FILM SYNOPSIS: Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable…and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City…and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by “the Infected" - victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time. PREVIEW REVIEW: “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” So learn the scientists who attempt to eliminate all illness from the earth. The vaccine used to inoculate everyone against cancer goes so wrong that everyone except Will Smith (maybe others) becomes a flesh-eating member of Night of the Living Dead. It contains moments of cacophonous thrills, others of philosophical profundity, with a continuous intensity. Computer trickery is so impressive these days that Manhattan can be turned into a Mad Max wasteland and monsters can become the things that nightmares are made of. Though the story has its roots in such films as On the Beach, The World, the Flesh and the Devil, and every zombie movie ever conceived, it is so well done by its technical crew and injected with such a bravura performance by its star that it becomes a satisfying seat-grabber of a movie. There are several moments that show regard for the Creator. When Neville’s wife and child board a helicopter, there is a family prayer. At another point, the lead character is quick to let someone understand that this catastrophe was not the fault of a Supreme Being: he unequivocally states, “God didn’t do this, we did.” And though at one point at his most desolate, the character in anger yells out there is no God, the ending reveals that not only is God still among us, but the character was being used by the Almighty to aid mankind.
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FILM SYNOPSIS: Taken from Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy, His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass is set in an alternative world where people’s souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. At the center of the story is Lyra, a 12-year-old girl who sets out to rescue a friend who’s been kidnapped by a mysterious Big Brother-like organization known as the Magisterium. PREVIEW REVIEW: Throughout this film I felt a depression, something discouraging my spirit. Was that because nearly all the adults portrayed seemed sinister? Was it because I was suspicious of the direction the story was going, only to be right when in the final scenes of the film it is declared by the child that freedom of will is everything? Was it due to the fact that according to everything I’ve read, the author of the series is an avowed atheist? Was it because I was concerned that the author’s anti-religious agenda might truly become apparent? Is it because the author wants to kill off God later in the series? Is it because secular critics and moviegoers think we Christians are a bit silly at being alarmed at a sci-fi fantasy? Was it because all the characters of the film call the manifestation of their soul a daemon (demon)? Or was my depression due to the fact that while the film never mentions God, I suspected that the film was simply a part of a larger picture that threatens the relevance of the Almighty in our culture? Or is it because one of my fellow reviewers was so excited that there would be the antithesis of The Chronicles of Narnia, a film whose characters and storylines symbolize all the themes important to C. S. Lewis, including the clear-cut retelling of Christ’s love and our need to be His ambassadors. Was it because The Golden Compass is so well made that it will no doubt be alluring to audiences even though it was filled with deception and violence? Was it because of all of the above? Director Chris Weltz and his camera crew have given the film a golden, mesmerizing look. The CG whiz department has filled it with Oz-like magic, the effects staggering the imagination. And the story, though confusing as most of these sci-fi trilogies tend to be if you haven’t read them five or six times, makes for fascinating viewing. But there’s just something unsettling about this film, which points to sequels that will further Mr. Pullman’s book series. Here’s how the series is perceived by most in the church community: The themes of these books concern reason, truth, self-awareness, and free will. Those are important, but only until they become idols replacing God’s authority. (I suspect that’s where the debate begins.) In the series, the Authority is the enemy, a mythological and false God. And in the second and third books, with the aid of demons and witches, Lyra is determined to defeat the Magisterium, and God is killed in the last book. Many in the secular community and some in the church, those who rallied around Harry Potter because of the hypnotic hold that series had on adolescent readers, may find themselves defending Mr. Pullman’s trilogy for the same reason – they like the idea that kids are reading, even if the characters the kids relate to are defiant of authority. Those who seldom frequent church services or even know which room hides their family Bible may not be able to grasp our hesitance to be supportive of an atheist with an agenda. Because I’ve been asked about this production more than any other release this year, allow me to offer these humble thoughts concerning the overall frustration Christians have with the film’s themes. As I grow closer to God through Christ I find myself awed by His love for us. This love became profound to me as I read about the night Christ served the last supper to his disciples. Jesus knew what lay before Him. It wasn’t just physical torment, or even the sins of the world that overwhelmed Jesus as He later prayed in the garden. It was the realization that for the first and only time in eternity, the Son would be separated from the Father. The pain God felt is symbolized in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. As the audience is looking down on Golgotha, the three crosses prominent, hangers-on still in attendance, the camera’s bird’s-eye view takes in the tableau, briefly becoming distorted, as if looking through water. Suddenly that optical illusion converts into a single teardrop falling to earth, signifying God’s anguish. Because our Savior was willing and able to overcome this humanly unfathomable emotion and make that crucial sacrifice, we never have to go through such anguish. We never have to be separated from the Father. This is a love I’m not sure we will completely comprehend until the day we stand before Him. As I seek to draw closer to God, I sense His compassion. Along my spiritual walk I become more aware that God deserves our passion and demands our reverence. So to knowingly support one who wants to diminish God and religious authority seems counterproductive to that destiny. And it saddens Believers who truly care about the souls of those around us when artistry is defended at the expense of spiritless content. To me, the saddest thing is that there will be those who smirk while reading this or those who pat me on the back but fail to connect with the message. If I’m wrong, what do I lose? Isn’t living a life based on the teachings of Christ worthwhile? But if they are wrong, won’t they regret their rebellion? Unbelievers think we Christians just want to be right. The truth is, we’re just afraid they’ll discover too late that they’re wrong.
