Film Comment: This Is the End

Collect up at least one hundred film actors, singers, and entertainers at a wild drug and alcohol fueled party, then start the end of the world, complete with giant monsters and demons. The Earth cracks open and people fall into a burning Hell. Have the actors portray themselves, thrown into this situation.

This Is the End (2013) has a cast filled with big name celebrities: Jamez franco, Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Dany McBride, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, The Backstreet Boys, and many others.

When the trouble starts everyone runs outside as the world begins to burn and explode around them.  Too dumb, selfish, cowardly, drug-addled, gluttonous, etc. to “escape” some do not even notice the disturbance.  But they soon will. The six main protagonists run back into the “safety” of the house.

The guys tell themselves they will survive because they are “good people,” but they realize that they are not.  The film does not show any of these people in a good light.  They all realize that they are damned.

The film, a comedy with some undeniably hilarious moments, features violence, gore, impalement, decapitation, penis jokes, nudity, profanity, cannibalism,  homosexuality, demons, intentional blasphemy, obscenities, betrayal, alcohol and drug abuse, self-righteousness, taking God’s name in vain, urination, vomit, obscene gestures, discussion of intent to rape in the presence of the intended victim, masturbation, demonic possession, prayer for the death of another person, sexual slavery, cowardice, self preservation at the expense of other’s lives.  Did I forget anything?

The supposedly ”happy” messages of the film are:

1.     Self-sacrifice confers instant entry into Heaven.

2.     In Heaven, we become angels.

3.     In Heaven, you can have anything you want, even a dooble.

4.     There is no need to be a “Christian” to enter into Heaven.

5.     Heaven is just another wild party.

6.     The Rapture looks like an alien abduction with a beam of light pulling the person up into the sky.

This highly offensive film intends to offend in every way imaginable, showing a contempt or disregard for any conventional understanding of propriety or morality.  It made me wonder.  The actors, portraying themselves, know that they are damned.

In the film, they are facing evidence which, at the very least, proves that God and the supernatural are real.

These are extremely talented, supposedly very intelligent comedians who have gone out of their way to intentionally offend nearly everything related to Christianity and the End Times.  Should not this film prod these actors into actually thinking about their real-life situations?

To some, or most of the actors, I am sure that this was all just a big joke.  Perhaps they are like many people and do not believe anything at all.  Post-modern moral and intellectual relativism at its logical conclusion.

…………………………………………

This is an end of the world film where the Earth is not merely damaged, but is actually destroyed.  Two other prominent films of this type are When Worlds Collide (1951), which depicts the chaos which erupts when a planet the size of Earth is on a collision course with our planet.  The other is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), a surprisingly tender and bittersweet love story.  Either of these two films would be an infinitely better use of your two hours than This Is the End.

Film Comment: Catch That Kid

Be very careful to screen the movies you let your children watch.  Just because a film is labeled as a “children’s movie” does not mean it is actually a fit film for them to see.  Children do ingest the ideas and worldviews of the things to which they are regularly exposed.  Just think of how quickly they pick up and begin to use “bad words” from adults.

Catch That Kid (2004) is a remake of the 2002 Danish film, Catch That Girl , and is an almost scene to scene copy of the original film.  Both are billed as “kid-friendly” thrillers.

Catch That Kid stars Kristen Stewart (b. 1990, California, USA) who was thirteen at the time the film was made.  Stewart is best known for her role as the young daughter in Panic Room (2002) and in the Twilight Saga films, as Bella Swan, a human teenager who falls in love with a vampire who was born in 1901 and made into a vampire in 1918.

The plot of Catch That Kid is actually quite simple.  Thirteen year-old Maddy (short for Madeline) is a talented young rock climber whose father suddenly needs a terribly expensive experimental surgery  for which the family has no resources.  She recruits two thirteen year-old eighth-grade boys (both of whom love her, of course) to help her rob an impregnable bank using their computer and mechanical skills.  The plot is thickened because Maddy must also babysit for her one year old brother on the night of the robbery.

The movie is touted as a fun “kid-friendly thriller” and it does have thrills and suspense.  It also has plot holes, logical inconsistencies, silly slapstick level humor, and glosses over or skips entirely legal consequences which would be caused by the events depicted.  It also contains a science fiction element with technology not yet available and especially not available in 2003.   What this all means is that the events in this film could not actually happen.  The children would have been captured, injured, or possibly killed.

Several of the reasons why this film is inappropriate for children include:

1.     Number one, the children rob a bank, committing a major crime.  One of the boys opines, “I wonder if we can finish the eighth grade in prison.”

2.     The children engage in mild profanity.

3.     The children lie to adults to manipulate them and obviously enjoy doing so.

4.     Maddy manipulates a bank executive to steal his access codes.  In doing so, she commits theft of intellectual property.

