The Young Messiah features a very sweet little Jesus

Movie Title:    The Young Messiah       

Grade:   PG-13, 1 hour 51 minutes

Rating:   B+

In a Nutshell:    “Inspired by scripture, rooted in history”, this is a very respectful telling of what MIGHT have occurred in Jesus Christ’s childhood. 

Based on Anne Rice’s book Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt: A Novel , this is a lovely family-friendly movie for the Easter season.

Uplifting theme: 

• Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
• We all grow from grace to grace in our understanding of God’s plan for us.

Things I liked:

• I love watching Sean Bean in anything.
• Adam Greaves-Neal does a nice job as the young Jesus.  What a sweet little face.
• Italian actress Sara Lazzaro plays a loving, protective Mary.  Vincent Walsh plays a humble, self-sacrificing Joseph.  There are several sweet scenes where Joseph buoys up Mary during her moments of fear and doubt.  He tells her, “I thank God for choosing me every day.  Every day.”
• The cast, for the most part, looks believably Middle-Eastern.
• Rory Keenan is a perfectly creepy Satan, who is constantly lurking around and whispering evil ideas in everyone’s ears.  Reminiscent of the “fall” of Adam and Eve, he eats an apple in the opening scene and is represented as a snake in several other scenes+.
• I’m glad that the sets don’t look like cheesy Hollywood sets.  The fabrics are rough and the tiles are worn and dingy.  Everything looks very believable.
• I thought it was interesting to show that Jesus was the only one who could see Lucifer.  After a conversation with Satan, Jesus exclaimed “You don’t know the answers, do you?  You don’t know what’s going to happen!”
• I appreciated the parental struggles of Mary and Joseph as they decided when and what to tell Jesus and how to answer his questions.  Joseph explains to Jesus “Your questions are the questions of a child and your answers are for a man.”

Things I didn’t like:

• We already know how the story “ends”, so the film lacks a certain amount of tension, mystery, and anticipation.
• The target audience is most definitely Christian with very little attempt to convince the non-believer.
• There are many events that are not in the scriptures or are scripturally inaccurate, but the viewer should know that will be the case going into it.
• There is kind of an odd scene where Cleopas and Jesus go down in the water at the river Jordan.  I assume it was supposed to be a forshadowing of Jesus’ baptism there later?
• Everyone looked authentic, except one actress with fake boobs who looked out of place in the movie.

Interesting lines:

• “There’s only one miracle – it’s Roman steel.” – Severus (Sean Bean)
• “How do we explain God to His own son?” – Joseph
• “He’s just a child.” – Joseph

“No.  I was just a child and so were you, but he is not just a child.” – Cleopas (Christian McKay)

• “Chaos rules and I am its prince.” – Lucifer
• “Is that it?  Is that all you can do?” – Lucifer to Jesus as he was praying

Tips for parents:   

• There is a disturbing scene where Jesus and his family are traveling to Jerusalem and have to walk through a road lined with men who are currently being crucified.  That road was famous at the time and really did exist.
• A man begins to sexually assault a woman and she murders him while Jesus watches.  In fact, he sees a lot of disturbing things that might frighten young children.
• Children may not be familiar with the “blood of innocents” that Herod caused in search of the young Christ child at his birth.  The movie shows images of that event and revolves around Herod’s son’s attempt to find Jesus and kill him.
• No profanity.

The Martian is fresh, suspenseful and surprisingly funny

Movie:    The Martian

Rating:    PG-13, 2 hours 14 minutes

Grade:   A

In a Nutshell:    Why are audiences and critics raving about The Martian ?  Because it’s fresh, suspenseful, inspiring, scientifically credible, and surprisingly funny. In fact, the Academy Awards placed it in a category of comedy.  I loved this movie.

Director Ridley Scott takes us on a journey to the vast reaches of outer space and into the smallest corners of the human heart.

Based on the 2011 novel by Andy Weir, the movie includes stunning vistas, filmed on one of the largest sound stages in the world in Hungary.  Some of the scenes of Mars were also filmed in Wadi Rum in Jordan. See it in 3D if you can.

The talented cast includes Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Kristen Wiig, Aksel Hennie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Uplifting Theme:

·         The film really focuses on optimism and hope, while astronaut/botanist Mark Watney is stranded on Mars.  Sure, Mark has his dark moments, but he quickly decides in the beginning “I’m not going to die” and that determination is what propels him to withstand the most difficult of situations on a hostile planet.

·         Human ingenuity is truly inspiring.  I know this is fiction, but still…

·         “You just begin.  You solve one problem and then another.” – Mark

Things I liked:

·         NASA actually collaborated with the makers of The Martian , lending an authoritative air to the film, making it almost feel like a documentary.   If you want to learn more about the ARES space project and Ridley Scott’s prologue series, go to www.areslive.com

·      Fun Disco music is one of the running gags throughout the movie.  At one point, Mark is so sick of listening to Disco music that he says “No, I’m not going to turn the beat around.  I won’t do it.”  The movie soundtrack will probably be pretty popular.  What music would YOU take if you were going to leave Earth on a long mission?

