God's Not Dead

“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."

Chesterton is quite famous for having said that. Some may misinterpret this phrase as an excuse for lack of effort, but it is not what it says. I too took a while to understand it as well. And yet ever since I did, I have admired the wisdom of these words over and over.

Take the film I took my three teens to last night. A no-Oscar-pretentious Hollywood production, not by a stretch. Some of the acting wasn't even very good. Low budget. 

Wait! I never go to the movies! And, there was a blizzard last night! 

Well, yes, a blizzard. 

This was taken whilewe drove home at 20 MPH.

And no, I haven't seen a single Oscar-nominated film. No, wait, we did go see the Hobbit as a family. But I'm not sure it was nominated for an Oscar. 

Why? Because my idea of entertainment is not action films, and the rest of the films are either disgusting to see or trying to forcefully shove some weak ideal of save-the-earth or wrong-is-actually-right down my throat, both of which I don't welcome. Nothing wrong with great environmental projects--I am married to an ecologist, keep in mind--but from Hollywood what we get is "protecting the environment is the only moral absolute" and well, we know it isn't. Ultimately I don't trust the spiritual, interior life of Hollywood's producers or directors. 

There is an occasional great film--but I think the moral greatness of a film is almost always accidental, or even done despite of its producers like in the case of LesMis--they couldn't quite take away all of the great elements of the superb, very spiritual story of Victor Hugo's away from the production.

Back to last night's film. I heard about it and watched the trailer earlier in the day:


And I decided to go with the kids before it stopped showing in town. A film like that doesn't last, although it has had a surprisingly large viewership from what I read. I didn't expect a flawless production, but I expected, and enjoyed, a film that talks about what is real in life. Love. Faith. People's hearts seeing what they were blind to beforehand. Courage. 

I did get all that, and more. It wasn't sound Catholic theology but the theology wasn't off the charts either, nothing anti-Catholic. The protagonist, a college student who is singled out by an atheistic professor to prove the existence of God to the class, does a great job studying and preparing his three lectures about it he is allowed to give. Actually this young man is a Disney Channel actor and does a very good job in the film. 

Well, the trailer almost tells it all. There is appearance of a Duck Dynasty couple. I don't watch the TV show and I found them sincere and likable. There are issues of sin and love and loyalty or lack thereof, arrogance, greed, selfishness. There aren't any gratuitous graphic scenes of sex or violence. The photography and production levels are not amazing or breathtaking, but were fine, and told the story well. 

What I would have changed? Well when Lemaitre was referred to, I would have mentioned he wasn't simply a "theist" but a Catholic priest. I would have brought the sacraments into the story-line--especially Confession, and personally I would have preferred to skip the Christian rock concert in the finale. Adoration and Gregorian Chant would have been much better--but I had to love the members of that music group, which turns out to be a real Christian music group. They were all funny and sincere. And other minor things.

So back to Chesterton: “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly." This story was worth doing, and they did a good thing with it. Not excellent or breathtaking, but they did it, and it was worth doing it. Go see it!

Cranford

During the holidays last week our whole family enjoyed a marvelous BBC production: Cranford. Judy Dench as the lead gives a fantastic performance in this story of the town of Cranford based on the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. From Husband through Number Seven and including the grown boys and the high school senior, we were all ready to drop all whenever an episode started in the TV room! Don't miss it!

Saint Phillip Neri

We received it for Christmas and have watched it in installments. Tears streamed from my eyes last night as the beautiful final scene filled the screen. We were all watching it, from my husband and 18 year old senior to the youngest, and we were all delighted in it.

I don't think I knew much about Saint Philip Neri beforehand although his name is so very familiar.  He is not a great saint of great accomplishments or great written treaties. He did not travel and his intellect did not shine above others.

What was great about him? His immense charity, his humble love for all who encountered him, poor and rich alike, wealthy merchants or nobles, murderers and pariahs, all were targets of his deep love and charity. He also had the ability to use great humor in all he did--all smiled and laughed around him! He lived in a hard time for the church and his unusual confraternity was investigated by the Curia more than once, only to disarm the pope completely when faced with his deep love for others and total trust in God's Providence.

The film was made for Italian TV and the production is very good. We loved the actors and the costumes. An impressive details is how they managed to gather such similar -looking actors to portrays the child and grown up versions of his followers, it is almost as if they started the film when they were children and waited ten years to continue, so similar they were.

