The War Room

Opening this weekend in theaters is an inspirational movie called "The War Room." It's a insightful look at the how the power of prayer can change lives, even in situations that seem far beyond hope. I was lucky enough to attend a pre-screening of the film a few months ago and have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that the target demographic for this film is primarily for people who would already claim faith in God and it sets out to light a fire under anyone who is lukewarm about their beliefs. However, this story had me both laughing and crying at different points - it definitely covers the whole spectrum of emotions! There were a few scenes that had the entire theater erupting in side-splitting laughter such as the delivery guy, and also the dinner scene at home with Tony (played by T.C. Stallings) and his wife Elizabeth, played by renowned women’s speaker and author Priscilla Shirer. Shirer makes her film debut playing the lead character who finds herself and her family in a less-than-desirable position without much hope to overcome it. Elizabeth then meets Miss Clara (played by Karen Abercrombie) who introduces her to what Miss Clara calls her “war room” and that begins to change Elizabeth’s life forever.

However the limelight for acting was completely stolen by the *outstanding* and adorable performance of Tony and Elizabeth’s 10 year old daughter, Danielle Jordan, played by Alena Pitts. The skill level of the kids’ jump-roping antics alone is really impressive and the filmmakers did a great job of clearly integrating real-life jump rope teams into the film. But Danielle and her friend Jennifer provide quite a bit of comedic relief to the story. The uber-famous Beth Moore, speaker, author and Bible study leader also makes her film debut here. However, I found Moore’s character to be a very minor one overall, especially in comparison to the rest of the story.

A few of Miss Clara’s insights that I picked up: “You’ve got to have the right strategies and resources, because victory don’t come by accident.” Also “You’ve got to plead with God to do what only He can do, and then get out of His way to let Him do it.”

Since I’m not one for spoilers, I’ll leave it at that and give you a short clip of Miss Clara and Elizabeth when they met for the first time. Enjoy!

You need a MOMS' NIGHT OUT!

I should have written this post ages ago, but today is my chance to finally tell you about a fantastic movie coming out this weekend, May 9, 2014, just in time for Mother's Day! Moms' Night Out is an absolutely hilarious comedy that some family members and I were privileged enough to get to see a sneak preview of back in March. The film synopsis from the official website says:

All Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and conversation . . . a long-needed moms' night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation and food not served in a paper bag, they need their husbands to watch the kids for three hours—what could go wrong? MOMS' NIGHT OUT is an endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting.

The movie has a star-studded cast of recognizable faces: Sarah Drew from Gray's Anatomy plays the lead character Allyson, a germaphobe, clean freak and mommy blogger who is at her wit's end as the mother of three young children and an oft-traveling husband; Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fame plays the pastor's wife who does her best to maintain a cool appearance despite her harried life of raising a teenage daughter; Sean Astin, best known for his roles as Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (who doesn't love those cute hobbits?) and Mikey in Goonies plays Allyson's very likeable husband; and country music singer/recording artist and occasional actor Trace Adkins fills out the last main role as the very important biker tattoo artist. However many of the supporting actors are not no-name actors either. Harry Shum Jr. from FOX's Glee has a fairly significant role which is technically pivotal to the entire plot of the film. Fans of Christian-based films like Fireproof and Courageous will recognize the faces of Alex Kendrick and Robert Amaya. Though you WON'T recognize him, Jason Burkey of October Baby fame has a really funny part - I challenge you to figure out and tell me which character he plays. I even realized last week that Abbie Cobb, who plays Sean's younger sister in Moms' Night Out, also stars in a few films of Francis Chan's BASIC.video series.

I can't begin to describe how much roaring laughter took place in our very crowded theater during the screening. Despite the audience's verbal acclaim of the film, there was this little bubbling laughter within me throughout the first half of the movie that kept saying, "Yes! That does really happen!" and asking, "I'm not the only one that does that!?" The first of my favorite scenes was when Allyson was hiding in the closet - my husband turned and looked at me to laugh when that happened... not that I would ever do that... ever... especially not with candy... um. Another scene I could completely relate to is when Allyson attended a book club but states with her wry voice-over something along the lines of "Since I have kids, I don't actually have time to read books, but I aspire to read books some day. Coming to book club however makes me feel smart." I'm sure I butchered that quote, but nonetheless - my growing personal collection of to-read and started-but-never-finished books attests that I can completely relate to that statement.

