ENGAGING CULTURE

I challenge you to block out all of the distractions and read a whole chapter of the Bible… In a single sitting! It’s not as hard as it could be.

As you know, we are going to see Casting Crowns in Tallahassee on Friday, October 17th. Mark Hall, the lead singer of Casting Crowns, graduated from The Baptist College of Florida, the same little college in north Florida that Teresa and I graduated from. So I feel like I have a connection to Mark Hall. Also, he is a youth minister in Daytona Beach and has been for 7 years. They are such a great group and along with a great sound really have a heart for the Lord and a passion for young people. But here is a quick interview with Mark Hall that I enjoyed.

Also on this tour is a talented young band, Leeland, fronted by its namesake, Leeland Mooring. They have an amazing sound and Leeland is 5 years younger than me. He was only 17 when they released their first album. Don’t look down upon him because he is young, he is setting an example for all of us. Here is an interview with the band.

I hope that you all are excited about going. We still have space available and tickets are only $20. We’re leaving the church Friday afternoon at 3:30pm. And should be getting back very early Saturday morning, around 3am. God bless.

Here’s 5 things I want to be:

Productive - I want to be a person that gets stuff done. I want to be given tasks, create them myself and work hard. I want to create work for myself and work near capacity - I thrive on projects.

Creative - Productivity seems like mindless grunt work without creativity. Creativity allows expression and freedom to create and make things come alive. Creativity takes a task and makes it memorable.

Innovative - If creativity gives the flourish - innovation breaks new ground. I want to do things that no one else has done before. I want to be different. Innovators are leaders, and that’s where I want to be.

Loving - I don’t want to be a person known for task accomplishments and effective time management, I want to be recognized as a person who loves passionately. I love my family, friends, team, calling, life. I am most alive when I am with and loving people.

Spiritual - At the end of the day - there’s not much more important than my walk with God. I want people to know intrinsically that I spend time with God, to feel the relevance of my spiritual journey and faith. If I accomplish much - even being highly productive, creative or even innovative - what is it worth without it all pointing back to God?

What do you want to be?

For many of you this may be the first post you read here at EngagingCulture.com. I have been very honored and privileged to be called to minister as the youth pastor here in the First Baptist Church of Williston Florida. This is my home. And I look forward to many years of fruitful ministry here. I have been in this church since I was a fetus. And I have some great memories about this church and it’s people from the past 25 years.
I remember lying on my mother’s lap and counting lights while Travis Hudson preached.
I remember standing on the pews and leading music along with Don Stark.
I remember coming to the office with my mom and annoying the secretaries.
I remember when pastor Tony came to FBCW and I was so excited because he was bringing some girls my age.
I remember the infant stages of the youth group, when it was only Colby Rogers, Hillary Clubb, Jesse Bremer, and myself.
I remember the growth that happened over several years and how we began to explode into a great ministry.
I remember accepting Christ’s offer of salvation and call to ministry.
I remember Ellis’ passion, Heath’s boat, and John’s organization.
I remember wanting to worship but not knowing how to play anything and not letting that stop me.
I remember leading FCA at Williston High School.
I remember See-You-At-The-Pole and Bible Studies in the auditorium.
I remember Sam Glenn with his humor and chalk drawings.
I remember graduation and decisions.
I remember my first days at the Baptist College of Florida.
I remember my favorite classes and professors.
I remember nerve racking and exciting JAMs and hilarious dramas.
I remember a horrific night spent in prayer.
I remember falling in love.
I remember a lonesome summer spent alone while working to pay for and preparing a wedding.
I remember my pastor and mentor, who is now my colleague, performing my wedding.
I remember an angel gliding down the aisle.
I remember that 3 gorgeous and nearly perfect kids somehow entered the picture.
I don’t remember much after that… Just kidding.
I remember the love and support that this church has blessed my family with throughout the years.
And I remember that no matter if I’m 800 miles away or seated in my newly minted office that I’m part of the family. And it’s good to be home.

