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where faith and film are intertwined

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The Suicide Squad: War is a Funny Thing

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The sequel to 2017’s disastrous Suicide Squad, James Gunn’s soft-reboot The Suicide Squad also tells the story of a ragtag group of villains and maniacs with unique abilities who are forced to work together by the America Government. If they are able to survive this suicide mission, they get reduced jail time. Disobey an order though and their head blows up. This time, their team consists Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark, a giant CGI shark-man (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) and other crazy characters thrown in the mix like a living human weasel and Mongal, an alien warrior from another planet. Their mission is to destroy Jötunheim, a Nazi-era prison located in Corto Maltese, South America where alien experimentations are being used by its new evil dictators. 

The Suicide Squad is James Gunn at his absolute best. This is a film that really feels like an R-rated Guardians of the Galaxy (which is definitely a good thing). Picking James Gunn as the writer/director was a great decision for the WB and the difference in quality between the first Squad film and this one is night and day. Widely panned by critics and audiences, the first film felt like it was made by Hot Topic. Overstuffed by character backstories with limited action scenes and, lest we forget, the worst depiction of the Joker ever, 2017’s Squad was a tremendous let-down for the company. However, in Gunn’s vision for Squad, we jump right into the action and craziness, where half the team gets decimated within the first 5 mins of the movie. (It really is a Suicide Squad…) Gunn’s voice is nuts, often unexpected, and truly fitting of a rated-R movie. 

In addition, unlike the first film, Gunn’s film really isn’t trying to take themselves too seriously. Gunn clearly understands how insane both the premise and some of these characters are. For instance, there’s one really epic scene where King Shark rips a guy in half with his bare heads in slow-motion while lighting strikes in the background. (And that’s not even the craziest part of the movie!) This Squad also contains a woman that controls rats, Harley’s epic escape from prison and Bloodsport’s shooting through someone else’s bullet. That sort of high intensity action pairs really well with the comedy that James Gunn loves throwing into his films like Polka-Dot Man’s deep hatred for his mom that runs so deeply that he sees her everywhere. 

The underlying theme of The Suicide Squad seems to be a criticism of American nationalism and the smoke and mirrors that the American image upholds. This idea is best symbolized through Amanda Waller and John Cena’s character, Peacemaker. Decked out in the classic red, white, and blue colors of America, Peacemaker has dedicated his heart for “liberty.” Both characters are willing to do whatever they can to preserve the image of America as ‘for the people, by the people’ and the nation that all others should aspire to be. Of course, this is all a delusion but both characters act to try to preserve this false image simply because it’s something that they were led to believe. They truly think what they’re doing is right, despite being on both sides of the propaganda. 

The Suicide Squad further delves into its critique of the US by mentioning how many South America countries have been ravaged by them during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Similar to the way that Corto Maltese was used to store illegal human experiments using the alien starfish, so too did the US use Cuba for their nuclear weapons in the 1960s. In an example of toxic American nationalism, Waller and the Peacemaker will do whatever it takes to preserve US interests, even at the expense of poorer and less developed countries.

Overall, The Suicide Squad is the rag tag team of villains that we deserved (and needed).  James Gunn is allowed total freedom here and looks like a genius. Not only is the action exceptional (and plenty) but the comedy is incredible and works so well with the characters they have.

The Suicide Squad is in theatres on August 6th, 2021

5.06 Fighting our Fathers in CREED II

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When Adonis Creed returns to the ring in CREED II, he has all he’s ever fought for: a new wife, stable family and, of course, the heavyweight championship on his shoulders. However, when the shadows of his past resurface to confront him, Creed must ask himself what he’s fighting for and what he’s prepared to do to achieve it. This week, Steve welcomes Colin McCartney (Connect Ministries) and Jordan Thoms to the show in order to talk about fighting for (and against) our fathers, owning our identity and the stigma of dealing with mental health issues.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic or on Spotify! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or more!

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.

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Thanks Colin and Jordan for joining us!

Backtrace – Memory and Loss

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Backtrace is a story of memory, remembrance, and pain. But mostly it is a film about losing things we haven’t even appreciated losing.

When a trio of bank robbers go to meet the inside men who planned it all, a shoot-out occurs. Two of the robbers lay dead. The third, Donovan MacDonald (Matthew Modine), has suffered a severe brain injury, causing him to lose all memories before being shot. Seven years later, MacDonald is still in a locked mental hospital. He hasn’t been tried because he still can’t remember anything from before he got there.

