ScreenFish

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Moses

TIFF’19: Harriet

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Harriet Tubman was an incredible woman and remains an important part of our history. Born Araminta “Minty” Ross, and later changing her name to Harriet Tubman (inspired by her mother and husband), she would ultimately be nicknamed “Moses”, a leader to freedom. A conductor of the Underground Railroad, she not only escaped slavery herself, but is responsible for freeing approximately 70 other people. She was a vital player in the fight to abolish slavery in the American Civil War, acting as a cook, nurse, spy, and was the first woman ever to lead an armed assault. With that said, I was shocked to learn that Harriet (directed by Kasi Lemmons) is the first feature film made about this exceptional woman.

Harriet was able to tackle the enormous task of retelling a crucial story in history so successfully that I believe this film could (and should) be shown in classrooms around the world. This film is simultaneously real and emotional yet has an incredible hopefulness to it. I can still see Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) holding her hands up to frame the rising sun as she steps across the border to freedom for the first time. She wove her desperation into determination, proclaiming “Imma be free or die”, and did everything in her power to succeed.

Being such a momentous figure in our history, Harriet will be well worth your time.  It will be released in Canada and the USA on November 1, 2019.

Origins Ep 1 — Fire is Life

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If you try to play with fire, you get burned.  Or your city burns down, as London learned in 1666. (photo credit: National Geographic)

It’s quite difficult to imagine living life without fire.

Go on; give it a try.

Staying warm would be an issue on cold evenings.  Food would have to be consumed in its natural form—raw (okay; fruits and veggies might not be that bad, but carnivores would probably not like the idea). There wouldn’t be any steel for buildings or even weaponry to protect oneself. In a lot of ways, humankind would become primitive.  The saying on the show Survivor is true—fire is life.  Lose it, and the game is over.

But over the centuries, people have learned to harness the power of the red flower (quoting Kipling’s Jungle Book) for good. As a result, we are able to live the modern lives we so enjoy, with our towering skyscrapers, gleaming knives for cooking over stoves, and even the creation of the cell phones we use to communicate with others.  A new series on National Geographic Channel is set to explore the important innovations and moments that helped to bring modernity to our society. Called Origins: The Journey of Humankind, it will air on Monday nights at 9 PM (8 CT).  It’s hosted by Jason Silva (Brain Games) and is a fast-paced journey that is worth a look if you’re into science and how things came to be.

Guess what this led to. (photo credit: National Geographic)

The first episode is on the aforementioned fire and is fascinating in both its scope and context. John Boswell (known as Melodysheep) handled the audiovisual sequences, which are rapid-fire and bring immediate clarity to the topic at hand.  Silva’s narration is interspersed with various dramatic portions, such as when London learned the hard way that fire can be difficult to control—as a result, there was a huge fire in 1666 that destroyed much of the city.  But we learned to harness it (somewhat), when Robert Goddard created the first rocket.  Overall, the show is fairly well conceived and presents numerous opportunities to consider how we got to where we are today.  I think Silva repeats himself too much, but that may just be a matter of personal taste.

Just as Silva notes that fire plays a role in the modernization of mankind, we can see similar ‘moments’ in the Bible. Moses saw a burning bush where he first encountered God (see Exodus 3). The Israelites were led by a pillar of fire on their journey to the Promised Land (see Exodus 13:2-22).  The fire on the Temple altar was never to go out (see Leviticus 6:12-14). Peter began the process of denying he was a follower of Jesus while staying warm at a fire (see Luke 22:54-56). Jesus cooked a meal over fire, after his return to life, before he restored Peter after the above-mentioned denial (see John 21). The Spirit passed over the new believers in Jerusalem, granting them the ability to speak in other languages when tongues of flame landed on them (see Acts 2:1-12). James even likened the tongue to a fire—it can start forest fires of problems if not checked consistently (he also notes that no man can tame it, but we should certainly give it our best try—see James 3:5-7). And there are plenty more to consider.

Fire is life.  Without it, we cease to be what we are.  It would be wise to consider that as we go through our day—and as we think about God.

Being Chosen: The Story of God With Morgan Freeman S2E1

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(Photo Credit: National Geographic/David Kraemer)

The success or failure of a television or cable program can be largely attributed to many different factors.  Having a good story is important, as is good videography and relatable characters. A topic that’s intriguing also helps considerably.  But in the end, it all comes down to the number of eyeballs looking at the show each week. In the case of National Geographic Channel’s The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, there were a lot of eyeballs looking at Freeman’s foray into faith-based questions we’ve probably asked at one time or another.  In fact, the show was National Geographic’s most watched of all time. Thankfully, a second season of episodes are one the way—the first airing this evening (9 PM/8 CT).  In it, Freeman (and a few new characters) take a look at the concept of the Chosen One and what that means across faiths.

