Les Miserables

Recently I rented and watched Les Miserables. Not to my surprise, I really like the movie, and it conveyed messages that were able to touch my soul. There was one major story element that stuck out to me, and that is what I would like to convey to you.

There are two characters throughout this story that stick out, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and Javert (Russell Crowe). Jean Valjean starts out as a prisoner who moves forward and learns the message of grace and forgiveness. By contrast Javert is an inspector at the prison who rests in the law as his only hope. As can be seen, there are differences between these two characters, but both remind me of myself.

How Javert reminds me of myself...

Javert reminds me of myself because he is condemned by the law that he tries to uphold. Ultimately he fails the law, and is forced in his own view of the law to kill himself by jumping off a bridge. This has spiritual truths I believe running through it. So often, we as people feel the weight of the law of God bearing down on our shoulders that we can be driven to deep depression, or even suicide. I know that in my personal experience, the law has had effects of depression. There is nothing more depressing than knowing what God requires of man, and not being able to fulfill those requirements.

How Jean Valjean reminds me of myself...

Like Javert, Jean Valjean reminds me if myself as well. Unlike his literal prison, I was in a spiritual prison. I was in bondage to sin, and my task master was hard. My sin was like the parole papers that Jean carried with him wherever he went, and those papers condemn him, but my sin condemns me. However, also like Jean, I have experienced the Grace of God and been set free to a better life. Jean Valjean understood grace and forgiveness through God, unlike Javert who saw only the law.

In the end of the movie, both Jean Valjean and Javert die. However, only one of them is saved...Jean   as a character is saved, and it is not because of his ability to uphold the law perfectly, but because he had received grace from God. This is a message that I needed to be reminded of, and this movie left me in tears over this fact. So beyond any other message that this movie had to convey--the stark contrast between these characters and their personal philosophies is what stuck out to me.

If you didn't pick up on this theme, perhaps the movie is worth watching again. If you did however, perhaps this is a theme that is easy to pick up on because it hits home for you as well. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Why Watch Movies?

There is this question that I want to ask people in regards to films, and so writing about it in a blog seems the best way to ask. What is the purpose or motivation you have in sitting down and watching a movie? I must say that I have felt different ways about watching movies throughout my life, and more recently I believe my eyes have been opened to a better way of watching films.

Now, I know I have been writing a lot about movies recently, and this probably has a lot to do with the fact that I now work at a theater--and besides that I also love movies. Movies have always been really fascinating to me, but in more recent years they have become awesome! So I am going to give you a few reasons why I think movies are cool, and why I watch them.

Reason number UNO: Plain and simple, movies are entertaining. You can go watch a movie like the Avengers, and you will have about 2 hours of entertainment. This is not however the main reason that I like films.

Reason TWO: Movies to me are like books. They convey certain ideas and worldviews. Although, I must say that not all movies do this well--i.e. The Smurfs, or some other mindless rot (sorry if you like that film). On the other hand, many movies actually accomplish this task well--i.e. Prometheus (in my opinion). To me, a movie is more than entertainment; it is actually art that conveys ideas. You will be surprised at how many movies have spiritual undertones when you are actually looking for them. Some ideas and morals are obvious, and some have to be sought after.

Reason THREE: Story and plot. This is majorly linked to reason two, but I believe that the overall story, and the ideas and worldviews conveyed in a film are two separate things. To give an example...In Prometheus there are major ideas conveyed concerning life, God, creation, death, the gospel, etc. However, the story is how these ideas play out in the progression of the Characters, not necessarily the idea's themselves.

So these are just three reasons why I enjoy to watch films. I am really interested in why other people watch them, so please let me know. Also, I would like to clarify that in all my talk about the movie Prometheus, I am not recommending that everyone go out and see that movie. Some people might like it, others might not be able to handle/like the graphic content (violence), or even the story. On the flip side, I am recommending that you stop watching movies purely for entertainment. Why not try and look for ideas and messages that the director is trying to convey?

Tell me what you think, and why you watch movies?

The Redbox

The wonderful movie cache known as Redbox located in your local superstore (such as Walmart, Meijer, Kroger, etc.) has recently provided an interesting experience for my wife and I.

Redbox is awesome because of it's convenience. Personally I live closer to Redbox Caches than I do to places like Blockbuster, so it tends to be faster than driving across town. My wife and I have taken pleasure in using the services of these randomly placed movie dispensers, especially for the price they allow you to rent new films. However, the speed and convenience of Redbox was at a loss last night.

My wife and I pull into "wally world" (aka. Walmart) to pick up some Snapple, Milk, Instant Chocolate Pudding and a movie from Redbox...Do not be disturbed by our selection of goodies--sometimes you just get cravings...When we finally got done picking up our snacks and beverage, we decided to go get our movie at one of the two Redbox machines at the entrances to Walmart. Little did we know that King Indecision and his heir to the throne were standing at the Redbox taking their fat time. I would just like to say that I am usually a patient person, but I had groceries, and my milk was getting warm. So my wife and I (after waiting 5 minutes) went to the other side of the store and tried to get our movie on DVD. We don't own a Blu-ray player, so renting the movie on Blu-ray is pointless. To our dismay, they only had Blu-ray copies of the movie left on this particular machine. Therefore, we went all the way back to the other side of the store to use the other machine. But, as I assume you have guessed, the royal family of indecision were still trying to pick a movie! I don't know if these people realize that they can go online and figure out what they want to rent, but there is no reason that any human being should take 20 minutes in front of the Redbox to decide what they want. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the man and his son left (to my observation having rented absolutely nothing). This was probably one of the most frustrating moments for me. Did this man not know that other people might want to use the device--not wanting to cause conflict by asking them to hurry and make a decision?

