Alternative Culture: Made in Italy Theological Review

 

Robert and his son Jack agree to renovate their old Italian house for sale

I rarely watch contemporary drama films as I have an inherent liking for action-based, fantasy or sci-fi films. Nevertheless, I decided to watch Made in Italy on Netflix for a few reasons. One, it starred one of my favourite actors, Liam Neeson, and two, it showcased one of my favourite countries, Italy.

Synopsis
Jack Foster (Micheal Richardson) is released from his job as an art gallery manager in England. The owner is Ruth, Jack's estranged wife. To continue his lifestyle, Jack offers to buy the gallery, by selling an Italian mansion he and his father, Robert (Liam Neeson) inherited.

The problem is that he and his artist father are not on good terms and he needs his father's consent to sell it. To make things worse, the mansion is in poor condition after years of neglect. After some father-son confrontations and advice from a property agent Kate (Lindsay Duncan) and a neighbour (Valeria Bilello), the duo decide to work together to restore the mansion.

Christian themes explored

The reality of suffering
One thing I did like about the film was the exploration of the reality of suffering. Jack's mother's death and the absence of his father during Jack's childhood were traumatic to him.

Similarly, Robert's abandonment of his son and loss of artistic talent was due to the immense guilt that he may have caused his wife's death. In his sharing with Kate (who is pained by her cheating husband),  they could never go back to how things were.

Except, you never really can start again. -- Robert to Kate

However in Christianity there is hope. Jesus is divine, and yet is able to empathise with us.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. - Hebrews 4: 15.

Jack and Robert look proudly at their renovation

Restoration of relationships
Being a simple film, the focus is on the restoration of relationship between Jack and Robert. It only happens after massive arguments, petty disagreements and quality time together. Yet though great desire, they realise that their restored relationship was worth more the monetary value of the mansion.

Similarly, God desires the restoration of relationship with us. The journey towards that restoration may be painful, but it will be worth it.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. -- Romans 8: 19-21

Conclusion
Despite being a simple film, I was suprirsed by how much I enjoyed it. Adding to the emotion impact was that Liam Neeson and Micheal Richardson are real-life father and son, and this film was seen as a passion project (as Nessons's wife Natasha Richardson died in 2009).

Alternative Culture: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always - Theological review

The long-awaited reunion? Sort of...

Early this year, I managed to catch the long-awaited 30th anniversary reunion film of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I remembered watching the series in my childhood, and enjoyed the cheesy and action scenes.

Thus I leapt at the chance to see my childhood heroes again. And of course, a theological review follows.

Synopsis
The 2023 movie starts with the resurrection of a classic villain, Rita Repulsa. This time, she is partially mechanical and is thus dubbed "Robo-Rita". She caps off her return by killing the Yellow Ranger Trini, leading to her daughter Minh being an orphan. The Black Ranger Zach and the Blue Ranger Billy then step up raise Minh. 

A year later, the Rangers are ambushed at Trini's death anniversary but are ambushed by Rita. She captures the Pink Ranger Kimberly, the Green Ranger Tommy and the Red Ranger Jason. The remaining heroes retreat, and call in the reserve Rangers for help. Rocky and Kat come in as the replacements for the Red and Pink Ranger respectively.

After a heart-to-heart talk with Minh, the Rangers induct Minh as the new Yellow Ranger. Together they defeat Rita and free the captured Rangers.

What the film does well
The film captures the feel of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in its cheesy dialogue and action scenes. The film also takes into account continuity, noting that Kat and Tommy were in a relationship prior to the movie and that Rocky finally managed to pull of a difficult action move (that he originally failed in the TV series).

The film also handles the death of Trini respectful (original actress Thuy Trang died in a car accident in 2001) and her replacement by her onscreen daughter Minh (Charlize "Charlie" Kersh).

It was also good to see the reserve Rangers come back. In addition to Rocky and Kat, Aisha and Adam (who were the second Yellow and Black Rangers respectively) made an appearance.

Minh receives news of her mother's death

What the film does poorly
As we all expect from reunion films, some were done a little too late. Some of the actors and actress were not able to maintain a reasonable physique for an action role. Others were unavailable to return for various reasons.

Amy Jo Johnson who was the original Pink Ranger Kimberly felt that she was out of the acting game for too long and did not return.
Jason David Frank (who was the original Green Ranger Tommy) rejected the return citing "broken promises" and "lies". He committed suicide in November 2022 just as filming wrapped up.
Austin St John (who was the original Red Ranger Jason) was indicted in 2022, and was thus not allowed to leave Texas for filming.

That left only two of the original six Rangers available for the reunion.

Actors Walter Jones (Black Ranger) and David Yost (Blue Ranger) are the only original Rangers to return

 The other issue was the mixed messaging given by the movie. For instance, Billy warns Minh in a scene against taking the lives of their enemies and living for revenge. Yet late in the movie, the Power Rangers literally perform lethal moves in front of her. 

Furthermore, Zack and Billy regularly reminds Minh of their  responsibilities of adults and her guardians, but the issue of them finding Minh's father (or addressing his absence) is never addressed.

What can Christians learn from reunion films?
First off, it is blatantly obvious that our time on earth is finite. We should not delay in doing the stuff we ought to do, whether it is reuniting with friends or making peace with past grudges.

What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. - 1 Corinthians 7: 29 -31

Thus, in the light of this, it is important to prepare our successors well before we leave. This may include the deliberate mentoring or training our successors, or having children to continue our legacy.

When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ - 1 Kings 2: 1- 3

Lastly for the Christians, our final reunion is not on earth, but in heaven. God has promised that we will all meet each other again in the final age.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. - 1 Thessalonians 4:17

Alternative Culture: Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Theological Review

 

Mantis and Drax search Hollywood for Kevin Bacon

After the debacle that is Marvel Phase 4, I finally mustered the courage to catch Guardians of Galaxy Holiday Special. I am glad (and relieved) to say that it is one of the better shows of the Marvel Phase 4 (other than Spider-Man: No Way Home). 

In this post, I want to focus on the theological aspect of the movie, rather than just a review. There might be spoilers, so this is your spoiler-warning.

Values are not universal or self-evident
Right of the bat, the movie goes on to show that the values of the aliens (even within the Guardians) differ from each other. For instance, Drax howled with laughter when Peter's sad Christmas memory was shared, much to Mantis's disgust.

Another example is clearly shown later in the movie when the aliens were obviously fine with human trafficking while Peter (who is a half-human) was morally outraged.

