V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta is a 2005 speculative fiction thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. Set in London in a near-future dystopian society, the film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V,Stephen Rea as Inspector Finch and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.


In scene 1 Remember, Remember, a female voice introduces us to the story of Guy Fawkes and lays the ground work for the following film.  She muses over the premise that ideas are able to change the world and how often men are linked to them & subsequently forgotten because "a man can fail."  How amazing is it that in our Christ we can readily accept and cherish both idea & man!  

Hebrews 4:14-16 (The Message)

 ^14-16Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

In scene 21 God is in the Rain, Evey experiences a rebirth of sorts as V forces her to face her own mortality.  Much like V's experience before hers, Evey is forced to see life in incremental units that give moments of pause & reflection as to where they come, where they go & how they are to be cherished.  God himself prefaced our life's story by his in breaking into history in the person & work of Jesus & should teach us that we've nothing to fear in this life nor the one to come.

2 Corinthians 7:10-12 (The Message)

 ¹⁰Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

 ^11-13And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That's what happened—and we felt just great.

In scene 31 Gift of Love, Evey culminates V's work in the destruction of Parliament while watching with a sense of hope for the future.  Meanwhile, thousands of Londoners have marched, unarmed on Parliament to watch the event in capes, hats & Guy Fawkes masks.  Everyone looking for hope for the future through the destruction of a tyrannical governmental regime, all the while overlooking the very subtle hypocrisies that fill their very character and hearts.

Jeremiah 17:8-10 (The Message)

 ^7-8"But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
   the woman who sticks with God.
They're like trees replanted in Eden,
   putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
   never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
   bearing fresh fruit every season.
 ^9-10"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
   a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
   and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
   I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
   not as they pretend to be."

Seven Pounds

The title of this  tear-jerking Will Smith flick takes its meaning from an old saying that refers to individual favors, acts of kindness, etc to “…a pound of flesh…”.  In this movie, Will Smith’s character does 7 life-changing favors for 7 people.  Count ‘em up:  1) his brother, 2) Holly (the social worker), 3) Connie (mom w/2 kids), 4) Nicholas (little boy with cancer), 5) George (the hockey coach), 6) Ezra (the pianist), and 7) Emily (the female lead).  Seven people.  Seven favors.


In chapter 5, Tim (as Ben Thomas) checks up on the worthiness of, ironically enough, one Stewart Goodman.  Initially Tim interviews Stewart who appears to be an honorable & 'good man', just a poor manager of his own finances.  Upon further investigation, Tim finds that Stewart's goodness is in a worldly sense only as he interviews a poor Miss Inez and uncovers her apparent mistreatment.

Matthew 25:44-46 (The Message)

 ⁴⁴"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
 ⁴⁵"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
 ⁴⁶"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."


In chapter 8, Tim comes calling on one Emily Posa, to interview her & to determine her worthiness of one of his gifts.  The conversation is a bit contrived & remarkably awkward but does bring to mind the question of what makes a person good or even if they should be considered as 'good' or not.  It should bring to mind by what standard we use when considering what or who is good or not.

Luke 18:18-27 (The Message)

 ¹⁸One day one of the local officials asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to deserve eternal life?" ^19-20Jesus said, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good—only God. You know the commandments, don't you? No illicit sex, no killing, no stealing, no lying, honor your father and mother."
 ²¹He said, "I've kept them all for as long as I can remember."
 ²²When Jesus heard that, he said, "Then there's only one thing left to do: Sell everything you own and give it away to the poor. You will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me."
 ²³This was the last thing the official expected to hear. He was very rich and became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go.
 ^24-25Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God's kingdom? I'd say it's easier to thread a camel through a needle's eye than get a rich person into God's kingdom."
 ²⁶"Then who has any chance at all?" the others asked.
 ²⁷"No chance at all," Jesus said, "if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."


In chapter 26 Tim's plan of his own personal redemption comes to light in the culmination of all his planning when faced w/the certainly long odds of Emily's survival.  While the portrayal of such self-sacrifice seems other-worldly, it unfortunately falls victim to so many other devised plans that center on self & our very commonly felt reluctance to rely on One much greater that is definitely needed to overcome such seemingly insurmountable debts of guilt and pride.  Our purpose & being comes straight from God himself and our ability to be lovers & imitators of Him & not our need to be or attempt to be Him.


1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (The Message)


 ¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

The Hurt Locker

nominated for 9 academy awards...

won 6, including Best Picture & Best Director...(a 1st for a woman Kathryn Bigelow)


Opening Quote by Chris Hedges:"The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug."


1.  In chapter 7 Purgatory, Specialist Owen Eldridge is counseled by John Cambridge the base psychiatrist in the attempts to help the specialist through a rough patch in dealing w/the loss of SSG Thompson.  Lieutenant Colonel Cambridge seems oblivious to the pressures of Eldridge's duties as he's a book smart Yale grad that lacks the common sense & ability to connect w/those he's trying to help.  He's quite the polar opposite from our own savior, who clothed himself w/our very flesh & experienced our realities to readily identify w/us.  Living the life that we weren't able & dying the death that we should have, just to bring us to him.

The High Priest Who Cried Out in Pain

 ^14-16Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.


2.  In chapter 17, I Want a Son, Sergeant J. T. Sanborn confesses to Sergeant First Class William James that he's not ready to die & wants to have a son.  SFC James understands & is very cognizant of the risks they daily undertake, but very wrongly links his identity w/the dangerous job that he does.  He uses it to escape the boredom of 'normal life' & the lack of self worth he doesn't find in it.  Rather than rightly identifying w/Christ & his supreme worth & living to his glory & James' joy, he sadly retreats back into combat instead of fulfilling his 1st calling in shepherding his own family.  

Galatians 2:18-20 (The Message)

 ^17-18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.
 ^19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
   Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

When Is It Wrong To Watch a Movie?

Came across an article that was applicable & thought that some might find useful...

When is it wrong to watch a movie...?

Doubt

released: Christmas Day 2008

nominated for 5 academy awards:

Best Actress	Meryl Streep	Nominated
Best Supporting Actor	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Nominated
Best Supporting Actress	Amy Adams	Nominated
Best Supporting Actress	Viola Davis	Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay	John Patrick Shanley

1. In chapter 2 Doubt, Father Flynn lays the foundation for the film w/his sermon on the potentially unifying force that doubt can be.  Although this unification may be comforting in the short run, it allows for no long term answers when confronted w/a very real and uncertain reality that we all must face when faith is scarce.

Mark 9:23-25 (The Message)

 ²³Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen."
 ²⁴No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!"
 ^25-27Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: "Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!" Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, "He's dead." But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up.

2.  In chapter 10 intolerance, Sisters Aloysius & James confront Father Flynn about their suspicions of his inappropriate relationship w/Donald Miller under the pretext of discussing the upcoming Christmas play.  Pretext & subtext collide to needlessly intensify a potentially volatile development as Aloysius makes her disdain for Flynn & his approach to ministry very apparent.  She arrogantly indulges her pride to step away from God to 'address wrongdoing.'

2 Timothy 2:21-23 (The Message)

 ^20-21In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.
 ^22-26Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.

3.  In the final chapter (15) one goodbye, one lie, Sister Aloysius sees her plans to purge the parish of Flynn succeed only to be overwhelmed w/regret at the price she's paid by 'stepping away from God in pursuit of wrongdoing.'  Sister James reveals that she wishes she were more like Aloysius, but it appears to be the other way around as James spends the movie close in comforting a distraught Aloysius.

1 John 1:5-7 (The Message)

Walk in the Light

 ⁵This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. ^6-7If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.