MOVIE REVIEW - CITIZEN KANE

 

I first learned of "Citizen Kane" in a high school class, "American Humor and the Aescetics of Film." Since then, I started watching it three different times, and probably never got a fourth of the way through it.

You've probably heard it referred to as the greatest film made. After watching it, I won't argue. Director/star Orson Welles did an excellent job with directing, using atypical film angles and good music. One other stroke of genius was having a cast of unknowns. 

I've hear someone say that a lot of people admire the movie but not many actually like it. I can agree with that sentiment. To me, this movie is a tragedy, and reminds me of Lawrence Olivier's "Hamlet." 

Sometimes, seeing an older film/actor reminds me of a more contemporary thespian. This was true here - I could picture Robert Downey Jr. pulling the role off. There are parallels between Kane and Tony Stark.

While not a movie I'll probably rewatch, I think the movie is an excellent telling of "What does it profit if a man gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?" One of the character said that he was Kane's only friend, or maybe not, which meant Kane had no friends. One of Kane's weaknesses was self-love.

If you want to see a great work of art, see this. It is worth watching. 

MOVIE REVIEW - THE 7 CHURCHES OF REVELATION: TIMES OF FIRE

 

 

A friend told me about this video as I was preparing a study on the 7 churches of Revelation. I definitely included this film in.

"The 7 Churches of Revelation: Times of Fire" does an excellent job in dealing with Patmos, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos. Christophe Hanauer does an excellent job going through these communities as well as interviewing several scholars. This documentary not only looks at the Biblical text, but the history of those communities both before and after.

You may notice that I only listed the first three churches and the isle of John's exile. That's right. If you want to look at the remaining four churches, you'll need to get volume 2, "The 7 Churches of Revelation: Times of Deception." I'll admit, I feel gypped, because "Times of Fire" did not mention it the first volume. 

This does not change that this is a great video to watch. It does an excellent job of pointing out the persecution of the church, and makes the point that things haven't changed. 

I highly recommend this video. You can go to their website, https://7churches.com, if you want more information on both films. I'm surprised it's not available on Amazon.

By the way, I'm posting this the night I'm starting to lead a study on Revelation.

MOVIE REVIEW: SAVING CHRISTMAS BY KIRK CAMERON

 

There is debate among Christians whether to celebrate Christmas (and Easter) and if so, which elements should be kept and which discarded. This movie attempts to defend many of the current trappings of Christmas as part of celebrating Christ's birth. Unfortunately, it could have been done better. It ignored several arguments by those who consider Christmas a pagan holiday, as well as being comfortable with our materialistic society.

Additionally, this video seemed to be made with a goal of how long it should be and left me feeling that scenes were longer than they needed to be to reach the target.

Kirk Cameron starts the video with some thoughts, including the importance of stories and how we often don't have real bad guys and tamer heroes. To be honest, I found it ironic because the story told is a Christmas Carol Lite. You have Christian as the nicer Scrooge who instead of being a miser is one who thinks money spent on Christmas can help the poor instead. Instead of three ghosts, you have three points of holiday tradition, where Christian learns something new.

I have my doubts the anti-Christmas Christians will buy the arguments. They probably will be glad to tell you their concerns which this film overlooked. Becky and I were both highly disappointed with it. It is rare I give a project less than 5 (out of 5) stars; this I gave a 3 star review to.

To be honest, I think I could do a better job, and will attempt to in a blog next week.