Category Archives: Longform

Mister Rogers and Grace in The Neighborhood

Just after he eloquently summed up God’s perfect law with the words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27) This expert on the Jewish law challenged Jesus by asking, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) Jesus responded, as he often did, by telling a story.

The story he told was surprising to everyone who heard it. It was the tale of a man who had fallen on some particularly hard times and had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. Who would be a neighbor to this poor helpless man? Perhaps a teacher of the law? No, he was far too busy and continued on his way. Maybe a Priest? No, he was worried that the man might make him unclean. But then along came a Samaritan.

Now, the Jews considered Samaritans to be half-breeds, products of the immoral intermarrying and religious blending that took place hundreds of years before during the Babylonian exile. For a Samaritan to even be mentioned in the same story as these well-respected religious professionals was shocking, but that he would be the hero was almost intolerable.

But that was Jesus’ point as he described the compassion which the Samaritan traveler had on the victim of this crime. He went out of his way to help him and bandage his wounds, he sat him on his animal and walked alongside until they came to a hospital, and even beyond that he took care of his bills and made a plan to return to ensure that he was well treated. At this point, the lawyer must have been seething at Jesus’ words, but he was trapped as Jesus asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

As the camera pans over the familiar model town, the yellow caution light flashes, and the piano notes sound, an inviting face opens the door to ask us, “Please, won’t you be my neighbor?” By performing this liturgy at the beginning of each of his 912 episodes, Mister Rogers was submitting to Jesus’ command to go and do likewise as he sought to be a neighbor to anyone who was hurting and confused. However, the invitation was also a confession that he needed a neighbor as well.

Fred Rogers did not see himself as a saint or a hero. He simply stood on his doorstep and offered the same unconditional love and grace to others that he knew he needed every day to survive. Mister Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister and he knew better than most that each breath that we take is evidence of God’s amazing grace.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor was easily the best documentary film of 2018 because Morgan Neville captured the essence of Fred Rogers’ mission to speak directly to the children of an entire generation and to help them cope with the fact that the world is a dark and scary place. He didn’t try to fool kids or entertain them. He leaned in to teach them, in a way that we are sorely lacking today, that things like death, divorce, and disaster happen and we can’t control them. But we can manage our feelings in healthy ways and talk about them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDnDs1Rz4ZQ

I think we are experiencing this Rogers renaissance because we are lacking a voice that will speak to our children, and us as adults, to provide guidance through difficult and confusing times. And Fred Rogers would not want us to idolize him in this manner. Rather, he would challenge us to take up Jesus’ command to be neighbors to one another. After all, it’s hard to hate someone you just begged in song to be your neighbor.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

The new film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, directed by Marielle Heller, features Tom Hanks playing the iconic role of Mister Rogers. However, this is not another documentary. Instead, it places Hanks across from Matthew Rhys in the role of investigative reporter Lloyd Vogel. This character is a mixture of fiction and fact as the whole film is based on an Esquire article by journalist Tom Junod entitled, “Can You Say… Hero?” (beware of some adult language). However, it takes a good bit of liberty with the establishing storyline, creating a strained relationship between a father (Chris Cooper) and son, to build the stakes.

In the end, the film is really about this fictional Vogel family and Fred Rogers is a high profile side character who steps in and provides an open ear and an open heart. It is a very good story overall and I was moved several times through Hanks’ performance, but my major difficulty with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is that it removes any mention of Jesus or really any religious teaching. This is somewhat understandable because it is told much like one of Mister Rogers’ episodes and he avoided spiritual talk on the air.

Unfortunately, if you remove Mister Rogers’ foundation of faith, it turns his desire to care for people and heal relationships into secular humanism at its best and it gives no foundation for the beautiful mission of his life. A lack of a foundation leads people to all kinds of wild and fanciful speculations about what skeletons he hid in his closet. Whether it be the oft mentioned Navy SEAL service or sleeves of tattoos hidden under those zippered cardigan sweaters.

What Would Mister Rogers Say Today?

In the midst of a presidential inquisition and constant bickering on Capitol Hill, I wonder what sage advice Fred Rogers would have. Providentially, Tom Junod shared an email that came from his lifelong correspondence in a recent article for the Atlantic explaining his involvement with the film and his relationship with Rogers. The subject of the email was what Rogers would say to the then-current impeachment hearings of Bill Clinton.

Last week I woke up thinking how I would like to go on the air and say something like “Whoever is without sin cast the first stone” or “The Lord’s property is always to have mercy” or some other outlandish thing, and then ask for a minute of silence to think about forgiveness for those who want it. In fact if our country could dwell on forgiveness for a while I think that would be the one real positive outcome of the pain which must be pervasive in the White House and beyond. I’ve already written letters to both the Clintons and the Gores saying that often “enormous growth comes out of enormous pain.” I trust that will be so for all of us. The attitude which makes me (sometimes physically) sick is the “holier than thou” one.

As always, Mister Rogers’ words are timeless because they don’t speak to the issues but to the underlying emotions and situation deep within the human heart. His answers are profound because they sound hauntingly like the words of Jesus who would remind us that to seek God’s kingdom means to love God first and to love our neighbor (even the one we don’t really like) from the overflow and to work for their good.

