Footloose Review

Ahh, Footloose. Most people are familiar with this one. The story of a rebel (Kevin Bacon) that turns a whole town upside down with his dancing. Chrystal loves this movie and has seen it countless times, so I finally decided to watch it and write a review about what I thought. First of all, the soundtrack of this movie is very well selected and really does get you in a toe-tapping mood. The acting is well done and involves a pastor who believes that dancing always accompanies sinning against God. He pretty much teaches against all dancing, smoking, and drinking even though he (the pastor) has no relationship with his rebellious daughter who sneaks around doing the very things he preaches against. Kevin Bacon arrives on the scene as the city boy who is out of place in a conservative country town. He smokes, drinks, and most importantly - he dances and believes that these things shouldn't be banned in the sleepy little town. Of course he comes against some resistance from the town board (including the pastor) but impressively uses some Scriptures to justify that there is a time for dancing (check out Ecclesiastes 3:4 if you don't believe me). The choreography in this movie is superb and the moral is a good one too - Don't have standards just for the sake of having them if you have no Scripture to back them up. In this case, the pastor was dogmatic about no dancing, yet he was ignoring the fact that his daughter desperately wanted to grow closer to him and he made no effort to allow that to happen. The pastor reminded me of the pharisees that Jesus talked about in Matthew 23:23 when He said

"You [the pharisees] give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

The moral of this movie is a good one. Rules without relationship = rebellion. If you are going to have high standards (which can be a good thing), make sure these come from a heart relationship with Jesus Christ, otherwise you'll be out of balance.

The Last Castle Review

This movie stars Robert Redford as a prison inmate who used to be a military general. Basically, in a nutshell, Robert Redford is sent to a type of military prison for doing something wrong. He used to be a three star general but has to go back to being "just one of the guys" as a prison inmate where saluting is illegal. In this movie the prison warden isn't a real pleasant guy to deal with but isn't insanely cruel either. I started to compare this movie to The Shawshank Redemption due to the plot involving a cruel prison warden and a group of prisoners who want to change things. However, this movie I would say was a lot tamer compared to Shawshank. The warden like I mentioned seems very strict, but he isn't all about being the personification of evil (like Shawshank), and from what I could gather seems to treat the men fairly decently. Robert Redford enters the prison and begins to really change the way the men are acting by looking for the best in them rather than the worst (as the warden tended to do). Redford taught the men self-respect and gives them a purpose in life which improves morale and helps them to work together toward a goal. Overall they grow to respect Redford and see him as the emerging leader in their prison. The movie was enjoyable to watch, but does tend toward humanistic ideas. The warden is cast as being cruel for viewing the evil capabilities of the inmates, whereas Redford is a hero for seeing good in each inmate. I agree that we shouldn't always be looking for evil in people, but neither should we ignore it. Sin is a fact and it exists in everyone. To ignore the sin problem in our lives doesn't help people. We need to face sin for what it is - rebellion against God - and then trust Christ to save us and give us a new nature that can transform our attitudes and behavior. Although on the other hand, there is a balance with helping people to see their potential and encourage them for their praiseworth qualities. I just don't think that difference was made very clear in this movie. Recommended for great acting and an interesting look at leadership in a military prison.

Family Ties Season 2 Review

Well the second season was released and I eagerly added season 2 of Family Ties to the queue. In this season it is becoming apparent that the writers were centering more and more of the episodes on the talent of Michael J. Fox, and although the other cast members never had as major of a role as he did, the show definitely seems to change. We get to see Skippy in this episode, although I sadly found out that Nick doesn't show up until season 4 - so we have a little more of a wait until we see the lovable Nick show up. Also Steven Keaton (the dad) has grown a beard with no explanation as to "why?". Alex also seems to be yearning for adulthood and struggling to relate to his mom in an honorable way in one of the episodes. Although I can't endorse every episode in this season, the show still has a lot more going for it than many sitcoms today. As I was watching some of the episodes I came up with a list for what makes a good sitcom:

1. Likeable Cast - probably one of the most important ingredients to a good sitcom. If people don't like the characters, they probably won't watch the show.

