ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Kurt Russell

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: Family, Redemption, and I Am Groot

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A few years ago, the idea of Guardians of the Galaxy was seen as a risk by Marvel that likely?wouldn’t pay off. After all, a talking tree and raccoon…really? In the end, though,?we were both pleasantly wrong and surprised. Director James Gunn gave us a fun and epic space opera that continues to entertain?today. Ask any fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Guardians ranks as probably the best film (if not top 2 or 3) of the franchise. So with such huge success, a sequel was warranted and got the green light. But, with high expectations, can Vol 2 live up to the hype?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 has probably one of the best opening sequences I’ve seen in a film in a very long time. From the start, you can tell that Gunn has taken the visuals to another level in this film and that the lightheartedness and fun of the previous film still takes center stage. It may have lasted a tad longer than it should have, but it was still a masterpiece to see. What makes this film (and its predecessor) so good is that it doesn’t take itself too?seriously and allows the viewer to just sit back and enjoy the ride. But don’t let that fool you. What makes the sequel better is that the story goes?much deeper than the original in?the midst of all the fun. The film’s lightheartedness, bright and colorful scenery and background still has time to slow down and pull at the heartstrings of the audience. And best of all, it wasn’t a setup for other films. ?Unlike other entries into the MCU, Vol. 2?truly stands on its own.

As we discovered in the first film, the Guardians aren’t your prototypical heroes. In?Vol. 2, we continue to see their disfunction as a group but different events throughout the film bring them closer together than ever before. Throughout the film, they battle their own insecurities knocking down emotional, spiritual and even physical walls. They are more than friends. Over time, they have become family. With each member coming from a broken background or tragedy, they teach us that family isn’t just about blood. We don’t get to choose our blood relatives and sometimes that means we got dealt a bad batch. However, our kin doesn’t define who we are. Maybe?we’re searching for a father figure even though our real dad is right there. Maybe we are looking to feel emotions that we’ve never felt or lashing out because all you wanted was a sister or a brother. Maybe?you just think that love is something you can never have and believe that everyone will throw you away eventually, leaving your hurt and angry all the time. Real family, when you find it, brings you the true purpose, not some false ideal?that someone else tried to force on you. Though our father, mother, friends, brothers, sisters may all forsake us, we are reminded of Psalm 27:10 and take heart in knowing that the Lord will take us in.

Can we fall so far away that we can’t be redeemed? Simply put, no… but it is our choice whether or not we want to come back from that pit. In this film, different characters are?left with that choice and while some followed the path to destruction, others followed the path to redemption. There is a part in the film that captures visually my imagination of what it feels like to truly be redeemed in heaven. A real bright, colorful, fireworks display of celebration that can do nothing more than bring joy to your heart and a tear to the eye. It was a great job in taking these characters and expanding their development and showing true growth.

Of course, we can’t end without talking about little Baby Groot. Many felt that he was left this way for toy sales and (even though Gunn denies it), it is probably true. However, we can’t complain that he was left this way. Yes he was adorable, but it fit the overall theme of the film and didn’t feel like it was forced in order to sell more toys. Without question, he is going to be the favorite of many coming out of this film (as if he isn’t already) but, looking at the film?as a whole,?you realize that he truly fits the overall theme of family and redemption.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is now playing in theatres.

3.17 Fighting the FATE OF THE FURIOUS

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Breaking box office records, FATE OF THE FURIOUS filled theatres because of it’s (many) big booms and stunts… but is there more to the film? ?What keeps us coming back to this franchise, despite the fact that they get more outlandish with each entry. ?In a relaxed episode, Steve welcomes back Greg Banik and ScreenFish newbie Julie Levac to explore the world of the FURIOUS franchise.

Want to continue to conversation at home? ?Click the link below to download ?Fishing for More? ? some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.17 Fate of the Furious

Thanks Greg and Julie for coming on the show!

Deepwater Horizon: Courage Goes Deep

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Mark Wahlberg has fought Decepticons, a stuffed bear, the Taliban, apes, the Dallas Cowboys, and a host of nefarious bad guys. But in?Deepwater Horizon, he stars as electrician Mike Williams who must fight a much more intangible force, the sudden and immediate destructive fire eating through his oil rig. Based on a true story, the film follows Wahlberg’s Williams and his immediate supervisor, Mr. Jimmy (Kurt Russell), who find that their latest three-week shift is anything but typical.

dwh3Without knowing the history of one of BP’s oil rigs, the audience knows that things aren’t quite right when Williams and Jimmy find themselves unsatisfied by the safety team’s report. While they express their frustration to the BP representative on board,?Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich), there is little they or rig engineer, Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez), can do to change Vidrine’s mind. The end result is terrifying and disastrous.

dwh2Thanks to Warner Bros.’ home media package, the audience can dive into the way that the film’s incredible on-rig stunts were performed and shot in “The Fury of the Rig,” and explore the rig itself through “Deepwater Surveillance.” But those who find the story disturbing and inspiring will enjoy hearing from eight real-life drillers in “Work Like An American.” Only those who purchase the Blu-ray will get the cast and crew sounding off on director Peter Berg in “Captain of the Rig,” as well as the straight-from-their-mouth feature, “Beyond the Horizon: An Hour-Long 5-Part Series,” that takes Wahlberg and his co-stars into conversation with the real-life oil rig workers who they played.

