Silence is Martin Scorsese's final testimony of faith

Movie Title:    Silence

Grade:  A-

Rating:  R, 161 minutes

In a Nutshell: 
Based on Shusaku Endo's novel, legendary director Martin Scorsese offers a passionate look at faith and devotion, which he said was twenty years in the making.

This is not your typical Christian movie.

Christianity in Japan in the 1600’s was illegal and dangerous.   I’m going to Japan this summer and am grateful that I will be welcome there, along with my religious convictions.  

Uplifting theme: 

• “Christianity brought love.” – Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield)
• “My love for God is strong.  Could that be the same as faith?” – Mokichi (Shin'ya Tsukamoto)
• “What have I done for Christ?  What am I doing for Christ?  What will I do for Christ?” – Father Rodrigues

Things I liked:

• The film asks very profound questions about religious conviction and faith.  How much would you still believe after you had been broken?  When do you stop fighting for your beliefs and just resign to being silent? What do you do when God himself remains silent?  The story and questions are both complex and challenging.  The film is not just a persecution allegory about what once happened in a time and place long ago, but it still has application to today.
• Adam Driver’s Portuguese accent is very good and believable, but Andrew Garfield’s is terrible.   Sorry The Amazing Spider-Man  Otherwise, both of their performances were really great. Despite all of his character's struggles in the film, Andrew Garfield's great hair remains.  ha ha  What an amazing year Andrew Garfield had in the movies this past year!  His starring role in Hacksaw Ridge  
• The production value is excellent.  While the target audience is predominantly either Christians or Scorsese fans, this movie is unlike any other Christian movie you have seen.  
• Fantastic title.  I love titles of movies that have multiple meanings.
• I liked the effect that the loud crickets had when they suddenly stopped in the very beginning and end of the film.
• Some of the faith demonstrated by the Japanese Christians was truly inspiring and absolutely heart-breaking.
• The direction was impressive, especially considering many of the scenes were shot in tiny spaces.

Things I didn’t like:

• The movie poster is misrepresented.  You think you're going to get to see a movie starring Liam Neeson, but he has less than 10 minutes of screen time.
• This is a VERY long movie that makes you relate a little bit to the LONG suffering experienced in the film.  The powerful message could have been delivered in much less the time.
• Deep spiritual questions are raised, but not often answered. The audience is left wondering what Scorsese's true message is.
• It's hard and painful to watch.  You just want the suffering to end.  Either that or you just want to kick the Old Samurai Inquisitor's butt.

Interesting lines:

• “Garupe and I have absolutely no luggage to bring to Japan except our hearts.” – Father Rodrigues
• “Feed my lambs.  It fascinates me.” – Father Rodrigues
• “But Christ did not die for the good and beautiful; that is easy enough. The hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt.”  - Father Rodrigues
• “God sends us trials to test us, and everything He does is good. But why must their trials be so terrible?  And why, when I look into their eyes, must my answers to their questions be so weak?” – Father Rodrigues
• “I’m sure God heard their prayers as they died, but did He hear their screams?” – Father Rodrigues
• “Where is the place for a weak man in a world like this?” – Interpreter (Tadanobu Asano)
• “Why do they have to suffer so much?” –Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield)

Funny lines:

• NONE.  This is a very serious drama.

Tips for parents: 

• You see decapitated heads on stakes at the very beginning just to warn you that you’re watching a Rated R movie.  It gets much, much worse.
• Brutal torture of Christians, including burning people at the stake, beheading, hot water torture, drownings, and beatings. Like most Scorsese films, it's violent and cruel, definitely not family-friendly fare.

@trinaboice 

Hacksaw Ridge spills blood and faith in big amounts

Movie Title:  Hacksaw Ridge

Grade:  A

Rating:  R, 139 minutes

In a Nutshell: This is NOT your typical Christian movie.  Directed by Mel Gibson, this graphic, true story inspires faith and courage amidst a background of the brutal, horrors of World War II. 