I try not to write about politics. I think the whole election process in this country is a farce. It’s an overblown popularity contest. Such a small percentage of the population really knows what their candidate believes. Most base their votes on purely aesthetic or stereotypical guidelines. They find someone that looks the most like them, or who belongs to the party that their daddy voted for. Some will listen to their favorite talking head and follow the person that they suggest at the moment. In reality, neither candidate is the antichrist, and neither will be the messiah. They both have a mix of good and bad that they bring to the table, both will go back on promises made during their campaigning, and both will make some changes or decisions that the American people will love or hate.

With all of our talk about bipartisan efforts being the pathway to bringing some sanity to our system, then why don’t we force it? Let’s take a page out of reality TV and use a tense and uncomfortable situation to bring change. We would have the primary system as we currently do. Stop the mudslinging, that would get you disqualified. Your ads must present your platform without attacking the person you are opposing, feel free to attack their views, but avoid cheap personal attacks. At the end of the primaries we would have two solid candidates. One that each side is happy with. Lets not drag it out for another 6 months, let’s have the popular election then and there. The winner would be the president and the runner up would be vice-president. In that case, both sides would be forced to work together. Forced to see the common ground and come to a consensus. Perhaps both sides would grow a bit and the country would be better for it. On top of that we film the first 6 months of the presidency and show it as a reality show called “Running Mate.” I smell a hit, where’s Simon Cowell when you need him? Or maybe the candidates should have to convince a panel of all of the living former presidents. So have a 6-week sweeps series where “the formers” ask the contenders questions to see how they would deal with a number of different possible situations.

Sadly, we live with a flawed system where we have to become lie detectors and determine who we think is the most authentic and truthful. Because I could care less about most political issues, but I want our president to be a person of personal integrity. So I will continue to vote for the man (or woman) who embodies confidence with humility, and has realistic ideas for positive change rooted in a positive moral system. My ideal president would show that they are not a puppet of special interest groups and that they have the ability to stand up for what they personally believe. And in the category of “special interest groups” I include evangelicals. I doubt that either McCain or Obama are more than nominal Christians, they believe in God and think that ethics are important, but they aren’t “Jesus Freaks.” They are politicians before they are theologians, and with that in mind they weigh every word with a constituent counter in the front of their mind. If either were to stand up and say, “I believe that all people are sinners in need of a savior, and his name is Jesus Christ.” You can just imagine the proclamations of intolerance and bigotry that would be leveled. McCain would lose all his independent votes and Obama’s camp would try desperately to spin the statement as a proclamation of personal devotion not political position.

This is why I was not surprised in the least to see that John McCain, at a recent town-hall meeting in Nashville, put none other than Joel Osteen at the top of his list when asked to name an author who inspired him. “He’s inspirational,” McCain said. McCain just a few days ago met with Billy and Franklin Graham and came away will all but an endorsement from Franklin. This is the same man who in 2000 called Jerry Falwell an “agent of intolerance.” Perhaps this is a genuine Pauline conversion. Perhaps the scales have fallen off of his eyes but he has just failed to get his hands on any good biblical teaching. I’m inclined to think that McCain’s love affair with Osteen has more to do with the millions of people that follow him religiously rather than the risen son of God.

This political flip-flopping is nothing new. And intelligent Americans see through the facade to the shell of a person beneath all the political lies. Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi was insightful enough to put Osteen in his place, and call out McCain for pandering to the fears and prejudices of the American people. He reflects my views of Osteen when he said, “Of all the… money-grubbing shyster scumbags on the face of this planet, there is perhaps none more loathsome than Osteen, a human haircut with plastic baseball-size teeth who has made a fortune selling the appalling only-in-America idea that terrestrial greed is actually a form of Christian devotion.” Well said Matt, well said.

We haven’t had a real summer family movie for a few weeks since Kung Fu Panda. The Incredible Hulk was marketed to little kids, with a slew of toys released in tandem with the film, but the violence and several disturbing images made it not suitable for little ones like mine. So I’m happy to see a real quality animated film coming from the good folks over at Disney-Pixar.