While the story itself is ripped-from-the-headlines, there’s plenty that Berg gets across in a two-hour feature. We can see the greed of BP, the prideful decision-making of Vidrine, and the passionate, lead-from-the-front courage of both Jimmy and Williams. This is an inspiring reminder of how we’re called to act in the face of trauma and danger (Williams’ faith is noted, if not highlighted), and what it means for us to stand tall when others see no hope in sight.

Hope is what happens when people refuse to give up. And Mike Williams is a great example of that.

The Hateful Eight: When You Go Looking For Trouble…

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Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, a western that wasn’t a sequel to?Django Unchained,?focuses in on eight characters of ill repute who find themselves stuck in an isolated cabin in the midst of a snow storm. In true Tarantino fashion, the complexity of the characters will come to the forefront as bullets start flying, and sides are drawn. Who will be left standing when the smoke fades and the cards are all on the table?

The film opens as John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) violently transports the deadly outlaw Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) via stagecoach, just ahead of a blizzard. Along the way to Minny’s Haberdashery, a stopgap station along the way to Red Rock where he’ll collect his bounty, Ruth picks up Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and Chris “The Sherriff” Mannix (Walter Goggins). They arrive at Minny’s just as the storm catches them, where they find themselves trapped with several other violent men.

In the cabin, Bob “The Mexican” (Demian Birchir) tells them that Minny and her crew have left him in charge of the cabin, while fellow travelers, Confederate General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern), Oswaldo “The Hangman” Mobray (Tim Roth), and cowboy Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) are already there. Each of the men have weapons that Ruth goes out of his way to relieve them of, convinced that at least one of them has a connection to Domergue and plans to help her to freedom.

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Like many of Tarantino films, there is a beauty, a poetry, to?The Hateful Eight.?There are few other films that have made such wonderful use of snow, showing the beauty and danger of a blizzard; the witty dialogue and banter nearly lends itself to ‘rap battle’ status as many of the characters wield their tongues like weapons. And there’s also Ennio Morricone’s (Sergio Leone films,?The Mission,?The Untouchables) score that wonderfully connects our emotions and thoughts throughout the film.

But, also like Tarantino’s other films, this is also a violent, gory, explosive film with gunplay and violence that ends horribly. Seriously, I imagine that Tarantino and George R.R. Martin meet over lattes to discuss how they can startle us by whacking a character just when we’ve gotten comfortable with him or her. Nothing is sacred (even the crucifix depicted in the film was ‘snowed under’), and nothing is untouchable.

Most Tarantino films wear me out. The never-ending stream of epithets, racism, and violence seems designed to push the viewer to some extreme reaction. [Vomiting in this one almost made me gag.] But I have to believe it’s all for a?purpose?in Tarantino’s mind, even if I (or others) don’t quite get what the connection is. For Tarantino, it’s all tied together, even if the loose ends are sometimes frayed.

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In?The Hateful Eight, the action is broken into six chapters. The first four play out in “chronological” order, while the fifth flashes back to the moments prior to and concurrent with chapter one; the sixth chapter takes the plot to its conclusion. I’ve never felt the need to go and revisit a Tarantino film after seeing it the first time (probably due to oral and visual exhaustion) but it seems like there’s enough here to go back and check for marks along the way. Tarantino’s genius is in making the film tension-filled and suspense-filled; because all of the characters are knee-deep in their own “stuff,” we’re kept guessing about any conspiracies that might be in play.

While nothing that happens here will surprise you after the fact because it’s Tarantino, it’s still surprising! We’re exploring typical Quarantino territory, from racism, violence, greed, power, and relationships. You’ve got some ‘typical’ Tarantino actors like Jackson (sixth collaboration), Roth (four), and Madsen (four). His use of a female outlaw, and?the North/South conflict, make this a political/social commentary even with everything else that’s going on about bounty hunting and revenge. With Tarantino, you just never know what point he is going to make.

But… is it too much? Is Tarantino so focused on offending that he loses his story in all of the “stuff” added on? Is he so clear that this is all hyperbole that we shouldn’t critique the violence, the abuse, or the abundant use of the n-word? His dialogue set up against the backdrop of the Civil War (and the resulting discord that wasn’t suddenly ‘fixed’) makes it more like?Django?than say?Kill Bill?or?Pulp Fiction, but we’re still looking at a set up where every heart is corrupt, and death is just waiting for us all.

I’m always intent on finding out ‘the point’ of a film, and if I had to say what it was in?The Hateful Eight… I’d change my mind five times. As I left the theater, I was finally resolute that Tarantino showed how enemies could be friends when faced with a danger or foe that was strong enough to unite them. We all bleed red blood; we all have a tendency to bear our grudges and seek revenge whenever we believe we have the upper hand. But?those who live by the sword, die by it… right?

It seems like I read that somewhere before.