1994 Best Movie Bracket

It was a simpler time 25 years ago. A time when everyone was glued to the 24-hour news coverage of the unfolding dramas of Tanya Harding and O.J. Simpson. I was busy playing on my Super Nintendo and figuring out this new thing called the World Wide Web with the help of Yahoo! As far as movies go, I’m actually surprised at some of the stuff I saw. If you asked me then what my favorites were I would have probably said North, Street Fighter, The Mask, Angels in the Outfield, and Maverick. And I won’t apologize for that, I was eleven! Besides, I still love Maverick, it’s so much fun.

I still got to see some amazing films because our family’s favorite past-time was going to the video store on Friday night and renting an armful of movies. Did anyone else have a two VCR set up and a stack of blank VHS tapes? Has the statute of limitations run out on that type of copyright infringement? I loved being a latchkey kid. I got off school and was alone at home until my parents got home after most people had already eaten dinner. My dad would put me in charge of recording the VHS tapes, and even if he didn’t I would just watch them anyway, which meant that I got to watch a lot of movies! Still, looking back through the common top lists for the year, I do still have a couple of notable blind spots including Little Women, The Last Seduction, Cronos, Shallow Grave, Immortal Beloved, Heavenly Creatures, The Crow, Naked, In the Mouth of Madness, and Satantango.

Onto the best of the year, let me start with some honorable mentions. In another year without so many heavy hitters, many of these could have been my number one. Ed Wood is the Best Tim Burton directed Johnny Depp film that it seems like no one has ever seen. Quiz Show got four Oscar nominations, it is easily the best film that Robert Redford has ever directed. With Hoop Dreams, Steve James created one of the best documentaries of all time. The Three Colors Trilogy is a masterpiece of French cinema by Kieslowski and I don’t think nearly enough people have seen it. Lion King was the pinnacle of the great Disney animated films, everything after went downhill. And unlike some, I really love Forrest Gump which won the Best Picture Oscar for the year even though it is clearly not the best film. But enough with those losers, let’s get to my Top 3.

# 3 – Leon: The Professional

Rossatron gives a good breakdown of why Leon: The Professional is full of action that we care about.

As is my tradition, I have to narrow down my favorites to a top three, and I’m not allowed to do a three-way tie even though it is very tempting. Coming in at number 3 is Leon: The Professional. There’s been a movement to downgrade this movie because of alleged misconduct by its Director, Luc Besson. There are others who see the plot of the film which involves a complicated relationship between hitman Jean Reno and a stellar 12-year-old Natalie Portman in her first film appearance as troublesome. Some have even said that it promotes pedophilia and they condemn it.

However, I remember watching this around 1997 when I was about 15 and I fell in love with that damaged little girl. It is a performance reminiscent of the young Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver. She conveys so much emotion in her face. Especially the scene at Leon’s door which is so powerful as their worlds collide for the first time. The thirst for revenge against the man that slaughtered her family is palpable and that man is played deliciously over the top by the incomparable Gary Oldman. It is far and away Besson’s best film and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

#1 – The Shawshank Redemption

WARNING! LANGUAGE! Logos Made Flesh explains why The Shawshank Redemption might just be the greatest Christian movie of all time.

The Shawshank Redemption has been seated atop the IMDB Top 250 list for the past 15 years. Despite not doing well at the box office in 1994, it was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and didn’t take home a single statue. However, has received new life over the years as it is one of the most widely seen moves of all time. If you’ve never seen it, just turn on TBS or A&E this week and you’ve got about a 65% chance that it either is on currently or will be soon.

I consider it to be one of the greatest movies of all time. It is a wonderful story crafted by one of the masters, Stephen King, and directed by a powerful visionary in Frank Darabont. I’m not going to say a negative word about it. It has an amazing cast featuring the soothing narration of Morgan Freeman and so many great character actors that you should know. It is clearly and unflinchingly a prison movie but we aren’t trapped inside. Instead, along with Andy and Red, we get to experience new life and redemption that comes when you die to self and start really living.

That means that we are going to be faced with another year with a tie. If you’ve been following along, you know that when I covered 2007, we had a stand-off between what I believe are the two best films of the 2000’s right there in the same year, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Here atop the 1990’s we have Shawshank Redemption matched with another masterpiece from 1994.

#1 – Pulp Fiction

Wisecrack’s Garyx Wormuloid shares thoughts on Pulp Fiction now that Earth has been destroyed and aliens are rediscovering our culture through film artifacts.

I love that even the name of the movie is a subversion of what you are going to see. Pulp Fiction makes you think of trashy paperbacks that you read once and then toss, but Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is known for its rewatchability. It’s profoundly violent yet somehow feel-good. It’s full of iconic scenes and characters that you can’t wait to spend time with again, and the narrative structure is so different that it takes a few views just to really grasp at what point everything happens in relation to one another. At the same time this structure takes nothing away from the telling of the story and in fact I would not want to see it chronologically. The streams all coming together perfectly the way they do is part of the magic.

I’m an actor-centric movie reviewer. This just means that I really relate to a film by the people that I see on the screen. I always have the director and his vision in the back of my mind, but I will usually judge a film on the power of its performances first. I don’t know how young Quentin Tarantino video store clerk was able to assemble this fantastic cast with just one film under his belt, but Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Harvel Keitel, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, and Christopher Walken. That’s something.