If you’re not familiar with the show, Freeman takes a topic relating to faith and looks for commonalities within various religions around the world. Christianity is given significant attention, but so are Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu perspectives. It can be quite fascinating, and the first episode of the second season is no exception.

What does it mean to be chosen? Is it exclusive to a specific faith?  Freeman takes a look at a number of different variants of this concept, beginning with a nine year-old named Jalue Dorjee.  He plays soccer like many kids his age, but at age two, his parents were given a paper from the Dalai Lama signifying he’s a reincarnation of an individual who has inhabited folks for five centuries.  In another instance, Freeman travels to London to celebrate the martyrdom of a grandson of the prophet Muhammad. Native Americans are also represented in the form of Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the chosen one of the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota tribes (see top picture).

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Seth Nejame)

Even though chosen ones “help the faithful get back on track,” they’re not always living.  In the case of the Sikh culture, their chosen one is a book (see photo above). Some show their devotion in Thailand by piercing themselves with various objects such as metal spears (!) to gain superhuman powers. And sometimes the chosen are more along the lines of missionaries, such as Christian Kenneth Bae, who endured two years of hard labor in North Korea for simply organizing prayer groups.  His journey has brought him to the realization that “Jesus is [his] hope—[he] wants to be a blessing.”

There are a few changes to the program this season.  Gone is the blast of the shofar to start the program; instead, a graphic montage replaces it.  I thought the horn was a great part of the first season and am sad to see it go.  In addition, Freeman is not in every section of the show—at least in the first episode.  Two people—a man and a woman—take his role as they explore aspects of the episode’s theme (I think they’re one-time examples, however).  It adds a different perspective, but I think the focus of the show has been Freeman’s personality shining through the exploration of certain faiths and customs.  In the two sections of note, that seems to have been somewhat lost, although the two individuals do a good job with their questioning.

For me, the biggest takeaway from the episode was along the lines of what it means to be chosen.  In essence, it’s another way to say an individual is called out by God for some special purpose.  Sometimes it happens in a dramatic way, such as Paul’s encounter with God on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-18) or Moses finding a burning bush (see Exodus 3:1-10).  But for many people, it’s not that way.  There’s an inward nudging that God has plans beyond anything a person could ask or even imagine.  To respond in any way other than acceptance is to be in a state of rebellion akin to Jonah (with or without the whale).  From there, it’s a process to become so in tune with God’s plans that one’s plans simply become his. In fact, Jesus made it clear that all that follow after him are to be his ambassadors to the world in their words, thoughts, and actions, seeking to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20).  It’s not easy, but being chosen is a responsibility that must be taken seriously.  The end results can be incredible—if we’re just willing to listen and respond in faith.

Free State of Jones: Reap What You Sow

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Newton (Matthew McConaughey) carries Daniel (Jacob Lofland) across an active battlefield

The Civil War wasn’t the greatest period in the history of the United States, as most people will attest.  A country founded on liberty fought over whether liberty was to be fully extended to all people. Yet in Mississippi, a unique situation developed—a group of runaway slaves and war deserters took over a sizable area of the state independent of either Union or Confederate control.  In director Gary Ross’s newest film, Free State of Jones, he chronicles its leader Newton Knight and the community he established.  There’s some good stuff to be found here, but the film doesn’t quite know what it wants to be and suffers as a result.

Ross begins with a riveting sequence where a company of Confederate soldiers march up a hill and face the Union in battle.  It’s bloody and graphic and sets the tone for the rest of the film.  Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey), a farmer turned Confederate nurse/medic, wants to help as much as possible.  But when his younger cousin Daniel (Jacob Lofland) is taken out by a sharpshooter’s bullet, Newton decides to take him home to his mother. This is known as desertion, putting a death sentence on Newton’s head.  To keep from having this happen, he flees into the swamp and meets a cast of other runaways—including slaves like Moses (Mahershali Ali), who wears a spiked collar placed on him by his former master.  Slowly, Knight begins to gather their trust and the group begins to add members while defending themselves. Knight’s wife Serena (Keri Russell) flees to Georgia with the kids while Newton begins to help a slave girl named Rachel (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) learn to read.  Slowly, she becomes a replacement for Serena.

