Zeitgeist Movie

Yesterday I decided I would watch the Zeitgeist movie after reading a post about the movie. I had to clear some time off my schedule to watch the on-line movie because it is almost two hours long. What did I think? I’m glad you asked. I will give a general summary and then share my thoughts.
The movie is broken down into three parts, or theories, on Christianity, 9/11, and International Banking and the Federal Reserve Bank. Be warned these are theories steeped in conspiracy. In order to make it through, I had to be VERY open-minded to even make it past the first half hour (if you do watch it, skip the first seven or so minutes, its just instrumental, doesn’t add to the movie at all).
Act 1: “The Greastest Story Ever Told”
The movie suggests that Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus are all based on astrology, Egyptian religious figures, and several other pagan “potpourri”. The story of Jesus’ miracle birth is described as being a plagarized story from any number of religious gods ie. Horus, Mythra, Krishna, etc. All of these and several others according to the movie had similar miraculous occurances surrounding their birth, life, deaths, and in most cases resurrection. Also, the movie suggests that Jesus never existed and all the stories about him are in fact about astrology. The sun, which is central to ancient astrology, is equated to the story of Jesus in many facets. One of those facets is Jesus is literally God’s Sun. When the sun starts to go through the winter months, food supplies dry up and freeze, and “death” starts to the creep in. This time is a desolate time for ancients and  they look to the sun to start ushering in warmer climates so that “life” can begin again. Miraculously , on December 25th the sun actually starts this climb back higher into the sky. So Jesus, God’s Sun, is born on this date (every year). During this time three stars from Orion’s belt line up with the some sun’s birth. The name of these three stars you may be asking? The Three Kings (Wise Men). There are too many other suggestions made by the film dealing with Christianity, Jesus, and the like, to be made here. Watch if you want to see the others. My thoughts on this act. First, there is very little  support for the claims made (and the other Acts). There is plenty of theory but very little facts presented. The sources on the movie home page are very hodge podge and not very academically recognized. My first thoughts were that the facts presented seem very “cut and paste”. Take a little from here and a little from here and Voila! here is the answer to life’s questions. I believe that this would make good discussion starters but little else.
Act 2: “The 9/11 Myth”. The movie expounds on some thoughts that have circulated since Sept. 11th. Were the Bush’s conspiring with the bin Laden’s over several years? Were the WTC buildings 1, 2, and 7 detonated by explosives and not by planes? Building 7 was not even hit by a plane, why did it fall? The 9/11 commission seems to glide over important facts and in fact covers some up, does it? Of the three acts in this movie, this one has spirred my curiousity the most. I will comment further after I have spent some time investigating. Of course it is too over the top. If the movie creators could have spent some more time on this act and left the other two out completely, I would take it more seriously. The acts don’t really go together and I think this makes me less certain of the claims made.
Act 3: “The Men Behind The Curtain”. This has been in conspiracy theories archives for a long time. I remember being real young hearing about “One World Goverments”, “Implants by governments to enslave their societies”, etc. I think that again facts are too scarce for true academic thought. I think it would make a pretty good book plot. If you could take what Dan Brown does and mix just enough facts with a huge portion of fantasy and sell a million copies.
If I had to guess, this movie was made by people that have been hurt by the church and the federal government. I don’t know for sure what led the producers to make such a movie. I can guess, but that is all it will be. Watch the movie if you want to. Don’t watch the movie if don’t want to. Either way, no harm done but be warned, again, these are theories by those that believe in conspiracies. You must consider the source.

The Crucible

I just watched the movie, The Crucible, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about the movie, or couldn’t remember, but I didn’t need any prior “setting up”. After watching the movie, I can safely say that this was a great movie. A movie is great in my opinion when it not only gets me thinking but effects me physically. I can say that during the movie and even now, I feel anger towards the girls, led by Ryder’s character, that caused the death of innocent people deemed practitioners of witchcraft. Really sad display of religious fervor. This would make a great discussion starter I think. This movie has made my favorites list.