2. Relatable Situations - I can't speak for everyone, but the more I can relate to the situations and dialog, the more likely I will keep watching the show.

3. Well written punch lines and humor (script in general). Unfortunately, many shows seem to skip this ingredient lately, and put the cheesiest lines into the script with the hope that canned laughter will make the line funnier. Sorry, that only works so far. A good show will be funny without canned laughter in my opinion - simply because the actors are so good at delivering the lines. However, please note I am not saying that canned laughter is no help at all.

Well that about sums it up for ingredients to a good sitcom. I recommend renting "Family Ties" when you want a taste of the 80s that is still funny today.

Spiderwoman

And now for something completely different....

Lately we have been having some spider issues.... and usually that isn't a big deal - unless you are faced with a spider spinning a web on your front porch with markings like the one on the left... a black widow. Yes, I'm not joking we have to draw the line somewhere, and I was quite disturbed to find we had a black widow on our front porch guarding an EGG SACK! Great - just what I need ... hundreds of baby black widows all around the foundation of our townhome. Well after finding this spider and doing some research... I found that Black Widow Spiders carry venom that is approximately 15 TIMES that of a rattlesnake. Fortunately they don't inject that much when they bite, but their bite is still enough to kill small children if not treated properly. Also enough to call 1- 800-KILL -SPIDERS FOR -ME -PLEASE! Well every story has a hero, and now for the hero of our story ... Spiderwoman - or otherwise known as my wife Chrystal (on the right). Chrystal was brave enough to stick the black widow and her egg sack into a plastic bag and then step on it and trash it - all this while I was at work. After this we called an exterminator who sprayed our foundation to ensure we won't see another one of these shiny black spiders anywhere near our place for a while. THE END. (True story).

American Sweethearts Review

This movie looks very promising, but unfortunately the keyword is "looks". It has the stars John Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Billy Chrystal, and Julia Roberts. With all that star-power Chrystal and I were expecting a romantic comedy that was funny and well-acted - however, we were wrong. The script in this movie is horrid with a capital "H". The jokes are lame, the characters are not very likeable in any sense, and as each minute goes by, you begin to ask yourself - will it get any better? Basically the plot is that John Cusack's character is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones (in the real story - as well as playing sweethearts as actor and actress in a hit show they had going). However over the years they drift apart and practically hate each other. Billy Chrystal plays a movie director in this movie that is all about publicity and making sure he can bring the two stars back into a movie even though their chemistry together is about as bad as it could get. Not much to commend in this movie I'm afraid. Chrystal and I turned it off half way into it - it was THAT bad. Not content-wise, just script-wise. Save yourself 100 minutes and skip it. Another proof that it takes talented writing and directing, not just great acting to make a good movie. How the West Was Won was another movie with an all-star cast that just seemed to fall flat. No matter how much acting talent you pack into a movie, it doesn't guaranteed a great final product. Rent this movie if you doubt it.

Monster-in-law Review

Chrystal picked this one up at the movie rental store after being pretty tired of my Terminator movies and other wonderful action flicks. So I decided to watch it with her and see what it was all about. OH MY GOODNESS! This movie is terrible! Please skip it. The acting is fair-to-poor, and Jane Fonda is the mother-in-law in this movie who doesn't want Jennifer Lopez to marry her son. It has potential to be very funny, but it just kind of misses the mark, and makes you wonder why you just spent 1.5 hours in watching this bizarre, not-funny movie try to be hilarious and touching. Sometimes Chrystal really gets good movies (like Serendipity) but this one was a definite miss (and I think we both agree on that one). Please people, save your money and DO NOT RENT IT. Some people find Wanda Sykes hilarious with her sassy mannerisms - but I don't. Jenny Lopez should stick with singing in my opinion. Two thumbs down on this one I'm afraid.