This values dissonance is actually draws in attention how much of our modern day morals are drawn from the experiences of our ancestors. In other words, moral values are neither self-evident or empirical. Atheist philosopher John Gray rightly pointed out in his book Straw Dogs (2003) that our values of human rights and individualism come from Christianity, or specifically that we humans all are equal and valuable before the divine.

For instance, modern slavery is not seen with the same outrage in countries which experienced more levels of Western influence (and hence Christianity). In another example, the historic movement to disband slavery globally (within the British Empire) was also Christian-led (by William Wilberforce).

The distortion of Santa Claus and the Christmas message

Another interesting thing that the movie shows is how easily Christmas lore can be distorted. Near the start of the movie, an alien band sang about how Santa Claus "shoots missiles at your toes" and is a "burglar". To us, it is an obvious misunderstanding of "mistletoe" and Santa entering houses at night.

This is should serve as a warning to Christians on how easily the Christian message can be changed. Even within the first century of Jesus's death, the Gnostics rose up to claim that secret knowledge is required for salvation. After the legalisation of Christianity in the Roman Empire, Arianism arose to claim that the members of the Trinity were not equal. In medieval times, the Cathars advocated against reproduction. Even today, there is a promotion of the prosperity gospel which encourages the pursuit of wealth and health at as evidence of spirituality.

Thus Christians must always be discerning about ideas that are presented to them.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God -- 1 John 4:1-2

An alien band plays a Christmas song to Peter, without understanding what Christmas is

Uniting as family is important
The major thing I think the film does well is the secular presentation of the Christmas message. Christmas is not about gifts or Santa Claus, but rather uniting as one family.

This film parallels the Christian message, which emphasises that the birth of Jesus paved a way for the people to be adopted into the family of God.  

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. -- Ephesians 1: 4-6

Of course I am not saying Peter's father represents God in any way, but the fact that the movie focuses on the importance of the intangible ties between the Guardians (specially two of them).

The Guardians exchange gifts with each other

Conclusion
I am pleasantly surprised but how a short and simple Marvel film can bring a warm message. I recommend it.

Alternative Culture: Spirited Away Review

One of the great things about this circuit-breaker (or the Singapore "lockdown") is that I can spend some time with my wife to catch up on all the Netflix films I had planned to watch.

So one of the movies I hopped on was the classic from Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away. While portrayed as a children's show combined with imagery and themes from Shinto Buddhism, I found some ideas that resonated with Christianity.

Synopsis
The film follows Chihiro, a ten-year old girl, as she entered the spirit world with her parents unwittingly. As her parents get turned into pigs, Chihiro seeks the help of spirit world residents to return her family to the earthly realm.

Greed
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” -- Luke 12:15

One of the main theme of the movie is greed. One thing that united the residents of the spirit world is their greed for gold. As the spirit No-Face is seen as a high-spending customer, the residents are willing to suspend all rest hours and services in order to serve him. Seeing that this was a pattern, No-Face also tries to buy the affection of Chihiro by offering her a huge number of gold nuggets. Chihiro rightly ignores him.

Note on this point: He did not trust Chihiro to like him for who he is; he just trusted her to be greedy.
This assumption also extends to the owner of the bathhouse and her relationship with her baby. She

This point is reflected in our daily lives. After all, it is a governmental belief that high salaries and bonus retains talent. We can trust game companies to charge extra for content. Even highly-paid world leaders are not immune from corruption.

Be careful of who you trust
“From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
    all practice deceit." -- Jeremiah 6:13

What lesson can we learn then? From the Bible we know that not even priests, leaders or our own hearts are immune to greed.

It still shocks me today that people blindly follow certain leaders, reporters or even governments (instead of insisting on some form of discernment).

We also should watch our own hearts.

"For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." -- Ephesians 5:5

Alternative Culture: Bad Genius Review

Bank (left) confronts Lynn (right) over her cheating plan.

At the moment I am enjoying Netflix. Netflix had brought to my attention a slew of films I would have otherwise missed out on as they are non-Hollywood or widely advertised in Singapore. I have mainly been watching Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, the Wandering Earth and Modest Heroes. The film I do want to do a theological review today is the 2017 Thai film Bad Genius.

The paper chase

In Asian society, formal education is highly valued. Thus the competition for grades and scholarships is highly intense in Thailand. Seeing a business opportunity, poor Thai student Lynn decides to help her schoolmates cheat using a code system in return for cash. To increase her earnings, she decided to include more clients into her cheating scheme.

Later in the movie, she was engaged to help cheat during the international standardised university test called the  STIC (analogous to the SAT or GRE). Realising she could not come up with a cheating system alone, she decides to recruit Bank (another smart student) into her schemes.

The surest way to hell

Interestingly Lynn, who had prided herself in her intelligent and practical schemes, started to feel increasing guilty as her participation in cheating deepens. On the other hand, Bank who had earlier held fast to his morality, was willing to dive deeper and deeper into cheating.

The movie seems to make the following statement: People who are most sure about their goodness are more likely to fall into the path of evil. Those who recognise their sinfulness are more likely to be take the path of redemption.

Parable of the debtors

I am surprised to see this movie's parallels to the parable of the debtors (Luke 7:40-47):

Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."

He said, "Teacher, say on."

"A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they couldn't pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?"

Simon answered, "He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most."

He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Let's us not take pride in our self-righteousness and remind ourselves that we too have potential for great good or evil.

Alternative Culture: Spectral review

Overcoming the odds

Ever so in history we encounter a black swan event, or an out-of-context problem. The Japanese of World War 2 knew they were outclassed when they faced atomic annihilation. The warmongering New World Aztecs had no counter to the visiting Spanish steel and horses. The medieval Europeans experienced it as when they had their first encounter with Black Death.

No amount of thinking could have prepared them for the disasters that followed. After all, how could you fight a problem that did not even think exists?

That is the premise of the 2015 film Spectral, which I caught on Netflix recently. Military scientist Clyne travels to war-torn Moldova as reports of soldiers dropping dead mysteriously reach him. Using advanced visual equipment, Clyne discovers that the soldiers were being attacked by spirit-like entities called "spectrals". After deducing the composition of the spectrals, Clyne and the remaining soldiers have to come up with a plan to counter the spectrals before they overrun the world.

Analysing the situation

At one point of the film, Clyne argued about the solution to defeating the spectrals. The local villagers believed the spectrals were supernatural entities. The CIA analyst, on the other hand, concludes that the spectrals were a form of advanced camouflagued. Clyne, however suspends judgement till more evidence is gathered. He accurately points out that his counterparts were more interested in solutions rather than actual problem identification, leading the team to implement faulty methods to deal with their new threat.