Star Wars Strikes….Again

I recently cancelled my Blockbuster online membership, so I have been low on movies to watch. I decided a few nights ago to watch the original Star Wars trilogy. I made it through the final episode this morning and in that episode was a great nugget of spiritual truth. You know, it seems to me that no matter how many times I watch certain shows, I find useful information along the way. Well…out with it!
Yoda has gone on to “join the force”(at least that is what I interpret he does when he vanishes before Luke) and Luke is struggling with going on to meet his destiny, which is to confront Lord Vader. Obi-Wan appears to Luke and they begin a conversation about Luke’s recent discovery that Darth Vader is his father. Obi-Wan had told Luke that Vader betrayed and killed his father, and Luke is questioning this statement.
Obi-Wan:”…So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”
Luke:”A certain point of view?”
Obi-Wan:”Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”

I have been down this road before, but somehow it seems more poignant this go ’round. Now I have literally watched Star Wars, both completely and in pieces, a hundred times, why didn’t I see this truth…years ago? Why did it take so long to begin to understand the journey I was “destined” for? Who knows?
I guess the important thing is that I have now discovered a great truth. Next…use it.
The truths that I have clung to most of my life, adolescence to adulthood, have been from a “certain point of view”. I have believed things, spiritually speaking, without question due to my rearing. I suppose that this is a good thing, no, scratch that, it is a good thing. My parents passed on to me what they believed to be the truth and for that I am grateful. Now, however, I am beginning a journey in a new direction and my point of view is…different. Knowing that my point of view is different doesn’t take away the pain of uncertainty as new ideas and ideals are being “tried on”. The struggle is there. The questions remain and even the point of view moves about. One day, one thing. Next day, different thing. Its really hard to find what it is that is unchanging. It has been suggested that which is unchanging is inside all of us. This may be true, but what does that mean?
Ahhh, the wonderful world of “Certain Point of View”! Is it something that can be shared with others? I guess so or else there wouldn’t be a single congregation of folks anywhere. But do they really share a certain point of view? Or is it simply a lack of the majority to search out there own point of view? One certain point of view is offered by a few dominant people and others join in. Does this make it a true group of congregates? I don’t know.
Well, here’s to Lucas’ legendary Star Wars dialogue, who would have known it to stir up so many questions?

Conversations with God

I watched the movie based on the popular (until about noon today had never heard of them) books and/or following today and I really liked the movie. I was very naked coming into the viewing. I was completely in the dark. For this reason, I had no prejudice for or against. Here is what I thought.
I liked the main character, played by Henry Czerny. He was to me very believeable. There were a few other characters but none as memorable.
The story line was pretty easy to follow. There were several flashbacks that I think played well into the whole story line.
Another cool thing about the movie was the trailer for What the Bleep?. At that point I was really excited about the movie maybe being something that would challenge my thinking and I wasn’t let down. This movie did challenge me to check my beliefs at the door and listen and hopefully learn from the experience. Not many movies that I have watched (and I have watched a few) have left me with such a feeling of being lost in thought. Good movie to discuss God and spirituality.
With all that said, I went on line to find out about this author and the following. I was a bit suspicious of Mr. Walsch. It is very New Age (I didn’t really pick this up in the movie). There are some nuggets in the philosophy but I don’t believe they are solitarily found in this spiritualism (?). I guess the spectator is left to make his own judgements, I believe, as it should be.

Break Time

I decided to take a break for a little while. I have been writing about motivation and decided to keep it light in this entry.
I have been watching a butt load of movies, mustly DVD’s. I thought I would rate a few movies. I don’t want to make a list from 1 to 10 are anything like that, just rate ‘em likes I sees ‘em.

I’ll start with Babel starring Brad Pitt. This movie reminded me of Crash. There were four different story lines going on at the same time with all of them sharing a common thread. The order is not chronological but I was able to follow enough to keep up. I liked the movie because of its complexity. I would not buy the movie and probably will not watch it again, but a good way to burn up 2+ hours.

