Hollywood versus reality

Aw geeze! I just saw the trailer for "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. I'm honestly astonished that it appears to be even more anti-Catholic than "The DaVinci Code" was. You hear the words "the truth" thrown around in the trailer alot, which is so ironic given the flimsy plots of all of Dan Brown's books.

It looks like it will present itself as some sort of heroic movie pushing the question of science versus religion driving the two things into a strict either/or situation rather than seeing their compatibility.

The plot of the story is just completely absurd. The whole irony is that people will get pulled into the whole "religion versus science" debate and have doubts about religion, yet will fail to miss all the poor science and non sequitur moments in the actual plot of the book.

This will be the new controversial film of the year because you can tell the studio is going to hype this with all the advertising they can. Of course the other irony is that the movie will try to tell people not to have blind faith regarding religion, but obviously if they are going to see the movie, they will have proven that they have blind faith about the advertising. Sadly, this film will be a blockbuster, mainly because of the advertising, not because of the content. Don't believe me, just look at what happened with "The DaVinci Code." The media and controversy surrounding it made it a blockbuster, but the critics and most moviegoers said the movie was lame. I'm sure this time the studios have hired actual writers to clean the script up. And people say that those who follow religion are just dumb sheep. Ugh.

I would say that this is the perfect time for the Church to emphasize more the compatibility of scienc and religion, as it always has.

For instance, do you know where the theory of the Big Bang came from? A Catholic priest named Georges Lemaitre.

Hopefully Amy Welborn is writing a new book as we speak. LOL.

RS

Saint Thomas Becket

In honor of the feast of Saint Thomas Becket, I thought I'd post the powerful excommunication scene from the movie "Becket"



RS

Volition

A movie to watch:

Volition

Description: "Volition (n)- The act of making a choice. Sometimes the choice of inaction has consequences stronger than we could ever imagine. Throughout history, men have been faced with difficult choices in a world that makes it easy for them to conform. This film explores the hope that lies behind every decision made in the face of adversity; the hope that is buried in the heart of those that look beyond themselves and see something bigger worth fighting for." run time: 14 min 55 sec.

Thanks to Cosmos-Liturgy-Sex for the recommendation.

RS

If The Dark Knight trailer seemed to dark for you

if the original trailer was too dark:



Try this one:



RS

RS Movie Review - Wanted

The "hitman with a conscience" genre has always interested me. And I'd say that "Wanted" (which I saw last week) would in some way fall into that category.

The best way to describe this movie is if Fight Club and The Matrix had a child, and Office Space delivered the baby.

Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) leads the drab rat race life of a corporate nobody. His "girlfriend" is cheating on him, his "best friend" is the one she is cheating with, his boss is not a pleasant woman to work for, and he is barely getting by. Suddenly one day, Fox (played by Angela Jolie) shows up and mentions that Wesley's father, who was killed yesterday, was the greatest assassin in the world ... and that the second best assassin is right behind Wesley! Suddenly, Wesley's life is changed as he finds that he isn't quite who he thought he was, and is introduced into "The Fraternity" to take his father's place. The Fraternity is an ancient society of assassins who secretly protect the stability of the world.

If it sounds a bit outrageous, you're right. But this movie is clearly not about realism. Like I said earlier, this has a huge "Matrix-y" feel. You have to be able to suspend your disbelief if you are going to watch this movie. But that is part of why I enjoyed it. It was just a fun summer popcorn flick. There's a lot of preposterous things in the movie, but they really do fit in with the plot.

I myself enjoyed it and it does have some "thinking" aspects to it as well. It asks questions about fate vs. freedom, the similarity and difference between faith and instinct, vigilante justice and does the ends justify the means. And the ending might just have you thinking more than you expected when walking out of the theater.

I thought the acting was pretty good for this type of movie. James McAvoy and Angela Jolie seemed to have a pretty good chemistry. Morgan Freeman was his usual good acting, although he does surprise you by doing something a bit unexpected in some parts.

The movie is rated "R" for violence and language, and a couple of scenes that show exactly how his girlfriend is cheating on Wesley with his best friend. Surprisingly, Angela Jolie was rather anorexic looking and totally unattractive in this movie (although I've never really seen why she is so popular anyways). It's definitely not a movie for the kiddies. And this would proably only be enjoyed by those who like over the top action flicks.

