Luther (Overall I loved it- generally truthful and very encouraging. But not without its problems as far as faithfulness to the Bible goes!)

Hi Hannah, I think you were 9 last time I saw you, so its hard to believe you are going to uni next year!

I thought Luther was a marvellous movie. What did you perceive to be its biblical problems?

Hey Craig!
As I said, I loved Luther. There was one part I can remember where he began talking about how salvation is found not in indulgences but in the sacraments- that is all I can remember about it that was a bit… questionable!
How are you guys? Have a great Christmas!
Hannah

[quote author="Hannah Blake"]Hey Craig!
As I said, I loved Luther. There was one part I can remember where he began talking about how salvation is found not in indulgences but in the sacraments- that is all I can remember about it that was a bit… questionable!
How are you guys? Have a great Christmas!
Hannah

Yeah, me and the boys are doing well. Hope you, Peter and your Mum & Dad have a great Christmas too!

Interesting point you bring up about the sacraments. We have been having a massive discussion on these bulletin boards about that very point! Some of the beliefs of the reformers are a little alien to modern evangelical ears.

Luther certainly believed that salvation was found in the sacraments. If you are interested in Luthers views, you should read his small catechism. You can find it here - http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/wittenberg-luther.html#sw-sc

Finally, got round to watching the DVD of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

It has to be one of the best movies of 2005 and is a serious contender for my own personal top 20. If only more directors and scriptwriters were of this calibre.

It’s a love story, of course but...see it.

Here are some more movies, not all new

Movies:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Searchers (with John Wayne)
The Quite Man (bit of a John Wayne junkie)
The Sound of Music (I really like it!)
Fantastic Planet
Metropolis
The Big Country (yes I do like westerns)
LOTR trilogy (got to have some recent content)
The Ten Commandments
North by Northwest

I will have a think about books for later.

It’s time for me to upduate my list…

Movies:
Serenity - The big-screen version of Firefly, and the best Sci-Fi film of 2005. Yes, I also saw Star Wars Ep3.
Master & Commander - The closest thing to a ‘flawless’ film I have ever seen
Dead Poets Society - The film which inspired in me a love of the English language, and of art in general
Schindler’s List - A stunning masterpiece
Hero - An absolutely beautiful film, in every conceivable way
Jakob the Liar - makes me cry every time!
Henry V (Kenneth Brannagh’s version) - Kenneth Brannagh, Paul Scofield, Derek Jacobi, Ian Holm, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Christian Bale… what else is there to say?
12 Monkeys - A surreal story which must be seen rather than explained. Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt both prove they really can act.
War of the Worlds (2005) - A (mostly) faithful adaptation of one of my favourite books. Brilliantly highlights the weakness and selfishness of humanity when faced with disaster - a nice counterpoint to all the ‘human spirit’ crap that hollywood keeps feeding us.
Good Will Hunting - a stunning example of excellent writing, acting and direction - and a great story too

Books:
The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien) - No explanation necessary :)
The Great Divorce (CS Lewis) - Lewis’ fable of heaven and hell, the most challenging and rewarding piece of theology I have ever read
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo) - Such a wonderous story
Waylander (David Gemmell) - An epic fantasy which explores notions of heroism, pacifism and predestination
A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K LeGuin) - a superbly written story about a very human wizard
Dragonsbane (Barbara Hambley) - Deeply moving
War of the Worlds (HG Wells) - Part fantasy adventure, part warning of things to come, part political commentary, part genuine portrait of human weakness. All good.
Sir Apropos of Nothing (Peter David) - a Fantasy sattire which manages to make fun of the genre, without becoming cheesy or tasteless. In itself a very challenging examination of anti-heroism, and a revealling portrait of just how petty and self-absorbed we can really be.
1984 (George Orwell) - the greatest anti-utopion book of all time, appeals to the cinic in me ;)

Here’s my list of fav movies:

1. Pride & Prejudice! (Ten thumbs up for this one! Though the classic starring Colin Firth is still on many’s hot list)

2. Shawshank Redemption (Tear-jerker! Get your Kleenex ready.)

3. Murder In The First (Kevin Bacon’s best IMO and another sobby one!)

4. American History X (Cool stuff! Powered with action and gore. :P)

5. Braveheart (Mel Gibson’s production and it’s one of those feel-good movies about honour, pride and justice in the throes of death.)

