I know that it is just a coincidence, but who else finds it interesting that the colors between good and evil in Star Wars are the exact opposite as the colors for good and evil in Harry Potter?

I know the colors for Harry Potter are because of the Houses, but still- the similarities are there!

Dorothy and I saw Super 8 last night, the new thriller/ suspense movie from JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg.  These men are geniuses, I have to say.

The script was phenomenal- it was so real, and the kids (tweens? no, that just doesn't feel right to type....) did an incredible job.  They acted far beyond their years.

Elle Fanning, Dakota's younger sister, starred in one of my favorite movies, The Nines, in 2007.  John August, the director of The Nines, tweeted, "Just saw Super 8. Loved. Elle Fanning had dolls and a booster seat when we shot The Nines. #ifeelold".


One of my favorite things was Abrams and Spielberg didn't treat the audience like they were idiots, spelling out everything that happens.
The very first scene took my breath away with its simplicity and simultaneous depth.  The story was able to flow like a story should, without pauses having to explain what just happen.


I am not going to give away any spoilers, so don't worry. But that means that this review will be much shorter than the ones I used to write.

All in all, go see this movie.  It's one of those movies that gets remembered, because it appeals to a large audience, but is actually good.  It joins the ranks of movies like The Goonies and E.T. (yes, I know Spielberg had a major hand in both of these, but the point is these movies were made almost 30 years ago and are still standards for many movies).

On a side note- there were a few faces from Scrubs in the movie!  Andrew Miller, who played Dr. Cox's son Jack, appeared briefly in the movie as one of Charlie's twin brothers, along with his twin Jakob.  Dr. Woodward appeared in the Scrubs Episode, My Last Words, as George Valentine, a man who came to the hospital to die, and Turk and JD spend the evening with him. He is a fantastic actor.

I do hope you will go and see Super 8, and I really think you will enjoy it.  Post your thoughts here.

Donald Miller's bestselling book has been turned into a movie.  Here is the trailer for Blue Like Jazz:



What are your thoughts?  Are you looking forward to it?

I know alot of people aren't like me.  I know everyone doesn't share my taste in movies.  But everyone has that one movie that really inspires them to be greater.

Some people can name it immediately.  Others, they have a hard time deciding.  I do.  Different movies spark different feelings inside of me.

One of my favorite movies, Paper Man, inspires me to follow after my dreams, regardless of what my situations are.

I recently saw the movie Rust, written, directed, produced, and starring Corbin Bernsen.  The movie is about a priest who is tired of feeling like he is in a one person relationship.  He doesn't doubt the existence of God, but walks away from ministry.  He goes back to his hometown, where one of his childhood friends is accused of murder. Bernsen's character feels the need to stand up for his friend, and learns a valuable lesson that drives him back to ministry.

 I don't feel like most people would really get this movie.  I don't mean that they wouldn't understand the plot, but unless you are in ministry, you won't get the idea of walking away from ministry.  Every person who commits their life to ministry has those moments where they must be "talked off the ledge" as Walt Tanner says.  Ministry is tough, and at some point every person will wonder if it would be easier to just become a "normal Christian"- someone who believes in God and shows up at church and stuff.

This movie inspired me to not give up.  That when ministry gets hard, when I feel like I can't go on, I can.

We, as ministers of the Gospel, are doing something that humans cannot do.  This is why we hit a wall sometimes.
This is how this movie inspired me.  For you it may, and probably will, be different.

So what movies inspire you?

I just finished watching 'Buried' minutes ago.  I sat speechless afterward for 5 minutes.  Yes, the Super Bowl was on, but I really don't care about sports, and honestly- I fell asleep during it.  But this isn't about sports.

Rodrigo Cortes did a fantastic job directing this!  At one point during the film I had to get up and move around because I was feeling claustrophobic!

Ryan Reynolds did a phenomenal job in this film.  As the only actor on screen, he carried the movie in a way few people could.  Seriously- being on camera for an hour and a half, being the only thing that can really bring emotion to the film- you have to be on your A game!



