The Kendrick Brothers Only Produce Quality Movies

Alex and Stephen Kendrick are brothers and also ordained ministers from Georgia who first created the movie Facing the Giants and marketed the movie in a new way. After the successful marketing of that movie, Samuel Goldwyn willingly distributed Fireproof in the same way. It was shown in small towns and churches during its opening in late September and early October. As a result of this new marketing technique, the movie is faring even better than Facing the Giants did. According to Fandago.com, it is bringing in 41% of ticket sales.

It Will Help Improve Your Relationship

One line from the movie states that when something is fireproof “doesn't mean that fire will never come, but when fire comes, it can withstand it.” Almost everyone who has been married for over a decade knows that marriages have seasons of trial. This movie gives viewers great hope and direction for how to make it through the stormy seasons of marriage.

It's Getting Good Ratings from Moviegoers

Movie ratings are in constant flux, but overall, every site I checked yesterday, had an average of B rating. Many moviegoers, like myself, would rate the movie higher. However, for a low-budget, low-Hollywood type movie, this rating is very good. Many sites state that the movie only cost $500,000 due to the fact they use local sets, costumes, and actors and actresses for fill-ins.

Source: Photo by Nightscream on Wikipedia.org

The Plot

Now that you know some background, you may be wondering what the movie's about. Caleb Holt (Kirk Cameron) is a firefighter who lives by the saying “never leave your partner.” This philosophy has paid off in his career. However, his wife Catherine and he have already grown separate emotionally, and she asks him for a divorce. Caleb's father then challenges him to a whole new way of thinking through The Love Dare, a dare that if taken seriously, brings both more heartache and healing. Caleb rises to the challenge daily. In the end, all I can say is that you will have to see the movie to see whether or not Catherine is willing to accept this change in him.

You Have Nothing Better to Do This Weekend

So maybe you do. But to quote my sister, “the movie is like marriage counseling in movie format.” After seeing it, I agree that the movie makes for a great discussion starter for you and your significant other. For example, you both can open up about “parasites” (the movie's term for factors that steal your partner away) for starters. However, it might also help to know that several churches have more in-depth groups or guides that surround the movie. If you find that the movie helped, look into purchasing The Love Dare book or getting guidance from a local church group which is focusing on this issue right now. Personally, I am finding help from our pastor's sermons, but I know others whose churches have small groups as support. Don't you owe it to your relationship to take the time to see this movie? As our pastor said in his sermon Sunday, there was a reason you chose your partner in the beginning, so take your vows seriously and learn to stick it out through the trials that come.

When unexplained happenings and connections started to come into play that affected the actors after they ended production well, someone had to ask.

Power One

When news hit that our beloved Heath Ledger was taken before his time, we were all perturbed. It was so surprising to so many people. How can these people lead such secretive lives when their working lives are so out in the open?

It was terrible to think that Ledger had some sort of disorder or conflict that led him to this point.

As time went on, information started to rear its ugly head. It was said in the news that Heath had gotten so enthralled in his role as the "Dark Knight", that he brought his work home with him. He was unable to sleep, eat, or even think coherently. Ultimately the stress of the situation led to his death. So we believe!

Power Two

Do you remember a movie by the name of "American Psycho"?

Christian Bale just happens to have been the leading role. He was a high power businessman that ruled the industry by day and murdered innocent women by night. He was said to bully the other lead actors out of playing the role because he said he was born to play it. He was sick of others saying Leonardo Dicaprio was a bigger star so he wouldn't get the part.

"I kept saying I was going to play the lead and people wondered if I was losing my mind. It reached the point where the film studio said about me, 'don't mention his name again.'

Christian Bale's acting merits ultimately led to his role in "Batman Begins" in 2005. I loved this movie. It wasn't filmed with an over exaggeration on weapons and gadgets but, the skills of the character.

However, when the second installment of the Batman movies wrapped, Christian was left with a bad taste in his mouth. There was so much attention on the recent demise of Heath Ledger that it took away some of the spotlight for him.

However, the spotlight was not skewed for long. While the movie was destroying box office records, Bale was in London, where his mother and sister reportedly leveled assault allegations against Bale.

Christian spent 4 hours in jail but, he was not charged; at least not yet.

