Well, I saw the movie last night that everyone' s talking about. "The Passion of the Christ". I have to admit, I was very curious to see this movie, since it's been talked about for more then a year now. Soooooooooo, what did I think?

I will say, I was quite familiar with the story of the Passion of Christ, having grown up in church. I knew going in that the movie will be violent, seeing Jesus brutally whipped and beaten. The movie certainly showed this in graphic detail. I didn't find it overwhelming, though I realize other people may do so. Then again, the Bible is violent and not pretty in places. I did find the scenes of the suffering Christ quite sobering.

Actually, I thought the most moving scenes were moments of grace that stood out among the violence:
- Seeing the soldier whose ear was cut off by Peter, then healed by Jesus, lingering in wonder, after everyone else leaves.
- The flashback scenes with Jesus and his mother, the humanity and love of their relationship.
- The scene with Mary Magdalene (the woman caught in adultery) clinging to Jesus's foot after being spared judgement.
- Simon the Cyrene, who helped Jesus carry the cross, and the young girl who offered Jesus a drink of water before being chased away by the guards. These scenes meant more to me than seeing how many different kinds of whips Jesus got scourged with, or how much he could bleed

Other good things about the film
- The scene with the earthquake, with the temple leaders looking around in astonishment. A powerful statement.
- The representation of Satan was mysterious, oddly alluring, and positively creepy.
- The cinematography was excellent. Except for the violence, many scenes were beautifully shot.
- The portrayal of Pontius Pilate, as a man who hated his job and was forced into an unenviable position.
- Monica Belluci. :)

Things I didn't like as much:
- As important as it was to see that Jesus truly did suffer physically, I thought the sheer volume of the violence shown was a little bit of overkill. I became numb after a while. I believe with briefer scenes of the bloody suffering Jesus, the impact of those scenes would have been more powerful.
- Why, oh why, did we have to see that maggot-infested dead horse? Was that really necessary?
- If memory serves me correctly, I believe, Roman law only allowed up to 39 blows to be given during the scourging, these soldiers sure didn't know how to count.
-The Roman soldiers beating Jesus were shown as pure animals, scourging with utter delight, not showing even an ounce of humanity. They almost seemed cartoonish.

In summary, I recommend this movie as a powerful work of art with some minor flaws.

Catching up on some things I have done since I have last posted (which has been too long)

As far as movies go, it seems to be the season of documentaries.

I saw "The Weather Underground" and "Spellbound" a couple of weeks ago, both very interesting documentaries, real-life character studies more absorbing than in most scripted movies. Spellbound showed kids competing at the National Spelling Bee, and how they have the same competitive drive, stresses, and joys that adults do in these kinds of competions. The Weather Underground shows a small band of radicals in the '60s and '70s who carried out small-scale bombings of U.S. government buildings to try to get our government to "wake up" at some of the atrocities it was doing. Their efforts were ultimately futile, due to their small numbers. This is a part of American history that is not known by too many people. It is interesting to see how the lives of some of the members turned out when the group broke up in the late '70s. Some settled down to live quiet lives, some went on to other radical groups and wound up getting thrown in jail, and one guy went on Jeopardy and won $23,000.

I had the opportunity on seeing the documentary "The Fog of War" last week. This is basically a conversation with one of the most interesting and most controversial characters of the last 50 years of American history, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. He frankly talked about the World War II, and about Vietnam, too. He seemed to be playing his cards close to the vest with Vietnam in particular, tending to throw most of the blame for escalating the conflict on President Lyndon Johnson. But the lessons leared from the mistaken effort are apt, and should be paid attention to, especially considering the activities our present government are taking in Iraq.

I also played volleyball last week, so I don't only go to movies and hang out in coffee shops working on my book. :)

I finally got my notebook back this weekend, the one that has all the notes I've been making for my novel, and my sort-of-daytimer. It also had the notes I was going to make for my list of my 10 favorite movies of the past year. So, sort of late, here is my 10 favorite movies of 2003.

Note: I'm not a professional movie reviewer, but I play one on television. OK, maybe not that either, so here goes:

1) Lord of the Rings: Return of the King:
Well, duh. What can I say that hasn't been said already. An amazing spectacle in every sense of the word. And it kicked butt. :)

2) Lost in Translation
Visual poetry. A meditation on loneliness, two people in an unfamiliar country, off their moorings of what feels familiar to them. They attempt to reconnect to their personal roots through friendship. And Bill Murray deserves the Oscar (so does Scarlett Johansen, but they don't let me vote on these things.) And the beginning scene of this film was quite nice. :)

3) In America
Very touching, well-written story about an immigrant family trying to make a new life in America. What is neat about this movie is it is written from the point of view of the family's young daughters, and the film conveys the sense of innocence and wonder with which they look at a world that adults wouldn't find appealing. It goes to show that you can find the good in just about anything.

4) A Mighty Wind
A fun story that both celebrates and pokes fun at 1960's white-bread folk music. Actually, the music in this movie was really cool. I loved Eugene Levy, he was hilarious, and touching, too. I love all the Christopher Guest mockumentaries, they are some of the only movies I can watch over and over again.

5) House of Sand and Fog
A moody character-driven drama about two people trying to find stability in their lives in a not-so-valuable piece of real estate. One, a depressed woman, the other, an immigrant trying to recover a lost sense of personal honor and dignity. The irony of how hard these people will fight for what seems to matter so little is very ironic, and the film's ending shows the consequences of how little decisions by flawed people build on each other to an unfortunate conclusion.

