Can You See Your Shadow?

February 4th, 2010

e3b1c237f80dc48eGroundhog Day reminds me of the movie of the same name. The finest analysis of the movie was done by Michael P. Foley:

Groundhog Day is the story of Phil Connors, an obnoxious weatherman at a Pittsburgh TV station who must cover the celebration of Groundhog Day in rural Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil (masterfully played by Bill Murray) is egotistical, career-driven, and contemptuous of his fellow man. “People are morons,” he tells his producer Rita, played by an adorable Andie MacDowell. “People like blood sausage.” Phil, in other words, is the typical product of modernity, the bourgeois man who lives for himself in the midst of others. Rita describes him—and us—well by quoting Sir Walter Scott’s “There Breathes the Man”:

The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown,

And, doubly dying, shall go down

To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,

Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.”

Read the entire review.

Groundhog Day is the story of Phil Connors, an obnoxious weatherman at a Pittsburgh TV station who must cover the celebration of Groundhog Day in rural Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil (masterfully played by Bill Murray) is egotistical, career-driven, and contemptuous of his fellow man. “People are morons,” he tells his producer Rita, played by an adorable Andie MacDowell. “People like blood sausage.” Phil, in other words, is the typical product of modernity, the bourgeois man who lives for himself in the midst of others. Rita describes him—and us—well by quoting Sir Walter Scott’s “There Breathes the Man”:
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.Day is the story of Phil Connors, an obnoxious weatherman at a Pittsburgh TV station who must cover the celebration of Groundhog Day in rural Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil (masterfully played by Bill Murray) is egotistical, career-driven, and contemptuous of his fellow man. “People are morons,” he tells his producer Rita, played by an adorable Andie MacDowell. “People like blood sausage.” Phil, in other words, is the typical product of modernity, the bourgeois man who lives for himself in the midst of others. Rita describes him—and us—well by quoting Sir Walter Scott’s “There Breathes the Man”:
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsungGroundhog Day is the story of Phil Connors, an obnoxious weatherman at a Pittsburgh TV station who must cover the celebration of Groundhog Day in rural Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil (masterfully played by Bill Murray) is egotistical, career-driven, and contemptuous of his fellow man. “People are morons,” he tells his producer Rita, played by an adorable Andie MacDowell. “People like blood sausage.” Phil, in other words, is the typical product of modernity, the bourgeois man who lives for himself in the midst of others. Rita describes him—and us—well by quoting Sir Walter Scott’s “There Breathes the Man”:
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.

At the Gideon’s Flame Christian Film Festival

October 30th, 2009

GFCFF HOME PAGE_1256915501170A New Life has been invited to Manila’s Gideon’s Flame Christian Film Festival. I was invited to speak briefly before the screening. Here is what I said:

Thank-you for selecting “A New Life” for inclusion in your film festival.

When I was in film school I attended a book reading group at a local Baptist Church. We read a “God Story’ each week and discussed it. The discussions were fairly dull until we got to Mary Brown’s A New Life. Then the Christians divided on what we thought of the Christians in the story. Were they examples of bad Christians or good Christians? Did they succeed or fail? Was the heroine better or worse off after having encountered them? And finally, did they further the Kingdom of God or embarrass it?

I had been praying for an idea for my first film after graduation and thought maybe this one might provide the basis. The author herself agreed, and as the production demands fell into place I came to believe I had found a means to glorify God through film, my goal in venturing out of theater into the world of movie-making.

The film has both confirmed what non-Christians believe about Christians and again divided Christian viewers over the same questions as the short story.

How does a Christian filmmaker determine if his film is a success? Does he use the world’s standards – audience popularity, invitations to film festivals, awards, box office receipts? Or is there another standard for Christian filmmakers to use?

In his book on acting for the camera, Patrick Tucker distinguishes the stage actor as playing for the numerous people in the auditorium, while the film actor plays for what he calls “An Audience of One” – the camera lens.

I believe the Christian filmmaker, unlike the secular filmmaker, creates for his Audience of One. But in this case not for a camera lens, but for the Creator God Himself.  I believe that a Christian filmmaker succeeds if God is glorified either within the film narrative itself or in the impact the film has on one who watches the film.

Does the Kingdom of God break into the life of a character? Does the Kingdom of God break into the life of even a single viewer of the film? If so, I believe God is glorified and the Christian filmmaker has pleased his Audience of One. To paraphrase St. Paul, “so neither is he who films or he who shows the film anything, but only God, who makes His Kingdom grow through the film…. For it is God who worked in your film to will and act according to His divine purpose.”

May God bless you, may His Kingdom come, and may His will be done in all your film experiences.

A New Life Heads to the Phillipines

September 11th, 2009

PhillipinesMy film “A New Life”, based on the short story by Mary Ward Brown, has been selected to be screened at the GIDEON’s FLAME CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL, November 3-7, 2009 in Legaspi Village, Makati, the Phillipines.Add an Image

“2009 marks the 95th year of existence of the Union Church of Manila. Its main purpose is to spread the WORD OF GOD so that its members and their sphere of influence can be United, Centered, and Maturing in Christ. The UCM strives to attain its goal through  various ways. One of these is to encourage the production and distribution of local and foreign Christian films so that this innovative and easily absorbed and assimilated medium can further God’s Word in the hearts and minds of the viewing public.