I refuse to go into the plot outline on this review- just take my advise. Basically the story is: A man wakes up in a coffin.  He was a contractor truckdriver in Iraq, and is assuming he is buried somewhere in Iraq.  In the coffin he finds: his zippo, his flask, a pencil, and a cell phone.  Later he finds a flashlight that goes out, a glowstick, a knife, and a ransom note  But I will talk about the camera angles- amazing! You would think an entire movie filmed inside a wooden coffin would be ridiculously boring- but it was anything but!  The lack of outside shots and other character's faces made you completely entwined in Reynold's performance.  It truly made the film a 'make or break'.


Seriously- go watch it now.  If you like thrillers you will like this.  If you like movies like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, you probably won't like this, because it has a plot. And real actors. And no CGI robots.

I don't normally copy other people's posts- but this post really hit me.  Donald Miller entitled his post 'A Creator Must Believe He Has the Authority to Create'.  Here are the key points:

A critical scene in the movie takes place near the end, when Logue is walking George VI through the paces of the crowning ceremony. They are alone in Westminster Abbey. George VI is stammering through his lines, gets up from the throne and throws a tantrum, stuttering on about how the people need a voice and he hasn’t got one, about how he isn’t fit to be king. He turns from his tirade to see Lionel Logue sitting sloppily on his throne, head in hand as though he were bored with the tirade. And the anger of King George VI worsens. He threatens the actor, commanding him to get out of the chair. Logue contends that he will not, that the man before him has no authority to dismiss him. George VI yells in anger that he does indeed have the authority, that he is the King, and Logue’s eyes light up. The King could not be King until he himself believed he was fit for the role. The throne meant nothing unless it meant something to the King. The people would not follow the King unless the King stepped into the authority they had given him.

And this is how it is with stepping into the role of a creator. Made in the image of God, able to speak something into nothing, able to create solutions to the worlds problems, we stammer about in disbelief, waiting for somebody else to take responsibility for our lives and for the lives we have been given to care for. We are all creators, but too many reject the God-given right to create and instead become consumers, hiding in the safety of some government, some corporation, some self-help philosophy to take care of us. And so why should we be surprised when we turn around and somebody is sitting in our chair, dictating how our marriage will go, how our career will go, whether or not we can have peace with our neighbors? We shouldn’t be surprised. We handed them our authority.

Until we believe we are creators, nothing will change save what some other creator changes for us. We are their servants, the consumers of whatever fate is dictated to us by the bold, be they good or bad.

What are you wanting to create? What do you believe you have the authority to create? 

I just finished watching Paper Man.  The disc is still warm, and the urge to tell others about this told me to open my computer and write.

This movie is amazing.  It stars Jeff Daniels, Emma Stone, Lisa Kudrow, and my favorite actor- Ryan Reynolds.  Fun Fact- Reynolds has been acting for 18 years, with something releasing every year.  Now you have something to talk about at parties.  You're welcome.

This movie was a directoral debut from Kieran Mulroney and Michele Mulroney, who also wrote the film.  They did a magnificent job on all counts.

I knew nothing of this movie when I added it to my Netflix queue, except it had Ryan Reynolds in it, and that I love his acting in movies not Van Wilder-esque.  I played it, and saw 'comedy style' previews, and assumed it was an indie-comedy.  That made me excited, because I wasn't in the mood for an extremely dark movie like other movies I hold at the top of my favorite movies lists, like Reynold's 'The Nines'.

What I found was a mixture of tragedy and comedy.  It made me understand why the Greeks called sad plays 'comedies'.  This was entertaining, engaging, and emotional.

Don't trust Rottentomatoes, which gave the movie 29%.  Yes, the movie is slow, but most indie movies are.

The story is simple: a writer named Richard goes to Montauk to write his second novel.  He 'brings with him' his imaginary friend from his childhood- Captain Excellent.  His first novel tanked, and he has one of the largest cases of writer's block I've ever seen.  While he is there, he meets Abby.  Richard befriends Abby, even though Captain Excellent tells him repeatedly is it a bad idea.  His wife, a successful surgeon, and he are drifting apart, and he is in search of a true friend.  This is the story of his second novel, friendship, and letting go.

