I wonder sometimes, with all our rhetoric about welcoming and care for the unreached cultures around us, if perhaps this is the way the Christian church appears to the outsider:
[Note: I realize that I do not have permission to use the above cartoon. Perhaps I can justify this by pointing you to where I read this regularly, and by encouraging you to read it. Wiley is very perceptive about human foibles, and addresses them with a deft hand.]
I’m really not dead, yet. Just busily consumed with life. I love to write and to post, and my backlog is immense.
I refuse to get on the cart. Besides, it’s against regulations.
And it’s clearly too early to go through my clothes and look for loose change.
Stay put. I’ll return.
Reelzchannel aired a program I watched at lunch today featuring movie director Gary Marshall (Pretty Woman, Princess Diaries) talking about his films.
In it he spoke about a movie he did called Nothing in Common starring a young Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason as a father and son. He said that men will stop him in restrooms and say something like this to him: “I hadn’t talked to my father in years, until I saw that movie. Thank you.”
When I heard him say that, I wanted to talk to my father. I can’t. He’s been dead for nearly fifteen years.
But guys, some of you still can. Call him up. It’s not Father’s Day which makes this a perfect time to talk to him, simply because it’s not expected.
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Side note: He also said that no one could curse as beautifully as Julie Andrews. I didn’t see THAT coming!
Here is life from the other side of the drive-thru window from two lovely “quick service restaurant” veterans who had bunches of fun putting this together!
On a Thursday a few weeks ago, I had started my work day at about 6:00 AM. At 7:00 PM after a 13-hour, non-stop day, an opportunity opened to attend a Bible study at a nearby college, the invitation coming from the students themselves. I was so tired, I turned down what would have been a great opportunity. But I was spent.
What did this holy man of God do instead?
A) devoted himself to an hour of prayer or
B) popped This Is Spinal Tap into the DVD player to watch 90 minutes of brain-relaxing absurdity.
Yes, it was ‘B’.
This is Spinal Tap parodies the lives of aging rock ‘n’ roll bands (and contrary to what people think, Spinal Tap was NOT a real band). It was innovative for its time, inventing the ‘mockumentary’.
This is one of those movies that is funnier when I think about it later than when I actually watched it. I’ve laughed louder at the 18 inch Stonehenge and the disappearing drummers more SINCE seeing it than I did WHEN I saw it.
Comedy, and especially satire, depends so much on the familiarity of the audience with certain nuances of the subject matter. I didn’t get all the jokes, but it was a great way to rest the brain after a long, long day.
I love lists of movies, but I’m often puzzled by them. This is Spinal Tap is listed as #29 on the American Film Institutes’ list of 100 funniest movies.
It strikes me that in culture there are certain canonical answers to certain questions, answers which are expected but which do not necessarily reflect the studied opinion of the answerer.
So, who was the greatest writer in the english language? Shakespeare, of course.
What was the greatest movie ever made? Citizen Kane, clearly.
And what were the funniest movies ever made? Among others, clearly, This Is Spinal Tap.
Everyone who has seen the movie Moon raise your hand. Okay, you can both put them down now.
Moon is a remarkably well told story set in a mining operation on the moon. This operation is efficiently overseen by a single human and a seemingly benevolent computer. Together they serve humanity with their isolated and sacrificial labor. The human is praised as a hero.
Sam Rockwell plays the human and does a remarkable job carrying the weight of what we soon discover is a chilling tale.
The best science fiction creates a world in which the implications of scientific and technological advances and possibilities are explored and often critiqued. This film accomplishes that and is worthy of a watch. This is not Star Wars or Star Trek. This is a movie exploring the consequences of ideas.
Like science fiction, fantasy and animation also provide venues for exploring alternate realities. Coraline is the story of a young girl lamenting her family situation. Her parents are busy and unresponsive, and have dragged her away from her friends into an isolated house surrounded by weirdness. She wishes for a different life. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
There is terror here, terror in a life that becomes ‘all about me’. This is the stuff of nightmares.
I’ve not seen but a few minutes of the highly touted film Avatar. It is said to be visually stunning. I find it hard to imagine that it could surpass the visual beauty of Coraline, a beauty which in this case is actually wed to a good story.
[In fairness to my snide Avatar comments, a friend has promised me a review of Avatar revealing its redemptive themes. Once I receive it, I’ll post it. I can’t wait.]
Normalcy returns to the universe. And we are glad.
Way back, I recommended ‘subscribing’ to this or other blogs using an RSS feed to an RSS reader. The link in that post is to a video which helpfully walks one through the steps of setting up such a subscription.
The difference between subscribing versus visiting blogs looking for something new is similar to the difference between getting mail in one’s mailbox versus checking with all your friends daily to see if they have messages for you.
Puzzled? Watch the video.
Many use their Google page as an RSS reader. I prefer a free application for the Mac called Shrook. But there are many options out there.
Another way of getting Somber and Dull delivered to you is to subscribe through email. There is a link in the sidebar that should walk you through the steps for that.
Recently I’ve received some very positive feedback from readers. That is very appreciated. But whether you like this or not, agree or not, I’m gratified to know you read. Thanks.
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UPDATE: I write. I am ill-equipped to proof-read what I right. I mean write. I just corrected a rebellious ‘their’ which had usurped the spot properly belonging to a ‘there’. “Know” often battles for position with “No”, and “I” often ends up sitting where “Me” should sit. I ask your forbearance for it all!
I like to post comments and notes regarding the movies we see. I’m about twenty movies behind and I have no hope of catching up. However, a few are worth a mention, which I will do over several posts.
Around Christmas time we had a whole living-room full of folks watch It’s a Wonderful Life. This is such a classic film I need say little about it. It’s one of the great ‘feel-good’ movies with classic characters played by classic actors. It was such a delight for us to introduce this film to a whole new generation of movie watchers.
We have always said that the Nicolas Cage movie The Family Man is It’s a Wonderful Life played backwards. Whereas in It’s a Wonderful Life a character is challenged to appreciate the life he has, The Family Man challenges a man with a vision of the good life he missed. Both are Christmas movies, both involve angel characters and imagined realities, and both are worth watching.
In The Family Man, Cage is considering pursuing an adulterous fling. His buddy challenges him to faithfulness with a great line:
“A little flirtation is harmless but you’re dealing with fire here. The fidelity bank and trust is a tough creditor. You make a deposit somewhere else, they close your account – FOREVER.”
Michael Medved, a great fan of The Family Man, did suggest that it is quite unbelievable that someone would wake up in bed with Tea Leoni and run! But so it goes.
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