Monday Movie night!
Bless me, for I have seen much in the past week. The trip to Portland was a successful one, not only in terms of the education I received, but for the uninterrupted viewing opportunities afforded one who had a hotel room above a bar that did not close until 12:30 am. What better way to spend my time than to finish Battlestar Gallactica, Season 2, 2.5 and Razor? Well, several of you could argue that there were a lot better ways to spend my time, but that water has gone under the bridge.
I earlier wrote about BG, Season 1, and especially its reliance on a lot of God/gods talk. I must say that the picture did not become incredibly clearer by the end of Season 2. Remember, in the artifice of the show, the majority of people - the state religion - is essentially Greek gods, or, what our world might have been without that pesky Jesus fellow. There is a religion planet, there are priestesses who tell of prophesies that are coming true. There is a come to Zeus moment when they finally find what could be earth and there are rocks with the "old gods" names, like Aries, Capricorn, Virgo etc. And so it looks like the Greeks/Romans win. But for the Cylons, who still maintain there is one true God.
These are the robots. Would I be right in being slightly offended? Robots believe in one true God, while the Greeks are right!? Okay, it is science fiction, he wrote nastilly...
But the movies I really want to review are Rio movies, two John Wayne flicks: Rio Bravo and Rio Grande; one is infinitely better than the other. Rio Bravo is a tight Western of the kind later popularized by Clint Eastwood - bad guys besiege a town, good guys rally and outwit bad guys with the help of a few good guns. The surprise in this one are the folks around the stately Wayne (boy, did he exude testosterone): Dean Martin playing a former alcoholic (there is a certain irony there in realizing that your reformed alcoholic character later became a byword for alcoholism. Surprisingly, Dino was awesome in this dramatic role); Ricky Nelson (young, hot gunslinger who can also carry a tune - he and Martin do a nifty duet); Walter Brennan (playing a high-pitched, pre-Red Neck red neck, with his famous limp that he would reprise for the rest of his career); and an incredibly fetching Angie Dickinson (she was already attractive in "Police Woman," when I saw her growing up in the 70s.
Rio Grande was less wonderful, with Wayne opposite Maureen O'Hara and lots of "injuns." That pretty much says it right there. This was more like the classic Wayne Horse Opera, with the highlights being fancy horse riding and crooning by the Sons of the Pioneers.
Pancaked in the middle was Jean Cocteau's Orpheus, which couldn't have been more different. This line was delivered straight:
Hortibeuse: Your wife is dead.
Orpheus: Are you jokng?
Hortibeuse: That would be a very strange joke.
Completely deadpan, but it made me laugh out loud!
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Battlestar Galactica. Show all posts
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Billy Bob Goes to Westeros and gets religion
My primary viewing this week was the new Fargo TV series, along with Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica. I'm surprised that the most God-talk does not come from the series set in the Midwest, or in a mythical land of lords and ladies but from outer space.
Can I just say that God looks good in a red dress?
BG was pitched to me as a being pretty religious, but who knew? I have a funny feeling that the believers in the one true God are not going to fare well in this series, as the ones who believe in the one true God who offers forgiveness in exchange for a personal relationship with him are "toasters," in the vocabulary of the show. The Cylons are robots that humans created and have rebelled, and although they originally looked like the Cybermen from Dr. Who (see below comparison), they have no figured out how to look like us, and in fact have flesh and blood. And they believe in one God, while the majority of the humans believe in the Lords of Kobol, which are a lot like Greek and Roman gods. I look forward to learning more about other's religions, even if they are by blind believers in a God we share. Could be awkward.
Then there's GoT (see, I'm getting the hang of being cool), which I'm learning more about. I did make one good call from last week's column, and that was that Lady Stark is not to be toyed with. She knows how to marshal sympathy against her enemies, and quick. (The last I've seen her is surrounding the bad writer from Elf with loyal swords. Very nice.)
As much as we are loving Fargo, after two shows, we are suspending our watch because of too many ding dang commercials on Comcast. It took 1:15 to watch a 40 minute show. Good job, Comcast - you've lost two viewers. Sometimes on Xfinity, they'll only show one or maybe two commercials, like on Parks and Rec or The Middle. But man oh man, the "content" feels more like a break from the commercials, instead of the other way around.
Ironically, the most interesting thing I watched about religion this week was in The Americans, which is frankly one of the better shows on television. Thank you F/X (which also gives us the amazing Walton Goggin's brand of southern creepy religion in Justified). The short story on The Americans is that Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, travel agent couple living next door to any one of us, with two kids are deeply embedded KGB agents during the Reagan era. Had this show been on during the 80s, everyone would have been paranoid that their next door neighbors were KGB agents. (As one who lived during that time, I believe that was the thought that Reagan was cultivating). Anyway, just like in The Good Wife, the teen age daughter has found religion, and committed 600 of her hard-earned dollars to go on a mission trip. Remember, her parents are "godless communists" and so the thought that they are actually bringing their own two kids (who don't know their parents' real lives) up as followers of the opiate of the masses sends dad and mom into freak out mode, but dad more than mom. Dad rips pages out of the Bible and screams "So your Jesus tells you to lie to your parents?" He later goes to her pastor and threatens him with physical harm if he ever goes near their daughter again.
I think I'll show that scene at the next DCE meeting when one of my fellow youth directors complains about "alligator parents."
I'm finishing up Hitchcock's 39 Steps and will soon be done with Dovzhenko's Earth (1930), which has this great opening scene...
Old man reposing.