6) The Station Agent
A well-done character-driven story about three lonely and very different people, and their need for connection with each other. It shows the need for friends in all of our lives.

7) Master and Commander
A fun movie to watch, that immerses you in a period in history. The detail of a British naval ship, as well as the relationships among the crew, is very authentic and really makes you feel a part of their world. I really get into this kind of thing.

8) School of Rock
The most fun I've had watching a movie all year. What's wrong with that? Jack Black is hilarious, with a heart, too. Joan Cusack was terrific in a role with unexpected depth. Those kids are really good musicians, too.

9) Dirty Pretty Things
A movie with the second-best acting performance of the year by Chiwetel Ejiofor as an African immigrant living illegally in London, trying to make the best of a difficult existence with quiet dignity. He tries to survive by taking unpleasant jobs, like other illegal immigrants are forced to do. The depiction of an underworld of people ignored by polite society is haunting. But, I liked the Asian guy who is able to inject a little bit of humor in the situation. And Audrey Tautou is gorgeous, and actually can act, too. A nice combination. :)

10) Chaos
A French movie that played at the Tivoli for a week. A yuppie couple see a bleeding woman desperately crying for help, but the selfish husband passed her by. The wife goes back later to visit the woman in the hospital, and her story unfolds, an interesting and horrifying look and an expose of prostitution among immigrant women. How this woman escapes this system is inspiring.

An addendum to the note I posted yesterday about The Triplets of Belleville. Before the movie, a short film was shown, called Destino. It was a colloberation between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney that was begun in 1946, but never finished due to financial problems. The old prints that were created back then have been dug up by Disney now, and with the help of modern animators and compter graphics, turned into an amazing six-minute surrealistic cartoon. Imagine a Salvador Dali painting come to life, and you'll get an idea what this looks like. It is a must see for anyone who likes Dali's art.

Additional note, I love coffee, I love hanging out in coffee shops. However, coffee does tend to keep one awake at night, which is why I am typing this instead of getting sleep before I have to get up for church in the morning. :)

I finally have a web page! It's very primitive right now, none of those fancy colors or backgrounds, with flying toasters and such, but, I have a presence on the Net. Now I just have to make it look halfway decent so other people may want to look at it, and be somewhat impressed with my coding skills. After all, I am a computer programmer, I type code all day long at work. :)

Tonight I went to dinner with some friends, and saw an interesting documentary called The Weather Underground. It is the story of a radical leftist movement in the '60s and '70s that had a goal of overthrowing the U.S. government due to its sins, such as the War in Vietnam. It was a very well done documentary, with interviews with some of the people in the movement, as well as one of the FBI Agents whose job it was to stop these people. Sometimes real life is more fascinating and more bizarre than fiction, and sometimes one can learn some interesting piece of American history that was never publicized in history books. Long live independent film!

I finally have a web page! It's very primitive right now, none of those fancy colors or backgrounds, with flying toasters and such, but, I have a presence on the Net. Now I just have to make it look halfway decent so other people may want to look at it, and not think I can't code something brilliant. After all, I am a computer programmer. :)

Tonight I went to dinner with some friends, and saw an interesting documentary called The Weather Underground. It is the story of a radical leftist movement in the '60s and '70s that had a goal of overthrowing the U.S. government due to its sins, such as the War in Vietnam. It was a very well done documentary, with interviews with some of the people in the movement, as well as one of the FBI Agents whose job it was to stop these people. Sometimes real life is more fascinating and more bizarre than fiction, and sometimes one can learn some interesting piece of American history that was never publicized in history books. Long live independent film!

Here are some links that I found that are quite fun (and they're not about movies) :)

A map of all the countries I have ever visited.



create your own visited country map

This is courtesy of church Missions trips to Mexico (in 1993) and Russia (in 1994), and my vacation to the United Kingdom in 2000.

There is also a visited states map, too.



create your own visited states map

OK, I haven't updated my blog in a while, so I'll type this while Jonatha Brooke sings on Carson Daly's talk show. Oh, this is a good song, called "Better After All". I'll definitely have to get her new album.

I was going to post a list of my ten favorite movies from last year. I made notes in my notebook, but I left it in a friend's car after coming back from a church retreat a couple of weeks ago. One movie I saw tonight, not quite on my top 10 list, but a lot of fun anyway, was "The Triplets of Belleville." It is a French cartoon about a guy who is a bicycle racer, who gets kidnapped, then his grandmother goes and rescues him. Actually, it's a lot better than it sounds. The animation is truly creative, the characters all have a old-fashioned caricuture look to them. I live the Pixar computer-generated movies as much as everyone else, but there's something about good old-fashioned pen-and-ink animation that really appeals to me. It brings back memories of watching Looney Toons when I was a kid. Now that was entertainment!

I saw The Butterfly Effect last weekend. It was OK, it's spooky, plays with your mind, even if it's not at all believable, and some of the characters are downright annoying. Ashton Kutcher tries real hard to be dramatic, but he never looks comfortable in the role. However, he doesn't embarrass himself either. The kid who was the brother of the girl in the movie was really unbelievable. He seemed more like the spawn of Satan than a believeable character. All in all, though, it's worth seeing if you like head-trip kind of movies and don't have anything better to do, like play on the Internet. :)

OK, I'm going to bed. Jonatha Brooke was great! More movie reviews to follow, I promise. And maybe some other stuff, too.