Sola Christus

A brave new world of film

Brave New World has always been one of my favorite dystopias. (Who can forget that chilling last line?) Paste magazine just posted about a movie version that is in the works with Ridley Scott as the possible director. Looks interesting. 

The perfect event for any LOTR fan

I wish this showing was scheduled for some other weekend. I just can't make it work, but I sure wish I could. Watching the movie with the live orchestra would be amazing!

Those gone in 2008

In continuation from that previous post, I thought I would post this tribute to the artists who died in 2008.
Thanks to Will for this video.
Goodbye Charlton Heston, Van Johnson, Joy Page, and Harvey Korman. You will be missed.

Good Queen Bess

A few weeks ago, I watched HBO's Elizabeth I . I am a Tudor fanatic. I read probably one or two books a year connected to the time period. And I never miss an issue of Renaissance Magazine . As I don't have expensive cable I am not watching The Tudors , but I am also boycotting it in my own little way. There are MANY errors in The Tudors. Shall we start with a dark headed gent playing a redheaded king?

Helen Mirren does a fabulous job as Queen Elizabeth. She portrays Elizabeth's sense of control and yet shows the emotional ups and downs that are trials of all humans. Her portrayal of the Mary, Queen of Scots crisis is excellent. She is also a good pick for realism. When Elizabeth met the Duke of Anjou she was 48. Mirren's own maturity fits the role quite well.

  Mirren, or I should say the hair people on the set, does a fabulous job of looking very similar to what we think the real Elizabeth looked like. Down to the wig she wore in her later years.

The costuming and sets are sumptuous, a veritable feast for the eyes. The attention to detail, including the special shift made for bathing and the sensors in front of the windows (Renaissance era wallflowers), is satisfying to those of us who notice these wonderful details.

One interpretation I disagreed with, was the implication that Elizabeth could not make decisions with out Robert Dudley's direction. I am not sure if the writers thought they were making Elizabeth more human, but they in fact make her appear weak. I do think there was probably an intense relationship between the two; however, I do not think that Elizabeth would have lasted long without ruling on her own. And, I believe history bears that view out.

I also do not think that her sexual abstinence is a problem. Many modern historians try to read sexual acts into her actions and relationships. Sadly, I think this comes from their own view and place in history. The large majority of Americans (and British) are promiscuous and do not enter marriage (if they ever marry) as virgins; I think this often causes historians to look back with skepticism on those who protested and championed this virtue.

The violence in the series does keep me from recommending it completely. There are extreme scenes of violence  that occur without warning, including a disembowelment and a flaying.
As you can tell, I do like mimetic art; these scenes were absolutely unnecessary and quite disturbing. I will probably not watch this series again because of these scenes. If you think you can stomach these, you may enjoy this series.

A Real Monster of a Movie

Sony Picture's Monster House  is another foray into the cgi full length movie feature. But, don't expect a movie as endearing as Finding Nemo. This movie, while rated PG, is another one of those movies that leave you thinking, "what were they thinking?" and "who were they marketing to?"

As a literature teacher, I try to show my students the importance of accepting the author in his or her context. In other words, just because a reader could potentially take the work and twist it doesn't mean we should blame the author or the work. For example, Jim Jones used the Bible for his own purposes, but does that mean we shouldn't read it?

With that caveat, let me say there are inherently disturbing elements in this movie. For kids or adults this movie's themes are just plain scary. And, lets face it, sadly lots of parents take their kids to a PG movie expecting it to be "safe." In the movie theater where I was, there were lots of kids. Just down the row sat a little boy that couldn't have been more than three years old. "Can I open my eyes now?" one little girl asked her mom at a particularly scary point in the movie.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

The movie centers around the friendship of two young boys (I would guess that they are somewhere between 10 and 12).  The neighbor across the street from DJ's house, Mr. Nebbercracker is constantly tormenting the children in the neighborhood by screaming at them when they step on the grass and stealing their toys if they happen to be in his front yard. DJ's friend, Chowder soon looses his ball to the inside of Mr. Nebbercracker's house; the boys then try to retrieve it. Soon after, while holding DJ in the air and yelling in his face, Mr. Nebbercraker falls down and appears dead. With its owner gone, the house begins to behave in more nefarious ways. A baby sitter's drunk boyfriend and two bumbling policemen are swallowed up by the very human looking house. DJ, Chowder, and their new found friend Jenny know that they must find a way to stop the house before Halloween night.

