Iron Man

Posted by Joe Thorn - 10/09/07

ironmanstill.jpg

Steve and I have been following the buzz on this for a while, but the official teaser trailer for the forth coming Iron Man is now out - and all you can do is love it. Check it out at the Apple trailer site.

Friday Slusho!

Posted by Joe Thorn - 17/08/07

slusho

Yeah, Steve got me the best tee shirt I have ever owned. An authentic Slusho tee. You can’t drink just six! If you don’t know what Slusho is about, it connects to my most highly anticipated movie of 2008. Thanks Steve!

Film Frustrations

Posted by Joe Thorn - 21/06/07

Earlier in the week I read Tim Challies’ non-review of Evan Almighty. I had a number of problems with his apparent approach to film and his assessment of Evan Almighty itself. Later in the week Baptist Press actually offered a Pro and Con analysis of the same film. I was pleasantly surprised at BP allowing two different perspectives. I appreciated Phil Boatright’s favorable analysis, but had some serious problems with Ted Baehr’s theology and criticism of the film. I actually planned on writing a bit on the subject (again), but did not have the time today (sermon prep/meetings/administration).

Thankfully a voice of reason popped up in my Google Reader. Greg Wright, (via Resurgence) has some helpful thoughts on film that I hope many will take to heart. Read his article, Movies, Morality, and Ratings: A Hard Look at Our Opinion of Films.

What to Watch (Pt. 3)

Posted by Joe Thorn - 15/05/07

What to Watch Pt. 1
What to Watch Pt. 2
What to Watch Pt. 3

Just a few last thoughts on what to watch - things that may help you choose better movies on which you can spend your time and money.

1. Content Concerns
Before I take my kids to a movie, and before I see some films myself, I check the content on screenit.com. Sites like Screenit.com break down a film into its potentially objectionable parts. Language, violence, sex, frightening scenes, guns/weapons, etc. all get detailed treatment. Here’s their write-up of Disturbia, a thriller that tells a story similar to the classic Rear Window. This can produce some spoilers, but for those who want to be careful it’s worth it.

2. Culture Buzz
Just because a film is popular does not mean it’s worth watching. But, films that are generating culture buzz (attention and/or controversy producing a lot of dialog and interest) may be worth your time. These are stories that say something, explicitly or implicitly, about our culture. When seeing a movie like this, please watch it thoughtfully and critique it redempitively.

3. Christian Films
Just because a film is family-oriented, or Christian, does not mean it’s worth watching. In fact, my rule used to be - avoid films made by Christians. Why? Because they stink. Or stunk. The truth is more Christians are getting into the movie business and some are doing great work. Thankfully some are really using film as an art form instead of a tool simply to proselytize. Still, my advice is - be careful about Christian movies. In my experience most are not very good (I am not trying to be provocative here, but honest. I will unpack my thoughts on this topic in a future post.).

Related Posts:
Why go to the movies?
Help at the movies
Advice for watching movies

What to Watch (Pt. 2)

Posted by Joe Thorn - 25/04/07

What to Watch Pt. 1
What to Watch Pt. 2
What to Watch Pt. 3

To better your odds of choosing a movie worth watching, here are a few more ideas.

Find some good lists.
There are some helpful lists out there that can guide you in finding worthwhile flicks, especially if you are young and/or have not seen many films. You may want to check the movies against a reviewer you follow, but here are a few to look at.

AFI’s 100 Years 100 Movies
The National Film Registry’s Most Acclaimed Movies
Time Magazine’s Top 100 (up to 1997)

Experiment with a genre.
Pick an interesting or unfamiliar genre. Film noir is getting some attention again (that’s a good thing), and I would guess most of my readers are unfamiliar with it. Silent films, westerns, musicals etc. can all be fun places to dive into film. Determine the genre, find some books, websites, podcasts, lists/ratings and run to Blockbuster or log on to Netflix and get going. If you do the research this approach can be rewarding.

I will share some final thoughts on what to watch in part 3.

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