Archive for the 'Trends' Category
- Future Effects of Harry Potter
This weekend an entire subset of the adult nation spent six hours or so reading a teen-fiction book about a boy wizard. With 8.5 million copies being sold on the day of its release, it makes you wonder: What if that many people cared about something truly important that they would spend the same amount [...]
- The Deathly Hallows
Because I am immensely boring I will not be attending any midnight releases of the seventh and final volume in the Harry Potter saga. Though part of me would love to put on a big fur coat and fake beard and wig to look like Hagrid, and storm into Barnes and Noble to tower over [...]
- Ratatouille (2007)
Click on Reviews in the header menu for an overview of how I approach film reviews.
A rat named Remy (Patton Oswalt), living in Paris, longs for the food from the kitchens and tables instead of the garbage like the rest of his family, so he befriends a chef with little talent, Linguini (Lou Romano), and [...]
- Hyper-Calvinism
Tim Challies attempts to clear up age-old confusion between the biblical doctrines of Calvinism and the ugly heresy of Hyper-Calvinism.
- Calvinist Infestation
Mark Dever ponders “Where did all these Calvinists come from” in a 10 post series.
- Shaq’s Big Challenge
In case you didn’t know, last night was the premiere of an ABC special series called “Shaq’s Big Challenge.” We all know Shaq is big, but what is so big about the challenge?
Childhood obesity is a fast-growing epidemic in the U.S. And Shaquille O’Neal is trying to take 6 Florida kids from fat to [...]
- Rent (2005)
Click on Reviews in the header menu for an overview of how I approach film reviews.
This film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning Broadway rock opera tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in modern day East Village New York. The story centers [...]
- Lost and Found
Unlike some Lost fans, I missed the first season. I thought it looked stupid to begin with, and we were pretty involved at church on Wednesday nights, but my wife and I began watching during the second season (oddly enough while I was holding a church position and working on Wednesday nights). We’d finish up [...]
- Sanctity of Human Life
Yesterday in my church we observed Sanctity of Life Sunday and while the large focus was upon the atrocity of abortion we also looked at embryonic stem cell research. But as I thought about it the sanctity of life covers so many issues. When we realize that every person is created in the image and [...]
- The Desire for Fame
Last night on 20/20 one of the reports was on a rising trend among teens and college-age adults who would reportedly rather be an assistant to a celebrity than a CEO of a major corporation. They believe that the simple proximity to fame could be enough to tip the scales in their favor in their [...]
- Swearing on the Qur’an
Newly elected democratic representative from Minnesota says he will not take his oath of office on the Bible. Instead, Keith Ellison will use an English translation of the Qur’an once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Ellison, born in Detroit, converted to Islam in college and believes that this bold move should make the point that “religious [...]
- Indy Rides Again
One of my absolute favorite series of movies when I was growing up was Indiana Jones. I have only ever seen these great movies on the small screen. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out that 19 years after the release of what most thought would be the final of [...]
- Christmas Icons in Public Places
Yesterday, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport removed their 25 year tradition of displaying Christmas trees after the threat of a lawsuit from a single passenger. A rabbi asked that a menorah be placed in the display as well, and instead of meeting this seemingly simple request, they decided to turn off and disassemble their fifteen holiday displays. [...]
- Is The Wii (Insert Ominous Music) Dangerous?
While studies are still in progress to judge its addictive powers, there is now proof that part of the Wii is in fact dangerous… to your television, or other expensive items within throwing distance of this Japanese Death Toy. That’s right folks, the Wiimote is dangerous, it has cracked screens, caused blunt force trauma to [...]
- The Effects of Pornography
I grew up in church, a fundamentalist church nonetheless. And I attended my youth group faithfully, and every February, around Valentine’s Day, our church would participate in “True Love Waits,” an abstinence before marriage campaign. But it couldn’t just stop with a simple urge towards chastity, these talks had to run the gamut; sex, abstinence, [...]
- Starbucks and Pluralism
I just read a very interesting article on EvolutionShift.com by David Houle. In this article, he discusses the shift towards a coffee culture. He believes that we have become much more of a coffee culture than ever before. It is now hard to be in any large city in the United States where there [...]
- Church: The Lost Art
The following is an excerpt of a commentary on the modern church written by an unbeliever.
It would be wonderful to imagine these places as sites where people gather to appreciate great art, music and poetry, and experience the best of religious history. Think again. A typical church service is a few hymns, a harangue from [...]
- The Lost Virtue of Cooperation
It doesn’t take much searching on the internet to find out what many Baptists believe is going to be the next big battle. Many speak in apocalyptic terms about this “evil” and fear that if something isn’t done soon, our convention is going to fall apart. In their opinion, this Trojan Horse is the dreadful [...]
- What Did Spurgeon Think
I could easily see this become another recurring post. Basically I take a theological or philosophical argument and using the magic of public domain and search engines find out Charles Spurgeon’s view on that particular issue. This is basically what I read this morning over at OldTruth.com. Jim Bublitz writes in “Did Spurgeon Create Converts [...]
- Should Dressing for Church be About Fashion or Family
Mark Driscoll, one of my favorite people to quote, posts his reflections on a recent question posed in a Dear Abby column. This question touches deep to the heart of what it means to be intentionally relational with non-Christians. How are we supposed to reach them if all we ever do is alienate and confuse [...]
My Movie Reviews
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2008-10-24 15:24
With DeNiro and Pacino I expected much better. But it was dry and predictable the whole way through. Better than 88 minutes, but not by a lot.
0.3 -
2008-10-24 14:09
I hate horror movies, but this one surprised all of the critics and did great at the box office, so I had to see it. And despite the lame acting and predictable plot, it was creepy! I had to watch another movie after it to get to bed.
0.3 -
2008-10-24 14:06
Acting was superb. Expect posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger. Great action and twists. Can't wait for Christopher Nolan's next.
0.3 -
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of...
2008-10-20 20:00
The movie was okay. But Indiana Jones and aliens (sorry, interdimensional beings) just don't mix. They should have left well enough alone. Most of the movie was goofy and campy, especially the monkeys and groundhogs.
0.3 -
2008-10-20 12:00
I had high expectations of this move going in, and it lived up to them. The acting was fabulous, especially by the supporting roles, Martin Landau, Tim Robbins, and Bill Murray. Read my full review here.
0.3