I myself actually hate spoilers and tend to think that most movie trailers (including this one) give away far too many of the funny jokes (because I have an uncanny ability to either remember the trailer while watching the movie or use that to predict what's going to happen next). Therefore, I'm not going to embed the actual trailer here and will tell you to just trust me and go see it without watching the trailer first. However if you aren't the trusting type, I will share a few links with you below.

1. Clip of Patricia Heaton and Sarah Drew on ABC's The View talking about the film.
2. Fandango has a great article entailing 5 Reasons Moms Must See 'Moms' Night Out.'
3. The Moms' Night Out Facebook page has dozens of video clips.

And finally, hear from other moms who have also seen the film have to say about it:

Post by Moms' Night Out.

While the movie contains characters who are Christian, there is really nothing "preachy" about its message. The most touching scenes come from the least likely characters and will have you laughing or crying - if not both together. The film's main purpose is to inspire, encourage, and refresh stressed-out, overworked, and exhausted moms who just need a break [from the chicken nuggets and laundry] once in a while. Which is pretty much every mom.

My main takeaway on this film is that it is a hilarious, clean (no cursing), FAMILY-FRIENDLY film that your whole family can enjoy. Although taking young children along seems pretty antithetical to the title of the movie, it's rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action, and there's really nothing I can think of in it that I wouldn't let my kindergartener see. (I'm fairly strict on what she watches). However it's the MOMS that are going to get the biggest giggles from this film. In the vein of the classic Adventures in Babysitting, Moms' Night Out will not disappoint!

October Baby... premiering in March

About a month and a half ago, my husband and I attended a pre-screening of a new movie called October Baby.  Despite the title, the movie has a limited release date of Friday, March 23, 2012 (today!) in around 300 theaters nationwide.  If you don't read anything else I write here, skip to the last paragraph below to read why the number of theaters is significant and what you need to do to help!

Being a media-focused individual, I have an uncanny knack for watching a movie trailer and figuring out plot details that I'd rather not know because they ruin the suspense or surprises in the film for me.  Therefore I allowed my busy schedule to prevail and I avoided taking the opportunity to read up on or watch much of anything about this film before our screening... and I was SO glad I did!  I knew the gist of the film was something to do with abortion, so honestly I expected that this would be a fairly cut-and-dry "choose life or not?" struggle for a young female in the plot line.  However, I couldn't have been more wrong!  This isn't another incarnation of the movie Bella but rather a completely unique storyline that I had not imagined before.  I will say that going into the screening without reading any reviews or seeing the trailer greatly impacted my enjoyment of the story for the better.  There were plenty of plot twists and turns that continued to surprise me which was nice that it wasn't as predictable as I had feared.  (So read into that as you may... if you want to be totally trusting of my review, don't watch the trailer and just go see the film this weekend!!)

The premise of October Baby is the story of 19-year-old Hannah who sets out on a Spring Break road trip with some friends to discover the missing keys about who she is and where she came from.  Her adorably sweet lifelong best-guy-friend (seriously, I want to find a guy this awesome for MY daughter!) and his girlfriend are among the humorous menagerie of college kids who pile into a classic Volkswagen Bus and head across the country.  

One of my favorite surprises as the credits flashed during the opening of the film was to see the name of Chris Sligh.  For those who aren't familiar with him, Chris was a contestant on Season 6 of American Idol (2007), finishing in 10th place but not before clashing during a few bold verbal exchanges with AI judge Simon Cowell.  That was the first year that we had ever watched AI. Chris was my husband's immediate favorite contestant and one of my top 2 (gotta love Melinda Doolittle as well!) so we followed him and his "self-deprecating humor" all the way to the Top 10.  I include this tidbit of information about him because Chris plays a very "humorous misfit chaperone" in October Baby and there is a comment that his character makes about reality TV shows which I found quite hilarious... but it requires knowing who Chris is for one to find it funny! The rest of the cast is dotted with well-known actors as well, including John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville) who plays Hannah's father, and Jasmine Guy ("Whitney" on The Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World) who appears in a very pivotal scene of the movie.

We found the story to be gripping and emotional, yet filled with hilarious laugh-out-loud moments too.  I think this will be one of my favorite films of 2011 for sure as well as many years to come.  On a personal note, I must say that being specifically 24 weeks pregnant myself when I first saw it added a special touch of emotion for me.  The PG-13 rating stems from the maturity needed to process the senstive issues which are dealt with in the film, not from the more common reasons such as sex, drug use, bad language, etc.  Speaking as a parent, this is a film that doesn't contain anything bad for young children to see, but they just wouldn't "get it," or it might cause lots of questions that would be very hard to answer at a young age.