5.     Maddy lies to both of the boys to get them to help her.  She tells each of the boys that she loves him, manipulating his emotions.

6.     Maddy has to babysit her one year old brother on the night of the heist.  Since she cannot just leave him at the house, she takes him along on the robbery, thereby exposing an infant to great danger.

7.     Maddy’s mother lies to keep the three twelve year olds out of trouble.

The film seems to teach children that, as long as everything works out well in the end, it is acceptable and even smart to lie or to steal or to endanger an innocent.  What you want is more important than what is right.  The glorification of the self, the essence of this fallen world, the essence of sin.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Alexander Britton Hume: (b. 1943, Washington, D.C. (USA); aka: Brit Hume) Television journalist, political commentator. Episcopalian.

Nagesh: (b. 1933, India – d. 2009;aka: Nageswaran  C. Krishna Gundu Rao), a Tamil film actor and comedian who appeared in over 1000 films.  He was called “the Jerry Lewis of India.”  He was shunned by his family for his conversion.

Regina Rao: Wife of “Nagesh” (Nageswaran  C. Krishna Gundu Rao), a Tamil film actor and comedian who appeared in over 1000 films

Samuel Fosu-Mensah: Muslim convert to Christianity. University professor, Christian missionary. He prepared a verse by verse Christian commentary on the Quran.

Pocahontas: (b. ca 1595, Virginia (USA) – d. 1617, England; aka: Matoaka, Matoika, Matoax, Amonute, Rebecca Rolfe)  “Pocahontas” (“little wanton” in the Powhatan language) was the childhood nickname of Matoaka, the daughter of Wahunsunacawh (ca 1545- ca 1618), a Powhatan chief.  The Pocahontas legend is that at the age of ten she saved the life of John Smith who was about to be executed by her father.  As an adult, Pocahontas took the name of Rebecca and married John Rolfe.  Her descendents include Edith Wilson (wife of US President Woodrow Wilson), Admiral Richard Byrd, State of Virginia Governor Harry Byrd, First Lady Nancy Reagan, actor Glenn Strane, and the Randolph family of Virginia.  

Acceptance

This video seems to have been removed from YouTube as of 28 May 2026.

___________________________________________________________________

A humorous Christian film short that actually carries an important message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChuJ8URx2EU&feature=related

 

Controversial New Mel Gibson Film

Actor-director-film producer Mel Gibson (born 1956 in New York as Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson) has become quite controversial in the last few years.  He recently added to the controversy when he announced his plans to produce, and possibly star in, a film based on the life of Judas Maccabeus.

Judah the Hammer)

יהודה המכבי

Judas (aka: Judah Maccabee, Y'hudhah HamMakabi, Judah the Hammer) was born in Modiin, Judea (now Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, 35 km (22 miles) southeast of Tel Aviv and 30 km (19 miles) west of Jerusalem).  He was a son of Mattathias, a Jewish priest who defied an edict by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes who had declared Jewish worship to be illegal.  Mattathius started a revolt and then died in 166 BC/BCE.  His son Judah assumed leadership of the revolt and became legendary for his military prowess.  His nickname, "the Hammer," probably refers to his use of rapid hammer-strike guerilla tactics in battle.  The Jewish feast of Hanukkah ("dedication") commemorate the day in 165 BC/BCE when Judah removed Antiochus' pagan statues from the temple in Jerusalem and restored Jewish worship.  


The Jewish Anti-Defamation League  has said, "As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better."


Why would the ADL be so upset?  Because Mel Gibson has been accused of adultery, alcoholism, racism, and anti-Semitism.  During his 2006 arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol he yelled racist and anti-Semitic remarks, loudly and repeatedly.


Gibson is a traditionalist Roman Catholic and is described as politically ultraconservative.  In my opinion, he is a man who truly believes in Roman Catholicism but who has failed to make his life match his beliefs.

Christ Figures in Films

On of the recurring images in film is that of the Christ Figure, a character who in some ways resembles Jesus Christ as he is depicted in the Bible.  This is often an entirely conscious technique used to create a "heroic" character or to create a character who seems "familiar."  The creators of the characters are quite often not Christians, but they use Christian symbolism.  Many are atheists or agnostics.  They use the religious symbolism for the emotional effect it will produce in their viewers.

The Christ Figure usually exhibits several of the characteristics associated with Jesus, though he is not always a hero.  Sometimes he is an antihero, even a villain.  Sometimes he is a woman.  Sometimes he is an animal.  Sometimes he is a machine.

