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| Tasty morsels of cultural delight |
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We are living in a time when we are being told on every side to do what makes sense rather than what is right. We are told to save for the future, to make wise investments, to protect our assets. Most of the advice we are receiving today is designed to make life safer, not necessarily better. Rarely do we hear someone say, "Take a chance." Doing the right thing doesn't always make sense if we are trying to see a connection between it and what is going on around us. But God never promised that His way would always make sense, or that we would see a connection between it and our present circumstances. MORE |
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Amazing Grace is a character study of the greatest humanitarian, and - if works need to be mixed with faith to be effective - perhaps the greatest Christian in British history. The film opens with Wilberforce intervening on behalf of a horse that is being beaten to death by the side of a road; and, for the rest of the film and the remainder of his life, he fought for the rights of all living creatures. At a time when there were very few social institutions beyond workhouses and prisons, Wilberforce personally began or participated in 69 charities to help both humans and animals. However, the accomplishment for which Wilberforce is best known is the subject of this film: he almost single handedly ended the slave trade in Great Britain. MORE |
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| What's the problem with most Christians today? They're either gung-ho on Truth or gung-ho on Grace. What was wrong with the religious Jews of Jesus' day? They were either gung-ho on Truth (the Pharisees) or gung-ho on Grace (the Sadducees). But John 1:14,17 says that Jesus Christ was full of Grace and Truth. You cannot have the one without the other and be like Christ. Randy Alcorn does a masterful job fleshing out what is probably the biggest problem with the Church today - why we’re not more like Jesus - and he does so with the smallest number of words (only 92 pages) in the smallest amount of space (only 6.5" x 4.75" size book). It doesn't take long to read, but there's enough meat to meditate on for an entire year, and to spend the rest of your life trying to master. MORE |
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| John Nash is a mathematical genius suffering from schizophrenia. How he deals with his problem is what makes his "a beautiful mind." Once he is diagnosed, he is given the usual drug and shock treatments. But he realizes that the treatments being administered to save his mind are also destroying it. With his wife Alicia's consent and help, he tries to overcome his problem using the powers of his own mind. It is because of her love and support, and the support of the mathematics community, that he succeeds. The journey he takes along the way is not only fascinating, it is personally enlightening. MORE |
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I have heard a lot of people talk about Hollywood as if it were the city of golden opportunities - people that have never lived there themselves, or, if they have, have lived there for only a short time. Usually their statements are very defensive. It is time we got the real dope from those who know Tinsel Town best: the directors, actors, producers, writers and other movie people who have lived and worked there. Here are some excerpts from an article from Leslie Halliwell's Filmgoers And Video Viewer's Companion under the listing "Hollywood." It contains quotes from some of the most famous names in movie history. Their comments, as well as Halliwell's own research, give great insight into the good, the bad and the ugly truth about Hollywood. MORE |
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Billy Wilder's career as a writer-director reads like a Best Films list. He was nominated for 21 Academy Awards, 6 of which he won (along with the prestigious Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award in 1988), and one of those Oscars was for the screenplay of Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Boulevard is considered by many to be his finest work, and one of the great, great films of Hollywood. It is also the classic example of Film Noir, a style of film that was popular in the late 40's and early 50's, known for its edginess, among other things. Because it examines the underbelly of Hollywood at the time, it is a film buff's delight. MORE |
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| Not long ago, someone asked about a good book on lighting for cinematographers. I recommended Painting With Light by John Alton. Alton was cinematographer for Anthony Mann, well-known Film Noir and western director from the 1940's and 50's. Even today, this book is considered the most important ever written on the subject of lighting and cinematography–in short, what gives a film its "look." Cinematography and lighting control mood, point-of-view and framing, which do as much to tell the story of a film as any other element. And no style of film is more unique in that respect than Film Noir. MORE |
