All Action Saturday

While driving to work this week, Rachel noticed that the drive-in was showing The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3 this weekend. Both of them being movies we were interested in seeing, we decided to go to the drive-in on Saturday night.

This weekend is also the first weekend we've spent at home since the next to last weekend in July. It is a strange feeling for us. To be able to be home on saturday was very relaxing for us. Rachel opened her scrapbooking stuff up and spread our all over the coffee table, I had the laptop on and we popped in the Bourne Identity, and then the Bourne Supremacy. I always seem to forget how good the Bourne Identity is- partially I think because I saw Supremacy first, and then watched Identity. The hand to hand combat is better in the first one, I believe.

I still had placed Supremacy as the better of the two movies- something that is often NOT the case. A sequel not only equaling its predecessor, but surpassing it. I was hopeful that the Bourne Ultimatum would match that, because, after all- with a word like Ultimatum in the title, it ought to be good.

We had planned on going to the drive-in for most of the week, and most of the week it was cool, cloudy and kinda rainy. Saturday, the heat and humidity turned back on, and by Saturday evening, it was HOT, HUMID and scattered thunderstorms rolling through. Not exactly drive-in weather- the money saved at the drive-in would surely be lost in having to run the car to keep the A/C on so we could be semi-comfortable.

so we decided instead that we only really wanted to see Bourne, and that Rush Hour 3 was only a fringe benefit. We decided to go to the theater in Carlisle and let them provide the air conditioning. However, the rolling thunderstorms that were going through caused some major damage and power outage in much of Carlisle, including the movie theater. And every other theater around had either already started their show, or it started at the same time.

so with the sun going down, the lights out all over Carlisle and the rain cooling it off a little, we headed down route 11 to Newville and the drive-in. On the plus side, we arrived just as the movie started, so our normal routine of arriving early to get a good spot didn't leave us waiting. And for some reason, it wasn't crowded.

Anyway- down to the movie reviews. SPOILER WARNING!! for those who haven't seen the move, stop here and just know that I think that Bourne was amazing- perhaps the best movie I've seen this summer. It makes me question whether or not Supremacy was supreme. Rush Hour 3 on the other hand... could have waited till video had the Carlisle theater had power.

Ultimatum was filled with action. So much action, I almost thought it impossible to put that much in and not wear the audience out. Car chases, fight sequences, hand-to-hand combat, foot chases... Wow! It was fantastic.

What probably surprised me the most, however, was an hour and 15 minutes into the movie, I saw a VERY similar scene. In fact, it was the exact scene that ENDED the Bourne Supremacy. I probably would have noticed it anyway, but definitely because of watching Supremacy that afternoon, I knew that it was the exact same conversation- with a little more added to it. I was VERY impressed with how they wrapped it all in together.

In essence, the Bourne Ultimatum ended literally hours after the Bourne Supremacy. Basically, after he left Russia, but before he showed up in NY was where Ultimatum picked up. Very good writing, and very surprising. The other thing I liked was that there were times when i just expected something to happen, but didn't want it to happen- and basically just couldn't figure it out. it was great to be kept guessing the whole time.

Rush Hour 3 was disappointing. it was not bad, per se. But it was so unnecessary. It was another heart wrenching villain for Jackie Chan's character. It was another supposed friend who turned out to be a betrayer. It was another movie of Jackie Chan doing some real work and Chris Tucker running his mouth (although he has learned some marshall arts and while the final fight between Chan and the villain is taking place on the Eiffel Tower structure, Tucker is taking on 4 lackeys in the restaurant).

There was an overly-long, mostly unnecessary scene with women in underwear for a show in Paris and Tucker's character is posing as costume designer. Simply not necessary.

There was a bright spot, however. This came at the end, when the bad guy who pretended to be a friend was about to end the movie and evil was about to win and the Frenchman who had been picking on Americans for half the film, then pretending to be one the other half only to be disappointed by his wife- he ended up shooting the bad guy before he could shoot Tucker, Chan or the woman.

So, as is often the case, the drive-in costs less, we get two and are rarely disappointed. This particular double feature was well worth it, even if only for one movie.

Switchfoot Concert review

tonight, i witnessed one of the best concerts i have ever been to. hands down. see my next post which will recount what makes a good concert and what my top 5 are. but here, i wanted to break down the concert a little.

first, the disappointment. the band opening for Switchfoot was named "Copeland" and they were ok. they were drummerless, making just two acoustic guitars. it was kinda Shane & Shane-esque, but not to their level. The voice was alright and i was pretty pleased with the guitar work of the 2nd player. But in general, a bit of a letdown and i'd really like to hear them with a drummer before making any final judgements.