6. Bridget Jones’ Diary I & II (Matter-of-factly and full of British humour, satire and sarcasm. Plenty of laughs!)

7. Heaven & Earth (One of Lee Jones’ best as well. Filmed in poignant and war-ravaged Vietnam, it’s a story about wartime love, modern-day betrayal and sheer realities of life. Akin to Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club)

8. Armageddon (Not big on sci-fi stuff, but this one convinced me. Was fascinated with animal cookies after that! The Tylers’ team on the movie gave it a boost too.)

9. Upclose & Personal (Love Michelle Pheiffer!! Robert Redford was something else in there too)

10. Ghost (It’s in the 80s, but the movie still sticks to my mind. Great theme, great lines, great song!)

Now...the books… (thinking)

Dunno about Armageddon, but I did like Mars Attacks!

Been having a few crazy days, trying to finish a last-minute assignment and familiarize myself with an UPG, all before Feb 11!!!!

Taking a little break. Here’s my book list.

1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin

2. Message From Nam

3. The Green Mile

4. A Hundred Secret Senses

5. Vows

6. Fine Things

7. I Am A Boy

8. Bygones

9. The Forever Tree

10. Choose Your Own Adventure Series!

I watched The Iron Giant * this morning on the train. Even with the director’s commentary on, it nearly brought me to tears.

It is a story about a young boy and his 50-foot death robot (thanks Andy for the description).

This is one of the best movies ever made (yes, it’s a cartoon). If you haven’t seen it, go watch it - it is a bit scary for little kids, but it is worth seeing even if you don’t have kids to bring along. The animation is wonderful, and the acting by the voice cast is incredible.

It has Vin Diesel (actually doing great acting), Harry Conick Jr, Jennifer Aniston and some other guys I don’t know.

The bit near the end (no following) makes me cry. Every time.

I can’t recommend this one enough.

*If you buy the DVD via this link, I get like a dollar or something - If this isn’t OK, let me know and I’ll remove the affiliate stuff.

[quote author="Ian Tyrrell"]I watched The Iron Giant this morning on the train.

What trains do you catch that you get to watch DVDs while you are travelling?! :)

[quote author="Andrew Kroiter"]What trains do you catch that you get to watch DVDs while you are travelling?! :)

I catch the Blue Mountains train (arrives at Central about 8:50 - top of front carriage), and it’s over an hour and a half long trip, so I do lots of stuff on my laptop. Including watching DVDs.

[quote author="Ian Tyrrell"]
This is one of the best movies ever made (yes, it’s a cartoon). If you haven’t seen it, go watch it - it is a bit scary for little kids, but it is worth seeing even if you don’t have kids to bring along. The animation is wonderful, and the acting by the voice cast is incredible.

*If you buy the DVD via this link, I get like a dollar or something - If this isn’t OK, let me know and I’ll remove the affiliate stuff.

My 4 and 3 year old got “The Iron Giant” this Christmas - we all love it (and it is not made by Disney - hooray).

I think it is poor taste to post affiliate links in forums. In other forums I read it is generally banned, but I don’t think the issue has come up on this site before.

You are right the movie does have a great ending and there are obvious links I and the kids could make with the gospel.

Not in any order really- and not always 10

Books

Anything by Marion Keyes and Paulinna Simmons
All 3 of the Sisterhood of the travelling Pants series
The Big O- a Japanese book
The cat that had 10,000 lives - also Japanese
All of the Anne of Green Gables books

Movies

The Lion King
Robots
Finding Nemo
Monsters Inc.
Master and Commander
Pirates of the Carribean
Anne of Green Gables
The Sound of music
Patch Adams
Jack

Thinking about my favourite films of all time quite often gives me a headache. So I’ll jsut post my favourite five of last year.

5: Turtles Can Fly
4: The Motorcycle Diaries
3: Crash
2: Downfall
1: Hotel Rwanda