Courageous movie review

Yesterday I saw the movie “Courageous” in the theater.  I have to say I was really impressed.  I enjoyed their previous movies (like “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof”), but I think this one is even better.  To me, it was all well done — the depth of the story, the range of emotions, the acting, and the production values.  I’m no movie critic (nor do I try to have that mentality while watching movies), but I didn’t have any problems with it.

The story is incredible.  There are numerous main characters, and it’s not obvious what they will all go through.  This movie had the full range of emotions, too — sometimes you laugh outloud, sometimes you want to cry, and overall it challenges you to live a better life.  Someone asked me if it was a great story or just a great devotional, and I think it was a great story.  When the end credits started in the theater, quite a few people clapped.  You don’t see that very often.

“Courageous” is rated PG-13, which might concern some people, but the only reason I can think of is gunfire between the police and criminals.  There’s nothing graphic about it, but you still might not want young children to see that.

I recommend seeing it.  If possible, go to a theater to watch it, because that’s the only vote we have in what types of movies are produced.  So many movies these days are full of filth and obscenity, so it’s refreshing to see a clean, wholesome movie (with a great story) do well.  I hope they keep making more.  And if other companies see the success of this type of movie, they will be more likely to make similar movies.

all Catholics should watch The Blues Brothers

It’s not a surprise that the Vatican newspaper would list “The Passion of the Christ” as a recommended film for Catholics.  Other movies recommended have included “The Ten Commandments”, “Jesus of Nazareth”, “Joan of Arc”, and “It’s a Wonderful Life”.   But it is somewhat surprising that “The Blues Brothers” is also on the list and that it is “recommended viewing for Catholics everywhere”.  Now, don’t get me wrong — it’s an awesome movie, one of my favorites of all-time.  But I’m surprised it would get a recommendation from the “Vatican’s newspaper”, given that it has some crude language in it, along with an R rating.  (To be fair, the movie would be rated PG today, or PG-13 at worst.  And for extra credit, what does that say about how our culture has changed?)

Do you see the light?

The movie does have a great story, and it’s got great music and acting, too.  And they are on “a mission from God”.  It just seems odd that a Vatican newspaper (L’Osservatore Romano) would be recommending it.  Granted, it’s not coming from the Pope himself and it’s not an official Catholic newspaper, but still, this is influencing a lot of people.

The article also states that Mr. T was in the movie.  I sure don’t remember that, but according to IMDb, he was a guy on the street, an uncredited extra.  Now I need to watch it again, to look for him!

perspective from an old movie

At lunch today I watched a few minutes of a black-and-white movie on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and it was very interesting to consider how our culture has changed.  For one thing, the movie was rated G.  It wasn’t a cartoon or children’s movie.  It was just clean.  How often do you see G-rated movies for adults these days?

In the movie, some parents were scolding their daughter (who was an adult and living on her own) for wearing a skirt that went down only to her knees.  And in another scene, her dress showed part of her slip, and that was intolerable.  By today’s standards, the outfits were conservative and modest.  But it was quite the uproar in the movie, which was set in the 1940s, I think.

Times sure have changed…

And at the end of the previous movie (which was also black-and-white), there was a screen saying the government needs our money, so buy defense bonds and stamps.  I presume it was to support the war effort.  Can you imagine such a plea today?

removing slavery and abortion

This weekend I saw the movie “Amazing Grace”.  It was well done (except that a not-so-family-friendly word came up twice).  The acting was great (though I’m usually not one to analyze that) — I just thought they made it believable, which I suppose is their goal.

The story, if you don’t know, is about William Wilberforce, who led the campaign against the slave trade in 18th century Britain.  The title is a reference to the hymn “Amazing Grace”, which was written by John Newton, and he plays a role in the movie.

I’m not going to describe the movie in detail, because you can read that elsewhere or watch it for yourself.  I want to mention a conversation that happened after seeing this movie.

As the movie illustrates well, Wilberforce and his followers faced a long, difficult battle against slavery.  There was a lot of opposition, not only from (misguided) moral reasons, but also because of financial reasons.  It seemed an impossible task at first.  Nonetheless, he fought until he swayed public opinion.  Now, in today’s society, what if someone were to fight in such a manner against abortion?  I realize some people do, and it may seem impossible to overturn, but look at the similarities.  Is it possible to have such a revolution here in America?  Indeed it is, although it would certainly be a long and difficult road, but it should be attempted.  Think about it…

my review of the movie Fireproof

I went to see the movie Fireproof last night, and I have to say it’s AWESOME!  It’s a great story, it’s clean (family-friendly), and it’s laugh-out-loud funny at times, but the best part is that it makes you want to become a better person and improve your marriage.  So I encourage you to go see it, if at all possible.  It’s definitely worth it.

I thought about writing a review of the story, but I don’t want to spoil it for you.  Plus, there’s plenty of reviews online by people more qualified than me, if you’re wanting more details on it.  I will say I consider it one of the best movies of the year.  (I may not see a lot of movies, but I did see Iron Man and Batman: The Dark Knight.  In some ways, this movie surpasses them.)  It’s fine to see (clean) movies for entertainment, but when a movie is both entertaining and it makes you want to live a better life, that makes it awesome.

Also, I thought it was very well-done.  I’m not one to critique acting, but because it was low-budget I had hoped it wouldn’t look like they were acting, and I didn’t have any problems with it.  I thought the acting was realistic.  There was nothing in it that distracted me from the story.

Note that this movie may make you cry.  I normally despise the movies that intentionally tug at your heart-strings (so to speak), but this wasn’t one of those movies.  At times it is kinda sad, but it’s sad because you can somewhat relate to what they’re going through.  (Even if you have a good marriage, there’s still tough times and misunderstandings, and we can all do better.)  I think everyone will be able to relate to what the characters are going through, to some degree, even if you haven’t been close to divorce.

BTW, if you’re a man reading this and you’re thinking, “It’s not gonna make me cry”, then you’ve already got the wrong attitude toward it.  Don’t be afraid of getting in touch with your feelings.  If you’re always hardening your heart so you’ll be “tough” and “manly” and never cry at all, that will hurt your marriage and your walk with God.  (It’s still difficult to say such things, because I’m someone who once went a couple of years without ever crying, but God is showing me how we sometimes need to be broken, that it’s healthy for us.)  I could go on about this topic, but I’ll save that for another post…

One of my friends had this to say about the movie:

If you love your marriage, you should go see Fireproof this weekend, and if you hate your marriage, you should for sure go see Fireproof. ~ Jeff Watson

So I recommend this movie to everyone.  If you can, go see it in the theater, to support this type of movie.  Remember, we vote for what we want from Hollywood with our money.  If movies like this do well, more will be made.  Plus, beyond voting and making a statement, this movie will motivate you to become a better person.