The 2007 Christian Film Festival is here!!!

OH MY GOSH I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!

They FINALLY posted the movie schedule for the Film Festival, and I am so psyched. They are showing such good movies this year, and they have such awesome guests! David White AND Kevin Downes! And David White is going to be performing LIVE his one man show, "Holy Man Undercover"! Those two have been my favorite Christian actor/director/producers since I first saw them in "The Crossing". I had the chance to meet Kevin a couple of years ago at the Festival, but I didn't get a picture with him. But this year, definitely. Oh, I am SO jazzed. This is gonna be great. Now I just have to find someone to work for me that day.

2/20/07 "Babel"

Ok, I was really on fire to see this movie, because it was nominated for Best Picture, and I really want to see all the movies nominated before the Oscars on Sunday. So I went this evening with my old college friend, Anne. We had a great time and went to see it at the Loring in downtown Hingham. And it was...well...REALLY DEPRESSING. BEWARE THE DEPRESSING SPOILERS.

2/20/07 "Babel"

NOTES FROM THE BOOK

trailer-"Letters From Iwo Jima" (GOOD movie)

yup, this IS an adult movie
wow, those are really tiny Japanese skirts
that guy looks like a girl
WOW...this REALLY is an adult movie.
Man, that poor kid is now traumatized for life.
Loud sounds to silence...good contrast
Wow, she's a lil sex fiend.
It's really too bad that all these good times are going straight to hell.
I wonder what the Japanese connection is...oh.
Geez, I hope neither Amelia or the kids die or something.
Man, this whole movie is just about a bad situation going worse.
Oh, she's gonna come back naked...BINGO.
Man...this movie is HORRIBLE.
"I peed my pants."
I wonder if she jumps.
This does have a good soundtrack, though...Japanese, Mexican, Morrocan.
RAN-DOM ending...

SO, Babel is kind of like "Crash", as in there are four different people's stories that all relate to each other. There's Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, two American tourists on vacation in Morocco, their kids, who are being cared for by a Mexican nanny living illegally in San Diego, and a Moroccan family of goatherds and a deaf Japanese girl and her father. It was a beautifully made movie, good cinematography and an excellent soundtrack. But on the whole I felt it was too long and plodding at points, I just wanted the story to get on with it. I also felt dissatisfied with some of the stories because I felt there was no resolution, just stories about horrible crap happening to decent people. Anne and I both left pretty bummed out, and now I'm watching Ladyhawke to snap out of it. Next time we'll go see something cheerful, like Schindler's List.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "If you want to be depressed, listen to this movie."

I have no boyfriend, but at last I have my Beast!

Valentine's Day comes early for me!



Yup, Season One is now mine. I was rather obsessed with this show in high school. HUGELY obsessed. Like, so obsessed that if the internet had existed at that point I probably would have had a LOTR-like activity level in fan stuff. But I taped almost all the episodes off the Family Channel when they used to air them, and one awesome thing I noticed right away was that apparently the Family Channel was trimming episodes to fit, and so it's extremely cool to see stuff I'd never seen before. And watching episodes with out fuzz and static and lines running through them is freakin' heavenly. Sigh...Happy Valentine's Day to ME!

New Toy

Finally, FINALLY. After months and months of wanting and wanting and WANTING, it is MINE. MINE.

This is now mine.

14 discs of joy, INCLUDING the REAL version of Superman II, the Donner Cut. Screw YOU, Salkinds, ya crazy Europeans who didn't know a masterpiece when you had it.

More on Superman later, I'm only through six discs so far, but I had to blog on this momentous purchase.

Clive Cussler vs. Hollywood (or, Hollywood Rant #1)

Well, this topic has been of interest to me as of late since I decided I liked "Sahara" enough to watch over and over again. I thought it was a fun movie, terrific funnies by Steve Zahn as usual. ("No way man, African war zone! Ship of death!") Oh, and the soundtrack? KICKIN'. I had kind of really hoped for sequels. It was a fun popcorn movie in the style of The Mummy. People have compared it to Indy Jones, but that is far too superior. But it seems right on par with the Mummy, which I enjoyed and which I own. (maybe I'll watch that tonight...)

So, from what I understand, Clive Cussler writes lots of popular books about Dirk Pitt and his adventures. So far, only one other book has been made into a movie-Raise the Titanic. Apparently it bombed big time, and Cussler slunk away for a time, having been stung. He came back to Hollywood again, and asked for, and was given, cast approval and script approval. And ten million dollars. He then proceeded to make a nuisance of himself rejecting script after script after script after script after script. I believe they went through about seven or eight screenwriters and countless scripts. He also turned down several potential Dirk Pitts, because they didn't have black hair and green eyes, because, you know, there is no such thing as hair dye or contacts. After about a year and a half of this malarkey, the producers, who had been tearing their hair out, were desperate to get the friggin' picture MADE, and basically told Cussler that THIS was the script they were going to use, and THIS was the star they were going to use, and he could like it or lump it. Cussler lumped it, threw a raging tantrum and proceeded to tour the country, signing autographs and disparaging the movie every chance he got. All this before it was even released. And then, after it was released, (making not off the charts money, but decent money, enough that the producers were thinking a sequel could work) he decided to sue for breach of contract. Paramount promptly countersued.