Old friend says, "You dyin' Simon?"
Old man says, "That I am, Peter."
Old friend looks around, sees peaches growing, young men smiling, owheat fields blowing, children playing. Says, "Yep. Well go ahead."
Can I just say that God looks good in a red dress?
BG was pitched to me as a being pretty religious, but who knew? I have a funny feeling that the believers in the one true God are not going to fare well in this series, as the ones who believe in the one true God who offers forgiveness in exchange for a personal relationship with him are "toasters," in the vocabulary of the show. The Cylons are robots that humans created and have rebelled, and although they originally looked like the Cybermen from Dr. Who (see below comparison), they have no figured out how to look like us, and in fact have flesh and blood. And they believe in one God, while the majority of the humans believe in the Lords of Kobol, which are a lot like Greek and Roman gods. I look forward to learning more about other's religions, even if they are by blind believers in a God we share. Could be awkward.
Then there's GoT (see, I'm getting the hang of being cool), which I'm learning more about. I did make one good call from last week's column, and that was that Lady Stark is not to be toyed with. She knows how to marshal sympathy against her enemies, and quick. (The last I've seen her is surrounding the bad writer from Elf with loyal swords. Very nice.)
As much as we are loving Fargo, after two shows, we are suspending our watch because of too many ding dang commercials on Comcast. It took 1:15 to watch a 40 minute show. Good job, Comcast - you've lost two viewers. Sometimes on Xfinity, they'll only show one or maybe two commercials, like on Parks and Rec or The Middle. But man oh man, the "content" feels more like a break from the commercials, instead of the other way around.
Ironically, the most interesting thing I watched about religion this week was in The Americans, which is frankly one of the better shows on television. Thank you F/X (which also gives us the amazing Walton Goggin's brand of southern creepy religion in Justified). The short story on The Americans is that Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, travel agent couple living next door to any one of us, with two kids are deeply embedded KGB agents during the Reagan era. Had this show been on during the 80s, everyone would have been paranoid that their next door neighbors were KGB agents. (As one who lived during that time, I believe that was the thought that Reagan was cultivating). Anyway, just like in The Good Wife, the teen age daughter has found religion, and committed 600 of her hard-earned dollars to go on a mission trip. Remember, her parents are "godless communists" and so the thought that they are actually bringing their own two kids (who don't know their parents' real lives) up as followers of the opiate of the masses sends dad and mom into freak out mode, but dad more than mom. Dad rips pages out of the Bible and screams "So your Jesus tells you to lie to your parents?" He later goes to her pastor and threatens him with physical harm if he ever goes near their daughter again.
I think I'll show that scene at the next DCE meeting when one of my fellow youth directors complains about "alligator parents."
I'm finishing up Hitchcock's 39 Steps and will soon be done with Dovzhenko's Earth (1930), which has this great opening scene...
Old man reposing.
Old friend says, "You dyin' Simon?"
Old man says, "That I am, Peter."
Old friend looks around, sees peaches growing, young men smiling, owheat fields blowing, children playing. Says, "Yep. Well go ahead."
Friday, April 25, 2014
The week in review 4
Stillness: Recalling God's Presence
The clear winner and champeen of all time is Easter morning prayer vigil. I've had the 5 am - 6 am slot since 2005, and it's especially what I look forward to each year, especially now that I'm not concerned about the Easter Breakfast anymore. The chapel is an especial blessed place to do it (when there's no one using the bathroom, that is!) The past two years, I've been Facebook Praying, reaching out to people I think would be open to hearing a particular Easter prayer. And I pray for my family and Vanguard, of course, since they are those closest to my heart.
Gratitude: Expressing Thankfulness
I'm thankful for my friend Doug. He's taken a call to a Lutheran church in Spokane, and, apart from my four year stint in Canada, he has been the DCE closest to me. He'll still be in the same state, but since my DCE days are waning, I probably won't see him too much more. He's a great dude and will be missed.
Reflection: Looking Back on Your Day
Another good Friday, highlighted by some Battlestar Galactica. I finished the pilot and two shows today. Well, I wouldn't say that's the highlight,which is my continuing paper on private confession, which I hope to publish in this space next week. Such an interesting topic. Graced by my wife's presence this afternoon, which was a treat. She is being feted as one of the two new hires in the PLU religion department tonight, so I took the chance to play some indoor/outdoor frisbee at the Puyallup Y. Such a duffer, but I did get some great exercise. And I didn't get hurt, which is a bonus. Shout out to Trader Joes, the best grocery store on earth. They had some spicy sausage sampler today that was very tasty! And I got to mow the lawn for the first time in two weeks; nearly machete height. For these and all blessings, I thank you God!
Sorrow: Asking for Forgiveness
Each Friday is a good day to remember Good Friday. This week's sins that helped nail Christ to the cross: I had my evaluation at church, and everyone said really nice things about me, but I sometimes don't feel completely at home at OSLC; I feel like I'm a burden, old youth director and all. It's when I am forced to look at what I do that I feel like I'm falling short of God's purpose.
Hopefulness: Resolving to Grow
My hopefulness this week is in my 2014 ministry plan, which should include more school visits and being part of a killer small group. Can't tell you how pumped I am about that. Despite my round minister in a square church feeling from above, i am hopeful for the next year. I look forward to the small group, confirmation and youth events taking a positive turn. I'm hopeful for this summer's courses - Writings of the Mystics and Pastoral Counseling. I think that should prove pretty cool, and hopefully practical for the situation I find myself in at OSLC.
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