant future – the cashless society. It’s exciting. That’s another thing that has changed: I’m not scared anymore. It’s like you just know everything is going to be okay, even if they kill you. Similar to the plots of the sequels to the Matrix, the Resistance isn’t actually always as united as it should be, and many don’t believe in “the One,” or in anything supernatural, for that matter, and the enemy forces are sheer overwhelming in numbers; but that’s all the more reason why you can pretty much take for granted that this war isn’t going to be won by sheer power of force, nor with physical weapons.

The fact that Neo had to take the last steps of his way blind illustrated that it’s only by faith and not by sight that the final battle is going to be won, and that’s what many people just don’t want to see, because they think their own arm is strong enough, while their faith isn’t… Regardless of whether the NWO mind-manipulators had their hands in the making of this trilogy, it wouldn’t be the first time that God used something the Devil would like to take the credit for. Some people give the Devil too much credit and are too scared that God is some kind of weakling… They’re scared of the stars, scared of candles, scared of sex, scared of the wrong kind of music… But we’re not going to win this war by being scared. Sometimes the battle looks so hopeless, even the Enemy asks us,” why do you keep fighting?” Neo’s answer to Agent Smith, “Because I choose to” was not appreciated by everyone, but it’s our choice not to give in that is going to see anyone through in the end. You simply have to choose to keep fighting the Enemy. What other choice have you got? Quit? Surrender? The message was, “Hell, no, we haven’t even yet begun to fight,” even if not with those words… The one thing I didn’t like was the ending of the trilogy. A cop-out. A truce between the Resistance and the machines, which in the Matrix scenario may have been the only realistic solution, but it won’t be in the real battle. Some people hold a grudge against God because of the bloodshed depicted in the book of Revelation or Ezekiel, and hate the God Who would allow any such thing to happen. They would prefer for good and evil to coexist peacefully together in some sort of lukewarm truce. But I sometimes wonder if they ever dig anything at all of what life is teaching us. I remember reading Revelation as a teen, and I felt very much like Neo did in the scene of movie when he finds out just what the Matrix is, and the first thing he does is throw up. It’s a toughie, facing the reality of our world as God sees it, also, or especially in regard to its impending future (preceding the happy ending) as He foretells it (see Revelation 19-21). And not many people have the guts to face that reality. But the only way we’re ever going to have peace and any type of victory is if we have enough guts to hate evil, and if nothing else in this world will ever teach us to do that, I’m afraid the coming years most certainly will.

Who Are the Terrorists? (Take 2) February 17, 2010

We just watched “Avatar,” and against my expectations, based on Christian reviews and articles I had read about it over the past weeks, I really liked it. Basically, we just watched it for our daughter’s sake, with the usual, “for whatever it’s worth attitude,” but I guess I’m too much of a nature freak myself to have disliked this movie, and I would like to express some thoughts here about where I’m afraid Corporate Christendom is mistaken in most of its mainstream interpretations of the film. I’m not too naive to not see the obvious “Gaya” message here. But if wanting to save the Earth is “New Age”, then I have shocking news for you: God is New Age, too: “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). God happens to love this blue ball, and He apparently does not like the kind of folks who destroy it, regardless of whether they do it in the name of red-white-and-blue flag waving Churchianity or not. Oh, so there was talk of spirits in the movie. Real scary. They’re alive! What a shocker! The problem with Corporate Christianity is, they like to deep freeze everything: they like to deep freeze the white-hot Spirit of God, if they can, to keep everyone cool and calm in the churches, lest anyone start any revolutionary fires out there, that the Big Holy Corporation couldn’t control… They like to believe that the minute you’re dead, you’re first going into a state of spiritual deep-freeze so you can’t spook around and haunt anybody, but that’s not what we can glean from the Bible: We have accounts of the spirit of the prophet Samuel, of Elias, Moses, and a cloud of witnesses alive and