Now here's my thing. As someone who has written for both the page and the screen, and as someone who LOVES movie and adores books, I can see both sides. I understand how hard it must be for an author so see a story, a character, that you have thought on and labored on and spent sleepless nights on taken apart and changed. That would be a really hard thing to see happen. But, as a movie girl, I also understand that there is almost NO PIECE OF LITERATURE IN EXISTENCE that is going to translate to the screen WORD FOR WORD. PERIOD. There are some that have come awfully close-the first Harry Potter, Fellowship of the Ring (shut UP Bombadil people), The Pelican Brief, The Shawshank Redemption. But not many. For crying out loud, people, THE BIBLE has gotten hacked to pieces by moviemakers in more ways than one.

Basically, unless you want an outrageously long and expensive movie, you have to make some cuts. I'm glad they do. I like my version of Nicholas Nickleby. I tried to sit through an eight-ten hour BBC stage version that they did at the Royal Shakespeare Co. and released on video...couldn't do it. And the Charlie Hunnam version is one of my top ten favorite movies. Now, Sahara? 700 pages. TWO prologues. You do the math. I'm still trying to finish the BOOK. The movie was so fast paced and quick witted...I WISH the book was as much fun.

Many, many books have been turned into perfectly servicable, if not GREAT books by making some, sometimes MANY and BIG changes. Case in point? JAWS. Yeah, Benchley had words with Spielberg while it was being made. Ya know what? He cried all the way to the bank, too. Other greatly changed book=good movies? The Bourne Indentity. The Neverending Story. Planet of the Apes. The Princess Diaries. Almost any great piece of literature by Shakespeare, Austen, or Dickens.

Some authors just don't understand how movies are made. Movies are made by entertaining people, and different people are entertained by different things, and you have to be able to cater to a lot of different people in the same way in order for them to come see your movie. And you want a LOT of people to come see your movie, so it will make a lot of money. So Cussler's sold ten million books. Ok. He's now complaining this ludicrious idea that Hollywood has ruined him as an author, that the movie was so bad that people won't buy his books anymore. That's completely ridiculous. His books are his and his alone, and at last count, he had about 19 other books besides Sahara. That's like saying I'm never reading John Grisham again because I hated The Firm. (I didn't actually hate it, but I did like other Grisham books=movies better.) People will buy his books because they like his style of writing, not because Hollywood makes big movies out of them. That's what fan bases are. Of course, if your movie does well, then you get to add people to your fan base, because they will read the book because they liked the movie so much. (Like I did for Lord of the Rings) I read a great quote by I think it was Dashiell Hammet (I could be wrong) when asked if Hollywood had ruined his books, he looked behind him at his bookshelf and lazily replied, "Nope. They're still there."

I think Cussler is making a HUGE fuss and is acting childish and selfish. The moviemakers, icluding Matthew McConaughey, took great personal interest in the film, and for him to be all pissy about it...well, it just bothers me. The movie did fairly well. Sequels would have solidified his fan base, made him MORE money...what's his beef?

If he really hates the movie adaptations of his books, well, he shouldn't sell any more rights. Raise the Titanic, shame on them, Sahara, shame on you, Clive.

And yet I understand how it feels to want to share what you've created with the world, to see and hope others feel the same exhiliration, the fear, the passion YOU felt when you were writing.

But hey, at least HE's been published.

Just my two cents. And here's a link to the original article.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-me-sahara8dec08,0,3301265.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews

Watching "Volcano"

Yes, yes, yes, it's is a silly movie. But good for some mindless movie watching, which is what I need tonight. And hey, it's fun seeing the Coast be Toast! And if I was ever caught by flowing lava in LA, I'd want Tommy Lee Jones for my daddy. And it has Anne Heche before she was dating Ellen and before she went completely mental.

It's sort of interesting watching this movie that came out in 1997. I'm sure I went to see it over at Braintree with John when it came out, that's pretty much all we did when I had the apartment. And I seem to remember John riffing on the movie pretty badly, since he's from Cali originally. Which it so deserves.

Ok, ok, here is the part I hate worse than any other-the public transit guy saving the train driver by jumping INTO the lava, then, whilst the lava disintegrates his FEET and LEGS, he THROWS the driver across the lava to safety and dies. Boo hoo. I'm sorry, but I find that to be just so completely unbelieveable...stupid, stupid scene.

Silly movie..I wonder when they'll rifftrax it.

10/26/04 "The Grudge"

weird movie...very Ring.

10-26-04 "The Grudge"

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-Ring 2, Meet the Fockers, Boogeyman

I didn't know Bill Pullman was in this movie-oh wait, I guess he isn't.
Hey, it's Yoko!
Hey-guy from Roswell.
Hey! guy from Seaquest.
So, we're like 15 minutes into the movie...that's a lot of expo.
Oh, a flashback.
Surround Sound footsteps are CREEPY.
This movie's setup is crazier than Memento.
"It's ok, Karen"...geeeeez what cheesy dialogue.
They stole that from Nightmare on Elm St.
Lots of eye-drawing, lots of reflection use.
LOTS of Ring here.
What is she a hooker now?
More crazy flashbacks than Pulp Fiction.
Ringing very effective.
Wow....that was an incredibly abrupt ending.

