War Room review

After watching Fireproof and Courageous I thought I would rent the newest movie by the Kendrick brothers: War Room.  This movie has received quite a bit good press and even on Netflix it was getting 4.5 stars out of 5.   This movie is basically the story about a nominal Christian woman who meets an older Christian woman and learns how to really pray.  It effectively shows that many of life's battles can be found through prayer and was refreshingly Biblical as it talked about different themes like the power of Jesus' name, and how prayer can cause God to work in a marriage.

I've seen many of the Kendrick brother movies, and it is really cool to see that their production values keep getting higher and higher as each new movie is released and they continue to be profitable and effective.   This movie does not disappoint.  The story isn't boring (although at parts I wondered how much further it was going to go), the acting is well done and convincing and the message is a home-run for truth.    I know some reviewers have bashed this movie for showing an inaccurate view of Christian prayer.  I disagree.  The one article I read that seemed to bash this movie,  seemed more to be controversial for controversy sake rather than really making strong points against this movie or its message.  The bottom line : prayer to Jesus Christ does work when it is according to God's Word and many times miracles result.  Do all prayers get answered?  That is a complicated question but should not be a deterrent to taking God at His Word and praying while believing Him for your answer.

Overall I would give this movie 4 stars out of 5.  Why would I give it 4 instead of 5?  Mainly the constant use of crying in many scenes.  I'm not against tear-jerking movies,  but when characters are crying to emotional music in every other scene of the movie - it seemed a bit much.  Crying is a legit emotion I just think the writing in this movie may have used it a bit more than realistically happens.  I could be wrong - but that is why I give this 4 stars out of 5.   Great movie that has a very encouraging message.  Rent it and see.

The Theory of Everything Review

This movie is all about the famous scientist Stephen Hawking and his wonderful wife.  I knew a little about Stephen before I watched this movie,  but not a whole lot. The movie shows the struggles he and his wife had staying married while at the same time dealing with Stephen's diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's Disease. It was fascinating to see his life unfold and how he managed to stay sane throughout all the trials that came on his family.

I thought Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne both did a great job playing their respective parts.  It was interesting to see the dynamics between Jane Hawking who was of strong Christian faith, and Stephen Hawking who is and continues to be an atheist.  I was puzzled at first why Stephen Hawking was so resistant to believing in God, but as I watched more of the movie, I believe it helped me to see why he chose to remain an atheist.  While I adamantly disagree with his choice to doubt that God exists or that we should believe in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation,  I also recognize that repentance from sin is required for true faith to take root in a person.  Stephen Hawking seemed to not only reject a belief in God,  he also rejected the standards set forth in the Word of God and as far as I know still remains an atheist.   Mrs. Hawking carried on her faith as a Christian as far as I know (until the end of the movie at least).

I wanted to watch this movie as a tribute to how love can conquer the most challenging medical conditions.  I wanted to root for the two of them staying together.  Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that rosy in real life.  Despite staying married for over 29 years, divorce ends up occurring between them. I don't consider this a spoiler to the movie because anyone can confirm that on wikipedia since this is a real life story.  The acting in the story was great, and it definitely helped me understand more about the fascinating stories of Stephen Hawking and his then wife : Jane.   Just don't expect an incredible fairy-tale ending at the conclusion of the movie,  because this is a true story after all.

How To Be An Early Riser

OK I know some people don't care at all about getting up early,  and for those people - please feel free to read other articles on this site.  This post is all about how to get up early so you can be productive, achieve your goals first thing, and map out your day before most of America is even stirring.   I don't love getting up early,  but I do find it helpful to fit in things that I don't normally have time for (i.e. exercise) and achieve my goals.  First let me give you some of the benefits.



Benefits of Getting Up Early
1. You can accomplish more before the sun is up.
2.  Easier to fit in activities that are hard to schedule later in the day.
3. Optimal time to plan out the day before it really starts
4. If you have young children - great way to have uninterrupted time to do things.
5. May be easier to fall asleep at night (because nothing makes a 10 PM bedtime easier than a 4:30 AM wake up time).
6. If you live in a heavy traffic area (like myself) you can save a lot of time by traveling before 7 AM on the roads.

How to Get Up Early
1.  First always remember that caffeine can be your friend.  I try to have a cup of coffee, a 5 Hour Energy shot, or even a caffeine pill available as soon as I get up so that I can take it and make it harder to fall back asleep.
2.  Place your alarm clock (or cell phone) in a place where you have to actually get out of bed in order to turn it off.
3. Refuse to hit the snooze button. Simply REFUSE!
4. If you still have trouble staying out of bed, hide your alarm clock/cell phone so you have to get out of bed and SEARCH for it in order to make the blasted noise STOP!
5. Once out of bed and slightly caffeinated stretch a little to get your muscles moving.
6.  Try buying a specialized alarm clock like ones found at www.thinkgeek.com .   I once bought an alarm clock for Chrystal that would spin up a helicopter propeller and launch off the clock with the only key to turn off the alarm.  You then had to chase the propelling alarm key around your room in order to turn off the alarm.   She used it once, and then it somehow disappeared....  They also make alarms that will rumble your mattress like an earthquake I believe.
7. Finally reward yourself after 21 successful wake ups.  Waking up is hard, so if you can set a goal for 21 days and wake up early consistently you should reward yourself (not by sleeping in) in some way to reinforce your new habit.