kicking from beyond the grave, and God turning the hearts of the sons to their fathers. We have a Savior claiming to be the Resurrection and the Life and that whoever believes in Him, would never die, and yet we’ve got all of His supposed “followers” scared stiff of the mere utterance of the word “spirit.” Sure, the “worship” scenes were a bit weird. But not any weirder than some Pentecostal worship scenes you can watch on Youtube… Then there are the painfully embarrassing parallels in the story of “Avatar” between the Na’vi (“Natives”?) and not only the American Natives who suffered a similar fate (except for the happy ending), but every native tribe on the face of God’s earth who simply had to be pressed into the same civilized molds they reared us in, otherwise they were not allowed to continue to live: “Become like us, or die” seems to be the interpretation of the Gospel since the birth of the Corporate and officially recognized and state-supported version of Christianity roughly 1700 years ago. And of course, the even more painful parallels between the victims in the movie and the real live victims of 21st century Christendom: “Whoever is sitting on something you want must become your enemy…” Ouch! Better keep praying for our boys to help our generals haul all that Iraqi Oil on Home to Daddy, where it belongs… There was an article out a few weeks ago about young people being depressed after watching “Avatar” because they would prefer to live in a world like “Pandora”… Well, can you blame’em? Maybe they just got sick of gray! Maybe they prefer green to the color of concrete. Maybe they’re sick and tired of the plastic world you’re handing them! And apparently you haven’t managed to convince them yet that the Place the Christian God has in store for His believers is actually real, or really where it’s happening. Perhaps, if they figure you’re going to be there, walking around in your suit and singing those humdrum holier than thou songs, they couldn’t possibly imagine they’re going to be happy there. Personally, my own idea of my favorite spot in Heaven is a lot more like the Home of the Na’vi than a church building. Chalk it up to my early “Tarzan” influences (since I devoured a bunch of antiquated Edgar Rice Burroughs tomes in my childhood), but I always thought it would be cool to have a home in a gigantic tree… Maybe yours is all streets of gold lined with one church building next to another, just like in Tennessee… But who says that Heaven has to look exactly the same everywhere? Last I heard, it’s a mighty big Place. I also have no problem with the teaching that God is everywhere and in all living things. I think of Him as being a lot more inclusive than that warmongering, genocidal, separatist version of Christianity that has always preferred its own philosophy of “kill whatever is different” over its supposed Founder’s order, “Love your enemies!”

- The argument, of course, being, “Well, who knows what would have happened, if we would have loved our enemies, instead of killing them?” I guess God knows. Maybe some day He’ll show all of us what might have happened if the American Natives would have been allowed to continue their existence prior to their extermination, and what Christians might have learned from some of them. Or what if one and a half million Iraqis wouldn’t have been ransacked on grounds of some very shady excuses… I know it’s tough, learning to love those who are different. We even resist our own children and their weird inklings to want to watch weird movies like that… (Not to mention our wives’ sudden inspirations like wanting to get a dog and open up a tattoo shop…) We must preserve our own values. Funny thing is that Jesus’ message was never about preservation, but much more about “Give it up!” But that’s not something we’re willing to do. Not for Him, and certainly not for “mother earth.” We insist on keeping driving our “the-fatter-the-better” cars, and we insist on being the champions of the world. We can’t grant “the others” the slightest chance of ever becoming a threat to us. We’ve got to make sure we remain no.1 “for the sake of the gospel…” Well, you know my opinion about that type of Gospel. I suppose a lot of Christians would consider me a traitor the way Jake Sully, the character who tells the Avatar story, was perceived as having betrayed “his own…” Who would you rather fight for? – A bunch of corporate warmongers, or any peaceful, though perhaps somewhat strange and foreign culture in touch with nature? I know, you don’t think you could ever make it without all your high-tech toys and your fancy Western life-style, but why not be honest about it and admit that you’re having a problem, and it’s not “the others”? Maybe they only have a weird religion because in their eyes, yours is even weirder! Maybe Mohammed wouldn’t have even had to cook up Islam, if Christians wouldn’t have been such a pitiful bunch of idolaters at the time he came around… Why not be honest and confess that it’s we who are sick, totally addicted and hooked on some shiny temptation that looks almost exactly like the real thing, but on the inside is a far cry from it? Maybe the enemies of Christianity wouldn’t have had to cook up their own New Age religion if Christians wouldn’t always fall so badly for every shiny temptations their real Enemy comes up with… If we wouldn’t fall for him time and time and time and time again… (Coincidentally, maybe Adam Weishaupt never would have founded the Illuminati if the church had allowed him to marry his deceased wife’s sister…)