2nd on the sad scale- the concert was supposed to start at 7- it didn't start till 7:25. and while Copeland only played for about 20 minutes, it was almost 8:20 till Switchfoot finally came on. that made for a lot of standing around. the venue was nice and all- like a large night club, but the floor was concrete so it was tough to stand on.

Switchfoot enters, people scream. sometimes, i wonder if the screaming is louder actually than the music. So they start to play and it's nice and loud, very peppy. I can't honestly remember the order of some of the songs, all i can say is that as far as concerts go, these guys know how to translate their good studio work onto the stage (something bands like Jars of Clay had a hard time doing early on). It sounds just like the "Nothing is Sound" and "OH! Gravity" albums from which the first few songs come.

I would honestly compare this concert to an Audio Adrenaline concert i've been to. They have an excellent album that is the standard by which everything else they do is compared. and so far, they're measuring up to "The Beautiful Letdown" pretty well, although I hardly know the albums since the same way. But, it's like Audio Adrenaline's "Bloom"- if they do a lot of songs from there and add a few here or there, they can't go wrong.

Well, that's the feeling I got. a good smattering of their albums, but in general, center it all around the best complete album they've done. They played well, had excellent stage presence and just in general, made the audience feel a part of the show and not simply spectators.

Notable things:
inclusions- "Learning to Breathe"- from their self-proclaimed early years album by the same title, this song apparently was voted on their website to be in the concert. good song, loved to play it on the radio when i was a DJ in college. ahhh... memories. also, "Twenty-Four", one of my favorite songs of theirs. done just with the acoustic and in such a way that you could hear the audience singing along loudly. excellent.

exclusions- almost "Dare You to Move" until they did it in the encore, which plays into the idea that they planned the encore. "Chem 6a", a classic song from the "Legend of Chin" album that seems to make its way around, even being joked around on the guitar by one of the "Copeland" guitarists... Also, "On Fire", a light song off "the Beautiful Letdown" that just sings of serenity and beauty.

other notes- one kid actually brought a lighter into the concert. i'm not sure how he got it past security and they appeared to take it from him, but for the early part of the slower songs, this kid was waving his lighter... i felt like i was in 80s heaven or something... (and the dragon comes in the niiiiiiight!)

This concert ranks an A+ on the concert-o-meter. with classics like "Gone", "This is Your Life", "Stars", "Meant to Live" and new classics like "OH! Gravity" along side the other songs you know you know but just can't put your finger on it- this concert was great.

good, bad and ugly "Pirates" review

Since the hottest movie of the summer, at least from the box office, is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest, I thought I might chime in. There seem to be differing opinions for this movie from extremely wonderful to extremely terrible. I will give my $.02, and hopefully not give out any spoilers but no promises.

First thoughts from the theater: there was a trailer prior to the move for a movie about snakes being let loose in an airplane. I know a couple people who are scared stiff by snakes, but just in general- terrible idea. The entire theater, which was full, was laughing by the time it finished- and it was people laughing like Thats the stupidest idea Ive ever heard!! and I commented to the unknown young man next to me I cant believe Samuel L. Jackson is in that movie, which, consequently, would be the only reason to see it. Because he doesnt do much crap- bad movies with him in that come to mind are only Star Wars Episodes I & II, and he probably did those because theyre Star Wars for crying out loud.

Ok, on to the movie. In general, there were some really good parts, some parts that made me roll my eyes, and some ugly parts. So in that spirit, I do a The good, the bad and the ugly review.

The Good: somewhat recycled music. I absolutely love the music in the first one. It is quite possibly one of the best movie scores of the past 15 years of movies, and I would venture to say the best non-John Williams score of that time period. They used the same basic theme from the last one, and at times, it even sounded like it was the same music, just refit for a new scene. This may confuse me in the future as I listen to just the music.

Another good- some great sword fighting scenes- one with an especially interesting plot twist. Either there are some really close looking stunt guys, or Jack Davenport, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom have been really well trained with the swords, although we already knew that about Depp and Bloom from the first Pirates movie.