Anyway, to cut an even longer story short...The DVD we wanted wasn't even in the Redbox machine and they didn't have Blu-rays either. So Erin and I went back to the other Redbox, rented a Blu-ray version of the movie, went to my parents house and finally watched the movie.

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience? I can only hope that for those of you who read this, you will be challenged to look up movies online at www.redbox.com before you go to the store and use their machine.

Prometheus: SPOILER WARNING

Why should I write about the movie Prometheus you ask? Well, the answer is simple--because I like it. Apparently there are folks who walk away with two polar-opposite views of the movie. Some feel it is a great movie worth seeing again, and others would rather not see it again...ever. I fall on the side of wanting to see it again, and deeming it "worth" seeing again. The reason being that it is a good story, and the director Ridley Scott presents the drama in an excellent way.

First off, I would like to say that I was totally pumped for this movie to come out when I saw the first trailer. As the movie started approaching its release date, a couple of friends and myself decided to watch the Alien series multiple times (yes, I said multiple). The reason we watched these films was (1) to get a feel for Ridley Scott's director capabilities, and (2) because we (or at least I) thought Prometheus was an Alien prequel. So I sat around trying to analyze the trailer for Prometheus inserting my own plot and trying to figure out what was going on. This made the whole process of waiting for the movie totally awesome and fun. However, when the movie came out and we saw it, it became obvious that my preconceived ideas of what was going on weren't necessarily the focus of the film. Which was fine, because I enjoyed what Ridley Scott presented.

Second, I would like to address the plot of the movie and my personal feelings. WATCH OUT, SPOILERS AHEAD. So the movie is focused around archaeologists who find cave paintings that point them in the direction of the stars--specifically one solar system that has a moon which is able to sustain life (this just so happens to be the planet in the Alien movies). So they travel out to this planet in search of answers as to who created humans, and why they were created. As a side note, this sparks some cool discussion with friends and relatives as to what people believe in regards to creation and eternity. Besides this, the movie has an interesting scene where one of the early android models (David 8), asks one of the human characters how far he would go to find out his purpose, to which he replies "as far as I have to" (this is a paraphrase). The android then goes on to ask why it was that the humans created him, to which he replies "because we could," then David says, "how disappointed would you be if your creator said the same thing to you?" I thought that Ridley Scott touched on some good points in this small dialogue, and this could probably be discussed for a long time in retrospect of reality. They then find themselves on the strange world face to face with their creators (a.k.a Engineers). At this point in the movie it feels as though Ridley Scott walked into a brand new house with you (The viewer), and opened every door to every room without showing you what was in them. This move on Ridley's part was I believe intentional, and this is one of the reasons I really liked the movie. Scott brings a whole new level of mystery and wonder to the Alien universe, and you walk away feeling like you know just as much as the scientists who landed on the strange planet. Instead of having the "god perspective" in the movie where you see all the connections and understand everything, Ridley Scott leaves you with a bunch of rabbit holes. Some people might not like this, but I think it is a brilliant move as a Director. Obviously there is much more to be discussed in regards to plot, but to cut things short, the movie has tons of replay value because of the detail and mystery mixed up in the story.

Thirdly, there is the big question looming in everyone's mind (or at least it WAS in mine), is the movie really a prequel to Alien? Yes and no. It is my personal belief that it all takes place in the same universe, and even on the same planet, but not the same scenes. When I say not the same "scenes," I mean that the ship that the scientists find looks the same as the ship in Alien and Aliens, but it is not. I believe it is another ship entirely and these are my reasons: (1) There are tons of dead Engineers on the ship in Prometheus that are nowhere to be found in Alien; (2) There is the Space-Jockey manning the ship in Alien that has his stomach burst, but in Prometheus the Space-Jockey leaves the ship and dies; (3) David (the Android) says that there are other ships on the planet, which gives me the impression that this ship is an entirely different one than the ship seen in Alien. Not only all these reasons, but the Alien that comes out of the Space-Jockey at the end of Prometheus looks different from the other Xenomorphs (Aliens), in Alien and Aliens. What is different you ask? (1) The Alien that comes out of the Space-Jockey has no tail, which all other Aliens do; (2) The Alien has a different mouth feature than other Aliens. Again, this is my personal opinion, and you can disagree, but I do not believe Ridley Scott is a stupid director who would allow for there to be plot holes between his movies that are so blatant. I believe that Ridley has put the plot together so well, that people walk away wondering what just happened. I think this is re-enforced by the fact that many people on facebook say that the movie is better the second time they watch it. Why? Because they understand more of the plot that they missed the first time they saw it.

Anyway, these are a few of my thoughts on the movie Prometheus. Let me know what you think, and what your personal opinions on the movie were.