I'm sure there are other great ways to accomplish the goal of getting up early in the morning.  Those are a few ideas that have worked for me.  For those who would consider themselves "morning people" - what are your strategies for waking up early?

Ragamuffin Review

This movie was recommended by my younger brother, and since it is available on streaming Netflix it made it really easy to start watching it and see what it was all about.  Ragamuffin in the true story of the Christian singer Rich Mullins (the writer of the hit Christian song "Our God is an Awesome God").  This movie starts out showing Rich's childhood with his tough dad,  shows how Rich became a Christian, how he came to write songs and rose to become a well-known Christian singer, song writer, and performer.  Although this movie is around 2 hours long, Chrystal and I both felt like it was very captivating and above the normal expectations for a Christian film.  It faithfully shows the ups and downs of Rich's life and how his childhood conflicts played a role in his struggles as an adult Christian.

What did I most enjoy about this movie?
It was refreshingly real.  It was transparent,  and it didn't paint the Christian life as problem-free with no trials whatsoever (because it's not). It showed some of Rich's weak moments but throughout the movie I felt like you still got a clear picture of God's hand at work in Rich Mullins life as he struggled to balance fame as a Christian with a burning desire to love people and live true to the Gospel.  It showed the value of Christian mentoring and brotherhood and overall I think it did a great job showing Rich's love for the Lord despite have some sin issues to work through.   The other thing I really liked about this movie is that it stuck with me for several days after watching it.  Not all movies do that, but the ones that do I like to think have something special.  In this movie, I felt like it was great testimony of an imperfect man who was changed into a new creation by a perfect God : Jesus Christ.  

Note: Not everyone will feel the same way about this movie I realize.  Some may feel it dwelt too much on Rich's sin and personal struggles and not enough on the peace and joy he had in Christ.  No movie will please everyone,  but I encourage you to watch it all the way through and make your own judgement.  We give it two thumbs up for a very well written and produced biography movie about the very authentic Christian man : Rich Mullins.  I look forward to meeting him someday.

Fast & Furious 6 Review (warning : contains spoilers)

OK, I realize I recently reviewed the movie Furious 7,  but since Fast & Furious 6 was about the only one I hadn't seen so I decided to rent it and review it to complete the entire series.

This story has the Fast & Furious team working for the good guys (always including "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson) against some evil international team that have equivalent talent and want to get their hands on dangerous government technology.  Sound familiar? It should - most of these types of movies have some sort of similar plot.   This movie really revolves around Letty (Dom's old girlfriend) who was assumed dead in prior movies, but now appears to have been merely given a case of amnesia to bring her back into the series.

I have to say - this episode in the series was not my favorite.  Although they tried to up the adventure and excitement with live tanks and aircraft, it didn't seem to have as much character development and heart as Furious 7.  Unless you are counting the whole Letty finding out her true identity as the main character development which the movie spends an ample amount of time on.  I started to tire of all the stunts and wisecracks.  The stunts were well-done just kind of over-the-top.  How is this different from other movies in the series?  I don't know - but it was.  There was one stunt where Letty and Dom fly through the air over a bridge, catch each other in midair and safely land on another car without a scratch. RIGHT.  That sort of stuff happens all the time over tall bridges.

One positive I liked about the movie is the acknowledgement of prayer before the meals as a group tradition in this movie.  My only problem is that that the gang seems to utter four-letter curse words whenever they are in danger, but when things all pan out in the end - they make time for thanking God?  Seems a bit inconsistent.  I would think they should be praying during the tough times as well as thanking God for the good times,  but the fact that they thank God at all is refreshing to see in any Hollywood movie.

Another issue I have is with Dom's love life.  He is seriously dating a new girl (thinking Letty is dead) but when he finds out Letty may actually be alive - his new girlfriend has no problem with him looking for her, and returning to Letty with hardly a second thought.  Seems like some poor writing got included in this part.  I highly doubt a serious girlfriend would encourage and be fine with allowing her boyfriend to look for and return to his ex-girlfriend without any sort of emotional toll taken.  She barely acted like she would miss him if he were to return to Letty.  Either that or she was really not in love with Dom at all.  Love seems kind of cheap in these movies at times.

So to sum up : I'm going to rate the 7 Fast & Furious movies in the order that I like them with the first being my favorite.

