Sequels are always more difficult than originals. What begins as a fresh idea becomes, in the re-warming, a kind of cinematic leftover. It just doesn’t tantalize the taste buds any more.
“Despicable Me” is the animated film whose plot is a mix of “Up,” “Scrooge,” and “Annie:” irascible old man named Gru (the voice of Steve Carrell) shows us how mean he is by driving a tank down the street and brushing other vehicles aside.
I saw this movie in the company of an eight-year-old boy, whose one-sentence review was, “Best movie ever!” Since he’s the perfect target audience, the following remarks should be taken in that context:
“Toy Story 3” is just a delight. It’s clever, well-thought-out, and supplies just the right combination of story line, humor, and slight twist at the end.
It’s easy to see why Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series is so rampantly successful. She creates a tension in all her characters that makes them all show internal dynamism, and external movement. They’re all headed somewhere, so the character development is always in a state of flux, which drives the plot forward. It’s all about the triangles.
I watched this film in the company of an eight-year-old boy, probably the ideal target audience, whose one-word commentary was “Awesome!” All of the following remarks should be taken in that context.
“Please Give” is a quirky little story (written and directed by Nicole Holofcener) about a couple of families living in apartments next to each other, somewhere in New York City.
There’s no fool like an old fool. Ben Kalmen (Michael Douglas) is a mature single man who exudes confidence and success; but going to the doctor and hearing the grim diagnosis bursts his invincible bubble. In fact, it made something important snap within him.
“Raunch” comedy has become a genre all its own, with a life of its own. But after you do the scatological language, the juvenile sexual histrionics, the casual nudity, and the even-more-casual drugs, then what? Is it time now to have an actual story?
This movie is “Lawrence of Arabia” meets “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, or, if you prefer, Ishmael takes Abraham’s blessing from Isaac, but it looks more like Aladdin with a magic knife instead of a magic carpet.
At one level, leaving letters from the lovelorn stuck in the wall of a courtyard in Verona, Italy, which is supposed to represent the fictional balcony in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” is beyond pitiful.
Yes, “Death At A Funeral” is a literal re-make of a British film released only three years ago. But as one local promoter put it, “No, it’s not the same movie, because now you have black people on the screen.”
by Brian McLaren HarperOne. San Francisco. 320 pages.
reviewed by Jan Edmiston
Brian McLaren first came on my radar in 2004 when Time magazine named him “One of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.” James Dobson and Rick Warren were familiar names and faces. But Brian McLaren was not only an unfamiliar name; his message sounded very different from his fellow “Influential Evangelicals.”
by Kimberly Bracken Long Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009. 130 pp. $19.95
reviewed by Ronald P. Byars
Whether it is playing the piano or soccer, doing so with a measure of grace requires both coaching and practice, and that is equally true for skills such as preaching, reading Scripture aloud, or presiding in worship. Few find leadership in worship comes naturally, but it can be learned.
by Lillian Daniel and Martin B. Copenhaver Eerdmans, 2009, Pb., 235 pp.
reviewed by Stephen r. Montgomery
Ever since Barbara Brown Taylor wrote her critically acclaimed book Leaving Church, I have been waiting for someone with equal eloquence and theological depth to respond with reflections on why, given all the shortcomings and problems of churches, one would choose to stay in church.
by Bill Tammeus and Rabbi Jacques Cukierkorn University of Missouri Press, Columbia Missouri, 2009.
reviewed by Leslianne Braunstein
I saw the movie, Schindler’s List in 1993. I thought Oskar Schindler was incredibly brave and appropriately recognized by the State of Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations – a non-Jew who risked his life to save Jews from Nazi extermination.
This book can be read in an afternoon; but for the attentive reader who practices what it teaches, the insights will last a lifetime. The premise of the book is simple: “the church both yearns for and resists effective leadership, particularly transformational leadership.”
