http://cinemagogue.com redefining entertainment Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:10:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 engaging and exploring the connection between film, narrative, spirituality, creativity and Creator, images and imaging God. Pastor James Harleman clean Pastor James Harleman jh@marshill.com jh@marshill.com (Pastor James Harleman) ...redefining "entertainment" religion, tv, film, spirituality, Mars Hill Church, movie reviews, Christianity, Christian Movie Reviews +http://cinemagogue.com/rss.png http://cinemagogue.com/category/reviews-by-genre/thriller/ http://cinemagogue.com/2011/09/12/adjusting-your-view-of-god/ http://cinemagogue.com/2011/09/12/adjusting-your-view-of-god/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:02:37 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=4252 http://cinemagogue.com/2011/09/12/adjusting-your-view-of-god/feed/ 0 "All I have are the choices I make." - David Norris, The Adjustment Bureau - Really? Is this a truism about humanity, or a truth we really want to live with? I left this film with an acrid taste in my mouth, though not for the reasons one might expect. "All I have are the choices I make." - David Norris, The Adjustment Bureau Really? Is this a truism about humanity, or a truth we really want to live with? I left this film with an acrid taste in my mouth, though not for the reasons one might expect. True, I was in the minority that didn't really resonate with the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt (though the latter gave a great performance - I blame Damon), but this wasn't the problem. The issue at hand was any interpretation in which a viewer might actually believe they'd witnessed a happy ending. The Bureau in the film, and the chairman, provide the viewer with a very skewed view of sovereignty, a vision of overseeing powers that are short-handed, short-sighted, and desperately trying to keep up. If this film's vision of reality's "chairman" were true, I wouldn't have any faith either... in love, in life, or in God. Despite my unsettled feelings regarding the film, it remained a fantastic time unpacking ideas of chance, choices, and chairman with a live audience after a showing of the film, delving into the nature of "true love", kismet, cause and effect, and creator. (WARNING: the audio talk contains spoilers). "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9 OWN THE FILM now on DVD, Blu-ray, or Instant Video. Pastor James Harleman clean http://cinemagogue.com/2010/04/30/no-man-is-a-shutter-island/ http://cinemagogue.com/2010/04/30/no-man-is-a-shutter-island/#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:45:45 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=2465 http://cinemagogue.com/2010/04/30/no-man-is-a-shutter-island/feed/ 2 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/04/29/knowing-is-half-the-battle/ http://cinemagogue.com/2009/04/29/knowing-is-half-the-battle/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:14:09 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=1149 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/04/29/knowing-is-half-the-battle/feed/ 7 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/26/taken-pt-3-our-fathers-relentless-pursuit/ http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/26/taken-pt-3-our-fathers-relentless-pursuit/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:03:12 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=1070 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/26/taken-pt-3-our-fathers-relentless-pursuit/feed/ 3 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/23/taken-pt-2-her-father%e2%80%99s-regulation/ http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/23/taken-pt-2-her-father%e2%80%99s-regulation/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 22:35:42 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=1040 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/23/taken-pt-2-her-father%e2%80%99s-regulation/feed/ 1 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/19/taken-pt-1-a-father%e2%80%99s-redemption/ http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/19/taken-pt-1-a-father%e2%80%99s-redemption/#comments Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:00:49 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=1016 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/19/taken-pt-1-a-father%e2%80%99s-redemption/feed/ 2 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/14/we%e2%80%99ll-always-have-paris%e2%80%a6-destroyed/ http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/14/we%e2%80%99ll-always-have-paris%e2%80%a6-destroyed/#comments Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:42:48 +0000 James http://cinemagogue.com/?p=955 http://cinemagogue.com/2009/03/14/we%e2%80%99ll-always-have-paris%e2%80%a6-destroyed/feed/ 2 