Pulp Fiction sent shockwaves through cinema when it was released in 1994. It was a wakeup call and it lit a spark under an independent film market that was ready to explode. It made $213.9 million worldwide making it one of the highest-grossing independent films to ever be made. It helped Tarantino to create his own genre of dialogue-heavy scenes, non-linear narratives, violence and dark humor. This genre is now lazily called Tarantino-esque as there have been dozens of films inspired by Pulp Fiction and many others that have just ripped it off hoping to make a buck on its runaway success.

What about you? What’s your top movie of 1994? Do you hate Luc Besson and everything he makes? Do you feel like my picks are too pedestrian and would rather elevate something truly original and independent? Let me know. Comment here or on social media. I want to hear from you.

Is Action really a Genre?

Watch this original trailer for Drive (2011)

If you watched the above trailer for Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive (2011) and then went into the theater expecting a balls-to-the-wall action-filled crime drama you would not be alone. Many people did exactly this and were very disappointed in Drive even though it is one of the best movies of that year and even this decade. The problem here was genre marketing.

Filmmakers, marketers, and audiences usually have a good relationship and that trust is built based upon certain expectations which have been developed over the years. That is what a genre is, a set of conventional storytelling patterns and expectations which filmmakers purposefully use and exploit to communicate within the medium of film.

This is what most of the film was actually like. Notice the difference?

I don’t think they knew how, or took the time to try, to sell a character-driven art-house neo-noir drama which has very little dialog and extensive sections of long takes broken up with scenes of intense, disturbing violence. Instead, they included nearly all of the dialogue from the film in the trailer and cut it as a standard action flick. The studio even had at least one lawsuit over this discrepancy. This is one example of the importance of genre. As the medium of film has developed, many different genres have emerged and risen to popularity as culture changes and as storytellers mold life into art.

Four Master Tools

With that in mind, you shouldn’t mistake genre for one of the four main storytelling tools. You’ll often see a list of movie genres and right at the top of the list will be action. However, Action is not a genre. You say, “Of course it is! It’s on IMDb.” It’s even on the sidebar list of categories on this site. But I think this is because the field of genre theory has not been able to formalize the popular nomenclature. When people ask, “What kind of movie is it?” They are looking for a simple definition and often the easiest definition is the primary tool that is used. This doesn’t really work though so inevitably the film just gets compared to other films.

It’s easy to call a movie an It is a tool that has been used in all films since audiences were frightened by a train rolling into the station. Action is what differentiates a motion picture from still photography.

Poster for the movie "Pulp Fiction"
© 1994 Miramax − All right reserved.

The four master tools are:

  • Action
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Romance

Most films will use one of these tools primarily, but that does not make it a genre. These tools are employed and blended by master storytellers to create. Consider Quentin Tarantino’s modern-classic Pulp Fiction as an example, you can see bits of all four master tools blended together in a way that defied any kind of conventional genre. That is why it was and is called cutting edge. Tarantino created something new and I think he sparked a genre of films that have lazily been called Tarantino-esque.

Using Master Tools in a Genre

So then what is a genre, you ask? As I said before, a genre is a set of conventional storytelling patterns and expectations which filmmakers purposefully use and exploit to communicate within the medium of film. The list of genres is long and it will continue to get longer as time goes on and stories continue to be told in new and exciting ways.

Let’s take another example and flesh this out. Horror is a well-established master genre and several movies like Scream and Cabin in the Woods have outlined those genre expectations and conventions while still living within the genre itself, but let’s dive even deeper down into one of its sub-genres, the zombie film.

Victor Halperin’s White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi is widely considered to be the first zombie movie and it plays heavily on the horror genre tropes. Bela Lugosi was well known for his famous turn as Dracula in 1931. The marketers used this star power and genre recognition and actually refer to Lugosi as Dracula in the trailer.

Zombies became a feature of religion, folklore, and storytelling in Haiti during the inhumane conditions of slavery. Plucked from their home and forced into terrible conditions, the slaves saw themselves as zombies; Dead inside, forced to do the will of their master. We didn’t see the first Zombie film until 1932 with the Bela Lugosi film White Zombie. It plays on the Haitian folklore much more than modern zombie stories which were solidified by the popularity of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968 where the term zombies isn’t even used and his follow-up in 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, where the zombies have now come to represent mindless consumerism. This is appropriate because it was the unfettered desire for consumer goods like sugar and tobacco that led to the rise of slavery in the Caribbean.

Today, zombie movies come in all different shapes and sizes and they use the four master tools to shape the story. We can take each of the tools and apply them to the genre to create very different movies. Most zombie films tend towards the action tool more heavily because of the subject matter of aggressive flesh-eating creatures. So, it’s easy to think of zombie action film like World War Z (2013).

However, you can look at the other tools and find examples where those have risen to the surface within the Zombie genre framework. If we look at drama, we have encountered another word whose definition is amorphous at best. Drama has become a junk-drawer term that catches any kind of film that doesn’t neatly fall into other genres. I don’t think the word is bad, but doesn’t every film have drama? Drama is the development of characters in a realistic setting. It involves emotion and relationships and tells a humanistic story.

