tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95675402009-11-11T04:21:28.536-08:00Interact! Post your comments, rants and raves.Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1170340666581789702007-02-01T06:37:00.000-08:002007-02-15T20:17:32.185-08:00

1/1/07 The Good German1/4/07 The Sweet Hereafter1/6/07 We Are Marshall1/9/07 Rich and Strange1/10/07 La Cle des Champs1/10/07 Kamataki1/12/07 United 931/13/07 More1/13/07 Building No. 71/13/07 Sour Death Balls1/17/07 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance1/19/07 Amazing Grace1/20/07 The Last King of Scotland1/20/07 Missing in America1/24/07 Frailty1/25/07 Bruce Almighty1/26/07 Water1/

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1170304986841904452007-01-31T20:33:00.001-08:002007-02-01T06:41:52.530-08:00

The film Amazing Grace is being released to coincide with the bicentennial of the abolition of the slave trade by Great Britain. Britain is marking the occasion with a special £2 coin with a chain connected to the 0 in 1807. The end of the slave trade is certainly something worth remembering and celebrating.It would be even better to celebrate the complete end of slavery, but that has not

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1170025286830654092007-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:002007-02-14T15:40:27.270-08:00

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives." So said someone named A. Sachs. I have no idea who he is or in what context he said it, but there is a certain wisdom to it.That wisdom is the core of Venus, a story of an old man and a young woman and the love that they manage to find together. As I skimmed through some reviews of the film, I noted that many centered on

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1169786239171092682007-01-25T20:36:00.000-08:002007-01-25T20:40:03.300-08:00

So, the Super Bowl teams are determined. Two Midwest teams will go to Florida to play each other. Seems to me it would be better to play the Game in Gary, Indiana, between the two, but it's not really about the football game -- it's about the event. There is a load of money involved in Super Bowl XLI. There are the tickets -- that only corporations can afford to buy. There are the TV ads and

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1168717659751694792007-01-13T11:46:00.000-08:002007-01-13T14:35:18.453-08:00

It hasn't been a bad year. If it's easy to put together a top films list, then there hasn't been much to choose from. This year my list overflows. Although all of these films are certainly worth seeing, what the year lacked is a few films that just plain knock your socks off. That means that the grade for the year is a respectable B-. Here are my "dozen" films for 2006: Tsotsi - the

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1168404592807305112007-01-09T20:48:00.000-08:002007-01-09T20:49:52.823-08:00

The Painted Veil opens in a florist shop where we learn that Kitty's family doesn't buy flowers, because why should you buy something that you can grow. They also don't grow flowers because it is "silly to put all that effort into something that's just going to die." Certainly an unromantic beginning to a love story. Well, I say it's a love story, but it takes a while to get there. Kitty is

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1168054769473781542007-01-05T19:38:00.000-08:002007-01-05T19:39:29.476-08:00

The original edition of Robert K. Johnston's Real Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue has been for many, myself included, a very helpful text to understand the interaction between theology and the movies we watch. In recent years this interaction has been a growing discipline. Johnston, who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary, has been a leading writer in the field. Now a second

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1168054119245625962007-01-05T19:27:00.000-08:002007-01-05T19:28:39.260-08:00

At one point in The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner considers why Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence enumerated among our unalienable rights not happiness, but the pursuit of happiness. Perhaps, he surmises, happiness is not something in and of itself, but is only known in the pursuit. The story (inspired by a true story) is about Chris and his son (his wife is

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1168007545632035372007-01-05T06:31:00.000-08:002007-01-05T06:34:04.226-08:00

Robert Wilson may be an artists' artist. That is, his avant-garde creativity is especially appealing to other creative people. His work may not be quite as approachable for the average person and doesn't really fit into a mass market art world. That is why you may not have heard of him or seen any of his work. Absolute Wilson gives us a chance to see glimpses of his work and, more importantly,

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167969607827919322007-01-04T19:59:00.000-08:002007-01-04T20:00:07.856-08:00

From the vintage Warner Brothers logo at the beginning of the film, it's obvious that The Good German is trying to be retro. Black and white, overbearing mood-directing score heavy on strings, a slight tendency to overacting that falls just short of camp, everything about it seems designed to take us back to films of a previous generation. Director Steven Soderbergh obviously wants this film to

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167798081548034952007-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:002007-01-02T20:21:21.570-08:00

... and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, RSV) In The Secret Life of Words we see a young woman who lives very much in her own world, even when she is in the midst of other people. Hanna works in a factory, but doesn't interact with the other workers; she just keeps doing her job. It helps that she's nearly deaf and often has her hearing aid turned off. She is a bit compulsive

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167698792102730452007-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:002007-01-01T16:46:32.120-08:00

As the new year opens before us, the mission comes to a close. Yesterday, being New Year's Eve, we stayed close to home. Jane had a dessert to make for the dinner we were going to, but after that we made a trip to the local theater to see The Pursuit of Happyness. It's a nice feel good movie. Then a brief trip to Barnes and Noble to exchange a couple of books. Then home to work on a couple

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167697467470606902007-01-01T16:23:00.000-08:002007-01-01T16:24:27.490-08:00

WARNING: there are some spoilers in this review. I mark them with red warnings. There was once a princess from the land of fairy tales who got lost and forgot who she was. If she doesn't find her way back, she'll be doomed to live in the world of people, grow old and die. Or so the legend says at the beginning of Pan's Labyrinth. In 1944 Spain, Ofelia travels with her pregnant mother

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167610614720637312006-12-31T16:16:00.000-08:002006-12-31T16:16:54.743-08:00

Obsession. It can make us miss the joy that is available to us because we focus so much on what we do not have. In Notes on a Scandal, obsessions shape the lives of two women. Sheba is a new teacher. She has spent the last several years caring for her family and feels the need to find something new in her life. It's not that there is anything wrong with what she has, she just wants more.