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Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J. K. Simmons. Comedy/drama. Written by Diablo Cody. Directed by Jason Reitman. Opens in limited release 12/5/07
FILM SYNOPSIS: A smart teen becomes pregnant after her first sexual encounter and decides to have the baby, giving it up to an adoptive “perfect” couple. PREVIEW REVIEW: Starting out with the same cynical attitude we’ve seen in a jillion teen angst movies, intermingled with lots of biting humor, the film soon reveals a perceptive look at today’s high school crowd, with the lead rather blasé about her world until grownup situations take charge of her emotions. As soon as Juno discovers she’s pregnant, her first notion is to have an abortion (tells you where the society is at, doesn’t it?), but without the filmmakers attempting a flagrant pro-life statement, the sanctity of unborn life quickly becomes apparent. Ellen Page comes across as a young Janeane Garofalo, sharp tongued and quick witted, but the actress, who last year starred in Hard Candy, as a Lolita type who traps a pedophile in his own home and ruins his life, here allows a vulnerability to shine through her New Millennium toughness. Ms. Page gives a three-dimensional performance as a teenager smarter than her peers in many ways, yet still unaware of the complexities of adulthood. Juno is funny, moving, and completely engaging. That said, it does contain some objectionable material now common in theatrical releases. Please read the content (the reason for the rating). If you do not wish to support a film with this content, try my suggested DVD Alternative: March of the Penguins. In the Antarctic, every March, the quest begins for penguins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship begins with a long journey – a trek that will take hundreds of the tuxedo-suited birds across seventy miles of frozen tundra to a location where the courtship will begin. It’s rated G and though it depicts harsh life and death struggles, it does so in a family-friendly way. It’s full of impressive, almost unworldly locations and amazing cinematography, and most importantly, it sends a powerful message concerning the importance of life. Nature is telling us about the sanctity of life. In a time when audiences are subjected to pro messages concerning euthanasia (Million Dollar Baby, The Sea Inside), the need for abortion (Vera Drake), and desensitizing images of violence toward our fellow man (most films), here is a film that reveals creatures in the wild sacrificing all in order to preserve life. This may sound like a strange alternative, but it is a film that shows the sanctity of life.
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Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams. Music-driven Drama. Written by Nick Castle and James V. Hart. Directed by Kirsten Sheridan.
FILM SYNOPSIS: A charismatic young Irish guitarist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and a sheltered young cellist (Keri Russell) have a chance encounter one magical night above New York’s Washington Square, but are soon torn apart, leaving in their wake an infant, orphaned by circumstance. Years later, performing on the streets of New York and cared for by a mysterious stranger (Robin Williams) who gives him the name August Rush, the child (Freddie Highmore) uses his remarkable musical talent to seek the parents from whom he was separated at birth.
PREVIEW REVIEW: Ever see An Affair To Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr? Or Sleepless in Seattle with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks? This new release has much in common with those two classics. Mainly, you have to set aside how life and love reality work. But if you are able to suspend reality, you are a romantic, one who believes that justice and love will triumph. If you are one of those folks, and despite the fact that I’m a film critic and therefore must be a cynic, I am one of you, because I found August Rush to be one of the best films of the year. Interestingly, Keri Russell, who plays the female lead, also starred in Waitress, my other frontrunner for best film of this year. Not only are these two films pro-life themed, but they ultimately celebrate life. Ms. Russell does a lot to make them believable and interesting. A fine actress, she’s equally famous for her curly golden locks. She also possesses soul-revealing eyes, which just so happen to be lovely. (Yeah, I got a little crush.) The elements of technology and artistry come together, as if magically, in this production. Even Robin Williams, who has disappointed with most of his recent film choices, gives the film’s main bad guy dimension as a Fagin-like hustler who uses kids to score a living. And certainly music is a main component of the film’s success. We are reminded by both the male lead and the film’s villain that we are all connected by music. The dialogue also manages to amuse and stimulate thought. When the journeying boy is asked what he’d like to be most, he answers with a profound, “Found.” Most importantly, the one responsible for the casting of Freddie Highmore as August deserves pats on the back, awards, whatever. We are indebted to that person, for young Highmore lights up the screen with a role that could have been limited by blandness, as has happened in many a film concerning Oliver Twist-like protagonists. This kid is a fine actor, able to portray emotion of every kind, and possesses perhaps the most engaging smile I’ve seen in a long time. When this kid smiles, you feel joyous. To top it off, the film contains spiritual themes, including the need for faith, scenes taking place in a church, church folk singing a song about not giving up, and someone saying that music is God’s reminder that we are all connected. The boy, who interprets the sounds of life as music, asks, “Only some of us can hear it?” The response: “Only some of us are listening.” The delivery of those two lines gives them a profundity. The lad is rescued at one point by members of a church. The minister asks a concerned little girl if she’s prayed for August, to which she responds positively. The minister himself is portrayed as a good guy, not poisonously pious or fundamentally hypocritical, but real, a man involved in doing God’s work. And the final shot (no, I’m not giving anything away other than the film has a happy ending), the boy looks up to Heaven as if saying thank you. I get teary just thinking about it. It’s a wonderful film, because like most of the great films, from It’s A Wonderful Life to Casablanca, August Rush makes you feel hopeful and good. I’ve seen so many Oscar contenders this year, but most of them deal with the dark nature of man. This one looks to those things that unite us – the music around us, the hope of love, and the adventure of life. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to see August Rush again.