Ok, this movie was very confusing, had some creepy parts thrown in, but on the whole...eh. Let me see if I remember this correctly. There's a haunted house in Japan. It's haunted by a little Japanese boy that meows. And the house kills people, even when they're not in the house. And there's a creepy song that sounds like when you run your fingers down the length of a comb. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a nurse who takes care of someone in the house, and somehow she pisses the house off and it kills everyone she cares about. And it ends rather openly, making way for the sequel, the Grudge 2: Sarah Michelle Dies In The First Few Minutes.

So...no, I don't recommend this movie. It was too confusing, or maybe I just understand Japanese horror. I dunno. It gave me a few jumps, but sometimes I jump just for the fun of it. And it was fun to make that noise at each other in the parking lot.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "When someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage...confusion is born."

10/2/04 "First Daughter"

Katie Holmes...needs to find better roles.

10-2-04 "First Daughter"

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-The Polar Express, Christmas with the Kranks, Raise Your Voice, Finding Neverland, National Treasure

I hate the Rivers girls.
good fades!
roommate's ETA? Man.
I wonder if there will be terrorists before the end of this movie.
Wrist to elbow is the measure of your foot? huh.
Really random boat scene.
I bet he's the son of the president's rival.
Oh, he's a Secret Service agent! Didn't see that coming.
He's gonna lose the election.
Or not.

Hoo, boy, this movie was boring. Reminded me of the Princess Diaries, only not as fun. So, Katie Holmes is the daughter of the president who is running for re-election, and she's off to college for the first time, surrounded by secret service, which she hates, can't relate to normal teens, blah blah blah. The only surprise this movie pulled on me was when her little crush turned out to be a secret service agent. D'oh! Didn't see that one coming. Yeah, so this movie was pretty boring. Skip it.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "Joey, Joey, wherefore art thou, Joey?"

9/28/04 "The Forgotten"

creepy...made me jump!!

9-28-04 "The Forgotten"

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-Team America:World Police, Closer, Spanglish

interesting theory of para-amnesia
So he just lets psycho woman into his apartment and goes to sleep?
Did we get married?
NSA?!? Whatever.
This reminds me of Dark City.
Having a National Enquirer moment
HOLY CAR CRASH!!!
too much salt or sugar.
Ok, I wouldn't undress in front of him.
This guy seems SO dead to me.
Sucked into vortex...huh.
Yeah, why didn't they take you.
Well, I know she gets sucked up cause the commercial gave it away.

So this movie I guess had a sort of interesting premise but I would have liked it a lot better if they could have presented it more as such. Ok, there's this woman Telly, and her son has disappeared. Suddenly, people are trying to tell her that she never had a son, and she needs to give up this idea that she did. She meets a man hose daughter has disappeared, and same deal, except he's forgotten his daughter, and Telly helps him remember her. So they set out in search of their missing children and it's all very X-Files and government and stuff. And, eventually, they get their kids back.

Ok, I hated Telly's name. It reminded me of that character on Sesame Street and I just couldn't take her character seriously after that. It's like making a movie about something really serious, like freeing slaves or the Holocaust, and naming some of the characters E-Z Reader and Letterman. I did find the whole sequence of the alien trying to make Telly forget her son by stealing the memory of his birth interesting, because Telly foils that by remembering when she was pregnant. But the movie was sort of confusing, and not really classic in any way. Skip it.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "I wish this movie could be forgotten."

9/14/04 "Cellular"

clever twist on Phone Booth..kinda opposite

9-14-04 Cellular

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-The Grudge, After the Sunset

sounds like TRON opening
Kim has such a little girl voice
random kiddie
cool key hole shot
"Friend with nipples"
Kim way overacter
"Get off the phone and concentrate on the road!"
"Who do I make it out to-the chick who sucks?"
That's a very bad man.
end credits on a cell phone-clever

Gosh, it's been so long since I've seen this...let me try to remember. Ok, a woman is kidnapped by some bad guys who want to force her husband to do something...can't remember what. She is held in an attic in some house and the bad guys smash the phone right in front of her so she can't use it. But since apparently she is MacGyver, she jerry-rigs it up and randomly hits numbers and wind up connected to some guy's cell phone. She begs him not to hang up, to take his phone to the police. He agrees, then realizes the police are in on the deal. There's lots of car chases and concerns with the phone dying, or going out of range. Then he foils the bad guys by taking video of them doing bad guy stuff with his phone! Hah! And all is well.

The thing that irked me most about this film was Kim Basinger's little-girl voice. Grr, that irked me so much for some reason. That and that her son was named Ricky Martin. Blah. And even I, the queen of suspending belief, found it rather hard to believe that she managed to get some guy's cell phone close enough to actually be of some help to her, and not in say, Cleveland. Ok to see once.

Until the next time this is Sarah saying, "If the signal dies, I....really don't care."

9/12/04 "Exorcist: The Beginning"

curious..not bad at all for a THIRD sequel

9-12-04 Exorcist:the Beginning

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-Team America:World Police, Constantine

creepy upside down crucifix
he's like Indy Jones
good English/American accent
sanatorium reminiscent of first Exorcist
Father Gianetti? Sounds familiar....
NO WAY would I go down there.
hmmm...a shower...how Psycho
so he just happens to have all his stuff with him?
yay! awesome repentence scene.