A new inmate named Lucas (Ryan Guzman) suggests that he can help him escape. Along with a nurse named Erin (Meadow Williams) and a guard named Farren (Tylor Olson), he manages to get smuggled out of prison. The reason? He’s the only one who might remember where they hid $15,000,000. Erin injects him with an experimental drug that might bring back his memories. The side effects can be severe, but they are anxious to find the cash.

The escape brings the case back into the news and to the attention of police Detective Sykes (Sylvester Stallone) and FBI agent Franks (Christopher McDonald). The two don’t seem to like or trust each other and are clearly working at cross purposes. As bits of memories come back to MacDonald, he and those with him must try to piece together the few clues they have. Meanwhile the police are getting closer.

There are a couple of twists that take place, neither terribly earthshattering. So the story plays out as an action thriller with very little credibility. In fact, the thing that is most important for MacDonald to remember (which isn’t the money) gets very little attention. It is that discovery that provides the real sense of loss in his life.

Around the time of the end of the film, the thought that came to mind was, “What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?” (Luke 9: 25, NRSV). As the end plays out, we should wonder about what MacDonald has gained (and lost) that is truly important. The film fails to take any of the characters deeper into questions of meaning or to ponder the relative value of the things that have been lost and found.

Creed II – Still in Rocky’s Shadow

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The Rocky saga continues with Creed II. It would be nice for the Creed films to have their own identity. It’s not just that they still have Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in a key role; they both rely heavily on plot from the earlier Rocky films rather than looking for their own paths.

In Creed, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), illegitimate son of Rocky’s foe/friend Apollo Creed, embarks on a boxing career under the Balboa’s tutelage. That film was in part a search by Adonis for a connection to the father he never knew. In the present film, Adonis becomes champion, but soon he is publicly challenged by Victor Drago (Florian “Big Nasty” Munteanu), son if Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the fighter who (in the 1985 Rocky IV) killed Apollo in the ring, and was later beaten and disgraced by Rocky. Rocky still carries guilt about not stopping the fight before Apollo was killed. The elder Drago still carries a grudge against Rocky.

Sylvester Stallone stars as Rocky Balboa and Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed and in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures film. Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
© 2018 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Rocky refuses to train Adonis for the fight, but Adonis goes on with Tony Burke, son of Apollo’s trainer.  After taking a terrible beating, Adonis retains his title on a disqualification. But his life is facing many changes. Not least of which is that his fiancée Bianca (Tessa Thompson) is having a baby. Is Adonis willing to risk everything in a rematch with so many new responsibilities? (Well, it’s a Rocky movie, isn’t it? Of course there will be a rematch.) In terms of plot, this story develops very like Rocky IV, except than rather that getting killed, Adonis is only almost killed.

Michael B. Jordan stars as Adonis Creed and Tessa Thompson as Bianca in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures

The film seems to want to talk about family, and especially fatherhood. It seems fitting that after the search for a father-figure in Creed, the sequel might want to look at what it will mean to Adonis to become a father. The film certainly offers that opportunity. A subplot deals with Rocky wanting to call his estranged son, but not having the courage to seek a reconciliation. The ingredients for Adonis and Rocky to struggle with what it means to be a father are there, but that theme gets overwhelmed by the boxing. Adonis seems pretty cavalier about the possibility of leaving his child fatherless as his father left him.

This film brings all the familiar emotions of the other Rocky Saga films. I suppose that’s why people like sequels—getting to see the same story again. Like the other films in the series, it relies on many brutal fight scenes. These are more brutal than real boxing, which is brutal in itself. What makes the difference (at least in my mind) between a good and lesser boxing film is if the fighting adds something to the human story being lived out by the characters or if the story is just the mechanism to get to the next fight scene. Creed II gives priority to the boxing. When we walk out of the film, what we remember is the bone-crushing body blows, not the soul-rending doubts that Rocky, Adonis, and Bianca all face. (And because of the father/son relationship of Ivan and Victor, there is a whole other perspective that could have been considered.)

(Right) Florian Munteanu stars as Viktor Drago in CREED II, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures film. Credit: Barry Wetcher / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
© 2018 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This is why I think the Creed films need to find a new direction out of the Rocky paradigm. They could offer us some depth to justify making us watch the bloody gladiatorial spectacles of overdone boxing.