Our credo remains, “We have declared terror on terror.” – Hmmm. Who are the real terrorists, though? I guess we’ll all know, someday. And a lot of people are going to be in for a shock, when the Dude in whose name they did all that killing is going to pretend as if He never even knew them… Maybe they never even knew Him. Maybe all they ever worshiped was an idea of Him that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Maybe the truth is somewhere a lot closer to the middle between those “tree-huggers” and the “conquistadores” who want to fell every last tree in the name of progress and enlightenment than most of our conservative brethren would ever have the guts or imagination to consider… If you ask me, I’d rather be on the side of the victims than on that of the butchers. At least they know how to fight for real, know how to die, and what they’re dying for. Maybe our God is going to turn out being quite the totally “Other” than ourselves: A God Who not only loves the “good,” the rich and the beautiful, but also the weird, the bad & the ugly, and that He would have wanted us to walk a little more in His shoes, if we were already calling ourselves by His Son’s name, and loved “the least of our brethren” a little more, instead of butchering them by the millions… One really neat thing that was said in the movie was, “You can’t fill a vessel that’s already full.” — There’s more wisdom in that, and more truth about the reality of Christendom than you’ll ever hear in a thousand sermons. It’s basically the same thing Jesus said to the Pharisees: “If you knew you were blind, you wouldn’t be to blame, but because you think you see….” When we stop learning and all we want to do is convert everybody to our way of seeing things, something terrible has begun to happen. You start missing the very purpose for which you were born on this earth. You start seeing everybody who’s different and doesn’t think and act exactly the same as you do as an enemy, instead of saying, “I see you.” Sure, it’s a terrible thing that a lot of our youth are seeing Gaya worship and New Age as a more attractive alternative to your religion. But maybe it’s because they never really needed a religion as much as they needed the truth, and we must all sincerely ask ourselves whether that’s really what we wanted and were looking for and have found – or did we settle for half-truths mixed with convenient lies? We wouldn’t have been the only ones. It has always happened, since the beginning of time, even to people way more perfect than we ever were, made straight in the image of God…

I agree that James Cameron is sincerely mistaken about a few of his views, such as stated in his “Lost Tomb of Jesus” documentary, or in the apparent assumption that Arnold Schwarzenegger is or has ever been anything like good actor (although his acting career definitely supersedes the political). He’s probably going to get his surprises, too, at the end of life’s road… But I can also see his point. If Jesus was anything like the majority of His followers portray Him, I’d have changed over to the “Gaya” camp long ago, too. I love my enemy enough to be able to learn from him. Unfortunately, sometimes I have the impression that there’s more to learn from some of our enemies than we can from our supposed friends. It wasn’t the Romans who were bent on crucifying Jesus, but His own religious leaders… When will we ever learn?

The Road: Most Accurate Movie Portrayal of Our Future to Date? You Decide!

This movie is probably the most realistic Endtime scenario Hollywood has brought forth to date, and many people, including the medieval seer Nostradamus have foreseen such times of famine so great "that man will become a man-eater," giving reason for serious concern about whether this might actually be a realistic peek into our future. We know from Jesus' own words in the Gospels, that a "time of great tribulation" is awaiting mankind, such as has not been since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be (Matthew 24). Of course, such thoughts bear very little entertainment value, and we're not likely to find this movie among the top ten favorite films of all times of very many people, except maybe for the occasional pessimist, who's just waiting for the day he'll be able to tell us, "I knew this would happen someday." Thankfully, the makers of this film had enough sense to not let this be non-stop agony without any hope. The young actor playing the leading role in this film is truly one amazing kid, and you root and hope and pray for him to make it throughout the movie, against all the odds.

Testifying of some deeper insight than just creating one heck of a bleak scenario movie, the maker even gives us one prominent clue for the cause of the fate that has befallen manind in his not all that unrealistic portrayal of what might be our future, if we don't change some fundamental attitudes: When the father and his son are sitting on the beach (presumably on the East Coast), staring at the sea, the boy asks his dad, "What's on the other side?" - And after pausing long enough to have come up with some substantial answer, all the wisdom and information the father has to offer is, "Nothing;" reflecting quite accurately the general attitude of the average citizen of the world's presently predominant nation regarding the rest of the world: it simply doesn't even exist, as far as they're concerned. Adding, "Just another father sitting on a beach with his son somewhere."

From Paris With Love: America's "Love Letter" to Europe

Arabs of the world, beware: Travolta's coming to make ya dead!