Pleasantville Review

Chrystal and I caught this on TV the other night, and since I had never watched the whole thing enough to make sense of, I decided to see what it all was about. Very thought-provoking movie about two teens (Spiderman and Legally Blond girl) who end up going into an old TV show that resembles Leave it to Beaver quite a bit. Everything in the TV show that they enter is near perfect, the husband always comes home on time, the high school students are all "pleasant" toward one another, and nothing is dysfunctional or out-of-the-ordinary. Hence, the name "Pleasantville". As the young man and young lady go there, they obviously bring some of their culture and times with them and introduce the town to many things. Reese Witherspoon's character is pretty promiscuous so she definitely teaches the town about many ways of the world (including human reproduction which was an undiscovered fact of life in Pleasantville - R-I-G-H-T!). Spidey's character knows all about the TV show so that helps him understand the strange new world he has found himself in, and he also tries to convince his sister (Reese Witherspoon) to not corrupt the townspeople. Overall this story becomes an intriguing look at human behavior toward strange happenings and differences in others. Some people become bigots and other people want to blend in and go with the crowd. Overall, most of the characters realize that change is here to stay and that they either have to adapt to it, or live in denial of the facts of life. Although I can't endorse everything this movie contains (quite a bit of sexual content for a movie that is almost 50% in black and white), it was an interesting look at people's response to a world where unexpected circumstances happen and sinful actions ruin the co-existence of others. Not many people enjoy constant changes in their lifestyle, surroundings, and values but thank God we all have the opportunity to know a Savior who never changes in His love toward us :

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. - Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

Dirty Harry Review

A classic Clint Eastwood film that I had not seen until tonight. Harry is a normal cop in San Francisco except that he doesn't always play by the rules. He tends to shoot first and ask questions later, but he does help justice to be done so the police force continues to work with him. In this movie (one of several they made) he is tracking down a psycho killer who is killing at random and is pretty disturbed (to say the least). Although Harry isn't a very friendly guy, he does help out people and has a gruff manner that seems to help things get resolved. He was able to talk a suicide jumper out of jumping by making him so mad he wanted to punch him rather than jump. Part of me can understand why this movie became so popular. A macho guy who doesn't always like things the legal way so he goes his own way. Maybe he isn't the nicest guy, but he helps justice to get done, right? Well, not quite - as a movie it is entertaining to watch a guy like this bring the bad guy to justice, but his attitude is very proud and self-assured and those traits are made to look admirable in a movie like this. Not only that, Dirty Harry's way of being merciless and torturing the bad guy until he gets what he wants may work when Harry is right, but that is assuming Dirty Harry is never wrong - a very dangerous assumption to make. Maybe I am over-analyzing this movie, but throughout the movie the character Dirty Harry decides that playing by the rules in law enforcement doesn't pay off. Those that do in this movie, end up allowing a murderer walk free due to all the laws that protect the rights of the suspect. Those are laws that are in place to protect the innocent, yet this powerful movie almost seems to imply they just help the criminal to go free. More importantly, movies like this show that when no one else will help, you should do things your way. Hmmm. Sounds like rebellion and leads to vengence, and many times murder. I was glad that Dirty Harry doesn't shoot unless usually in self-defense, but due to the overall messages and some inappropriate scenes I can not recommend this movie. This movie made me think about a verse found in Proverbs 14:12

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

Serendipity - Does it Exist?

