Shattered Glass Review

Well as mentioned before, I haven't completely given up movies. I caught this great movie on TV the other night, and was pleasantly surprised how well-written and directed it was. It is the true story of a journalist by the name of Stephen Glass and a look at his career and how he was discovered to have fabricated some of his stories. It does a phenomenal job of showing how Mr. Glass was probably thinking in order to justify his false journalism, and how he really loved to just tell a great story and have everyone laugh and be entertained. The movie is very well-done in my opinion and very engaging as it shows the publications he writes for become more and more suspicious that he is making up his "facts". I was really drawn into this movie that shows how some people become so desirious for public approval and praise that they are willing to lie in order to be recognized. Watching this movie made me think about my own temptation at times to be hypocritical and to appear differently than I truly am -merely because I want people to think well of me. I do feel sorry that Mr. Glass felt the need to lie in order to impress others, yet I know that he isn't alone in thinking that that will make you popular and well-liked. However, people do want the truth in the long run, and fortunately in journalism that need is pretty emphasized. Although everyone wants to believe that they can get away with things that they know are wrong, I think Numbers 32:23 says it very well ....

"But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out." NLT

and the good news is contained in Romans 6:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT.

This movie gets two thumbs up in my view.

What I'm Reading

Currently I've picked up the book on the left at my local library, and have been surprised with how involved in the story I am becoming. This story revolves around a young man who's mother has passed away and she has left him a note to go find his uncle and live with him. So, the boy (Jeremy) decides to head across country and find his uncle - who happens to be working at a mine. I haven't finished this story, but I must say the characters are pretty engaging, and the story moves along without too much descriptive language as some novels have a tendency to do. So far I'm really enjoying this book and look forward to finishing it soon.

As far as the comments I have received (re: last post)....

I would like to clarify that I have not given up all movies, just decided to use less of my time to watch movies. I recommend using your time to further creativity, not just watching the ideas of others.

What's been going on

Hello to everyone out there in bloggerville. Just thought I would post some news of what is happening in my life. Due to my increase in movie watching of late, and how little free time I have after I watch the quantity of movies I am accustomed to watching, I have decided to take a break from my online movie subscription. I have cancelled it. Instead of trying to watch 3 movies a month, I intend to watch less TV/movies and read more good books, visit my library, tour the area, and stay involved in my church more. I'm not saying that movies will never have a place in my life - I just want to make sure that movies have a much smaller place than they have been taking of late. I will still post movie reviews from time to time, but now I will probably intersperse movie reviews with book reviews and life stories of my adventures in living (however boring that might be). I also enjoy writing, so I may devote some time to actually write some blog postings that are more than my two cents on the latest from Hollywood. This is very appropriate (at least imho) also due to the writer's strike that is making TV boil down to nothing more than re-runs, news shows, sports, and reality TV. No this isn't a New Years Resolution. This is something that has dawned on me as I came home day after day plopped myself down on the couch and keep hoping that there is something worthwhile on television to numb my brain to another night. I'm sick of it I tell you! Creativity in America is suffering due to the amount of TV watching our country does. It is time to meet your neighbors, try new recipes, go for hikes in the woodlands, and find out what quality novels are being written and are freely available at your local library. Movies have their place, but in my case they were becoming a time drain that I can not afford to keep feeding. Life has too much to offer for me to stay cooped up in the house all evening!! A few movies I have seen parts of, I will now comment on briefly:

Life is Beautiful - excellently done movie about the Holocaust. Very touching and worth watching in my opinion.

Picture Perfect - amusing romantic comedy with Rachel from Friends. Didn't watch all of it, but Chrystal really enjoyed this one.

Labyrinth - Old classic movie by Jim Henson. Kind of strange, but interesting if you like fantasy. If you don't like fantasy and fairy tales, you should probably skip it. Fun songs.