Movies, Part 3: Based on a True Story

If someone started at the beginning of my blog and read all the way through, I feel like it would be evident at this point that I value truth very highly.  I'm not interested in pretending to be things that I am not.  I'm not interested in spending time with people whose focus is continually being something that they are not.  It's just not worth it.  From a worldly perspective (assuming there is nothing after this life) it is a complete waste of the time we have.  From a God-centered perspective, it is deceptive and completely goes against God's call for us to confess the truth that we have done wrong and need Him.  So either way, no thanks.

So if that is how I feel, then naturally I would love cinema that "honors" the truth about someone's life or a series of events.  Now it must be addressed that Hollywood, like almost all forms of entertainment, is just that - entertainment.  I honestly have to remind myself of that at times.  Hollywood loves to create false drama just to make a true story "better".  

Can we address how hilarious and also disturbing it is that Hollywood would take somebody's life and change things about it?  If what happens in your life is a perfectly orchestrated plan that has been put into place by our Creator, how presumptuous and prideful it is to change it!  

Then to top it off, we drink it in and sop up the leftovers with our dinner rolls.  

Need for a Savior: illustrated.  Save us from our desire to rewrite the works of someone who invented writing.

Yet and still, I do enjoy the entertainment provided by watching a movie that is "based on a true story".  So it might be short and sweet, but I will sign off with two lists.  The first will be a list of some of my favorite true movies.  I will list them in order of what I believe to be increasing truth - because yes, I do love the truth.  The second list will be movies I wish were true.  They will be listed in order of my desire for them to be true.  

Based on a True Story:

1.  A Beautiful Mind

2.  Catch Me if You Can

3.  Walk the Line

4.  The Blind Side

5.  The Social Network

6.  Stand and Deliver

7.  The Passion of the Christ (you are welcome)

Awesome if They Were Based on a True Story:

1.  The Lord of the Rings trilogy

2.  Alice in Wonderland

3.  The Pirates of the Caribbean movies

4.  Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

5.  Harry Potter movies

I feel like I need to go paint my Dungeons and Dragons characters while I play Magic: The Gathering after composing this second list.  Just sayin'.

Enjoy these movies and the sickly attempts they make at portraying the truth.  Then think of the Truth. 

What else are you doin' right now?

Movies, Part 2: The Movies I Don't Tell Most People That I Like

Let's get really real right now.  I have some movies I absolutely love, and most of the time I just keep it to myself.  I don't know if I would call it shame, but I most certainly wouldn't have these listed on Facebook.

Probably because I don't have a Facebook on which to do that.  Join me in the rebellion, fam.

But perhaps the reason is the social pressure that I guess we all fall victim to at some point.  Even though I do my best not to give in to such whimsicality, I must admit that until I started typing this post only a select few would have known of my love for these movies.  

Now the whole world could know if they wanted to.  Provided they have access to a computer.  And the internet.  And searched the exact phrasing that led them to this obscurity of a blog.

Rambling aside, these five movies are but a select few of those that could be listed.  I honestly feel like these would be the most socially acceptable to claim enjoyment from.  So hear goes:

1.  Despicable Me - This movie is freakin' hilarious.  If anyone ever reads this blog and hasn't seen it, stop reading and go Redbox the jaundice out of that movie right now.  I have had debates with my wife about whether or not to name our little infant girl (SKELETOR!!!!) after the unicorn-adoring Agnes.  That is how unbelievably cute she is, and how much I love this movie. 

2.  Fantastic 4 - Whaaaaat?  This movie is one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen and each time I watch it I cannot for the life of me figure out why.  I saw it twice in theatres.  TWICE!  There have only been two other movies that I have paid to see multiple times, and future posts will reveal what they are.  It must be the lack of thought that needs to be put into understanding the movie, or maybe its the sweet rock dude falling in love with the blind chick.  Who knows - who cares.  It's amazing.

3.  The Wizard of Oz - Here's where ish gets real.  I watched this movie so many times when I was a kid that I often find myself saying the lines without even thinking about it - AND MAKING THE VOICES!  I sing along with every song, and I can't stand the Wicked Witch of the West.  To clarify, if I had lived back then I would have avoided any opportunity to meet the actress who played her in person.  That's how much I hated her.  Enough to treat the actress as if she wasn't acting.  But the movie is amazing.

4.  Live Free or Die Hard - This one probably comes from watching it at my Penn State bachelor party.  I'm pretty positive that we had half of a leftover keg of beer and a bottle of Manischewitz.  Which means (because I had just turned 21) that I had a beer in one hand and the sacrament in the other.  Meanwhile, I watched Bruce Willis crash his car into a flying helicopter and mount a jet as it flew underneath a highway.  I'm not kidding.  That should be enough to warrant watching the movie twice a day for two weeks.

5.  The Holiday - Last but not least I would like to throw all of my masculinity out the window and say that this movie is one of my all time favorites.  There is nothing wrong with it.  It was cast perfectly.  I don't care what anyone says: Jack Black was the best person for that role.  I had to stifle tears when the little girl calls her family the three musketeers.  If you were a decent human being you would too.

Kidding...

But seriously.

So there it is.  My reputation laid out on the blog/table for all to see and witness.  Laugh if you must, but I do not regret loving any of these movies.  Go watch them and try to act like they aren't amazing - just try.  What else are you doin' right now?