While it was somewhat refreshing to see John Travolta in a role unlike any other of his previous parts, it is questionable whether that factor weighs in sufficiently in order to let the final analysis and experience of watching this movie be a pleasant one. Of course, it's all a matter of taste, and if you liked "Rambo," you'll probably also like this one. Being a European, though, the political statement of the typical "American hero" marching onto foreign territory in order to "make'em all dead" is not as much a slap in the face as a sad joke and testimony of the level to which modern entertainment has sunk. The message is clearly, "Let's kill all the terrorists," and "Arabs are our enemies!" "If you can kill one Muslim per hour, that's cool, and you're doing the cause of our wonderful New World Order great service! - Oh, and by the way, never trust anyone! Especially not your European girl friend! - They could all be in with the terrorists!"

Folks who are familiar with the odds that the official version of "9/11" has any more resemblance to reality than "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Snowwhite," can, of course, tend to be a little appalled by such a message, and more so by the naivete of the majority of our fellow citizens who swallow that stuff by the barrels and without question. After all, something's gotta keep those boys killing handcuffed children in Afghanistan motivated, and if there's no justification for their actions in the real world, why, folks like John Travolta will provide all the necessary motivation one needs (perhaps in combination with a little of that popular white powder he openly advertizes in the film)... So, in the light of the statement and message of the film, which is so lousy that I couldn't even do the subject justice, I'm not quite sure whether it's a positive that some of the acting in the film was actually quite well done. Although it's beyond me how grown up individuals can put their all into conveying a message like that to our world (a message very unlikely to contribute to making it a better place), we have seen worse, and less entertaning movies before. If you believe in the "American Hero," then here's another one for you. - If you value any touch of reality to some remote degree in your entertainment life, however, you're better off watching a round of Disney cartoons.

Precious: Hardcore Harlem Reality with a Shot of Fantasy

This movie has won me 10 massages in a bet with my wife, since I recognized Mariah Carey in the social worker Ms. Weiss, and she kept insisting, "No, she looks like Bjoerk." The credits proved that this was indeed the coolest thing Mariah Carey ever did, to just show up in a flick the way she really looks without applying "Operation Playmate of the Month" before getting out of the house!

I'm into movies, so I haven't read the book, thus I can't tell whether the movie lives up to the original story. But I'd say it has done its job in delivering a dose of Harlem reality to the dwellers of more pleasant places throughout the globe. Child abuse is indeed an issue, and the way it's being addressed here and dealt with is very effective. I guess it's superfluous to say that the gorgeous Paula Patton also did a marvelous job in her portrayal of Precious' Alternative School teacher, even if her pick of the role may be one of the aspects in which the film differs from the hard core reality of such actual stories... But as the movie vividly portrays by Precious' wandering off into phantasy worlds during her darkest moments, I guess we all need a little time out from hard core reality sometimes, and isn't that, after all, why we watch movies?

Harry Brown: Robin Hood Meets 21st Century

In this sinister, 21st century version of "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly," Sir Michael Caine takes on a slightly bizarre role of an aged avenger of the innocent, a ficticious new type of Robin Hood, only fighting in a scenario where the roles have been strangely reversed: the part of the oppressor here has shifted from the Sherrif of Nottingham to the Outlaws, while the police and authorities are pictured as rather helpless victims... Now just how realistic that is, only the good Lord knows, but one thing seems to be certain: Modern Darwinist education, with the help of Freddy Krueger on TV, Death Metal, Gangster Rap and Computer Games that will make a ruthless killer out of any six year old, have created a Frankenstein's monster that is turning upon its once so clever creators, and it seems as if the cradle of Evolution is one of the hardest hit proofs of that statement. - Perhaps making many a Brit over 40 wish there were a little more truth to this film than there actually is... But then we all know that in real life, violence is not the solution. Not for those who know better. But it may remain the only weapon of those who were not equipped with the knowledge and morals of the older generation, grounded in whatever vague beliefs in some higher power, and instead were reared

in the firm assurance that all they are and ever will be is the result of a cosmic accident, proceeding from the jungles of their ancestors; and so, back to the jungles it shall be...

