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Category: 2016 Movie Challenge Page 17 of 21

Challenge Week 12: Milk

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On March 24, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

I wasn’t hugely looking forward to Milk, for a number of reasons – not particularly interested in the subject matter, not a fan of political dramas in general nor biopics, and Sean Penn alternately bores me and skeeves me out. But I was game to give it the old college try, and it definitely is a well-made film that would carry a great deal of power if the subject matter interested me more.

For the backstory, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man elected to political power in California – that of city supervisor for the Castro district of San Francisco in 1977. The film covers the period from around 1970 when he and his partner Scott moved to San Francisco (and were instrumental in making the Castro an LGBT haven), through his political career and his eventual assassination in 1978.

tf-milk-garber

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Challenge Week 11: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

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On March 21, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

This may not endear me to Bryan, but I should admit that when I was a kid I never watched the show (nor did I know anyone who did), but for some reason my friends and I made fun of it anyway – to this day I’m struggling to write the title properly instead of “Mighty Moron Chowder Ranchers.” I dunno what this ridicule was borne from, but you know, it was pretty hypocritical. I like/liked a lot of questionable shows (and movies) in my time, and I never watched it to know if it was really questionable anyway! But I certainly never thought I’d watch this movie, but by the time I sat down to it, I was pretty curious. Would I find out I’d missed out on something I would’ve loved as a kid?

Truth is, I don’t know. The movie is, uh…not very good. Like I said, I’ve never watched the show, so I apologize if there’s vital info I get wrong here. It’s based on some mythic mumbo jumbo about an powerful intergalactic being and six teenagers he empowered to fight evil, and in this particular story, an imprisoned super bad guy gets out and they have to travel across the galaxy to find the source of their power and, uh, reset it I guess and save the world. Along the way they transform into the Power Rangers to fight various groups of minions, spout off some of the most eye-rolling quip I’ve ever heard, and meet a scantily clad warrior lady who helps them tap into their greater powers. But none of that is necessarily more mumbo-jumboish than dozens of other shows I love, to be honest.

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Challenge Week 11: The Dance of Reality

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On March 20, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

When I made my preview post listing how excited I was about various films I’d be watching for this challenge, I put two films under “I’m Terrified” – notable so-bad-it’s-good movie Birdemic: Shock and Terror and this Alejandro Jodorowsky film. I was terrified because my husband had watched it for his podcast and thought it was pretty weird and maybe a little offputting. I’d heard Jodorowsky was a tough nut to crack in general, and I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good introduction to his surrealism or not – and surrealism has about an iffy track record with me. So I went in with quite a bit of trepidation.

Well, I kind of loved it.

tf-mother

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Challenge Week 10: Of Gods and Men

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On March 17, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

Based on a true story, this film tells the story of a small group of French monks in an Algerian monastery in 1995, caught between their order, the corrupt Algerian government, and an Islamic terrorist group. The beginning shows the fairly symbiotic relationship between the monks and the village they serve, though it’s interesting that they seem to have little interest in converting any of the Muslims around them (perhaps it’s worth noting there is a difference between a monastery and a mission), but instead serve among them, providing medical care, advice and a listening ear, prayer when desired, and above all a stable presence in the region.

The Islamist group threatens the delicate balance, with growing violence and threats making the monks consider leaving for a safer monastery or returning to France. This struggle is played out in a series of community meetings as the seven or eight of them talk out the various options, and what they believe God would have them do, and also more subtly through the frequent prayer and chanting they do, which constitutes almost the entirety of the film’s soundtrack.

tf-meeting

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Challenge Week 10: The Keys of the Kingdom

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On March 12, 2016

In 2016 Movie Challenge

Although a 1944 film starring Gregory Peck in an Oscar-nominated performance sounds like something right up my alley, I never really thought much to seek out this film, largely because films specifically about priests or pastors often don’t tend to do as much for me as you might expect. Either I disagree with the theology presented, or I’m angered by the portrayal, or I’m bored with the piety. I knew little of this except that the main character was a priest, but I presumed one of the above might be the case.

I actually got far more out of it than I thought I would, though I guess I could still nitpick the theology a bit here and there. Peck is Father Francis Chisolm, who winds up going to seminary after the girl he loved chooses a different path (and a somewhat surprising one for a 1944 film, I have to say), but his methods don’t always please his superiors. His teachers take his dogged questioning as a lack of faith in traditional theology, and later on his superiors worry that he’s too ecumenical – he has friends who are atheists! One superior, however, sees something special in him and appoints him head of a mission in China.

tf-with-Anna

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