Noah on the Modern Day Felt Board
If you heard the story of Noah and the great flood as a child, it’s likely you remember as I do sitting in a stuffy Sunday school classroom and watching as your teacher played it out on one of those wonderfully nostalgic felt boards. Or maybe you can recall the melody and some of the lyrics to the stuck in your brain for days song “Arky Arky” from having performed it in your children’s choir. Or perhaps you never grew up hearing the story.
Whatever your background with Noah, it is likely you are familiar with the bare essential details: God told him to build and ark, the animals came two by two, Noah and his family were saved from the flood. It is a miraculous story of both God’s justice and His mercy. But did you ever put yourself in Noah’s place? Ever imagine yourself watching from the ark as the entirety of mankind begged and screamed for help as they drowned? It’s tough to think about. The true cost of bearing a burden that large is no children’s story. And the basic goal of Darren Aronofsky’s film Noah is to explore that burden and the man who bore it. The film, though, reaches for so much more.
The Muppets, a Most Wanted Family
by Fizz
In a weekend that saw its box office figure dwarfed by Divergent (the “next big thing” in young adult dystopian fiction), Muppets Most Wanted still delivered a movie that was highly enjoyable and heart-warming. It’s fairly common in today’s movies to only have heroes that are highly flawed or, honestly, plain bad. We, as an audience have voted with our dollar over and over again for a super complex anti-hero (Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, etc, etc.), but I, for one, love to sit back and enjoy a tale in which the nice guy finishes first– especially when that nice guy is Kermit the Frog. He isn’t flashy, and he definitely isn’t an action hero, but he is the kind of guy (frog) we should feel good to root for (even if his most debilitating trait is only commitment issues to a very beautiful and boisterous pig).
Short Term 12 and a Story That Changes Community
I’ve worked about six years in retail at this point in my life. It’s a tough choice, because out of those years I’ve only worked in two retail jobs, but I definitely enjoyed selling comics more than TVs and Lego…
The “Old Monsters U Try”
Monsters University Directed By Dan Scanlon Rated G Hello, I’m Tim Ingle and over at my site, Cartoons Got Saved, I explore animated films to find glimpses of the Gospel hidden in their stories. The site is mostly aimed at parents of…
How Great Was Gatsby?
The Great Gatsby Directed By Baz Luhrmann Rated PG-13 Nick Carraway: “New York, 1922, the tempo of the city had changed sharply. The buildings were higher. The parties were bigger. The morals were looser and the liquor was cheaper. The restlessness approached.…
Who Is Iron Man?
Iron Man 3 Directed By Shane Black Rated PG-13 Tony Stark: “Nothing’s been the same since New York. You experience things, and then they’re over. I can’t sleep, and when I do I have nightmares. Honestly, there’s a hundred people who want to…
Routine OBLIVION
Oblivion Directed By Joseph Kosinski Rated PG-13 Victoria: “Two more weeks, Jack. Then we can finally leave and join the others. Don’t take any chances…” Oblivion rounds out the last of the serious offerings before the Summer movie season begins in just a…
How to Train Community
How to Train Your Dragon Directed By Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders Rated PG Hiccup: This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people…
A Good Day to Dad Hard
A Good Day to Die Hard Directed By John Moore Rated R John McClane: You got a plan? Jack McClane: Not really. I kinda thought we would just wing it, you know. Running in, guns blazing! Make it up as…
Faith, Hope, Pi
The Life of Pi Directed By Ang Lee Rated PG Writer: So far we have an Indian boy named after a French swimming pool, on a Japanese ship full of animals, heading to Canada. Adult Pi Patel: Now we have to…