Rushmore: Almost as Bizarre as Real Life There is a thin line that separates the losers from the winners in this game of life, and it's frequently crossed both ways, back and forth. Ultimately the winners are determined by the choices they make based on what they learned from their experiences. At our current point in the history of mankind, one of the few places where people make the right kind of decisions and choices that put them on the winners' side in the final analysis, is the movies, such as "Rushmore." Not much of a comfort perhaps, except for the fact that if one movie director deemed the lessons of honesty and forgiveness important enough to wrap them up in a movie to convey its message to the world, it shows that at least somebody in the real world is getting some point. I believe in happy endings. Especially in the real world. That faith is all that keeps me going. If you go by all the crap that's happening during the first 90 minutes or so of the film of your life, you may often wonder, "Guess I'm in the wrong film, ain't I?" Well, without wanting to give too much away for those who haven't seen it yet, "Rushmore" is that sort of experience... Almost as bizarre as real life, with the promise of improvement just around the bend, where all things finally begin to make sense... Nearly all things.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: "Love Your Enemies!"

Anyone who happens to have stumbled into the wonderful imaginary worlds created by the Japanese Ghibli studios, knows that the planet Pandora of "Avatar" fame was by far not the first fantasy world someone went to painstaking lengths to (re-)create artificially for the screen. As someone who wanted to become a cartoonist as a teenager, I am able to appreciate, though barely to imagine the kind of work and creativity that goes into an animated feature of over two hours, and that way back in 1984, way before today's computer technology was available that is key in creating new visual worlds on film nowadays. Even the detail that went into opening credits blew my mind: made to look like cave drawings or hyroglyphics from the future, testifying of the demise of civilization, leaving only the post apocalyptic world of Nausicaa, a young girl who apparently manages to get by in a life of struggle with giant insects from the ever growing poisonous jungle gorwing in on the scarce remainders of mankind, and the hostility and love for war which seems to be the one unforgettable quality of the latter, by a motto which no one since Mahatma Gandhi seems to have attempted to preach, much less live: "Love your enemies." While well over 90% of the movies proceeding from the supposedly largest "Christian" nation in the world depict, justify or downright condone violence and war, here's a movie from a culture that seems to have learned something from all the senseless bloodshed of the reality of war, and conveys the message "Blessed Are the Peacemakers" in a better way than you might ever get to hear it from a pulpit. While the music isn't always quite as inspiring as most of the film, I would definitely deem it a recommendable experience worth wasting a few kbs of web space on, and if you're anywhere near as fanatic about peace as I am, and happen to like animated films, I don't think you'll be complaining that you want those two hours of your life back after watching this (as I have read quite a few people do, lately, after watching far more recent movies).

Whisper of the Heart: Corny? - So What!?!

Performing "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in a way you never heard it before, and probably never will... I'm just done staring in disbelief at the screen of my lap top, watching the credits for "Whisper of the Heart" roll by to the sound of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in Japanese. This is the sort of film that any heterosexual male should perhaps feel ashamed to have watched, but then I'm not your average heterosexual male, I guess. And the reason why I'm not keeping my definite positive inclinations toward this - another 2 hour animation feature from Japan's Ghibli Studios - as my own dark little secret, is that I've been trying to remember any Japanese film, or any film made in Japan with real live actors, that would have managed to convey as much about Japanese culture to the rest of the world as this movie does, and I couldn't think of any. "Whisper of the Heart" is a potentially real life story, and I have noted previously that sometimes animated films can bring home a greater chunk of reality than the evening news... This story is all about the reality of being human, getting along, coping with the differences between ourselves and the people around us and our own insufficiencies at the same time, and coping with what seems to be the greatest hurdle of all for many of us: love. Probably one of the greatest concerns and an important touchstone of self-worth for a young, (not only Japanese) teenager is the preoccupation with "corniness." The great law out there in the world today is "Thou shalt be cool," and we constantly keep checking ourselves to make sure we're keeping it, even until we're up into our 40s and beyond, and while the issue is obviously a concern for the young heroine of the story, the film at the same time, sends it to hell. "So what if anything is corny, as long as it's got heart?" seems to be the unwritten message within the movie, as far as I understood it. And I agree. Sowhat!?

