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By Dr. D | July 1, 2008
(*Click Here@-CT Reviews For Movies Now Showing and DVDs)
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( ***Click @Family Guide To TV Programing)
***My Reviews Are Below—-An Index on the Right Column Below———–>
By Dr. D | March 15, 2008
March 5, 2008 marked the 2 year anniversary of ANSWERS For The Faith Blogs.
In the midst of evaluating all of my sites, I realized that the Movies & TV Commentary was over due for a change in emphasis and direction. I started out reviewing movies and TV programs with an eye towards commenting on religion and/or moral lessons contained in each one.
In looking at my most recent work, I realize that some where along the line I started putting more effort in turning out a complete review of the movies I had watched and really spent very little time on religious and moral issues that I had originally intended post on. There are already a number of very good Christian sites that give complete reviews of all the movies in the theater and on DVD.
Starting today, I am going to comment on religion and religious themes and moral issues contained in the Movies that I see and also a few TV programs that I am interested in. The acting, the story, and overall review of the work itself will from now on receive less attention. *Top
By Dr. D | February 1, 2008
Lionsgate, January 25, 2008, Directed by Sylvester Stallone, 88 minutes, Cast: Sylvester Stallone (John Rambo), Julie Benz (Sarah), Paul Schulze (Michael Burnett), Matthew Marsden (Schoolboy), Graham McTavish (Lewis), Tim Kang (En-Joo), Rey Gallegos (Diaz), Jake LaBotz (Reese), Maung Maung Khin (Tint), Ken Howard (Pastor Arthur Marsh).
The film opens with the ageless Vietnam vet hunting down snakes for a living and running a longboat service on the Salween River. Along comes some medical missionaries from Colorado and solicit his services to take them up river into Burma to help Christian Karen villages in the midst of persecution and civil war.
He asks them if they plan on taking weapons to the villagers and of coarse they say no. He responds: "Then you ain’t goin’ to change anything! Go home".
He declines to take them but one of the leaders, Sarah, talks him into the trip. Along the way , river pirates attack and our hero kills them all to the consternation of our missionary folk who are oblivious to how close they all really came to death. Rambo gets them there and leaves with scenes of the missionaries doing their jobs helping take care of medical needs in the Karen village and teaching Bible stories to the children.
By Dr. D | January 26, 2008
Warner Bros. Pictures, December 2007, Directed by: Rob Reiner, 98 minutes, Cast: Jack Nicholson (Edward Cole), Morgan Freeman (Carter Chambers), Sean Hayes (Thomas), Beverly Todd (Virginia Chambers), Rob Morrow (Dr. Hollins), Rowena King (Angelica).
A car mechanic (Morgan Freeman) and a Billionaire (Jack Nicholson) end up in the same hospital room together both suffering from the effects of chemotherapy and both given only a few months to live at best.
Carter Chambers is a family man who seems to be facing the end of his life with some regret. An obviously smart man who gave up his dream of becoming a history professor in order to raise a family. Then sacrificed for years to get his children all the way through college and into professional careers. In the process he lost a bit of himself and questions whether his wife and himself really are as close as they once were.
Edward Cole is a self made selfish rich guy who demands and expects everything to be exactly the way he wants it to be. Now he was facing terminal cancer and starts out in denial and refuses to acknowledge his condition. However, soon he is doubled up in front of a toilet and is finally forced to face and acknowledge all of his fears.
By Dr. D | January 16, 2008
Walt Disney Pictures, December 2007, Directed by Jon Turteltaub, 125 minutes, Cast:
Nicolas Cage (Benjamin Gates), Diane Kruger (Abigail Chase), Justin Bartha (Riley Poole), Jon Voight (Patrick Gates), Helen Mirren (Emily Appleton), Ed Harris (Mitch Wilkinson), Harvey Keitel (Peter Sadusky), Bruce Greenwood (The President).
A totally fun action romp like the first ‘National Treasure’. Our heroes this time break into Buckingham Palace,the White House Oval Room, and kidnap the President for a few minutes on the way to a grand finale at Mount Rushmore.
Ed Harris provides this episode with a serious diabolical enemy in the beginning and becomes a somewhat sympathetic foe in the end. Helen Mirren comes aboard as Benjamin Gates mother. This provides some interesting by-play between her and Voight’s Patrick Gates character who is her ex-husband.
The story revolves around a supposed ‘Book of Secrets’ which is passed on to each succeeding President and contains national secrets that are for presidential eyes only. Gates is out to prove that his great-great grandfather was a patriot and not involved in the Lincoln assassination which Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris) contends and provides some evidence of. The search for documentation that will clear the Gates family name takes them to a new treasure in the end.