The movie is actually based on a graphic novel of the same name, but does take a pretty big departure in regards to what the Fraternity is. Although I haven't read the graphic novel, I have flipped through it and read about it. If you're a fan of the graphic novel, you will probably be a bit disappointed in the movie. However, there's no way the graphic novel would get an "R" rating as the graphic novel is much more over the top in language, sex, and violence. And the character of Wesley is much more likable in the movie (in the graphic novel he looks, and probably acts, like Eminem), and the movie is a bit more "based in reality" than then comic as well (yeah, I know that's really hard to say. LOL!).

Overall, I liked the movie, in spite of it's obvious over the top action, pretty far stretched story, and unexplained plot holes. I could have done without the "cheating scenes" though. And as Matrix-y as it feels, this movie is one of the more original movies I've seen lately. I'd give it a rating of matinee or dollar theater since the big screen does give it a little extra something.



RS

RS Movie Review - The Dark Knight (first impressions)

I just got back from watching the new Batman flick "The Dark Knight."

First impression?



Pretty darn cool!

One caveat I will give is that I am pretty surprised it was only rated PG-13. I think R would have been more appropriate. It had some pretty disturbing scenes and situations. And the body count was very high. I also think one character (other than the Joker) could easily freak out the kiddies (and even some adults).

The reason I specify "first impressions" is that I really want to see this movie again. Not just because I enjoyed it, but also because there were a lot of deeper topics thrown at you, that might be hard to absorb in the first sitting.

I will say that the movie is long (another reason not to bring the younger ones), but I'm not saying that's bad, you DO get your money's worth. About half way through the movie, I began to notice this movie was pretty long, but I immediately realized I was just enjoying it too much to want it to end.

Heath Ledger's Joker is getting most of the focus. First off, I have to say, I have not seen ANY of the other Batman movies (aside from one of the old Adam West and Burt Ward movies). I did want to see Batman Begins based on several friends' advice, but since I am not much of a comic book/superhero fan, I just never got around to it). And I have to admit that in looking at the trailer, I was only interested in seeing how the Joker would be portrayed. The character was written extremely well, and Heath Ledger carried it out with frightening execution (no pun intended). However, what really surprised me was how much I enjoyed all the other characters in the movie. Even the "lesser" characters, like the henchmen, the other mafiosos, and even the people on the ferrys were well played.

Good soundtrack too.

Even if you're like me and not into comic book/superhero movies, I will say that if you like action movies that make you think, you'll love this movie. I really would count it up there with the Bourne series (which I really liked). Just leave the kiddies at home.

RS

RS Movie Review - The Matrix Revolutions

***(WARNING: Probable spoiler alerts)***
Just skip to the bottom if you really plan on seeing this movie.

The Matrix series has been an odd thing for me. When I went to see the first movie, "The Matrix" the theater was having technical problems and the sound channels were going out every so often. Needless to say, that made a highly confusing movie, even more incomprehensible. The effects were great, but it was just confusing (due to lack of sound).

After talking with friends, I gave it another chance and watched it when it came out on DVD. Once I figured out what was going this time, I began to enjoy it and found it pretty creative, and ended up buying the DVD and watching it many times. I still really enjoy "The Matrix."

So when the sequel, "The Matrix Reloaded," was announced, and I saw the trailer, I was stoked. A friend and I went to see it opening weekend. There were technical problems again (different theater). The center sound channel would fade out occasionally, but not as bad as when I saw the first film. Still, the second one had to be one of the most disappointing sequels I have ever seen.* It was like they took the Matrix, stripped it of any decent plot, and then made it sleazy. For instance, Zion is just a big, sweaty rave party full of rastafarians and geeky white folk. The first time I saw Zion I realized I would have actually wanted to stay in the Matrix if I had the choice. Guess you can kiss any of that Christian/gnostic symbolism of the first movie out the door. It was clear the Wachowski Brothers were just milking a sucessful first movie (especially because the second one ended with a cliffhanger).


I hated "The Matrix Reloaded" so much I have not even been curious to see the final movie of the trilogy, "The Matrix Revolutions." Well, I did have one reason I wanted to see it: I heard that Neo dies. Yes, I hated the second movie so much I wanted to see the protagonist get his just desserts for putting me through the sequel. However, that reason has still never really prompted me to want to watch the movie.

So why am I reviewing the third movie? Well, I finally came across a form that I figured I would watch. When cruising around the web last night, I came across a movie "review" that was more of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 viewing. It was the entire movie with two guys making humorous comments throughout the whole thing. You may think the "commentary" is annoying, but I have to say, it was the only thing that got me through the movie. And sadly, as loud as they were compared to the movie volume, I really didn't miss anything important.