The Sad World of Funny People

There have been quite a few bitter, cynical and sarcastic movies out about the nature of the stars and celebrities in the Los Angeles area. This one is about the "funny" celebrities: the comedians, and one in particular (Adam Sandler) who finds out that he's got a terminal disease. I'm not going to wrap up the story for you. I'm just going to tell you that there's a lot of honest truth in this movie about human nature at the top of the world. A lot of ugly truth. But the nice difference about this one is that you've got a glimpse of hope here, that of a few souls actually learn something out of all the sh*t that's happening to them, so, while it is nearly as painful to watch as all the other ugly truth flicks, this one doesn't leave you hanging there with an ending that makes you go, "Tell me something new, darnit!" So, if you're expecting to see Adam Sandler being funny, you might be disappointed. If you don't mind some raw truth about "funny people" shoved right in your face for you to find out what you don't want to be, then this might be for you...

I Love You, Man - Or: “Psychoanalysis of the State of California # 572”

This is the kind of movie that makes you cringe with pain and embarrassment throughout 98% of its running time over the inability of the supposedly most sophisticated lot of humans on the planet to communicate honestly and resist the clichés that have been drilled (by them and their local dream factories) into the minds of the whole world... Luckily, as in all of these fairy-tales, some enlightenment does eventually take place, even though (less fortunately) only toward that final 2% of the movie, prompting the viewer to heave a sigh of relief, "Thank God, there's still hope for humanity!" At least in the movies, that is. As good as the relief may feel to hear two heterosexual men utter the title phrase of the film to each other, toward its end, the way it took for them to get there was really only worth it if you're a total movie junkie or a fan of the 80s rock band "Rush." On the other hand, the real life paradox is reflected in this that we only get to enlightenment and progress via the hard way of first learning where it's not at.

Conclusion: if you still have faith and hopes in mankind and you think we're really not doing so bad, you might enjoy this. If however you've experienced enough to know how dreadfully realistic the portrayed immature attitudes in the movie are, it will probably leave you with an uneasy feeling of mental torture in the stomach area only to be replaced by that "feels so good when it stops" kind of experience toward the end, the kind you might achieve likewise by banging your head against the wall...

Amadeus - Pop Culture Metaphor

While "Amadeus" is not exactly an edifying, "feel good" movie, nor exactly entirely historically correct, it does deserve its spot among the cult and classic movies that one has got to have seen. After all, it teaches a very valid, though painful lesson about our own pop culture of mediocrity in which the Salieris of the hour are often celebrated as stars while the real talents might have to wait for future generations to discover their genius. The truly gifted ones did not always get to enjoying the reward for their brilliance during their life-times, and if there's one thing we learn from history, it's that we never learn from history. So, if you can live with the idea that you might not necessarily be able to both have your cake and eat it, too, and that the result of true genius are sometimes destined to be enjoyed only by your descandants, or if you just want to enjoy Tom Hulce in the role of his life, you may get a kick out of this film.

The Deep, Hidden Message Behind "Twilight:" Vampires Suck! If you are one of those misfortunate parent of a teenage girl who put themselves through the torture of watching "Twilight" after finding out what "TL" on their "favorite movies" list on Facebook stood for, anticipating to discover some sinister fascination with evil in your offspring, then you'll know that all the worry, as well as the one and a half hours you spent watching this, were in vain. With about one fifth of the suspense level of an average episode of "Supernatural" and one quarter of the cinematographic charme of "Cop & Copper," if you made ith through the first hour of agony, you knew by then you had nothing to fear, if it's evil you're afraid of. Then again, some wise people have said that stupidity is actually a greater enemy of good than downright evil, but we all know that it's way too late to save anyone from that all-powerful enemy.

With a mythology and philosophy behind the plot about as tight as "Rapunzel," "Twilight" is about as prone to attract anyone to the occult as the original version of "Nosferatu," and poses about half the threat of Harry Potter in this aspect. The conclusion is just another fairly sad testimony to people's taste in the 21st century.

New Moon: A Lesson from Fantasy Land for Future Sex Addicts

Is it the Pet Shop Boys Revival Band? No, it's your 21st Century Teen Hero Import from Transylvania Slightly - but only slightly - less pathetic than the prequel, "Twilight," New Moon takes a turn at overthrowing not only the mythology of vampires, but now also that of Werewolves. True to the motto, "If you don't want to be a vampire (like the your 1.5 billion peers between ages 8 and 14), try wanting to be a werewolf), you will only roll your eyes about half as much through this movie if you're anywhere above (or below) that age range. Being someone who tries not to utterly waste even an hour and a half of my life without learning at least something from it, I'll give the movie credit for this much: it will be prefect prep for what you might become a few years later in your life, I mean, way after you'll be over your present plight of either "I want to be a vampire," or "I'm in love with someone who thinks they're a vampire:" a sex addict. And that's a reality about 99% more real than anything this movie deals with, so some day you might actually have to deal with this. That might be a good time to remember "Twilight" and "New Moon" and how the dude just would have loved to bite her, but he was being a good little vampire: he didn't. And so should you. I mean, NOT do it. Bite her. Or whatever. When you've become a sex-addict.