Later in the film, Clyne notices that the spectrals had human forms yet intangible, could move through walls yet not ceramic, and had no compulsion in killing children yet felt pain. This helped him construct an effective counter against the spectrals.

Unlike how Clyne's counterparts often read their biases into the situation, we Christians must be cautious about interpreting the Bible according to our fancies. I have seen too many a time where my fellow Christians haphazardly apply the Bible verses from Jeremiah and Habakkuk into their lives. Bible verses should be read with little personal bias as possible with much prayer and understanding of context.

Making moral decisions

Late in the movie, Clyne also had to make a decision to end the generation of spectral. Acknowledging his decision was beyond science, he delved into the realm of morality before making his decision.

Similarly, we Christians must acknowledge that we are incapable of making all decisions rationally. Ultimately if we honest with ourselves, there are things beyond the pure reason. Thank God He is charge of everything.

Conclusion

Spectral is a thrilling movie, with predictable plot twists. Do watch it if you have the time.

Alternative culture: The banning of the Lord's Prayer

Recently, some cinemas in the UK has banned an advert on the Lord's prayer. While many articles have been written for and against it, I personally was quite surprised that the cinemas proceeded with the ban. Do not get me wrong; I am neither for or against the decision, as I feel as an outsider (who only studied in the UK for 4 years), it is not my place.

Why I am surprised
Firstly, the Church of England is a political entity in the UK. Unlike secular Singapore, the Church of England has some level of political sway. Being accustomed to seeing the Archbishop in Parliament and Bishops on the regular BBC news programmes, I was surprised to hear that cinema-goers might be offended by it.

Secondly, so wouldn't denying them a right to advertise would be against free speech? Sure one may say that the Muslims and Hindus would have to be given that right, and I would agree-- if they paid for it, they should be allowed to advertise.

That's all I have to write about it.

The video in question.


For further reading
Seven reasons to ban

Alternative Culture: God's not Dead review

Wheaton debates Professor Radisson

A thinking Christian film?
In 1882, German philosopher Nietzsche declared that God is dead after exploring the depths of his moral philosophy. This year, the Christian film God's not Dead attempts to present logical explanations for the existence of God. This happens after Professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) forces everyone in his philosophy class to sign a statement to declare that God is dead.

Josh Wheaton (Shane Harper) refuses to sign and is asked to present the evidence for God the class. Although discouraged by his girlfriend (Cassidy Gilfford), Wheaton takes up the challenge.

In this review, I will focus on the theological arguments presented in the film, and then talk about some of the minor characters of the film.

The arguments
Creation
Wheaton begins explaining how the Big Bang was explained by the Bible. This point is debatable, but Wheaton explains that God was the uncreated Creator of the universe.

The atheist counter-argument was unfairly simple. Professor Radisson simply states, Stephen Hawkings (one of the leading scientists in real life), does not think so. With a simple appeal to authority, Professor Radisson dismisses Wheaton's argument. There was no exploration of Wheaton's presentation.

In this way, the film is being unfair to many of my atheist friends. A genuine atheist would not simply appeal to authority and stop there. He/she would attempt to dig further, asking questions or proposing that the universe was a necessary consequence.

Evil
Wheaton also brings but evil in his debate, saying that the cause was human free will. Instead of addressing his argument directly, Professor Radison mocks the idea of moral absolutes. In this, the film seems to portray that the atheist objectors as lacking.

From what I know, most atheists I have debated would automatically asked about natural disasters (since they were not caused by human free will). I was disappointed that this point was overlooked.

Ultimate proof of God
Despite it being a Christian movie, the film fails to highlight is about Jesus. In the Christianity, we must often seek to point our friends to Jesus Christ. As Pastor Timothy Keller said,

In the Christian view, the ultimate evidence for the existence of God is Jesus Christ.

Little mention is made of Jesus, other than he was the son of God, and he paid for our sins.

A cost to follow Jesus
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. -- Matthew 16:24

One thing I feel that the film does well (despite the lack of character development) was to portray the cost of discipleship.

While Wheaton lost his girlfriend (a bit far-fetched I say), Ayisha (Hadeel Sittu) is disowned after she converts to Christianity. Mina (Corey Oliver) breaks up with her boyfriend in order to live closer to the gospel.

Ayisha's situation hits me the hardest, because I am reminded of a friend whose father would beat her if he found out she was a Christian. I could never imagine what the cost of following Jesus is for her.

Conclusion
The film would make well-meaning atheists cringe due to its unfair portrayal of non-Christians. Nevertheless, I think it has at least raised awareness on the importance of apologetics and the cost of discipleship.

For further reading
The cost of discipleship:



Importance of apologetics

Alternative Culture: The Encounter Review

Professional wrestler Sting playing the businessman Nick in the Encounter

[As part of my Lent series, I decided to review some Christian books and films that I have watched recently. Here is my review of The Encounter.]

Synopsis
Five people get stranded in a mysterious, remote diner due to poor weather conditions. The dinner is manned by a stranger named Jesus (Bruce Marchiano) and he reveals that each person has an important decision they have to make concerning the ultimate destiny of their lives.

Each of the stranded has their own set of problems and grievances. Businessman Nick (Steve "Sting" Borden) is prideful. Runaway teenager Kayla (Madison Gibney) is suicidal. Couple Hank (Jamie Nieto) and Catherine (Dannah Davis) have marriage issues. Melissa (Jaci Velasquez) has relationship problems.

Theological Review
Jesus's ability
One of thing the film plays up is the omniscience of Bruce's Jesus. He's revealed to know all events in the past, present and future. This causes the stranded strangers to accept that he is really Jesus, and not an impostor or charlatan.

The film also emphasised that everyone falls short of the perfectness of God, although Catherine and Nick trust to justify themselves via their morality and achievements respectively.

The reasons for disbelief
Another potent thing the film brings up is objections to Christianity. Nick objected to the apparent cruelty of God in the Old Testament, and calling his Kayla's attraction to Jesus an emotional "exploitation". Kayla objects to apathy of God in the face of evil.

Nevertheless, I found it weird that this film's Jesus seem to hesitate to answer when Nick grills him. Another thing I felt should be in the film should be that most people should reject God's message of love and salvation. In fact real Jesus said in Matthew 7: 13-14,

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Conclusion
Despite having a generally unknown cast, the movie is decent. I give it a 65/100.

Alternative Culture: Rust review

A scene from Rust

[As part of the season of Lent, I will be reviewing some Christian literature over a course of 40 days. So let me begin with the movie Rust (2010).]