There were also some comical moments alluding to the first movie. The first moment which stood out to me was when the Governor was standing in the dungeon hallway with Bloom and he put his hand on an iron candle arm extending from the wall and it broke off and he had no idea what to do with it. The best allusion from the first movie, however, was when we find that Depp has been made the chief of a tribe. Its so funny because the first movie has this strange line that seems to make no sense whatsoever as Depp is talking to the two British navy-men while Kiera Knightley falls- And then they made me their chief.

The bad: Just as some of the moments that alluded to the first movie were amusing, some of them were really not. The one in particular that I felt the movie could do without was the two bumbling pirates from the Black Pearl, one with the wooden eye and his friend. They were amusing, but their antics did not provide the comic relief that they were intended to do.

This movie was a bit darker than the first one. I know, hard to get darker from cursed pirates who turn into skeletons in the moonlight. It, did however, feel darker. Some of the scenes were a little more tense, but not in a good way.

The plot- it just didnt seem as intriguing this time. There were parts when I was really drawn into the movie, but they were fewer and father between. Sometimes it felt thin. By the time Depp finally admits something about his compass, which is a focal point, I (and Id assume the whole audience) had already figured it out.

The ugly: Without a doubt, Davey Jones. He himself and all of the people who were under his curse, were becoming more and more like the sea. Jones had squid tentacles for his face, other guys had barnacles, star fish and other hardened creates that their faces and bodies were becoming. It was no more or less disturbing or disgusting than the skeletal creatures in the first movie. There was one part with a guy whose head was inside of a seashell. His head got knocked off and he eventually just had to have a crab come out of the shell to move his head around.

The sight of Depp with six eyes painted on his cheeks and another pair painted on his eyelids.

NOT Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley. They were beautiful people, just the way they are and hardly needed any make-up to look the part of pirates! Probably still a big drawing point for this movie.

Final thoughts: Depp made the first movie with his staggering around, being a pirate who is somewhat crazy and seemingly always drunk. He continued that role well, but it was not as much the movie maker. There were multiple plot twists, some expected and some unexpected. The end of the movie was, from my point of view, quite predictable. Even the final scene before the credits rolled. However, after sleeping on it and thinking about it, I would give this movie a high B or a low B+. Not the greatest movie, but certainly not without its good parts.

Take the Leap

I was watching Steve Martin today- in the movie “Leap of Faith.” It made me shiver to watch. Because it looked like a mix Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey and Joel Osteen! He was preaching- if you could call it that- and quoting miscellaneous Bible verses and talking about “getting saved.” There was no mention of sin, but there was a story about a guy who needed “faith.” Actually, he needed not to be afraid of men with a 9mm, he just needed to get the “12-gauge super charged grenade launcher of FAITH!!!”

Seriously, he had this… healing thing going on. He ended the shows by “Feeling a healing comin’ on!” It’s like- Benny Hinn. The healing man. He “healed” these people, as he said, according to their faith. When people came up to get healed, he laid hands on them and pushed them over, or whacked them with his hands, or held his hand on them and started shaking and getting them to shake too. He must have the kind of faith that he could pass off on the people.

He told them “the move you give, the more you live.” I got the sudden desire to become a faith covenant partner because I just want to live longer. Cuz, let’s face it- God won’t strike me dead as long as I keep putting money into his pocket, right?

As a preacher, Martin always had his smiley face on! He was always excited, and he fed people misused Bible verses and easy answers. He put on a GOOD show- pyrotechnics, a full choir singing good ol’ gospel songs. And he actually has this jacket that is completely large, silver, sparkly, shiny panels that reflect the light and wow the eye.

But he’s a shyster. His people sit in the audience and start to get the crowd fired up when they’re not responding to the preaching. All it takes a little of that, and then the first healing, and pretty soon, there’s no dead audience. He has a night of question and answer time when he doesn’t actually answer anyone’s question, he just gives easy answers that makes everyone forget what the real issue is.

Now, don’t get me wrong- I’m not accusing any of the people mentioned here as being shysters. Furthest thing from it. But I am asking what do these people offer that Steve Martin could not offer? He was a “good” preacher- catch phrases, loud preaching- he made you believe it! But he offered people nothing other than “hope” which, while good, is not right. God offers more than hope, and real preaching needs to offer more than just hope- it needs to offer answers! Hope is a good thing, but if I start spouting out verses, claiming a name I don’t believe, etc- it’s NOT good enough. And people hearing it, well..

Anyway- Steve Martin actually goes so far as to claim that while he was a sinner, he was a HUGE sinner- and his life of sin makes him better for preaching because people who need to get rid of that stuff can’t go to someone who has never experienced that stuff. He went so far as to glorify his sin because it made him connect better. And I used to think like that, too… But glorifying sin isn’t good.