Creed: Discovering You’re A Contendah

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Some folks feel that Sly Stallone was robbed of a lifetime achievement award in his nomination for Best Supporting Actor at Sunday night’s Oscar ceremonies.

The greater snub is that Michael B. Jordan’s role as Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed, didn’t get nominated at all.

Playing the heir apparent to carry the mantle, “Black Rocky” plays like an urban remix of the original, with a different soundtrack and more realistic drama than 2015’s other boxing flick, Southpaw. Following Adonis’ journey over rugged physical and emotional terrain to build himself into the fighter that he feels in his genes, the film highlights the nuanced portrayals by Jordan and his foil, the craggy-faced Stallone as the original rough-and-tumble Philly hero.

There’s a formula buried underneath Adonis’ struggle, a string of training and bout vignettes strung together, but this is no simple remake. Balboa needs to redeem himself, echoing Stallone’s final(?) epic run at an Oscar, making up time he sees spilling out on the floor. [The late film developments will also make him even more like Burgess Meredith’s Mickey in a career and character arc.] Jordan wants to prove he’s not just a brawler, but he also wants to show himself that he’s not a nameless castoff, the average kid who grew up rough without a father and never escaped that shadow.

Spicing up the storyline are the litany of actual boxers playing boxers from Tony Bellew as “Pretty Ricky” Conlan and Andre Ward as Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler. More interesting are the casting of Phylicia Rashad as Apollo’s wife and Adonis’ foster mother, and Tessa Thompson as the musical love interest of Adonis. These feminine characters add a depth to the real life of Adonis out of the ring – something missing in the aforementioned Southpaw and my favorite fighting film, Warrior.

While films like Spotlight, Room, and Trumbo are meaningful cinema that everyone should see, Creed joins Mad Max as the two films I most appreciated in 2015 – and know that I will rewatch. The story and power of Adonis’ desire to make something of himself, and the way that storyline is played out over both his success and his failure make this worthy of our attention. Nevermind that it’s also full of sermon illustrations and moments of real world (and spiritual) wisdom.

All of us are searching, seeking, yearning to be accepted and to make a difference. Creed shows us that we must cut through all of the “stuff” that gets in our way, all of the things we throw up to hide ourselves from others, to dig down deep. It’s through the crucible of the ring – and life itself – that Adonis discovers that he is who he always wanted to be, with the help of his “family,” and in spite of his insecurities, family background, and societal expectations.

Story Still Matters: Race, Film, & the Oscar Nominees

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straightouttaI’m a reluctant writer.  It’s a gift.  It’s a curse.  It’s a gift because God has given me the voice to express myself.  It’s a curse because of the toll it takes and the burden I have to carry.  Your fearless leader Jacob has been nudging me to write film commentary like we used to do at Hollywood Jesus.  The gift kept calling.  The curse kept weighing on me.  So I ducked and dodged him.

And then the Oscar nominations came.  

There was one nomination for the white screenwriters of Straight Outta Compton.  One nomination for the white superstar supporting actor in Creed.  Zero/nada/zip for Beasts of No Nation, Chi-Raq and the other African American centric films/actors/etc.  The question of diversity within the Motion Picture Academy is now on the table.  Blacks across America are furious.  Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee are calling for a boycott.

I can feel most of you sharpening your knives because you think you know what I’m going to say.  Allow me to disappoint you.

Sorry, Jada.  Nothing but love for you, Spike.  But I won’t be boycotting anything. I will spend my Oscar night in front of the TV like I do every year cheering the winners I loved and booing the winners I didn’t want to win.

creed-movieAnd while I’m being honest…here’s more of my $0.02 regarding the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees.

  • Creed was good…but it was nothing more than Rocky 7. The notion that Sly Stallone is nominated  for playing Rocky is a joke to me…but, hey…strokes for folks.
  • A note to filmmakers: if you’re using Netflix to launch your movie in the Oscar race, you’re a TV movie. Beasts Of No Nation getting snubbed is not a statement against Black actors. It’s a statement against a TV distribution system that  is attempting to destroy the motion picture theatrical experience. The video on demand industry is dedicated to shrinking theatrical release windows to the point of non-existence.  Within the next few years, movie theaters will be few and far between due to the fact that everyone can watch movies on their tiny smartphones.  I still love going to the movies.  Nothing beats sitting in the theatre with popcorn in hand and watching a story be told on a sixty-five-foot (NOT INCH!) screen.  Cry all you want about Idris Elba getting snubbed, but I’m doggone proud that the Academy chose to preserve my favorite national pastime!
  • Had Universal received the memo that Steve Jobs wasn’t playing to audiences and the guilds like it had hoped – and repurposed their 2015 awards campaign to ride behind Straight Outta Compton as they should have, Spike wouldn’t be boycotting and Jada wouldn’t be ranting. Harvey Weinstein does the same thing every year, which is why his films bag a gazillion nominations and wins year after year. Don’t blame the Academy. Blame Universal for betting on the wrong horse.