With this definition, we can see that movies as varied as The Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men, and The Social Network can all be defined as drama, but that does little to help anyone get a sense of what to expect when they sit down to watch. I would postulate that these films are prison-escape, courtroom-legal, and biopic respectively.

So let’s take this tool of drama and elevate it above action in a zombie movie? Rather than blood and gore and chase scenes, you will get the emotional weight of a father losing his daughter to a disease he doesn’t fully understand. In other words, you get a movie like the overlooked Arnold Schwarzenegger film Maggie (2015).

If you really wanted to be a nit-picker you could roll the tool of romance into drama because they are very similar. However, there is enough material and difference to separate them in my opinion. So if you turn the drama in a zombie movie to the specific romantic emotion you would get a very odd juxtaposition, but it’s been done to good effect in the 2013 zombie romance Warm Bodies.

And finally, when you ramp up the comedy in a zombie movie and explore some of the absurd or humorous parts of a zombie apocalypse you get a movie like Zombieland, or better yet Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead (2004).

These are four very different films but they all share the same subject matter and storytelling conventions. The zombies may have risen in different ways and the fight against their spread might be shown more or less prominently but the heart of the story is the same. People have become mindless killing creatures and those who remain are trying to protect themselves while seeking a cure or safety.

I hope this helps you see the depth of variety that exists in the world of film. I’m working on a guide to genre that will breakdown all the major tropes that we see in film and give some names to everything from the absurdest of French new wave cinema to the most realistic of documentary.

Crooked Marquee – Generation Wealth: Movies About Conspicuous Consumption

The folks over at Crooked Marquee have given us a great analysis of a variety of movies about extreme wealth and privilege and how it poisons. I’ve included a sample from their post as they discuss the documentary Queen of Versailles by Lauren Greenfield. 

As the chasm grows between those who can’t afford to visit the dentist and those who spend a year’s worth of Ivy League tuition on a handbag, it is pertinent to re-examine films about the wealth and greed…

Nearly 10 years ago, Greenfield examined the Siegel family, the multimillionaire owners of the Westgate resorts, in her documentary Queen of Versailles. Greenfield unfolds their almost carnivalesque pursuit of the most ostentatious lifestyle possible. Their myopic, moneyed view of the world is absurd, such as when Jackie Siegel complains that her 10-person family is “bursting out of the seams” in their current mega-mansion. To assuage these devastating spacial issues, Jackie aims to construct one of the largest and most expensive single-family “houses” in the United States. At 90,000 square feet, it is more like a real-life Richie Rich palace, complete with 30 bathrooms, 10 kitchens, a bowling alley, ice-skating rink, and even a baseball field.

But the Great Recession of 2008 comes catapulting into the Siegel’s dreams like a giant wrecking ball, turning their life into what David Siegel sardonically dubs a “riches to rags story.” Struggling to cope with their reduced income, the Siegels are forced to sell their lofty castle for a mere $100 million. Some of their downfall is played for laughs, like when Jackie rents a car and asks who her driver will be, but for the most part Greenfield admonishes and pities her subjects. When they must let a few of their multiple nannies and housekeepers go, their home becomes a grubby, horrifying pigsty where pets are left to die and dog shit piles on the floor. Perhaps having a four-bedroom house would be a lot more manageable for the Siegels.

One of the most wretched moments in Queen of Versailles is when Jackie, in an attempt to save money, purchases Christmas presents at Wal-Mart. She grabs as many toys as she can without even looking, putting zero thought or heart into the gifts she is giving her children. When she returns home, one of the nannies puts a newly minted bike in the garage where it sits among at least 20 untouched others of the exact same kind. Toward the end of the documentary, Greenfield asks Mr. Siegel, who is sitting on a colossal and outlandish gold throne, what his hopes for the future are. “A plane. A yacht,” he stoutly replies. He does not wish for anything having to do with his family or any kind of human experience — he just has an insipid desire for more things. But it is never enough. One of Jackie Siegel’s former neighbors attests that “the American Dream is rising way up above what you started with.” But how much is too far? There is a stark line between living a life improved and one of bloated, fanatical avarice. Queen of Versailles shakes its head in horrified and bemused disbelief at the Siegels’ profuse spending habits and strikes a deft balance between mocking and sympathizing with them…

These films hammer home similar messages about how true happiness is interpersonal and not monetary. Yet filmmakers continue to return to this theme again and again, suggesting that society’s desire for wealth is an innate part of human nature that we will never shake off. And as Laura Greenfield says in Generation Wealth, it seems to be even worse in this Kardashian, #richkidsofinstagram age. “Greed is good” Gordon Gecko once snarled in Wall Street, but these films prove that greed is also hideous, sad, thrilling, and utterly intoxicating.

Generation Wealth: Movies About Conspicuous Consumption

Looking Closer – The Theology of the Coen Brothers

Jeffery Overstreet and Matt Zoller Seitz are two of my favorite authors / movie critics. I value their opinions and their beliefs. So I was very excited to see that they sat down to discuss my favorite living directors (Joel and Ethan Coen) and talked about their view of God. You can read the full discussion over at Overstreet’s blog “Looking Closer.” 