Synopsis
Many years after his pastorate falls apart, ex-pastor James Moore (Corbin Bernsen) returns to his hometown to find that his friend Travis (Lloyd Allen Warner) in prison. Travis confessed to arson and manslaughter of an entire family, but James refused to believe him.

With a sudden purpose and anewed vigour, James set out to find out the truth forcing him to confront his estranged father, his bitter sister, forgotten friends and even the problems caused and faced by the town's youth.

Theological review
As usual, I will doing a short review on the theological issues I felt were raised by the movie.

Quest for truth
One thing I felt was very engaging about the movie was James's attempts to discover the truth about the arson. Even though the matter inconvenienced him and further strained his relationships with the community, James found himself unable to rest till he unearthed the truth.

On the flip side, the mentally-challenged Travis chose to cover for the community. In doing so, he sought to find peace for and with the community whom he felt he never belong to the first place. It was not a surprise he obtained neither.

For us Christians, do we often choose inclusive peace with the world over the divisive truth of the Gospel? We should be choosing the liberating truth of the Gospel to find peace with God.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. -- Romans 1:25.

Suffering
One issue that I felt the film handled poorly was the issue of suffering. Although bringing up ideas about suffering that builds character, the film does not address the origin of suffering (i.e. sin) and the purpose of Jesus's sacrifice (i.e. to die for the sins of mankind).

Instead, God is portrayed as a problem-solver, only if we have faith in him.

Conclusion
A decent film, considering that the producer used a the local cast and a low budget. I like the emotionalism and flashbacks used in the film. I give it a decent 65/100.

Alternative Culture: Taken 3 Review

World's most wanted?
Having watched Taken and Taken 2, I could not wait to watch Taken 3. The premise of the movie takes retired CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) on a race to prove his innocence after he is framed for the death of his ex-wife.

Chased by Inspector Dotzler (Forest Whitaker), Mills has to throw the cops of his trail while he interrogates the murder suspects.

Theological issues
This, being a theological site, will focus on certain issues raised by the movie. The issue I want to examine here is on the investigation and the run from the authorities.

Truth claims
Whereas Inspector Dotzler is interested in finding out the truth of the matter, most of the police were content to see Mills as guilty, most evident by their interactions with Mill's daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Unfortunately, for most people (whether believers or not) rather be not investigate truth claims too carefully lest it challenges what they deeply believe in.

After if Jesus claimed to be "the way, truth and the life" in John 14:6, why should Christians be afraid of examining the claims of Christianity?

Versus the world
Jesus predicted the following for his followers:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15: 18-19)

Like Mills on the run from the authorities, Christians should not be surprised if the world tends to reject them. That does not mean Christians should knowingly and purposely violate secular law to prove a point, but rather that their lifestyle and truth claims would tend to offend people around them.

My review
To be honest, this movie was decent. It was definitely not as good as Taken, but comparable to Taken 2. The lack of twist and turns of plot made me miss the first Taken, and the lack of a nationwide search for Mills really hampered the urgency of the story. I thought it might have been better if the French intelligence from the first movie tried to take revenge on Mills (or demand extradition), and then Mills would be on the run.

Nevertheless, Neeson's gruff acting and the action scenes were the movie's saving grace. I give this movie a 60/100.

Alternative Culture: Lego The Movie Review

I have to be honest with you-- initially I did not want to watch this film. I thought it would be too whimsical to my liking. Nevertheless, a few of my colleagues dragged me along to watch this, and I was glad I did.

Plot summary
Lego construction worker Emmet had always led an ordinary life. His daily life is filled with routines and instructions, leaving him little room for creativity. However upon finding a special item known as the "Resistance", Emmet learnt though a prophecy that he is no ordinary person. Teaming up with a thief, Batman, a wizard, a space engineer and a pirate, Emmet goes through an adventure of a lifetime to fulfill his true destiny.

Theological issues
Despite its childish presentation, the movie brings up deep theological themes. In this post, I would like to explore a few.

1) Finding the creator
In one of the scenes, Emmet breaks the fourth wall and meets his owner. Whether intentionally or not, this seems to run coherently with Christian theology-- God is involved in the world, although He cannot be found in nature and is outside the world.

As Pastor Tim Keller (2008) mentioned, to look for God in nature is like Hamlet looking at his attic for Shakespeare. While God's work can be physically found in the world, he generally cannot.

2) The importance of purpose
The overall theme of the movie seems to be the idea of purpose. In this postmodern era, it is generally preached that we humans have the ability to craft our own destiny (Wyatt, 2009), like Emmet comments to his fellow Lego.

I would argue that that our purpose is not self-determined, but divinely-determined. The only way for us to fulfill our true purpose in this world is to ask our creator (i.e. God).

Conclusion
Do watch this movie, even if you consider yourself a mature adult! I give this movie 70/100.

Reference
Keller, T. (2008) The Reason for God.

Wyatt, J. (2009) Matters of Life and Death

Alternative Culture: Pacific Rim Review

Recently, I caught the movie Pacific Rim with my colleagues. Justifying my initial scepticism, I found it to be a mediocre action film, saved only by its cutting-edge graphics.

Synopsis
In the fictional near future, giant sea monsters known as Kaiju emerge from an interdimensional portal in the Pacific Ocean. Conventional weapons such as jets and tanks proved useless against the Kaiju, so the world decided to build giant robots known as Jaegers to combat the Kaiju.

The operating system of the Jaegers proved to be too complex, and required a two-men team to operate. When the Kaiju start to adapt to the battle tactics of the Jaeger pilots, the world turns to former pilot Raleigh (played by Charlie Hunnam) and personal assistant Mako (played by Rinko Kikuchi) to save the day.

What I didn't like about the film
There are many things I take issue with the film.

The science in the film. Let's assume it is biologically possible for the Kaiju to exist (despite the weight of their body structure being too heavy for earthly conditions). Why would the perfect plan be to create an equivalent robot counterpart? The joints are structurally weaknesses and bipedalism provides an unstable support.

The battle tactics also were appalling. Why did they use a cargo ship as a weapon when the Jaeger's fists were made of much harder titanium? Why did they use the fists at all when they had swords? At one point of the film, they activated a nuke, endangering the other Jaeger in the vicinity (nearby nuclear explosions can shut down electronic equipment).

Theological review
However, I guess you can read the reviews elsewhere. I want to explore an interesting concept by the film-- the idea of the pilots melding their minds in order to operate their Jaeger with one will.

