 |
|
I’ll be presenting at the upcoming Jesus Radicals conference in Columbus, Ohio. My session (on the relationship between Church and State) will be on Friday afternoon. If you’re in the area, drop by! August 15-16, 2008 As election fever rises throughout the United States and the contest for the White House becomes more fierce, the masses will clamor for a new Commander in Chief to assume the seat of American power. This year, it seems as if the game has changed as a female candidate appears to fulfill feminist dreams and a viable Black candidate raises hopes for Black freedom and signals the weakening of racism. But is this really the case? For those who follow the One who confronted the powers and embrace the One who came as a Suffering Servant, these changes are not enough to leave this political system unchallenged. For those who envision an egalitarian world in which order and organization do not rely on the ever-present threat of state violence, bowing before the ballot box will not be an option. Join us for this year’s Anarchism and Christianity conference as we explore alternatives to mainstream approaches to key issues raised in the current election, dream beyond the political options of our present system and imagine the other world we want to create. Get detailed session and housing info, and register to attend.
M. L. (MARYLU) TYNDALL grew up on the beaches of South Florida loving the sea and the warm tropics. But despite the beauty around her, she always felt an ache in her soul–a longing for something more. After college, she married and moved to California where she had two children and settled into a job at a local computer company. Although she had done everything the world expected, she was still miserable. She hated her job and her marriage was falling apart. Still searching for purpose, adventure and true love, she spent her late twenties and early thirties doing all the things the world told her would make her happy, and after years, her children suffered, her second marriage suffered, and she was still miserable. One day, she picked up her old Bible, dusted it off, and began to read. Somewhere in the middle, God opened her hardened heart to see that He was real, that He still loved her, and that He had a purpose for her life, if she’d only give her heart to Him completely. Her current releases in the Legacy of The Kings Pirates series include:The Restitution, The Reliance, and The Redemption
Forced to betray England or never see her only brother alive again, Dominique has accepted a position as governess to the son of Admiral Chase Randal, a harsh man, still bitter over the loss of his wife. Will Dominique find the strength she needs through God to follow through with the plan to rescue her brother? Will Chase find comfort for his bitter heart in God’s arms and be able to love again? And what new deceptions will they both find in France when they arrive to carry out their plan? If you would like to read an excerpt of The Falcon And The Sparrow, go HERE
314 million dollars in 10 days. Multiple box office records set. Unanimously adored by the critics with rave reviews. It is becoming a cultural phenomenon. When was the last time a movie had a budget of 185 million dollars and received the best reviews of the year. How about….. never? There has not been a spectacle quite like this since The Titanic 11 years ago. A massively anticipated and exponentially hyped Batman sequel, which unfortunately was aided by the passing of Heath Ledger. At the IMAX here in Chicago, the film is sold out until 7 days from now, a pace that is expected to continue for almost a month. Most of the good seats are already taken for days in early August! The film has a great chance at reaching half a billion dollars domestically, something no other film has ever done besides Titanic. It already has reached the #1 rated film of all-time on imdb.com with over 150,000 fans voting giving it a 9.4 average rating thus far. Fans reactions everywhere have been overwhelmingly positive. There are no words to prepare you for just how great this film is, no matter how high your expectations, The Dark Knight will blow them away. What director Christopher Nolan has done with this franchise is beyond words, he has created a film that will make you want to get down on your knees and bow it its greatness. Details will be short on the story, as to avoid any spoilers for those who have not seen it yet. There is a relationship triangle in this film that involves Bruce Wayne/Batman, Harvey Dent/Two Face, and The Joker. It is a like a greek tragedy with a story that boasts both a white knight (Dent) as well as a dark one (Batman). While both of these two are figuring out the best course of action on repairing this city, The Joker’s goal is to rip it apart and create an unimaginable amount of fear and terror for the rest of Gotham City. And it all starts with Batman. The plot is too good and tightly woven to even talk about, I don’t want to spoil anything. The story seamlessly weaves between these three, connecting multiple characters and creates a staggeringly epic climax. They have wonderfully combined several stories from the comics in one film that is better than any of the sources. Fans of the film that are new to comics should check out The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke. What is hard to do in a story this long and complicated is not let the villain overpower the story. Gangs of New York is a film I adore, but have to admit that Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) certainly overshadowed Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo Di-Caprio). This