The group continues to grow and finally has the attention of the Confederate army.  After watching one of his families surrender to the army (and later hang from a tree), they stage a well-orchestrated ambush of the Confederate company, earning a victory in the process.  From here, the Free State of Jones (named after Jones County, Mississippi) is created and its inhabitants—both slave and free—are treated as equals.

The resolution of the film is not what you’d expect—and that’s where Ross makes a major misstep. You see, Free State of Jones would play fantastically as an action film along the likes of a Confederate version of Robin Hood.  But Ross adds in significant elements of a documentary, altering the pacing and changing the feel of the film to a history lesson. As if this isn’t enough, Ross then adds a third aspect to the story—a court case 85 years later involving one of Knight’s descendants.  This is shown in short snippets and is thrown in irregularly, further breaking the flow of the film.  What started out as a battle film is changed into a question of whether Newton’s descendant is part African-American (implying he had a child with Rachel).  One piece on its own would’ve been fine, but all three become a disjointed mess.  Too bad.

FREE STATE OF JONESAs for the other aspects of the film, I think they were well done. The cinematography is outstanding and conveys the time frame well.  The music is subtle enough to impact yet not overpower.  McConaughey is fantastic as Newton Knight, revealing a noticeable and believable shift in becoming the leader and face of the Free State of Jones. Mbatha-Raw, likewise, does well as Rachel, adding an air of cautiousness and enthusiasm to her role.  Sadly, Russell is almost an afterthought in the film, seeing most of her screen time in an awkward conversation with Rachel over a crying baby. It’s unfortunate that the directing and editing let this film down.

For Newton, the biggest point for him involves sowing that which one reaps (Galatians 6:7), since he was a farmer. He even bases the newly created state on this principle, allowing all people to have land and care for it—including the freed slaves.  In addition, he helps to empower the least to be more than they could ever be.  Consider the following clip, where Newton asks Moses point blank what he is–a child of God.  When a person becomes one of God’s children, they are transformed into something they could not be on their own.  The apostle Paul puts it this way: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (1 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). They can’t be owned (as Newton says) and don’t have to worry about the past, but can look confidently toward the future and the hope Jesus offers.  You see this later in the film when Moses gets his family back and is seen cultivating a field all his own.  It gives freedom a meaning foreign to many of us today.  It’s also a good reminder for us to not take what we’ve been given for granted. Look confidently into an uncertain future and trust God.

Miracles and Hope – The Story of God (Ep. 6)

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Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
CloudsIn the final episode of The Story of God (tonight 9PM/8 Central), narrator and host Morgan Freeman shares a personal story when, as a teenager, he was in a hospital with pneumonia and an abscess on his lung.  When it burst, he almost died.  Yet he survived and eventually became one of the premiere actors in Hollywood.  Was that a miracle?

Alcides Moreno was in New York preparing to wash windows with his brother on the top of a 47-story skyscraper. While on the platform, the cables snapped, sending both of them hurtling to the ground some 500 feet below. Alcides survived, but his brother didn’t (typically, a 10-story fall is instant death).  He’s not sure if that was a miracle, but believes God gave him a “second chance.”

So what exactly is a miracle?  The Random House Dictionary defines a miracle as “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.” We talk of miracles all the time, ranging from somehow getting an A on a test we didn’t study to sports teams succeeding despite everything being stacked against them (think of Leicester City in the Barclays Premier League winning the title yesterday at 5000:1 odds [worse than Elvis getting out of his grave]).  But do they really exist or is it just a really big game of chance that happens to swing the right way once in a great while?

Jerusalem - The Church of the Holy SepulcherFreeman discovers that Christians and Jews are united about miracles being a key aspect of their faith (after all, most of the key elements of the Bible are pretty miraculous according to the above definition, such as Moses parting the Red Sea and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead). The Catholic Church verifies miracles (two) in order to confer sainthood upon deceased individuals. In addition, prayer and faith in God makes a big difference. Tom Renfro, a pastor of a church in Virginia, shares his personal story about having cancer and not seeing the doctor, asking for prayers instead.  He eventually heard God tell him it was time to go to the doctor, then went in for one round of chemo and was completely healed.  Renfro attributes the miracle to his faith and the faith of the people around him.

