NOOMA Shells is now on preview on Facebook till Wednesday. Go check it out.
We also got to preview another NOOMA, "She" during Mother's Day on the feminine qualities of God. Really well done, and looking forward to when it comes out.
This one is great too, I remember the message when he preached it. Hard core on when you say, "I'm too busy."
Just saw Juno last night. Incredible movie. It was pretty much like Gilmore Girls on steroids. I laughed so hard much of the time! In case you don't know, Juno is about a 16-yr girl who gets pregnant, then decides to give her baby up for adoption. It's a great journey all the way through, with some great dialogue and hilarious one-liners.
Anyway, what Julia and I were talking about last night is how Juno's parents reacted to her telling them she was pregnant. We were saying that the her parent's acted should be an example of how all parents should approach their child. It was honest, yet affirming, and extremely supportive. It's one of those moments where I know I would show at some parenting seminar regarding those types of things.
Go watch the movie if you haven't. It's a lot of fun to watch. One of my favorite lines when Juno's about to have her baby and she wants an epidural (I'm paraphrasing right now):
Juno: I want the spinal tap man!
Stepmom: No, honey, the doctor said he can't give it to you because you're not dilated enough yet.
Juno: I thought doctors were supposed to help people!
Stepmom: No, doctors are sadists who just want to see lesser people suffer.
Just saw the movie "Once" Friday night on DVD. Holy Scriptures what an incredible movie! It's tagged a modern-day musical, and the music is unbelievable! The story itself is about an aspiring musician who was dumped by his girlfriend (who went to London), and now lives with his dad fixing vacuum cleaners part time. He plays in the street during the day with cover songs, and plays his own songs at night, which most people aren't listening to.
Enter in a girl from the Czech republic, who has some demons of her own (I don't want to reveal too much). They collaborate on some songs together, and at the same time start hanging out a lot more together. However, there are some complications. The ending is incredible and very authentic. The movie itself is very raw, inspiring, letting the music itself tell the tale of the complex feelings and thoughts going on with each of the characters.
Surprisingly enough, it is only about 85 minutes long, and took $100,000 to make. It's one of those movies I can watch over and over again. Seems like a "chick flick," but the music makes this worth its weight in gold. Go watch it now!
I've been wanting to see the film, but more than likely I'll have to wait till DVD. I'm seeing I Am Legend tonight with some friends, and really looking forward to that.
With this film, there is much controversy over the debate the book series is written by a very outspoken atheist. Our local paper here had a great article in relationship to the controversy.
Here was one of my favorite quotes from the article:
"Daley, who regularly preaches a series of sermons on popular movies and music, said cultural criticism of religion often is "not so much anti-God as it is anti-church." So "The Golden Compass" may pose an opportunity for dialogue about why culture is anti-religious, and how the church has played a role in creating that hostility, he said.
"When we respond in that 'These are bad people and need to be stopped' way, it reinforces this idea that's out there that we're narrow-minded and we're not willing to engage in conversation," Daley said.
"I guess the way I look at it is this: Jesus said not even the gates of hell will prevail against his church and kingdom. I'm not really concerned that a single movie is going to bring down the Christian faith."
I haven't seen the film so I cannot comment on it's contents, but much like Lord of the Rings, many of the anti-God references aren't as explicit as they are in the books. Regardless, it feels like the same arguement from my more conservative friends on why I shouldn't see or read Harry Potter. Like I said, I'll hold my take until I see the film, but I think Andrew Daley's comments we're spot on.
Fire away.
I've been waiting for this film to come out on DVD, and this week it did. I knew it would have some other special features, and from what I've heard from many reviews and friends, this was a must see.
After watching half of the special features, I had to stop because I was so sickened from my stomach.
It's because of the greed of our country that I became sick.
For those of you who automatically chalk up Michael Moore to some wacko liberal who has nothing else better to do, you are making a grave mistake not seeing this film. As I've continued to watch his films, I see that the fundamental principle that drives him is love. As he said in Sicko, he wants us to have a perspective of "we"instead of "me."
There are many myths out there about universal health care, and I'll admit I accepted them hook, line, and sinker.
I have grown in an area that basically said that the government controlling health care is basically of the devil. "That would just lead to socialized medicine," and then what else do you want the government to control?
OK, I can understand the argument of freedom, but how about half of the bankruptcies in our country being attributed to unpaid medical bills, with 75% of those who filed HAVING health insurance.
The power of film is the many stories from all sorts of different walks of life. The two most disturbing aspects was the fact that workers from 9/11 who have contracted deadly ailments are denied health care by the fund the government set up to help them.
The other disturbing aspect is the fact that all of these people could receive the care they need if they lived in any other country in the Western world.
As Moore traveled to France, he was talking to a group of Americans who now live in France. There is still a system of people paying for health care, but according to their income. One person summed it very well, "all pay according to their means, but all receive care according to their needs.
Moore took most of the people whose stories he was telling to Cuba to get health care. They were all diagnosed, received full care, and started on the road back to recovery. All they gave was their name and birth date.
The saddest part is pointing out how greedy our country has become. One person from Cuba said "we have very little resources, but we give everybody the health care they need. How can you (the US) have all the resources you need and not provide health care to all of your people?
I mean when you get down to it, what is the reason we cannot provide health care to everyone? "It's more complicated than you think." I'm sure it is, especially when there is 4 lobbyists from insurance companies for EVERY member of Congress. It is a testimony that the principle we promote to the world the most is GREED.
We are the ONLY country in the Western world who doesn't provide health care for all of its people.
I'd love to hear your take on this. But at the very least see the movie. To not take care of those who need it when we have all of resources is just plain unacceptable to me.