is not the case in The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne’s obsessive behavior with Batman has cost him, not only by attracting more demented criminals to the city (The Joker), but also but alienating those closest to him in Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gylenhal). The film balances all these storylines effectively and injects complexity and questions that you don’t normally see in ‘comic book movies’. The script will be studied in film schools for years to come. A script that is poetic, entails incredible depth and takes a poignant look at the real world. You don’t have to be a Batman fanboy to love the movie, you just have to love a good story. It effectively develops these characters in that you genuinely will care what happens to them. It is perfectly paced and even at 150 minutes, the story is constructed in a fashion where it goes by much quicker than that, leaving you wanting more. The story is expertly crafted, always staying several steps ahead of the audience member. There are no wasted brush strokes, everything is a cog in the wheel that pushes the story to fit its theme. The performances are astounding. Aaron Eckhart gives all he can into the duality of Harvey Dent, the possible savior of Gotham City. Gary Oldman is perfect as commissioner Gordon, who finds his job becoming exponentially stressful and frustrating as corruption seems to close everyone around him in. These two are so good at their roles that I cannot picture anyone else in them. Christian Bale is stoic as Batman. Bale is always superb in everything that he does, and really brings a level of depth to Bruce Wayne/Batman that has not been seen before. Maggie Gylenhal is smart and witty with the role of Rachel Dawes. Kudos to the person who thought Michael Caine for the role of Alfred, that is just damn perfect! You can’t say enough about Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. He is absolutely terrifying, arguably the greatest villain in film history. If you met the Joker on the street you’d probably want to kill yourself out of fear. I mean, this isn’t acting. This is a metaphysical transformation of a person into that character. He lives in the same world, thinks the same insane thoughts, and acts with the same merciless vengeance (much like the Joker does when he paralyzed Jim Gordon’s daughter in The Killing Joke). It is as great a performance as the silver screen has have ever seen. He encapsulates everything that is evil and his main goal is to corrupt everything and everyone around him. From the little nuances like his animalistic licking of his scars, mannerisms, to his hair raising vocal pattern and absolutely pitch perfect line delivery, he is sure to be a lock for winning an Academy Award for best supporting actor. This isn’t so much a performance as it is someone actually becoming someone else. I think its the greatest villain film has ever seen. The action sequences are special effects are mind boggling. You can see every penny of this budget on the screen. From the H.E.A.T inspired bank robbery to the epic chase sequence (the one involving Harvey Dent) is one of the craziest stunts you will ever see (Hint: it involves a truck). The action is simply jaw-droppingly awesome. It will pin you to your seat, you almost feel out of breath when they are done. Wow. Even days after seeing this it is hard not to get geeked up just thinking about them. The musical score by James by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard is flawless. You can mention it in the same breath as the original score, composed by the legendary Danny Elfman. Zimmer and Howard’s score adds such a sense of foreboding to this movie it is almost unsettling. It exponentially intensifies the action sequences and adds complexity to this gritty and realistic atmosphere. I may be one of the few people to own both the H.E.A.T soundtrack as well as this one, and there are little things here and there that will remind you of the many inspirations that H.E.A.T gave this movie. Nolan’s world of Batman isn’t for kids. It is one of the hardest PG-13 movies that you will ever see. None of the violence is gratuitous, all of it fits the theme of the film and helps establish the Joker as a supremely evil character. It is easily is the best comic book film to date. It is portrayed with a realistic feel. The Dark Knight is gritty and violent, and fits everything that Batman is and stands for. The dynamic that he must wrestle with on to do what is right for the city over what he feels is right is something that will always haunt him. It doesn’t take any short cuts or do anything arbitrarily, everything that is on screen is for a reason. The story is epic and executes the multiple story lines to perfection. The film never tries to do too much. It is a crime saga story for the ages, one that should not be missed. When this one is over with, you will have a smile ear to ear, knowing you just watched one of the best films you’ve seen in a long, long time, one that you will most definitely want to see again. You need to see this movie now! High Points: Absolutely everything. It is easily the best film of the year. Low Points: That the film had to end. I wanted more! FYI: During the pre-production phase, Heath Ledger created a journal in which he kept things that The Joker would find funny like cancer, the Ebola virus, starvation, and the AIDS virus. Bottom Line: The Dark Knight is not only the best comic book film ever made, but one of the finest crime drama stories of all-time.
|
Categories
Site Directory
Favorites
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