The Prestige is next up. I was really intrigued by this movie based on what Mike said at Gotthammer . It had the same feel as The Illustionist, same time period, etc. but is was a darker movie. This movie had a rich complexity also. It reminded me of a coil of wire tightly wound until the end and poof! it all comes together. This is a movie I will definitly watch again. One time is not enough I don’t believe to catch all the subtleties. Excellent movie.

Castle in the Sky. What can be said about this animated movie about a floating castle and a quest by both nations and pirates to possess the power of the castle. A pretty good movie for both child and adult alike. It is pretty long for some small kids, but my 8 and 5 year olds were very captivated by it and watched from beginning to end. Good family flick.

Driving Miss Daisy. I have never seen this movie. I know I am a weird-o, but I never have. I was thinking about Morgan Freeman movies that I have never seen and this was one of the only ones. This was a feel good movie. A good movie though. The acting was great. The characters were excellent. I don’t know if I will ever watch this movie again, but I will probably not forget it.

Bridges of Madison County. Here we go again, a movie that I probably should have watched long before this past week but just never have. The recommendation by Lyndon at WLS really pushed me to see it. I really liked it. Clint Eastwood in a romantic movie, odd but good. Meryl Streep played a very sensuous lady from Italy transported to Idaho through marriage to a vetern. The movie is very thought provoking. What is marital love? Dedication to a spouse both mentally and physically is difficult if you entertain certain notions. Good movie to help you answer those questions or at least start the process of discovery.

2001: A Space Odyssey. I watched bits and pieces of this through the years but have never sat down and watched stem to stern in one sitting. This movie is puzzling, at times gut-wrenchingly quite, bizarre, thought-provoking, and terrifying. I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, so it took some time and research on line to figure out what was going on. After a better understanding, it really is a movie ahead of its time. Certainly a good sci-fi, or should I say “sci-non”?

Running with Scissors. I listened to the audiobook some months back and found out later that they were making it into a movie. Augusten Burroughs is laugh out loud funny to me. He may not be that funny to everyone, but to me he really is. He did the book narration so I was able to hear his voice. Until you hear his voice, you really can’t appreciate the fullness of his comedy. Running with Scissors the movie helped me to enjoy the characters better, but it was more supplemental to the book to me. The movie may be OK by itself, but I don’t know.

The Departed. There is no doubt this movie won Best Movie at the Academy Awards. It has been my experience with all star casts (all star sports is the same) that there is too much ego to make the movie (sports) work. This is certainly an exception to the rule. This was a movie that was very complex, layered. There was some questions that didn’t get answered till the end of the movie. I like movies like this. It keeps me interested till the end. If I can figure out the end in the first half hour, I lose interest quick. Well worth your time to watch this one. I will probably watch it again and appreciate the characters more.

I will continue later with more movies as I watch them.

Crash

I know. I know. This movie has been out for a while, but I finally watched it. I had heard that it was hard to follow, but it wasn’t. I now wish that I had watched it before last night.
I won’t go into great details about the movie for those that have not seen it, but it really follows my whole motivation journey. It deals with prejudices between all people groups. The good, the bad, and the ugly are represented. I will definitely watch it again because I would like to dissect it a little more, but suffice it to say, really a great movie.
I am glad that this story was told. I am glad that it is being watched by so many people (based on it being the number 1 rented DVD since it came out on DVD). Maybe we are headed in a positive direction. Maybe we will get to a point, soon where we will be able to sit at table with all “makes and models” and be able to have a conversation that doesn’t end in hate and prejudice. I don’t agree with all things, but I do have an open mind. I want to know what makes others “tick”. What is their point of view? What is their motivations?
Maybe this motivation journey is more a journey into culture differences than anything else.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it needs repeating. When watching the Behind the Scenes of the Syriana DVD, George Clooney observed while on location in the Middle East that no matter how hard we want to, “we cannot bomb this (cultural religiosity) out of them!” No matter how much we think we don’t agree with others, we don’t possess the right perspective. We haven’t walked a mile in their shoes. We haven’t even had the guts to try the shoes on. Until we can see through their eyes, we have no base on which to condemn.
I don’t know where this journey is going, but watching Crash really helped me see a little more clearly.