So, this movie is the third sequel, actually a prequel, to "The Exorcist", and I didn't think it was bad at all. It was certainly better than "Exorcist II: The Heretic", which made me want to beat John Boorman many times about the head with a heavy silver crucifix. It's about Father Lankaster Merrin's first encounter with the demon Pazazu in the desert at the excavation of an early Christian church which appears to have been buried the day it was completed. Father Merrin, due to horrors he witnessed during WWII, has renounced his faith in God. But he soon realizes that he will need God to defeat the evil that lies buried under the church.
I guess this movie went through two directors and got a lot of flack. But I didn't think it was too bad. I've certainly seen worse. It was interesting to see Merrin's beginnings, and the film made many references to the original. No references were made to Exorcist II, thank goodness, which was a bad acid trip covered in silvery Boormanistics. Cruumy CGI, though. Some good jumps, but I found the ending to be a bit predictable. Oh well.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "God may not be here, priest, but entertainment is!"

8/31/04 "Open Water"

Ok, this movie was SO MUCH WORSE than I expected.

8-31-04 "Open Water"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-Shaun of the Dead, Life Aquatic, Saw

based on true events
call cell phone
and suddenly...it's a PORNO
oooo...I HATE jellyfish
Discovery boy like Rob
"Let's swim outta this puke."
security video of honeymoon
cool lightening effect
better if PITCH black
SUCKIEST ENDING EVER!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this movie review because I HATED this movie. In a nutshell, two people go scuba diving with a group and get left behind by their stupid dive leader. They float in the water and eventually get attacked by sharks and give up and drown. The end.

OMG, this movie was horrible. I just kept waiting for it to get going, and it never did, and then when it ended, it was the worst ending I've ever seen. What a letdown, because Jaws is one of my top ten favorite movies ever, and this movie just completely BLEW. The script was bad, contrived, and camera work was choppy, which I guess I could forgive since it was low budget AND shot on the water. And the random PORN in the beginning of the movie which HELLO wasn't expecting at all...and neither was Janelle, who had brought her younger brother and sisters.

The film is inspired by the 1998 disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind by their diving boat off the coast of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I found that at the IMDB. And I feel really bad that these poor people's plight was so monstrously told.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "For God's sake, get OUT of this movie!!"

8/24/04 "Without a Paddle"

Oh, this movie was SO much better than I expected.

8-24-04 "Without a Paddle"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-Surviving Christmas, Ocean's 12, Sky Captain and the World of Tommorrow, Team America:World Police

Ethan Suplee Ghostbusters!
Burt Reynolds
aww, they killed off the cute one
sound is really bad
horror posters-Friday the 13th 3D
BA Baracus
C3PO
they're 30?!? Eeeeeek
"Your responsibility is to come treasure hunting with us."
hog ridin'!
He's got a sports sac.
He's got an Indiana Jones ring.
"What's a camping trip without beer?" (A camping trip?)
growling deer
What a wonderful world rock.
peeing off canoe
"Hi there, coal miner's daughter."
"I'm not an astronaut...I'm an American."
surfing a rapid....cool
C3PO speak-cool.
"I never thought I'd be so happy to hear anything that sounds like Creed."
Leonard! Skynyrd!
"I'll write you a prescription!"
Matrix spoof!
hairy legs-perfect armpits
"Thank you kind crazy hairy lady of my dreams!"
"I'm pretending I'm on a speederbike so I can block out reality!!"
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
The hills have gone gay.
Boy Scout leader

Three childhood friends come together for the funeral of a fourth and find an old treasure map which they decide to follow for old times sake. They wind up with the adventure of a lifetime.

Okay, this movie had all the fart jokes, the burp jokes, the gross hygiene jokes. And it was the funnest movie ever! Well, maybe not ever, but it was GREAT. SO much better than I expected. It was like "The Goonies" at age 30. And the 80s references were killing me. What a blast. And I just found this and thought it was funny. Dax Shepard, who played Tom in this movie, also was in "Employee of the Month" with Dane Cook. Anyway, I just found this quote and thought it amusing-

Jerry Conlaine: Wait a second. Tom, were you really employee of the month?
Tom Marshall: No! I lied about that too!

haha. Well, I thought it was funny. This movie I guess really wasn't anything special, but it tickled me. And made me want to go camping.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying-"I like to pretend I'm on a speederbike so I can block out reality."

8/18/04 "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

Sequels! Yay!

8-18-04 "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-National Treasure, First Daughter, Shark Tale, Are We There Yet?, Raise Your Voice, The Incredibles

obvious CGI plane
Hey! I saw that set at Universal Studios!!
Whitney Houston produced?
Mia is stunning in red
John Rhys Davies! My buddy!
"Power means never having to say you're sorry!"
kitty hammock
"I have diplomatic immunity is 46 countries including Puerto Rico."
toe popper kiss!
prettiest girl ridin' in the STANG
Julie Andrews was SO hoarse!
on a horse w/ a cell phone...huh

Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway) has finished college and returned to Genovia to take her place as Crown Princess of Genovia. But an old law proclaims that she must be married to assume the throne. So she must assent to an arranged marriage, or renounce her claim to the throne.