WALL-E is set in the year 2700 where WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter — Earth-Class) has spent hundreds of years doing what he was made for. You see WALL-E was left on Earth when the humans were forced to leave. While he was lonely working he developed a personality. WALL-E is a trash compactor, but he loves to save little treasures (a hula hoop, a magnet, even unmentionables) and he has a pet cockroach. His world is turned upside down when a sleek search robot named EVE lands in his landfill. She has been sent by the humans to find if it is safe to return to Earth. When she discovers that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, she races back to space to report her findings to the humans. However, WALL-E, smitten with EVE, chases her across the galaxy and sets an grand adventure into motion.

I am tremendously excited about WALL-E. From everything I have heard, critics aren’t judging it as an animated movie, but as a film. It looks like Pixar’s master storytellers have crafted another masterpiece for us. It currently has a 97% fresh rating over at Rotten Tomatoes making it the best reviewed film of the year with Iron Man close behind at 93%. Think Charlie Chaplin meets 2001: A Space Odyssey and it might give you an idea of the breathtakingly grand scale that this adorable and charming robot is flung into. Many reviewers are saying that it is Pixar’s best yet. I’m encouraging everyone to see WALL-E this weekend, other movies can wait, masterpieces don’t roll along too often, catch this one on the biggest screen you can find.

Unlike last week when Get Smart and Love Guru had a battle of the comedies, there is no other offering for kids this week. Those who refuse my advice and want to see something a little more live action, with bullets flying, cars racing, and amazing acrobatic and ballistic stunts, then Wanted is right up your alley. Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman, this looks pretty good. Based on Mark Millar’s graphic (and I mean graphic) novel, Wanted is the story of Wesley Gibson who is coasting through a meaningless existence until he is awakened to his life’s calling. It turns out that his father was a deadly assassin and since that gene runs in the family, Wesley is recruited by his father’s secret organization, the fraternity, to become an enforcer of justice. I’m hoping that the movie pays off in the last act. That it isn’t only about a group of assassins but about one man who takes control of his destiny and leaves behind the fruitless pursuit of revenge.

Wanted is a strongly rated R with lots of on screen violence, blood, and gore. It is laced with profanities, and what Angelina Jolie flick would be complete without a little sexuality. There is a chance for a redeeming message to come from the depths of this story, but it might just be a bloodbath. either way, I’m sure that the 18-25 male crowd will show up in droves. If you want a good sense of what you will be getting in Wanted, check out the red band trailer or even better, the Russian trailer.

Weekend Box Office Prediction

1. WALL-E - $67 million
2. Wanted - $35 million
3. Get Smart - $20.5 million
4. Kung Fu Panda - $12.5 million
5. The Incredible Hulk - $11.5 million

So I’m back, I had a nice time of relaxation and refocusing during my hiatus. If your box office news is dependent upon me (in which case you would be severely under/mis-informed) then you didn’t miss much. The past two weeks have given us two huge bombs and two lackluster “remakes.”

The Happening - a Half of a Star

I cannot emphasize enough, DO NOT go see The Happening. It lacks the creativity and skilled execution that I expect from M. Night Shyamalan. The Happening is supposed to be suspenseful and intriguing, but it comes off funnier than Mike Myers’ best attempts at humor. But I will give M. Night Shyamalan this, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I was totally captivated by the ability of this film to suck the creative ability out of otherwise marginally compelling actors. Mark Wahlberg looks about as stale as his brother Donnie, and can’t even convince me that he has enough intelligence to teach high school science. Zooey Deschanel whom I normally enjoy wasn’t any better, she was supposed to be giving Wahlberg’s character the cold shoulder, but instead she just came off like she was depressed or semi-retarded. The only positive in this film was [spolier]the early dismissal of John Leguizamo’s character. [/spolier] I could barely understand him when he spoke, and he must have been the combination math teacher and limp-wristed paddle-ball coach because I didn’t buy his academic credentials at all. 80% of the movie is spent with people staring off into the distance, running from the wind, or killing themselves in boring conventional ways (mostly off-screen). And oh yeah, Wahlberg apologizes to a plastic tree. This should have been called The Crap-ening.