This weekend the most popular movie in the box office will most certainly be the Hunger Games.  As I mentioned before, October Baby has a limited release in about 300 theaters nationwide.  Hunger Games will open in more than 4,000 theaters (4,137 to be exact).  What is significant about this is that opening weekend for a movie is monumental to the box office... it's the make-it-or-break-it point as to how many more theaters want to pick it up for the following week and how many of the original theaters will continue to carry it for an additional week.  The way I see it, Hunger Games isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon... it will continue to run in theaters for many weeks or probably months.  An indie film like October Baby has a very short window of time in which to prove itself as worthy and this opening weekend is the start of that short window.  I encourage you to check the listing of theaters to see if October Baby is playing anywhere near your area this weekend, and if so, bypass the crowded theaters and head straight to support an amazing look at how Every Life is Beautiful.

http://www.octoberbabymovie.net

SOUL SURFER in Theaters Tomorrow

A few months ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to pre-screen a new movie that releases in theaters nationwide tomorrow (Friday, April 8, 2011) called "Soul Surfer." Made by Sony Pictures, it includes an all-star cast including Helen Hunt (whom I loved in Mad About You), Dennis Quaid, AnnaSophia Robb (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and American Idol's Carrie Underwood in her film debut. The movie depicts the true life story about a thirteen year old surfer from Hawaii named Bethany Hamilton who endured an unimaginable tragedy when she lost her left arm in a shark attack on Halloween day in 2003.

I remember when the event happened in real life, as Rick Bundschuh, one of the writers at interlinc (where I worked at the time), lives on the same island of Kauai. I wasn't sure how Sony would depict this story of a girl who was so well known after the tragedy for her strong Christian faith, but I have to say that I was not disappointed. The pre-screening was introduced by a marketing rep, Bob Gordon, who asked the audience before the show started, "What if Hollywood decided to make a film about a normal Christian family?... Well funny thing, Hollywood decided to make a film about a normal Christian family and this is that film."

What impressed me most about the film was that the production quality was by far the highest standard that I've ever seen in a movie that focuses so heavily on characters with a Christian faith. This was not made by a cast of all volunteers, but rather has the same production quality of any other movie playing in your local theater this weekend. However, all of that being said, while it's a film about Christian people, it does not get preachy or have any kind of underlying conversion message. It just shows how this family leans on their faith to hold them together and deals with a very tough situation. Bethany did not allow the loss of her arm to stop her in anything that she wanted to pursue in life, despite the great odds that were against her to achieve those dreams. Perhaps my favorite part of the movie was the end credits, which showed real life home movies shot by her video-enthusiastic brothers that directly paralleled with earlier scenes from the film.

Helen Hunt does a superb job as Bethany's mother, Cheri Hamilton, while Dennis Quaid played her very encouraging father, Tom Hamilton. Carrie Underwood makes her big screen debut as Bethany's youth pastor from church. I even recognized Kevin Sorbo (from the 90's show Xena, Princess Warrior) who starred as a very key family friend during this story. There is a lot more that I could say about how inspiring this film was to me, but I know it definitely will be to thousands of young girls who need a fabulous and inspiring role model to look up to in life. Read more about the real life Bethany Hamilton here on her website, and watch the trailer below. Check out http://www.soulsurferthemovie.com to read more about the movie and find it at your local theater this weekend!

 

To Save a Life

Today I took 27 friends to go see a new movie that just hit theaters yesterday titled "To Save A Life." This was my second screening of the film, as my husband and I saw a sneak preview last fall. We went in expecting very little, but were both blown away by the quality and substance of this "indie release" film. The quality of the acting, screenplay, and technical aspects surpassed everything I was expecting. It's the story of a Middle-American high school senior named Jake Taylor, who "has it all"... he's popular, has a cheerleader girlfriend, a basketball scholarship to his dream college, and is living up his senior year. That is, until his childhood best friend Roger commits suicide in the school hallway and turns Jake's life upside down. He begins to question everything about himself and realizes there may be a lot more to life than beer pong and sex with his girlfriend. He learns to reach out to some new friends and finds ways to make Roger's death a legacy, not just a tragedy.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I will say that this movie touches on at LEAST a dozen hot topic issues that modern teenagers have to deal with on a daily basis. This is the most realistic portrayal I have seen of a typical high school in a long time, and as one of my young friends said tonight, "It was TOO realistic." The movie is rated PG-13 for good reasons and I wouldn't recommend it to a younger crowd. However I DO recommend it to anyone in high school or older. It is an EXCELLENT movie that all teenagers need to see... It causes the viewer to reflect on the impact that each person has on others around them and how much difference one person can choose to make in the life of another who is lonely.