I guess it parallels the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit unifying believers together (Ephesians 4:3), for good works (1 Corinthians 12:7). Unlike the movie, we do not guide the Spirit, but the Spirit guides us (Romans 8:26-27).

Conclusion
I give this movie a 54/100. It has nice visuals, but has a predictable story-line and weak cast.

Alternative Culture: Ah Boys to Men review

Recently, I caught the latest Jack Neo film, Ah Boys to Men. This film mainly covers the experiences of Ken Chow (Joshua Tan) as he is conscripted into the army as part of the National Service policy of Singapore. Having hating the idea of enlisting in the first place, Ken soon finds every day spent in the military is a waste of time.

Theology of Ken
In this post I want to focus on Ken's ultimate aim in life, as portrayed by the film. Without spoiling too much, Ken's aim was to reconcile with his girlfriend, even at the cost of his own health.

To Ken, his relationship with his girlfriend was the most important thing in his life. Thus, it is little wonder why he views army as a bane, as it keeps him away from his girlfriend. As part of his basic military training, he has to be kept on Pulau Tekong (the military training camp) for two weeks. However due to a mistake, he has to stay in the camp for a further one week, causing him to be hate the military even more.

As we can see in film, what we make as our most important thing in our lives can affect how we treat other things. Following what I mentioned above Ken's almost divine view of his girlfriend results in his self-destructive behaviour.

So forgive me if I twitch a little everytime someone suggests we leave religion at the backdoor. The question "Who is God?" is the most vital question that we can ever ask Because what we treat as the "god" or the most important thing in our lives affects how we treat everything else. If we get this question wrong, then we get everything in our lives wrong.

Ken's theology was lacking because his view of "god" was unrealistic (his girlfriend was unable to satisfy his need for identity) and unsatisfactory (his girlfriend was not as faithful as he expected). That should serve as a warning to all of us.

I guess that's why I'm thankful as a Christian. This God is not only loving, faithful, but also true. This God is more than an opinion. So why not explore this God, come and see?

Overall
I enjoyed the movie. The way the actors communicated sounded genuinely Singaporean and the 1970s flashbacks were accurate and enjoyable. I also loved the way the supporting cast argue over the relevance and contributions of National Service in the context of Singapore as it expresses the concerns of Singaporeans reliably.

Nevertheless, there were some flaws. I did not like the unrealistic combat scenes in the opening minutes (how can an armoured vehicle shoot down a helicopter so easily?). I also felt cheated as the context behind the opening action was revealed.

I give the film a 70/100.

Further reading
Bethinking on identity

Alternative Culture: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Review

Some months ago, I caught the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a movie based on the mashup novel of the same name. Having low expectation due to the ridiculousness of the title, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie-- it was a lot better than I had anticipated.

Synopsis
Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) witnesses his mother murdered by a vampire when he was young. Thus he swears revenge against the vampires, and gets mentored by a vampire hunter named Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper).

However Lincoln realises that even if he slayed his mother's killer, he would have only killed one vampire. The vampires run the slave trade in the United States in order to obtain an ample supply of food (i.e. slaves). Thus Lincoln runs for president and makes abolishing slavery his top priority. This brings him into conflict with the head vampire Adam (Rufus Sewell).

Theological thoughts
Although the film itself is probably not meant to be thought-provoking, there was one scene that made me think deeply. In one of the scenes, Lincoln finds himself pinned against the floor via a chair. Adam then goes into a long harangue, telling Lincoln that slavery was an inevitable consequence of human existence.

From the Jews in ancient Egypt to the Africans in the colonial times, Adam reminds Lincoln that some men are meant to be ruled. However, he goes further than that. He asserts that even if Lincoln was opposed to the slavery of the blacks, Lincoln was already a slave-- a slave to an ideal.

Does he have a point?
You might find it surprising that I think Adam is right. Slavery is inevitable, especially when it comes to ideals. Some of us are slaves to money, slaves to power and even slaves to celebrities.

The point is this, no matter what we do, we are a slave, or are chained to our desires. And the Bible accepts this metaphor to: Consider what Romans 6:16 says

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

As we read on in Romans 6: 17-18:

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

So the only way to be free to be follow God. However, if we read carefully, we would not stop being slaves -- we become slaves to righteousness. Even Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30 that he offers a yoke:


“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Why is being a slave to Christ better than being a slave to our desires? Ironically Christ's death for us frees us from the death that results from sin, if we read on in Romans 6:19-23:

^"I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Christ is the only one that frees us from our sinful desires.


Back to the film

I surprisingly enjoyed the film and loved the action scenes. I give this movie a 70/100.

Alternative Culture: The Mission (1986 film) review

In June 2011, my French classmate lent me a 1986 film, "The Mission". he claimed it to be very inspiring, so I decided to watch it too.

Synopsis
The film kicks off with Cardinal Altamirano (played by Ray McAnally) narrating to his scribe (to report to the Pope) on the tragic conclusion of the Jesuits' fates in South America. (Jesuits are a Roman Catholic order of monks dedicated to education and missionary works.) He tells the story of Father Gabriel's (Jeremy Irons) work among the native Guarani people, and his attempts to protect them from slavery.

Robert De Niro plays a slaver named Mendoza who regularly captures Guarani in the forest. This brings him into conflict with Father Gabriel, who attempts to start a mission with the Guarani. (It is illegal to enslave tribes on Spanish mission land.) Upon finding out his brother's affair with his fiancee, Medoza engaged him in a duel and slew him. This filled him with remorse, and he spiralled into a state of depression. Medoza asked Father Gabriel for redemption, so Father Gabriel set him up with a penance.

Medoza then tied a stash of weapons and armour to himself and accompanied Father Gabriel and other Jesuits to a return journey to the Guarani. This journey was particularly hard for Medoza, as he had to dragged him stash up the Igazu Falls. The Guarani forgave Medoza despite his past atrocities against them, and this brings him to tears.

Medoza asked to join the Jesuit order, and Father Gabriel and Father Fielding (Liam Nesson) accepted him.Yet all is not perfect-- in the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, the Spanish agrees to exchange some lands (including the Guarani mission lands) with the Portuguese. The secular Portuguese state did not recognise the Spanish mission lands and protected, and would thus sought to enslave the Guarani. Highlighting this problem, the Jesuits asked the Pope to mediate this treaty. Cardinal Altamirano, an ex-Jesuit himself, is dispatched by the Pope.