Distributed in the USA by Ignatius Press, available anywhere, we bought it on Amazon.

Note: I read the other reviews on Amazon and am very respectful of them and recommend their reading. Perhaps because we had such a wonderful time watching it as a family, and perhaps because we already know real facts are changed in films about saints, I still give it 4 stars. The film does show Christian love in many beautiful ways and we live in a world so thirsty for that. After the film we read a brief account of his life online and were further enriched.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

We always read "the book" before we go see "the movie."  In this case, we had read and reread the book every time there was a 1st grader in our homeschool, so we were looking forward to Mr. Popper's Penguins.  But the modern movie adaptation made it hard to recognize the 1938 book (written at the end of the Great Depression).  It wont he Newbery Honor Medal and was illustrated by Robert Lawson!  The tale is about turning lemons into lemonade, following your childhood dreams, and not being afraid to like geography in the midst of a prejudiced, small town.  The movie, however, is about a divorced father trying to look cool on custody weekends.  The penguins eventually melt his icy Park Avenue heart and help him win back his kids' hearts, his wife, and the quaint restaurant of his childhood.  The humor is Jim Carrey style (goofy gags) but the negative content is surprisingly closer to a G rating than many PG movies these days.  It's not the beloved story of our homeschool treasury, but it was worth a couple of laughs at the $2 theater.

Finally! The Tintin Movie!

Tintin is my "friend" on Facebook and yesterday the trailer for the new Spielberg film was posted! Yeah! See it here.

Animals are Beautiful People

Simply hilarious... our whole family loved it!

...and refreshingly not-politically-correct!

Sissi

I remember watching this film in Brazil with my mother and siblings... long ago. Last night we watched it, and even the teens and Husband enjoyed it! It is in German with subtitles and it is funny, dynamic and theatrical and the subtitles did not them. The film is based on the life of Empress Elizabeth of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and it is the ultimate princess movie with the gorgeous dresses, the romance, the palaces and settings, and culminating with a huge Catholic wedding in Vienna. The film is a trilogy and we will watch the second one tonight!

Third Man on the Mountain

Third Man on the Mountain is a 1959 Disney film I had never heard of! We all enjoyed it, teenagers, kids, parents. The Matterhorn is a famous European peak spoken about at my home growing up quite a bit. One of my brother loves rock climbing, and as a youth he would go on climbing expeditions led by a Benedictine monk and priest who also happened to be their Math teacher at their Abbey school for boys. Growing up in Rio we couldn't help hearing about rock climbing as the newspaper showed photos of foreign rock climbing expeditions in and around our Cidade Maravilhosa. Most of them were successful, but some were not, and these served as frequent prayer intentions.

The film's themes are rock-climbing, life in a Swiss Alps village, and above all honor and courage. The mountain scenes were beautiful. Also, the reviews on Amazon provide some interesting and curious information. Truly an awesome choice for family movie night!

Product Description: Based on a true story, here is the thrilling, critically acclaimed account of Rudi Matt (James MacArthur), a young kitchen worker who is determined to conquer the Citadel -- the jagged, snowcapped peak that claimed his father's life. Encouraged by both a famed English climber (Michael Rennie) and the youth's devoted girlfriend (Janet Munro), Rudi goes through a grueling training period before he is ready to face the incredible dangers of the killer mountain. Shot on location in Switzerland, and featuring spectacular scenery and an outstanding cast, THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN is one of the finest adventure films of all time!

The Sandy Bottom Orchestra

I'm always searching for music-related movies, and here is a sweet one that your whole family can enjoy.  There seems to be only a few movies like this that get made for television, so we were thrilled when we discovered it through NetFlix (because we don't have TV at home).  Based on the book by Garrison Keillor and his musician wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, the storyline features a Midwest family who is trying to fit their classical-music personalities into a rural and not-so-cultural community.  If you live in a small town, you will easily relate to the issues. Set amongst a breathtakingly beautiful landscape, there is honesty about neighbors, marriage, and teenage peer pressure.  Not a love story (as the cover might suggest).  The mother hopes to use her piano degree and the daughter is a talented violinist, but both are wondering about their friends and their sanity.  Sound familiar?  In the end, the movie has a clear but not patronizing message about staying with your principles and offering understanding and forgiveness to others. Inspiring enough for me to take it to Youth Group in the near future.  And the music played (see list here) is quite good!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, trailer

This is my personal favorite of the Narnia books... can't tell much about the quality of the literary adaptation from the trailer.