Though it's touted as an "inspirational" film, there's absolutely nothing cheesy about this movie. It portrays Christians in a very accurate light, with both good and bad attributes acknowledged (such as hypocrisy & imperfection). It's not preachy or pushy with its message, except to say that you CAN make a difference in the world around you. It's also not without humor that this movie entertains the audience, taking on several twists and turns throughout the plot. If you've seen it already, I invite you to leave a comment below regarding what YOU thought about it!

eXpelled... no intelligence allowed

Tonight some friends and I went to see Ben Stein's new movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed which opened today in theaters. I first heard about this movie back in January and have been curious to see it ever since. The basis of the plot is about how many professionals in the scientific and education community have been immediately ostracized by their peers when they merely bring up the subject of "Intelligent Design." Darwin's Theory of Evolution has long been the standard ideology taught in science classrooms across this country, often disregarding the first word of the title, "THEORY of Evolution." Yet the blacklisted scientific intellectuals pruport that Intelligent Design should be allowed equal consideration in the education field, especially since Darwinism still can't explain how the first molecular cell came into existence.

What I gathered most that this film is about is not necessarily an argument that viewers should believe in Intelligent Design (although it makes some hard points that are difficult to counter), but rather that it was about academic freedom and the opportunity to explore other options besides the standard Theory of Evolution that culture has so firmly settled upon. If the field of science uncovers new facts and evidence through modern technology that counter the accepted norm, will the scientific community consider these points, or continue to teach something that does not contain the full picture yet is so widely accepted across the culture?

Expelled touches on how a person's world view affects their viewpoint of this topic, how Darwinism influenced Hitler, and takes a look at the deeply intricate structure of human DNA. Ben tours Dachau concentration camp in Germany as well as another Nazi controlled hospital, speaks to dozens of scientists on BOTH sides of the issue, and conducts an extensive interview with the author of "The God Delusion," Richard Dawkins.

Stein did a great job keeping the documentary from getting too dry by interspersing hundreds of old black and white film clips, many of them humorous, into precisely-timed points of the movie. Much of this footage had double meaning, in that it drew parallels between this subject and events throughout history such as the Berlin Wall and the Holocaust.

While it's a bit obvious which side of this issue Ben sits on, I found it refreshing to hear the "other side of the story" from that which is most often discussed. Being a Jew himself, Stein distinguished the difference between Creationism and Intelligent Design, drawing distinct lines between the two and countering those who think that Intelligent Design is just a ploy to get prayer back into schools.

I'm sure there will be some opposition to this film, but if it can open the doors of discussion on the subject of Intelligent Design like Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" did for global warming, then I believe it will do a great justice to the scientific community and the future of education. After all, if we lose our academic freedom to explore all possibilities of life and how it began, then what other freedoms will we lose next?

Facing the Giants

Last night for my birthday, my husband and I went to see a inspirational little film playing at our local movie theatre called "Facing the Giants." Now I wasn't incredibly excited about going to see a football movie on my birthday, but as it turned out, it was surprisingly good! This film was shot by a church in Albany, GA on one high-definition Panasonic Vericam Camera in a matter of six weeks with a two-week break midway through. They rented all of their production equipment and then edited the movie on an Apple PowerMac G-5 computer using Final Cut Pro HD software. I guess I'm just not too apt to expect a whole lot from "Christian" movies because there have been some cheezy ones released in the past which just tarnished the idea of a "good Christian film" in most moviegoers' minds. And while I don't expect this one to win any Oscars, as someone in the video field myself, the more I think about it what went into the making of this picture and the budget they raised, the all-volunteer cast, the realistic script, and the well-done camera angles and lighting... I'm just amazed that a CHURCH (read: volunteers) made this movie! I got a kick out of the 4,345,239 people listed in the credits under "Catering." Also, if you happen to be a fan of Third Day, Casting Crowns, Bebo Norman or contemporary Christian music in general, you'll enjoy the soundtrack. Anyway, if it happens to be playing in a theatre near you, I recommend you go check it out! Even though I'm not a big football fan, I actually enjoyed the games and, with a little help from my sports-fiend husband, understood what was going on! :-)

www.facingthegiants.com

Click above to watch the trailer (Click on "Launch Media Player.")