on to the next area of interest… movies… now, this may not be the order in which i address these in the future – there may not be an order at all, really – but this is the way i’m going today… i’ve got three movies to talk about and hopefully i’ll be more succinct… i mean, i DO have other things to write about… not to mention a site that needs building… off we go…

Oh, before we begin, i suppose i should mention that i viewed all three of these movies for free because they want me to write about them… “they” being publicists and such… two of them sent me promotional DVDs and one granted me access to an online viewing area… with that taken care of, we shall begin…

BEHIND THE MASK
- now playing: The Imposter – Kevin Max

The Imposter
first up is a movie that i believe has been in the works for at least three years… the film features Kevin Max, Jeff Deyo, and Kerry Livgren all of whom became pretty famous for their roles in widely popular bands with spiritual overtones (dcTalk, SonicFLOOD, and Kansas, respectively) before striking out with solo careers… and by “striking out” i don’t mean in the “Casey at the Bat” sense…

Anyway, the movie revolves around “Johnny C,” the frontman for the widely popular band with spiritual overtones, Grand_design… Johnny C is quite charismatic and, despite his position, marriage, and daughter, has a thing for the traditional spoils of rock and roll (think sex, drugs, rock and roll)… and the film chronicles his downward spiral and attempts at reconciliation…

There are some wonderful tongue-in-cheek moments to the film, such as the narration addressing the formulaic expectations for an emotional altar call scene and a loving father embracing his prodigal son… now, i don’t want to spoil anything, but i will say that i kind of liked the resolution as it transpired… Sure, the acting at times provided some moments of unintentional chuckling and the script has its share of stereotypes and flat characters, but all in all, The Imposter, proved to be a pretty enjoyable movie (if not uncomfortable due to potential parallels to the actors’ own career paths)… it’s the type of movie that might spark some honest dialogue about how we perceive celebrities and pseudo-celebrities… now, if i can only find that Jeff Deyo song from the movie called, “Push Me Over the Edge” or something to that effect…

THE LIFE YOU SAVE…
now playing: How to Save a Life – The Fray

To Save a Life
i feel like i’ve already written about this movie, but apparently not… actually, something pretty interesting happened after i watched it the first time… well, for me, anyway… the movie, as you can easily tell from the trailer deals with the effects of suicide on surviving classmates… now, in the days of my youth, i knew someone who took his own life… unfortunately, i’d guess that most of us know someone who’s done that… i remember going through some peer counseling classes to recognize the warning signs and learn the proper procedures for reporting and talking through issues in an effort to stifle the contagiousness of suicide… most of all, i remember feeling a sense of responsibility of prevention…

i don’t know if that’s a natural response, but as i watched Jake – the main character in the movie – struggle with a similar response, names came into my head… names of those i had “flagged” (for lack of a better word)… and, while that’s not particularly interesting in and of itself, shortly after watching the movie, out of the blue, i came into contact with one of those names and that’s the interesting part… that’s where i’ll leave it…

back on the movie… it’s kind of a teen movie with a conscience… there’s partying, carousing, and a lot of reminders of the high-school caste system we’re all glad to have grown out of (assuming we all did grow out of it, which isn’t necessarily the case)… and the main theme running through it all is Jake, the former best friend of a suicide victim, struggling with faith, responsibility, and life in general… and for the most part, that’s fine… it works well and you’re prett engaged in the story, rooting for who is clearly the hero and subconsciously forming the obvious moral of the tale…

and then, as if trying to hit seven targets with one arrow, it becomes exponentially more complex… Jake takes on a Job-like role and everything that was clear moments ago is buried knee deep in muddy waters… now, here’s the thing… complicated is good… life is complicated – i know this – but, you can almost hear the writers giggling to themselves and saying things like “you can’t make this stuff up” even though they did, indeed, just make it all up…

the bottom line, without spoiling anything, i really enjoyed watching To Save a Life and it was a meaningful experience… i just think that it could have been more impactful if it had stuck to one main important theme instead of stuffing in a bunch of additives that deserve equal time but are relegated to minor roles… still, plenty to talk about afterwards and probably beneficial to a youth group…

CHOOSE WISELY…
now playing: Choose – Christy Nockels

Sarah’s Choice
okay, this blog entry is getting rather long, and it’s probably best that this ends up being the shortest of the reviews… Sarah’s Choice is, unabashedly, a vehicle for the pro-life movement… now, keep in mind that i’m very much pro-life… i think abortion is a choice that’s made when the wrong question is asked… that said, unlike the Tim Tebow Superbowl ad, this movie DOES offend me… more on that in a second…

first, the good points… Brad Stine does a fine job in his role… it was a surprising performance that anchored the “guy-side” of the story… in fact, that aspect of the movie actually worked really well… also worth noting, there’s a scene or two involving balloons that play rather well (trying to remain spoiler-free)… there may be other good points, but they’re escaping me at the moment…

okay… no more delays… overall, the acting was definitely B-movie or worse grade… the last time i saw Rebecca St James in concert, i was amazed at how incredibly awkward she seemed on stage and her performance in the role of Sarah deepened that impression… perhaps the only thing worse was the ridiculous treatment she receives from her boss and coworkers (completely unrealistic)… and the storyline was downright irritating…

if you’re wondering how a pro-life movie could offend a pro-life viewer, here’s how it works (and this may spoil some plot points, but i’ll do my best)… borrowing from A Christmas Carol – haven’t seen that before – Sarah is visited by a ghost of the Christmas that could be… she’s presented with visions of two possible outcomes – one if she chooses abortion and one if she keeps the baby… and it’s basically a choice between a life of roses and champagne, where she gets married, has tons of free time to spend with her daughter, and seems to live the easy life of happiness… and the other life, is one of solitude, pain, and, apparently, terminal illness…

the issue of regret was introduced elsewhere in the movie and (i think) should’ve been the big argument made, but instead we got absolute extremes that make little logical sense and, yes, offend me… if we can’t deal in honesty, then we shouldn’t be dealing in issues… i mean, it’s easy to drop superlatives in order to make a point, but it’s not accurate and it rings so incredibly false that it encourages opposition… i could probably go on and on about this point, but hopefully i’ve made it and now, i’m just moving on…

i have to say that it’s perfectly fine to pass on Sarah’s Choice… it’s an incredibly stereotypical “Christian” movie… and i honestly wish it weren’t…

ROLL CREDITS…

that’s a wrap as far as movies go… stick around for mashed potatoes from books, music, and more… soon… and while you’re waiting, check out the first entry, monday morning mashed potatoes in television…

peace… love… bdg…