This movie was great! First of all - for those of you who haven't seen Serendipity it is defined as the cause of all events in the world. Christians would term it the sovereignty of God making things happen for a purpose. This movie is based completely around the theme that all things really do happen for a purpose. Although this movie is a romantic comedy, it deals with some really deep issues about human free will and serendipity (or the sovereignty of God if you will). That's what made this movie so appealing for me (Paul). It wasn't some stupid run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. It addresses many different philosophies and ideas about what part "human will" plays into the course of our lives and what part God allows things to sovereignly happen to us for His greater purposes. In this sense it is similar to Stranger than Fiction in the depth of issues covered, yet the similarity probably ends there. Since some commenter's think my comparisons of movies are not accurate (i.e. Road House and Walking Tall) I will refrain from drawing too many parallels between this movie and Stranger than Fiction. However, I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and that I'm not a subject of random chance. For me that really adds hope to my life and increases my trust in God to know that whatever happens to me is allowed by Someone with a special purpose for my life. One scripture of many that I base this belief on is found in Romans 8:28 (New Living Translation)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

For me that is pretty clear teaching that all things happen for the purposes of God to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. All that being said, I don't believe 100% in what this movie teaches. The characters begin to almost go crazy trying to interpret random events as "signs" that will inform them of something (in this case - who they should fall in love with). Granted, it is a movie, but this is just plain unhealthy trust in circumstances, rather than trust in the God who allowed the circumstances to happen. I don't believe anyone should allow circumstances to be the sole basis of our human choices (as this movie seems to imply). I won't reveal too much more of this movie, but I found the acting top-notch, the premise - very interesting and well presented, and the overall value of the movie high. Two thumbs up.

Chrystal's Review: Serendipity - ONE TRUE LOVE

I haven't written my own review in a while and since the website is Paul and Chrystal, I thought this movie deserved my two cents. This was my rental pick. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I like that it talks about the idea that random things happen for a reason. I'm going to give a lot away about the plot - so don't read this if you still want to watch it.

We start out meeting both of the main characters a few days before Christmas trying to buy a present for their significant other. They do not go into much detail about the other relationships, but we learn that they are not in love with their girlfriend/boyfriend. Have you ever been in a dating relationship where you know the person is great, but not right for you, but in an effort to be "nice" you do not say anything and hope for the best? This is where they are in their dating relationships. As a result, they wait right before the Holiday to pick out a generic gift. That is when they bump into another person that they feel more connected to and they have the most magical night getting to know this person!

Fast forward a few years, and they get engaged to the other people in their lives. Anyhow, during engagement, they both start to think about this other person and want to meet up with them one last time just to see what would happen. In a romantic gesture, John Cusack, pursues his mystery girl going to extreme lengths to track her down. The mystery girl also decides to track down the mystery guy. Through this process of searching, John Cusack he discovers that while his fiance is a great package (attractive, intelligent), he does not feel his true self around her. He's not truly committed enough to really go forward with the wedding. He calls off the wedding not knowing what will happen, but knowing that he needs to come clean and not marry someone thinking all along that they are 2ND best. Also, his best friend, who is currently separated realizes from watching him go to crazy lengths to track this woman down, that he needs to pursue his wife more - that they got lazy in having fun and getting to know one another. So, we see his friend with a huge bouquet of flowers and a dopey smile running off to pursue his wife.

This movie is such a great picture of how marriage is meant to be - an ongoing pursue to get to know the ONE person God planned for you to be with for life. It is a reminder to take your dating life seriously and not allowing yourself to drift into engagement without discernment!! We should be in awe at how we supernaturally met our spouses in this big universe! The Bible says marriage is a covenant between you, your spouse, and Him. He designed your spouse to fit you perfectly. It takes a lot of work, time, and money to sacrificially invest in another person. It also requires working at honest communication and not just being "nice" all the time - you have to be transparent (real). Your spouse may not be perfect, but the ONE God has for you is a true and perfect gift from Him.

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17 (NASB)

Walking Tall Review

I didn't rent this movie, but saw that it was on one of my cable channels and thought I would DVR it and see how it was. Surprisingly I liked it! Granted it is a typical movie where the good guy comes in and cleans house, but overall I found it pretty enjoyable and thought the acting was a lot better than I expected. "The Rock" (from WWF) is the main character as an ex-military guy that returns home from the service and finds that his town is majorly corrupted by drugs and gambling thanks to a rich guy that is bent on making money and completely corrupting the town. After they try to be friends, "The Rock" realizes that friendship isn't going to happen between the casino owner and himself and decides it is time to stand up to corruption and clean his little town up. If you have ever seen the movie Road House (which I don't recommend unless edited on TV), you may be surprised to how similar the movie plots and characters are to each another. I was really amazed to see scenes that were so similar to Road House it almost could pass as a 2004 remake of it (without Patrick Swayze). All in all though, this movie is a triumphant story of how good characters can help clean up the bad influences of evil men. Don't expect an unpredictable story, but overall expect a redemptive one. Recommended.