And so the darkness surrounding "The Dark Knight" continued.

Power Three

In the 2005 installment of Batman Begins, Morgan Freeman had actually fashioned the Batman suit in this movie. It was one of his most secret inventions at the Wayne Corporation.

He was a voice of reason and a mentor to Christian while he was on the set.

Every opinion of Morgan Freemen that I have ever had has been an optimistic one. I've never heard of any antics on set or negative press associated with him.

However, after the filming of "The Dark Knight", the Academy Award winner was seriously injured in a car crash.
Freeman was traveling East on Highway 32 when his car skidded off the road and flipped several times.
Freeman was catapulted from the vehicle and then airlifted to a hospital in Memphis where he is still in serious condition.
Undisclosed accidents on the set

There were also unusual circumstances that had occurred during the filming.

A technician on the film died when the truck he was in reportedly struck a tree following a test run. It was also said that one of the actresses was set on fire as well.

I am sure there is one missing that would prove the aspect of Power of 3 but, the press has not released any information.

Another example of the Power of Three

Just the other day, I noticed that my Triond account had an odd amount of funds in it within a few hours. I was excited and skeptical at the same time.

On the same day, I lost my keys on campus and spent 2 hours looking for them. Did I mention my skirt was tucked into my red bikini underwear at the same time?

Not only did I have a humiliating day but, Triond took the money back which is what I expected.

If you put the humorousness aside about my story, you would realize that there were 3 dreadful things that happened to me that day.

This goes to show you that the Power of 3 is alive and affecting others all over the world.

 

In the year known as “The year that changed movies”, 1999 saw an upheaval in Hollywood culture. With releases such as, Magnolia, Run Lola Run, Dogma, Matrix, American Beauty, Fight Club and several others, we saw movies all dealing with something greater than ourselves. For further information on these movies specifically, I suggest the book A Matrix of Meanings, part of the “Engaging Culture Series”. These films address the concept of searching, something Hollywood has become, a place of searching. These films are giving Americans questions and making them look for the answers on their own. This is fantastic for believers as us, who know where the search for truth will end, with the Author of Truth. It has grown into entertainment that makes people think. Unlike one Walt Disney who said, “I'd rather entertain people and hope they learned something, than teach people and hope they were entertained.” These words embodied the thinking of 20th century film, and 1999 then revolted into a new era of filmmaking that teaches and thus entertains. It is this reason that the movie theatre is being called the new church of America. Now I also must clarify this last statement. Notice the “c” in church is lower case; this statement is not trying to say that movies are going to take over the Church at all or that it threatens church in anyway. All this is saying is that like Church, the movies are becoming a place to search for the divine.

Many people see the most recent movies coming out and believe that this trend is completely Christian. And I can see why they think this, with movies such as, “The Passion”, “Constantine”, “Bruce Almighty”, “Saved”, and “Kingdom of Heaven” all coming out within the last couple years. And most people also feel that this movement was begun with “The Passion”. This is in a sense a good observation, but it seems as though to take this point of view on, is to look at it backwards. For years (basically as long as they have existed) movies have been under attack by the Christian Organization. All The Passion really accomplished, and I don't mean to sound trivial because it is a huge accomplishment, was to show Hollywood that there is a new era of filmmaking, where the Christian audience will not automatically shun whatever product is made, as in 1988. So this is just one path, another avenue of exploration that Hollywood is traveling, and don't expect it to stay forever. It is a piece of the great quest Hollywood began in 1999.

Now is an exciting time for Christians in Hollywood, Christian movie goers and non-believers. Marvel as God works through his servant Hollywood to touch the lives of hundreds of millions throughout the world. A word of caution though, do not be discouraged if Hollywood strays from the Christian route and wanders onto other paths. Please do not revert back to our old ways of disgust and hatred revolving around what many Christians thought to be a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. Just know it is but a part of the search that we all must take, and again we all know where the search for truth leads, to the Lord our God.