The Love Guru - One Star

As I recall, Mike Myers was at one point in time at least remotely funny. I mean, Wayne’s World was good. And I’ll even admit that the first Austin Powers was unique and interesting and at times, yes, funny. But in Myers first live-action return to the big screen since The Cat in the Hat (2003), the jokes are old and the audiences are tired of hearing Myers’ absurd voices. The movie is mercifully short (80 minutes), but the plot is as thin as an anorexic teen starlet on cocaine. Guru Pitka must solve the love woes of the Toronto Maple Leaves star player (Justin Timberlake) so that they can win the Stanley Cup. Toronto winning the Stanley Cup? That is a leap of faith that I’m not willing to make. What am I talking about, I don’t even watch hockey, and neither does the rest of America. I wonder if they think the guru is unfunny in Canada, eh?

The Incredible Hulk - Seven-and a-Half Stars

I was and still am confused at why The Incredible Hulk hasn’t done better at the box office. It is getting fairly good reviews, especially from the people that count, fans. I didn’t expect it to be as big of an opening as Iron Man, because of the baggage it carries from 5 years ago. Ang Lee’s Hulk wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but as a general rule, we Americans want to see cool transformations and epic fight scenes and hear witty dialogue. We don’t care so much about the character’s daddy issues, we just know he’s mad. This incarnation of the big green machine pulled that off. Louis Letterier kept the backstory the Ang Lee so beautifully and heartbreakingly told, but he moved forward and cranked up the action. Forget mutant poodles, now we have a real villain. Ed Norton did a great job showing the inner turmoil of suppressing the deadly weapon that is the Hulk until a deadlier weapon is unleashed that he must stop. Liv Tyler was on par as the Hulk’s wispy-voiced and weepy love interest, Betty Ross. Tim Roth made me feel Blonksy’s slow transformation from aging warrior to super soldier and, after the thirst for power becomes too much, the Abomination. I think Tim Blake Nelson turned in the surprise of the night as Dr. Samuel Stearns. He made me think he could actually be intelligent, but seemed enough off kilter that I will love seeing him return in a sequel as the villain, The Leader. You’ll want to see these effects on the big screen, and look out for over an hour of additional footage that was left on the cutting room floor on the DVD / Blu-Ray release.

Get Smart

I confess, that I haven’t seen Get Smart yet. It looks so funny. It’s Mel Brooks’ source material. Steve Carell’s hilarious dry humor. Anne Hathaway is stunning. Alan Arkin is a comedy legend. And even Dwayne Johnson is surprising me with his genuine acting ability. Teresa and I will see it next weekend. I couldn’t convince Teresa on Wall-e. She will regret not seeing it in theaters. So I’ve heard mostly good reviews and it thoroughly trounced Love Guru at the Box Office. So I hope it live up to my expectations and ends up being better than Don Adams’ attempt at the big screen version of Get Smart, The Nude Bomb. I’ll be back later with my picks for this week and a family announcement.

Hey everybody, I’m on a two week hiatus from blogging, but I had to come back on to say a few words about George Carlin. It is eerie that he is gone, I was just talking about him with my crew at UPS on Friday night. Most of my crew is filled with first or second year college students. They are babies. They think that Transformers is the greatest movie ever. They don’t read at all. And come to find out that they don’t have a clue who legendary funny men like Rodney Dangerfield and George Carlin are. Now I admit, I’m pretty young (in fact, I knew George Carlin as Rufus, Bill and Ted’s excellent guide, before I ever heard his stand-up.) but I know genius when I see it. And Carlin was not just a great comedian, with his edgy, provocative material, Carlin was an anti-establishment icon in the 1970s and 80s with stand-up bits full of drug references and perhaps his best known routine called “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television.”

I admired Carlin for his voice, he was not afraid to question the status quo and speak out. Most prominently, he was an atheist who was raised Catholic and therefore had some very strong views on the harmful effects of religion. I too believe that “religion” has very harmful effects upon society. There is a vast difference between religion which is man-centered and true faith which is God-centered. Sadly, George Carlin never understood the difference. He didn’t believe that a heaven or hell existed, he didn’t believe in a just yet benevolent God. He thought Jesus was misunderstood, that he was the stand up comedian of his day. Last night at 6pm his views were permanently changed.