Anyway- long story short, the movie ends with this young boy coming up for healing. He has been for healing before, his sister told Jonas (Steve Martin’s character). As a matter of fact, the preacher even told him it was God’s will to heal him. But he had the audacity to tell the kid that it was his own fault he wasn’t healed, because his faith wasn’t strong enough! From then on, Jonas tries not to do anything to entice this kid. But the kid comes to the final meeting for being healed- he was in a car accident and can’t use his legs. The boy ACTUALLY gets healed- like a REAL miracle! All Jonas has been preaching has been fake- this was real. The movie ends with him leaving his flashy coat on the bed and disappearing.

there was a conversation toward the end, after the kid got healed. he came to the tent after the meeting and talked with Steve Martin- a conversation that goes like this:

SM: IK've been conning people since I was about your age and there's one thing I've learned. It's to be able to spot the genuine article. Don't worry about the cops- you can always get around the cops. But you CAN'T get around the genuine article. And you, kid, are the genuine article.

kid: are you saying that you think you're a fake?

SM: Kid, I'm saying that I KNOW I'm a fake.

kid: As long as you get the job done, what's the difference?

SM: Kid, it makes all the difference in the world.

You see- when you have an encounter with the true living God, you can’t help but be changed. And if you’ve been doing it wrong your whole life, you’re blown out of the water. It’s… amazing. But God’s healing doesn’t come in proportion to our faith- because there are people who have REAL faith and haven’t been healed. It’s just a mystery how God works. But when God really hits- it’s not something we can resist, and it’s not something we can walk away from. Not because we really can’t choose that, but because it’s so intense that we can’t imagine anything else.

Side notes- I forgot that Liam Neeson is in this movie. Martin’s character has got a crew that is in on his schemes- they look at each other for every “miracle” and realize they’ve contrived it all. Some of them aren’t all that good of actors. I think the choir that he has is unknowing about his scheming.

But this shocked me most of all: Steve Martin’s hair is not white. Is this the ONLY thing he’s ever done in front of a camera that his hair isn’t white?

life...

So, I've thought a little about this tonight- in large part because of having just finished watching 7th heaven- and I've come to this conclusion. We, as Christians, are too critical of the wrong things and not enough of the things we should be. Case in point- 7th heaven. This show is a "good" show, Christians love it because he's a minister, because it's a family trying to live by faith...

But I cannot stand it from that stand point. becasue it feeds us half-truths. Just tonight, Eric (the father, minister, snooper, sticker of his nose where it doesn't belong) said something to his daughter (who is now his associate pastor) about how we need to trust in life to work itself out- or something like that. Then she says, yes, I guess i need to trust in a higher power... etc, etc- doesn't matter what she said because they both just missed the opportunity to teach truth. But I don't supose that's their desire.

We should be more ashamed of this, or "touched by an angel"'s consister "God loves you" and nothing else beyond it. This should bother us more because they are shows with partial truth, but they fall short of the goal. A show about gays shouldn't bother us- because it has no guise or pretense to it- it is what it is. it's not supposed to be Chrisitian.

Take this to life- we get more bothered by the non-Christians who sin than we do by Christians who only go half-way in their faith. Although God hates sin, we cannot expect someone without faith to be "moral". We shouldn't expect it- and we shouldn't expect them to do anything to come to Christ. But our Christian friends who only go half-way are ok because at least they're in church, right? or at least they look ok, right?

it's time those of faith really live it, and no judgement on those who don't claim it. Can a sick person heal himself? no! Should a person who has the cure leave it on the shelf? no again!

review of "Father, Son and Holy Guest Star"

"You can save a lot more souls with easy bake ovens than with THIS two-thousand year-old pill"- Timothy Lovejoy (Simpsons DABF02- season 13, episode 6)

I caught the simpsons this past sunday, and it was one i've already seen. But I LOVE it! not to mention how much i laughed at stuff like the saint who appeared to Father Sean before his conversion and called him a wanker and told him to "repent or sod off". There was also the priest and all the nuns who were ALL Irish for some reason, then the different afterlive's for protestants and catholics- starting with the protestants being all stuffy and the catholic heaven having hispanics cooking, italians and Irish- which ended with Marge wanting to talk to Jesus, who'd gone over to Catholic heaven and they all began riverdancing... I'm seriously thinking Catholic heaven is where I want to go- it's more lively and more fun (although try going to mass- it's so dry...)