Major League Review

Interesting... some movies I have such high hopes for end up dismal wastes of time for me. The movie on the right is one example. To be honest, I only could stand watching this movie for 1 hour (half of the length) before I just decided to turn it off as too stupid and pointless to continue. That may sound surprising coming from a guy who loved The Naked Gun movie, but this movie really disappointed me. Maybe it is due to the fact that I'm not into baseball that much. Or just found that a bunch of strange players acting stupid and swearing like sailors was just not hilarious... I'm not sure. Part of the movie is a dead serious storyline of one of the players trying to prevent his ex-wife (whom he still loves) from remarrying someone. You would expect this part to be kind of cheesy and have some funny lines mixed in as he tries to convince his wife not to remarry - but NO - the part was almost a drama in the midst of a weird comedy. I thought they should have made the whole movie crazy or just delete the subplot of the player trying to win his wife back - it just didn't fit into the movie framework (even though it was a noble thing to try). Plus this movie seemed to poke fun of Christianity in general. Let me explain.... there is one player who practices the Voodoo religion throughout the movie (including burning incense candles), and another player who almost prides himself of not being a "heathen" and praying to God rather than idols. Both the players are taking a dangerous airplane ride in stormy weather, and the Voodoo practicer is so scarred he makes the sign of the cross for safety. The "so-called" Christian player notices that, and looking above his porno magazine says something to the effect of "I saw that... don't think you can be fooling Him [referring to God] up there. He [again referring to God] knows everything." This line was obviously a total shot at hypocrisy in the Christian church and sadly this sort of thing exists. It wasn't funny to me because it didn't really convey the message that the Christian will be held accountable before God for committing adultry in his heart from reading a dirty magazine as much as the voodoo worshiper will be held accountable for worshipping idols. It also failed to show a Christian that really has a personal relationship with Christ and has turned from his sins (whether they are porno magazines or idolatry). It just made all Christians look like hypocrites. Sin is sin in God's eyes. Unfortunately, movies like this just seem to mock at the problems of hypocrisy without truly showing how stupid other sins are, or showing a redemptive way through faith in Christ how a person can be transformed and stop sinning. Due to messages like these - I have to say Major League is still in the minors in my book.

Three Men and a Baby Review

A classic piece of 80s material yet again. I really am a big fan of the The Three Amigos which came out around the same time as this movie, yet I hadn't seen this one even though quite a stir was made over it when it came out. I thought it was a cute movie, but not very laugh-out-loud funny. Mainly it gives an accurate picture of how total bachelors would babysit should they be stuck with the job of doing so. There wasn't too much to this movie other than showing the tender side of three guys that are living the party lifestyle. I would have to say Tom Sellect was probably the best in the movie. Steve Guttenberg seemed to have a "B" grade performance, and Ted Danson doesn't really get involved with the movie until it is half-way over. However, overall the movie is cute and has its funny moments. Whoever wrote it decided to put a subplot line in of the baby getting mixed up with drug dealers, and while it added some content to the movie, it really seemed more like filler to make the movie longer more than really contributing to the story. Also, the ending was kind of strange. I won't give it away, in case anyone HASN'T seen this movie yet (after 20 years), but I thought the living arrangement of the end was just plain weird. But then again, this movie isn't meant to be taken completely literally. For what it sets out to do, I would say it succeeds.

Deja Vu Review (it rhymes!)