Saved is the story of a young perfect Christian girl (played by Mandy Moore) and her posse of ab fab religious nut jobs attending the American Eagle Christian School. When she learns that her long time love is gay, she has a head-trauma induced vision of Jesus telling her to “do whatever she can to help [him]”. She misinterprets this as the divine okay to sleep with him, thereby “fixing” his homosexuality. However the boy's parents find out about his homosexuality. The boy is sent to Mercy House (a Christian rehab) and Moore is stuck with the inevitable aftermath of a 21st century chick-flick drama-dy romantic entanglement: she's pregnant.

Starting the new school year with her faith wavering, accompanied by all the usual emotional trauma of teen pregnancy, she ends up confiding in the school's “trouble case”, a Jewish girl named Cassandra. Cassandra smokes, has sex, and frequently makes a spectacle out the school. Teaming up with the pastor/principal's son Patrick and the most popular girl in school's handicapped brother, these four “heathens” form a bond of friendship and end up showing the school that some things can't be handled with prayer.

Saved is an incredibly funny movie to everyone except Christians with no sense of humor. While the movie is pretty much a cookie-cutter film from start to finish, it does have some truly excellent moments. In one scene, a group of Christian girls attempt to exercise Moore. She explodes at the main girl saying that she doesn't know “anything about love.” To which the girl responds by throwing the bible at Moore's back screaming “I am FILLED with Christ's love!”

This review is a little shorter than my others, but I really think the movie speaks for itself. You should definitely watch this film.

So, the final verdict… you should buy this movie (8 out of 10).

As the world faces unthinkable challenges ahead leaders around the world willingly transfers their elective powers to just one man, President Nicolae Carpathia and makes him and him alone the United Nations' President. The world's population is transfixed on this charismatic young leader who moves with haste to prevent the world's major currencies from completely collapsing and forms a One World Currency in the blink of an eye.

Most of the people of the world are memorized and hanging on to every single word the charmingly handsome leader speaks, but for a rag-tag band of brothers in Jesus Christ are aware of the true man behind the alluring smile and uncanny wisdom President Carpathia appears to process. For this small group of born-again Christians form their own Tribulation Force, so to try to share the truth the man that the world calls Messiah and to introduce anyone who will listen who can rescue their souls from the wrath to come in the afterlife.

Buck Williams, Rayford Steele and his daughter Chloe prepare to face the forces of evil head-on as they try to collect as much information as humanly possible about the new leader's plans for the future of mankind.

Buck Williams, a shining star of the GNN news network discovers new love and receives an offer that is cannot refuse (I think that you know what I mean) and all before bedtime.

Rayford Steele wrestling with himself to accept a captain's position piloting an airplane which will be responsible for ferrying potentially the world's most dangerous man and the new leader of the United Nations, Nicolae Carpathia. Eventually, this job leads him and Buck to Israel, so that Buck can report live the biggest announcement in the world's history, but Buck and Rayford has made other secretive plans.

Chloe remains back in America to help a church mission and hospital. Praying and pining that man that she loves will return home safely.

Nicolae Carpathia begins seizing the national and world media outlets, so in a vein attempt to stop the spread of Christianity around the world. It is though that it seems that all of the other major world religions are setting the stage for the next evolution in human history, but before anything major can happen - Rabbi Ben Judea is set to announce news that will forever change the world.

If you want to know what happens next, then you will just have to rent or buy the movie.

It is the second week now and theaters are just full not only at peak hours but all day long.

And how couldn't they be? Omar Sharif has returned to Egyptian cinema after years of absence.

Not only he returned to perform in an Egyptian movie but another major Egyptian actor is co-starring in the same movie, Mr. Adel Emam.

Adel Emam is known for his black comedy movies that state dramatic realities in comedy molds.

The movie is written by Yusuf Meaty, a famous writer and journalist.

“Hassan & Morkos” states the reality of the Coptic - Muslim relationship in Egypt.

It shows the different points of view about that relationship according to different layers of the Egyptian community.

The movie genre is of course comedy. Most writers in Egypt tend to write their scripts to be a comedy because they believe that it is the most appealing genre for the majority of the Egyptian people.

I really wished that it weren't a comedy though. The issue discussed in that movie should have been more realistic and intense to describe the real deal not just stating a vague situation.

Actually I wasn't satisfied. I expected a lot more concerning the script and the making.

The thing that really made me like this movie overall is Omar Sharif's performance.

