The first time I experienced Middle Earth was for “The Fellowship of the Ring” when it was released in theaters.  It was a film that immediately won me over.  "The Fellowship of the Ring" has a wonderfully grand scale, populated by fantastic characters and gave attention to the right details.  The whole experience gave a feeling unmatched by nearly all other films I had seen up to that point, and is a reminder of why I love movies.  I became a fan of Peter Jackson in no time, and have since regarded his film trilogy of “The Lord of the Rings” in the highest way possible.

So, it was with great expectation that I went into “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”  “The Hobbit” is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and it is part 1 of a 3-part trilogy.  The film is about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who, as the films title alludes, sets out on an unexpected journey.  The story concerns the Dwarves whose home has been taken over by the powerful dragon Smaug.  Thanks to the Dwarves former king’s lust for gold, Smaug has taken the Dwarves home for himself because as it turns out, dragons happen to love gold.  This leaves the Dwarves homeless and thus the journey to reclaim home begins.

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Occasionally a book comes along that really excites me. Cold Case Christianity is such a book. In case you haven’t heard of him yet, author J. Warner Wallace is a practicing cold case detective who has one of the fastest growing apologetics podcasts and websites. Cold Case Christianity is Wallace’s first book. But given how insightful it is, I hope it’s not the last!

Wallace was a self-described “angry” atheist until his mid thirties. After visiting Saddleback Church, he decided to use the Forensic Statement Analysis (FSA) to investigate the gospel of Mark. If the FSA works for suspects and witnesses, Wallace thought, why not for the Gospel of Mark? He had become a bona fide expert at judging the veracity of a statement through examining the author’s use of language. Within a month of studying Mark’s Gospel, Wallace concluded it was an eyewitness account of the apostle Peter. This was the beginning of his conversion to Christianity.

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I recently saw a presentation that reconnected me with a secret world. It wasn’t so much the presentation – which was on England and Scotland – as it was the context and feel. I was reminded of a time past, and it is on this time upon which I’m writing to reflect.

There are a few of us who didn’t just read about Narnia, we were transported there. We remember reading the Lord of the Rings during rainy days; or The Cross and the Switchblade; or This Present Darkness; of Churchill and ten Boom. Our hearts lept and we wondered if we could rise to the challenge of life; of hearing God’s call and chasing it when it was heard. This time is contextualized by a strange type of magic, the kind that is surrounded by danger but is wild, epic and romantic. In that time and space, children and adults alike discussed their journey of faith.

Recently, Christian author & blogger Rachel Held Evans created a little controversy over her newest book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood.  Specifically, LifeWay Christian Resources, a large, conservative Christian book chain, had decided not to carry this book, apparently because she used the word, "vagina." (Note: LifeWay is the same bookstore chain that previously created a stir by banning the popular and well-intentioned movie, "The Blind Side," from their stores.)

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John Goodman may be on a winning streak and be in 2 back to back Academy Award winning Best Picture films.

Yes, “Argo” is that good.  Quite simply, “Argo” solidifies that Ben Affleck is an extremely gifted storyteller and director, a filmmaker I have come to highly regard.  The film has a great script with many quotable lines, an incredibly faithful visual representation of its era, and has a story that will keep you pinned to your seat throughout its run time.

Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is a CIA Operative who is called upon to “exfiltrate” when necessary.  As the Iranian hostage crisis grows, 6 Americans manage to escape the main building and hide out with a Canadian Ambassador and his wife.  Mendez comes up with the idea of creating a fake Canadian produced film and having each American pose as part of the Canadian film crew.  In taking on these fake identities, the American’s hope to secretly be smuggled out of the country.  In their way is a hostile Iranian population who are ready to publicly hang, torture, or use other means at their disposal to kill those perceived to be a spy or in alignment with the American’s in general.

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http://youtu.be/8r1CZTLk-Gk  

Interesting Video on technology.  A comedian, Louis CK pokes fun at the way we have adapted to technology and how it shapes us by altering our expectations of time and immediacy.  Beneath the humor are some interesting ideas.

I recently heard a statistic that only one third of those who have been watching the hit show Breaking Bad have been watching it on live TV. The rest of those who watch have been using a DVR to record and watch at their convenience.

This brings up the immediate question of how this is effecting the TV industry.  Most TV channels rely extensively on ad revenue to support the shows that they broadcast, and they sell this advertisement based upon numbers of viewers.  However, if DVRs are the way that people are watching many shows these days, then it may be argued that ads will not be reaching their target audiences.  

The bigger question that comes up in my mind is in relation to time and place.  If we can now experience watching a TV show outside of its broadcasted time, then we are no longer tied to time in the sense of needing to be somewhere specific when watching a show.  Also, many cable companies and technologies now allow you to record a show and later watch it in a separate environment than on your TV, such as a laptop or smartphone.  

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“Punch Drunk Love” is my definitive, absolute favorite film of all time.  “Magnolia” is a masterwork of multiple characters and themes uniting in a beautiful mess of humanity.  “There Will Be Blood” is a brilliant take on men of ambition and the role of a Father.  “Boogie Nights” is a filthy foray into brokenness, told with skill and precision featuring characters you love while aiming to keep a distance from.  And “Hard Eight” was a brilliant debut of great things to come.

Yes, I love P.T. Anderson.

Perhaps moreso than any other working filmmaker (save for Scorsese), I will see his films day 1 with huge anticipation thanks to his vision, style and execution.  He's not let me down yet.  In watching the trailer for “The Master,” I thought Anderson had chosen the perfect story for his unique filmmaking skill set.  So it was with total disappointment that after seeing the film I was completely let down.  I don’t know what to think of “The Master,” and in this case that’s not a good thing.

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Growing up, we had three network stations and we pre-dated cable, the internet, and social media. Outside of watching Superfriends on Saturday morning and the Little Rascals’ reruns after school, I have very little recollection of television shows before high school. My dad is a sports fanatic, so usually if there was a game on, that’s what we watched.

I remember that it wasn’t really a big deal to change channels because one, you had to get up, walk to the television and actually turn the knob (yes, a knob) and secondly, choices were limited.

Then, suddenly, as I entered middle school, cable television became available and not only was our television on more often, we now had a remote control which meant we could now reward our impatience with a dozen other choices.

It happens to all of us – you’re talking to someone about movies, when someone drops the f bomb: Foreign Films.  You run through your mental check list of foreign films you’ve seen but come up dry.  The person you’re talking to suddenly seems to think they are so much more cultured because they saw a movie in a small “indie” theater with the dialogue spoken in another language.  You feel helpless at their cultural superiority and start to shame yourself for seeing that Will Ferrell comedy last weekend.  Well, have no fear.

Here are a few films to get you started on your journey to fighting the hipsters.  And you know nothing is more hipster than fighting hipsters.

Amelie (2001)

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring an utterly adorable Audrey Tautou, “Amelie” tells the story of a woman who seeks to make others lives happy while finding romance on her own.  The film is equal parts charming, whimsical, romantic, and a touch of the erotic.  Scenes frequently cut to Amelie’s view of things which may involve talking animal lamps or other whimsical visions.  But the charm of the story and the film’s accessibility make it an easy step into foreign language film territory.

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