Extremely loud and incrediby Close: the movie

I finally got to watch this movie and I'm glad that I did.

Click her to see what I wrote about the book when I read that. 

The other night my daughter brought this movie home for us to watch.  I had wanted to watch it since it came out.  Needless to say that 9 11 has been an important happening in our lives.  To have a movie that attempted to tackle that from a young boys perpective really got my interest. 

The movie did an excellent job in my opinion in showing the grief of a young boy for his father's death in that disaster.  The boy has aspergers syndrome so you shouldn't expect him to act exactly like your average boy in his grief nor in his daily life.  I felt like the movie did an excellent job of showing this throughout the movie. 

Similar to the book the movie did an excellent job of showing how the father played by Tom Hanks was a perfect father for him, engaging his son and showing his son how much he was loved despite or maybe because of his peculiarities.  That is what really impressed me with the book was the relationship between father and son.  The father turns out to be an excellent model of how we must accept our child where they are and provide the love and security that wll allow them to flourish.  The father in this movie was trying to help his son learn how to interact with others (a typical weakness had by those with asperger's syndrom) and in that way stretch his son beyond his bounds. 

The book contrasted this good father (Tom Hanks) with the grandfather who had not been presnt in the fathe's life.   Much of that was absent from the movie and all the things I found objectonable in the book were left out as well making the movie more powerful in the showing the relationship between the father and the son who are the central characters (this despite the fact that the father is shown in flashbacks). 

The movie however flipped this lesson on it's head and did an excellent job by showing something else better than the book managed.  While the whole book and movie seem to be about that father son relationship, the end of the movie lets us see something tha we missed or didn't see clearly throughout the show, that is the mother's relationship to the son and how integral it is.  Sandra Bullock does a good job of acting the part of the mother who is left out of their child's life.

Toward the end of the movie the son says to the mother: "I ddn't know you could think like me." and she responds that she didn't know that either.  With that enlightening moment we are able to see some of the things differently throughout the movie.  Yes, the boy has lost a perfect father for him, but because of that loss we are now able to see that the mother can become that perfect parent for him too, and that is a revelation to both of the characters in the movie and maybe to the viewers as well.  This movie starts out being about the father-son relationship but ends up spotlighting the mother-son relationship.   It is a movie for both parents, a movie where both can feel valued and see their potential even with the exceptional child portrayed in the movie.   

I probably will not read the book again but I would watch the movie again and I would consider reading another book by the author.  By the way, be prepared to shed a tear at this movie. 

Watch the trailer below. 

The sound track is exceptional as well an is done by Alexandre Desplat

Invictus & Nelson Mandela

Tonight my wife got the movie Invictus and we watched it together.  I heard about this movie when it came out in 2009 and thought it sounded good and that I would like it but it just hasn't risen to the top of things I wanted to do until tonight.  Wow!  It was great.

After the movie the comment to my wife was something like this: "We hear all about people who do terrible things both today in the news and from history but we don't hear much about people who do great things like this".  I had always known that Nelson Mandela was a man who had done great things but this movie really made me more starkly aware of a little of the difficulties he went through.  The movie is well worth seeing. 

Morgan Freeman and Nelson Mandela

Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon do a good job acting in the movie--especially Morgan Freeman.  I have always enjoyed his acting (except in the movie Driving Miss Daisy). 

The title of the movie comes from a poem written by William Ernest Henley.  Henley was a large man with a red beard.  One leg was amputated as a result of "Tuberculosis of the bone".  His other foot was also diseased.  He spent a lot of time in the hospital and struggled to complete school much less work.  After recovering from his disease he married and had a daughter who was very sickly. 

Because of his strength and resiliency, Henley was the pattern that Robert Louis Stevenson used to create his character Long John Silver in Treasure Island.  Coincidentally his daughter Margaret Henley was the inspiration for Wendy in Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.  Margaret died at age 5.  With Henley's familiarity with trouble and limitations it is no surprise that Invictus is his most known and such a powerful work. It seems to mirror his life long efforts to not be cowed by difficulty and circumstance.

The movie is a real treasure and the poem could give one much to contemplate as well. 

See below for a YouTube movie trailer. 