I highly recommend Paper Man.  It is rated R, for language- although language is never just tossed around like they are making a remake of Garden State.  So don't let your children watch it, but I honestly doubt they'd want to.

I have been known to really enjoy films that most didn't.  Almost as if I expected it, I found many people didn't like this film.  In their words, it was too 'indie-cliche'.  I did not think so.  I have yet to see a movie with a superhero imaginary friend.  So don't take their word for it- and don't take mine- see Paper Man for yourself and decide who you agree with.

I got the opportunity to view The King's Speech yesterday at Asheville's Fine Arts Theatre.  I did not know much about the film, other than "it is about that king who had that speech problem."

Let me just go ahead and say- the film was brilliant.  Directed by Tim Hooper and written by David Seidler, this film creates a creative telling of a historic tale.

The film opens at the Duke of York's speech at Wimbledon, where his stammer does not inspire his people, but rather gathers sympathy.  It is revealed that he has gone to almost every speech therapist around, and because of strange traditional methods (such as filling mouth with sterile marbles to the point of suffocation), none have worked.  The Duke's wife hears of a man, Lionel Logue (played by Geoffery Rush) who might be able to help.  This begins a journey of self-discovery, healing, and new steps for the Duke as he rises to take his place on the king's throne.

I am not going to go into details of scenes and show hidden meanings like I used to do, mainly because I honestly believe this film needs no flashy review, it can stand tall on its own.

The directing was amazing, there were several scenes were I had to turn to my friend Charlie and just say "Wow! Look at that shot!"  The use of camera angles and vantage points was astounding.

The writing was superb.  Rarely does one view a movie that has such wit!  The chemistry between Rush and Colin Firth, who played King George VI, was phenomenal.  It was so easy to get lost in the film because of these two features that I forgot about the elderly couples sitting directly next to us, trapping us in.  Or the elderly couple behind us who would not only laugh for 5-10 seconds at each and every joke, but would then immediately recite it to their partner.  Nothing could ruin this film for me, although several people in the audience tried.

As far as the cast goes, there could not have been better.  Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth was simply astounding due to her quick wit and royal charm.  Colin Firth as King Georgy VI was marvelous, although his acting may have been the weakest.

The real show stealer was Geoffery Rush.  It seemed impossible to believe that this man on the screen before me was simply an actor and not really Lionel Logue.  Emotions seemed so real, and every movement seemed like nature and impulse rather than what the script commanded.


All in all- go see The King's Speech.  My wife, who does not share movie taste with me, loved it, although already decided she would not when we walked into the theatre.

And if you can, go see it at a small independent theatre like, Asheville Fine Art's Theatre.  There is just nothing like walking up to a marquee.

I just saw the trailer for "127 Hours" the bio-pic of Aron Ralston, starring james Franco.

My senior year of high school, I was a huge rock climbing fan. I bought Ralston's book, Between A Rock and A Hard Place, and read it cover to cover multiple times. It is highlighted, written in, underlined, I think it has some of my tears. I don't know why- but that story resonated with me as if it was about me.

If you don't know the story- Ralston was hiking and climbing in Blue John Canyon (he told noone where he was going in order to get away from everything), got his hand crushed and stuck between a fallen boulder and rock wall, inside of a canyon. He was stuck for 5 days with a small ration of water, and even less food (if my memory serves me correctly, part of his food was a gas station burrito)

He was forced to drink his own urine in order to survive, and eventually came to the conclusion that he was going to die. In one final effort, he realized that he could break both bones in his forearm, and then cut the skin, muscle, and tissues surrounding them in order to break free. After that, he hiked 8 miles and climbed 65 ft to rescue- all without going into shock.

That part of the story was cool- but his book was more about his thoughts while he was stuck. One phrase he wrote and haunted me: life goes on for the living.

He was thinking over how when his family learns that he is dead, and that while his life is ending, their must go on. His sister was going to get married, and while the pain of him not being there will hurt, she will still get married. those six words have consistently haunted me.