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167607279221414942006-12-31T15:17:00.000-08:002006-12-31T15:21:19.250-08:00

12/1/06 28 Up 12/2/06 Volver 12/4/06 Absolute Wilson 12/5/06 The Lady Vanishes 12/8/06 What's Eating Gilbert Grape 12/12/06 Entertaining Angels 12/14/06 My Country, My Country 12/16/06 Little Children 12/17/06 Casino Royale 12/19/06 Turtles Can Fly 12/20/06 The Spitfire

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167583363780791862006-12-31T08:41:00.000-08:002007-01-01T16:47:47.266-08:00

We had a big day planned for Dec. 30, and there were a few changes to plans, but it wasn't without its moments. First we planned on late breakfast at one of the good breakfast places we know about on 17th St. in Costa Mesa. But getting started at 10:00 we knew that if there was much of a wait, we might be getting behind. But on the way, a CHP officer decided Jane needed to be reminded

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167496087997798902006-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:002006-12-31T09:00:02.326-08:00

Another fairly slow day for the mission, but not without entertainment. There were errands to take care of in the morning. With all the work of the mission, we hadn't worked out for a while, so Jane went off to water aerobics and from there to give blood. While all that was going on, I took the cat to the vet for her last kitten shot. She really doesn't like being in the carrier or riding

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167420746753707042006-12-29T11:31:00.000-08:002006-12-29T11:32:26.780-08:00

For more than a century, children have been enthralled by the stories of Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Jemima Puddle-Duck and the other creations of Beatrix Potter. In Miss Potter, Chris Noonan has put together a delightful film that shows us the woman behind these stories. The story begins just as Beatrix is finding a publisher for her first book. Nobody really thinks her little children's

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167412968667940802006-12-29T09:21:00.000-08:002006-12-31T09:01:48.533-08:00

Reaching the midpoint of the mission gives you a chance to assess how it's going. We've been busy, so on Dec. 28, it was toned down a little. After a morning at home doing chores and working on my Letters from Iwo Jima review, we packed some sandwiches to smuggle into the theater and went to The Good Shepherd at our local theater. Then home again to finish off the review, and play with pets

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167351450141826852006-12-28T16:16:00.000-08:002006-12-28T16:17:30.160-08:00

When I was young, war movies made it very clear who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. The Americans were always the good guys. The enemy (be it German or Japanese) was always vicious, godless and bordering on the inhuman. In more recent years, we have had films that treat all combatants as people caught up in events beyond their control. Perhaps this is seen most clearly in last

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167325834065350612006-12-28T09:07:00.000-08:002006-12-31T09:03:33.120-08:00

Dec. 27 started with us making progress on the movie list the easy way. After reading a review of one of the films, it fell off the list. Later we saw a trailer for the film that confirmed that decision. Then the trip to Pasadena commenced. It's strange, Pasadena is just about the same distance for us to travel as going to Irvine, but we go to Irvine for movies all the time, and view a trip

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167196503274542842006-12-26T21:14:00.000-08:002006-12-31T09:04:39.850-08:00

Since I had a week of vacation that I hadn't gotten around to taking, my wife and I are on a mission -- to put a major dent in the end of the year movies that may or may not be nominated for awards. We put together a list of 15 films that we want to see. That will be a challenge to fit in between Christmas and New Years. I doubt we'll finish the task in the week, but it will give us a good

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1167194076048720952006-12-26T20:33:00.000-08:002006-12-26T20:35:07.543-08:00

On Christmas Day I went to a movie about an inexplicable, miraculous pregnancy and the child who birth brings hope to a fallen and dying world. No, I didn't go to The Nativity Story; I saw Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men. Children of Men is an apocalyptic dystopia film set a bit in the future in a world in which all humanity has become infertile. For nearly two decades there have been no

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1165588371201205712006-12-08T06:31:00.000-08:002006-12-08T06:32:51.220-08:00

Mel Gibson makes it clear what we are supposed to find in Apocalypto by beginning the film with a quotation from historian Will Durant: A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. The film is designed to show us the self-destruction of the once great Mayan society. We should then also be able to see the parallels between the decline of that

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9567540.post-1165467082530249402006-12-06T20:50:00.000-08:002006-12-06T20:59:15.830-08:00

Volver opens in a cemetery as many women are busy cleaning the graves of loved ones. This puts us on notice that the film revolves around the interaction between life and death. In this part of La Mancha, people expect for the dead to come back from time to time and visit with those left behind. ("Volver" means to come back.) Pedro Almodovar leads us from that idea into a wonderfully done

Darrel Mansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05485903823729299376noreply@blogger.com0