But I rarely recommend a movie.  Even more rarely do I HIGHLY recommend them.

So I thought of putting together a list of movies over the last few years that I could highly recommend to others.

Generally, to be highly recommended, I have to feel that a movie is not only well-written, acted and directed, but says something meaningful or insightful.  Also,  I don’t recomment movies with unnecessary nudity or sex scenes.  So judge as you will.

On to the list.

Lars and the Real Girl — A great story about a severely isolated young man in a small town that buys a life-like-and-size rubber woman (technically a sex doll) and treats her like a real person, introducing her around in a wheelchair as a real person (he takes her to church and everything).  Not to worry, completely clean.  A great story about community.

Children of Men — One of my faves, a sci-fi movie about a future where no one has had a child in 20 years.  Classic sci-fi in that it makes a statement about society and life, so don’t expect an action thrill ride.  It does have some bad language and violence, though, as a warning.

Stranger than Fiction — Surprisingly, most people who haven’t seen this movie, say, “I don’t watch Will Farrell movies.”  Which is unfortunate, because this is not a Will Farrell movie … he just happens to be in it.  This is an amazingly original and well-written film and makes a great statement about the value of human life and literature.

To End All Wars — While another one with language and violence, a true story about British soldiers during WWII in a Japanese prisoner camp.  One of the British soldiers, planning to be a teacher, starts classes to keep the other prisoners from utter despair.  In learning about Christ, the question comes up, “What does it mean to love your enemies?”  Powerful.

Ushpizin – A foreign film made in Israel about an orthodox Jewish family during a modern day Festival of Booths … and the guests (ushpizin) God ultimately brings to “bless” them.  You have to read the subtitles, but so worth it.

So there you go.  If I think of more, I’ll post them, but I figure 5 is a good number for you to start with, if you haven’t seen them before.

Peace.

GI Joe was my favorite toy as a kid.  I had the toys, watched the cartoon, and collected the comic book.

I loved Star Wars, and the Star Wars toys were okay, but GI Joe not only had cool characters and figures, but they were “fully posable”, eventually with “kung fu grip!”  In other words, I loved the GI Joe toys because you could be very expressive with them, more than any of the other action figures.

I loved the GI Joe comics, too.  Larry Hama wrote almost every one of the 155 issues, of which I have 90% of still.  Larry Hama also came up with characters and wrote the file cards, so he was instrumental in the creation of the GI Joe universe.

His best character (back story and all) was Snake Eyes. and the resulting ninja background with Storm Shadow.  Those issues were all my favorites.  Still are.

The cartoon was fairly forgettable.  It holds a more nostalgic feel for me, but upon a slightly more mature second look, it was pretty bad.

So now they’ve made a live action movie.  As I saw previews and read blurbs on the process, I had fairly low expectations.  Probably safer that way, right?

I saw it opening weekend, and as soon as Snake Eyes comes busting in and kicking butt, I was all in.  Well done.

As a movie, it is slightly better than average, an objective assessment for a modern action flick.  It is on par with the Transformers movies.

If you were a big Joe fan, you’ll definitely enjoy it.  They did a really good job overall.

My one complaint is that they didn’t stick more to the Larry Hama “canon.”  I don’t care as much about the new “International” GI Joe instead of an “American hero.”  But some of the back stories and interactions would have been better if they stuck to what Hama envisioned.  For the masses, they won’t care, and the movie makers are allowed a fresh take if they desire.

In conclusion, you’ll really enjoy the movie if you grew up with the toys and cartoons.  If not a big fan, it’s still a fun action movie.

Peace.