I was amused by this movie. I thought it was sweet, and nice. Not as wonderfully quirky as the original. Still funny tho. I was watching the original the other day and one of the things that was absolutely hilarious was the background announcements at the high school like, "Will the Fengshui club PLEASE stop rearranging the lawn furniture!" Random stuff like that. But, I did like several outfits that Anne Hathaway wore, and LOVED the romance between the Queen and Joseph. That was great. I didn't care for Nicholas...I thought he was boring. I think it would've been cool to just leave Mia unmarried...at least for now. But it was a good follow up, all the same characters back (even the mom and her new husband!) and I always give points when you get back all of your original cast.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "WISH I wuz ridin' in the 'STANG!"

8/7/04 "The Village"

I was really looking forward to this...a bit disappointing.

8-7-04 "The Village"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-Exorcist:the Beginning, Ladder 49

not gonna think about anything, just gonna let the movie carry me away....
meat eaters? Are they vegetarians?
hey, that's the sheriff from Signs
Lucius seems kinda slow....
Speech is SO stilted.
Bryce has nice voice
Adrien Brody's kinda weird.
Bryce is BEAUTIFUL.
Can she see? Her eyes move.
I like Sigourney's sweater
I love the simplicity...like the Shakers.
those look like huge porcipines
"You are fearless in a way I shall never know."
"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
time passes? No leaves.
Covington Woods
outstretched hand-beautiful
yup...very Wuthering Heights
damn...I think I figured out the ending
Oh, it's all fake...oh...
The world kneels before love in awe.
Ok, I really didn't see that coming.
DAMN! I DID guess the ending.
ah...no planes.
M. Night!

M. Night Shaymalan, still trying to get back to where he was with "The Sixth Sense", tries again with "The Village", a story about a small town of people who live off by themselves in the woods, and must be on their constant guard against the creatures of the forests that surround them. Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of Ron) plays the blind daughter of the town's leader, William Hurt. Joaquin Phoenix plays her love interest. When he is mortally wounded, Ivy must trek through the forbidden woods for help...but what will she find on the other side of them?

So, M Night's been getting flak and I can see why. This movie really builds you up to it being scarier than it actually was. There were a couple of times when I got really tense, but when all was revealed I was disappointed. I was all, "THAT was what I was afraid of?" But I liked the love story, M Night said he was trying to evoke Wuthering Heights and that's exactly what I got from it.

I did figure out the ending about half an hour before it happened. I tried to take my mind away and not focus on trying to figure out the movie, I DID....but it just happened. That was kind of annoying.

So, I'll probably get slapped in the mouth for this, but eventually I really did like this movie. Later, after I had time to get used to it. I mean, the love story between Lucius and Ivy is really sweet and angsty, and the cinematography, OMG...you can eat it with a spoon. I just want to gather so many screenshots and use them for my desktop wallpaper.

So, not horrible, anyway.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "Do your very best not to expect too much from this movie."

just a note

I found some old reviews of movies, so I thought I'd post them here. And in case anyone's just joining the show already in progress, i take notes during movies in my red notebook, called "The Red Book". Mostly random comments or reactions, or very funny quotes. I also put LOTS and LOTS of spoilers in my reviews. So if you don't wanna know, don't read 'em.

7/14/04 "Saved!"

I'd been waiting to see this movie for a long long time, and I almost didn't see it in the theaters because it really wasn't playing anywhere local. But CJ and I decided to push and headed all the way out to the Hollywood Hits Discount Theater, which is a rip off, because it's really not that discounted at all. Hanover is much cheaper. BEWARE THE HOLY SPOILERS.

7-14-04 "Saved!"

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-"Mean Girls", "Napolean Dynamite"

CJs excited
abortion clinic scene kinda wrong
ok, short shorts like those would NOT be allowed
Emmanuel shooting range-"An eye for and eye"
your differently-ableness
Mandy is very...militant....reminds me of.....hmmmmm
"Let's get our CHRIST on!"
"We're gonna kick it Jesus-style!" (oh! STOLEN from DCTalk!)
"Are you DOWN with G-O-D?"
internal prayer monologues
I like Pastor Skip...what's the catch.
"It's all about population of the planet, and don't get jiggy with it until you're married."
"Not born a gay, born again."
"No, I was thinking something a little less gangsta."
Exorcist theme! Classic!
"Last year I got saved so I could go on the ski trip."
gold loincloth....ugh
"It is not cool in the eyes of God"
Huh...she lost her halo.
Looks like Skip's had a rough night.

Ok. Ok. This review is going to an interesting one to write, and I have to gear myself up for it. Ok. All right, first off, to anyone who doesn't know, I'm a born-again Christian. Yes, I am proud to admit it, it changed my life and I am happy to be one. That being said, I amso glad I went to see this movie, even though every Christian south of the Mason-Dixon line was running around screaming about how awful it was. I thought this was a fantastic movie. But let me recap the movie first, before I start in on what I thought.

