U23D

I just got back from seeing the U2 movie in 3D. WOW!!!!!! It was unbelievably good. You were able to see the show from such interesting perspectives. From the front row, from the drummer's perspective, from above the drummer, flying in on the cable cameras, and more. It was perfect looking and the 3D stuff was actually really cool and it was easy to lose yourself in it.

One time Bono is inches from you and it feels like he is looking right into your face. So cool. The sound had great clarity but it could have been a bit louder.

But just seeing U2 on the huge Imax screen in 3D was so awesome.

Even if you aren't a huge U2 fan like I am, I highly recommend seeing the film. It's visually stunning and you will learn why so many people love this band. You almost feel the same emotion as you would at a live show. So you can sit down in a comfy seat and pay only $15 and get a 75% U2 experience. Enjoy!

Best Movies of 2007 (That I've Seen)

I know that many of these didn't come out in 2007, but that's when I saw them. Hey, I have kids. We don't go to movies often. Of these six films, we saw two in the theater.
The Best:
The Bourne Supremacy - I think Matt Damon is one of my favorite action movie stars. He kicks butt in a cool and somehow believable way. I like that he's not huge and buff like Arnold or Sly and he's not a martial arts expert. He is just well-trained and kicks butt. I loved these books when I read them while traveling Europe so to see them turned into amazing films has been really fun. Also, why do I love Julia Stiles??
Dan in Real Life - This movie surprised me and made me cry. Anything father/daughter seems to get me and this definitely had those scenes. I am just so blown away by the range of Steve Carell. Think about the despair in his character from Little Miss Sunshine, the annoyingly hilarious Michael Scott in The Office, the big star in Evan Almighty, and the pained and awkward widower in Dan in Real Life. He is an actor.
Blood Diamond - this was probably my favorite movie of 2007. Leonardo DiCaprio is SO GOOD! I don't even like him normally. It's truly a story of personal redemption and sacrificial love. Leo is a messianic archetype in the film (not without sin of course) and I love those kind of roles. Great action. Exposes injustice. And I went to Africa last summer and I watched this movie on the plane ride home so that gave it a pretty cool context.

UPDATE: I forgot HOT FUZZ on the Best List. That movie was amazing. See it now.

The Worst:
Facing the Giants - this movie completely frustrated me as a "Christian" film. It's everything that is wrong with "Christian" film-making. Horrible plot-line where everything goes right if they become Christian. No more problems. Cheesy with a capital V for VELVEETA.
Nacho Libre - Here's what I think. Everyone that likes this movie, likes it because they think they are supposed to or will be cool if they like it. This movie was STUPID and BORING!! Jack Black needs to retire and retire now!
Hollywoodland - Oh my gosh, if you haven't seen this movie and are suffering from insomnia, go rent this film. It will put you right to sleep. Boring, contrived, and some of the worst acting ever from good people like Adrian Brody. Is Ben Affleck the worst actor on earth? The answer is a resounding, YES!

Dan in Real Life

Bea and I had a wonderful date night last night where we had a nice dinner and then we went to the movies for the first time in FOREVER. We went to Dan in Real Life because it looked good, Bea didn't want to see American Gangster, and Randy wrote a great review of the film. We didn't know much about the movie ahead of time. We just knew it had Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, and Dane Cook. We thought it would be indie style, but on the lighter side.

We were wrong.

I literally had tears streaming down my cheeks during this film. Without giving too much away, it's a story of a man with three daughters whose wife died four years earlier. They are at a big family reunion of sorts and an awkward love story ensues. Anything that has to do with daughters ruins me because I love my girls so much.

It was fun to watch their family interact. I want to be a family like that. They were honest and fun. They played charades, took walks, played football, ate big meals together, and went bowling.

This was a great film, but don't think of it as a comedy. It's a crying movie.

Movie Knowledge

I dominated Chris G, fellow youth pastor from Florida (the state that wishes it was California) in this movie quiz. I think I could/should have done better, but here it is.
71%The Movie Quiz

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

Books I Read in Kenya

I read three books while traveling to and from Kenya. By the way it was about 40 hours of flight time. I mostly watched movies on the plane. Virgin Atlantic was amazing. We had our own screen with our choice of about 60 movies to watch at any time. My highlights were Blood Diamond and Hot Fuzz - both amazing for different reasons.

Books:
1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It becomes a bit over-the-top at times, but the plot is riveting and the writing style is enjoyable while being literary. I think this has the potential to be a modern classic.

2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I have never read this classic and I have just recently started exploring Hemingway. I actually really enjoyed this book even though most people I talk to hated it. I love the commitment and love the boy has for the old man. I love the old man's determination and love for the boy. I only wish Hemingway didn't always have to break my heart.

3. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I avoided this book because of it's commercialization by Starbucks. I just get annoyed by people who think they can read a book from Starbucks or buy a (RED) product or go to an Invisible Children event and think that they are "doing something" for Africa. My mom gave me this book before I left and I LOVED IT. I highly highly recommend it. It's an incredible and true story of this boy who has his entire life turned upside down in so many ways. Go read it.