Religion, while it binds communities and brings meaning through ritual, is ultimately not enough. I’m not willing to brand the Coens as “covert Christians.” And even if I did, the word “Christian” is about as meaningful anymore as the word “conservative” or “Democrat”, or the term “the American way.” It means a million things to a million people. But they are definitely drawn to a vision of the cosmos that resonates with my understanding of Christ’s teachings. That is to say that “righteousness,” the ways of religion, and the law-focused method of an “Old Testament” worldview, are ultimately insufficient.

We cannot earn our way to heaven by being good. We cannot save ourselves. The Coens know that “all have sinned,” and they know that “the wages of sin is death.” Everybody is likely to die miserably in their movies, whether as a result of their own evil or someone else’s.

But there is something out there, some kind of offer of grace, and when we glimpse that, goodness happens in us. We begin to love not for selfish reasons, but as a response, as a reflection, as if we are instruments being tuned up by something greater than ourselves.

No, I think that the clearest summation of their worldview comes from Mattie in their True Grit remake: “You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

If you enjoyed that snippet, I hope you’ll read the full discussion. And if that isn’t enough there is a whole book written on the topic of the Coens’ theology. The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers by Cathleen Falsani

Crooked Marquee – Halftime Report: 2018 in Movies (So Far)

I thought that I liked statistics, but the folks over at Crooked Marquee have put me to shame. They have taken a dive into a breakdown of the roughly 615 movies released in the first half of 2018. They divided the movies into three groups: wide releases (70), limited releases (443), and documentaries (102). 

They’re not looking for the best film, but are looking at who is making these films and where are they coming from both culturally and intellectually. One of the best stats that I saw was about where ideas for mainstream feature films comes from. It’s worth a click!

Halftime Report: 2018 in Movies (So Far)

Avengers: Infinity War and Trading Lives

!!Obligatory Spoiler Warning!!

As if you thought I could have an in depth discussion of Infinity War without revealing plot information. Obviously, if you haven’t seen this film you either don’t want to or haven’t found the time. In either case, you need to sort out your priorities. Just kidding, don’t get so bent out of shape!

While we wait for the uninitiated to click elsewhere (Perhaps to this list of my other highly anticipated Summer movies) let me set the stage on the magnitude of this epic film. The now expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe had an auspicious beginning with a 2nd rate hero that hardly anyone knew and a team with a lot of faith. Kevin Feige (now the President of Marvel Studios) said in a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair, “Marvel didn’t have money on the line. They would have lost the film rights to some of the characters, but it was sort of a great experiment. People forget Iron Man was an independent movie.”

An Ambitious Undertaking

It was an ambitious beginning for this brand new production company with zero credits under their belt. They brought on the teams and the talent they needed to make the two superhero movies that they envisioned, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. At that point there was no plan for a 22 movie story arc and an expanded cinematic and television universe. They didn’t even have a follow-up in the works for 2009.

Someone asked at the 2007 Comic-Con, when the fans got their first look at Iron Man, if Avengers was possible and I think they got a chuckle and said that they were focused on making the best Iron Man movie and if they succeeded in that goal then it could open doors for them to make other films. They were blown away by the response of the fans and immediately began actively working towards this unification of all things Marvel and 4 years later we saw the Avengers take stage.

So now, 10 years later as we have seen 3 Iron Man movies, 3 Thor movies, 3 Captain America movies, 2 Avengers movies, 2 Guardians of the Galaxy movies (who could have predicted that), and stand alone films for the likes of The Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and a deal with Sony that gave us Spider-Man in this universe as well. This is an historic film-making achievement. Never in my wildest dreams as a kid did I imagine that my 35 year old self would get to geek out at the movies at least twice a year thanks to these good people.

What Happens in Infinity War?

With all of this time and dedication over 10 years, the Russo brothers were able to step immediately into the story with over 25 established characters, histories, and motivations. I honestly can’t imagine watching this film without the knowledge that I currently possess. I’m sure that there is someone out there for whom this is their Marvel initiation. If so, I’d love to hear from you to see how confused you were and if you were still able to enjoy the movie.

Alright, last warning! Shove off if you haven’t seen it. It’s time for the adults to talk now. 

In a nutshell, Thanos is collecting the 6 Infinity Stones from across the cosmos with the ultimate goal of snapping his fingers and wiping out half of all sentient life everywhere. All of our heroes (except Ant-Man and Hawkeye) team up to attempt to stop to his plan. This means that our intergalactic band of miscreants meets the God of Thunder, Tony Stark’s mind is opened to a world of mystical arts that he had never experienced, and the scrawny patriot from Brooklyn gets to fight alongside a talking tree. It is truly a thing to behold.

I think the best way to break down everything that we saw would be character by character, seeing how things unfold through their eyes and with their motivations. That way you can see that there are very few plot holes and that everything flows in an incredibly natural way. I’m not going to do that here. But I recently posted this kind of walk through from Thanos’ perspective.

Instead, I want to look at the big themes of the film and some key lines of dialogue and draw them out into some biblical lessons and parallels.

We Don’t Trade Lives

Throughout the film we get several examples of characters who make sacrifices for the accomplishment of their goal. When Vision learns that Thanos is coming for the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead, he explains to Cap and the others the idea that Scarlet Witch may be able to use her powers to destroy it.

