“Due Date” is the “road movie” that takes a lot of left turns. It’s one of those “Odd Couple” arrangements, where Robert Downey Jr., plays the uptight, wound-up, fussbudget, and Zach Galifianakis plays the free spirit — ditzy, discombobulated, disheveled and somehow they wind up in a car together, traveling across the country.
“Morning Glory” is the kind of “chick flick” that is relatively safe for guys: the males are still secondary, but not insignificant. And though not intended as any kind of parable about church --- religion is never even mentioned --- it feels like many of the same dynamics, anyway.
“Pure Country 2: The Gift” is pure cornpone. At times it’s so awkward it’s embarrassing; at other times it feels like a two-hour country music video. But at its core it’s heartfelt, family-friendly, and religious, which couldn’t be all bad.
“Hereafter” promises a glimpse into the afterlife, but is strangely devoid of any kind of reference to any religion, including Christianity. So don’t expect any faith statements of any kind, other than some amorphous sort of ill-defined assumption that is a lot closer to the Biblical Sheol than anything resembling the heaven of the New Testament.
by Derek Maul; Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2009. reviewed by Judith Fulp-Eickstead
Derek Maul, award-winning columnist for the Tampa Tribune, issues an invitation to anyone looking for a deeper level of commitment to Jesus Christ in a culture where “doing just enough to get by defines life for too many people and in too many contexts” (p. 17).
Woody Allen’s signature trademark is an ensemble of articulate, cosmopolitan urban adults who make a shipwreck of their lives by allowing themselves to be controlled by whatever passing passion looks irresistible.
One is pure undistilled machismo — a tattooed, long-haired, tough-looking hombre who never seems to turn away from a fight, and never seems to lose one, either.
“The Town” is a gritty story about bank robbers with a little lilt at the end. Is believing in redemption the same as rooting for the bad guy to get away?
An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Diogenes Allen Westminster John Knox, Louisville, 2010. 223 pp. $19.95. ISBN 978-0-664-22322-9 reviewed by Ronald Byars
Pat Tillman was the poster child for the American military of the ought decade — the NFL defensive back for the Arizona Cardinals, who resigned at the height of his stellar career, giving up a multimillion dollar contract, to sign up for the Army as an enlisted man.
