Archives For Films

Bourne_0Wayne Grudem evaluates the Jason Bourne films (his critique applies to The Bourne Legacy as well) when he discusses the CIA in Politics—According to the Bible: A Comprehensive Resource for Understanding Modern Political Issues in Light of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 424–25:

THE CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the primary organization that gathers and analyzes information about other countries, especially about potential enemies of the United States. In other words, the CIA coordinates America’s spy network abroad. Continue Reading…

Grant Horner, “Glorifying God in Literary and Artistic Culture,” in Think Biblically! Recovering a Christian Worldview (ed. John MacArthur; Wheaton: Crossway, 2003):

If Christians attempt to approach culture—literature, film, the arts and philosophies of humanity—from a human, cultural standpoint, they will be acting in disobedience to God. (p. 315)

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Some Useful Questions

There are several core areas that must be considered when attempting to approach cultural artifacts from a biblical perspective:

  • What is the apparent moral stance of the work in question? Is good represented as good, and evil as evil? Are these categories blurred or even reversed? Is there a sense of justice involved at any level? Is man represented as good, evil, or neither? Continue Reading…

October Baby

Andy Naselli —  February 1, 2012 — 3 Comments

Last week my wife and I watched October Baby, a new film that releases in theaters on March 23.

Here’s the official trailer:

More clips and interviews here.

Some Strengths

  1. It celebrates life in our culture of death. It’s about Hannah, a college freshman who learns that she’s adopted and that her biological mother unsuccessfully tried to abort her and then abandoned her.
  2. It winsomely depicts abortion as what it is—murdering helpless, voiceless little people—with tears and heartache. It connects with people on an emotional level that mere intellectual arguments cannot.
  3. It celebrates family, love, and forgiveness.
  4. It’s relatively clean compared to typical Hollywood movies.

Some Weaknesses

  1. It is religiously generic compared to films like Courageous and Fireproof (Provident Films distributes all three). My expectations, Continue Reading…

Courageous on DVD

Andy Naselli —  January 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Courageous becomes available on DVD on January 17.

The DVD includes several interesting bonus features such as a 22-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.

Cf. my review.

This thirteen-minute video is worth watching as a family this Christmas season.

Our church is planning to play it in our Sunday morning service on Christmas Day.

The film Courageous opens at 900 theaters nationwide on September 30.

Cf. my review.

Courageous

Andy Naselli —  September 6, 2011 — 3 Comments

Last weekend my wife and I watched the film Courageous, which opens at 900 theaters nationwide on September 30.

Trailer

About the Film

Thoughts

  1. This is the best of the four films that Sherwood Pictures has produced in terms of filming, acting, and storyline.
  2. It focuses on multiple aspects of fatherhood and depicts that weighty responsibility as a high calling. It makes a strong counter-cultural statement about fathers courageously leading their homes rather than selfishly abdicating their responsibility. Continue Reading…