Lovely Bones: Scarier than Death Itself

Caught in the blue horizon between Heaven and earth: the murdered Suzi with some unfinished business

"The Lovely Bones" isn't exactly the bright, cheery movie about a girl gone to Heaven, watching her family, as some have described it. If they had paid attention, they might have caught that Suzi Salmon, the girl who tells the story of her murder on December 6, 1973, from the Spirit World, hadn't gone on yet to Heaven, at all, because she had some "unfinished business" to take care of. That unfinished business is what makes the film quite a thriller, so, this is not your average "gone to Heaven to haunt you" type of comedy. Based on a book by Alice Sebold who had been raped at the age of 18, and was told to have come away "lucky" to have lived through her experience, the story comes across in such a way that it makes you wonder whether perhaps the real Suzi had told her story to this writer who could relate to her fate. There are a lot of bad reviews of the film on IMDB from people who claim to hate it on account of the "overdone" CGI effects (none of which struck us as "overdone,") but if they're honest, it was probably more likely that the thought of a life after death scared the hell out of them, or just having been confronted with the issue in such a somewhat rude, unexpected manner. If you have a problem with life after death, you'll probably hate this film, but you might as well get used to the thought anyway. Chances are there's a lot more to it than a few movies. Chances are, the whole thing isn't going to be half as scary as movies like this one make it out to be. All in all I found this movie watchable; a little too intense to call it "enjoyable," but nonetheless not an experience you would regret.

Desert Flower What makes all the difference in the world between making "Desert Flower," apparently a relatively unknown German production, either pathetic or a revelation, is the fact that it's a true story.

Just when you think you've heard and seen about every thinkable gruesome atrocity thinkable committed by mankind against their own, you're ready to have another surprise coming.

With the latter being the case, the "entertainment value" might hit rock bottom - since reality quite often simply stinks - and instead, the education value goes up. We become involuntary victims of information we probably would have preferred to live without, but once you've heard it, you can't ignore it, and you're richer by a few facts, whether you like it or not.

"Desert Rose" is a woman's story of the kind that makes you realize just how developed, emancipated and enlightened our world really is on a general scale, if what happened to Waris Dirie, the Somalian star model who tells the story at the age of 3 still is a reality for 6000 girls like her every day...

Taking Chance: Heroes Inc.

Offering no further clue than red-white-and-blue: Kevin Bacon in "Taking Chance"

The film starts out promising. After all, you would expect a decent looking person like the one portrayed here by Kevin Bacon to have a legitimate reason for escorting the body of one of his fallen fellow soldiers half-way around the world, and that somewhere along the line some sort of plot, story or point is bound to develop or be revealed. If you're going to watch this movie with the same hopes we had when we did, however, you will be just as thoroughly disappointed as we were, unless of course, you belong to the lucky 200 million who sit in the position to determine just by the pure chance of having been born on the right side of a line drawn on a map, who of all those who die in an armed conflict during the 21st century may be called a hero and who may not. The point of the film is not really at the grasp of the uninitiated in the probably most popular practiced religion of our times (right after materialism): patriotism. - The blind faith that just because you happened to be born within those borders, whatever you do must be good, and wherever on earth you march and whoever you may kill, you will wind up being a hero, and that just because that man there happens to be the leader of YOUR country, he could not possibly tell a lie. Without wishing to be disrespectful of the deceased to whom this movie was dedicated, I find it nonetheless utterly disproportianate. Imagine any relative of the 1.5 million Iraquis killed since the beginning of this war (mostly civilians) watching this movie! Or any of the other 6.8 billion inhabitants of planet earth who don't belong to those lucky 200 million, who wonder just like the long haired "chicken shit" in the movie, just what exactly his friends are doing over there... There is a promise of a time when people "shall learn war no more." Probably because they will finally have realized that of all the atrocities they ever cooked up, this idea of killing and be killed for no other reason than having been born within or outside the margin of some line drawn on a map was the silliest game of them all.

