Horror movies usually aren't my thing (says the guy who's favorite film is Alien). But honestly, I don't seek out scares too often, but when I hear a film is just plain good, I can't resist. So with reckless abandon I decided to watch The Babadook. I wouldn't really call this a horror film. It's more of a psychological drama with a horror framework. It's probably within the same genre of The Sixth Sense but a little scarier and more artsy. I fell in love with this film, as it takes the horror genre and uses it to tell a deep and enthralling tale of depression and grief. The film follows a woman who lost her husband in a car accident as they were on their way to give birth to their son. Now she lives alone with her 6-year old son, who is afraid of monsters in his room. Still grieving the loss of her husband, she reads her son bed time stories to get him to sleep, while loosing sleep herself. One night a book called Mister Babadook shows up on the self and the boy chooses it for the book of the night. This book tells about the babadook and how once you let him in, he won't leave until he kills you. Of course now her son is terrified and she puts the book out of reach. As the film goes on, her depression and grief continues and grows, and as this happens, the babadook enters the house and terrorizes her family. What I loved so much about this film is that it's not about a scary monster. It's about something much more terrifying, depression. The babadook is a clear metaphor for depression. And while the film might hand it to you on a silver platter, it's extremely clever and makes the horror of the film seem much more plausible and in that respect scarier in a way. The film as a whole really feels like a huge battle with depression. I've never been diagnosed with depression, and if you know me then you know I'm a super optimistic, fun loving, joyous person, but a few months ago I went through a short spout of depression. I didn't even want to call it that because I'm usually so positive but I couldn't shake it for a while. I didn't want to go to classes, I didn't want to do anything worth while, I didn't even want to hang out with friends because I didn't want to bother them with my sadness. So I would just go home, wallow in my sadness until I fell asleep. It wasn't healthy at all. I was just like the woman in this film, and it wasn't until I confronted it head on that I started to get better. I was just like "God, I can't do this anymore. Please help me." It was finally when I gave it up, called it what it was, gave it to God, that I started to move forward. It wasn't a magic switch however, it was still extremely hard to cope sometimes, but I got through it and I praise God for that. Maybe this is you right now. Maybe you're being terrorized by the babadook. It's not going to be as easy as saying a prayer and poof it's gone, but when you really evaluate your life, see the depression as what is, depression, and give God all your pain and sorrows, that's when the healing can start. But also, maybe your depression is deeper than that, and if you feel like it is, then I would encourage you to go and see a doctor. Sometimes medication is the best option. Depression isn't an easy fight, and I'm sure I don't even know the half of it, but I believe it is one that can be overcome by the blood of Jesus, even if just for a day. I encourage you to look into The Babadook. It's a wonderful look at the battle with depression and grief and it reminds me that depression can be overcome. Yes, some days are much harder than others, but Jesus is there to help us through our hard days and He will be there until the end of time. Amen. So my movie a day thing didn't pan out. Maybe I'll try again in July or August. Still saw a lot of great films this month though! This being one of them!
