PRE-OSCAR LOOK AT MOVIES THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON ME, PART 5 OF 12: WHAT'S UP, JOSH?

 If I made a list of favorite albums or songs, you'd find I tend to the obscure. I was in a group when a member asked us to submit our 100 favorite Christian items, and I believe it was around 40 of my top 100 were not on anybody else's list. So far, I've got a hunch my movie list hasn't been as obscure... until now.

"What's Up, Josh?" is a 1975 Christian movie. They may have been inspired for the title by Bugs Bunny's tagline, as well as a '72 WB comedy movie starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. Plot wise, it's what I considered a typical Christian movie, about a young adult overwhelmed with complications in life and learning the answer is in Jesus. 

You probably are guessing the main character is named Josh. That's a good, logical, natural, and wrong guess. Neither is it the protagonist's Christian roommate. No, this is referring to the speaker at on-campus meetings that the roommate invites the protagonist to, named Josh McDowell, who plays himself.

My hunch is most of my readers recognized Josh's name. In the movie, Josh deals with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and deals with alternative views of what happened. This movie planted a seed on my interest in Christian apologetics. 

Most of the movies I've listed are available on Amazon. Sorry, not this one. However, it is up on YouTube if you want to take an hour and watch it. 

Allow me to add - "Thief In The Night" was a movie that almost made this list. That movie and others I've liked were produced by Mark IV (this one wasn't). One thing I like about Mark IV is that everybody doesn't come to Christ, just as in real life. In fact, sometimes the protagonist doesn't become a Christian.

 

PRE-OSCAR LOOK AT MOVIES THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON ME, PART 1 OF 12: MARY POPPINS

 

I saw one person in the film industry (maybe Spielberg? Don't remember for sure) comment you can learn a lot about people from their favorite movies. With Oscar's 2 weeks away, I thought I'd use that time to share 10 movies that made an impact on me. Some of these would be in my top 10 favorite list, others aren't far, but I'm focusing on those that I think had an influence on me.

So should I do it as a list of how I'd rank those ten movies either ascending or descending? Maybe alphabetic order? Well, considering that this is dealing with the impact it made on my life, I'll start in basic chronological order. There might be one or two that I might have goofed between two I saw in close proximity; hopefully that's forgiveable.

Thus, I'll start with Mary Poppins. This is the first movie I fell in love with. I also listened frequently to the soundtrack and albums that included Mary Poppins music. I was disappointed, because most did not have my favorite song from the movie: "Step In Time." However, it did not make it to me reading the books - I was just learning to read.

It influenced me both with the movie itself and the music, but I'd also call it the first "event movie." There are few movies that I'd put in that category: these are ones that I consider its viewing an event. Some of them I became familiar with the story before seeing the movie, such as Disney's "The Jungle Book," the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," or "Star Wars." 

Others are among the five I'd include as seeing on opening night. You might say "Star Wars" fit that category - I saw that on the second showing of its appearance at the Rialto Theater in Cottonwood. Of course, considering that movies didn't reach Cottonwood till the end of their run, this was after being part of the Christmas program at church in '77. I saw both "Hanky Panky" (starring Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner) and "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan" the night they both opened; I went with some friends to the theater and both Star Trek and "Rocky 3" were sold out, so we saw the other movie. Then, one of the guys who had friends at the theater got us in for the final showing of Star Trek that night. Also in this category was "Batman Forever" and on a lesser scale, "Prodigal Planet" (the final of the four part "Thief in the Night" series.

Without a doubt, though, the one that made the biggest impact on me was "Mary Poppins."