It is hard to speak about the death of a non-believer no matter how famous they are. But Carlin wouldn’t have wanted anyone to spin it. One of his most famous sets was on “Things That People Say After Someone Dies.” In it he says that no one ever thinks of people going to hell when they die only heaven. Here’s to all the laughs you gave us, George. You’re not smiling down on us. You’re screaming up at us. The world is a bit more sanitary and banal now that you are gone.

Sorry I’m so late, but VBS has had us running around like crazy this week. In short, both of this weeks new offerings have big battles in their past to fight in order to win at the box office. The Incredible Hulk is my pick of the week, I’ll be seeing it tomorrow night and will turn in a review as soon as I can Saturday morning. But it is fight the bad taste that many people have in their mouths with Ang Lee’s 2003 version. Is it a remake, is it a sequel, is it a reboot of the series. A little bit of everything is probably right. I think that is whay they have geared the marketing into overdrive, to the point that some say they are giving away too much. I say it’s a two hour movie, they haven’t shown more than 4 minutes of footage. It’s only made me want to see it more.

The other movie opening this weekend is The Happening. It is battling M. Night Shamaylan’s recent bad track record. The Village, and Lady in the Water were awful movies and bombed in the box office. Plus Happening is getting awful tracking numbers and early reviews say it’s cheesy and greener than the Hulk. Steer clear, I see another disaster for M. Night in his first R-rated venture.

My HSX pick for this week is Wanted. With a new Red band trailer and some good buzz it is set to make some big waves and I think the stock will be climbing this week.

1. The Incredible Hulk - $60 Million
2. Kung Fu Panda - $35 Million
3. The Happening - $27.5 Million
4. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan - $19 Million
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $13 Million

Since I know you are going to look at the pictures first I should just show them first. Click to see them bigger.

So, Benjamin wanted to try his hand at hair styling I guess. They were supposed to be taking a nap. But instead, they snuck out of their room and massacred the hair of my beautiful daughter. Just a quik glance at the pictures will tell you that she is still beautiful (she would be if she had pulled the Britney Spears and shaved it off) but those beautiful blond locks are all gone now.

We were planning to take her to the barber and get a trim to help keep it out of her face. Perhaps Benjamin thought that the money could be better spent on buying Zoë hats. Mommy cane home and did what she could, we ended up with a hairstyle that after it grows out a bit will probably be my favorite. Maybe we will dye the tips blue and spike it randomly. She will then be lesbian rocker Zoë.

Consequentially, Zoë’s brand new Teresa doll had all her hair chopped off, actually hers is a cute little bob that would have been adorable on Zoë. No one was harmed in this mischievous activity, it is just hair and will grow back. Ben got his head buzzed very close to account for the chunk he removed from his own head. Joseph thankfully was not involved at all and is ready for his first cut very soon. I’ll post these and more pictures of Zoë new style very soon on the gallery (couldn’t do it tonight, we had VBS).

The trailer for this movie was seen by some in front of Indiana Jones. A few days later we saw one pop up online in Spanish. It is basically the same one that we have here except the dialog is in Spanish. So I’ve been waiting a few weeks for the official English trailer to come out and it finally has.

The story of Benjamin Button is adapted from a 23-page short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. Unable to stop time, we follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918 into the twenty-first century. following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Benjamin Button, is a time traveler’s tale of the people and places he bumps into along the way, the loves he loses and finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton. Many are already looking at this as a big contender come Oscar time. I agree, the story is intriguing, the imagery is haunting, and I’ve always loved Brad Pitt’s acting (Fight Club, Se7en, 12 Monkeys). David Fincher has never gotten the credit he deserves for his cinematic creativity. I hope it does well in what is shaping up to be a competitive awards season.

Thank you for all your support so far. Here’s to a normal person for president. Let’s produce some real change in Washington! Thanks News Channel 3 for your coverage.

If you didn’t know, I love movies. I love to watch them and I love to talk to other people who love movies too. I love movies because they are our society’s preferred medium for the telling of stories. I love that in approximately two hours they have the power to bring me to tears of joy and sadness and to make me shout in excitement and outrage. It also has the ability to share beliefs and ideas in a way that (if its done well) doesn’t sound like a sermon but the loving encouragement of a friend. This is powerful and an be dangerous because not all the beliefs (in fat very few of them) are Christian beliefs. Yet, to ignore this medium is to remove ourselves from the realm of cultural engagement.