Sexual comments

Some of the joking that DJ and Chowder seem quite normal for two boys reaching that awkward age of prepubescence, but there are many sexual innuendos, including a disturbing reference to female anatomy. It is one thing for the characters to joke about Jenny's appeal, but quite another when Chowder brags about her "touching his butt." Sprinkled throughout the movie is the word "puberty" and is mentioned at least five or six times. I am sure there were many five year olds that left the theater asking for a definition.

The baby sitter's boyfriend also has a scene where, after drinking, he decides to kiss the babysitter on the couch. They both then fall out of sight, but there are some descriptive sounds and lines; apparently he "goes to far" and she throws him out.

Violence

I know this can be a sticky element. Middle school children certainly are not interested in the Teletubbies and I do realize that unfortunately there are some children out there who have watched terribly violent films, but this movie pushes the envelope. Besides the scary moments of the house trying to "eat" people, there are other moments that would have warranted the PG-13 rating just a few years ago. While struggling to kill the house from the inside, one of the children almost falls into a hole in the floor. At the bottom, in the basement the audience can see stakes jutting up in an ominous threat to impale the child. When we learn about Mrs. Nebbercracker's past demise, we are shown in a flash back that she fell into the foundation that Mr. N was digging for the house. While grasping for help in her fall she accidentally pulled on the concrete mixer, thus smothering herself with concrete. Later the children discover her concrete covered corpse in the basement. Mr. N has made a shrine around the body and the children accidentally break the dried concrete and discover the bones underneath.

Ghosts, possession, and The Madwoman in the Attic

When the boys and Jenny decide that they must stop the house, they go to an "expert," a guy that works in a local pizza place and plays arcade games all day (and night). He tells them that to kill the house they must get to the heart because spiritual beings can sometime inhabit physical objects in poltergeist-like behavior. Soon after this explanation the house is refereed to as "she" and "her." The house even shows different emotions, including joy at Mr. N's return from the hospital. Later Mr. N begs the children to help him get rid of her. So, not only is there "possession" of the house by an unfriendly ghost, but Mrs. N needs to be destroyed. In the end Mr. N actually asks one of the children to complete the deed because he can not. So is this a solution for mentally insane, a plug for murder, or the way we take care of batty old women? After blowing the house up, Mrs. N's spirit appears and dances with Mr. N. in a scene reminiscent of Ghost .

I left the theater feeling disturbed and confused. What were these filmmakers trying to advocate and just who were they playing to? Sure the animation was great, but was it worth it? I don't think so. 

Don't expect a nice kid (or adult) friendly movie in this film.

Beowulf & Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel the long awaited movie is finally being released June 16. Hopefully they won't ruin the story. In any event, I will certainly be buying a copy to use as an aid in the fall semester.

Paradise Lost on the big screen

Apparently, someone is finally attempting Milton's Paradise Lost on the big screen. There are a host of problems that come to my mind with a film adaptation (how do you portray pre-incarnate Christ? How do you portray Satan? Will the poem's wording stay the same?), but perhaps this writer won't make Milton roll over in his grave. Being a Milton fanatic, this idea is intriguing.

(By the way, I found out about this after my previous post.)

Flight 93

Here is the site for a new movie about 9/11. Something tells me this doesn't have the Michael Moore flavor. Is anyone planning on seeing it?

A history timeline from the movies

This is a really neat link where a man has taken many, many movies and plotted them out on a timeline. I think this would bve really helpful for teachers who like to use movies to illustrate periods in literature or history. For example here is the entry for 1605 and 1607:

1605 November 5: London - Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up the Houses of Parliament (V For Vendetta)

1607 Explorer John Smith discovers the clash between Native Americans and English settlers, and meets Pocahontas (The New World)

Part of V's opening speech

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both
victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere
veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as
the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once
vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation,
stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin
vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious
violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held
as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day
vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of
verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my
verygood honor to meet you and you may call me V.