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The Florida Project is a bittersweet tale of the life of a child in modern day American poverty. If you aren't sold by that sentence, then maybe this film isn't for you, but I urge you to look into this film because I found it wonderful and charming, as well as real and honest. It transport you into the life of a young child, where things seem so magical to you, even when the world is really falling down around everyone else. I honestly loved it. It also brought to mind the thought that kids are SUPER impressionable. The main child in this film is a 6-year old girl named Moonie. Her and her mother live in a cheap motel outside the greater Disney World area and her mom is less than ideal. She blows her money on weed, swears up a storm around her child, has little respect for people, and used to be a convict, but she tries her hardest to provide for herself and Moonie. No matter how well meaning she is for her kid however, these things are rubbing off on Moonie. Monnie swears, she has no respect for adults, and she kinda just goes wherever she pleases. A lot of these moments can be seen as endearing and heartwarming at times in a honest way, but there's no doubt that her mother's bad choices are rubbing off on her. Without spoiling the film, there's a fantastic scene towards the end of the film where there are great cross-cuts between Moonie and her mother and it just really shows how people can really have an effect on their children. As kids, we might not want to admit, but our parents have a HUGE influence on us and at a really young age. And parents if you're a certain way at home, that's going to bleed through to your children in some way as they grow up. So like let's put respect on the top of the list when it comes to showing our kids how to behave. Just some food for thought. You can check out The Florida Project on Amazon Prime Video RIGHT NOW!! And I highly recommend it. It's such an intimate look at childhood during our modern age and it's filmed masterfully. There is so many great things I could say about it that I may save for another blog one day, so check it out! Oh also I watched The Emperor's New Groove the other day sooo now that's 5 out of 30 films this month! So I watched Signs last night, and I couldn't help but think "dang this is a better God's Not Dead than well God's Not Dead!" Now you may be asking, what does a film about aliens have in common with a Christian propaganda film? Well I'm glad you asked! I would like to present to you that the film Signs by M. Knight Shyamalan presents the same message better than the "film" God's Not Dead. So buckle in and let's start by talking about Signs. In Signs we follow a man and his family during an impending alien invasion. We learn that this man used to be a preacher but he lost his faith because he lost his wife in a car accident. He no longer believes in a divine purpose or in miracles but believes everything is up to chance or luck. He can't believe in a God who would take his wife away. This turns him into a cold man, and during this time of fear of the unknown he can't be the strong man that his family needs. As the invasion takes place, his son has an asthma attack and begins to pass out. As he's trying to help his son he cries out to God, "I hate you!!" As things begin to settle, they look around the house to see if the coast is clear but find one last alien in their home. Thinking back to the last conversation he had with his wife, he remembers her words "Swing away." He tells his brother to grab the baseball bat on the wall and swing away. (Spoilers). Of course the aliens hate water and of course the little girl has been leaving glasses of water around the house for seemingly no reason. These moments that seem like coincidences look like miracles to this man and they restore his faith and save his family's lives. A little cheesy? Maybe, but very effective story telling. Now let's look at God's Not Dead. A professor who is an atheist tries to get his class to say that God is dead just to pass by a section of the curriculum. One student says no, and they decide to have a series of debates whether God is real or not. Through these debates we learn that this professor used to be a Christian until he lost his mother of cancer while he was young. He then proceeds to say he hates God because He took everything away from him. The student then asks "How can you hate God, if He doesn't exist?" (Boom Roasted? Eh.) The professor then go's for a walk during a Newsboys concert (I don't know why that's relevant either). (Spoilers). Then he gets hit by a car. RIP. Now a pastor who happens to be driving by, comes over to him to try and save him (his soul that is!) He then becomes a Christian and dies. And everyone enjoys the Newsboys concert happily ever after. The End. Now these are essentially the same story. Man loses faith due to a loss, but after a miracle they regain their faith. Now what makes Signs much more effective is the fact we see the before and after. We see what this man is like without his faith, one who's struggling to be a good father, and what he is like with his faith, a man who cares for his family and one who believes that God will provide for them in the future like He did during the alien invasion. God's Not Dead has nothing like this. Yes the professor is a jerk without faith, but I have no reason to believe that he regained his faith because of the car accident. The film is so bogged down by all of its side characters and trying to convince you that God is real (unconvincingly of course) that it doesn't fully flesh out its main characters, so during the conversion scene you don't believe that it's genuine, whereas Signs fleshes out it's characters well enough that when he regains his faith, you believe it's genuine and that it is for the better. Christian films often get so caught up in their own propaganda that they fail to tell a compelling and convincing story, which is sad because I think there are some great stories that can be told through a Christian lens, but unfortunately Christian filmmakers are too caught up in pushing a moral agenda that they lose sight of what makes a good film. Thankfully we still have movies like Signs and Hacksaw Ridge that tell compelling stories centered around faith that are enjoyable and not overly preachy. Signs isn't a perfect film, but it's an enjoyable experience with a great tale of faith. It's also just a thrilling monster movie as well. That's how you do it right there. That's 3 out of 30. I think Science Fiction has become my favorite genre of film recently. The thing is, I'm not even a huge science guy either, but Sci-Fi does a great job of taking something unfamiliar to us and using it as a way to talk about the human condition. Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman, is no different. It is an incredibly rich and interesting film that I honestly still don't fully understand, but deeply appreciate, so much so that I ended up watching it twice this weekend to hopefully catch a better grasp of it before writing this blog. What I want to talk about is the idea of self destruction which is a central idea to the film. The film presents the idea that, as humans, we almost seem like we are designed to self destruct our own lives, whether that be through addiction or leaving a perfectly good job or ruining a perfectly good relationship. It's almost as if we seek out ways to mess our lives up. The film often compares this to cancer. The fact that our cells just continue to split and split with out any rhyme or reason, it's as if our own body wants to destroy us. I look at my own relationship with God and see this play out. When I feel a true connection with God, even when life is tough, I feel an unexplainable peace. When I'm with God, my life feels complete and like it has a purpose. I look at His love for me and feel joy and self worth and honestly that's when my life is at its absolute best. Then, like a cancer, I destroy myself from the inside. I self destruct myself. I go off and do things my own way, when things are rough I look to escape through other mediums like film or music and drown it all out instead of going to the source of life. And just like a cancer, I don't notice it until it has already spread. Luckily, I can run back to The Healer. He can restore my life that I regularly mess up on my own, and I know He'll do so with love in His arms. Just like the prodigal son left his father and ran head first into self destruction, so do we. But also, just like the father welcomed him back after the son rejected him, so does our Heavenly Father welcome us back after we self destruct ourselves. Are you destroying yourself right now? Has your life become like a cancer? Let's turn back, let's be restored, let's get back to the way things are meant to be. This film has a lot of great themes and ideas in it, while also just being a crazy and challenging Sci-Fi film. If you're a fan of Sci-Fi I would highly recommend this film. Day 2 of 30 in the books! Have you ever watched a movie and were just completely uninterested? Maybe it wasn't intellectually intriguing, maybe the actors were just super stiffed necked and boring, or maybe it was just taking itself waaaaay too seriously. Sometimes you just want to watch something fun and enjoyable. Marvel has been pretty good at this as of late, I mean that's why people love Deadpool so much! Last night, as the start of my June movie venture, I watched the film Logan Lucky and this was an extremely fun movie to watch. It follows the Logan family as they attempt to rob Charlotte Motor Speedway during one of the biggest NASCAR races of the year. This could have easily taken itself far too seriously for it's own good, with cold and calculated characters and an over complicated plot that no one is interested, but it wasn't! Why? Well here's something I noticed that made this a fun movie. 1. Fun and Likable Characters Step one in a movie like this is you need to like the characters. Right away this film introduces you to Channing Tatum's character with his daughter having a good time. You then find out he has a bad knee and he loses his job because of a liability issue. Instantly you see a man who is trying to be a good father but he just lost job, you are made to root for him! As you meet his siblings and his friends, you see that they all have some sort of fun quirk and they are all just regular people, not specialists. What also helps with the likable characters is that you can see that all the actors are just having a fun time with their performances which really translates into the fun nature of the film. 2. Light Tone and Simple Premise If you want to make your movie fun you'll most likely want to keep the tone light. You don't need to deep dive into the psychology of the characters, it doesn't need to be super introspective either, just give each character a few quirky traits and a cool premise and run with it. The basic premise of this film is that these characters are going to rob a racetrack during a NASCAR race. Simple but intriguing, and as long as you don't over complicate things then you are all set up for a fun movie. 3. A Good Payoff Finally you need a good payoff. The protagonists don't just need to get what they want, but it's how they get it that's important. In a heist movie, it's no that they pull it off, it's HOW they pull it off and in this film they pull it off in a very satisfying way in which I won't spoil here, because you should watch it! It's free with Amazon Prime so it's right there waiting for you! It's a good movie to watch with a group and I'm sure you will enjoy it on some level! Thanks for checking out the blog! The month has just begun so if you want to get email updates then sign up for the "newsletter!" |
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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