Triangle: Perfect Description of Hell

You can tell pretty much from the eerie feeling right at the beginning of the movie that the young mother you will accompany for the next 90-some minutes is going to have one hell of a day. In fact, if you were ever looking for a perfect description of hell, this story is probably it. Loosely based on the Greek mythology around Aeolus, father of poor Sisyphus, the dude who had to roll a rock up a hill for eternity, you'll get the gist from the film of what it must be like to fall under a curse of the kind you're asking for when you mess around with them Greek deities... While not any more genuinely “enjoyable” than other films of this genre (let’s face it, it take masochistic tendencies to be into horror films), and the plot seeming to be utterly absurd at times, let me say this much in favor of the movie, that it all adds up in the end, and the absurdities to wind up making gruesome sense. Enough to make you wish that Someone more benignly inclined toward us is in charge than the Greek gods, because if they and their likes run this place, then woe is us…

Skellig: A Portion of Grace of the Extraordinary Kind In a world in which a kid like Michael, the young hero of this story might exist, his feathered friend "Skellig" also might. Granted, though, Skellig - apparently the incarnation of the biblical phrase "weary in well-doing," - looks every bit more like a fallen angel than the kind you'd like to meet in Heaven or anywhere else.

The Sort of Angel it takes an extraordinary portion to believe in: Skellig

Which makes Michael (as well as his new neighbor and "not" girl-friend, Mina) all the extraordinary and unbelievable kid that makes this story so unreal, for having faith in this ugly creature to begin with. Then again, maybe it's the ugliness and weirdness that's so true to reality that makes this movie special in it's own way.

And perhaps a little bit like real life, once you make it through all the ugly weirdness, the end turns out to be half as scary...

So, if you're the kind who doesn't mind wading through a bit of muck in order to get to a nice surprise, you might enjoy this portion of Grace of the extraordinary kind.

The Combination: Dodging Labels Down Under

The Combination: Violence, Crime and a Little Romance, in the Land Down Under

While this mix between a drama and an action movie does lend some insight into the plight of the Lebanse immigrant population in Australia, and may be a must-see for that population group in the same way that probably every citizen of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, has a copy of "Groundhog Day" at home, unless you're a Lebanese Autralian or vice versa, "The Combination" probably won't knock your socks off. It does carry some punch, though, and some lessons on non-vionence, or at least tamer forms of violence than shooting your opponent. The romantic relationship between the main character who was released from jail and a young Aussie certainly lends depth to the plot and saves it from being a potentially one-sided beat-ya, shoot-ya type of action flick. Those who thought that all Arabs are Muslims will receive a small education bonus from the fact that the culture depicted here actually deals with Christians, which, of course, doesn't save anyone from the "terrorist" labels of the bigots...

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: One Helluva New World Order Preview?

When fallen angels play gods: Athena, Zeus, Poseidon - All hell breakes loose!

The story of the young demigod Percy Jackson (who formerly hadn't been aware of his status as such) certainly carries some entertainment value, along with some of the best footage of hell you've ever seen, along with a few deep allegories that are probably closer to the truth than many would have the courage to think. And it better be. Since the makers of such movies should have all the money in the world to spread some of the stuff they actually do believe in to some extent in an entertaining manner. What could be more intriguing than to become some sort of god, or even a "half-blood," to us, the mortal fools we are? Wasn't that the big catch ever since the beginning, when the first advertisement genius came

crawling along to tell the first and most perfect couple ever created, living in the most perfect environment every created about all the things they were still lacking in order to be truly happy? "Ye shall be as gods!" And ever since ancient Egypt, over Assyria to Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, people have fallen for the temptation to allow themselves to be worshiped as something greater than merely human. While the actual Son of God allowed us to slaughter Him like a common thief... Perhaps that demonstration of genuine divinity is precisely what stole Zeus' (or Jupiter's, Belus', Ammon's, etc. - Lucifer's?) lighning rod for the period since, in which emperors seized to demand worship in the Western world... But let's not conclude prematurely, or pretend that we had actually learned anything from history, and let us await what surprises the New World Order will bring... I have a feeling it will contain many ancient washups (howbeit in modern wrappings for a New Age), including a lot of "Percy Jacksons" in our midst...