I rented this movie after hearing it was pretty good from a friend of mine. I believe my friend was right. This was a little bit of a lighter sci-fi movie than Terminator or Blade Runner regarding time travel. Denzel Washington is an investigator for some law enforcement agency and has to investigate a tragic terrorist act that happened when someone set a bomb off a boat full of people. As he continues to investigate, he finds out that there are some people who have tapped into time travel and can recreate events after they happened with video from all angles. This - as you can imagine - makes solving crimes much easier and leads Denzel Washington to believe that he may be able to change history by observing the past. Of course everyone's dream is to do this, so it makes for an interesting story that one of the victims of the terrorist, happens to be an attractive girl that Denzel begins to fall for as he learns more about her. I won't give you anymore than that, but it turns out it is a fun flick that has its share of suspenseful moments. Maybe not as deep as Blade Runner or Stranger Than Fiction, but still worth the time to finish. Good action/sci-fi movie as long as you don't try to cross-check every detail of the story for accuracy.

Afterwards Music Review by Collective Soul

I decided to switch gears and mention a new CD that just came out that is noteworthy and well done. The Afterwards CD by Collective Soul is a CD that is worth buying. The music isn't poppy, yet it is interesting to listen to as well as fun. I ended up spotting it on Itunes (due to liking some of their previous work), and as I sampled some of their tracks I decided to buy one. Then I sampled some more of the tracks on this album and decided the whole album sounded very well done and was worth a purchase - so I completed the entire album on iTunes and am looking forward to listening to it on the commute into work. You may not like the sound, but I encourage you to at least try the samples on iTunes and see if it is a sound you may like. I look forward to listening to it over and over as I enjoy listening to the creative talent of these guys.

Blade Runner Review

Another movie you may have heard about that is pretty dated yet hailed as a classic in the science fiction realm. Harrison Ford plays in this movie about cops of the future that have to discern whether robots (who look identical to humans yet can not feel emotions) have invaded earth (illegally). Ford played his part well and reminded me of Hans Solo without as much sarcasm and wisecracks. Throughout the movie, the police officers usually test people to discern if they are robots by using a machine that watches their eyes, and then asking them several questions that would provoke an emotional response in a normal human. The robots obviously answer logically but not emotionally and that tips the police off to their identity. Although dated, it was definitely an interesting movie to watch and very well acted. It is kind of dark as the robots get murderous (similar to the Terminator movies), but not so much that the basic plot is lost in the action and violence. Unfortunately, Ridley Scott who directed this movie (also directed Gladiator), put a scene in this movie that was entirely inappropriate and therefore I don't recommend anyone watch this unless they are watching a TV edited version. It raised some interesting questions about artificial life yet the indecent scene just ruins the movie (in my opinion). Not recommend unless edited.

Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind review

After hearing about this movie with Jim Carrey I decided to see what it was all about. It was a very interesting, artistic movie that I think many people may like but others just won't get it. Jim Carrey has asked to have his entire memory erased of this one girlfriend he has had in his life. As the professionals are erasing his memory, he realizes that he really doesn't want to lose all traces of memory of her, and begins to try to store memories of her in different parts of his mind that weren't originally connected with memories of her. Elijah Wood (affectionately remembered as Frodo from Lord of the Rings) and Kirsten Dunst (MJ from Spiderman) are also in this movie. While slightly confusing - the movie still seems to make sense when it is all over. Don't watch this movie expecting a normal movie watching experience. It is very artistic, and kind of strange. Some people may welcome a movie that doesn't fit the normal experience, and others may walk away wondering why they just spent over an hour trying to make sense of a movie like this. I felt a little like watching a very artistic writer/director paint a unique movie style and found it intriguing, but not good enough to re-watch.

