sixtyPercent: Cochlear Implants, Aviation, Technlology, and Philosophy 2005/12/18
Doonesbury on Creationism
This Doonesbury strip hits the nail right on the head in the Creationism debate.
Frankly, I have a lot of respect for strict, young-Earth literal creationists -- many seem to have a very internally consistent view. But the rest of us are just a bunch of theological wimps (in my unlearned opinion).
"I like creationism but I'm happy to benefit from modern science and medicine...". Bzzzzt. No picking and choosing allowed! And remember, if you wear that 50-50 wool/cotton blend sweater your sweet old grandmother gave you, you're in big trouble too. (Really -- look it up, Leviticus 19:19).
by David Creemer : 2005/12/18 : Categories rants (permalink)
Narnia and Syriana
I found myself with a bit of extra time this weekend, so I decided to treat myself to two currently-in-the-theatre movies, instead of the usual after-the-kids-are-asleep DVD's.
On Saturday I saw the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which is sadly, well -- crap. The graphics are great of course, and like the marketing campaign must have cost a lot of money. What wasn't good was essentially everything else. The acting was weak, the script not so good, the direction was shaky, and frankly I'm not sure who the target audience is supposed to be. Like many people, I read C.S. Lewis' books as a kid, but the movie couldn't transport me back to the enjoyable fantasy adventures I remember. The film is certainly too violent for young kids, and too poorly done for adults, so all that's left is the 10-12-ish year old crowd.
The comparison between this and the Lord of the Rings movies is inevitable and probably proper. Peter Jackson (Rings) obviously loved and studied Tolkein's stories. The most hard-core of Tolkein fans may not forgive him for leaving out a favorite scene or character (e.g. Tom Bombadil) but I he certainly got many of the important parts across, while never forgetting to tell his own great story (especially in the Extended Edition DVDs). The same cannot be said of Andrew Adamson's Narnia adaptation. When the film's Aslan refers to the "deep magic", not only did I not get what he was talking about, but I got the impression the writers didn't either.
Oh well. Syriana on the other hand is a really good film. I'm in no position to comment on how close the film comes to portraying the "true" reality of its topic, but it sure left me believing they hit the mark right on. Like its spiritual predecessor Traffic, Syriana takes you into a world most of us know nothing about but with which we are all intimately connected (petro-politics in this case). Stephen Gaghan tells the story of high-intrigue and geopolitics through the personal lives of a half-dozen peope -- all with quite different perspectives, but of course all in some way linked. Educational without being preachy, Syriana is an excellent antidote to the usual "feel-good" movies of the season. It's the kind of film I will be thinking about for many weeks.
by David Creemer : 2005/12/18 : Categories film : 0 trackbacks : 3 comments (permalink)