It's being shipped next month on Nov. 5th.
Go to www.everythingisspiritual.com to order and see clips.
Cost is $20 plus shipping, and I would HIGHLY recommend getting it, even if you saw it live. It was a fascinating message.
Oh, and be prepared to sit an hour and 45 with it, it's that long, but it flies by fast, trust me.
Oh, they have a video Podcast on ITunes as well.
OK, first of all, I'm a little biased toward Transformers. They were my favorite toy/show growing up.
Secondly, I hardly EVER go to the theater to watch a movie. It's just too darn expensive. With that said, I know the sound and big visuals for this movie would be sweet...I wasn't disappointed.
In regards to the film. It's a typical Michael Bay film (Bad Boys II, The Rock, and The Island just to name a few), so don't expect incredible character development. It really reminded of Independence Day that came out on July 4 way back when. Kind of the same spirit.
With that said, the Transformers were INCREDIBLE! Usually you can see some pretty cheesy CGI, but seriously these things looked so real interacting with the live actors. Just the sound alone when the changed was worth the price.
Of course there were some things they ripped off the cartoon. The whole "I am" speeches were pretty bad ("I am Megatron"), but I wasn't expected incredible dialog. Had some nice cheap humor in it, and of course the fan-blowing super model shots with the two female characters (you know the, junior in high school who looks like she's going on 25, and the young hacker who could pass for a supermodel AND has a British accent, who just happens to know the ins and outs of the governments top secret computer networks). If you can get past all of the Hollywood stuff, the action sequences were sweet, especially when the Transformers are fighting each other, and the effects were top notch.
The one thing I don't remember from the cartoon happened when Bumblebee, who was the crappy Camaro, went up on two wheels, essentially copied this brand new Camaro driving by, and then became that car, with the Transforming power to boot. I don't really remember how the Transformers became Transformers, but robots copying anything they wanted, and then being to transform into them was something I didn't recall from the cartoon. It was cool, but just don't remember that from the cartoon.
If you're looking for great action in a summer film with incredible special effects and you loved Transformers growing up, then go see this in the theaters. You won't be disappointed. If you're expecting great plot lines and characters, you might try something else. If you never played with Transformers growing up, then this film would be OK, but you could wait until the video.
If you saw the show, played with Transformers, or both, go see this film NOW.
Like I said, I am little biased.
NOOMA has sent an e-mail out asking for more funds for #19 and 20. If NOOMA's have touched you in any way, please consider giving. Here's the e-mail:
Dear Friends of NOOMA,
We have never sent out an email like this before but our next NOOMA shoot is May 29th and we won't be able to do it without your help!
We still need to raise $220,000 for NOOMAs 019 & 020 by May 29. ANYTHING you are able to give towards these films - whether it is $5 or $500 - will really make a difference.
You can donate online on our website www.NOOMA.com or you can mail checks to the address listed below.
As you know, we've increased our production schedule to 6 NOOMAs a year...all of which will be filmed by July.
We need lots of people to chip in to make these films possible so please pass this email along to anyone you know who might be interested in getting involved. Thank you so much for your help!
With gratitude,
Charity Barton McClure and Annette Richards
We have been going through all of the NOOMA's in our house church. It's actually quite funny. When I've shown NOOMA's in other places than Mars Hill, the truths that are presented there are either new to many or generates some fascinating discussion.
But in our house church, many of the NOOMA's are like preaching to the choir. For example, we just watched the newest NOOMA, "You" last night, and we all sat there nodding our heads in agreement. The latest NOOMA would generate some VERY interesting discussion amongst those not familiar to the teachings of Mars Hill.
Just to tease, "You" talks about the nature of what the gospel is, with some fascinating cultural facts about the Roman empire, in which the claims of Christianity: the virgin birth, resurrection, salvation only through Jesus, the Advent, and the terms "gospel" and "church" not at all being unique too its time. In fact everyone seemed to use these terms to describe their God, so what makes Christianity so unique?
In our house church, the idea that the gospel is us. That we are the display of the resurrection, is not anything new. It is not new to us at Mars Hill. However, for those who argue in particular about what they think the gospel is (and mainly I hear that it's Jesus dying on the cross for our sins), this particular NOOMA might bring up some interesting questions. I'm not going to go into detail about that now, I'll save it for another post (about what is the gospel...).
So we talked about how we would respond to certain questions if people would ask. Where people might claim it's not the gospel or that we're taking God out of it, or whatever. In that we had some great conversation.
I just find it funny that the NOOMA's here at Mars Hill just don't have as much effect as outside of this place. We here all of these messages before they come out on NOOMA's, and if you're an online listener, you probably hear it too if you been listening for awhile. Anyway...just another random thought...
Regardless, go get the newest NOOMA, it will generate some fascinating discussion at least.
If you have not seen the Al Gore film, GO BUY IT NOW.
And if you already have a posture of criticizing the film before you've watched it, GO BUY IT NOW.
I had previously posted on some random thoughts after global warming, and now after watching this film, understand it is one of the most important films of our time to watch.
They have a site, www.climatecrisis.net. You can check that out as well.
The presentation is witty, informative, and extremely persuasive. Al Gore really knows what he's talking about, and the mix of personal stories is a nice touch.
When Rob says that "Christians should be the greatest environmentalists," anybody taking that seriously should watch this film. Watch it with your house church, small group, youth group, or whomever...and then take action. The suggestions from the site are not things that are too difficult, and the bigger things won't be either with enough determination. For anyone who doubts whether this issue really exists, Al Gore addresses the question in this film, and I was sickened at the response (not from Gore but the sheer fact of it).
So GO BUY IT NOW.