The audience cheered and clapped several times during the movie to honor the first “conscientious objector" to receive the Medal of Honor, Desmond T. Doss.  The theater I sat in was also filled with veterans, based on their reaction and the comments I heard from them while we slowly walked out.

Uplifting theme: 

• “When the world is busy tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.” – Desmond
• How well do you hold to your convictions?  How well do you show respect to those who do? 
• Bravery, cowardice, patriotism, friendship.

Things I liked:

• The star cast really knocked it out of the park on this one.  The acting really was stellar, led by Hugo Weaving, Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, and Dorothy Schutte.  Vince Vaughn was surprisingly effective. Hugo Weaving was absolutely amazing.
• Most people don’t much about Seventh Day Adventists. It was inspiring to watch a man truly live his religion.
• It reminded me a little bit of the faithful story in Saints and Soldiers, but with the gore and drama of Saving Private Ryan
• How do they film war scenes like this?
• I always love true stories where you get to see video footage and pictures of the real people the story is about at the end of the movie.
• Desmond goes to Fort Jackson.  I didn’t realize it was around during WWII.  My oldest son went there for his Army training too.
• Mel Gibson was a Hollywood hunk for many decades, only to be laughed at and dismissed in the past few years as a jerk and wackadoodle.  This film may be his comeback and apology.  It’ll be interesting to see if anyone is willing to grant him an Oscar.  Gibson is on par with his excellent work in Braveheart and Apocalypto  After a 10 year directing break, welcome back, Mel.
• There is a huge contrast between the sweet, innocent love story between Desmond and Dorothy during the first half of the movie and the brutal, gory carnage of the second half.   That stark contrast reminds me of the incredibly powerful movie “Life is Beautiful.”

Things I didn’t like:

• Does faith, patriotism, and courage have to be packaged with so much violence and gore to be appreciated?
• No guns.  No killing.  Where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah....Batman.
• You feel like your gut has been punched and your heart ripped out by the time you stagger out of the theater.

Here's an interesting trailer with Mel Gibson.  Did he get religion?

Interesting lines:

• “The U.S. Army does not make mistakes.” – 
• “You better come home to me.” – Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer)
• “In peace, men bury their sons.  In war, fathers bury their son.” – Vito Rinnelli (Firass Dirani)
• “You didn’t kill him. “ – Smitty (I loved Luke Bracey in Point Break (2015) 

“In my heart, I did.” - Desmond

• “All I saw was a skinny kid.  I didn’t know who you were.” – Captain Glover (I chuckled to myself, because Sam Worthington's character in Avatar was all about "I see you.") 

Funny lines:

• “I have seen corn stalks with better physiques.” – Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn)
• “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Keep climbing.” – drill
• “You’re like gum on a shoe, ain’t ya?” – Sgt. Howell
• “It’s a bit late for target practice, don’t ya think?” – Sgt. Howell 
• “I’m going to marry her. “ – Desmond

“Does she know it?” –  Bertha Doss (Rachel Griffiths)

Tips for parents: 

• This is NOT a children’s movie.  It’s rated R for extreme violence, gore, lots of scary dead bodies, and realistic war images.
• You see the rear end of a naked soldier.
• It’s surprising how little profanity there is, considering the movie is full of tough soldiers in horrible situations. 

Amazing Spiderman 2 squeezes Maguire's 2 & 3 into one flick

Movie Title:     The Amazing Spider-Man 2
PG-13, 2 hours 22 minutes

Grade:  B

In a Nutshell:   

This new installment of the Spider-Man franchise successfully makes you feel like you’re reading the panels of a comic book, but also has the effect of a choppy story that is common within that genre.  The flick is full of acrobatic stunts, impressive car crashes, and electrifying villains that young kids will get a kick out of.  I saw a few little ones walk into the theater wearing their Spidey costumes.  Adorable.  Most teens and parents who still have the Toby Maguire DVD sitting in their cabinet at home are asking “Why are they doing a remake so soon?” 