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| "Outrageous" is the best word I can think of to describe Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot - unless it's "sophisticated." Some may think that a strange combination, but I don't think so. We have the burlesque element of two musicians - played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon - who are driven by lack of work to impersonate females so they can get jobs in an all-girl band that's heading to Florida. (One of the musicians, Curtis, also impersonates Cary Grant later in the film - not for work but love.) We have gangland, prohibition and the Chicago St. Valentine's Day Massacre, featuring George Raft as a gangster and Pat O'Brien as a police detective. (This is another reason our two musicians need to be incognito and heading out of town - they accidentally witnessed that holiday massacre.) We have the lush, tropical setting to which our heroes (heroines?) are fleeing: an exclusive Florida resort for retired millionaires. We have the gorgeously seductive Marilyn Monroe as the singer of the band in one of her hottest roles, not to mention her rendition of a pair of really hot songs. And we have one of the homliest comedians that ever graced the silver screen - Joe E. Brown - as the millionaire that takes a liking to Lemmon's female persona. It is definitely a combination of the outrageous and the sophisticated. MORE |
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| As a designer and artist, I know all the theories dealing with the psychological and cultural effects and meanings of the color red. That is not what this article is about. Rather, it is about why I personally like the color red and why I think it is an important color in art, culture and life. I don't believe there is anything objective or accidental about my liking red. I was seduced into liking it. Like a visitor from the Red Planet, it came into my life and took me over - emotionally and psychologically. There is a reason red is said to be the color of passion and love (as well as power and war). It is overpowering, and has a power all its own. MORE |
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| First, you have to like musicals. Second, you have to like the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Third, you have to understand that a movie is a different animal from a stage play. And fourth, you have to be open to a different, younger interpretation of the story than the stage version. If you accept those four conditions, you will love this film. MORE |
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| I like Gerard Butler. Everybody does. He's funny, engaging and self-effacing; he's good-looking, athletic, 6' 2", plays heroic roles and speaks with a Scottish accent. But who is he, really; and why, as many times as he's ridden the Hollywood merry-go-round, isn't he able to grab the brass ring of stardom? MORE |
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| A Scottish mom tries to maintain a relationship via post between her nine-year-old deaf son and a made-up father, while on the run from his real, abusive father. This won Best Picture at the Los Angeles Film Festival, awards at Heartland and Seattle International Film Festivals, two thumbs up from Ebert & Roper, and a rave review from Leonard Maltin. Independent director Shona Auerbach's brings a rare sensitivity to this her debut film. MORE |
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| I was attracted to this documentary by the cover on the DVD, which is an engaging and eerie photograph of the ship, Endurance, frozen in the ice with the men grouped in front of it. The documentary turned out to be even more engaging and eerie. I'm not a big fan of documentaries, but this one enthralled me. I still can't get over the fact that this story really happened, or that Shackleton was the leader he was. MORE |
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| We have had a couple of snows here in Atlanta this winter that were built up by the media into impending blizzards, but turned out to be little more than light dustings. I am so enamored with snow, that I was willing to talk myself into the idea that we would be snowed in, and that I should therefore cancel all my scheduled appointments and social obligations. Both times, I prepared myself mentally for pleasant, cozy evenings by the fire, with popcorn and favorite beverage, watching the big flakes fall as I got snowed in. My friends from up north are still kidding me about being the only person in Atlanta that was snowed in. MORE |
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| Paul Walker stars in this almost perfect family action film about a team of eight sled dogs (hence the name), who have to be left behind when a team of scientists and explorers in Antarctica are evacuated due to severe weather conditions. Before this, director Frank Marshall had been a highly successful producer, with only a handful of director’s credits on his resume, including Congo. But he proves himself admirably, with the help of screenwriter David DiGilio. MORE |
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| Over the course of my life, I have enjoyed many and sundry versions of A Christmas Carol on screen and stage. But only recently did I finally get around to reading it. To my surprise, it turned out to be a Christian story. I knew it was inspiring, but I never dreamed there were so many Christian references, because only a few of them have survived in the many dramatic productions. The amazing thing about this five-part story, which is one of the shortest of Dickens' works, is that we never tire of seeing or hearing it. We seem addicted to the idea that Christmas can transform us if we let it. In A Christmas Carol, we see the Victorian Christmas we have always dreamed of. In the miser Scrooge, we see the best and worst of ourselves. And in the conclusion to the tale, we see the hope that we, similarly, can be transformed by the Spirit of Christmas. MORE |
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| This issue, we don't have anything new on our Creative Sharks web site, but feel free to browse the various departments. If you've never been to Shark Island, you might find it a refreshing break from the winter weather. MORE |
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| © 2008 Waitsel Smith. All Rights Reserved. |
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