Double feature: Heaven is for Real & Noah

So, I finally got to these two. Randall Wallace's (Braveheart) Heaven is for Real shows that other dimension we know is there, but did the kid really see Jesus and a bunch of dead relatives or was it that angel of light, the great distractor? I guess I buy that no one is old up in Heaven because age is a sign of deterioration and there's none of that up there. This film, based on a true story of a little boy who visits heaven during surgery to save his life, begs the question: Is there life after death? Also, why are some taken while others are left behind for a while? And, should we fear the hereafter? Will we see lost loved ones again? Moreover, if Jesus is the only one who can truly offer eternity, why is it so hard for so many to embrace that truth?

Perhaps Noah has the answer.

Yes, Noah. The film panned by most Christians as inaccurate, fabled and even dreadful. For me, the only standout inaccuracy was that they changed the most compelling part of the flood story and had Noah close the door to the Ark. (If you're curious as to who shut Noah, his family and the animals two by two in, get hold of a Bible and read Genesis 7:16b.) Well, despite this blaring omission, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Could've done without the Rock People - don't know what that was all about. Perhaps they're a metaphor for the Earth itself crying out to defend its position against destruction caused by sin and chaos. All right. Enough of those annoying CGIs. Let's get to casting.

The subtle pairing of Jennifer Connelly and Russell Crowe, formerly cast in A Beautiful Mind as husband and wife, is nothing short of brilliant. Here they are centuries ago as spouses facing a different sort of mindful drama. And, I just gotta say I love Russell Crowe as Noah. His portrayal shows the heart of a man who wants to please God. It is prophetic how he does an "Isaac" (See Genesis 22:6-13) with his granddaughters. And I love Emma Watson's soulful performance as his daughter-in-law. Then there's Anthony Hopkins as Methuselah, Noah's old grandfather, albeit a bit of a magic man.

The real beauty is that this story actually answers all the questions raised in Heaven is for Real. The flood represents death and the new earth life after death. It starts all over again but this time round, though the truth is still hidden in our hearts, it is up to us to enter God's ark. Well, that's how I see it. If you combine these two films, Noah finds out that Heaven is for real.Heaven is for Real trailer

Winter's Tale - the movie

While it's got nothing to do with Shakespeare's drama of the same name, Akiva Goldman's "Winter's Tale" (he directed "A Beautiful Mind") is about a beautiful heart. Though most critics see this overwrought story filled to the brim with sappiness, at its core, this is a fairy tale about sacrifice and repentance. Strange virtues for a society of selfies. Inspirational fodder for those of us who are, alas, hopeless romantics. Dreamers. Believers in redemption.

That there is an author out there, Mark Helprin, who can spin a story like a Grimm brother, and that someone got it spot on by pairing the handsome and utterly charming Colin Farrell with the, as his character Peter Lake said, "impossibly beautiful" Jessica Brown Findlay (otherwise sorely missed Lady Sybil of "Downton Abbey" fame) is not only brilliant but blissful. And then there is that white pegasus that goes by the name of Horse, a symbol of all that is good to fight all that is bad in the person of Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) who receives orders from a comic book version of Satan (under-acted by Will Smith).

But, the sweet spot in the movie that might be sorely overlooked, especially by boys writing reviews who prefer something more action-packed, is that mystical and perfect tent built on various rooftops for a dying girl. What more could one ask for? Who doesn't like to sleep outside and watch the stars? And, better yet, gaze at the universe with someone like Colin Farrell in mind.

This movie will steal your heart, if you let the reality of the fable sink in.

Monumental "Monuments Men"

Dear Mr. Clooney,
I just saw a movie that may change my life. I'm not sure if it is the humanity or lack of humanity that moves me more.

Thank you for bringing "The Monuments Men" (from Robert Edsel's book of the same title) to the big screen with a cast, including yourself, who honorably retell a piece of unknown history of brave historians, tasked by FDR, who trek through war torn Europe in possibly the greatest treasure hunt on earth. Their mission: to retrieve art stolen by the Nazis and return plundered public and private artworks to its rightful owners, whether dead or alive. 

Aside from the joyous revelation that Hugh Bonneville (aka "Downton Abbey's" Lord Grantham) and Jean Dujardin ("The Artist") play important roles in the movie, let's just say Cate Blanchett's riveting portrayal, of a Parisian curator privvy to Nazi thievery of the world's priceless masterpieces and what she does with the information, takes the air out of the theatre. Too, Matt Damon's faithful James Granger and the German-Jewish soldier who eavesdrops on the Fuehrer's evil plans as our heroes attempt to outpace the Russians, after stolen art for early reparations.

But the real stars of this show sit in cloaked wheelbarrows and stockpiled frames signed by Peter Paul Rubens, Claude Monet, Michelangelo and Rembrandt, to name but a few. This well directed and written film brings the importance of art into focus and how the plight to protect civilization from extinction due to the ravages of war continues to this day. Like art itself, "Monuments Men" belongs to the ages.

http://www.monumentsmenfoundation.org
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-monuments-men-180949569

And the Oscar Goes to ...

Sunday, February 24th, Academy voters will determine who walks home with this year's coveted Oscar, and as it turns out, the competition is fierce.

Let's look at five contenders.

There's Lincoln, up for the lion's share of awards including best movie and director with veteran Stephen Spielberg at the helm and Daniel Day Lewis giving audiences more than a glimpse into the very soul of a beloved and hated commander in chief. Day's intimate portrayal of the Civil War president agonizing over a young nation is worthy of Best Actor.

Though Les Miserables is a musical and has way too much music with no song and dance, its cast did well and are up for Best Actor (Hugh Jackman) and Best Original Song. Prognosticators say it's a shoe in for Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada) to grab Best Supporting Actress. That the film's mostly a Debbie Downer could play against the odds were it not for an underlying thread of redemption that runs its characters ragged yet inspired.

Kathryn Bigelow's at it again, directing another war thriller nominated for an Oscar. In 2010, her moving account of soldiers deployed to Iraq to snub out explosives nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture with The Hurt Locker. This time it's Zero Dark Thirty, a dramatization of a decade's worth of highbrow snooping to locate al Qaida leader and instigator of 9/11, Osama bin Laden, and bring him to justice. The film's protaganist, Jessica Chastain, is up for Best Actress, and shows her acting chops in this film from ditzy gal in "The Help" to a CIA intelligence officer with killer instincts whose research gets the Navy Seals on board for a wild ride to Pakistan to seal the deal.

Let's include Ben Affleck in this amazing mix of filmmakers with his Argo movie, a declassified tale of how the CIA posed as fake film producers to smuggle six stray American diplomats, holed up in the Canadian Embassy, from the clutches of revolutionary Iranians during the Iran Crisis. This film could take home the Oscar for its suspense so raw and well crafted that audiences were watching the entire film on the edge of their seats. The only flaw comes during the credits when President Carter recaps the end of the Hostage Crisis with no mention of how newly inaugurated Ronald Reagan orchestrated release of those hostages by intimidating their captors.

And then there's the hyped Silver Linings Playbook, a movie I saved for last, skeptical that it'd be preachy or repetitious of other films about mental illness. Forget all that. Playbook is magical. Largely in part to Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games), who plays opposite Bradley Cooper (The Words, Hangover), up for Best Actor. Lawrence captivates Cooper and moviegoers from the moment she's on screen. It's this year's Cinderella story about two wounded souls who understand what it's like to try to recapture some semblance of normalcy when the rug's been pulled from underneath. This movie's a smart, sexy love story with off putting characters full of endearing qualities and intense chemistry despite their dysfunctional DNA.

Three Musketeers!!!

There's something so cool and mysterious about babies having babies, who if born today, could live to see the 22nd century. Take Jonathan Patrick Kagamaster, whose birth day December 5, 2012, represents the future. In 2112, he'll be 100 years old and a day. What an amazing little fellow. For now, we're all thrilled that he's here on the present day scene with us so we can love him and cherish him and watch him grow with his cousins. It's the new three musketeers! Welcome to our world, JP!

Lincoln

To bring us into the interior world of the tortured soul of a character, in this case one of America's finest presidents, is usually the work of a book. Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," an illuminating historical fiction, more than depicts the legacy left by President Abraham Lincoln (played to a tee by Anglo-Irish actor Daniel Day Lewis).

A cast of characters, from that fateful year 1865, includes Mary Todd Lincoln (played by Sally Field), General Ulysses S. Grant (Jared Harris) and Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (in an Oscar worthy performance by Tommy Lee Jones), amid the backdrop served by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a masterfully spun document to let freedom ring for all, playing center stage to Lincoln, who spends the last four months of his life spinning wheels, hiring hucksters and agonizing over prolonging the bloody Civil War as he crosses party lines in an attempt to get the majority votes needed to free America's slaves.

Lewis embodies the sixteenth president of the United States with finesse, homespun humor and tenderness tempered with the power of his position. While Congress argues over the new amendment, Lincoln thumbs through a natural science encyclopedia with his youngest son, Tad, and when he's up all hours of the night, the troubled leader floats through the White House like a ghost, waking administrative assistants to send messages to the war field.

In a touching scene with his White House helpers, Lincoln questions equality: "Can we choose to be born? Are we fitted to the times we are born into? We begin with equality, that's the origin, isn't it? that's justice. See we've shown that a people can endure awful sacrifice and yet cohere."

Not since "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) or "Gone with the Wind" (1939) has the storied Lincoln so captivated its audience and just as President Woodrow Wilson said of the first film, that it was "like writing history with lightning," this Lincoln, too, is making its mark.

In theatres across the country, "Lincoln" gets a standing ovation, if not for its political plot twists round a lame duck Congress, surely for Lewis' kindred, spirited portrayal of a great man. Don't miss this movie.

Voting is our Civic Right!

It's our civic duty to vote. Kevin Costner in Swing Vote asks incumbent and opposing candidates, both he thinks capable, why someone hard working two jobs cannot afford to live here? And that is my question to Obama and Romney. And I think the answer has something to do w raised taxes for stuff I don't want to buy. Shouldn't cut military or we'll be inadequately protected (think Benghazi) and need jobs to come back to America (sorry India and China). But also need to keep our borders open as we are a country of immigrants (I'm first born here). As for medical who's going to let us go alternative? And when will we see less pain at the pump? I don't know about you but 75% of my day wages go to roof over my head and transportation. For starters how about a flat tax and local or regional petrol? Just saying these are some things I'm weighing before I pull that lever at the polls on Monday. Not listening to superpac hate ads or Obama 2016 or negative speeches about Mr. Romney. All of these are chock full of omissions. I like both guys for different reasons but I think in this race I'm zeroing in on stretching my dollar.