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  • And, as much as I loved Chi-Raq…and as much as I admire your body of work, Mr. Lee, you can’t call a major Hollywood studio a “plantation” and not expect any fallout or blacklisting. Yep.  Back in 1992, out of his frustration with completing his classic biography of Malcom X, Spike Lee called the film’s distributor Warner Bros. those very words.  Twenty-something years later, he’s expressed in news outlets his difficulties in getting the major studios to finance his projects.  I wonder why.  Yeah, we have freedom of speech, but that freedom ain’t necessarily free.  God Himself through the inspiration of Scripture reminds us to be wise, slow to speak and, by all means, watch that flaming inferno called The Tongue.  Unfortunately, many have not heeded this warning – Mr. Lee included.   Speak your mind…but be willing to pay the price!
  • As I shared my thoughts on my Facebook page, I undoubtedly received my fair share of dissention – particularly from an old buddy from my old South Central LA neighborhood.  This particular gentleman called me a sellout because I wanted to see films that were off the beaten path.  I will never forget how he read me the (uncensored) riot act because I wanted to see the U2 documentary Rattle & Hum in the 80’s.  Dude lost his mind back then…and lost his mind again today as I took my anti-boycott stance.  He’s not the only one who gave me grief in  our “hood.” I got ridiculed for saying that Clint Eastwood was a better actor than Eddie Murphy.  My constant pleas to see a movie at the larger than life Hollywood movie theatres were ignored.  While everyone else was living the 70MM life, I used to take the bus to a piece of crap three-screen shoebox across the street from USC’s campus. Once I got a driver’s license, I made my way to Hollywood Boulevard and haven’t looked back in thirty years! I still march to the beat of my own drum.  I don’t explore EVERY film that’s off the beaten path, but I take pride in the fact that I will have seen every one of this year’s Best Picture nominees.  I will not allow my old pal, or anyone else, to use my color or race to define who I am as a person. The fruit of my life transcends my color. I am a child of God and a lover of cinema FIRST!  That’s never gonna change.

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  • Lastly…there’s one way to fix the diversity problem at the Oscars: make a film SO DOGGONE GOOD that the industry can’t take their eyes off of it. Make a work of cinema so decadent and impactful that it simply will not be denied. Steve McQueen did in 2013. The result: 12 Years A Slave. Winner of Best Picture…and many Black folks refuse to even watch it because we won’t grieve the pain and scars of slavery. In order to heal, we must go back to the pain and discover that, in spite of what we went through, we must first realize that we WENT THROUGH – and SURVIVED. Props to the writers/directors/actors taking number one spots from Star Wars. But I’d rather see Sam and Denzel taking shots at each other as opposing attorneys in a courtroom judged by James Earl Jones than Cube and Kevin Hart shucking and jiving across the streets of Miami!

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  • That same sentiment goes to the world of Christian film, too.  I have ZERO INTEREST in the US vs. THEM mentality set forth by stories like God’s Not Dead.  The success of War Room was based on the fact that the story was centered in actual reality.  Like 12 Years A Slave, War Room was so doggone good that it would not be denied.  Let’s see more stories like that!  Yes, we as Christ followers stand for what is right in pure in the eyes of God.  But we need to see more gritty and real stories of transformation through His power.  Let’s see the story where the lead starts out as a foul mouthed, train-wrecked mess of a man and, two hours later, we see the spirit of God upend his life and transform his soul. Let’s see the story about the sister who uses sex to gain acceptance from the world only to discover that, through Christ’s love, she has the acceptance that she longs for.  And please don’t make it PG rated.  That’s not real.  