But I might go farther than most in that I like to know the business side of Hollywood. I like to know and discuss the latest news and trends. Because if I know about it I can respond to it from a biblical perspective. Above all I want people to be equipped to make well-informed decisions about what they and their families will watch. I raise questions and engage with movies because too often we just sit back and allow it to wash over us not even aware of the underlying themes and teachings that we are absorbing.

Well, I’ve found a fun and addictive new game/tool that plays on my love for movies. It is called the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX.com) and if you have even just a casual interest in movies you will find this game wildly addictive. If you’ve ever played a fantasy stock market game in a business class you already know how to play, only instead of companies, you buy shares in movies, stars, and even TV shows. Here’s how it works. Sign-up for free at HSX.com and you will be given two million Hollywood Dollars (H$) to buy shares in movies (stocks), stars (bonds), and even mutual funds run by successful longtime traders. But the greatest gains are to be made by playing the weekend box office game.

Each major upcoming release is assigned a predicted opening weekend box-office take. If you think a particular movie will make more than its predicted “strike price” then you should buy shares of a “call,” if you think it is destined to be a bomb then buy towards a “put.” When the final numbers are released on Monday, you “cash out” on your successes and cut your losses.

For instance, this weekend I played a “call” on Kung Fu Panda. It’s strike price was 40 million. I thought it would do better so I bought 10000 shares at H$2.00 apiece. It looks like I made a good investment because the latest estimates put it at making around 60 million. That means that each of those H$2.00 shares will cash out Monday at H$20.00 because the movie made 20 million over its strike price. So my original investment of H$20,000.00 will turn into H$200,000.00 in just a few days. However, I thought that Zohan would fall short of its 35 million dollar strike price, so I invested H$20,000 in a put, but it is set to beat it with a 40 million dollar opening. The good thing is that I won’t lose any more than my original investment on this misstep, because this stock will cash out at H$0.

As much as I’d love to, I can’t spend all day watching stocks rise and fall. So Thursday’s will be my HSX prediction day, learn which movies to keep on your radar, stars with big upcoming roles, and movies sure to turn you a profit over the weekend. Start playing today and join my league (I’m engagingculture, leave your username in the comments). I’ve only been playing for 10 days. See if you can beat me to 5 million.

Starring: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Ian McShane (Tai Lung), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Seth Rogen (Mantis), Lucy Liu (Viper), David Cross (Crane), and more.

Directed: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

Links: Website, IMDB, Trailer

- 8.5 Stars

Well, after seeing Kung Fu Panda, I’m pleasantly surprised. When I first heard about it last winter I was skeptical to say the least. The concept sounded absurd. After all it is the story of a fat, food-loving panda who is obsessed with Kung Fu. He lives and works with his father, who happens to be a duck, in the family noodle restaurant. In an unlikely turn of events he is chosen to be the warrior that will defeat the greatest evil the world has ever known. I know, it would be like a 35-year-old, obese, and balding McDonald’s employee, who lives at home with his parents, so he can afford to go to all the Star Wars conventions on the weekend, being chosen by Yoda to be the next Jedi Master who will defeat the dark side and bring harmony back to the force. Actually, now that I say that, it sounds pretty awesome. Someone needs to alert George Lucas.

But it is the absurdity of the story, for the audience and the characters themselves, that makes this tale so effective and appealing. Not many of us are wise or of noble birth, sounds like something Paul would have said… oh wait. The message of Kung Fu Panda is very much an exercise in humility. When we focus on our abilities and strengths and think of ourselves more highly than we ought, we lose our selves to pride and evil. But, when we compare ourselves to others and focus on our weaknesses people will walk all over us. The path to being the greatest is found only when we lose our selfish sense of pride and control and embrace the fact that there are no accidents (that we are exactly who we were created to be for a reason).