Yes, "The Matrix Revolutions" was actually as bad as "The Matrix Reloaded. Really on it's own it was worse. Take "The Matrix Reloaded" which had already stripped the decent storyline out of the "The Matrix" and now strip away all the cool fight choreography and cinematography, and for the most part, the Matrix itself, and you have "The Matrix Revolutions." But there are two reasons it wasn't worse: 1) The ending of "The Matrix Revolutions" meant that the trilogy was over and 2) Neo did die (Yea! \o/ ) ... actually we're not totally sure about that by the end. Anyway ...

It was horrid though. Most of the movie didn't even take place in the Matrix, which is what made the first one great and the second one tolerable. Instead it took place in the boring, drab "real world." The other thing that annoyed me was that everyone was so darn serious. Everyone was so sober, tense, and stiff that I thought they all had been given an atomic wedgie before shooting the scenes. They could rarely even squeeze out more than one sentence at a time.

Enjoy you wedgie, Mr. Anderson?
Then you have three story lines going on at once that take forever to cycle through.

1) You have Neo and Trinity going off to save the world.

2) You have Morpheus on another ship, and he practically plays a bit part in this movie (actually the movie is so long and bounces around so much, you really don't feel like anyone really starred in the movie). As the commenters noted, Morpheus becomes the Chewbacca to the Han Solo-like female pilot and the male captain who has to say the "GD word" every other sentence.

Morpheus in "The Matrix Revolutions"
3) Then you finally have Zion about to get attacked by the machines (as you find out at the end of the second movie). By the time the machines get to Zion, you are cheering for them to just kill everyone and get the movie over with.

The Morpheus storyline has them trying to get back to Zion to save it, and when they actually do make it and save the day, you realize you still have another FORTY FIVE FREAKIN' MINUTES LEFT IN THE MOVIE!!! Of course you still have the Neo storyline, but you also find out that after that excruciating battle for Zion that that was just the FIRST WAVE of machines!

I'm not even going to go into the acid trip that was the Neo and Trinity storyline. All I can say is that at one point, when they went above the clouds and saw the sun, it reminded me of the only worse movie (and sequel) I have ever seen: *"Highlander 2: The Director's Cut." That is not a good thing, and just re-enforces how bad this movie was. In fact, the whole trilogy is much like the first three Highlander movies. Just watch the first movie of the series and pretend the other two don't exist.

And then I really am not sure what happened at the end. I'm not sure Neo really totally saved the day. I almost saw a crack in the door of the plot that would allow more movies to be made if someone were actually evil and twisted enough to try and do that. (I can see it now "The Matrix Regurgitated.")

Oh, wow, there actually is something like that.



***(END OF SPOILERS)***

So for those of you who skipped down to this part ... you might as well just read my review with spoilers, the movie just stinks. "The Matrix Revolutions" is an appropriate name because it is just revolting. The only reason to see it is to see how bad it is. If you really insist on seeing it, probably the best way is to watch the video I saw. The commentary is rated R, but then, so is the movie, so don't think the commentary makes it any more appropriate for children. It's in 7 parts, and here's a link to the first part (you can see the other parts from this one):

Hem Haw 1

Here's a pictorial summary of the trilogy:

click picture to embiggen
[This has been a public service announcement from your friendly Roman Sacristan]

RS

Bonus Amusement: Notice how Agent Smith and Carl Sagan sound exactly alike:

RS Movie Review - Idiocracy

I had seen the DVD of "Idiocracy" in the bargain bin at WalMart once, which is the only way I even happened to know it existed. I was curious about it, since it was from Mike Judge (the creator of "Office Space," "King of the Hill," and "Beavis & Butthead"), but given that I had never heard about "Idiocracy," I worried it might have been so bad nobody went to see it. So, I just forgot about it.

Then I happened to see a passing reference to it over at Hallowed Ground blog of all places. So, after reading a few more reviews, I decided to get it. Not knowing quite what to expect.

So, one of the most average men of our time, Joe Bower, becomes part of an army experiment to cryogenically freeze humans. His test is to last a year. However, through "human error" he ends up being frozen 500 years. When he is unfrozen, he finds the world has become a society of idiots dumbed down by media and advertising. Thus, Joe is now the smartest guy on the planet.