This movie is about a Christian girl named Mary, played by Jena Malone, who became a Christian when she was three, and was raised in a Christian home. She has the perfect Christian boyfriend, and the perfect Christian friends, and is about to start her perfect senior year at a Christian high school. Then she finds out her boyfriend is gay. So she decides to try and "de-gayify" him by having sex with him. It doesn't work, Mary ends up pregnant, and her boyfriend, Dean, gets sent to a half-way house. Mary can't understand why God would mess up her life like this, and soon her perfect Christian friends are ostracizing her because she is suffering from a crisis of faith. She is also trying to hide her pregnancy. She finds help from the school outcasts, one of which is wheelchair bound Roland (Macaulay Culkin), who happens to be the brother of Hillary Faye (Mandy Moore), Mary's former best friend. He also happens to be an athiest. The other is Cassandra, the only Jewish kid in the entire school. Mary also finds a new boyfriend in Patrick, the skateboarding son of the school's hip principal, Pastor Skip. Eventually, her pregnancy becomes known, and Mary and her new friends must find a way to stay in school and end the year well.

They acting was fabulous in this movie. It was the first time I'd seen Macaulay Culkin in anything in years, and he did a great job, meaning, I forgot I was watching Mac, I was so absorbed in his character. Jena Malone I had seen a few times before in things like Contact and Stepmom, and this was a real stretch for her. Glad to say, she stretched well. Mandy Moore did a Jekyll and Hyde thing from her performance in A Walk to Remember, and it was just eerie. I mean, she was CREEPY. The script was well written, someone had obviously done their homework. But, the main problem I had with this movie I have heard echoed by other Christian movie reviewers...there was no balance. All we saw were "bad" Christians. The only ones who showed Mary love were the Jewish kid and the athiest kid. I really wish we had seen a strong, loving, Christian-we're not all bad!

I will be the first to admit I am not the perfect Christian. Is there such a thing? I mean, we all make mistakes. But the Christians in the movie were portrayed as more akin to Pharisees and hypocrites. More about giving off an Christian look, than about acting as a true Christian would, out of love. That was the main argument CJ and I both had. I lost count of how many times we turned to each other and said, well, I would have done it this way, or I would have said this, or acted this way. But who can say until we're put in the position? I like to think I would have acted a certain way. I mean, I've never bombed an abortion clinic. I have friends who are Jewish, athiest, what have you and that doesn't mean I can't be friends with them because they believe a different thing than I do. I certainly wouldn't bar them from my life. Unless they were Satanist, that I would have a problem with. But I'm digressing all over myself.
I tried to put myself into the character's shoes. I'm a youth leader at my church, and if I had found out one of my teens was gay, and another one was pregnant because of trying to "help" him...it would be a problem, yes. I'm sure I know of some teens who would act the same way as Hillary Faye put in the situation. As a matter of fact, Hillary Faye reminded me so strongly of someone I know, it kinda freaked me out.

As a Christian, I believe that making a decision to ask Christ for forgiveness for the wrong things in your life and following his teachings is an important one. But this belief has become so politically incorrect, I am not as forward with my beliefs as I should be. I will willingly share them with anyone, and most, if not all of my friends know of my Christian beliefs. If you want to know more, I will gladly tell you. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that many Christians live in a bubble, with their Christian music and their Christian friends, their Christian T shirts and their Christian movies. What they don't realize is that they're never gonna reach anyone unless they come out of the bubble! The large majority of people are not going to come to the bubble on their own, so we have to leave the bubble to come to them. That was the mistake Hillary Faye made. She was so stuck in the bubble, so stubborn about leaving, that she was really building walls to keep her people in and everyone else out.

People have said this movie promotes tolerance. It does. Do I agree with tolerance? To a degree. I will tolerate things, but I will not condone them. For example, I tolerate abortion because it is legal and I must. But I do NOT agree with it in any way shape or form, for several reasons, one of which being I think there are too many childless couples to waste human life like that. BUT...I also understand that not everyone in this world has a Christian viewpoint, and I cannot force them to believe like I do...only explain to them WHY I believe what I do. I leave the decisions on what to decide up to them. It's like what I do with teens...I offer counsel, give examples from my own experience, and I'm not afraid to say I don't know if I DON'T know. But I do offer to help them find answers. And I pray, which helps a great deal more than some would think.

Wow...that was a lot more than I planned to say. Anyway. It was a great movie, I really liked it. It's the kind of movie I would LOVE to show on movie night at my church...but probably couldn't get away with it. But see it, by all means. You might discover something more about yourself....and those "crazy fundamentalist whacko Christians". And the gospel was shared...sorta!

Until the next time this is Sarah saying, "I crashed my LIFE into JESUS!"

7/13/04 "Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy"

Movie Night with Niki again, yay! It's been so long...and she drove down because she said I drove up the past few times and it was her turn...I love my friend. BEWARE THE GROOVY SPOILERS.

7-13-04 "Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy"

Notes from the Red Book

trailers-saw the tail end of something called "Collateral"? We got to the theater late and were darn lucky just to be seated together.