Anyway- so I see the movie trailer- and obviously, like any true story, the movie will be much different. I think James Franco is a perfect fit for Ralston. One thing that I saw differently (and this may just be me thinking naively)- but I never pictured Ralston to be quite as ... "egotistical" as Franco's impersonation. The movie is showing a self-proclaimed hero who gets stuck and deals with his own morality, when I have always viewed Ralston as a normal person who dealt and overcame the mistakes he made. No- I viewed it even simpler- as a person who broke off his own arm and hiked out of a canyon. And he was my hero for it.

I understand that most people don't want to see a normal person dealing with problems, because, let's face it- we can just look in the mirror. And I think the movie is still going to be brilliant (I'm aware that it is already released, I have found that being married and on a budget apparently constrict my entertainment).

I saw this and wrote this review about 9 months ago, but just published it here.

First off let me just say it is amazing. IT appealed to basicaly every part of me. The music part obviously, but I also absolutley adore film, and this was a good one. Good story line, good actors, and amazing directing (that sounded kinda gay, but whatever). Anyway- you definitely need to go see this movie, and a commercial for it just played, weird. The movie is about an orphan who's parents were of two completely different music backgrounds, the mother a classical cellist, the father guitarist and singer in a band. Long story short, neither knows the boy, Evan, is alive. I am not going to tell anymore because I refuse to give away the story. The music in the movie was fantastic. I just sat and watched in absolute awe. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The only way it could have been better would be more music.


Across the Universe: I don't believe it had the box office numbers anticipated, but i believe it will follow such greats as Donnie Darko and Garden State. The music of the Beatles is here uniquely presented with the actors/singers own twist. That is another thing i loved about this- there was no "lipsynching" with actors who did not sing. This movie gets 4 out of 5 stars.

On my theme of "based on true stories," I am reviewing the movie "21" starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Lawrence Fischer.

Unlike "The Bank Job", this movie moves fast, never leaves you sitting bored, and is filled with action, gambling, violence, and MIT (who would've thought!) This movie seems probable to true, leaning more towards true. It is about a MIT student needing 300,000 to pay for Harvard Med. Being amazing with numbers, he is invited into a "Blackjack Card-counters 'Club'" taught by Kevin Spacey. Spacey takes his "class" to Vegas to count cards and win unimaginable amounts of money without getting caught.

It was amazing to watch this movie and think, wow, this- or something nearby to this- happened. Nothing that happened in the movie was out of reach of fact, everything could have actually happened, which is what makes the movie so fascinating.

I would give this movie 4 and a half stars, because it "jumps off the page and dazzles me."

I watched 12 Angry Men, starring Henry Fonda last night. It was incredible. It truly is "the perfect picture". Maybe not in action, special effects, love stories, or anything like that, but in showing the power of persuasion, or standing for truth, and the value of life. You really need to see it!

O- and now I have updated this thing twice!

The Nines, written and directed by John August- stars Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, Hope Davis, and Elle Fanning. The Nines is broken up into three parts: The Prisoner, Reality Television, and Knowing. They each star the same actors/actresses, and take place at the same time, and each story is intertwined with the other. This review will contain no spoilers- again- N SPOILERS- so feel free to read this and then see the movie. The Nines is a psychological spiritual fantasy. Ryan Reynolds plays in part one: Gary, a TV actor best known for his role on Crime Lab. He is under house arrest for burning down his house by accident. Part two he plays Gavin, a TV writer. It is filmed like a reality show. Part three he plays Gabe, a video game designer, who designed a very addictive video game that almost everyone played.The script was wonderful, it captivated me immediately, and I couldn't stop watching. I have ADHD, so my attention span is very short, many movies I find myself zoning in and out, or having to have subtitles to keep my attention, but The Nines kept me all on its own. The actors were brilliant, I couldn't imagine a better cast. Melissa McCarthy shined through out the whole film, making you fall in love with her with almost no choice. Onto Ryan's performance. He is best known to many of us as Van Wilder, the college student who seemed to nebetr be able to graduate but party in school. This is a very serious role, and was a very difficult role to portray. He pulled it off seamlessly.John August shows his excellence in this film. The Nines is a movie you cannot miss, you will find yourself stunned, entertained, and confused. In the end you will be questioning the world in the most positive of ways.