In true Android/Vulcan fashion he believes that it would be the most logical action to prevent Thanos from capturing all 6 Infinity Stones. They immediately dismiss that plan because it would mean that Vision would most likely have to sacrifice himself, since his life force is so intrinsically tied to the stone. The Captain tells Vision, “We don’t trade lives,” to which Vision counters by referring to Cap’s own story of sacrifice to protect millions.

We see Captain’s own words come back to him in the final fight in Wakanda. Captain America tells Vision to run away to safety as he battles Cull Obsidian. Ignoring his advice, Vision instead saves him. When Cap says, “I told you to get out of here,” Vision replies “We don’t trade lives, Captain.” This stood out to me because the idea of trading lives, or at least offering to make that sacrifice is the stuff that real heroes are made of.

As Christians, we know that the only true way to salvation is through the trading of lives. That is what Jesus did for us on the cross. When we see a superhero who is willing to lay down his life to save countless others we see them as an example of Christ.

Thanos the Anti-Christ

The idea of sacrifice is not limited to the heroes. Even Thanos, when seeking to gain possession of the Soul Stone, learns that the price of the stone is the soul of a loved one. With this choice, Thanos becomes an Anti-Christ. He is willing to save the world, but only through the sacrifice of others, while Jesus is willing to lay down his own life.

Thanos tells young Gamora after his snap that it cost him everything to accomplish his sick plan of “saving the world”. However, Thanos’ sacrifice led him to seek ultimate power by assuming the form of a God while Christ, who is God, emptied himself and took the form of a servant.

The reason that Logan probably resonated with me so much is because his sacrifice seems so Christlike. In Todd Miles’s book on heresy, Superheroes Can’t Save You, he says:

“Superheroes represent mankind’s best efforts to create saviors, demigods made in our own image, beings who are able to rescue us from the horrors the face us all as humans. The thing is, our best attempts to create such heroes fall desperately short for what we actually need… Superman would not be able to rescue us from our greatest problems, and he certainly would not be able to rescue us from the wrath of God. He is not super enough, not human enough, not compassionate enough, and not divine in any way. He just does not measure up to the one who is more than enough of all those things, Jesus. Superman is not Jesus, and he never will be.”

Death is Real

Some people have complained about the ending because they feel like they know that the snap is going to be undone in the next movie. However, any postulating about the next film shouldn’t take away from the real consequences and trauma that we see in this film. Obviously, my mind was reeling with possibilities as the credits rolled, but that doesn’t take way from the fact that I was wrecked just minutes earlier.

I’ve heard of people sobbing and upset for days if they have a particularly strong connection to a particular character. Especially with some of the most shocking deaths being from two of the newest heroes. Usually, when you walk into a “superhero” movie, you often expect to come away feeling unscathed. We like our heroes to be bulletproof, but with this and other recent movies like Logan we see the fragile humanity of our heroes.

I’m of the belief that mourning and weeping is actually a very healthy place to be. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.” Although Infinity War is very funny, that only makes you fall harder when it comes time to mourn.

Flippancy over death is one of my biggest pet peeves with action films and video games. When an office building full of people crumbles during an alien attack and instead of somber reflection we are presented with a joke, it cheapens death. On the other hand, Infinity War portrays death as a real problem. In this sense, the film can be helpful in raising discussions about our very real mortality and the need for a Savior (a Hero, if you will) who can defeat death once and for all.

The End is Coming

The Russo brothers were brave to end Infinity War the way they did. It doesn’t end with all of the story lines neatly tied up in a satisfactory conclusion. Instead, it leaves us wanting more, wondering what happens next. Things are not right with the world and we know from a sense of innate justice and years of conditioning that the wrongs must be righted.

Any kind of real Marvel fan will know that there will be a next installment. We already have dates on the calendar for Ant-Man and the WaspCaptain Marvel and even the conclusion to Infinity War in what we now know as just Avengers 4. It looks like it will be the Return of the Jedi to this The Empire Strikes Back. This puts fans in an interesting place. We are forced to accept the shattered landscape of this superhero world all while holding onto the hope that there is a day coming when all wrongs will be made right.

Christians know this feeling all to well. We live in the wilderness awaiting the culmination of the promise of the gospel. All around us, it can seem like evil is winning and Satan is laughing. But there is great hope even in the midst of the darkness because the Bible says that just as Christ ascended into heaven, he will come again in glory and all of creation will breathe a sigh of relief as our longings are satisfied. It’s vastly different in terms of magnitude, but this tension can be felt in stories like Infinity War which leaves the audience looking for consolation in a future hope.

What about you? Did you pull any nuggets of wisdom from Avengers: Infinity War? What do you think about my ideas? How did you like the movie? Do you want me to stop asking questions? Then leave me a comment below or hit me up on social media. As always, I’ll see you at the movies.

 

 

Avengers: Infinity War Through Thanos’ Eyes

Spoilers, Obviously!

I found myself trying to tell someone what Avengers: Infinity War was all about but with so many great characters that we have grown to know and love I can’t just sum it up in a couple of tight sentences. So I’m going to go scene by scene with the characters as we meet them in the film and take you through the character’s actions and motivations.