The Covenant. Dawson’s Creek meets Underworld. A small New England town has four young men about to come of age as full-fledged witches. Using their power takes life from their physical bodies, so they struggle with how their new power will change them. Currently living at a private prep school, strange things begin to happen that threaten their secret world. It really wasn’t half bad, but there wasn’t a whole lot of substance to the movie, either. It was entertaining and average, probably silly to those who don’t enjoy fantasy. It was more of a horror flick than anything, which kinda puts it in the guy category.
2 Meat Lovers Pizzas

Dokken: Live in Japan ‘95. One of my favorite bands through high school, they broke up around ‘90 or ‘91 and reunited all original members a couple years later for an album and subsequent tour, which they filmed. The musicianship was pretty good, although Lynch’s guitar work was sloppy, but he was always a little sloppy live. Don Dokken’s vocals were weak, though. He was strong here and there, but overall I was disappointed. The backing vocals impressed me more, which is sad.
2 Jalapeno Pizzas

Blood Diamond. Excellent movie. Well written and acted, this film delves into how the policies of the diamond industry affect common Africans. An African man, Solomon, is enslaved and finds a huge pink diamond. He hides it, escapes, and now everyone wants it. A white mercenary and a female journalist help him search for his son who has been indoctrinated into being a child soldier for a revolutionary army. Solomon is only concerned for his family while the pink diamond haunts him. The characters fit well into the theme, and I loved the redemptive aspect at the end. The beautiful African landscape was an ironic backdrop to people doing horrible things to each other. While y and intense, it is too good to be just a guy movie.
3 1/2 Supreme Pizzas

Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller plays Larry, a divorced dad who hadn’t quite found his place in life. He’s a dreamer, but he needs a job. So he lands a night security position at this museum where everything comes to life. I thought it was very entertaining, clean and fun. Most kids and s would enjoy this movie. The casting might have been my favorite part. Robin Williams and Owen Wilson play off of Stiller well. And any movie with Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney is a must see. They could have been a few more history jokes for a buff like me. Therefore, the rating.
3 Cheese Pizzas

Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze (yeah, that’s his name) makes a deal with the devil and becomes a famous daredevil. The devil (Peter Fonda!) wants to get rid of his competition and curses Johnny with the Ghost Rider persona, forcing Johnny to fight demons and spirits. Plot, script and acting weren’t real important in this one. The highlights were the effects and Nicolas Cage, who had some interesting moments, but you were just waiting for fight scenes that weren’t that cool. You might remember Eva Mendes from the great movie, Hitch, but you’ll also be distracted from continuous cleavage shots. Marvel squeaks out another dingleberry along the same quality as Elektra and the Fantastic Four. At least it was better than the Punisher.
2 Meat Lovers Pizzas

That’s it for this week. Becca and Micah are going out of town this weekend, so I’m sure I’ll have a couple more to share next week!

Peace.

The scale is from 1 to 4 pizzas. 1 being a movie no one should waste any time or money on, 2 being a fairly average film that could fill some time … just don’t go out of your way … 3 being a good to great movie worth consideration and 4 being an awesome movie you should definitely check out. But since not all movies are in the same genre, I will rate according to different types of pizza. There may be more added later, but this is what I have for now:

Comedy/fun: Cheese Pizza
Chick flick: Veggie Pizza
Guy movie: Meat Lovers Pizza
Music/performance: Jalapeno Pizza
Transcendent: Supreme Pizza

Some examples. What About Bob? would get 3 and 1/2 Cheese Pizzas. Sleepless in Seattle would get 3 Veggie Pizzas. Die Hard would get 3 and 1/2 Meat Lovers Pizzas. Stevie Ray Vaughn on Austin City Limits would get 4 Jalapeno Pizzas. And As Good as it Gets would rate 4 Supreme Pizzas.

Get it?

This system is still in formation, so comments would be appreciated!

Peace.

The Marine. A wrestler plays a marine who gets booted out of the military for disobeying orders and saving his friends. While attempting to adjust to civilian life, his wife gets kidnapped by some cheesy criminals and the adventure ensues. Ultimately, it’s not very good. Some of the fight scenes are okay, but you would think a real marine would be a little more proactive about getting a firearm. Mindless entertainment … which is sometimes what guys are looking for. Don’t worry about the unrated title … they must have just put in a little more blood or something, ’cause it wasn’t that bad.

The Nativity Story guess since I was kinda disappointed in One Night With the King, I didn’t have real high expectations with this one. But I was actually incredibly impressed. Other than the common criticism of the wise men showing up in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born, which I knew and expected, I thought it was incredibly true to the biblical story. What impressed me most, however, was how they interpreted the story around the biblical accounts. Each character seemed to have a depth beyond just quoting lines from the Bible. Excellent movie.