I was also impressed with the way the priest dealt with lisa being a buddhist- he laughed and told her that lots of kids have imaginary friends.

Ok, well, on with the real meat of this... which has to do with the quote above. It seems like... Well, let me put it this way. Just because cool people are Christians doesn't mean Christianity is cool. Or just because Christians do "cool" things, that doesn't make Christianity legitimate! Case in point- they were trying to bribe Bart back to being a protestant again- they took him to a Christian teen festival- with an 80s band and paintball. Bart responded with something to the effect of "just because some old band plays the christian festival doesn't make it cool"... and then he sees the paintball and is enthralled...

it's a wonderful sequence. And I have posed for years that there are wonderful things to be learned from popular culture. And I love making connections like this. Luke blogged about this back when he was on blogger, but i don't think the post made it to his new site- but... Just because Mel Gibson is a Christian, does that make it cool? Christians seem to love to herald around their popular people- atheletes, actors, musicians, and more. It's like- we need to make our faith legitimate. Almost like- see, it must be cool cuz the '96 Green Bay Packers all go to bible study and Reggie White is a Christian... Jeff Gordon drives a car, and he's a Christian, too- that means it's great, right?

Christianity doesn't need popular people. Our faith is stronger than that! It doesn't require having cool people... And, oh yeah- just a reminder aobut the Christian past- the early church wasn't "cool" and didn't have celebrities on their side! It was a religion of the outcasts and it was hope for the hopeless... now it's like the country club- some kind of social status or symbol...

what's next, Christian video games? oh, wait... check this...

Flashback Friday

Last friday, Rachel and i went to the drive-in. We're quite glad to have a drive-in close, with the double features, and this year they're playing good movies.

Last weekend and all this week, they've been doing the remake movie night. It was a double feature full of "fun" with "Herbie: Fully Loaded" and then "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I'm glad we went to see the movies at the drive-in. Because we paid less to see both of them than to see one of them in the theater. And I can't imagine paying full price to see either movie. I didn't have a huge desire to see Herbie, anyway, but...

Just a few notes about the movie. First, Lindsey Lohan. What in the world is up with this girl? I have a sneaking suspicion that this girl who used to be cute and do good movies will end up doing movies that I wouldn't ever want to see and will likely be junkie. I mean, this girl is going the way of the anorexic. The girl needs to eat, get her red hair back and realize that people liked her better before.

The movie- well, it was... not impressive. Lindsey Lohan gets Herbie, and come to find out she used to do street racing. Well, her dad used to race, as did her grandfather, and her brother stinks at it. Long story short, she gets her wish to NASCAR race, but in a 63 bug?!?! And not only that, but this bug has the potential to ride the side and go upside down? She wins and gets showered with praise, but... isn't Herbie the car? and doesn't Herbie do the driving? So, technically, she doesn't win and isn't that good...

Then, the wonderful intermission. This was the best partof the night. Cuz i always remember this friend of mine, Anthony, who loved the part in "Grease" when you see the hot dog jump into the bun. That was the greatest part of the night.

The next movie was the snooze-fest. Not only is the original movie still great, but it's not that old. I like some of the songs in that one. The Umpa-Lumpa songs were much easier to follow. The songs in this one were different styles and harder to follow becasue the music was so loud sometimes. Just in general, this movie was not as good- a bit darker. Johnny Depp was... strange at the least. and... yeah.

All in all, a disapointing weekend. Don't bother seeing either of them- unless you want to waste your money, or want to see the last lindsey lohan movie when she was "cute". I wouldn't even feel inclined to rent them, either...

What ever happend to creativity, anyway? It used to be original ideas for movies were done year after year. this summer has been remakes of old movies, or shows (see Bad News Bears, Dukes of Hazzard- which has been recomended that any fan of the show not see it- by the guy who used to play Cooter in the show) and sequels (Batman Returns, Star Wars Episode III). The sequels were pretty good, the remakes- terrible so far!

Come on, people!! forget remakes, forget doing what's already been done... do something NEW!! Even television is getting old on the reality television and such. Great Simpsons episode in which they did a reality television Show. in order to spice it up, someone suggested something he'd seen on Television the night before. When they needed to spice it up again, and they needed "new" ideas, they were instructed to get our their personal televisons! Great commentary!

also note that i use the term television instead of TV. that's cuz tv is a nickname, and nicknames are for friends, and television is nobody's friend. that's it for me...