Let’s start with the big bad. I feel like this is really Thanos’ movie. He is given humanity and realistic motivations. He’s not just some impersonal CGI creation bent on world domination. We come to feel for him and even empathize with him at times. We’ve seen him a couple of times in the previous movies but really haven’t had an opportunity to learn much about him besides the fact that he makes lots of people nervous and that he is Gamora’s dad and killed Drax’s wife and daughter.

Thanos’ Journey

I don’t know why people get so upset about my plan. I am trying to make sure that there are enough resources to go around. All of these mouths to feed are taking a toll on our universe. It can’t be allowed to continue unchecked. My plan will eliminate poverty, hunger, war, and so much more. I’m not looking for supreme power or domination, I just want to rest and let the universe thank me for their newfound peace and prosperity.

It is an unfortunate consequence that half of all life must be eliminated for my plan to work, but you know what they say about making omelettes and breaking eggs. When I get all of the Infinity Stones, I will be able to take care of this problem instantly. They won’t feel a thing, it will be as if they never even existed.

Asgard

I’ve sent several other people to try and collect these stones for me and they continue to fail me. I’m finally just taking matters into my own hands. First, I went over to Zandar and got the Power Stone from the puny Nova Corps. Then I planned to go to Asgard but when I showed up, the planet had just exploded and I got the drop on them. I had heard about this God of Thunder and I was surprised how easily he was subdued.

His slimy brother Loki failed me before and I wasn’t about to trust him again. He had some kind of failed science experiment sucker punch me. He wasn’t much of a Hulk if you ask me. That creepy orange-eyed guy used some kind of magic to make the green guy disappear, so I killed him. Finally, that liar Loki fessed up that he had the Space Stone. I took it from him to add to my collection and then after he tried to sweet talk and stab me, I killed him and left his brother for dead while I told my children to fetch the two stones from Earth while I went to Knowhere to get another stone.

Knowhere

After easily getting the Reality Stone from this freaky guy they call the Collector, I decided to use it to set a trap for my daughter, Gamora. She knows where the Soul Stone is located, it is the one that I still haven’t found, so I need her to tell me. I knew that as soon as she heard that I was collecting the stones she would come looking for me. I might not have been the dad of the year, but I taught her to be an amazingly strong and powerful warrior and even though she hates me and wants to kill me, I’m proud of her and want her with me.

My trap works perfectly and Gamora shows up. They think they are getting the drop on me and I let her think that she killed me. As if it would be that easy. She also brought along her boyfriend who calls himself Starman or something like that, he’s very confident and it seems like she genuinely cares for him. After I pulled back the curtain to let them know that I had fooled them, she revealed that she trusted him to kill her if it got to this point. I wanted to see what the boyfriend would do, and after a little prodding, he finally pulled the trigger. I used my cool new stone to make bubbles come out of the blaster. I love bubbles. Starman seems like a good guy. I hope he doesn’t vanish once I snap my fingers.

I take Gamora back to my ship and remind her how I chose her out of all the people on her planet to be my child. How I turned her burned out husk of a planet into a paradise. I asked her to join me in my plan but she is holding onto a big grudge about her childhood. She’s refused to tell me where the Soul Stone is located, so I took her in to visit her sister who was foolish enough to sneak onto my ship. I thought that Gamora hated me, but Nebula almost killed me so I have her trapped here. Nebula’s video recorders already confirmed my suspicion that Gamora has the information that I need.

Formir

I’m done with Nebula and should have killed her for betraying me with that traitor Ronan. But I’m hoping that I can use Gamora’s sympathy for my advantage. I only have to turn the screws on Nebula for a few moments before Gamora caves and tells me that she found out that the Soul Stone is hidden on Formir. It’s not going to take my children long to retrieve the stones from those weaklings on Earth, so I take Gamora with me to Formir so she can show me where the stone is located.

When we get to the mountain where Gamora says the stone is located, we meet a mysteriously cloaked man who has a red head. He’s not a ginger, his skin and whole head is bright red. I’m not sure if that happened when he got rejected by the stone or what, but he tells us that he’s cursed to guard the Soul Stone but can never wear it himself. To get the stone I have to sacrifice something I really love…

This is hard. There is only one beautiful little girl that comes to my mind. I wanted to train her to rule by my side and to eventually take my place, but I can’t let some pesky emotions get in the way of my goal. She fought me and will probably never forgive me, but with a tear in my eye I throw her off the cliff and as she careens towards the rocks below, I blink and find myself lying in a pool at the base of the mountain. I open my hand and the Soul Stone is in my grasp.

Titan

I told my Children that I would meet them back on Titan to get the other two stones from Earth. When I arrived, the place was deserted and I met a wizard from Earth who apparently crashed Ebony Maw’s spaceship there. Pretty soon, I realize that this is a trap and there are half a dozen people fighting me all at once trying to get my glove off. Everything is a blur, but a remember that the wizard was with the boyfriend, the genius in the suit of armor, the obnoxious kid in the red and blue outfit, a creepy looking girl with antennae, and some shirtless guy who screamed a lot.