Brought to the Guarani mission lands by Father Gabriel, Cardinal Altamirano is impressed by the work. The Guarani have accepted Christianity, and have a small workshop which produced musical instruments. The Guarani children were not only able to play European music, but also to sing in a choir. Yet Cardinal Altmirano knew what he must do. If he ruled in favour of Portugal, the Guarani mission would be destroyed, and its people enslaved. However, if he ruled in favour of the Jesuits, the Jesuit order would be expelled from Portugal, and the ties of the Church with Europe could be strained. The Roman Catholic Church no longer had the same power and influence as it did during the Medieval Ages. Despite his advice, the Jesuits and the Guarani refused to leave the mission lands. With deep regret, the cardinal wrote to the Pope,

"Your Holiness, a surgeon to save the body must often hack off a limb. But in truth nothing could prepare me for the beauty and the power of the limb that I had come here to sever."

As the combined force of the Spanish and Portuguese approached the the mission lands, Medoza and Father Gabriel had a falling out. Medoza believed in taking up arms and convinced many of the Jesuits and Guarani to follow suit. Father Gabriel believed in non-violence and expelled Medoza from the order, believing that even if Medoza won, he would lose in principle as he used violence to attain his aims.

Although they fought bravely, Medoza, Father Fielding (does Neeson die in every movie I watch him in?) and his followers are cut down. As Medoza laid dying and the Spanish and Portuguese soldiers enter the mission village, they are met with Father Gabriel and several Guarani holding a Roman Catholic ritual. Despite their initial reluctance, the troops opened fire, killing Father Gabriel and most of the Guarani.

As Cardinal Altamirano rued over the huge loss of lives, the Portuguese Governor of the region assured the cardinal that that compromise was the way the world worked. The cardinal remorsefully replied,

"No, thus have we made the world. Thus have I made it."

Despite it's tragic end, a few Guarani children approached the site of the massacre and retrieved a few belongings. The film ends with a statement that Jesuits continue to this day to fight for the rights of the natives and concludes with John 1:15.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."


A Theological Review
[Editor's note: please understand while this movie is based on the actual Jesuits' missions to South America, I will not be comparing the film with history. This is because I do not know much about the historical issue. Instead, I will be solely looking at the messages given by the film.]

The film raises many questions, and I will write about a few of them.

Penance and Forgiveness
As a result of slaying his brother, Medoza began a road of redemption. He showed how sorry and guilty he was by dragging his stash of weapons and armour up a waterfall.

Being Protestant, this external form of penance is unnecessary. As Reformer John Calvin (based on his exposition of Romans 7: 7-25) puts in his work Of Justification By Faith, "without forgiveness no man is pleasing to God." In other words, divine forgiveness comes before repentance. Hence repentance just involved the inner change of attitude of the heart.

This contrasted with Medoza who felt he needed to punish himself to be forgiven.

Medoza (Robert De Niro) drags his stash up the waterfall as part of his penance

Politics and Compromise
As the film proposes, there is a conflict between the secular world (especially with regards to politics), and the Kingdom of God. This is a particularly difficult and tricky issue for Christians as the Bible does not provide specific instructions for government and societal conduct, but rather for individual salvation and principles (Wyatt, 2009). In fact, both Jesus and the Apostle Paul advocated obedience to the ruling governing authorities. The early Christians too followed Roman laws and customs (with the exception of worshipping the Emperor).

In the film, several clashes were highlighted. The main one was of course the clash between the interests of the Jesuits and the papal authorities. To Father Gabriel, God's Word was at stake. To Cardinal Altamirano, it was the respectability of the Roman Catholic Church. Following the example of Daniel 3,the Cardinal should have stood up to his superiors (and the Spanish and Portuguese) and should have chosen to serve God, rather than men.

Next, Cardinal Altamirano was in discussion with a Guarani Jesuit on the profits of the mission, the Jesuit stated that the profits are shared by the community. The Cardinal pointed out that "a French radical group" practised that idea. However, the Jesuit explained that it was a early Christian practice also (probably in reference to Acts 4: 32-35). Cardinal  Altamirano looked surprised-- did years of human tradition influenced the running of the Church?

Personally, I recognise that there is always going to be a clash between Christians and secular authorities. The Reformer Martin Luther ascribed this conflict with his Two Kingdoms theology. He maintained that the civil government should not enforce religious belief, while the church should obey the government's rules as far as possible. This however, should not prevent Christians for running for government positions or for Christians to rebel against the government especially in areas of moral disagreements.

This was attributed to Christians being in, but not of the world, while they await the Kingdom of Heaven (which is here, but not yet).

Violence and Non-violence
The final, most obvious conflict revealed towards the plot's end was the use of violence to repel the slavers. Father Gabriel was opposed to any form of violent resistance, while Medoza felt the great need to take up arms. Christian theologians have generally argued over whether it was right or not to wage war.

On one hand, Jesus forbade Peter from using violence to protect him (see Matthew 26: 47-56). However, the followers of Jesus did not ask tell soldiers to give up their jobs. For instance, John the Baptist did not tell the soldiers to lay down their arms, but only to be fair in their treatment of others (Luke 3: 1-20).

For instance, the 3rd century theologian Origen was a firm pacifist. In his work Contra Celsum, he states that "Christians could never slay their enemies. For the more that kings, rulers, and peoples have persecuted them everywhere, the more Christians have increased in number and grown in strength."

However, the famed Thomas Aquinas argued in Summa Theologica that violence can be justified according to his Just War theory. He list three conditions--
1) Authority of sovereign
2) A just cause
3) A rightful intention

As I mentioned, the difficultly in resolving this issue is that many well-intentioned Christian thinkers differ on this. Personally, I lean towards the Just War Theory as I recognise the need to defend one's country (or in the Jesuits' case, the people) in this imperfect world.

Conclusion
The film raises many other issues, and I wished I was knowledgeable enough to engage them. The film was great and well-acted. If I had one criticism, it is that the final battle was underwhelming. (However, it is not an action film, and it was filmed in 1986.) Personally I wished I have known about it earlier. I give the film a 95/100.

References

Wyatt, J. (2009) Matters of Life and Death

For further readings

Of Justification By Faith

Christianity and Politics

Two Kingdoms

Contra Celsus

Thomas Aquinas's Just War

Alternative Culture: Confessions (2010 Japanese film)

My friend, who is doing a Masters in art asked if I wanted to watch a Japanese film with her. The last Japan films I watched were of the Death Note series, and it was L: Change the World.

So wondering what the film was like, I decided to watch Confessions with her. After all, it was an Academy Award nominee, so it had to be at least a decent film.

Confessions tells the story of a teacher who seeks to avenge her daughter's death, by going after her killers. The two killers are her own students.