Other beliefs vary as to the importance of miracles. The Egyptians believed everything that happened in a person’s life was the will of the gods.  In the case of the Romans, they believed their panoply of gods determined the outcome of chariot races at the Circus Maximus (think Ben-Hur), yet humans could help speed the process along by cheating and such. In the case of Taoism, everything is connected and the fates of an individual are set at birth. However, Jenny Liu, a fate calculator (that’s a great title to put on a resume), tells Freeman there is still room for a miracle since, in her words, “Birds don’t fly; they’re flown. Fish don’t swim; they’re carried.”  Buddhists go as far to say that humans can perform miracles such as love, peace, reconciliation, and the transformation of the mind.

Simply put: there’s a lot more to life than meets the eye and, if anything, miracles offer hope to a world that increasingly needs to know possibility can become reality.

The Masked Saint: Bringing Good To Others

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1465914_10153531839760557_1008715661_o-2Saturday mornings, for me, were opportunities to enjoy a bowl (or two) of cereal and sit on the couch, television remote in hand. After I had my fill of Shirt Tales, Snorks, and Smurfs, I often had to decide what to do next. Should I watch a new episode of Dungeons and Dragons or enjoy some wrestling? Normally, I just turned the TV off and went to play, but one morning, I changed the channel to professional wrestling and entered a new world.

I would sit, transfixed, as the likes of Ric Flair, The Ultimate Warrior, and Hulk Hogan took part in battle. Afterwards, my friends would gather and attempt the moves on a trampoline or with the action figures we received for Christmas.  We all knew the stuff was fake, but it didn’t stop us from having hours of fun imagining we were the world champions.

In the new film The Masked Saint, wrestling is brought to the silver screen—this time in the form of a pastor named Chris Samuels (Brett Granstaff—check out my interview with him here).  Yes, I said pastor.  It’s a unique idea based on a true story and has the potential to connect with a cross-section of Americana, but it falls prey to slow pacing and trying to accomplish too much.

Samuels is a professional wrestler who looks similar to NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and wears a mask (a la Jack Black in Nacho Libre) and goes by the stage name The Saint.  He’s extremely popular and has made promoter Nicky Stone (the late ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper) a lot of money.  But the script is about to change, as Samuels is set to retire and a new wrestler is selected to beat him in a title match.  That fighter is The Reaper (James Preston Rogers), who looks like a clone of The Undertaker.  The fight is supposed to be fake (as one might expect), but The Reaper goes too far and breaks Samuels’ leg in the process.

Chris and Michelle, The Masked SaintThis is a setback for Samuels, who is also a seminary graduate and has accepted a position as pastor in Rolling Spring, MI. The church is a half-step from disbanding, only surviving thanks to the ‘generosity’ of Judd Lumpkin (Patrick McKenna), a character who is the embodiment of every bad church member rolled into one person. Judd is loud, brash, crude, egotistical, and isn’t afraid of promoting himself or throwing his congregation under the bus—sometimes all at once. After Samuels has to put him in a sleeper hold to get his attention during a rec league basketball game, he gains the attention of Ross Harper (Mykel Jenkins), a local detective in town.

Rolling Spring is a rough town, and Samuels is about to learn how rough in his first month on the job.  He’s not a fantastic preacher—actually, he’s horrible—but he’s willing to invite people to the church.  Unfortunately, in a humorous yet sad scene, Samuels and his wife Michelle (Lara Jean Chorostecki) go door to door, only to find doors slammed when they mention the name of the church (thanks a lot, Judd).  It’s not a pretty picture, and when Judd (and his money) leaves, the couple find themselves trying to survive the harsh Michigan winter. Samuels has to pull himself out of retirement and wrestle in order to keep the church afloat.

But although the congregation has no clue about his alter ego (save one lady), things are happening in town. Samuels finds himself putting on the mask to help a lady in an alley and starts doing covert acts of good. The lady in the church who knows who he is, Miss Edna (Diahann Carroll), gives him a book and acts as his spiritual mentor. He begins to find a rhythm with preaching and the people begin to listen and respond. Samuels begins to face questions of priority, ego, faith, determination, family, and his other identity.  How far will he go to do what is right for his family, the church, and others?

The Masked Saint, Brett GranstaffThis sounds suspiciously like an adaptation of the Daredevil series currently on Netflix, but it’s not; there’s only a minor focus on the vigilante crime prevention.  I do think the film could be so much more if that were the case—after all, who wouldn’t want to see a wrestler using real moves to clean up a town? Instead, the script branches out into too many topics (bullying, domestic violence, crime, corruption, to name four) and tries to become all things for all people. Limiting the scope somewhat and delving into a few character-based topics would’ve been much more beneficial to the audience.  Instead, it’s like trying to focus on everything going on in Times Square—a task that often doesn’t work.  In addition, the film drags in the second half as it builds up to a rather big wrestling match. The fighting scenes are pretty good, but way too few and far between for those people intending to see a wrestling film.