By the way, I officially HATE Sparks Notes and all those things. So many high school kids have never read a book because they just read the Sparks Notes. It's also weird that no one has heard of Cliffs Notes anymore. What happened to them? They should all be banned by the government. That's a legislation I would vote for.

Facing the Giants

I'm sorry to the people that were involved in this film for my comments because there were some great people from my church even that helped with it. But this movie was embarrassing and awful to me. The moral of the story is basically that without God you will have tons of problems, with God you will still have problems, but they will all work out perfectly in the end.

Everything gets fixed for them. They win all the games. Even when they lose another team forfeits. The coach gets a free truck anonymously - not a bad idea for any rich people at my church :). They were struggling to get pregnant and I thought it might end with them having to keep trusting God even though He wasn't giving them everything they wanted. But no, it ends with her finding out she isn't pregnant and then the nurse realizes she was looking at the wrong test paperwork. She runs out to the car and tells the lady she is pregnant.

God is good because He gives me everything I want???

I Love Jason Bourne...

but not in a weird way. He just rules. Bea and I saw the new movie last night - Bourne Ultimatum. It rocked. Fast moving. Tough. Heroic. Human. I would definitely go see it soon.

I also finished the new Harry Potter book yesterday. It was a pretty tidy ending with some sad stuff. I liked the ending after all seven of those books.

Contradictions

I have seen a couple people commenting on things like this and it got me thinking. It's part of my being an "acrobat."

Why am I this virtual pacifist when it comes to war but I love, I mean love in a way that stirs my heart, movies like Saving Private Ryan, 300, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings. I think that the HBO Miniseries called Band of Brothers is the single best piece of film-making on the face of the earth. That's just a story of the European front of WWII. I read all of Steve Ambrose's books on WWII. I'm unsure if my love for those movies is my sinful nature or if my views on war are just inconsistent. Just because I like something doesn't mean it's not sinful. We long for lots of sinful things. Maybe war is just a sinful thing that I resonate with, but my true heart's conviction is that it is wrong.

What do you think? Do you have any similar contradictions? I must be an acrobat to talk like this and act like that.

Sick

I've been home sick today and I feel like crapola. We had our Fantasy Baseball draft last night and then we went out and had big hamburgers. Bea was sick and throwing up yesterday. So then last night at 1:30am I woke up and puked my guts out and had other intestinal issues as well. Puking after eating a 1/2 pound Hickory Burger is quite unpleasant. So I've been rotting at home all day watching TV and movies and sleeping.

Illusionist - 5. Interesting but a bit overrated.
Hollywoodland - 4. Boring and slow.

Now we are watching Wizard of Oz with Grace. It's her first time seeing it. She is loving it.

Rating Recently Seen Movies

300 - 8 out of 10. Freaking awesome!! There were some naughty bits so be aware of that, but the main character makes me want to be a braver man. Visually stimulating. I wanted to fight Matt Davis and Jason Krusiewicz when we left the theater.
Flags of Our Fathers - 8. I really liked this well-made film that details the battle, but even more went into the story of the guys who raised the flag (or didn't).
Dune - 1 out of 10. I loved these books, but this movie straight up sucked. Don't waste your life by seeing this film.
The Departed - 8. This was a well-made film and was pretty entertaining although disturbing. Marky Mark was the best actor in the movie.
Marie Antoinette - 5. I rated this pretty low but it was interesting. It was kind of plot-bare, but visually intriguing.
The Holiday - 7. This was great for a romantic comedy. All the actors were great in it - Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black. Jack Black is great when he isn't his normal annoying self. Kate Winslet was the best part of the movie and so were Jude Law's two daughters.
Babel - 3. I hated this movie. I know that it was well-made and different, but watching it is one of the most miserable experiences of depression a person can go through.
Stranger than Fiction - 7. Fun movie. Maggie Gyllenhall is superb with her cute revolutionary baker character.
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses - 6. Grace loved this movie and it wasn't as torturous as the title makes it sound. Would I buy it? No.

AGREE OR DISAGREE???

Ghandi

Amazing. Astonishing. Inspiring. I just finished watching the 1982 Best Picture winning film Ghandi with Best Actor winning Ben Kingsley in the title role.

He changed a nation and defeated the British Empire through peace. He would spin thread to make cloth, built his own home, and fasted to the point of starvation to make the world see. I loved when he said that something like "I have never advocated being passive. We will be very aggressive through non-violent non-cooperation."

I want to be aggressive in such a way that is radical, but isn't full of bitterness or anger or judgmentalism. I want to live simply and be true to what God has called me. Maybe it's time for a change in me, but I'm just not sure what exactly. Sometimes I want to change the world, but I don't even spend two hours a week hanging out with the homeless or something like that.

I have that feeling where you are frustratingly inspired. What do you do with that?