I will say that the soundtrack from the movie is enjoyable as well. 

Seeing this movie makes me wonder, right now, where are the men that are doing these great things that are influencing others for good.  Nelson Mandela did it on a national scale, but can't we all do it in a local scale and impact our neighbors and communities for good?  Who knows, some few of us may have the opportunity to impact a country or maybe the world for good. 

The scary part of the deal is that often men of this stripe must go through "the refiners fire" or in other words be tried and tested by reversals and struggle to build the strength that is needed to impact others for good.  Many of us would run the other way if we knew in advance that was the payment for the strength of character needed to be a power for good in the world. 

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Courageous: The Movie

See the movie trailer and the theme song video at the bottom of this blog.

One of the big problems of very recent years is that a father's crucial involvement in his family has been diminished.  I will grant you that in times gone by it appears that father's were granted powers, by society, that were beyond their ability to manage well.  Now, however; we find ourselves in a time where fatherhood is nearly meaningless to much of our population.  For one thing many fathers don't stick around or have any, much less meaningful, contact with their children.  Then there are the father's that do remain in contact but who play the part of Santa Claus multiple times in the year rather than a father.  Another variety are father's who do remain in the home, but either do little to nothing to influence the lives of their children, or are so controlling or out of control that their influence is harmful to the family.  

In the midst of this comes a fantastic movie that shows men in different poor varieties of fatherhood who become motivated and then make a pact to be better fathers.  In the movie they are primarily policeman and they see much of the worst of society, seeing much that is majorly influenced by poor fatherhood.  One is a father of a child he has never seen.  One is trying hard to do what is right, but due to not having had a father figure in his own life, he is just competing with his absent dad to be better than him.  Another has little to do with his children except to make decisions when needed.  And then there is the divorced father who has token contact but feels little connection.  Finally there is the father that has been struggling with keeping a job, and is desperate to work to support them.  These fathers make a resolution to be better father's with very specific hopes in mind.

There is some action for those men who want some action in their movie (gun play, car chase, a shootout etc.).  The action is not the point of the movie but is meant to show two things I think.  One, that of course policemen have some action in their lives and two, that men can be good people even in the midst of dangerous action.

There is unadulterated religion in this movie.  There is lots of prayer, there is a church scene, and there is mention of going to church regularly.  There is some testimonies of Christ and some proselytizing.

My wife commented that she was shocked that we could see a movie like this in a public theater.  Keeping in mind that the movie has been out about four weeks (which I considered a positive that it stayed in the theater that long) by the time we had seen it. We had seen a preview of this movie when we saw Soul Surfer and this was at the top of our list of movies we wanted to see. Due to a variety of things that have been going on in our lives over the last month we did not get to see it until now.

There is family dysfunction and even a gang trying to be a family in this movie showing one way that those without families try to create something to take its place.  The men in the movie are not all great father's and even with the resolution they all don't succeed.  They struggle and try and not all are successful.  The men even look like normal guys--not Hollywood types.  They aren't "pretty", some are overweight and the movie makes it clear that we are talking about real families not fantasy families.

There is a good mix of skin colors with the associated strengths and weaknesses that are often present with each one.  The movie shows though that the way to be a good father is common among them all.

This was a great movie, that really has some potential to motivate a hard group in our society to improve.  Men often avoid talking, sometimes thinking, or feeling important things about their families.  Our society has convinced many that they need not, cannot or should not spend time evaluating or examining themselves in this area of their life.  Many men have been mistreated or not mentored by their fathers and have no blueprint for what a real man should be--making them more easily influenced by societal messages of what a man should be.  This movie brings some of those feelings to the surface during the show and hopefully men will find a way to let those feelings push them to be better fathers.

It is not just that our children and wives need this.  Not even that the men themselves need this and may not know it. But ultimately our society and world need this.  I applaud those that made the movie and put it out there where it needs to be, competing with all the inept, incompetent and poor representations of fatherhood that prevail in the world.  This should make you feel something.  It should bring thoughts of your father to you.  It should make you think about the father you have been. It should make you think seriously about the father you want and need to be.  In this case, you may see more clearly with a few tears in your eyes.