But enough spiritual mumbo-jumbo because if you think about it to hard you will disagree with it because it tells you to find the strength from within not from God. But this wasn’t meant to be a pep talk or a sermon, only a highly entertaining film. My major concern coming into the film was that they would waste far too much time animating cool fighting sequences and forget to tell the story. But amazingly, there is enough fighting to keep us watching slack-jawed and just as much humorous dialog to allow the laughter to flow. And it was all tied together with some great storytelling and all of the voice actors forgot about themselves and took on their personas (except David Cross whom I’ve never been impressed with) they delivered well written lines and kept perfect comedic timing.

All in all I was smiling throughout the film and it seemed like its 92 minute runtime passed in no time, which after the bloated Speed Racer and Prince Caspian, was a welcome relief. If you take your kids to see this, be warned, Jack Black’s enthusiasm for this character and kung fu is addictive, expect them to try out their kung fu abilities, and also expect “skeedoosh” to become a catch phrase. It was a good piece of escapist fare and left me wanting to see more of that big cuddly panda (which if Shrek is any indication, Dreamworks will be glad to cater to that desire).

Well, Barack Obama has officially won the democratic nomination for President. With last night’s win over his formidable opponent, enough delegates finally shifted his way and gave him the security he knew he was going to have all along. How is he so confident, how does he seem to know that America will support him as the first African American President? He has a boy named Calvin to thank for that.

Well, last week Sex and the City did extremely well at the box office raking in nearly 57 million, easily overtaking the geriatric Dr. Jones who had a weak showing of only 46 million. The big winner of the weekend was the summer horror flick, The Strangers, it surprised most by having a 21 million dollar debut. The entire reported budget for the movie was only 9 million. This makes it clear to me why so many horror movies get made.

This week will be a tough call. If you are looking for family fare, may I suggest Kung Fu Panda, it looks as though it will be humorous and heartwarming, probably with a semi-eastern transcendental lesson. If you haven’t heard of it yet, Jack Black voices a Panda who is approached by a group of Kung Fu Masters who think that he is a “chosen one” of some kind. But he doesn’t know Kung Fu, he is lazy and likes to eat, a lot. But with training and determination he comes to develop his skills in the ancient arts. And Jack Black is only one of a who’s who of Hollywood list that turned out to lend their voices to this cast. There’s also Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Michael Clarke Duncan, heavy hitters one and all. This probably the most hyped animated movie of the year, possibly tied with Wall-E. I expect good things, just check out this clip.

If animated animals honed in the martial arts isn’t your thing, then perhaps a black-ops soldier from the Israeli army coming to America to fulfill his dream of cutting and styling hair would be more suited for your taste. Of course I am talking about Adam Sandler’s latest film: You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. This one looks pretty funny, it’s definitely not a concept we’ve seen before, but I don’t know if I can handle Sandler’s over the top accent for 2 hours. Also, it looks pretty raunchy, it seems that Sandler is being delusional about his sex appeal once again and in some of the previews he is wearing shorts that are far too tight and too short for anyone, much less the Sandman, to be wearing. I also hope all of the funny stuff didn’t end up on the trailer. I love the scene where he’s telling the kid to stop moving and the kid starts wailing so he performs what looks like the Vulcan death grip on the poor kid to the shock of the bystanders, and even though it is a bit over the top I love the street confrontation scene below.

Who will win this weekend? I’ll have to say that the summer crowd will flock to Kung Fu Panda and give it a good opening weekend of 50+ million while others will see Zohan and give it a respectable 35+ million. I hope you like what you see.

I try to keep this site clean and family friendly. To me, that means avoiding profanity and sexual content, and trying to keep violence to a minimum. I do this as a service for my readers, knowing that many of them object to such content, or are offended by it. However, personally I don’t mind violence, though it does wear on me if used gratuitously. I’m not personally bothered by profanity though I hate it when they make child actors curse or curse in children’s movies. And I can tolerate some sexual content, especially if it is humorous and not erotic, and as long as it doesn’t cross the line to becoming pornography.