Well, my fears were put to rest, as I found it to be another great piece from Mike Judge. Nobody is sure why the studio never promoted it. My only guess is that it just wouldn't fly with those whom it is poking fun at (which would be the average sit-around-on-your-butt-and-watch-TV-joe ... hence the main characters name), and it also pokes direct fun at many major real life corporations. With Fox being one of them, I'm guessing they suddenly didn't like one of it's own movies making fun of it. Guess Mike Judge bit the hand that fed him in their mind. It's humor is subtle in some ways but rather in your face at the same time. It often has the same biting humor as "Office Space." Unfortunately "Idiocracy" does feel less polished than "Office Space," but that may be due to the lack of support the studio gave it.

It does have "language and sex related humor" and thus got an "R" rating, but the whole point of the language and sexual humor is to make a point ... much like the over the top violence in Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero." This movie did have many laugh out loud moments. It helps to pay attention to not just the characters, but things in the background as well.

If you're expecting something as polished as "Office Space" you may be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a good satire of modern society and what we could become [cough]youtube[/cough], you may find "Idiocracy" to be a little diamond in the rough at your local DVD rental place. I definitely liked it.

Trailer


RS

The Paperboy.

This is to help Carolina Cannonball with her sanity over a situation at her work. Since she mentioned that someone at her office is hounding her about $6.00, it immediately reminded me of the paperboy in the hilarious 1985 movie "Better Off Dead."

Her situation might be annoying, but you just have to look at it from a different perspective. Just imagine this paper boy any time you hear her want her $6.00.

CC, this one's for you:



(If you haven't seen this movie, you must. It is an 80's classic.)

RS

RS Movie Review - The Bourne Ultimatum

Wow!

It's hard enough for me to want to go see movies. It used to be that I was always waiting for movies to be released and wanting to go see them as soon as they came out. Yet, ever since 1998 or 1999 it just seems like movies have been horrible. Aside from a tiny handful of movies, I have rarely visited a movie theater.

But a friend of mine introduced me to the Bourne series (I was out of the country when the first one was released), and was pretty amazed at the first movie, The Bourne Identity. I was a bit nervous about the second one, because often, sequels stink (a la Matrix vs. Matrix: Reloaded). But, I was pleasently surprised that the second was just as good, if not better than, the first.

So, the third one is here and again, "can Hollywood actually make a decent third movie?" Well, in my opinion: "Yes, yes it can!" The movie was right up to par with the first two and really does a good job of looking at the whole storyline. It is also a good movie in that in does deal with ethics, and you definitely see the slippery slope of trying to use "the ends justifies the means" morality.

I only had one minor complaint, but I won't mention it because it might cause someone who wouldn't have noticed it to be distracted by it. I'll only say, it was a similar complaint I had in the second movie. So if you didn't notice it in the second it shouldn't bother you in the third. And it's nothing that would objectionable anyway.

I would recommend that you see the first two movies first, as it will make a lot more sense as to what is going on and what some of the flashbacks and references are all about.

Like I said, not only is the third movie good, but the whole series is great. Action packed, very believable, and it does get you thinking about a lot of modern day things. These movies are definitely near the top of my favorites list.

It's PG-13 for violence and language (all in the series are). However, I find none of it gratuitous.

BTW - A movie like this is enhanced by seeing it on the big screen with a good sound system. It's good anyway, but it was certainly fun in the theater.

RS

RS Movie Review - Jet Li's Fearless

I have always enjoyed Jet Li's films, so I was very interested in seeing "Fearless," which was said to be not only Jet Li's masterpiece, but also his last wushu (Martial Arts) film.

I really liked one of Jet Li's earlier movies "Fist of Legend" which is said to be one of the definitive martial arts movies. I also really enjoyed "Once Upon A Time In China" which has been a very popular movie worldwide. (I must note, the sequels "Once Upon A Time In China II and III" were absolutely horrible IMHO. The second I could tolerate, but I couldn't even finish the third one.)

Interestingly, these three movies are connected. They all take place in the milieu of Westerners coming into China in the late 19th/early 20th century. Although they do show how other cultures came in an basically took advantage of China, they are also fair and show how many Chinese either did not help the situation or took advantage of the situation for selfish gains. "Fearless" could almost be a prequel to "Fist of Legend" in that the latter movie involves a Jing-Wu school, that is, a nationalist martial arts school founded by Jet Li's character, Huo Yuan Jia, in "Fearless."

Now the first five and a half minutes are some amazing fight sequences. However, this movie was very different from what I expected. It wasn't quite as action packed as the trailer leads you to believe. Yet, I really did enjoy it in spite of it being a very different style of movie than what I thought it would be.

Now comes the hard part. How do I review a movie without ruining any of it?