What an outstanding performance by the icon.

Honestly I didn't think he would perform in such a perfect way but even though I am in fact a huge fan, he did surprise me.

The movie plot is about two religious men, one is a Muslim sheikh “Omar Sharif” and the other is a Christian preacher “Adel Emam” and their families.

They were both threatened by the fanatics in both religions and in order to protect them, the government decided to give them fake identities of opposite religions and relocate them.

They accidently meet and a love relationship is formed between the two families as each one thought that the other has the same religion.

Another love story is formed between the Christian family son and the Muslim family daughter.

The whole movie is a pure comedy until every family knows the truth. The whole thing then turns into a drama and here comes the end which for sure wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Another scene that I didn't get is when the truth is discovered the sheikh's wife wore “nekab” which is the strictest form of Islamic outfits.

She wasn't wearing this outfit in the beginning of the movie. She was wearing a normal “hijab” which is the simplest form of the Islamic outfit.

So all of a sudden she decided to wear this when she discovered the truth about the other family!!!

In the end I'd like to say that the movie has tried to state a truth untold which is something all writers should be doing.

Enjoy the joyful performance.

Ben Stein goes through great lengths to convince us that this has nothing at all to do with religion. Maybe he should've watched his own movie. After informing us that this is about science, we hear tale after tale of scary godless atheists who were converted to this horrifying Darwinian thought. In case the audience wasn't bright enough to get the point, droning ominous music plays throughout the entire film, that is until Ben Stein's rousing and liberating speech at the end. I think we may just have another Martin Luther King, Jr. on our hands.

Now onto what the movie has to say. Basically, it's a grand conspiracy theory that attempts to show the way in which mounds and mounds of evidence regarding intelligent design (better termed "Creationism") is discarded and hidden from the public in an effort to turn the world into Nazis. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm actually half-serious. Stein actually does draw the comparison of scientists to Nazis on multiple occasions. But back to the topic at hand. Stein ignores one extremely tremendous issue: creationism/intelligent design isn't science! At best it could be described as philosophy but in reality only the conservative and fundamentalist religious branches tend to have any interest in the subject at all.

The fundamentalists are right when they quickly point out that evolution cannot explain the origin of life, but this is a limit of all science, not the theory of biological evolution. Science is a study of the observable, and there is nothing observable about life origin as it only occurred once. Unless a way is discovered to repeat it, this is simply outside the realm of science and evolution. Yes, religion may give an answer, but it is hardly evidenced or provable, meaning that it has no place in a science classroom.

To compound the film's already illogical base, individuals were actually conned into making this film. Famed author of The God Delusion Richard Dawkins stated that he was lied to regarding the film's title and focus. He states that when making quipping remarks regarding intelligent design, the interviewer laughed right along with him. He also describes the way in which he attempted to discredit intelligent design, but was edited into the film as seemingly supporting it. For anyone even slightly familiar with Richard Dawkins, they would know this to be untrue.

Another such example of dishonesty is that which was shown toward the gentleman who discussed the "crystal theory," and was edited to appear as if he believed this theory. He in fact does not at all, but was simply attempting to dignify Stein's question regarding currently existent theories of origin within the scientific community.

Constantly repeated throughout this boring and artless film is the notion that the scientific community is unwilling to discuss intelligent design, which is beyond untrue. I have sitting beside me a book entitled Scientists Confront Intelligent Design and Creationism. This is a detailed and complex work thoroughly addressing the arguments levied against biological evolution. I would find it difficult to believe that anyone would find the book evasive. I also am holding a book titled Evolution and Religious Creation Myths by none other than Oxford University Press. For those unfamiliar with Oxford University Press, they are also responsible for the printing of America's most comprehensive Bible. So to say that academics or science doesn't take the arguments for intelligent design seriously is a bit ridiculous.

Lastly is this ridiculous notion of evolution leading to Holocaust-like violence. For those unfamiliar with Hitler, he was not an atheist, rather a Catholic. His hatred for Jews was rooted in probably large part to his Catholic heritage. To quote Dr. Dawkins, "Martin Luther himself wrote a book called On the Jews and their Lies from which Hitler quoted. And Luther publicly said that ‘All Jews should be driven from Germany.'" Bill Maher is quoted in the film as saying that we should "regulate religion" rather than guns or drugs. I see more of a tie from religion to horrendous acts than from the theory of evolution to horrendous acts when discussing Hitler. To insinuate that modern scientists are stupid enough to commit acts of genocide in the name of science is insulting to the entire hard-working scientific community.