Children of Men. Wow. I heard from a good friend that I should see this movie. Then I saw an interview with a basketball player and he listed this movie as the best movie of the year without hesitation. It came out on video this week, and I rented it. Twenty years in the future, women have become sterile for an unknown reason. A group of political revolutionaries finds a girl who is pregnant, and Theo, the main character, gets involved through an ex. The world is in chaos and she is the hope of the future. He must protect her at all costs. Seriously, one of the best movies I’ve seen in the last year or so. Unique on so many levels. The cinematography was incredible. Try to pay attention how often the action scenes are all one shot, one take. The theme is timely and the story is very redemptive. The acting and writing were also very well done. It was creative and unique, but it also had so much you could relate to. It does have some language and gets pretty violent and intense in some places. The last part of the movie, I was literally on the edge of my seat.

That’s it for this week. There will be a couple more next week. Stay tuned … or not.

Peace.

The Departed. It supposedly won an award or something. I thought it was a decent story and pretty well put together for something that could have been rather confusing. They used the “f” word more times than I’ve seen in a while … even when it wasn’t in the subtitles! It was pretty violent, also, but I was on the edge of my seat here and there. DiCaprio did pretty well, actually. Everyone did.

Idiocracy. Although it was as dumb as it sounds, I actually thought it was a clever twist on the whole “being frozen for a couple centuries” sci-fi thing. The world had actually evolved into being DUMBER, and it was easier to believe. An average Joe finds himself with the highest IQ in the planet. The IQ test alone had me laughing out loud. Crude at times, so be warned, but very funny.

Seven Swords. Typical Chinese modern Kung Fu thing. Very Buddhist and supernatural about seven magical swords held by some Chinese masters sent to protect a martial arts town from persecution of the Empire. It was actually a book, and you could tell. They had too much story to tell and although they tried to get through it, it actually drug along at times. The story wasn’t bad and the action was cool in places. The coolest thing, however, was the Korean characters and the focus on their minority status.

Rocky Balboa. No one wanted to watch this with me. They rolled their eyes when I suggested I wanted to see it. Not expecting it to be great, I actually enjoyed it. If Stallone had done this as Rocky V instead of that horrendous thing a few years back (even though it had a cool fight scene at the end), it would have been a perfect conclusion to the series. It felt rather well thought out and full of real heart. Rocky is the only character Stallone has ever been able to really pull off with any genuine emotion, and he proved it again.

To End All Wars. This was an amazing movie. If I was one of those people who said such things, I would say, “every Christian should see this movie!” I don’t really believe that, though. This movie was from 2002. Amazingly enough, I had never even heard of it. A war movie actually flew under MY radar. The subject of the story is a Japanese war camp full of Allied soldiers during WWII. The story was great, the acting was very good, and the message was heart wrenching and beautiful. It probably never did very well because of the very Christian message within it. It does have some language and is pretty intense and violent at times.

I have about fifty more movies on my que. I’ll work my way through them as I can and give the lowdown on them. It’s been fun!

Peace.

Favorite Movie #1

Say Anything

Okay. So I know the anticipation has been building for some time now, but here it is. Some of you who know me could have guessed it, but most of you are saying … huh? And maybe you’ve never heard of it.

What a tragedy.

John Cusack made some funny films in the mid to late 80’s, even a romantic teen comedy. Better Off Dead and the Sure Thing were both hilarious movies that served his zany humor well.

Then a somewhat unknown director who’s main success was writing for rock rags, made a name for himself writing a screenplay. It was called Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Remember that 80’s teen/young adult classic? It was the American Pie of the early 80’s and gave the studio confidence to do his own thing. His name? Cameron Crowe.

Oh, you’ve heard of him from Jerry MacGuire and Vanilla Sky, maybe, but this was his first masterpiece. He writes this screenplay about a young man, Lloyd Dobler (Cusack), who according to the world seems like a loser, but is such a dreamer, a lover, and an encourager that you can’t help but love him.