Movies, Part 1: The Classics That Are Truly Worth Viewing

The more I write this blog, the stranger I realize I am.  Stranger in that I feel like not too many people share the interests I have.  Which is fine - but this post will probably not be any different, because in this first of four posts I am revealing that one of my favorite things to do is watch movies that came out between 1930 and 1960.  I feel like that span of 30 years or so was a time when most - but certainly not all - movies retained a certain modesty while remaining poignant and entertaining.

Let me make it clear - if it is not already - that I really think about what I engage in and view.  More than most people I know.  I feel like God has called us to live a life of holiness so that we might honor Him, and so when I think about what I am going to watch or invest time in I want to make sure that after I have done so I will not need to feel guilty or ask for God's forgiveness.  I know that sounds strict and as if I am taking it way to seriously.  But when I think about all God has done for me - the things I have done in past that left me dead in my sin and the way that He cares for me when He has no real need for me - I find it hard to watch movies that leave me feeling like I need to take a shower because of how filthy they are.

Which would be any movie like Black Swan or A Clockwork Orange.  Or anything directed by Quentin Tarantino.  

I understand why people find them entertaining - because I used to and probably still would.  But just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it is beneficial.  Sin is entertaining.  That's why we all have problems with it.

So my hope with this first post is simply to speak on some classics that I have found truly entertaining as well as modest.  I have decided to speak through the lens of a few of my favorite actors from this time, as they play a large part in the reason that pursuing the viewing of these movies is worth doing.

Clark Gable - It Happened One Night, Gone With the Wind

It Happened One Night was, from what I gather, a chick flick in its time.  Such an entertaining story - certainly one that has had overwhelming influence - and an all around good movie.

Yes, I do in fact know how long Gone With the Wind is.  Because I watched it.  All that I will say is that you should do the same.  Trust me when I say that you will not regret spending four hours of your time doing so.

Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon

Casablanca is so famous that I felt like I wouldn't like it because I don't typically like to follow society's trends.  Yet, as evidenced by me including it in this list, it is well worth watching.  Humphrey Bogart is great in the film.  He epitomizes cool.  

The Maltese Falcon is probably one of my favorite movies of all time.  Probably the most entertaining mystery/sleuth film I have ever seen.  Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke - also worth seeing but borderline over the top at one point) must have watched this movie five times a day so that he could learn how to be half as cool as Humphrey Bogart.

James Stewart - The Greatest Show on Earth, It's a Wonderful Life

The Greatest Show on Earth is probably not often thought of when James Stewart is being discussed - for two reasons.  One: Charlton Heston.  Two: Clown costumes truly are the best disguise anyone can invest in. This, along with Gone With the Wind, is a long movie.  BUT IT'S IN COLOR!!!  You're welcome.

I have trouble remembering movies that have taken my emotions on a roller coaster ride like It's a Wonderful Life.  Don't watch it at Christmas - because that takes away from how wonderfully crafted this film is and how wonderfully happy you should be around Christmas.  Enjoy it some other time.  It will honestly make you consider attempting to throw a lasso around the moon.

Bing Crosby - White Christmas, Going My Way

You probably have to like musicals to enjoy White Christmas.  But if you don't like them, just remember how much you love Bing Crosby's version of the song White Christmas.  That will make it enjoyable.  You could also think about the movie Christmas Vacation, when Chevy Chase references Bing Crosby tap dancing with Danny Kaye.  After you have seen White Christmas you will know exactly what Chevy Chase was talking about.  Boom.

Going My Way is the only thing that might make me consider becoming a Catholic simply because of Bing Crosby's performance as Father O'Malley.  But then I would look at the cons list...and would never become a Catholic.  Little known fact (I think) - Bing Crosby won Best Actor for this role and the movie won Best Picture.  He also partially owned the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Guess you can't win 'em all.

With summer around the corner, think of the opportunities that you would have to watch these movies.  After a long day on the beach, come in and watch The Maltese Falcon.  Rainy day?  Gone With the Wind sounds great.  Thanks to the library, you can see all of these for free.  It's not even fair how easy it could be to watch them.  It's like fishing with dynamite.

So give it a shot.  I mean really, what else are you doin' right now?

Baby Girl

I am going to be a father.  My wife is currently bearing our soon to be daughter, and I am so excited to be able to hold her.  I can't wait to read stories to her (and make voices for each character).  I can't wait to teach her how to throw a baseball.  I can't wait to serenade her with off-key versions of my favorite Mills Brothers songs.  I can't wait to sit down and have a talk with her future potential boyfriends.  Actually, I can wait on that.  Until she is 25.

What a wonderful God.  I know I say it often, but it needs to be said often.  When I look at my past and who I was - the things I did - it is very clear that God must truly love me gracefully.

Because I don't deserve to have a kid.

But we are, and I cannot wait.  Thank the Lord that He knows me fully and forgives my misdoings.  

So we were in the ultrasound room yesterday - looking at our infant - and it was so amazing.  We actually saw the heart beating.  All four chambers pumping in sync to the rhythm God gave that little girl.  We saw her brain developing, and we witnessed her stubbornness as she refused to turn and lay in the "baby pose".  Where does that stubbornness come from?  From both her mother and myself - no question about it.  This kid is gonna stomp the yard with her personality.  Bring that on.

But the best part was seeing her face.  Or rather...seeing her skull, because her skin has not yet developed fully.  So weird, and kinda creepy.  I am now calling our daughter SKELETOR, and I will be shouting it in my best cheesy announcer voice should you ever here it cross my lips.  I have also included a picture of what our baby currently resembles.

SKELETOR!!!!!

I can't wait to hold my daughter.

I am so nervous already.  That's how I am feelin' right now.