Now for my sons-in-law:  I know you don't have any children yet--all the better to get started and be prepared, watch this movie, and pay close attention to what it teaches.  There WILL be a test.   Sincerely -- Dad

P.S. There were two scenes that especially touched me as a father of four daughters.  

First the scene where one father takes his daughter out to eat in a fancy restaurant.  She comments that it is really a nice place and is surprised that her father would bring her there.  He comments that she is worth it.  Then he tells her how important she is to him and asks if she will trust him with decisions about who she will date.  Then he gives her a ring to wear on her wedding ring finger until she gets married that will remind her of how much she is loved by her father.

The other is when a little girl asks her father to dance with her.  He is embarrassed and worried that people will see them dancing, so he tells her that he will watch her dance instead.  I thought that was a sure sign that later in the movie he would do the embarrassing deed.  I was kind of right, but even more meaning is foreshadowed in that scene. 

Here is the trailer for the movie:

Below is the video of the theme song "Courageous" by Casting Crowns mixed with scenes from the movie.

5000 days project: a fulfilled promise

Sam and Luke with two younger brothers.

I was unable to watch the 5000 days movie: two brothers directly after conference on Sunday but I was able to watch it Monday night late.  It really was an awesome movie.  It fulfilled the promise of making a movie that was uplifting and had some meaning.  The movie works excellently to bring you into the relationship of two brothers.  The relationship isn't static over the years and it goes from hero worship of the younger toward the older to distance and wanting to be different.  Then it curves back around as they grow and mature and the relationship becomes best friends and surely one of their most meaningful relationships in life.  It culminates as the younger brother follows his older brother's example to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Luke and Sam.  Click here to read an article about the movie.

The movie brings some strong feelings to those that are watching.  Maybe the stronger your relationships or past relationships with your siblings will amplify the feelings you will feel as you watch these two very real siblings having a real relationship and growing up together and then apart.  They help each other to reach personal goals and encourage and strengthen each other whether at home or with one serving a mission and the other at home. 

Luke participating in a pioneer trek.

This is a wonderful movie that I fully intend to watch again and maybe again and again (which is very rare for me).  One of the best things is that Producer and Director, Rick Stevenson tells us that this is only the first movie in the project.  His video work was of several children as they grew up and he has several more movies in the process of being made. 

Rick Stevenson.

Rick Stevenson is not a member of the church but turns out to be related to the boys in this movie.  He was looking for people in the Seattle area that would agree to let him video tape the children through their childhood and early adult years and wanted to show some boys with good values. 

Luke on his mission in Cambodia.

He develops throughout the theme of building a relationship which blossoms and becomes fully realized with Sam as he serves as a missionary in Chile.  Sam realizes that to love others you must feel what they are feeling which of course has the risk of being overwhelmed.  To see how he relentlessly pushes himself to grow as a missionary and realizes that he must learn to love the people better and how that leads him to feel some of the things that they feel.  It is really an introspective part of the movie that can teach us all to realize what is part of loving others and the benefits of doing it. 

Sam as a youngster.

Other themes that are mentioned are hard work paying off, and never giving up.  Sam deals with some depression as a teenager as well which will touch some people who have experience with that (isn't that everybody?).  Sam was serving in Chile during the devastating earthquake and his videos and description from the area are meaningful as well, as are the feelings of the parents as they wait to find out if their son/missionary survived. 

I am looking forward to the additional movies that he puts out. 

The 5000 days project: Two Brothers Apart

The 5000 day project is a film that has been in the making over the last 11 years.  Rick Stevenson is the Producer and Director.  His goal in movie making is to make movies that are uplifting and have some meaning.  The following clip highlights two of the boys that are in the movie.  I just read about an advanced screening that will be held Sunday after General Conference on Sunday Oct. 2.  It isn't in our area but sounds interesting.  I understand the movie is being put out by BYU. 

This looks very interesting.  It follows some children from about age 7 to the present to determine what shapes them in their young lives.  This preview shows one boy and highlights his relationship with his brother and how that changes as the years go by.  We'll have to see if it is available in our area when it comes out. 