Lloyd happens to have a crush on the valedictorian, Diane Court (Ione Sky), and proceeds to be bold enough to ask her out even though they’ve never officially met. They go to a graduation party and the story grows from there. The humor is real, the characters are great, even the flat ones are interesting, but the chemistry between Cusack and Sky is amazing. This is a romantic comedy from a guy’s perspective. Most guys like this movie because they can relate to the genuineness of the story and the characters. The story moves like real life, with a sense of dreams and romance thrown in.

So why is this my favorite movie? Maybe because it reminds me of myself in high school and my life in high school and the hero I thought I was or always wanted to be. Lloyd Dobler defines himself outside of any clique or preconception. He wears the same Clash shirt through the whole movie. The writing and the dialogue are incredible, and the acting well done. From this movie and others, John Cusack is my favorite actor.

I can’t really figure it all out tonight, so I’ll just hang with your daughter.

Peace out.

Favorite Movies #2

The Empire Strikes Back

In 1977, George Lucas made a movie that changed special effects and cinema and marketing and science fiction for the next twenty years. We all know it was called Star Wars, and then it was so huge that he realized he could make more, so he made it part of a trilogy and called it Star Wars, Episode IV, A New Hope. Star Wars swept the world and made movie history.

Then came the daunting task of finishing what he started, or trying to. Lucas did what most movie makers cannot … he made a better movie.

Now, I don’t mean better just because the special effects improved, although they did. I don’t mean better as in better action scenes, although it had that, too. I mean better in every sense of the word. Empire gave us everything we wanted out of the sequel and then gave us one thing more … a cliffhanger. It didn’t all work out in the end. You knew there would be a third one.

The story was more complex. The writing was equal, if not better. The developing romance between Solo and Leia took a few scenes at best, and it worked. The characters were more developed. We got to see how a Jedi trains and a fight between Luke and Vader! And the direction was much better by Lucas’ mentor, Kershner. Lucas also had help with the screenplay, which explains a lot.

This movie should have been the template for following Star Wars movies, but alas, Lucas is too much of a control freak to actually let that happen. As he proved through Return of the Jedi, Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, he should have let experts do their job while he did his.

And yes, even for a sci fi movie, this is one of the greatest movies of all time and one I will always love …

I know.

Peace out.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

I love old movies. Many are great, and many could have made my list, but few crack the top ten. Some came close, but I have to include this one as one of my favorites.

The recent remake was a disappointment, by the way, but this original one had everything a movies should have. It had a great setup, a great story, great acting, writing and a phenomenal message.

The year is 1967. A young woman comes home with good news, her coming nuptials. The man shows up, and he is black. Her parents see themselves as progressives, liberals, but this is a shock to them. Then the young man’s parents are invited, as well. This culminates in an evening with epic conversations laced with emotion, truth and love.

The casting is impeccable. Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn are three of the best actors of all time, and this might be their best each. Tracy and Hepburn are as good as ever and their chemistry is something to behold.

There are several great moments in this movie, and the cheesy sixties music dates this movie more than anything, but the speech at the end by Tracy is incredible and moves me every time. The pride in Hepburns face at her husband and his stand was perfect.

Then they all sit down together and have dinner.

Peace out.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

So, when I was young, like five or six, I loved Star Trek, the original show. But it came on too late for me to watch. It was on some UHF channel past my bedtime on Friday nights or something. I would scream and cry and beg to watch Star Trek. My parents patiently told me no. But I wore them down, and they let me watch Star Trek. Five minutes into it, I would be asleep, smiling and happy.

Then the movies came out. The cult would not let these characters die, even though the series had been cancelled years before. The first movie came out, which I saw as a young one, and then came the best Star Trek movie: The Wrath of Khan.

And I still think its the best one. First Contact was awesome, as was the Undiscovered Country, but Khan gave us what we wanted in a Star Trek movie, space battle scenes! It resurrected an old character from the TV show and put together a plausible new technology and a conflicted Kirk with some explanation about what he’s been up to the last few years. The interplay between the main characters was built on throughout the rest of the series, but the formula was found here. There was drama and comedy and action and sci fi through and through.

And they killed Spock! What a way to let us know that the movies were going to throw it all out the window. No one is safe. And for a Trek movie, it was well written, directed and performed.

And if you haven’t seen the movie Trekkies? You must.

Peace out.