The storyline
Moriguchi Yuko (Matsu Takako) announced to her form class of 13 year-olds that she is resigning. She revealed that her daughter (Ashida Mana) had been killed by two students of the class-- Shiomura Naoki (Fujiwara Kaoru) and Murakawa Shinya (Amami Juri), even though the police concluded that her death was via accidental drowning. The rowdy class remained apathetic and rude until Yuko reveals that she had injected HIV-positive blood into the milk of Naoki and Shinya. Although none of them would be infected with HIV (you can't get HIV from drinking tainted milk! More people should study Biology, like me!). the class shrieked in horror as they back away from both Noaki and Shinya. Yuko reminded the class that "all life is precious" hypocritically and finally took her leave.

Confessions is unlike a typical revenge story, as it is told from five perspectives, thus involving flashbacks and flashforwards. Let's go through each of them.


Shiomura Naoki
Naoki suffered from inferoirty complex. He joined a sports school, but was not good at sports. He joined a cram school, but was not good in his studies. Everyone in class bullied him, and he longed for a friend. Everyone, except Shinya.

Sick of Yuko's attempts to help him, Naoki suggested that they should target Yuko's daughter to teach Yuko a lesson. On the day of the murder, Shinya rigged a purse to deliver an electric shock to render Yuko's daughter unconscious (but alive). Thinking that he had killed her, Shinya boasted that he finally did something note-worthy. He then confessed that he never liked Naoki anyway, and was just using him to lure a target. In other words, Naoki would never amount to anything, much less a killer.

As Shinya left the scene of crime, Naoki discovered that their victim was still alive. Remembering Shinya's words, he tossed the Yuko's daughter into a swimming pool, effectively drowning her to deny Naoki's claim to murder.

Upon thinking he was infected with HIV, Naoki dropped out of school, and refused to attend classes in the new term. He refused to let everyone and everything touch him, and scrubbed everything he touched, thinking that he had infected it (like Lady Macbeth).

New teacher Yoshiteru Terada (Okada Masami) naively attempts to reach to him with enocuragement and messages from the class (the class had made notes of encouragement for him, but contained cryptic messages to remind Naoki of his murder), but his attempts only drive him further to insanity. Kitahara Mitsuki (Hashimoto Ai), the class moniteress suggested to Terada that he was pursuing a lost cause, but this drive Terada (who does not knowthe whole story) to increase his efforts.

Mrs Naoki
Naoki's mother (Kimura Yoshino) is incapable to believing that her son's mediocrity is his fault. She blames society, Yuko, Terada, his classmates and herself (basically everyone except Naoki) for her son's condition. Continually absolving her son's innocence in the light of recent events, she finally hits a breaking point when Naoki confesses that he intentionally killed Yuko's daughter. Taking the blame of her son's action, Mrs Naoki wrote a letter of confession and stabbed her son in the chest. Naoki then demostrated what he was really good at-- killing, and stabbed his mother.

Kitahara Mitsuki
After the resignation of Yuko, the class began to taunt and bully Shinya, constantly reminding him that he was a killer. Only the class monitress Mituski refused to take part in such activities. Upon discovery of severe bullying, Terada reprimanded the class, and Mituski was immediately suspected as Terada's informant. So she shared the bullying with Shinya.

Such bullying made Mituski close to Shinya, and they become good friends. Believing her love for him would change him, Mituski confessed she admired Shinya's genius. To impress Shinya, she told the police the reason for Naoki's breakdown-- the frequent visits of Terada. This destroys the naive Terada's personality, confidence and ultimately his faith in the character of his students.

Murakawa Shinya
Shinya is a genius with a superiority complex. Despite winning a science fair, he craves fame, and was upset when news of a juvenile murdering her whole family made the front page. Abandoned by his mother (a professional physicist) when he was young, Shinya was hoping that his genius would allow his mother to finally accept him. He would show off his inventions in his blog (his source of confessions), but she did not reply.

He went to the extent of intenting to kill Yuko's daughter but failed. This denied him the chance of fame. He finally broke and decided to blow the whole school up. When ridiculed by Mituski for his craving for fame (as mummy issues), he beat her to death via a blunt object.

Despite planting the bomb at the school hall, it failed to detonate as he activated it. What happened?

Moriguchi Yuko
Yuko had planned everything all along. Refusing to over her evidence to the police (as they would have pressed light charges to minors), Yuko took revenge into her own hands.

She had played on Terada's enthusiasm, and advised him to keep visiting Naoki (counting on the nastiness of her ex-class to ruin Naoki further). As Mituski regularly met up with her, Yuko learnt about Shinya's family issues. She was the one who had moved the bomb, and confessed this act to Shinya over the phone, and that the bomb was placed at his mother's office. In other words, Shinya killed his mother.

Confronting Shinya (who was now in tears), Yuko told him that he had tasted his own medicine (death of a loved one), and now he had to work on a road of reformation and redemption. "Just kidding," she ended, rejecting his possiblity of redemption.

Discussion
Social responsiblitiy: Classic Liberialism and Conservativism
One of the ideas the film explores is the idea of responsibility. Who is responsible when a person commits a crime. Traditional Liberialism (sounds like an oxymoron) tends to place the blame on society, while Classic Conservativism places blame on the individual.

And to some extent, the film explores both cases. Naoki can be easily seen as a leaf in the ocean, being pushed an influenced by Shinya, his classmates and his mother. He bases his self-worth on his friends and parent, and he slips into depression upon Shinya's betrayal and the painful reminders by his classmates.

Shinya, on the other hand is a force of his own. Other than motivated by fame (his self-worth), he attempts to kill Yuko's daughter and the school, and actually kills Mituski and his mother himself. Despite his genius and strong personality, he fails to choose what is right. This is most poignant when Yuko rightly pointed out that Shinya could have chosen not to detonate the bomb. But he did.

Self-worth
The film places a lot on self-worth. It does not take a philosopher to underline the importantness of this question. For Naoki's mother, it is her son. Thus when realising her son was beyond redemption, she murders him. For Shinya, it was his mother's respect and the need for global recognition. Upon wanting those, he planned to murder a school to make headline news.

However as Christians, we have to remember that our self-worth is in God. After all, if we believe in God, then we are reasonable to believe in our own value. God made us his unique creations, possessing unimaginable, intrinsic worth.  Furthermore, each child of God has a unique gifting from the Spirit, indispensable and irreplaceable (1 Cor 7:7).

In the film, we see how family, fame and love can lead to destructive circumstances. Although the three can be admirable things, they can be devestating once made the ultimate goal in life. As you can see, theology matters.