1. The Fast and the Furious (1st is always hard to beat)
2. Fast & Furious (4th in the series - loved the ending)
3. Furious 7 (great final movie to the series with a lot of heart)
4. Fast 5 (good intro of "The Rock")
5. Fast & Furious 6 (enough said)
6. 2 Fast 2 Furious (weak sequel in my opinion)
7. The Fast and the Furious : Tokyo Drift

So that is my official ratings of the entire movie series.  While they probably aren't going to win any Academy Awards,  they are fun movies about fast cars that can be enjoyable.

U-571 Review

U-571 came out in 2000 so it is a bit dated for a World War 2 movie.  I have not seen too many movies about submarine warfare other than Crimson Tide and The Hunt for Red October and both I have enjoyed.  This movie stars Bill Paxton, Jon Bon Jovi, and Matthew McConaughey so it has some heavy star power.  It is the fictional story of an American submarine who captures a German sub with a special decoding device. Since the mission was secretive they had to make the most of the situation and survive in the German submarine until they could escape safely.   The star of this movie is Matthew McConaughey and he really shines in his role as the submarine captain of his American crew.  The other stars who played the crew members also did really well as supporting roles.

One part of this movie I'm not sure I agree with.  During the movie, Matthew McConaughey admits to his crew he is not sure what the next move is.  He admits he is confused.  Later on one of his crew members has a candid talk with him and recommends he never shares that he doesn't know the next step to the whole crew because it would kill some of the morale of the crew.  I saw the point of the discussion,  yet I don't know if I agree.  Soldiers don't want to blindly follow orders.  Although it may not have been the best time to share that McConaughey's character didn't know the next step - I don't think it was terrible that he chose transparency with his men over acting like he knew everything.  I think any crew would rather you level with them honestly to making up things and pretending you know it all.  I've never served in the service, but I think having the honesty and transparency to admit you're unsure of the next step would help your men recognize your humility and humanity rather than acting like you ALWAYS know the next step as a commanding officer.  Just my perspective on the movie discussion.

The music in this movie is very well written.  The acting is top-notch.  If you like Jon Bon Jovi you may not want to watch this movie purely for his role in this movie.   If you have ever watched the movie Executive Decision with Steven Seagal you will understand when I say that if you watched Executive Decision for Mr. Seagal you will feel the same way about watching U-571 for Jon Bon Jovi's role.  He did a great job for the time he was in it.

I guess my only beef with this movie is that it is historical fiction.  It seems that war movies are more powerful when they are at least based on a true story.  U-571 doesn't even claim that.   It is a great war movie with fast moving action, a rousing soundtrack, and great acting and special effects.  However at the end of the day you just realize that it was a made-up war story with great acting.  I'm still giving it 2 thumbs up due to the shortage of good war movies being made.  A noble effort from all parties involved, and a great engaging story-line to follow.

Love & Mercy Review

I selected this movie because although I don't know much about the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson,  I was interested in learning more.   It stars John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks and I found this story very interesting and artistic as it recounted Brian Wilson's story.   The movie is broken into two different story lines - one with Brian in his younger days during his struggles with life and the Beach Boys group - and the second one was middle aged Brian starting to fall in love again (with the character played by Elizabeth Banks) and showing his relationship with his doctor (or psychologist) trying to control him. 

Random fact:  I found out from Chrystal that the Beach Boys had made several guest appearances on the show Full House.  I'm unsure if Brian Wilson was included in those guest appearances or not.

My summation:  Good movie - although kind of slow at parts in an artistic fashion, with good music used throughout the story.   Although I don't think John Cusack looks much at all like Brian, he played the part very well,  and the other supporting actors did a great job with the movie as well.  If you like the Beach Boys or any of their music,  you should consider checking out Love & Mercy.  Throughout the movie it resonated with the value of true friends and family, and included some great music along the journey.

Avengers : Age of Ultron Review

I decided after thinking the first Avengers movie was "OK" (not as hyped as it seemed to be) to give the sequel a shot.   This one involved an evil metallic man taking on the Avengers (does this sound at all like Fantastic Four : Rise of the Silver Surfer anyone?) All the Avengers are back for this one and even the Green Guy finds a bit of romance in this one.   So I don't want to spoil this movie,  but I will assure you that the Avengers are still alive at the end of it.   Why would I only give this movie 2 stars out of 5?  Why does this movie only get 1/2 a thumb up from Paul and Chrystal? Well to be honest : too many characters to develop any feelings for.  Due to the fact that this movie is following about 7-8 character stories (with some unity in the plot) it was very hard for me to care that much about any of them.  Even though this movie sucked 120 minutes of my life away,  I didn't really feel that involved in the story line nor did I find the evil metallic man that much of a scare or threat for that matter.  