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Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon. Comedy/musical. Original songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame). Written by Bill Kelly (Blast from the Past). Directed by Kevin Lima (Tarzan, Eloise At Christmastime).
FILM SYNOPSIS: The film follows Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) as she is banished by the evil queen (Susan Sarandon) from her magical, musical, animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn’t operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid, she begins to wonder if a storybook view of romance can survive in the real world. PREVIEW REVIEW: There’s nothing really wrong with this production other than sometimes it struggles to be charming. Everyone does his or her job with a robust effort to bring family-friendly storytelling to the holiday season. Somehow, though, the Disney magic is missing. I’ll see The Little Mermaid again. And Beauty and the Beast. Maybe even The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But I have no desire to re-see this one. Mermaid had me with the witty and memorable Under the Sea, as did Hunchback with the spiritually enlightening God Help the Outcasts and the whimsical Be Our Guest in Beauty and the Beast. With the exception of the theme-revealing, mood-setting number True Love’s Kiss, the music here is like cotton candy: bright and fluffy, but with no lasting substance. My personal disenchantment shouldn’t be misconstrued as a denouncement of the picture, and despite my picayune letdown, I grant that it is one where both kids and their older companions can find engaging themes or laugh-out-loud antics. And if you consider yourself a Disney trivia buff, you’ll find yourself amid a treasure trove, as the film is loaded with Where’s Waldo-isms (pardon, Hidden Mickey-iconics), including a glass slipper and poisoned apples and recognizable names that pop up with amusing frequency. Disney’s past glories are constantly being saluted with cameos and tips-of-the-hat, such as the appearances of Jodi Benson, the voice of The Little Mermaid, appearing as Robert’s assistant, Sam, Paige O’Hara – Belle of Beauty and the Beast – portraying an actress on a soap opera, and clever moments such as the scene where Giselle encounters a very short, very angry business man, whom she mistakenly calls Grumpy. It just made me long for the days of Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmations (the original) and Beauty and the Beast. In fact, I may borrow my nieces and nephews just so I can watch those Disney treasures again!
FILM SYNOPSIS: The film follows Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) as she is banished by the evil queen (Susan Sarandon) from her magical, musical, animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn’t operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid, she begins to wonder if a storybook view of romance can survive in the real world. PREVIEW REVIEW: There’s nothing really wrong with this production other than sometimes it struggles to be charming. Everyone does his or her job with a robust effort to bring family-friendly storytelling to the holiday season. Somehow, though, the Disney magic is missing. I’ll see The Little Mermaid again. And Beauty and the Beast. Maybe even The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But I have no desire to re-see this one. Mermaid had me with the witty and memorable Under the Sea, as did Hunchback with the spiritually enlightening God Help the Outcasts and the whimsical Be Our Guest in Beauty and the Beast. With the exception of the theme-revealing, mood-setting number True Love’s Kiss, the music here is like cotton candy: bright and fluffy, but with no lasting substance. My personal disenchantment shouldn’t be misconstrued as a denouncement of the picture, and despite my picayune letdown, I grant that it is one where both kids and their older companions can find engaging themes or laugh-out-loud antics. And if you consider yourself a Disney trivia buff, you’ll find yourself amid a treasure trove, as the film is loaded with Where’s Waldo-isms (pardon, Hidden Mickey-iconics), including a glass slipper and poisoned apples and recognizable names that pop up with amusing frequency. Disney’s past glories are constantly being saluted with cameos and tips-of-the-hat, such as the appearances of Jodi Benson, the voice of The Little Mermaid, appearing as Robert’s assistant, Sam, Paige O’Hara – Belle of Beauty and the Beast – portraying an actress on a soap opera, and clever moments such as the scene where Giselle encounters a very short, very angry business man, whom she mistakenly calls Grumpy. It just made me long for the days of Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmations (the original) and Beauty and the Beast. In fact, I may borrow my nieces and nephews just so I can watch those Disney treasures again!
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