Love and Cookies Save the Day

It's barely tinged with punk and splintered with a soundtrack ruled by Spoon, the lovely post-punk-rockers. And Will Ferrell! Sweet Will! He surprises me with the depth of this role: Stranger than Fiction is to Will Ferrell as Punch Drunk Love is to Adam Sandler.

This movie perfectly plays the "Would you rather" game, mocking all literary geeks along the way. (Ahem.) Would you rather: Die poetically, or, Live a boorish life?



Harold: "You're asking me to knowingly face my death?"

Pompous Professor: "It's the nature of all tragedies! The hero dies, but the story lives on forever." I'm sorry Harold, but, you'll have to die.

The whole thing is enfolded with outstanding dramatic irony. Our hero, Harold, reads the pre-written story of his life while riding on the MTA bus. The journey goes from beginning to end, and then end to beginning. And he reads it.

We've all asked the question: Is an outside Hand writing our lives? And to what extent is this Writer compassionate?

The film likewise enforces the deceptive opinion that the most brilliant writers are whack-jobs with British accents. And it makes a fine argument that love and cookies can save the day. Of course, anomalies and nuances exist to save our lives.

If I were leading a bible study right now (which I am not), I would use this movie as an introduction to Matthew. Behold, Jesus loveth the tax collector, and even they can become heroes.

[The Nelly gives it 4 stars.]

The Beatles Needed a Black Man

I saw Across the Universe in the cinema this weekend. It's a psychedelic trip through the 1960's, a mediocre love story, and it's all strung together by a wild assortment of Beatles tunes. The film is a musical, but not with a plateful of cheese, as I find most musicals. Across the Universe is spectacular in the artful bleeding of image and song. Think Moulin Rouge on LSD, with a far better soundtrack, but milking a weaker story.

If you like the Beatles (and you should, mind you), it's worth the trip to the theater just for the scene where a Hendrix-like Martin Luther McCoy emerges as he covers "Come Together." It was pretty much magnificent. As I left the theater, lamenting the weak love story, I mumbled aloud, "The Beatles needed a black man."

If you could care less about the Beatles, but you love U2, it's also worth a trip out to see Bono play an American shaman-dude and hear him cover "I am the Walrus."

Although the (all you need is) love story is weak, this is a film worth seeing on the big screen. It is so cliche and overdone to do another film about the '60's, but to use the Beatles as the primary script is a creative feat.

I give it 3.5 stars out of 5. Evan Rachel Wood was the wrong voice for the lead "Lucy" role. Her performance disappointed me, but was carried along by the strength of Jim Sturgess (hey "Jude"), Martin Luther McCoy (Jo-Jo), and Joe Anderson (Max).

I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack and taking chances. And the filmmakers took a big chance on this one. So I say Across the Universe is worth seeing in the big-girl theater, the one with the big-boy speakers.

Evan Almighty Responses

I took the youth group to see the opening of Evan Almighty last night and laughed my little head off. It is a lovely film with simple truths about family, kindness, and God's love for creation. Morgan Freeman made me cry happy tears at the very end, because he plays a really tender Daddy-God.

I think you should grab the kiddos in your neighborhood and go watch this movie when it comes to your town. It's been a long time since I've sat in a cinema where the crowd has erupted in applause at the very end.

I had some weird conversations with random adults post-movie, though. One person was slightly offended that God was played by a black man. This response sort of infuriated me, but I held it together. I tried to calmly say that today, the majority of Christ-followers in our world reside in the Southern Hemisphere and are not so white-skinned. What would they think of our Morgan?

And then another person commented about the movie being "Pro-Earth" (said in a huffed-of-course-this-movie-must-be-a-liberal-plot sort of way.) I just raised my eyebrows and said, "Well, isn't that nice, since the Scriptures seem to be so Pro-Earth!"

I'm really tired of political polarizing in the American Church on issues of caring for Creation. Over the last few years, simple acts of kindness towards the earth, like recycling, have become a part of my worship. Creation-care is an element of discipleship to me, not a political stance. Some folk in my church still see me as a hippie, but that's alright with me. I think of that Derek Webb song, "My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood...it's to a King and a Kingdom."

I guess you should go see the movie and tell me if you think it's politically charged. I found it to be just lovely. It is difficult to represent God's character well in Hollywood, particularly in a comedy! But I, for one, found myself laughing and crying at the simple truths in this film. Nellers gives it two thumbs up.

Why Björk Will Never Act Again

Dancer in the Dark premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. At the Cannes, the film was awarded the festival's most prestigious Palme d'Or award, while Björk won best actress. Unless you're a fan of rather obscure indies, this film probably flew under your radar screen. But Dancer in the Dark has affected me more than most any other film, particularly in how I imagine the Cross.

