I received this issue of Film Capsules as an EMail from the Presbytery of Cincinnati and thought it interesting to pass along as information for all who did not have an opportunity to see it.
~ R.Lowry
in this issue
Watchmen
Knowing
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Kings on TV
The Express on DVD
Film Capsules are the Rev. Ed McNulty's synopses of current films plus suggested scripture readings with similar themes. Ed, an honorably retired member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, shares his work at the request of those who attended the Ministers Retreat held in October 2008.
Watchmen
Rated R. Psalm 20:7-8 & Matthew 4:8-10
Based on a super hero graphic novel that explores the vulnerabilities of the men and women behind the masks, this film might be confusing at times--at least it was for this writer, who had not read the original.
The story is set in an alternate universe: it is 1985, and Richard Nixon is in his third term. (Talk about a scary thought!) The Cold War is close to breaking out into a hot one, with nuclear scientists setting the Doomsday Clock at 5 minutes to Midnight.
The Superheroes once known collectively in the 1940s as The Minute Men (yes, there are women in the group, too) have been forced by the government to retire because of public fear, expressed in a graffiti, "Who is watching the Watchmen?" Only one of them has retained his super strength, Dr. Manhattan, who now works for the government. When one of the superheroes is murdered, Rorschach brings his fellow Watchmen out of retirement so that they can track down the killer who he thinks is out to assassinate all of them.
This would be a good film to discuss with young adults and youth such issues as power and its use; violence and vigilantism.
Knowing
Rated PG-13. Luke 3:9, 16-18
Nicolas Cage seems to be the man to go to in these kind of action thrillers. This time he is MIT Professor Astrophysicist John Koestler, son of a pastor from whom he is estranged after he lost his faith due to his wife's death. John's son Caleb is a student at a middle school where a time capsule from 1959 is being opened.
The children back then had been asked to draw pictures of what they thought the world would be like in 50 years. One strange little girl named Lucinda instead of drawing filled her large page with a series of numbers.
Of course, Caleb receives hers, and when John looks it over, he lays it aside. By accident, however, he discovers that some of the sets of numbers are the dates and number of casualties of all the major catastrophes in the past 50 years.
Looking up the daughter of Lucinda, who is also a single parent, but with a daughter, John comes to believe that his son was chosen by unknown powers to receive the paper so that his father could prevent future catastrophes--and believe me, the last one is a spectacular one!
Interesting film to compare biblical views of the end times and new beginnings with Hollywood's.
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Rated PG. Matthew 6:19-21.
Although this is a silly bit of froth about a young woman addicted to shopping, it provides a good opportunity for adults and youth to discuss some of the values in the teachings of Christ, especially his Sermon on the Mount.
Manhattan denizen Rebecca Bloomwood has a closet full of shoes, dresses, and other "essentials" of women who think that VOGUE and other fashion magazines are the last word in determining what is important in life. However, she cannot resist stopping in stores and buying still more. After all, she can afford it with her dozens of "plastic money."
Then, like our banks, insurance companies and investment houses, have learned to our sorrow--there is the price to be paid when economic reality sets in, and she is the prey of a vociferous debt collector. Will he ruin her new journalist job, or--?
Enjoy the laughs, and do look over again the 6th chapter of Matthew.
Kings on TV
Not rated. Deuteronomy 4:5-9
There are two kings in the new series that NBC launched on Sunday, March 15, and they are based on the saga told in 1 Samuel about David and King Saul.
Billed as a political soap opera--the advance notices claimed that this was not a "religious" story--we could call this Bible meets Dallas meets Shakespeare.
Set in a modern nation called Gilboa where young David Shepherd has been brought back from the frontlines after destroying two enemy tanks, named "Goliaths," King Silas Benjamin plans to use him for his PR value.
David had rescued the King's son being held hostage, Jack, but in this version the two seem unlikely to become close like the David and Jonathan in the original story. Jack feels humiliated at being rescued, and he resents his father giving David a high post that he had wanted for himself.
Also, we learn from a heated exchange between father and son that the latter harbors a secret that could be politically damaging were it to be revealed. Oh yes, there is also the Rev. Ephram Samuels who, though he helped bring King Silas to power, breaks with him over the king's renewal of the war with Gath.
Best thing so far about the series is actor Ian McShane as the ruthless King Silas. The network has picked up all 13 episodes of the series, so there is still time to alert folks or gather your Bible lovers together to watch and discuss the show. And if you missed the opening two-hour pilot, you can still watch it. Go and log onto www.nbc.com/Kings.
The Express on DVD
Rated PG. Isaiah 10:1-2 & 1 Corinthians 15:10.
Add one more excellent film to the sports genre with racism and the struggle to overcome as the main theme. Such films as Remember the Titans, Glory Road or Pride and this one might be formula films, but the formula works when done well, and this film is well made. Young Ernie Davis learned as a child how to outrun the white bullies trying to take what was his. On the high school football field in Elmira, New York he could out run, out dodge, and even at times leap over his opponents on his way to the goal post, thus earning the name of "The Elmira Express." Recruited by the Syracuse University team, with the help of recent alumni Jim Brown, who had gone on to join Cleveland Browns, Ernie develops an at times tense relationship with coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Coach is ahead of his time in regard to racism, and yet not really free of it, as we see when the Syracuse team plays Southern teams where "colored" players are not welcome. Both the older man and the younger are enriched by their relationship. This story of the first African-American to be awarded the Heisman Trophy (in 1961), only to have his professional career cut short by leukemia, is one you will long remember.
Thanks to The Presbytery of Cincinnati for this issue.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
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