Don Matteo, priest-detective TV series on DVD

Don Matteo, Italian production for television, 1999-2000. Read about it on Ignatius Press page and the positive customer reviews on Amazon.

Does anyone remember the Trinity movies? My family loved those when I was a teenager... I remember Mother laughing so much. Terence Hill was the main actor of those Western films, and he is back as a good Catholic priest in Don Matteo. Our whole family has been watching one episode at a time and we love it!

The priest has a funny housekeeper, and two policemen-sidekicks who make my kids laugh out loud! Together, and with Don Matteo's loving heart, good Catholic morals and excellent detective skills, they solve various interesting murder mysteries. Last night we watched Murder in the Library, where Don Matteo is called to Rome to solve a murder of a scripture scholar, all filmed in the Vatican!

This is an Italian production and it is not dubbed, but the subtitles are well-done and my kids can handle them well. We were all saying Italian expressions by the end of the show! Enjoy! Available from Ignatius Press, Amazon or Netflix.

Black History Month and "Sounder"

Last year, I posted my family's favorite movie about Abraham Lincoln. This year, I thought it worth mentioning "Sounder" as a good family choice for Black History month and related unit studies on the Civil War or civil rights. Disney produced this movie in 1972, and it's a heart-tugging story about the Morgans, a strong family of Black sharecroppers in 1933. The father is convicted of stealing to feed his family and sent to a prison camp. The mother sends the oldest son, who is about 11 years old, to visit his father, and the movie is about that trip--with the dog, of course! Check the library and NetFlix.

The Mark of Zorro

We rented a new DVD copy of the original Zorro... a fun family movie, with plenty of Catholic references, and a very nice quality copy!

Cranford

Sorry to post mid-way through, but PBS is airing a new sequel to "Cranford" last Sunday and this Sunday (Jan. 10 & 17, 2010).



The original "Cranford" DVD is a compilation of stories from three books by Elizabeth Gaskell, a Victorian novelist: Cranford, Mr Harrison's Confessions, and My Lady Ludlow. Everyone will enjoy the humorous vignettes from an 1840s British town near Manchester, and its widows who fear such things as the modern progress of the railway as much they fear offending any one's gentility or accidentally exposing their poverty. Of course, we love Dame Judi Dench and her character Miss Matty, whose gentleness brings out the best in her neighbors. You might say she inspires everyone to avoid the near occasions of sin.

The Star of Bethlehem -- Christmas movie

We watched "The Star of Bethlehem" documentary DVD, which we borrowed from our parish priest. It was produced by the same man who did "Passion of the Christ" and it was a very educational 65 minutes. My 11 yo said, "It was remarkable how he figured out all those things!" A non-astronomer lawyer proposes the events in the night sky over Bethlehem from 1-3 B.C. using Hubble telescope images and computer calculations to go back in time. It went extremely well with our Astronomy unit study in homeschool studies. My teens want it to show it at their youth group as an apologetics theme, too. I am not a scientist, but I was impressed by the logic of his presentation and his Biblical scholarship. More about it at http://www.bethlehemstar.net/. Mark your calendars to watch this during Advent!!

Movie Review "Come What May"

My teen daughter and I finally watched "Come What May" and heartily recommend it! Focused on the college debate team at Patrick Henry College, one boy must decide whether he'll argue for or against Roe v. Wade. All the while, his mother is facing the same situation in a real courtroom. Compelling messages about pro-life science, courtship, and fidelity in marriage. Plus it was written by the same man who gave us "The Rookie" and "Miracle," two sports movies that my family loves!

You know they are a brainiac family when they argue by writing Latin phrases on the chalkboard! Note: We have Latin phrases on Meggar's chalkboard - but they are for encouragement, not argument!

I believe this is the first film from the Advent Film Group, which was formed by film professionals who wanted to create another Christian witness in the industry. It is a high-quality DVD and thought-provoking script. They received support and a staring role from Dr. Michael Ferris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (1983) and Patrick Henry College (2000). I look for more good movies to come after this.

Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants

We are studying Galileo and astronomy since this is the 400th Anniversary of his Invention of the 30x Telescope. In fact, 2009 has been dubbed International Year of Astronomy, too. Posted here before but worth repeating, the movies in this "Inventor" series from Devine Studios are wonderful! "Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants" is only one hour and quite fair to the Church's history. Especially important is the closing scene when he renounces his life's work and discoveries. These movies are still not available from NetFlix, but likely to be found at good libraries or from used sources listed online like Amazon and Half.com.

Two Lincoln Movies

In this month of Lincoln, I must heartily endorse the movie "Young Mr. Lincoln" for all ages. The 1939 fictionalized tale is black-and-white, which only adds to its historical feel. My youngest children don't realize this isn't actual footage. Henry Fonda plays the young lawyer as he progresses from shop owner to practising lawyer. All the good legends are included in the 100 minutes: his love of books, being honest, log cabin poverty, going the extra mile, and young love. Best of all is the tough case he takes on behalf of a woman whose son was unjustly accused of murder. A griping tale of wits. How can Mr. Lincoln prove him innocent?!

Secondly, we watched "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" but cannot recommend it as easily. This 1976 production is actually filmed on stage, but is Slow paced and focused heavily on Mary Todd-Lincoln's mental illness. That was difficult to explain to younger children. Here's the product description:

Julie Harris, recreates her 1972 award-winning Broadway portrayal in this powerful and touching look at the final 17 years in the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, widow to the martyred President. Based on real events, this production casts a sad and sympathetic light onto this frighteningly complicated woman. Mary Lincoln scavenges desperately for money, loses a cherished son to consumption, is branded a lunatic and committed to a mental institution; culminating with her spending her final days fleeing from the preying eyes of the public and a scandal-hungry press.

Any other "Lincoln" suggestions for next year?

"The Maldonado Miracle" Review

From our NetFlix queue came "The Maldonado Miracle" for our family movie night this week. We liked it much more than we expected! GREAT movie about a fictitious Catholic church whose crucifix starts dripping blood. The little immigrant boy is adorable and you will start praying for him to get his dog back. Peter Fonda is the parish priest whose hope is dying in the nearly-ghost town. Mare Winningham is the perky cafe owner who befriends little Jose and his dog. Several miracles woven together effortlessly into one, short (99 min.) movie. The script and director both won a Daytime Emmy in 2004.

Ring of Bright Water

My girls love animal movies and I bumped into this at the library quite accidentally. We watched it last night and I later found out it was done by the same animal-loving couple of "Born Free", which I must have watched some 30 years ago. This was a good family movie--enjoy!

Editorial Reviews
Coincidence throws Mij the otter and Graham Merrill (Bill Travers) the computer worker together on a busy London street. What transpires from this chance meeting is an epiphany that leads to the complete upheaval of Graham's life. Evicted from his city flat thanks to the antics of his newly acquired, mischievous otter, Graham embarks on a train journey to the Scottish Highlands. Suffice it to say that trying to smuggle Mij onboard as a "diving terrier" is not successful. When the pair finally arrives in Scotland, they fall in love with the countryside and a dilapidated cottage by the sea. Fate introduces Graham to the town's animal-loving doctor (Virginia McKenna), and an enduring friendship and romance are forged. The photography of both the Scottish Highlands and the antics of Mij the otter in this 1969 movie are truly wonderful--it might just make you reconsider your current digs and friendships. The story (based on Gavin Maxwell's book of the same name) is somewhat formulaic and dated by its romanticism, but enjoyable nonetheless. Slip into an ideal world of simple happiness and celebrate the cyclical nature of life, if only for 106 minutes. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

Product Description
Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, the husband-and-wife team who starred alongside Elsa the Lion inBorn Free, now share the screen with Mij, a delightfully mischievous otter who'll enchant viewers of all ages in this bright, wholesome (Cue), captivating and endearing (Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever) film! Middle-aged bachelor Graham Merrill (Travers) has a nice, quiet life in London, but his fun-loving new roommate Mij is about to change everything! Curious and playful, this otter has better things to do than sit around a stuffy apartment, so Graham decides tomove to the coast of Scotland where Mij can frolic to his heart's content. Once there, they meet Mary (McKenna), and the unlikely trio begins an incredible journey of friendship and discovery that will transform each of their lives forever!