Any biological scientist dealing with evolution will explain that this theory exists to describe natural behavior, not to encourage human interaction based on such behavior. One can actually see the opposite in fields such as psychology and sociology, which work to help people overcome oftentimes animalistic instincts by use of evolutionary theory.

So in the end, this film only serves to throw fire on the already sensationalized conspiracy theory regarding scientists and evolution. There are many explanations for why this debate rages on, but I have a theory. It seems to me that humankind wants to feel as if they are above all other forms of life, sort of an innate self-superiority. When admitting that all life relies on, and comes from, other life, a piece of that superiority is lost. They often mask this by saying that without this innate superiority, without being "in the image of God" as Creationists put it, we are unimportant.

However, this argument falls flat when one realizes one can approach this from an opposing perspective. When we become a part of all earthly life, and all earthly life becomes a part of us, one could argue that it raises the value of all life. The interdependency allows us to appreciate the beauty and complexity of life, something that people like Stein may never be able to experience.

This is a fantastic movie for men age 13 to 50. Women will probably find it ok. Cool cars, hot women, guns, planes, trucks, explosions, monster robots, I can't figure out why I was so sure this movie would flop. There are plot devises, like a secret map etched into old glasses, which might have been used to make the movie more suspenseful and dynamic but the editors made the call to minimize such things to keep the fast, adventure pacing.

What about the “PG-13” Rating?

There are several strong innuendos and it would be tempting to judge a couple scenes of Megan Fox looking hot in tight clothes as pure objectification but for two things. First is that the perspective is clearly not between us and the actress, but between an unpopular teen boy and a popular teen girl. The flirtation, etc. makes sense in context. The second factor is the conversation they have about being superficial and seeing deeper into who she is. It's very redeeming.

The larger story

This is a movie about honor and sacrifice. See if this sounds familiar there's a war between good and evil somewhere in the stars and the great evil comes to earth seeking power, and the hero of the good guys comes to save the day even if it means giving his life.

What this movie shows, that many films don't, is the role humans play in all this, and the care and concern these powerful beings have for them. It's a very inspiring thing.

• Writen/Directed by Sam Raimi
• Running time: 2hr 20 mins.
• Rated PG-13
• Also released widely in Imax

Go see “Spiderman 3”

Usually it's the second movie in a trilogy that can't hold up to the hype. Then the third movie comes through with the goods. In this case it would have been impossible for a movie to have lived up to the level of buzz this movie had.

Let's take it a piece at a time. The special effects are incredible. The acting is good right up to the end. The plot falls victim to the monumental task this crew gave themselves. Tobey has been pretty vocal about not thinking there should be a third movie--much less a third or fourth. When they were going to go ahead with the project even without him, (spidey would have been Jake Gillianhall), he did the right thing and signed on. Still everyone on this project seems to have suffered from the syndrome I call, “there can be only three.” As a result they tried to cram everything into this last piece.

At times it works and the aggressive pace keeps the action going despite the dramatic relationship stuff. Then at the very end its just a little much going on. For the most part this is a really great movie with a lot to offer. I wouldn't hesitate to go see it. It just won't go down as the best of the trilogy.

What about the “PG-13” Rating?

Standard stuff. Lots of action.

What if I hate Tobey Maguire?

Lots of people do. He's really good for this role though. Spiderman should be a little skinny, a little nerdy.

Larger Story

The Spiderman trilogy, in my opinion comes in second only to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy for larger story allegory. The “there's a little hero in all of us” speech in Spiderman 1 is awesome.

Now in Spiderman 3 we have the struggle to deal with our own dark side brought to a head. Where the superhero ends and vigilante begins is a common theme for comic books, but the struggle to live free from thoughts of revenge is a struggle we can all empathize with. It's dealt with very tenderly in this film. There are some great lines. “First we attack his heart,” and “when you say that I hear my father,” are really great.