At one point they actually got me pinned down after I pulled a moon out of orbit and sent it crashing onto the planet. I expected that to kill all of these annoyances but they worked well as a team and the creepy girl was able to jump on top of me and tried to put me to sleep. I remember taking that moment to remember Gamora and her sweet face. Maybe I should have taken a few minutes to breathe and mourn before I came here. She was so innocent when I met her all those years ago. I taught her everything I knew and all of these emotions came crashing down as they were forcing me to rest.

I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the boyfriend asking about Gamora. I could hear that he cared for her and was just as upset as I am. If he hadn’t gotten so angry, they would have probably gotten the gauntlet. I don’t know what might have happened then, but the creepy girl broke her sleeper hold on me for a second and I was able to break free again. And somehow, Nebula was there! How the hell did she get off my ship? I wish it could have been her instead of Gamora.

After their sneak attack failed, they all took turns fighting me but I was able to fight them off and I stabbed the man in the metal suit with a sword that he was fighting me with. As he was dying in front of me, the wizard offered me a deal. He gave me the Time Stone and made me promise not to kill him. I figured he would die pretty soon anyway so I took the stone and used the Space Stone to go to Earth to find out what is taking so long with the other stone.

Earth

I arrive on earth to find that Proxima and Corvus have come up against a battle in Wakanda. I’ve heard about this place and their amazing technology. I had even wondered if the Soul Stone might be located there, but their fighters have actually managed to not only kill my Children but have been able to fend off my Outriders as well.

All of the warriors begin attacking me right out of the gate. There were several versions of the metal armor of Tony Stark’s that I fought on Titan, a man in a cat costume, a woman with bright white hair, a mutant raccoon and a living tree. I never knew Earth was such a colorful place, and I have to hand it to those humans, they are stronger than I thought, one of the fighters got in a couple punches and even held me off for a moment before I knocked him out cold.

My goal was to get to the android who has the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead. When I got to him, his girlfriend was attacking the stone and fighting me off all at once. Her ferocity reminds me of Gamora. As she destroys the stone and he is decimated along with it, she collapses to the ground in tears. I confess to her that today has been a difficult one but that time heals all wounds. Using the Time Stone, I rewind until the Mind Stone is back in one piece. Shocked, his girlfriend stares on in horror as I pluck the stone from his forehead and cast his faded out husk into the dust.

Victory

Finally, they are all mine. Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time, and Mind. But before I can do anything, that irritating God of Thunder is back. Somehow he survived and he’s got a very large ax headed my way.

AAARGH!!

Thor has shoved this ax right into my body and now he is seething about the death of his brother and is pushing the ax deeper still. But I realize that I still have control of my hand. I say, “You should have aimed for the head,” before I snap my fingers.

For a moment, I see my daughter in a lonesome place where the sun is setting. She asks if I did it and I confirm that it is finished. She asks what it cost, and I explain as I choke back a tear that it cost everything. Thor asks what I did and I open up a portal and go home.

I have accomplished what I set out to do. As the sun sets, I sit on my front steps. The gauntlet looks terrible like the power it took to carry out my command has permanently damaged it. I take a deep breath and rest knowing that my plan is being carried out and that soon the cries of a thankful universe will be lifted up. You are welcome, my Children. You are welcome.

Did I miss anything? How did this movie make you feel about Thanos? I think it was a great accomplishment on the part of the Artists, Josh Brolin, and the writers to bring this Eternal to life and make him someone that we can shed a tear for. Which character’s journey would you like to hear next? I’m hoping to do at least 12 of the main characters. Maybe I’ll release one every month to keep the story fresh in my mind until we get the next chapter in the saga in 2019.

Aronofsky’s God on Display in mother!

There is a lot going on in Darren Aronofsky’s new film mother! Some have called it the worst movie of the year, some even claim the century. Yet others have called it truly breathtaking and a creative masterpiece. It is a very polarizing film. Upon first viewing in theaters, I was sold. I couldn’t stop talking about it and thinking about it. Since then it has earned the worst audience score of an F, and been nominated for several Razzies. So why am I “wasting my time” looking at this film that statistically speaking most people will not watch?

There are so many religious messages that I can’t pass it up. It is available on Blu-Ray and streaming now, but I will warn you that this is a film made for one time purposeful viewing. It will stick with you and may haunt you. Beware that there is violent and disturbing imagery and foul language. I believe it is all meant to serve a purpose and it points to a creation, fall, redemption, restoration process that we see in scripture. This is through the eyes of an agnostic at best so it is not at all a perfect or complete picture, but we can clearly see what Aronofsky thinks of this God and his followers through his creation.

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this film. It is a very difficult watch. But to serve any purpose I must dive deeper in discussion of the story that the film presents. To look at it from the surface it is just torture porn wrapped in religiosity, but if we will take time to go deeper, we can glean some tremendous insights. This is my last warning. Massive spoilers ahead! If you are up to it, let’s dive in.

Continue reading Aronofsky’s God on Display in mother!

The Dreamers of La La Land • Senses of Cinema

How do you make a happy movie in America without being jumped on? Either America has forgotten how to make uplifting films so deeply that a work like La La Land is, despite its uplifting façade, only a symptom of this malaise, or we have forgotten how to critically appraise such films without competing for the deepest and hardest cuts. Or maybe both.

Source: The Dreamers of La La Land • Senses of Cinema