"God, I look good. Everyone, come and see how good I look!"
"By the beard of Zeus!"
lots of random undies at that party
"You have a breathtaking heinie. I wanna make friends with it."
jammies and headgear
"Are you paying attention, Ron?" "Nope."
"LOUD NOISES!"
Vince Vaughn!=Wes Mantooth
"We could have some chicken, some sex."
cologne closet
"That smells like a used diaper filled with Indian food!"
"It smells like a turd covered in burnt hair!"
jazz flute?
"Take me to Pleasure Town!"
"I friggin love you!" "I friggin love you, too!"
Afternoon Delight
odd uneven mustache
crazy cat show
Jack Black!
"I'm in a glass cage of emotion!"
"I'm gonna punch you in the ovary. Yup, right in the baby-maker."
Luke Wilson! Tim Robbins! BEN STILLER!
"Son of a bee-sting!"
"No touching of the hair or face."
Planet of the Apes, Spartacus riffs
"You POOP mouth!"
Superman quick change in bathroom
"Newsteam ASSEMBLE!"
"I'm riding a big, furry tractor!"

Oh, this movie was a stitch. I heard one critic say "This is the movie you'll be quoting the rest of the summer." So right on. I've already used the ovaries line about a dozen times.
So, this movie takes place in the seventies, in San Diego, and it focuses on a news team, headed by Ron Burgundy, the man's man, played by Will Ferrell. He, and all his news room cohorts, are all huge male chauvanist pigs. So when Christina Applegate, who plays Veronica Corningstone, arrives to join the news staff, she finds herself the butt of all their jokes. Her biggest dream is to the first woman anchor, which the men think is hilarious. But when Ron has a run in with a biker and can't make the 6 o'clock news, Veronica covers for him and does a splendid job. She is hired on as his coanchor, much to the chagrin and dismay of Ron and his sexist friends. A war of words and practical jokes begins, and when Veronica takes advatage of the fact that Ron reads EVERYTHING that appears on the teleprompter, he is fired. Will he regain his anchor position? Will he and Veronica ever date again? Will he best the other anchors and keep his ratings? Tune in and find out!

Will Ferrell is so darn funny. The guy is the most amusing person I've seen in movies since Mike Myers. I really really need to hunt down some old SNL reruns and catch some of his past action. All I've ever really seen him do were the Spartan cheerleaders,Alex Trebek, and the "Cowbell" sketch. Christina Applegate seems to be keeping a career nicely, if not widely. I was mainly impressed with her ability to deliver the snappy comebacks. I found myself thinking, wow...I wish I could do that. Of course, the writers write hers for her, but she still delivered them wonderfully. But the guy who really stole the show was Steve Carell, the weatherman with an IQ of 48. Will some one please give thisguy more to do?? After seeing him as Evan in Bruce Almighty and now as Brick...riding a big furry tractor...I about died. The guy is TALENTED.

I don't know why I loved this movie, and hated "Old School" and loved "Elf". They all had the same guy...oh well. This movie was worth it just for the "Rumble" scene between the rivalling newsteams. I spotted "Spartacus" and "Planet of the Apes" riffs in there...brilliant. Also the funniest darn scene in the movie. Niki and I frist thought it was some sort of odd dream sequence...and when it wasn't, we just shrugged and went with it. And it was fun to see random cameos by Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jack Black, and Luke Wilson. I heard someone refer to them as "the comedic Rat Pack"...could be...until someone thinks up a better name than that. Any ideas?

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "Stay Classy, Massachusetts."

7/9/04 "King Arthur"

Ok, so we were SUPPOSED to go see "Anchorman", except it was sold out. So we went to see this instead. BEWARE THE LEGENDARY SPOILERS.

7/9/04 "King Arthur"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-"Alexander", "Without a Paddle" (Seth Green AND Matthew Lillard-let the chaos commence), "Ladder 49", "The Village" (I'm DYING to see this movie. No pun, no pun!)

ok, so far this is Braveheart wanna be...not too impressed

Who plays Lancelot..he's kinda hot

"I'm gonna drink til I can't piss straight."

Who is Galahad?

hmmmm...Arthur prays for his pagan knights....huh...even offers his life in exchange.

No human should fear to kneel before his faith.

interesting look at first century Christianity

sword in stone-father's burial mound

"Those Saxons are so close behind my arse is hurting."

Ugh...Keira too young for Arthur.

Lancelot/Saxon death by sword/arrow-funny

cool soundtrack

Stonehendge of course

Ok, this movie I had heard both good and bad things about, but it was one of those ones I had to see for myself to judge. It's a new take on the King Arthur legends. This version has Arthur being born in Britain, but raised as a Roman soldier. He is a good and fair man, believeing, as he was taught by his teacher, that all men are created equal. He is also a Christian, which puts him sometimes at odds with his pagan knights, who were conscripted into his service. These include Lancelot, Boors, Galahad, and Gawain. After being in Arthur's service for fifteen years, they are finally to be granted their freedom...but Rome has one last job for them to do. Arthur and his knights must trek across country to evacuate a Roman senator and his family from their home and keep them from harm at the hands of the vicious Saxons, headed be Stellan Skarsgard (whom I totally thought was Geoffrey Rush the whole movie, but I digress).

Guinevere pops up as a Celtic Xena-like battle queen and Merlin as a sort of Druid shaman of the Celts. Lots of blue facepaint abounds. Lots of battles. Arthur and Guinevere get married in the end at Stonehenge.

Ok, not a bad movie, but not a great one either. This film was basically a Braveheart wanna-be. But it never quite hit the emotional vein that Braveheart did. Oh, it came close a couple of times, but it just didn't stick by you in the same way. The battle scenes were mediocre, but then, after Return of the King, ALL battle scenes not hand crafted by Weta are mediocre.