“It is an accepted fact that films are a powerful force that can influence man’s actions. To this end, the UCM Library Committee launched the 1st Christian Film Festival 2 years ago which culminated in April 2008 with a weeklong showing of Christian films ending with the Awards Night. The team and those involved were encouraged to repeat the activity by both participants and those who were blessed by the films.  Thus the holding of the 2nd Christian Film Festival, renamed the GIDEON’S FLAME CHRISTIAN FILM FESTIVAL, which will be the last major activity of UCM’s 95th year celebration.  The Festival will culminate with weeklong activities from November 3-7, 2009.

“The name is meant to emphasize that God’s great power can manifest even through seemingly small and weak ways to gain HIS purpose. This event will showcase educational, inspirational, and empowering films even as it encourages young talents to channel their knowledge and expertise to spread the Gospel to their public.

“The GFCFF will commence with a cocktail hour at 6:30 pm on the 3rd of November. Then from 6-9 pm of the same evening up to November 7, three films will be shown daily.  These showings are open to the public free of charge.

“The Gideon Flame Award will be given to the prize winner. Critically acclaimed foreign and local films will be interspersed with the entries. On the last day, November 7, Saturday, starting 9 am, children will be treated to films appropriate to their ages. The event will culminate with the closing ceremony, the recognition rites, and the awarding of prizes.”

The Significance of John Wayne, After 30 Years

June 12th, 2009

wayne.jpgThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a story about the death of the American West. John Wayne does more than simply play the title character; he also serves as a clear symbol of the American spirit, and his heroic sacrifice in this film is John Ford’s meditation on the paradox of American individualism.

“Wayne plays Tom Doniphon, the only man tough enough to stand up to Liberty Valance, the local thug. It is the arrival of Ransom Stoddard, an idealistic lawyer, that forces Tom to shoot Liberty, and in the process he sacrifices his own happiness, his own way of life, and the woman he loves.

“The core of Wayne’s appeal is not his swagger or his charm, but his willingness to act and accept the consequences, even when it means the end of his own way of life. Although we see his character dead, largely forgotten, it is Stoddard’s wife who puts the cactus blossoms on his coffin, an unspoken confession of her own love for him. She speaks for us all. We may be married to the security and safety of Stoddard’s government, but John Ford reminds us that it is the cactus roses of Tom Doniphon that grow in the heart of everry Amwrican”

Nicholas Tucker, a San Francisco–based filmmaker. His latest project is Do As I Say, based on Peter Schweizer’s bestselling book, at National Review

Cinevangelism: A Christian Introduction to the Movies

May 21st, 2009

9780802432018.jpgThere are some Christians who avoid seeing movies because they fear polluting their souls. Other Christians see every movie, convinced that nothing can harm them. If you know either of these types, The Message Behind the Movie. How to Engage with a Film without Disengaging Your Faith by Douglas M. Beaumont is for you. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Time for “The Passion of the Christ”

April 11th, 2009

fafb16ea4fbbea60.jpegAnd Mark Steyn’s review:
The headline on the Washington Post review sums it up: “‘Passion’ Is A Gory Take On A Gentle Teacher’s Violent End”. Somebody’s confusing their Gospel with Godspell. A few days before the “violent end”, the gentle teacher had been hurling tables around in the temple. And, even if you overlook the rough stuff, rhetorically Christ was as forceful as He was gentle.

That’s the real argument over The Passion Of The Christ. It’s not between Christians and Jews, but between believing Christians and the broader post-Christian culture, a term that covers a large swathe from the media to your average Anglican vicar.  MORE

First the Rock, then the Iron Man

February 22nd, 2009

l7057882289_9588.jpgBillionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark’s announcement of his plan to beat his twenty-first century pruning hooks into modern day plowshares causes quite a stir. He freed himself from an Afghan cave controlled by ambitious warlord Raza, by constructing an impregnable, gravity-defying suit of armor from random weapons he finds in the cave. Now Tony sees that the weapons he has made for good have been used for ill by America’s enemies.

Tony, like some Americans, decides that the answer to war is to stop making pruning hooks.

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Gran Torino: The Making of a Modern Relic

February 21st, 2009

mv5bmtc5ntk2otu1nl5bml5banbnxkftztcwmdc3njawmg_v1_sx95_sy140_.jpgWalt Kowalski is the dictionary definition of the angry old man. His wife has just died, his sons are estranged, his neighborhood is deteriorating, the country he fought for in Korea has vanished, except for the horrible memories of the war itself.

Who could guess what God could do with such a man?

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The Dark Knight: A Tale of Two Stories

December 30th, 2008

1184851.jpgWhile watching The Dark Knight with my son and wife, I found myself, at one point, saying aloud: “That’s just like A Tale of Two Cities!” Stefan had been reading the novel for school and I had reread it with him. And, as I finished Tim Keller’s The Reason for God, I found him noting that the climactic substitution in A Tale of Two Cities was just like Jesus’ action on our behalf. So maybe The Dark Knight proclaims the Good News as a twenty-first century metaphor, as A Tale of Two Cities did in a nineteenth century idiom.

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“A New Life” Heading to Atlanta

September 13th, 2008

king_flyer.jpg“A New Life”, my short film, has been chosen for showing at the 2008 KingDom Wood Film Festival, October ,  9-11 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia.. The festival, considered the South’s premier Christian film festival, selected the film after it received an Honorable Mention in Houston’s Bayou City Inspirational Film  Festival in August.

Check out the schedule here.

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