I make this distinction because it seems that the latest showbiz bandwagon to be on is to release red band trailers. Most trailers are still “green band,” they have an all-green graphic at the beginning of the trailer, usually reading “The following PREVIEW has been approved for ALL AUDIENCES by the Motion Picture Association of America,” and sometimes including the movie’s MPAA rating. This signifies that the trailer adheres to the standards outlined by the MPAA, which includes limitations on foul language and violent, sexual, or otherwise objectionable imagery. But trailers that do not adhere to these guidelines may be issued a “red band”, which reads “The following PREVIEW has been approved for RESTRICTED AUDIENCES ONLY by the Motion Picture Association of America.”

After the release of the Federal Trade Commission’s report on movie marketing in 2000, exhibitors (a.k.a. movie theaters) decided to stop showing red band trailers. In response, studios stopped creating these trailers because they would never get screened. But then the Internet changed everything and gave studios a new venue. Currently, when we see a red band trailer on a movie website, we are generally forced to enter our age, giving our digital consent to the viewing of the objectionable content, and hopefully hindering the wandering eyes of the seven-year-old that has clicked a few links from PBSKids.org.

The popularity and effective marketing of these trailers (why should a raunchy adult comedy have to produce a PG-rated trailer?) has caused at least one theater chain, Regal Cinemas, to rethink its stance on red band trailers. In March they announced that they would begin showing red band trailers before R and NC-17 or films that are unrated. So since that time the studios have been cranking out these red band trailers left and right. A few upcoming films have only released red band trailers, which I think is a good move considering their target audience. And some of these movies look worthy of some attention, and their trailers have significantly raised my excitement for those films.

Because I want this to be a family-friendly site I will avoid embedding these trailers, and out of respect for the film, I will not embed the all-audiences trailer that doesn’t do justice to the films R-rated content. Primarily, I want you to be aware of what is going on, and to know what you are getting into when you set out to watch one of these films. From now on, I will include links to these red band trailers on other sites, such links will be [in brackets] and bold and red in color. If the post is devoted to the description or review of one of these films I will include the words Red Band in the title of the post. I will do my best to tell you what to expect so you can make the choice in keeping with your conscience. Thank you for enduring this rather lengthy and informational announcement.

What do you think about red band trailers? Should R and above rated movies be encouraged to produce this type of trailer to let the viewer be more aware of content? Do you think I’m a heretic for linking to such “naughty” sites? Let me know with your comments.

I feel like i need to make a new column for death announcements, after the Harry Potter actor and Sydney Pollack, now I have news that two more notables have passed. I hate writing the title “(insert name here) Dead.” It just feels morbid. So I’m going to start calling any death announcements here the “RIP Report.”

RIP Harvey Korman (1927-2008)

Comedian Harvey Korman has died at the age of 81.

One of my earliest film favorites were the works of Mel Brooks… I loved them all, and Harvey Korman was a Brooks regular. He usually played the villain who didn’t quite have the constitution to really be truly evil. The rubber-froggy loving Hedley Lamaar in Blazing Saddles is a perfect example and his best-known Brooks role, but he was also good in High Anxiety and History of the World.

Korman was probably best known (by people a bit older than me) for his television roles. He was a regular cast member of the long-running Carol Burnett Show, and he did voice work on the Flintstones. A funny man…he will be missed.

RIP Joseph Pevney (1912-2008)

You may not know his name, but he directed some of the most well known episodes of the original Star Trek series, including “The Trouble with Tribbles” and “The City on the Edge of Forever.” He also directed over 35 films and dozens of television episodes including some of “The Incredible Hulk.” He was 96.

The Caped Crusader meets Marvel’s newest posterboy (a.k.a. cashcow) again to discuss the success of Iron Man, and the upcoming release of The Dark Knight. As with Iron Man, stick around till the very end to get the goods.

No, it’s not a sequel to Hulk, Ang Lee’s 2003 monstrosity. The Incredible Hulk is a complete reboot of the series. And Marvel is doing its dead level best to get the bad taste out of everyone’s mouth by releasing a myriad of preview clips. If you aren’t sold on the quality of this film, or Edward Norton as Dr. Banner, head over to CinemaBlend.com they have lined up six of the preview clips, probably in the order they will appear in the film. And while their size is small, I still think that it shows the quality of the CGI and gives us a sense of the scope and feel of the film as a whole. I hope you will check it out so you’re ready on June 13th to unleash the beast.