Well, it does not have any sex or language. However it does have some pretty violent scenes. Yet, these are not scenes of violence for the sake of violence, or even for just a "great action sequence," but they really do help tell the story of Huo Yuan Jia

I guess you could best describe it as a story of redemption and seeing the bigger picture. I recommend this movie if you don't mind some violence, although I would not call it gratuitous. I have the "Unrated Edition" of the DVD so I am sure it has a bit more violence than the theatrical version.

I think what I liked about this is that although it tries to teach that violence is not always the answer, it does not take a pacifist view. Sometimes fighting is necessary, that is just a fact of life. However, power is always to be used with responsibility and to serve.

What also makes this movie good is that you can tell that this is a movie that Jet Li really believed in. He wanted to make this movie to express his beliefs. Although he is a Tibetan Bhuddist, this movie does express a universal truth about power and responsibility.

It is a very interesting story that I found pretty original. And it is nice to have some pretty impressive fight sequences too. CG and wire-work were kept to a minimum. It is not your average kung fu plot line, but that is exactly the point. I highly recommend it for anyone who has enjoyed kung fu movies, but also likes an original and well thought out story. Anyone who enjoys seeing someone's personal journey to a realization will also enjoy this move.

PS - I read an interview with Jet Li that although this was his last wushu movie, thankfully it is not his last action movie. He felt that regarding martial arts, "Fearless" expressed all his beliefs and feelings about wushu (martial arts).

Here's the trailer for anyone interested.



RS

Movie Review - Into Great Silence

Last Friday, I went to go see "Into Great Silence" with dadwithnoisykids and his family (including Histor the Wise), with TheEngineer's family, and Fr. X.

dadwithnoisykids has his own movie review and I just saw that Histor the Wise has his review up also.

I think my viewing of this movie is going to be a bit different from most peoples, because I have stayed in a Carthusian Monastery on a vocation retreat, so I have experienced their life first hand. And from that, I can say this movie is excellent in showing Carthusian life.

There were several little details I noticed. Here's a few:

For instance, when the monks gather in the chapel, as each monk comes in, they will take charge ringing the bell until another monk comes in.

I also noticed the "Carthusian prostration" which is a bit different from the typical lie-down-on-your-stomach-with-your-face-to-the-floor-prostration we think of when we hear that. Carthusians will lie down pretty much on their right side. It almost looks like they are just reclining.

At the end of a Psalm, they will also sing the Gloria Patri much more slowly and deliberately than the regular pace of the Psalms.

The monks' cells at the Grande Chartreuse are similar to the ones at the Charterhouse of the Transfiguration in Vermont. It is not quite what you would consider a typical monastic cell. It is in fact more like a small house. It has two levels. The bottom level contains a work area (usually where the monk will cut and chop his firewood out of the large pieces of wood that are brought to his cell by the lay brothers) which opens out onto a small outdoor garden which is completely surrounded by walls.
The upper level is the actual living space of the monk, where his bed, work table, and chapel will be. I have descibed this in a previous post.

One thing that suprised me was that this movie is one of the few times you will actually see a Carthusian's face. Even in the vocational liturature I got from them, all the pictures of monks had them with their hood on or in a shadow so you could not see their face. However, several times, the director will just have a monk look right into the camera for about 30 seconds to a minute. It's almost awkward, but it does make them seem much more real and you realize they are men just like anyone else.

The only thing that was not conveyed was the intensity of that silence and solitude. It's one thing to sit through a 3 hour movie that is basically silent, but it is quite another thing to be sitting in a cell completely alone with God for most of your day. That to me is what makes their vocation so heroic. I am sure it is something you do get used to and do fall in love with if that is your vocation, but it really is hard to imagine it until you experience it.
The other reason the solitude is not conveyed well is because you feel like you are right there with the monk. So in a way, you, as a viewer, do not feel alone. It's not a problem with the director's filming, it is just something that is intrinsic to the process.

But I do have to give the director credit. This movie is rich in details, and shows a lot about the life of the monks. It shows both the activities of the priest monks and the lay brothers. It shows their manual labor and their prayer life. It shows their solitude and their community life too. The director did a supurb job of allowing the viewer to enter into the life of the monastery without it feeling like a documentary or some avante guarde art piece.

Overall, this movie is excellent and I highly recommend it. I don't think you can get more a more candid and authentic view of the Carthusians without actually experiencing it firsthand. This is what vocational videos should be like.

I can't wait to get it on DVD.

RS