Terminator 3 Review

I have a confession that I haven't watched the very first Terminator movie, but I have at least seen Terminator 2. Although not my favorite movie of all time, it was interesting to watch Arnold protect the young boy and cool to the see the interesting effects. I decided to see what this one was all about, and see if it lives up to at least Terminator 2 with how well done it was. I was really impressed with the acting by Clair Danes and Arnold in this movie. This was a movie that Arnold really shines in. I was also impressed with how in shape he was in this movie. He hardly looks a day older from when Terminator 2 came out (about 14 years ago). Very impressive for a man of his age. Anyway, Terminator movies are kind of strange because although they try to spin them as action movies, they almost make them mild horror movies. This movie was no exception - lots of killing, lots of explosions and a lot of cool robots battles. In one sense, this movie was similar to Transformers. But in my opinion, Transformers was so much better. Perhaps it was lighter. Maybe because Transformers didn't take itself so seriously. I'm not sure- but Terminator 3 didn't disappoint. More of the same type of stuff as Terminator 2, but with newer more explosive special effects, and some great acting by Clair Danes and the young man (not to mention Arnold). Good high-budget special-effects action movie, but not a relaxing movie to watch. The ending also made plenty of room for a Terminator 4 movie. Decent movie, but not a must see unless you love the Terminator series.

GoldenEye Review

Another James Bond I decided to try. This was one of Pierce Brosnan's first movies as the new James Bond. To me, this movie seemed kind of LONG! There were some cool gadgets, and some action-packed parts, not to mention some glamorous women and ultra-nice cars, but the plot was too thin. There wasn't enough character development of James Bond to really like his character that much. I don't know - maybe I'm used to Daniel Craig in the latest James Bond and liked the amount of emotional attachment he had toward his girlfriend vs. Pierce's portrayal of 007. This movie was over two hours, and there were definite parts that you wondered why they had to add it to the movie. All in all, I don't think it was edited that well, and even though the special effects were well done, the whole plot leaves something to be desired. I recommend skipping this one. "Casino Royale" seemed much better to me for a different look at James Bond. One thumb up and one thumb down on this one.

Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference? Review

Most of what I post on this blog is movie reviews, but I just read a book that I highly recommend and thought I would share my thoughts on it. The book is by the author Phillip Yancey and is all about prayer. I have read many, many books on prayer and most of the books would fall into the motivational category as the authors encourage through using Scripture and testimonies the practice of prayer to God. Phillip Yancey takes a different approach... he humbly acknowledges that he isn't an expert and honestly invites us to ask some challenging questions about how prayer really works. What struck me so much about this book was its deep honesty. Why doesn't prayer work all the time? Does God still do miracles? If God knows everything and knows all we need, why do we still have to ask Him? I really enjoyed this book because I think, deep down, I ask myself many of the same questions. It is really easy to say "just believe in prayer and do it" but the questions sometimes still linger. God never says we can't be honest (from my understanding of the Bible) so to hear how Phillip Yancey processes these questions and the way He reconciles them with what the Bible teaches was inspiring to read - AND also motivating. I do believe in prayer and I believe that God does listen to us and answers our prayer when prayed in faith and love, and I think this book offered some well thought-out encouraging answers to the questions of many people who claim to believe in the power of prayer. Well worth your time to read.

Family Ties Review

One of the reasons my posts have been less, is that I have been pretty busy watching a classic sitcom from the 80s - Family Ties. I used to watch this show growing up and love remembering the stories of Alex, Malory, and Jennifer and their hippy parents. This show was not only funny, it also really showed a family that cared for one another and were willing to talk out tough contemporary issues. That is the beauty of this show in my humble opinion. It wasn't all about making fun of others, and talking about sex and nothing but sex (as some other sitcoms seem to dwell on). This show was about a family that loved one another and were willing to put differences aside and care for one another. It was a sitcom with a heart, and people obviously loved it by the fact that it went on for about 8 seasons (if I'm not mistaken). Although Michael J. Fox is pretty much the star of this show, the entire family were well-casted, and to me I find the episodes fun (not off-color for the most part), challenging and nostalgic as I remember when TV used to have much more substance and scripts used to be witty not just stupid and inappropriate. I recommend this show for a refreshing look at what the American sitcom used to be all about.