http://cinemagogue.com/2008/05/20/you-cant-stop-whats-coming/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/05/20/you-cant-stop-whats-coming/#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 14:39:13 +0000 Webmaster Covi http://voxpopnetwork.com/cinemagogue/2008/05/20/you-cant-stop-whats-coming/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/05/20/you-cant-stop-whats-coming/feed/ 3 Audio Review of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Pastor James Harleman - The COEN BROTHERS adapted Cormac McCarthy’s novel into this film of the same name, After writing No Country in 2005, the 75 year old McCarthy has won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel... Audio Review of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Pastor James Harleman The COEN BROTHERS adapted Cormac McCarthy’s novel into this film of the same name, After writing No Country in 2005, the 75 year old McCarthy has won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel “The Road” in 2006, once again exploring his familiar themes of extreme isolation, perversity, and violence to represent normal human experience. The novel's motifs of chance, free-will, and predestination are familiar territory for the Coen brothers, and the film subsequently won the Academy Award for Best Picture in early 2008. With so many prizes surrounding these themes and creators, it is fascinating to explore why these works have had such an unstoppable impact on our culture. "It's been traveling twenty-two years to get here. And now it's here. And it's either heads or tails. And you have to say. Call it." - Anton Chigurh Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande. No Country For Old Men, the 2008 Oscar winner for Best Picture (and in three other categories) stumbled upon the Wedgwood Campus for our live, monthly Cinemagogue event. I've been a big fan of the Coen brothers since Raising Arizona and have enjoyed their work from Miller's Crossing to The Hudsucker Proxy. For some reason, I'd missed The Big Lebowski until last year and finally enjoyed Jeff Bridges amazing performance. (Did anyone notice Jeff's tip of the hat to Lebowski in his latest film, Iron Man?) Still, I wasn't immediately enraptured with this film as most were last year. A few friends of mine loathed it. After contemplation, repeat viewing, and some study, it's actually quite illuminating to me why this film has struck a chord in both film buff and casual viewer and I've come to a profound appreciation for what the film has to offer. Pastor James Harleman clean http://cinemagogue.com/2008/02/05/is-it-fate-or-chance-that-haunts-the-children-of-men/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/02/05/is-it-fate-or-chance-that-haunts-the-children-of-men/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:47:43 +0000 James http://voxpopnetwork.com/cinemagogue/2008/02/05/is-it-fate-or-chance-that-haunts-the-children-of-men/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/02/05/is-it-fate-or-chance-that-haunts-the-children-of-men/feed/ 4 Alfonso Cuarón's film adaptation of the P.D. James' book Children of Men is an incredible work of art marked by some of the most amazing cinematography I have seen. Opening on Christmas day in 2006, critics compared the characters of Theo and Kee with... Alfonso Cuarón's film adaptation of the P.D. James' book Children of Men is an incredible work of art marked by some of the most amazing cinematography I have seen. Opening on Christmas day in 2006, critics compared the characters of Theo and Kee with Joseph and Mary, calling the film a "modern day nativity story". Children of Men envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into chaos on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, the film follows an unlikely champion of Earth's survival: Theo, a disillusioned ex-activist turned bureaucrat, who is forced to face his own demons and protect the planet's last remaining hope. According to Cuarón, the title of P.D. James' book is a Catholic allegory derived from a passage of scripture in the Bible. Psalm 90:3 reads (in the KJV): "Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men." Author James refers to her story as a "Christian fable" while Cuarón describes it as "almost like a look at Christianity": "I didn't want to shy away from the spiritual archetypes," Cuarón told Filmmaker Magazine. What they've produced is a dark, dystopian fable grasping for hope and miracles amidst a bleak future landscape. It was one of my favorite films of 2006 and a privilege to examine and speak about in a Cinemagogue presentation at Mars Hill Church. The audio presentation is available here. Pastor James Harleman clean http://cinemagogue.com/2008/01/04/bourne-again/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/01/04/bourne-again/#comments Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:58:33 +0000 James http://voxpopnetwork.com/cinemagogue/2008/01/04/bourne-again/ http://cinemagogue.com/2008/01/04/bourne-again/feed/ 5