This is not to say The Masked Saint is a disaster, as it’s not.  The acting is quite good and the production values are better than many faith-based movies.  Carroll does a great job as Miss Edna, encouraging the young pastor and sometimes taking him to task for his decisions.  She gives him a journal she calls “Mastering the Gift,” which becomes his main focus for the remainder of the film—even over the Bible, in my opinion.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see copies of the journal in Christian retailers soon.  Granstaff also does well in his role as the pastor/wrestler, adding an authenticity that’s not often seen in films of this type.

One of the more interesting themes in the movie involves Samuels dealing with his past. It wasn’t an easy life, and wrestling helped him survive constantly being bullied as a kid. But when he begins to become the bully and sees himself as more than he is, things get tense. Many times in the Bible, characters found themselves dealing with the past—take Moses as an example.  He wasn’t a great leader, didn’t speak well, and had a black mark in his past by killing an Egyptian. And yet God was able to use him to lead a country through a sea on the way to the Promised Land. Even despite this, Moses didn’t learn all his lessons and eventually made himself equal to God when attempting to get water from a rock (see Numbers 20:6-12). We’re not to dwell on the past, but we’re to look and see the new things God is creating and join Him in that work. When that happens, life becomes a fulfilling journey that brings purpose and satisfaction to many.

Breakthrough Ep. 5–Energy on the Edge: Turning the Wheel

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Light bulb with flameBy this point in the earth’s history, we know that our dependence on coal, oil, and other fossil fuels is going to drive us to a point where we completely run out of them. One look at the bright lights of Las Vegas or the skyline of a major city is a reminder that as we place more people on the planet, the need for some form of sustainable energy is going to increase.

The fifth episode of Breakthrough (seen on the National Geographic Channel tonight at 9 PM/8 Central) seeks to tackle this issue as director Akiva Goldsman (writer of the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind) presents a number of energy visionaries who are committed to ‘spinning the wheel’ in ways that will be beneficial to our kids and grandkids. And believe me, these ways are not just ordinary run-of-the mill ideas generated in a boardroom. As an example, one gentleman wants to produce power using, of all things, man-made tornadoes (they have incredible power, you know).  He even has a working prototype set up at a university in Canada!

Crescent Dunes Power Plant
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Stewart Volland)

Or how about a massive solar array of 10,000 panels?  That doesn’t sound too visionary—after all, solar arrays already exist and people are increasingly putting them on their houses. Using those panels to focus light on a six-hundred-foot-tall tower filled with salt in an attempt to create sustainable, recyclable, and renewable energy that competes with a normal power plant? That’s the stuff of science fiction come to real life! Some people in Iceland are even trying to dig for geothermal energy in at depths deep enough to reach liquid magma! Others are working on creating a miniature sun on the planet using fusion (of all things) and creating clean drinking water from a brewery’s organic wastewater.  That’s some creative stuff—and the exact thing we need to see as fossil fuels become scarcer in number.

At the very least, Goldsman opens the viewer’s eyes to what people can do to make energy in this day and age. He offers a physical demonstration of each concept using a group of actors to explain how energy can be extracted from them and conveys a positive message that these options can be possibilities in the future.  They take money and time—two things most visionaries don’t have (think of Moses—he knew about the Promised Land and took people to its threshold, but never actually got to make it there himself). The wheels of ingenuity and creativity in science are continuing to spin and will bring us closer and closer to the goal of energy self-reliance—one revolution at a time.

Lasers and Fusion
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Erin Lubin)

Sometimes an answer to a problem isn’t always an easy solution, nor is it the option people expect. When it arrives in a different way, it can make a lasting impression on others. Each of the methods of producing energy in this episode of Breakthrough are cutting-edge and out of the ordinary.   If one ultimately succeeds on a large scale, its effects will be quickly noticed by people.  As a biblical example, take the challenge presented by Jesus in John 6: a group of 5,000 men (plus women and children) have been listening to him teach but are hungry.

After Jesus tells his disciples to give them something to eat, they admit to having only five loaves (pieces of flatbread) and two small fish.  Jesus blesses the meager meal, and suddenly everyone there has an all-you-can-eat feast.  You can bet that people took notice of that—in fact, they wanted to make him their earthly king after the event!  In the case of the energy visionaries, I hope their methods work on a massive scale—the world will be a better place for their creativity.  Their dedication to making the wheel turn will be something I can tell my grandkids about one day.