“The Chronicles of Narnia”: The Good, The Bad, and the Cute

Jon got The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe from his sister for his birthday (which was last Friday) and so we watched it today. My thoughts:

The Good
[-] the casting — EXCELLENT, especially Lucy and Jadis
[-] the faithfulness to the book since it was pretty accurate
[-] the special effects
[-] the way the animals were portrayed, especially the fox and the beavers
[-] Aslan — Liam Neeson is da man!
[-] the costuming
[-] the way they did the scene where Aslan is sacrificed — very tasteful and very poigniant

The Bad
[-] the emotions stemming from the scene where Aslan is sacrificed — it was a struggle not to weep on my part
[-] the breaking of the stone table — could have been a louder sound
[-] the beginning part where they’re dropping bombs on London — wasn’t in the book though it wasn’t a badly done scene

The Cute
[-] the beavers!
[-] the fox
[-] pretty well all the animals
[-] Lucy!!!!

I didn’t cry during the sacrifice scene which was amazing — I’d been kind of hedging on watching the movie because I was afraid of the crying that would happen. The scene was also very tastefully done — both Jon and I were impressed. I also really caught the Biblical symbolism in the film — it was not overdone but if you knew the allegorical meaning behind the characters, you understood.

An Attempt at a Meaningful Entry

[+] It’s paining me that I can’t write long meaningful things like I used to do in 2003 and 2004.Â? I mean, I’m now home again and my life *is* interesting — I just haven’t been able to articulate a lot of things on here because after what happened last September, I’ve become more private about my life.

[+] My faith life lately has been exploring Orthodox Christianity and attempting to reconnect to my liturgical side since I am seriously missing liturgy.Â? There’s a part of me that wants to attend Anglican services agan (in Canada of course — Anglicans and Episcopalians don’t exactly exist here) if for no other reason than it’s what I imprinted on.Â? (Yes Pisco, I know I need to haul butt to DC and visit you.)

[+] I have been ignoring most media outlets other than Countdown lately as I’m sick of seeing people dying in Lebanon and I don’t really give a rat’s butt about the JonBenet case which was *already* overhyped.Â? The War in Iraq just depresses me and I have so little respect for the president that I don’t want to even see him speak.Â? Thank goodness for DVR technology which lets me flip through a TV program to the parts I want.Â? (In this case: ODDBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Â? Oh yeah, and whoever happens to be the Worst Person in the World for that day in case it’s Bill O’Reilly.)

[+] I have decided that I have no desire to see Snakes on a Plane.Â? I’m terrified of snakes that have a shot at killing me (which sucks because we have rattlers around here) and the movie was overhyped.Â? Besides, I’m now in a place where I kinda have to fly so I don’t want to deal with the thought of cobras and pythons on my Alaska Airlines flight.

Random Thoughts on Various Things

Here are random thoughts on things that are going on:

[+]The Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the Biblical model: Let’s see… hurricane season has started and I highly doubt the levies are fixed; we’re fighting a losing battle in Iraq; and gas companies are inflating prices. In other words… THERE ARE MORE PRESSING THINGS TO THINK ABOUT RATHER THAN THE SEX LIVES OF OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!

[+]Bill O’Reilly on the slaughters at MalmÃ?dy: Bill, you’re an f-ing moron. You made the mistake, not once but TWICE and you dressed down a 4-star general in the process who actually KNEW something about which he was speaking.. The Americans WERE the victims, NOT the Germans. You CANNOT compare that to the atrocities at Abu Gharib or Hadith. WE were the ones who screwed up in those two cases.

/end snarkiness

Credo

Speaking of Faith has a feature on the creeds where they replay a conversation with Jaroslav Pelikan, the late Lutheran-turned-Orthodox church historian. I’m listening to it and I *HIGHLY* recommend it.

One point I love: that a wonderful thing about the creeds is that worshippers in Phillipines say the same words in their worship as I do in Montana. It’s why I am very much a lover of traditional liturgies (and would be Eastern Orthodox if I wasn’t Lutheran) — it is such an amazing thing to realize that I worship in union with my brothers and sisters all over the world.

Attention Hollywood: PICK ANOTHER DATE!!!!!

OK… why is it that all the blockbuster movies come out on or around my birthday?Â? Three of the Star Wars ones did (Empire Strikes Back, Phantom Menace, and Revenge of the Sith) and now The Da Vinci Code.

Could you pick another day so that people actually spend time with me instead of going to see said flicks!?!?!?!?

(Still a little bitter about 1999 when everyone went to see Star Wars and left me alone in my Chem 1N lab…)

God or the Girl

If any of you have a chance to catch this on A&E (especially any Catholics or those discerning their call to ministry), I highly recommend it.Â? It takes 4 Catholic young men in their 20’s and traces their path of discernment over a month.Â? In the last episode, they make their decision and then it shows them 6 months later.

It was incredibly powerful for me to watch because I’ve been in their shoes (discerning a call to ordained ministry) though my decision didn’t have to be between God or marriage.Â? (Thank you Martin Luther for lifting the celibacy requirement for clergy!)Â? I’ve seen that since I gave up trying to place myself in seminary, the Lord has showed me a path that I hadn’t thought of taking that incorporates my gifts and is opening a door on finishing up my Master’s degree.Â? I am still discerning but I definitely related to the decision that one of the men made to stop actively discerning and to let the Almighty guide his steps and just live in the present.

For those who wonder about how the Roman Catholic Church is treated in this, be assured that it portrays these men as very “real” people and shows their emotions as they’re going through the process as well as how dedicated they are to their faith.Â? Their faiths are just so beautiful and inspiring and it showed me why I am thankful for the Church’s contribution to my Lutheran heritage.Â? (Martin Luther didn’t start kvetching until 1517.Â? That leaves more than 1450 years of the catholic [i.e. “universal”] Church and the Holy Spirit’s inspiration moving in this world.)

So… if you have an opportunity to see it, please watch it.Â? It is so worth your while.

“Obscene Words” on Bill O’Reilly’s Radio Show

Since the rivalry between Keith Olbermann (God bless him) and Bill O’Reilly got mentioned on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!, I’m assuming that it’s probably general knowledge?

Anyway… O’Reilly has a rule that you can’t say Olbermann’s name on the show because apparently it’s an “obscene word” and he has threatened to call Fox security to get local police to pay a visit to people’s homes.Â? As one who puts Countdown on DVR so I can find out who the candidates for “Worst Person in the World” are, I’m finding this whole things to be incredibly funny.
My fiendish master plan: recruit a bunch of people to call into O’Reilly’s show from payphones for the sole purpose of saying the word “Olbermann” on his show.Â? I mean, I think the police here in Montana have a whole lot of better things to do than try to trace who was at the payphone at the Town Pump at 12:34 pm prank-calling O’Reilly.

Just a thought…