In the last ‘Treasure’ movie, we left Benjamin and Abigail happy together living in a huge historical mansion. In this episode, we find them separated and Benjamin jealous as she dates a White House agent. Next, we find their side-kick getting his Farrari repossessed. Along the way, they all get back together in another non-stop run for the treasure.
There is nothing new here accept fun and plenty of it. *Top
By Dr. D | December 14, 2007
Dream Works, 12/14/07, Directed by Marc Forster, Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Zekiria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada. Watch the Trailer.
I was very fortunate to view this movie at a private screening at the recent Blog World Expo (11/7) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Film Critic and talk show host Michael Medved and Khalid Abdalla, the star of the film, hosted the event and graciously answered questions at the end.
The movie was originally scheduled to have already come out this fall, but the release was delayed in order to insure the safety of the child actors in the film who still live in Afghanistan.
This movie will be in running for the best film of the year. At least it’s now at the top of my list. It is an excellent representation of the ‘best seller’ book: "The Kite Runner".
It gives us an interesting taste of the sights and sounds of old Afghanistan before the Russians, the Taliban, and nearly 20 years of war. Speaking of sounds, the musical score by Alberto Iglesias incorporates native instruments and Afghan musicians to give it a unique flavor. I expect that the score will receive some Oscar mention.
The story starts with a phone call taken by a young man with an old family friend on the other end telling him that he needs to come back to Afghanistan to take care of some family business. Then the story line flashes back 20 years.
By Dr. D | December 7, 2007
The movie-"The Golden Compass" is released today across America. This is a major budget New Line Cinema production reportedly costing over $150 million to produce and features a number of major Hollywood stars.
The movie is based upon a series of books by Philip Pullman, who is an admitted atheist, and who reportedly wrote the books as an atheist answer to ‘Narnia’.
The books are known to be ‘anti-Christian and the movie has resulted in a number of concerns and negative reactions from leaders in the Christian community. Dr. Al Mohler, for one, has written an excellent review on the movie.
Read what I have to say about the movie in an article at my main blog. *Top
By Dr. D | November 4, 2007
The film won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival.
The story starts with a soccer star on the way to an important press conference and contract signing with his agent.
Then the scene abruptly shifts to a upscale Mexican restaurant in Manhattan. The kitchen workers are busy preparing food for the noon meal. One waitress comes in late and is promptly fired by the obnoxious restaurant owner, Manny.
The main cook -Jose, who we later find out is the owners brother, runs out of the restaurant after the woman. The rest of the day they travel together and talk about the reasons for her being late and the dilemma that the woman is facing.
By Dr. D | October 24, 2007
Universal Pictures, September 2007, Directed by
The movie starts with a lengthy historical introduction to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Then it switches to a scene in a community park with a baseball game in progress, folks picnicing and children playing. It could be a picture from any small town in middle America, but this community is in Saudi Arabia. As the camera scans the area, you finally see that there is a wall surrounding it with Army guards stationed at the gate.
Soon the placid scene erupts as terrorists storm the gate and begin spraying the park with machine gun fire. Before it is all over, a huge bomb explodes and more that 100 men, women, and children are slaughtered including a FBI agent.
The FBI is notified and put together a team to help the Saudis get the bad guys. At first the Saudis do not want help and the American diplomats oppose sending a team. Finally after some diplomatic arm twisting, a FBI investigating team lands in Saudi Arabia and are promptly locked in the community gym and allowed to only look at the site but not really touch or investigate.
Finally after meeting with a Saudi Prince, the American team is allowed to proceed and do end up getting the ‘bad’ guys. That is the story in a nutshell.
By Dr. D | September 8, 2007
Lionsgate, September 2007, Directed by James Mangold, 117 minutes. Cast:
Christian Bale (Dan Evans), Russell Crowe (Ben Wade), Ben Foster (Charlie Prince), Logan Lerman (William Evans), Peter Fonda (Byron McElroy), Gretchen Mol (Alice Evans), Lennie Lofton (Hollander).
The acting in this movie is excellent. It started out being about shootouts, cattle stampedes, and robberies; and ended up as a study in character. Christian Bale plays the part of Dan Evans, a rancher down on his luck who agrees to join a posse and help bring highwayman Ben Wade to justice. He is hoping that the $200 will get him out of debt and save his ranch.
Russell Crowe plays the part of Ben Wade, a ruthless robber and killer. At first there seems to be nothing to this character but a lust for killing with a drive to be all bad and surprisingly evil. Later he is shown to have a few redeeming traits and some depth. He is shown to be not entirely bad after all, though you could not prove it to all the people he kills, including some of his own gang. The ongoing byplay between Evans and Wade is worth the price of admission.