Would I feel differently if I avidly followed "The Avengers" comic books?  Possibly but not guaranteed.  I honestly don't care of the Hulk finds true love, if Tony Stark learns to play well with others, or if Thor realizes he lives in the wrong time period (Captain America too).    I think this may be my final Avengers movie for review.   The first one was a 3 out 5 star movie.  I think this one would have to be a 2 out of 5.   Although Avengers: Age of Ultron features an all-star cast,  it sadly doesn't deliver in good writing.  My advice:  Skip this one and re-watch Iron Man 3 if you haven't seen it lately.

Inside Out Review

Just watched this movie tonight with the family and I have to say :  Pixar has created another great movie!  I've really enjoyed the Toy Story series and the Monster Inc. series so when this one came out I was eager to see what they had created next.  The story revolves around the different emotions inside a young girl's head.  The main emotions are : joy, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust, and this movie shows throughout the story how they each work inside the main character's head.   This could have been written to be a real sleeper,  but the writing is so clever that is never gets dull for one minute.   Besides that it was fascinating to see how they illustrated each emotion and how those emotions then played out in the real life scenarios.  I've never seen a movie quite like this one, and I think Disney and the Pixar studio pulled it off perfectly.   My two girls watched the whole movie without getting bored, and Chrystal and I both enjoyed watching the whole thing through.   The humor was great, it was touching as well as wholesome.  This is family entertainment at its best.   If you are looking for a great family movie that will entertain as well as make you think about the emotional pulls that go on in a family,  don't pass this movie up.  Two thumbs up from Paul and Chrystal.

What does change cost?

In light of the New Year holiday I thought I would continue to blog on resolutions and the cost of change.  Recently I pulled out $30 in 1 dollar bills for the purpose of motivating me to hit the gym every day of the month.   The idea I had was that I would pay myself $1 every time I successfully got up and went to the gym first thing in the morning.  After a month went by -  this had not worked out as well as I had hoped.  I came to realize that $30 dollars in ones does not motivate me as much as I thought it would.   Sure I might be able to buy something nice with $30 at the end of the month but it didn't get me excited to throw my sneakers on and head to the gym.  Which brings me to my question of the day -

1. What is the minimum amount of money paid daily it would take you to start a new habit?  
or
2. If you had a glass jar and could pick the amount of money that went into it every day you continued a new habit,  just how much per day would it take for you make the sacrifice to continue the habit all month?

I know for me it would be more than $1 a day.

New Years Resolutions : Worth making?

Well 2016 is upon us and it is the time when many men and women make a resolution to change something in their life.   Have I?  This year I have not.  I would like to lose some weight but avoided making any hard fast resolutions since I want my diet/exercise lifestyle to stick and I find New Years resolutions generally don't stick around much in my life.  I find that most people I have discussed this with focus on eating more healthy or hitting the gym more often in the coming year.  Some Christian friends may resolve to read the Bible through in one year.  All good goals and beneficial on many levels.  Here is my small case against New Years resolutions - and what to do instead:

1. New Years resolutions generally fall off by February and definitely by March thus feeding discouragement.

2. New Years resolutions can fall into tradition rather than true desire for change.

3. New Years resolutions encourage the false idea that the new year is the only time for meaningful change in your life.  Why not start something worthwhile in February, March or May?  

If you are serious about changing something in your life,  today is the best time to start that.  Not yesterday, not tomorrow, and not January 1, 2016 or 2017.   If you are relying on will power alone,  you have a hard journey for change.  I find that prayer to God Almighty and a strong social support group (such as a church) really help true change to come about in any life.  I'm not against making positive change,  I am against feeding into a tradition that discourages rather than encourages people to make lasting change in their life.  Happy New Year everyone.

Captain Phillips Review

Just watched this New Years Eve 2015.  I thought Tom Hanks did a wonderful job portraying Captain Phillips which is based on the true story that happened back in 2009.   Tom Hanks rarely disappoints in a movie, and I found the movie engaging and interesting as I watched the movie unfold.   For those who have their head in the sand during the 2009 pirate capture,  this is the story of an American captain by the name of Phillips (duh!) who was captured by Somalian pirates and held for ransom.   Chrystal and I both found the story well told and tense - but at the same time encouraging.   It was neat to see how the US Navy handled the situation.   I must confess I was kind of hoping for rescue similar to The Expendables movie, but it was probably much more the way things were.   One highlight of the movie was how Captain Phillips was such a good leader of his ship.  He was concerned for the welfare of his crew and his cargo and was serious about taking protective measures.  Not only that but this movie really showed how he also related well to his captors which may have helped him not get killed.  Rather than trying to harm the pirates any chance he got,  Captain Phillips tried to help them at times and encouraged them to do the right thing in the stand off with the US Navy.   Well acted and told very well - this movie did not disappoint.  Recommended.