The film is a modern musical drama that is both horrific and wonderful. Björk composed and performed the entire soundtrack, Selmasongs, with a guest album appearance by Radiohead's Thom Yorke. The soundtrack is stunning and emotive.

You may remember Björk from her swan-studded performance at the Academy Awards in 2000. Her song "I Have Seen it All" from Dancer in the Dark gained a nomination. Known for her innovative and complex musical compositions, starring in a motion picture was a first for the Icelandic singer-songwriter. And, Björk said, it would also be her last. After seeing this film, and the emotional brutality of it all, you can't blame her.

Director Lars von Trier uses hand-held cameras through much of the movie to give it the look of a gritty documentary. And gritty, it is. This is not a film for the faint of heart.

Selma is a single mother and Czech immigrant. Plagued by a hereditary disease that slowly degenerates her sight into blindness, she is equally plagued by the knowledge that her young son will likewise eventually go blind. And so, Selma works night and day in a factory, saving every penny that she might pay for her son to receive a restorative surgery. All this, that he might see.

Dancer in the Dark speaks to me of the grit of authentic love. It is a story of sacrifice and pain, with much beauty in between. I see Christ all throughout it's scenes, particularly in the simple gentleness of Selma, in her agonizing selflessness, and in the outstanding creations of the soundtrack. The climax is terrible, having seen it would cause you to reflect on Calvary in unique and haunting ways.

Although there are obvious portraits of the road to Golgotha in this film, I am most moved by the raw and awful beauty throughout. Björk's artistic performance is riveting--as actor and as composer/singer--and is dripping with the creativity of the Uncreated One. It is in these unsuspecting discs of overlooked independent films and music where I most appreciate encountering the aroma of Jesus.

This month's synchroblog is focused on Christianity and Film. Check out the smart and witty things the other synchros are saying on the matter:

Steve Hayes ponders The Image of Christianity in Films
Adam Gonnerman pokes at The Spider's Pardon
David Fisher thinks that
Jesus Loves Sci-Fi
John Morehead considers Christians and Horror Redux: From Knee-Jerk Revulsion to Critical Engagement
Marieke Schwartz lights it up with
Counter-hegemony: Jesus loves Borat
Mike Bursell muses about Christianity at the Movies
Cobus van Wyngaard contemplates Theology and Film (as art)
Tim Abbott tells us to
Bring your own meaning...?
Sonja Andrews visits The Good,
The Bad, and The Ugly: Christ in Spaghetti Westerns
Steve Hollinghurst takes a stab at The Gospel According to Buffy
Les Chatwin insists We Don't Need Another Hero
Lance Cummings says The Wooden Wheel Keeps Turning
John Smulo weaves a tale about Spiderman 3 and the Shadow
Josh Rivera spells well with
Christian Witchcraft
Phil Wyman throws out the Frisbee: Time to Toss it Back
Sally Coleman is Making Connections- films as a part of a mythological tradition
Dr. Kim Paffenroth investigates Nihilism Lite

"I Don't Believe in Love"

“I don’t believe in love. I believe in God. Because He is bigger.”
-Cristina Ionescu, a street-dwelling teenager in Romania

I spent a significant part of this V-Day in class watching a documentary called, Children Underground. It was both beautiful and terrible. It presents the gritty lives of five Romanian street-dwelling children, and their fight to survive in a Bucharest subway. After watching it, I am more and more convinced that the gospel of the Kingdom is only good news if it is wholistic: bringing not just words, but sacrificial love, and a fight for justice at local and systemic levels. And I'm more convinced that I am, in some way, personally responsibile for systems of society that allow children to continue to live in the streets.

I also think Cristina from Romania has something to say to us. Maybe what she is saying is that love is something bigger than what society has told her.

Sham –noun
1. something that is not what it purports to be; a spurious imitation; fraud or hoax.

Concerning Valentine's Day, I maintain that it is a sham of a holiday. Not because I'm an embittered single woman (although I've had my moments), but because our Valentine's Day celebrations communicate something about the giving and receiving of love that is a sham. Our Valentine's Day purports that love is sweet, comfortable, and happy. I don't think love is such. I think that love is sacrificial, difficult, and oftentimes, sad. Love is a man hanging on a tree as a means of reconciliation. Love is forgiveness that makes others call you a fool. The disciple "whom Jesus loved" said that love is laying down our lives for one another. If this is true, loving our Valentines should mean anything but fluffy balloons and overpriced chocolates.

I'm not judging you for celebrating. I always enjoy getting V-day chocolates and "I love you's" from Mama and Dad, and others along the way. I certainly don't throw those away. But the sugar-sweet words of this "holiday" makes me struggle to know who's Voice is loudest in my ears about what love is all about. I want to live a life of sacrificial love that is both beautiful and terrible. (Lord, help us.)