Guinevere sort of irked. I kept going back and forth on whether I liked her or not. I just had a really hard time getting the virginal, lady-in-waiting version of Guinevere out of my head. But on the other hand, it was rather cool to see her stand as an equal with Arthur. And the traditional love triangle between her, Arthur, and Lancelot was almost non-existent. The most the movie made of this was a few looks between Lancelot and Guinevere as if to say, "Hey...you're pretty interesting. I'd like to know you better." But nothing ever comes of it. Oh, and the sex scene was just CREEPY. I really felt this Guinevere was too young for Arthur and that just made it uuuugggggllly.

Arthur's Christianity was interesting. He obviously relied a great deal on his faith in God, even when his closest friends were pagan worshippers. But, his faith did not keep him from sleeping with Guinevere before they were married...or marrying outside his Christianity. But, perhaps he was disillusioned due to the atrocities he witnessed others carrying out in Christ's name during the course of the movie. I found it very touching how he prayed for his men even though they held no belief in his God.

Ok, spoiler here-when Lancelot dies, I laughed right out loud...it was too funny, I couldn't help it. He gets an arrow in the chest from the Saxon guy, and then he turns around and hucks his sword in the guy's chest! It was like he was saying, "Oh yeah? Well, well, screw you! Take THAT!" It was funny, and I felt kinda bad, because I know it was supposed to be sad...oh well.

Personally,my favorite King Arthur movie is Excalibur. It just feels right, it feels like the legend we all know. But my favorite King Arthur is Sean Connery. Because if any man was born to play King Arthur, it's Sean Connery. But Nigel Terry is a REAL close second.

So see it if it sounds interesting, but it's different..just warning ya.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "Excalibur's better."

7/6/04 "Dodgeball: a True Underdog Story"

Ok, this movie was pretty much what I expected-complete and utter foolishness on the scale of Old School. But, CJ really wanted to see it, so, we did. BEWARE THE STUPID SPOILERS.

7/6/04 "Dodgeball"

Notes From the Red Book

trailers-I have no idea...we got to the theater late just as the movie was beginning.

Ben Stiller is BUILT

guy from Office Space

pirate Steve?.....ok....weird

Ben Stiller's spandex...oy

scary cut out Ben Stiller w/ freaky eyes

pump up package? sigh...

camera in cut out eyes! good call by CJ

"L for LOVE!"

Troop 417-"You're all adopted, your parents don't even love you!"

It's Booger!

Drug screen-good call by me

"I didn't think Nazi camp got over until 8."

"we will...we WILL..rock you."

"You're about as useful as a poopy flavored lollypop."- (I just have to say, this one line made the movie worthwhile.)

"Time to put your mouth where our balls are."

"Nobody makes me bleed my own blood."

It looks like the eighties threw up in her house.

ESPN 8-the Ocho...if it's almost a sport, we've got it.

Jason Bateman is a spaz (and the second reason the movie was worth going to see.)

David Hasselhoff!!!!

Lumberjacks, Kamikazes, the Skillz that killz....She-mullets??

Is that a hickey on her neck?

Lance Armstrong!!

SHATNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHUCKNORRIS!!!!

"Thank you, Chuck Norris!"

Ok, this review is going to be short, because this movie was ultra silly and really had no redeeming film qualities except for the random star cameos, Jason Bateman, and the great line "You're about as useful as a poopy-flavored lollypop."

The plot, which was pretty much given away in the trailer, centers around two gyms-a snobby high tech gym where the people are full of themselves, and a crappy, rundown gym where everyone loves you just the way you are. Of course the run down gym, owned by Vince Vaughn, is going to run into problems with the the rich gym, owned by Ben Stiller. Ben Stiller wants to take over Vince Vaughn's gym. So the run down gym enters a dodgeball tourney in Vegas to win the money to save their gym from destruction. And of course they win. And if you think I've spoiled the ending of this for you, you can't really tell me that you thought they were going to lose. Come now. Honestly.

Ben Stiller was pretty funny, but a bit manic for the role. He was really built tho, which you don't usually see and was quite nice. Vince Vaughn was ok...just ok. But the star cameos were the best. CJ and I were constantly going, BOOGER! SHATNER! HASSELHOFF! CHUCK NORRIS! Yeah, that was us making all the noise down in front. What can I say? The movie was boring and we were amusing ourselves. Don't come with us next time. And I can never, never see Christine Taylor without thinking, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! And there was this scene in the trailer where Ben was showing Vince his cowboy cardio class...and it was missing...huh.

The movie is one of those mindless humor movies which you go to when you've had a long day at work and there was nothing good for lunch in the cafe, and CVS didn't put your pictures on disk like you asked them too and you had to work late and spilled soda on your shorts and the candy bars you snuck into the theater melted all over your bag and to top everything off, you're still exhausted from your crazy Fourth of July weekend. I probably wouldn't have gone if I was in the mood for a REAL movie. So, yeah...skip it. But most of you probably know that already. Unless you have some extra brain cells you don't care about, then by all means, attend. But if you have that much brain matter you don't care about, then you probably didn't need me to tell you to go see it, because you probably already have.

Until the next time, this is Sarah saying, "This MOVIE was as useful as a poopy-flavored lollypop."