Jo's Film Blog

2009-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

BOOK REVIEW

Title: The Message Behind the Movie - Chapter 1

Author: Douglas M. Beaumont

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Ok, not many book reviews are done, a chapter at a time, but I thought this way I can get the review to you that much sooner. Besides, this book would not be done the justice it deserves in just a couple of revised paragraphs.

Finally! I think to myself, a book that focuses on all the issues I (and many other christian movie-goers, I think) have had over the past decade or so about the message we should or shouldn't be getting from, not just christian films but all films we view.

This first chapter focuses on the importance of films in our culture and how they provide the perfect medium for conveying the message of Christ. Douglas says "one study reported that teenagers spend about ten hours per day consuming media of various kinds. This means that even if teens were to spend two hours per day with their parents, by the end of the week they would have spent five times as much time immersed in media". How important is it then for christians to have a bigger role in Hollywood?

The theme of the book is to teach us how to analyze all films we watch without stamping the film with an overall 'Good' or 'Bad' label, looking into the underlying message of the story instead of at the amount of it's moral/immoral content. This quote from the chapter sums up the feel of the book as a whole. "In order to successfully integrate movies into our spiritual lives, though, we first need to learn how to evaluate movies, so that we neither miss the good nor uncritically accept the bad."

So, so far, I like it! I think it will prove to be a great companion to anyone interested in finding the real message behind the action, drama and special effects of any film.

To be continued...

2009-06-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Well I got accepted to Murdoch Uni, so there will be some up-coming stories from that side of things, as long as I get time to Blog, that is!

'House' Based on the novel by Ted Decker and Frank Peretti.

2009-05-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

Film/- 'House'

Writers/- Ted Decker & Frank Peretti

Production Company/- Namesake Pictures

Genre/- Thriller/Horror

This is one of the first Thriller/Horror films I have watched that was written by Christian Authors.

I don't know a lot about Ted Decker but this film sure is true to Frank Peretti's style.

I must say they did the genre justice with edge of your seat suspense and frightening supernatural themes.

There was not a strong christian theme, in other words you would not know the writers were christian unless you were already aware of it before watching the film, but there was a definite absence of immoral content, such as coarse language, sexual references, drug use, etc, which was refreshing to say the least.

The story tells of a couple, on the edge of a relationship breakdown who are both very self-consumed, who have an accident and end up at an old run-down hotel. There they meet another self-absorbed couple and together they try to survive the phycological and physical terrors that haunt them and try to take their lives. It has a light versus darkness kind of theme.

Well filmed, impressive special effects, great direction and editing. Overall, an entertaining suspenseful thriller that leaves you not with a feeling of hopelessness and an 'I'm going to puke now' sensation, but a sense of relief, that everything worked out in the end.

Worth the watch if you are into this Genre and like a good scare without all the Blood and Guts.

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Jo's Blog

2009-05-09T03:33:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is my new blog!

It may take some time to get the hang of this but basically I set it up to talk about christian films and my film studies when I start uni.