We live in an R-rated world (X…if we wanna be truly honest).  Are we too proud to take the Apostle Paul’s example of becoming all things to all men in order to save some?  Or are we too concerned about our image?  I don’t know about you, but my journey with God has been decidedly R-rated.  I was the foul-mouthed trainwreck.  I was the one who used sex to gain acceptance from the world.  But His love continues to transform me.  My story of redemption is not pretty…but I know He has taken my ashes and made them beautiful.  Can we get more stories like that on screen instead of incessant preaching to the choir? God doesn’t need us to create sanitized classroom scenarios to prove that He’s not dead.  The harvest is in the muck and mire of the world.  And that harvest is sho-nuff ripe.  But the laborers are few.  Hopefully, in this artform that I love, that will one day change for the better.

Editor’s note: Chris Utley is a forty-something writer, director, (sometime) actor, songwriter, singer (only at church!), husband, and father to three beautiful children. Hailing from Los Angeles, he shares his love for film and Jesus Christ with everyone he can. 

Trotting on the (Golden) Globes

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Upon the conclusion of last night’s Golden Globes, Oscar season has officially begun.

Run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or HFPA), the Globes have become one of Hollywood’s biggest parties. Alcohol flows freely. A-Listers hang out and have some laughs. Big name hosts like Ricky Gervais or Fey and Poehler run an evening more akin to a celebrity roast than an awards ceremony.

It’s got all the glitz and glamour you’d expect from Hollywood.

While stars like Leonardo DiCaprio (!) and Sly Stallone (!!) make room in their trophy case, and The Revenant and The (please don’t call me a comedy) Martian score big wins, suddenly we’re going to be told that these have immediately jumped to the forefront of Best Picture race when the Oscars roll around in a few weeks.

Don’t believe them.

That’s not to say that either of these pictures aren’t a worthy winner – or even a front-runner – but the Golden Globes aren’t necessarily the sure thing that they want you to believe. Even though they draw a substantial television audience and garner attention from some of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest, the HFPA is most guilty of their own sense of self-importance in the awards season shuffle.  (Ricky Gervais even remarked in his opening monologue that the awards were worthless, telling the celebs in attendance that “It’s a little piece of metal that some journalist made so they could take a selfie with you.”)

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How do we know?

For starters, the HFPA is a notoriously private non-profit organization whose membership consists only ninety journalists. Yes, you read that correctly: ninety members. That’s less than the average university film class. Or half the available seating at a standard movie theatre. When you compare this number to fact that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences consists of over six thousand members, you get the feeling that the HFPA is not nearly as accurate a gauge on what the arts community believes to be the ‘Best’ of the year.

Furthermore, the strange categorizations of films and actors/actresses doesn’t necessarily indicate that they’ll be loved by the Academy either. Remember when Madonna won Best Actress at the Globes and didn’t even receive an Oscar nod? Or when David Fincher was a lock for The Social Network? Brokeback Mountain, Boyhood, Dreamgirls, Avatar and, yes, The Hangover – all Golden Globe winners of Best Picture that failed to make Oscar’s historical list of winners. (To be fair, the Globes actually have a relatively solid record of picking the eventual Oscar winners in the acting categories but they are far from a guarantee.)

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While I am actually a full supporter of the Awards season shuffle (look for my editorial on Thursday after this years nominees are announced for my reasons why), the Globes just don’t convince me. They know how to throw a great party and garner attention but, when you get beyond the sizzle, there’s simply no steak. (A great example of this came in 2008 when, as a result of the Writers Guild strike, they opted to strip down the ceremony. Without celebrities or pageantry, their awards were announced from behind a desk—and people barely noticed.)

While it would be completely fair to make this same accusation about other awards ceremonies, the Globes just strike me as particularly empty. Call them what you will but the HFPA appear to carry an overly-inflated view of themselves.

Still, I can’t put too much blame on them.

In truth, the Globes are a product of our own culture and it’s obsession with glamour. In essence, the primary reason they remain prominent in the ratings is because they put on a show of excess. We love to create an idol culture where celebrities maintain importance simply because they’re famous. Memes of Leonardo DiCaprio wincing at Lady Gaga or fashion-shaming the dresses on the red carpet remind us that we think we’re better than they are. Our own pride and sinfulness drives us, not only to create idols, but also place ourselves above them.

So, you see, the problem really isn’t the Globes.

Although I believe it’s fair to celebrate quality art, our natural—read: sinful—tendency is to view ourselves with attitudes as falsely as the Globes themselves. When we humbly acknowledge our own brokenness, it reminds us of the emptiness of a culture of celebrity and allows us to celebrate what is good. Ultimately, that’s what matters most—and what the Globes most lack.

Regardless of who’s hosting.

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