For more details on self-worth, read this.

Redemption
The film lastly suggests that some people are beyond redemption. Naoki's mum saw it in her son. Yuko saw it in Shinya. Even Mrs Naoki's and Mituski's attempts to redeem Naoki and Shinya respectively ended in failure and death. In fact Yuko concludes the movie by stating that redemption for Shinya is a joke.

However, in the Christian view, we have to remember that no one is beyond God's reach (John 3:16). It's not about what we did, but what has been done for us. It's not about where we been, but where our brokeness leads us to. And it's not about what we feel, but what He felt to forgive you. And that's what we preach a Gospel of Christ crucified, to redeem all mankind.

Review
I did like the movie, but found it unnecessarily brutal. I cringed at Mituski's death and dismemberment. I kind of thought that the movie missed out the views of Terada, the new and enuthsiastic teacher, to provide a optimistic framework to the pessimistic tone of the movie.

I give it a 68/100.

Alternative Culture: Proof

Premise
Based on a play with the same name, this 2005 film starts of with Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) attempting to get over her father's (Anthony Hopkins) death. Her father, Robert was a great mathematician who had declined into insanity in his older days. Robert's student, Harold (Jake Gyllenhaal) frequently goes through Robert's notebooks, hoping to find a mathematical breakthrough. Catherine's sister, Claire (Hope Davis) visits Catherine,  hoping to free Catherine from her depressing state by taking her to New York.

Halfway into the film, Harold finds a notebook in Catherine's house, with a groundbreaking mathematical proof about prime numbers. Suddenly a plot twist is revealed-- Catherine claimed to have written that proof.

Four who ye frightful
The story centres between the four characters of the story, and their approaches to truth claims. Let's explore them in detail:

Claire
Catherine's sister, Claire is one of the most straightforward characters of the film. She is almost as frustrating as the ultimate sceptic. She seems to cast doubt in everything Catherine says, including the existence of Harold. Even when Harold was presented, she still refuses to change her behaviour to Catherine.

When Catherine claimed the mathematical proof is hers, Claire expectedly doubts her sister straight away, insisting the handwriting is her father's (even though Claire is not a handwriting expert). When challenged on what would convince her, she laid down an unreasonable demand-- Catherine must recall the proof from her mind.

Naturally Catherine protested, as the proof is forty pages long. Claire's scepticism even goes as far to suggest that in an effort emulate their father, Catherine had deluded herself.

Harold
Despite knowing the brutal honesty of Catherine's nature, Harold initially doubts Catherine's claims, and is indecisive on taking a stand. When Catherine offers to explain the proof to Harold, he is insists that it would changed nothing-- Robert could have written the proof and explained the proof to Catherine first.

Unlike Catherine's sister, Harold is determined to work on the evidence that he has rather than demand unrealistic ones. After consulting several of his peers, he comes to the conclusion that Catherine was the author (based on writing style and the mathematical techniques used).

Catherine
Catherine's approach to the proof is the most personal, yet the most fragile of all. She knows she wrote it. However, under the pressure from Harold and Claire, her faith in her knowledge crumbles. Pushed beyond her breaking point, she broke down and sobbed, confessing that she was not the author from the proof. Even when presented with the evidence by Harold, she rebuffed him, stating that evidence themselves do not "prove anything".

Robert
The father of both Catherine and Claire, Robert suffered from the worst approach to truth. He is unable to discern reality, and as Catherine shared at the funeral, he would write "19-20 hours a day", thinking he was producing eloquent mathematical proofs. However, he was simply scribbling nonsense (such as "as the number of students approach infinity, the number of months approaches 4").Worse still, his insanity seemed to take a toll on Catherine, whom Claire assumes she inherited her mental state from.

My interpretation
Like other works I reviewed, I felt this film is very applicable (probably unintended by the filmmakers) to the Christian worldview.

Lessons for non-believers
The film portrays two types of sceptics-- one honest and another ignorant. The ignorant one (Claire) is happy to make a conclusion before examining the evidence and even putting unrealistic demands with the available evidence.

The honest one (Harold) is willingly to prove/disprove Catherine's claims logically and with expert opinion. And he was the one to come up with the truth. He did not allow his doubts to hinder his search for the truth.

Lessons for the Christians
Despite knowing the truth, Claire crumbles under pressure. Eventually, Harold vindicates her. Similarly as Christians, we should not be afraid to exposing the Gospel to scrutiny. After all, Jesus said he is the 'truth, way and life'.

However some Christians can be so caught in a world of their own like Robert, that they not only fail to become relevant, but unable to discern truth from falsehood.

Conclusion
I really like the film, and I give it 75/100. I was a little disappointed that the film only picks up halfway through, and that some scenes (such as the sex scene) were unnecessary.

Alternative Culture: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

A short synopsis

Merlin had three students, Balthazar (Nicholas Cage), Veronica (Monica Bellucci) and Maxim (Alfred Molina). Jealous of Veronica's relationship with Balthazar, Maxim betrays Merlin by siding with Merlin's nemesis, Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige). Morgana slays Merlin and possesses Veronica, forcing Balthazar to imprison Mazim and Veronica in a Grimhold (a magical prison resembling a series of Russian dolls). With his dying breath, Merlin instructs Balthazar to look for his successor to finally slay Morgana.

He finds the successor in the form of Dave (Jay Baruchel) many years later who aids him in his quest to free Veronica and rid of Morgana.



A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

I just want to focus on one aspect of the movie, and it is the part where Dave, in an attempt to clean his place up, uses what little he learnt of magic to do so. Mimicking Disney's Fantasia where Mickey Mouse tried to do the same thing 70 years ago, the buckets start filling themselves up, and the brooms and mops start sweeping and mopping respectively. Unfortunately, Dave did not learn how to stop the cleaning equipment, and floods the whole place. He nearly gets himself electocuted, if not for the timely arrival of Balthazar.

And in a way it does reflects us (or rather me) as an amatuer thinker/scientist/theologian/philosopher/student. We tend to take a small piece of the cake of knowledge and assume that is the whole story. And we apply it, flaunting what little we know as the whole cake.

I see it in some of my Christian friends, who take what little they know in science and trying to show evolutionary theory as unscientific. I see it in my non-beliving friends, taking their paradigms of Christianity and are satisfied with that. And I see it most in myself, wondering all the time in intellectual discussions if I misrepresent any viewpoint, with what little I know.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

A short review

A rather simple movie. Not too great, but nice presentation and a decent storyline keep it from falling flat in its face. I give it 60/100.