Uplifting theme:   

• Peter Parker’s girlfriend, Gwen, gives the Valedictorian speech at her high school graduation that pretty much sums up the theme for the movie: “It’s easy to feel hopeful on a beautiful day like today, but there will be dark days ahead of us too.  There will be days when you feel all alone and that’s when hope is needed most.  No matter how bad it gets or how lost you feel, you must promise me that you will hold on to hope.  Keep it alive.  We have to be greater than what we suffer.  My wish for you is to become hope.  People need that.  And even if we fail, what better way is there to live?”

Things I liked:

• The beginning of the movie sheds more light on Peter Parker’s parents and their unique mission which caused them to leave their young son.
• The slow-motion sequences were really great.
• Where else can we see Jaime Foxx with bad comb-over?
• The audience I sat with thought it was hilarious when Spider-Man sticks to a vehicle while it drives down the road.  He says to Gwen on the phone “I got a little stuck in traffic.”
• I pretty much love Emma Stone in anything.  This is a much softer version of her sass.
• This installment in Spider-Man is stuffed with villains.  Some say too many.  I rather liked the fact that the formula wasn’t “fight bad guy-win-happy ending-the end.
• (No spoiler alert)  I loved the story line and ending with the brave little boy.

Things I didn’t like:

• While Garfield and Stone have some chemistry, there’s no magical kiss like the one Maguire/Dunst created in their famous upside-down scene.
• It’s hard for Spider-Man to be really amazing when we’ve seen so many truly awesome CGI movies lately….with and without Superheroes.
•  Is it just me or does it seem like all of the villains in movies lately aren’t really bad, but just misunderstood?
• Before the movie started at the Regal Theater I attended, a bizarre announcement played with Emma Stone and a drugged out looking Andrew Garfield with a fake British accent.  They were encouraging patrons to upgrade to a particular ticket after the movie with access to additional content.
• Spiderman’s clever banter with bad guys just isn’t very clever at all.
• Some of Spiderman’s webs magically hook onto thin air.  What the?
•  The story line turns Peter Parker’s girlfriend into a successful Valedictorian with a loving family, much different from the Kirsten Dunst's wounded character. 
• I love Paul Giamatti, so I thought he was seriously underutilized in this film.
• Peter and Aunt May (Sally Field) fight in almost every scene they're in.
• Why do evil scientists always speak with a German accent and laugh after every sentence?

Inspiring lines:

• “What makes life valuable is that it doesn’t last forever.  What makes it precious is that it ends.”  - Gwen’s graduation speech
• “Time is luck, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.   Make yours count for something.  Fight for what matters to you, no matter what. Because even if we fall short, what better way is there to live?” – Gwen’s graduation speech
• “You’re not a nobody.  You’re somebody.”   - Spiderman  
• “The world cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”   - Albert Einstein, as quoted by Norman Osborn

Funny lines:

• Max tells Spider-Man “I will be like a god to them.”  Spiderman quips “A god named Sparkles?”

Things to look for:

• I love it when Stan Lee makes his cameo performance in Marvel movies.  Look closely in the high school graduation scene.  Stan sees Peter Parker with his Spider-Man mask on and says “Hey, I think I know that guy!”
• Some of the high school students decorate their graduation caps with little toys or words.  My oldest son just graduated from college last weekend (proud mama!) and I didn’t see any of the students decorate their caps, but I thought it was a cute idea.
• Peter Parker’s ring tone on his cell phone.
• Peter Parker’s cute “Thrasher” t-shirt.
• Aidy Bryant from Saturday Night Live is wearing a Statue of Liberty costume and says to Spider-Man “Nice costume!”
• Don’t bother looking for a fun sneak peek at anything after the credits roll.  When the movie is over, it’s actually over. 

Tips for parents:   

• Kids can learn about battery power and electric charges…
• The profanity is lean with only a few “mild” bad words, but there is, of course, a lot of violence.  Young children with dreams of becoming the next Superhero may need to be counseled “Do not try this at home.”
• If you missed the first Andrew Garfield Spidey, you can get it here:

Want to see the Toby Maguire version? You can pick it up cheap right here: