Mike King

Ghost Rider

Last Friday night I stayed with Mark and Jeannie Oestreicher.  Marko and I went to Ghost Rider for some manly fun.  The movie was OK.  On the way home Marko mentioned that Steve Case had written a list of Ten Things we are left wondering at the end of Ghost Rider.  Marko remembered 4 or 5 of the questions on the list - pretty darn funny.  He sent me the rest of the list yesterday.  Here they are.

Ten Questions We Are Left Wondering At The End Of The Movie Ghost Rider

1. If you make a deal with the devil for "all the right reasons" will God give you a second chance?

2. If your superpowers are given to you by the devil (or some variation thereof) can you use them to fight for justice?

3. How come all the people who sign a "deal with the devil" have never seen a "deal with the devil" movie?

4. Why does the script writer make ever possible joke about "skulls" and "hotheads" but not one "flaming" joke?

5. Is it possible that Peter Fonda and Nicholas Cage made a bet to see who could be the most "over the top" before getting fired?

6. Has Peter Fonda ever made a movie without a motorcycle?

7. How many more movies will Peter Fonda make before he morphs completely into his father.

8. If a flaming missile shot down the middle of the city why does no one call homelad security?

9. Do we, as Christians, believe in doing penence or not? Let's get this settled once and for all.

10. Exactly what number tensel strength is the piano wire that they used to tie the button on the front of Eva Mendes blouse. If that thing pops, somebody is going to lose an eye?

Pan's Labyrinth

My son, Micah, and I saw the movie Pan's Labyrinth last weekend.  We were both intrigued, fascinated and at times disturbed by this movie.  It has been nominated for 6 Academy Award nominations.  The story telling was masterful and spellbinding.   At times we were so into the story that our stress level was palpable.  The violence at times was disturbing.  Pan's Labyrinth was filled with very cool imagery and emotion evoking fantasies.  Youthworkers could see this with college students and some close high school students with parent's permission. 

Holiday Movies

What is, or will be your favorite movie this holiday season and why?

Two Holiday Movies

I think Casino Royale is the best Bond film ever made (at least the best in 25 years).  I was bummed when I heard several months ago that Daniel Craig would be the new James Bond but he is perfect as Bond before he becomes 007.  Start production on the next installment.  BOND is BACK!

                              

Bobby is a truly wonderful and inspirational movie.  The script was great, the cast is amazing and the message hopeful.  I wept through the last ten minutes, as much from "remembering" (I was 11 years old when Robert Francis Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan on June 6, 1968) as being inspired by the Kennedy speech for liberty and equality for all which was featured as voice over in the ensuing chaos following the assassination.  Check out the amazing cast below...

Anthony Hopkins - John Casey
Harry Belafonte - Nelson
William H. Macy - Paul Ebbers
Sharon Stone - Miriam Ebbers
Christian Slater - Timmons
Freddy Rodriguez - Jose Rojas
Laurence Fishburne - Edward Robinson
Demi Moore - Virginia Fallon
Emilio Estevez - Tim Fallon
Martin Sheen - Jack Stevens
Helen Hunt - Samantha Stevens
Lindsay Lohan - Diane
Elijah Wood - William Avary
Nick Cannon - Dwayne
Ashton Kutcher -
Brian Geraghty - Cooper
David Krumholtz - Phill
Heather Graham - Angela
Jacob Vargas - Miguel
Joshua Jackson - Wade Buckley
Joy Bryant - Patricia
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Susan
Orlando Seale -
Shia LaBeouf - Jimmy
Svetlana Metkina - Lenka

Jesus Camp thoughts

Eight of us attended a screening of Jesus Camp last night.  It was not entertaining.  I am still processing about how to respond.  I felt like both the Air Radio representative (Mike Papantonio) who was critical of Evangelicals and the Evangelicals (primarily Becky Fischer) whom the documentary focused on were extreme and not very bright.  I spoke with a representative of the film afterwards and communicated to her that there is a growing group of evangelicals that are appalled by heavy handed, manipulative, coercive, and over politicized, behavioral modification techniques and mindsets that some within the Evangelical tradition embrace.  This type of Evangelical, or post-Evangelical was not portrayed  I think the Christian adults portrayed in the film are confused if they are first and foremost patriotic Americans or followers of Jesus.  The children portrayed are (ok, long pause - Mike be wise, be tempered) are being frightenly misled... (there, that was much nicer than what I was thinking).  I grieve for these kids and the kind of fearful Christianity they are being enculturated into.  The actual documentary seemed to lack continuity.  It started out in a children's evangelism conference held in Lee's Summit, Mo, just 7 miles from my home. The film then turned to a home school scene before heading to Jesus Camp in North Dakota.  This is where it really begin to disconnect for me – all of a sudden they went from SUMMER camp to a winter scene and the kids showed up at Ted Haggard’s church in Colorado Springs (which was very strange) before moving to Washington, D.C. to have the kids protest abortion.  The directors overplayed their zealousness to make all Evangelicals look crazy and dangerous.  I think they should have stayed focused on how some Evangelicals are going about the spiritual formation of their kids.  They could have made a very important point about the tactics of right wing fundamentalism but instead they tripped over their efforts to show how goofy and scary this style of religious training of children is.  They did not have to cue the ominous music when the Evangelical leaders of these programs were on screen nor use pleasant music for the one person who provided the critique.  I think the film will alienate many mainstream Evangelicals who know that not all Evangelicals are as scary as the ones portrayed in the movie and will dismiss it as a hatchet job.  This is unfortunate.  The directors did not seem to be interested in the idea that many evangelicals would be as appalled by what went on in this film as any non-Christian, left leaning liberal would be.  The directors seemed to be unaware that more and more Evangelicals are saying we want Evangelicalism to be saved from North American Particularism, a mean spirited anti-cultural mindset and a right wing only, two issue agenda.  I hope this documentary will lead to lots of discussion about the general state of Evangelicalism and the perception of Evangelicals by our culture at large.  I hope this fuels the conversation that many of us have been having for several years now about what it means to truly live missionally as church in the way of Jesus within the culture we find ourselves in. 

To see my first post on Jesus Camp and watch the

Trailer click here.

Click

Vicki, Jessica and I went to see the movie Click last night.  I had decided not to see it because of the poor review it received in the KC Star but Jessica had a night off from camp and wanted to come home to hang out with her parents.  Cool. 

The movie was high on sentimentalism but I loved the message.  Go see it...  I loved the reminder of what is truly important in life.

Crash

YES... Crash was the best picture of 2005.

KING KONG

WOW, King Kong, What a ride.  I know the Ape isn't real but man was I stressed out.

From this

 

to this

Narnia

Anyone see Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?  If so, what did you think?  Does it perform like Lord of the Rings?  Don't give away the plot... just kidding...

I remember meeting Johnny Cash

Last night Vicki and I saw the movie Walk the Line with Bill and Kyle Beyer.  "A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins."  Definitely worth seeing.  The amazing thing is that Joaquin Phoenix who played Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon who played June Carter did all the music.

I remember when I started in youth ministry back in 1975, the first big projects I worked on was the Johnny Cash Super Rally we had at Arrowhead Stadium.  I remember meeting Johnny and June Cash which at the time was no big deal for me.  My music had been Black Sabbath, Foghat, The Beatles, etc.  Johnny Cash, big whoop!  In fact, I remember that me and Tim Smith, who was also new on staff, were much more interested in the fact that we were hanging out on the field of Arrowhead Stadium where Len Dawson, Ed Podolack, Buck Buchannan, Willie Lanier, Emmitt Thomas, etc, etc. played football.  Than was what impressed me, not Johnny Cash.  What a dork!  I went and bought Johnny's last CD CASH after the movie.