…ble to engage a true and truly knowledgeable biblical scholar, historian, theologian, or Christian debater in a serious conversation. Why didn’t Maher interview the scholars who journalist Lee Strobel interviewed in his great books THE CASE FOR CHRIST and THE CASE FOR FAITH? Or, why didn’t he interview or cite any of the other dozens of scholars MOVIEGUIDE®’s staff has known and read? It is absolutely irresponsible to release a sloppy “documentar… Continue reading
…he actual historical record (see The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence For Jesus by Lee Strobel, Zondervan, 1998, and Myth Conceptions: Joseph Campbell and the New Age by Tom Snyder, Baker Books, 1995). Oskar Gruenwald, Ph.D., JIS Editor and Globalization Symposium Coordinator, emailed me: “I wanted to thank you for your witness at the Symposium on ‘Globalization & Its Discontents: Modernization, Culture &… Continue reading
…nd so a little more of the delightful humor of C.S. Lewis would have helped. Fantasy has been turned much more into legend. The funny sea serpent is now a vicious character. Also, the green mist has been introduced from other books, and the White Witch has been brought back, although she’s not in the book. In the movie, the witch replies to Edmund’s reflection that she was defeated once and for all, by responding to him that she’s still in his me… Continue reading
…derstanding of history and contemporary issues, then inevitably the religious and political institutions fall into the hands of those who control the media. When Entertainment Becomes Exploitation As few people read history books and most depend entirely on Hollywood films for their understanding of the past, the potential for exploitation is enormous. Gandhi, Malcolm X, Havana, The Power of One, Cry Freedom, Platoon, Born on the 4th of July, S… Continue reading
PART II of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS still has the occult elements that made the series such a controversial phenomenon, but this conclusion to the youthful adventures of Harry Potter contains some of the strongest redemptive aspects from the books. In fact, because the movie is a stripped down version of the last third of the seventh and final book, those redemptive elements perhaps stand out even more clearly in the movie. The probl… Continue reading
…ch other are “very fortunate indeed.” The movie is very dark, however, much too scary for little children. It also doesn’t have enough light humor to completely carry off its sardonic tone. The high concept of the books and the movie is that life is difficult and children need to be prepared to deal with it. Therefore, in a way, the movie resembles hazing, an intense confrontation with the unfortunate aspects of life. The story opens… Continue reading
The fifth HARRY POTTER book is one of the two most boring, shallow books of the series (the sixth book being the other one). The cast and crew of the fifth movie try to liven things up a bit, but they can’t paper over the weakness of the story. Perhaps author J. K. Rowling probably should have stopped at four books (or at least 400 pages) and done another series of four HARRY POTTER books with a different storyline if she wanted to stay on the H… Continue reading
…al analysis, the HARRY POTTER characters are not worthy role models for your children. Of course, as I noted in my book with MOVIEGUIDE® Editor Tom Snyder, FRODO & HARRY: Visual Media and Its Impact on Our Youth (Crossway Books, 2003), the Bible is very clear about the evils of witchcraft, sorcery and other occult practices. In Deut. 18:10-13, for example, Moses clearly says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter i… Continue reading
…ide a nightclub. It turns out that the dead man was part of a plot by Jimmy and his girlfriend to murder Chopper, so the jury acquits Chopper on the grounds of self-defense. Eventually, Chopper writes a couple of best-selling books about his life of crime and retires to a farm, where he’s apparently still churning out popular Australian books. If the movie CHOPPER can be termed a success, it’s a success because Eric Bana delivers a tour de force… Continue reading
…te these moral trappings, it should be noted that the TWILIGHT SAGA has some Romantic, occult, pagan elements, including the supernatural vampire/werewolf motifs and references to American Indian mythology. Also, the original books are written from a Mormon viewpoint. As such, they present an allegorical story consistent with Mormon theology, which is heretical because it violates basic biblical truths taught by Jesus Christ and firmly accepted b… Continue reading