·         I loved the comment about the Council of Elrond directed at Sean Bean's character from The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring [HD] .

·         Jeff Daniels brings back his arrogant, bossy character from The Newsroom: Season 1 to play the Director of NASA.

·         I like it when directors give the audience a reason to keep watching during the credits at the end of a movie.

·         After many months of movies about superheroes who try to save the world, this refreshing flick is about the world trying to save one man.

·         The movie entertains your brain, as well as your heart, which beats fast during the last 20 minutes as you try to remember to breathe.
  -       Each time a new character is introduced in the movie, the audience sees a label on the screen, indicating the person’s name and position, almost as if these are real people. 

Things I didn’t like:

·         I know Saturday Night Live comedienne Kristin Wiig has done several serious films, but it’s just still hard to take her seriously in a dramatic role.

·         If you got dizzy watching Gravity , there will be a few moments in this movie where you’ll have to close your eyes.

·         Two F-bombs and some other profanity surprised me.  I thought PG-13 movies were only allowed to have 1 F-bomb, but somehow this movie gets away with two, plus a few other “F” moments that are mouthed silently.  In fact, Mark is told by NASA to clean up his language since everyone on Earth can read what he’s saying on his transmissions.  As a result, his language gets worse and makes the audience laugh.

Funny lines:  

·         “Luckily, I’m a botanist.  Mars will come to fear my Botany powers.” – Mark

·         “I am the greatest botanist on this planet.” – Mark

·         “I guess I colonized Mars.  In your face Neil Armstrong.” – Mark

·         “So, yeah.  I blew myself up.” – Mark

·         “I’m going to have to science the “bleep” out of this.” – Mark

·         “I’m going to dip this potato in Vicodin and there’s nobody who can stop me.” – Mark

·         “I get to fly along like Iron Man.” - Mark

Things you learn in this movie about surviving on Mars:

·         Duct tape can fix everything.

·         You can use your own doodee to fertilize a garden.
-     Fire = bad.  Plutonium = good.

·         Science!

Tips for Parents:

·         Parents will like how educational the movie is.  Mark, the “space pirate” shows us how to problem-solve with impressive resourcefulness.

·         Some bloody moments.

·         Audiences see the entire back side of Matt Damon after he gets out of a shower.  He’s the only human on an entire planet, so why use a towel?

Can't get enough of Mars?  Check these out:

   


If you love seeing Matt Damon in an astronaut suit, be sure to check out this mind-boggling movie:

Pixels helps you relive your 80's glory days

Movie:    Pixels

PG-13, 1 hour 46 minutes

Grade:  B-

In a Nutshell:  This is a world where Kevin James is President of the United States.   Need I say more?   I have real mixed feelings about this new Adam Sandler action comedy.  While it has many flaws, it DID make me laugh out loud a few times, mostly thanks to Josh Gad and his hilarious comical timing.  

Younger viewers will be mildly entertained, while their parents will get a kick out of 80's nostalgia.  As they say in the movie: “Start your gaming!”

Uplifting Theme:

·     The 80's rocked.
-   Everyone gots da skills in something.
-   We're better when we work together.

Things I liked:

·         The funny-man cast includes Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Jane Krakowski, and Peter Dinklage.  The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring fans will be happy to see Sean Bean.

·     Adam Sandler’s character is a tech nerd, which reminded me of the cute TV show Chuck: Season 1 where the main character works for the “Nerd Herd”.  People are now embracing their inner nerd and it’s considered cool now.  Adam Sandler’s character says “For the record, I’m an amazing kisser.  All of us nerds are.  We appreciate it more.”

·         I grew up in the 80’s, so it was fun revisiting those good old days. There are a LOT of 80’s references that parents might have to explain to their kids, such as:  “Where’s the Beef?”, Sheena Easton, Polaroid cameras, and some of the people who show up as cameos (see my list below).
*  I remember playing most of the games that the movie featured: Donkey Kong, PacMan, Space Invaders, 

 Things I didn’t like:

*   It felt like everyone was acting.

*   The special effects weren't amazing.   Meh.

*   The script could have been stronger with better writing.

Funny lines:

Ludlow has most of the funny lines that made me laugh out loud.  Here are some of them:

·         “It looks like someone sent us the cast of Magic Mike.  Are you going to fight or dance naked?”

·         “I’m on an all protein diet, but I also do carbs.”

·         “You smell so nice, like the book of Genesis.”
          

Tips for Parents:

·         I have four sons who all love to play video games.  As any good mother does, I scold them when I think they’ve played for too many hours in the day, informing them that they’re wasting their time and that they should be developing more meaningful talents and skills which will help them in their future to get a good job and career.  Little did I know that my second son would actually grow up to be a character artist at Blizzard, one of the biggest video game companies on earth!  He has a great job and absolutely loves what he does.  Check out some of his recent artwork for Blizzard. 

Cameos:

·         Serena Williams

·         Martha Stewart

·         Dan Akroyd

·         Tammy Faye Baker

·         Fantasy Island host and “Tatoo”

·         Hall & Oates

·         Lainie Kazan

·         Matt Frewer as Max Headroom