Two brothers apart

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2

My wife told me a couple of weeks ago that we would be going to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as a family.  Harry Potter has really been a part of my girls life since it has gotten started about ten years ago.  The books have made the rounds in the family and now the movies.  It has really had an impact.  I think the youngest two have read the books multiple times and we own a few of the movies and several of the soundtracks. 

I have read about the first four books and then got diverted and never have returned to the books.  I think I have seen the first 3-4 movies then missed a couple and then I saw the Hallows part 1 a couple times.  The last time was last night to get ready for seeing this movie in the theater.  I was glad that we watched it again so I didn't have any lag time in figuring out what was going on at the start of this movie.  This movie starts fast and doesn't give you much time to catch up.  

So we got our tickets in advance and went to the theater earlier than we normally would so we could have our choice at seats.  We got there so early that the credits were still running from its last showing.  I'd never gone to a movie early enough to see that.  The theater wasn't quite packed but it was fuller than I have seen since it was built.  I noticed the ages of the people there were largely about my girls ages which range from older teens to mid twenties.  There were some parents and some younger children too. 

The movie literally started off from the end of the last one.  That very last scene from Deathly Hallows 1 is shown and then goes right into this movie.  I liked Hallows 1 all right but wasn't overly excited about it.  I was kind of expecting to like this one about the same. 

What I found though was that it was a great movie.  The action was much higher and interested me from that aspect.  However, what really interested me was the good versus evil theme that was very strong here.  As a matter of fact there were some very strong Christ parallels, if you look for it and can accept comparing Harry Potter to Christ.  If that bothers you then there are some other things that do not parallel the gospel. 

It really was an enjoyable movie and all the family enjoyed it.  So did the people.  There were a couple of --I guess you would have to call them "minor swear words"--and one mother versus daughter scene at the end bothered me a little because of the satisfaction the victor had--but aside from that I could see shades of epic battles from the Book of Mormon, Lord of the Rings, and Old Testament battles as we watched the good versus evil.  Lots of people were killed but very little graphic slaughter--and what was a bit graphic (I can think of two instances) was much muted over what has become acceptable in other movies nowadays. 

So it all boils down to a great movie that struck a couple of cords with me despite my not having read all the books, nor having kept up with all the movies.  One thing that strikes me about this movie is the modesty was excellent.  There was a slight amount of romance which was acceptable for all ages (a couple kisses) and was actually improved over the one questionable scene in Hallows 1.  So this may fit your criteria for a family show that is acceptable to all the family members.  I think some of the scenes could be a bit much for youngsters, so I wouldn't take them under age 8 or so.  One of my girls has been really sensitive to movies (her first movie was the original Shrek and she wanted to leave after five minutes) but she handled everything well. 

I'd be interested to hear what you see as parallels to Christianity if you see it. 

Older Harry Potter and wife

P.S.  It's possible you will think the movie is over at least once before it finally ends.  Seeing the adult Harry Potter and friends with their children is a good flash for those of us who remember being a teen but now find ourselves middle aged. 

P.P.S. it is fun to see Neville return and oppose Satan, oops I mean Voldemort saying in essence that good can be in our hearts even if our exemplar is not here.  Again Neville is made fun of but steps forward at the right time and does the right thing just when it is needed--yeah for the underdog!

Rugby: the LDS connection

Now I'm not a big fan of rugby, and I don't really understand how you score points but this Saturday (May 21) BYU and Cal play for the Rugby collegiate championship.  Who would have thought that BYU was such a great Rugby school?  As a matter of fact, BYU and Cal have played for the championship the last 6 years in a row (and yes there are plenty of other teams that would like to play for that championship).  California is so good at Rugby that they haven't lost a game since 2009 when they lost to BYU in the championship.  This year both teams are undefeated as they head into the championship game.  You might be interested to know that Cal made it to the championship by defeating the University of Utah last week.  So two great rugby teams in Utah. 

Some of you might know that Utah has a good Rugby tradition.  A couple years ago a movie came out called Forever Strong about a High School Rugby team in Utah that has won numerous championships in their own right and rarely loses a game.  It is a good movie and worth watching. 

Rugby at BYU is a club sport, which means that it doesn't have all the advantages (like scholarships) of the sports supported directly by the school like football and basketball, track and baseball, etc.  Still BYU keeps coming with a great team year after year.  If you have heard of the rugby haka you might want to learn more about the BYU haka in the video at the end of this post. 

As a matter of fact LDS folks are getting a good reputation for being great at Rugby.  It is true in this country that Rugby isn't a big draw but in Australia for instance several great LDS players have set aside professional playing (for big bucks I might add) to serve missions.

Elder Andersen spoke in April Conference (2011) about a young man who served a mission rather than accept an invitation to play for the top team in New Zealand. Sid Going served faithfully and returned home, able to complete his rugby dream by playing many years on the top team.  Watch the video here to get the whole story and find out what he is doing now in addition too his taking time to encourage young LDS rugby players to put their religion before rugby.   

There is another young man who is setting aside a lot of fame and Money to serve a mission.  William Hopoate of Australia is leaving for a mission.

Read the article about him by clicking on the previous sentence, here is an excerpt: "Hopoate has decided to leave the NRL and serve his two-year mission with the church. He's not the first rugby league player to make such a call and he won't be the last. But arguably, he's the one with the most to lose, in a football (rugby) sense at least."

It is awesome to see young men leave behind anything and everything to serve the Lord.  The older I get, the more I enjoy seeing young people do what it right and let the consequences follow.  Who's on the Lord's side?  Who? 

BYU Haka

Soul Surfer--the movie

As I write this we just got back from a movie.  I rarely see a movie in the theater for a variety of reasons.  One is I am old enough to have a hard time paying nine dollars to see a movie.  Another is that too many movies have things in them that would embarrass me.  And third I usually only go to a movie with my family.

So my wife and I decided to go on a date today, Hooray!  We had been talking about going to a movie on a date since the beginning of the year but the couple times we looked at the current movies we couldn't find one that both of us would like.  Our tastes in movies run very different which I may have to blog about another time.  But this movie seemed to fit all the criteria (see the trailer at the bottom of this blog) and I had read a good review by Chris Hicks (click here to get to it).

And I was right!  It was really great.  But first there are two things that are important to note:  One: modesty is not embraced by much of Christianity and secondly surfer girls apparently are not high on the modesty meter either.  If you can accept that problem the movie was superb.  As Lisa and I discussed the movie afterwards we realized that the immodesty was not done at all in a sexual manner.  It is a bit jarring initially but is fairly easy to overlook because there is no sexual energy from the script, the actors or the camera work.  

I'm not a good judge of acting and all that so I'm not claiming the acting is great (although it may have been), but I was very impressed with the story which is based on a true story of a young woman who was just budding into a great surfer when she was attacked by a shark and her arm was bit off.  The young woman's name is Bethany Hamilton who is played by AnnaSophia Robb.  I remember reading about this young woman a few years ago and the courage she showed.  Helen Hunt from Mad About You was the mother and Dennis Quaid played the father, both showed some good and accurate portrayals of trying to be strong through such a harrowing experience. 

The movie shows that excellently.  I am amazed at how well they were able to show the struggles and difficulty overcoming both the mental and physical trauma (considering it is just a movie less than two hours).  It is amazing how they were able to picture the actress with one arm, it was digitally done (since the actress actually does have a left arm) but worked excellently. Incidentally at the end of the movie they have some video footage of the Bethany Hamilton (the real girl and her parents) which is enjoyable to see as well. 

The message, to not give up in the face of extreme difficulties, is well done.  The message that faith in Christ can help us through our trials is present, and may feel strong because it is usually left out, but is not heavy handed.  There was even some meaningful religious imagery shown after the attack in a spiritual experience she had.  The message that family is hugely important is grandly shown.  In addition the photography is beautiful (the scenery) and amazing (some of the surfing and shots underwater), thoroughly enjoyable.  In addition the music was great (I was especially attracted to the instrumental pieces as you might imagine and one pop song that was actually written by Bethany Hamilton according to the credits.  This movie is a great movie to impress on each of us including children that faith in Christ really can be a strength.  I recommend it highly.  This is a family friendly film, but I would suggest forewarning about the immodesty before going to see it.  This one is worth watching more than once.