With a great cast and an incredible true story, Only The Brave makes for an honest and emotional film, one that is sure to leave you in awe of the incredible things that people do on this planet that often we take for granted, especially for those of us who aren't affected by fires on a regular basis. So I just want to say thank you to all our brave firefighters who risk their lives on a regular basis for others. Thank you. But the thing that stood out to me the most was the kindness and compassion that these men had for one another. They would support each other through family struggles, one man invited another to live with him, and they helped each other through the struggles of their addictions. These men not only had each others backs while fighting fires, but in their personal lives as well. And of course it wasn't always convenient for them, they had their own lives to worry about, their own struggles. They treated each other as family. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all a family, and unfortunately I feel we as Christians argue way more than we go out of our way for each other. And of course I'm preaching to the choir, but how the frick are we supposed to show love to everyone else if we aren't loving each other first. We get so fed up with little things (again, preaching to the choir) and don't take the time to do things for the people hurting in our churches. These men risked their lives on a regular basis, and then in their personal lives helped their brothers out, despite their backgrounds or own struggles. Of course this movie is a dramatization of true events, but that doesn't mean this isn't something we should strive towards. I'm challenging myself this week to put aside the things that might be frustrating me or my own struggles, to love the people who are in front of me. I would like to challenge you as well. Also check this film out, it's very very good. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I pray we can love one another as the family we are.
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The phrase "Swimming in Sevens" is a phrase that I first heard from video game journalists Easy Allies. They use this phrase to describe games that are fun/good but have some pretty big flaws in them, on a scale from 1-10 they would score them a 7. So if there's a game they really like that they would score a seven they would say that they are "Swimming in Sevens." I was thinking of this phrase and movies that I would classify in the swimming in sevens mantra and I thought I would share them with you in an attempt to talk about more movies. Alien Covenant/Prometheus So if you know me, then you might have heard that my two favorite films are Alien and Aliens. They are vastly different from each other but they execute their goals flawlessly. Alien Covenant and Prometheus are no where near that perfection. A lot of people don't like these films for the lack of believably (it's an Alien movie) and lack of likable characters. While I would agree with these points, the character of David (Michael Fassbender) is super interesting, and the fact that these are Ridley Scott films pretty much means that they look gorgeous. Both of these film have their own moments, and while no where near perfect and kind of frustrating at times, I still find enjoyment coming back to these movies. Ready Player One I would recommend you see this film in a theater, it's visuals are magnificent and really show case what can be done with CGI. The story however is kinda where this film falls flat. It's very exposition heavy and yet I still wanted to learn more about the world, the love story is rushed and cliche, and some of the performances are just kinda boring. However, the set pieces are so much fun, Mark Rylance is wonderful in the film, and for a nerd like me, the references were pretty sweet to see. All in all not great, but I had a lot of fun. Blade Runner A lot of people would probably tell you that this movie is a masterpiece and is a 10/10. Unfortunately I find this movie far too clunky and poorly paced to call it a masterpiece. Plus the "love story" is, well, to put it bluntly, a little "rapey." But the ideas presented in this film are very thought-provoking, the visuals for an 80's film are stunning, and the ambiguous nature of the film keep me coming back for more. To me, this film is the definition of a flawed masterpiece. If you like the blogs you see before you then please sign up for my email updates! Jean Valjean Welcome to Part 2 of my Les Miserables series of blogs. Today I want to focus on the character of Jean Valjean (played by Hugh Jackman in the 2012 film). Jean has the clearest character arch of all the characters in the film. It's one of redemption and compassion and one I think we can really learn a lot from.The beginning of the film starts with Jean as a prisoner but is quickly let out to be on parole as his sentence was complete. Unfortunately he goes right back to his days of thievery and steals some pretty high priced items from a priest that was gracious enough to feed and house him. What happens next will take you by surprise! (#sorrynotsorry). He gets caught, but the priest shows him mercy and gives him even more than he had originally taken. This changes Jean Valjean's life forever. Jean decides to live a life of kindness and to show mercy to those who may not deserve it, even when it is inconvenient to him. He takes in the child of a dying mother, even while he's hiding from Javier. He saves the life of the young man who wants to marry this girl, even though he's afraid of losing her, and oh yeah, he's still running from Javier. And finally, he spares Javier's life, even when he had the chance to kill him. In all these instances, Jean Valjean showed kindness and mercy to those around him, even when it was extremely inconvenient for him. I mean the man dragged another man through the sewers of France to save his life! What does this look like to you? To me? The whole message of this film can come down to one of it's closing lines, "To love another person is to see the face of God." When we show love and kindness to those around us, we show off a little glimpse of God's Kingdom, we show God's love to them. Even when it may be inconvenient to us, we could be the only splash of God's love to them that day. So let's not shy away from showing love and kindness to people. Even if it's hard to show love to someone who wronged you, even if it's hard to show love to someone suffering really hard, we are called to love those around us even when it's inconvenient, just like Jean Valjean in Les Mis. There may or may not be one more installment in this Les Mis series in the future, but if you want to be the first to hear about any of my blogs, then please subscribe for blog updates through your email! Have a wonderful day! This is a joke right? April Fools? Well this movie is a joke. (Budum tsss). Seriously though this is a pretty bad movie. It takes itself too seriously, the title fight is pretty boring, the plot puts me to sleep, and it's too concerned with setting up the Justice League. However, today is Easter Sunday and this film makes me think about the greatness of Easter. How? Well to me, it's pretty obvious. This movie (spoilers) is about the death of Superman. Clearly Superman is made out to be a Christ-like figure. The parallels are everywhere! God comes to earth as a baby, Jesus. Superman, who has god-like abilities, comes to earth as a baby. Jesus grows up to be someone people gravitate towards. A week before He is crucified, people are praising Him and calling Him the Messiah. Superman is loved by people because he saves them and is called a hero. Jesus is all of the sudden turned on and the people want nothing to do with Him. Superman is turned on by the world and they no longer want him saving them. Then they both die a sacrificial death. And there's more parallels than that, those are just the basics. But then the parallels end. Superman is brought back to life by his friends so he can save the world. He couldn't do it by himself. Jesus on the other hand, was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. The God, three in One, raised Himself from the grave. This is why we celebrate Easter. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, to save us from Hell, then rose up from the grave to give us hope and His Holy Spirit, so that we may live like and with Him. Amen. Happy Easter! Also please don't watch this movie... Check back later this week as I continue my Les Mis series. And subscribe below for updates! |
Austin VincentJust a guy with a passion for film and Jesus who's trying to show that He can be found in our creative endeavors. Archives
November 2018
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