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Just got finished watching The Big Kahuna starring Kevin Spacey(Larry),Danny Devito(Phil), and Peter Facinelli (Bob)in which they are salesmen at an industrial lubricant convention. I wanted to watch the show after watching the end and reading some quotes from the movie. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. It is not for the weak. There is plenty of language in it, so be prepared.
There is a section of dialogue between Phil and Bob,who is a born again Christian, which sums up for me what I have really been feeling for a long time. The two characters are talking about honesty. Phil says that he can trust Larry because he is honest, blunt, but most importantly he is honest. The section of dialogue that I really likes is as follows:
Phil (asking Bob a question about honesty):”Has it touched the whole of my life?”
Bob:What does that mean?
Phil: That means that you preaching Jesus is no different than Larry or anybody else preaching lubricants. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or how to make money in real estate with no money down. That doesn’t make you a human being. It makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to someone honestly,as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are, just to find out. For no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation,to steer it,it’s not a conversation anymore.It’s a pitch, and you’re not a human being. You’re a marketing rep (emphasis mine).
Isn’t that powerful! I mean if you were to ask me to tell you how evangelism is to be done two or three years ago and you stipulated that I couldn’t steer a conversation with a “lost” person, I would not have been able to. What is evangelism to the Southern Baptist mind but an opportunity to sell wares? I speak of my own mind and am not classifying all Southern Baptist thought.
Recently, while talking to my friend at Words Less Spoken, I confided in him that I do not wish to hold conversations with anybody with an agenda of steering the conversation to Jesus, religion, etc. If the topics come up by the other party, fine, and even then I will not be pressing. I only desire to be honest with people and having relationships with people on the sole idea that you are seeking a convert to a religion is in my opinion very dishonest.
Your thoughts?

How Star Wars Should had ended Because I am a St…

How Star Wars Should had ended

Because I am a Star Wars fan, I don’t spend a lot of time of plot holes, but this one is pretty funny. Check out this website, especially if you are a movie fan. Very well done sketches.

Superman Returns

Went to see the movie tonight and because I don’t want to spoil it for anybody, I have but a few words to say (and so that I don’t offend anybody, I will use the official KJV)….DAMNETH that was awesometh!!

Sim CP

Is It Too Soon?

I love movies. I mean I really love movies. Because of that, I am always looking for what is coming up in the movie world. One of my favorite sites to visit is Coming Soon

. There I can find out what is on the horizon, read storylines, and best of all, watch trailers for upcoming movies. Several months ago, I saw a trailer for United 93

. The trailer depicts a fictional, but probable exchange between the passengers and terrorists. I found it very hard to watch. The movie has been out at theaters, but I really didn’t want to watch it. I thought it would be too hard.
Recently, I was looking around at new trailers and came across the trailer for World Trade Center

. The movie is directed by Oliver Stone and stars Nicholas Cage. This trailer was even harder to watch. I could visualize what was going through the minds of the people working in and around the North and South towers. The emergency personnel who were first on the scene and would soon be. I tried to think, what would I have done? I really don’t know. I would like to think that I would do something heroic, but who knows?
The problem for me is this, isn’t it too soon? Has there been enough time between the actual events and now that we will be able to watch it on the big screen. Is it just me, or we rushing into this? I know that it has been five years, but is that enough time. We are still at war in the Middle East over this “spark” that started it all. Have we the courage to revisit this black moment in human events?
When I watched Schindler’s List several months ago, I found that gut wrenching. How could this have happened on this planet? A few months after that I watched Hotel Rwanda. A very good movie, but equally gut wrenching. How could human beings do this to other human beings? The Holocaust took place before my life time. The slaughter of a million Tutsis by Hutu militia took place in 1994, and the movie came out ten years later.
I guess for me, because this atrocity took place in my own country, five years doesn’t seem long enough. It seems to me waiting another ten years would seem a better time, to me anyway.