The characteristics of the Christ Figure may include: mysterious or obscure beginnings, followers surround him,  he teaches, he redeems situations and people, he rights some sort of wrong, attempts are made on his life while he is a child, he is perceived as "normal" until his mission begins, he performs miracles, he confronts authority figures, he is seen as alien or as divine, blood is in some way involved, he questions his mission, he searches for his true identity, he is killed or punished by the authorities, he returns from death (or from banishment, a long absence, etc), he heals, he forgives, he is guided by his father or a father figure, and he (or his ideals) are triumphant in the end.  Not all filmic Christ Figures exhibit all of the these attributes and some film characters can be classified as Christ Figures only by a very elastic use of the term.  None of these characters are the real Christ; instead they are side flashes, faint after-images, flittering glitter, echoes, imitations, and sometimes, exact opposites, like photographic negatives.

Just a few of the characters who are universally recognized as film Christ Figures:
Uncle Tom, in Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927)
Freder Frederson, in Metropolis (1927)
Jean d'Arc, in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Sydney Carton, in A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Jim Casy, in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Bambi, in Bambi (1942)
Klaatu, in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Luke Jackson, in Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Ben, in Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Ben Richards, in The Immortal (1969)
Alex DeLarge, in A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Randle Patrick McMurphy, in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)
Claude, in Hair (1979)
E.T., in E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)
Kevin Flynn, in Tron (1982)
Mr. Spock, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Glenn, in The Next One (1984)
John Connor, in Terminator (1984)
Paul Muad 'Dib Atreides, in Dune (1984)
Alex Murphy/Robocop, in Robocop (1987)
Preston Tucker, in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
Virgil "Bud" Brigman, in The Abyss (1989)
Ellen Ripley, in Aliens 3 (1992)
Kenshiro, in Fist of the North Star (1995)
William Wallace, in Braveheart (1995)
Babe the Pig, in Babe (1995)
Thomas A. Anderson (Neo), in The Matrix (1999)
Frodo Baggins, in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003)
Nameless, in Hero (2002)
Joshua, in Joshua (2002)
T-800, in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ( 2003)
Peter Parker, in Spiderman 2 (2004)
Optimus Prime, in Transformers (2007)
Aslan the Lion, in The Chronicles of Narnia Series (2005,2008,2010)
Sam Flynn, in Tron: Legacy (2010)

A case can be made that Dexter Morgan, the serial killer of the 2006-2011 cable television series, Dexter, is an extremely (very, very extremely) twisted and dark form of the filmic tradition of the Christ Figure.  You do not need to have seen this series to know that there is nothing of the true Christ in Dexter Morgan.  He is better described as an Anti-Christ Figure.

The most overt instance of the Christ Figure in literature and film is Superman.  The character was created in 1932 by two Jewish men, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and sold to Detective Comics Incorporated (the modern DC Comics) in 1938.  Superman (born as the Kryptonian Kal-el) is of extraterrestrial origin and was sent to Earth by his father, Jor-el. "El" just happens to be the Hebrew word for "God."  At the end of a word, it means "of God." Kal-el means something like "voice of God."

The 2006 film, Superman Returns, is overt in its religious symbolism.  The film, Superman: The Movie , is even more explicit.  Superman's Kryptonian scientist father, Jor-el, declares, "Even though you've been raised as a human being you are not one of them ... They can be a great people, Kal-el; they wish to be.  They only lack the light to show them the way.  For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you, my only son."

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (b. 1870, Russia – d. 1924, aka: Vladimir Lenin) Attorney, Soviet dictator.  Lenin was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church.  As an adult, he promoted the atheism of his Communist political philosophy.  The name “Lenin” was a pseudonym from the Lena River in Siberia.

Lars von Trier: (b. 1956, Denmark) Controversial filmmaker, film director.  Raised as an atheist, he is now a Roman Catholic.

Johanna Maria Lind Goldschmidt: (b. 1820, Sweden – d. 1887, aka: Jenny Lind, “The Swedish Nightingale.”) Operatic soprano.  She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.  Lutheran.

Margrethe I of Denmark, Ruler of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark: (b. 1353, Denmark – d.1412; aka: Margaret I) Lutheran. 

Honore de Balzac (b. 1799, France – d. 1850) Novelist, playwright.  Roman Catholic.  

Film Comment: The Bad Seed

Maxwell Anderson's broadway play, The Bad Seed, has been filmed three times; the 1956 original, a 1963 version made in Turkey, and a made-for-television 1985 film.

The 1956 original looks like a staged play because it is directly based on the Broadway production and features the cast of the stage version.  This gives the film a very claustrophobic feel, a good thing in a classic horror film.

To her horror, a loving mother (Nancy Kelly) slowly comes to the ghastly realization that, Rhoda, her cute little eight year old daughter (Patty McCormack) is a cold-blooded psychopathic killer.  Though she loves her daughter and her daughter obviously loves and trusts her, she decides that the only way to stop the murders and to spare the little girl a life in detention, is to kill her child.

All the violence in this film is offscreen and we never see the aftermath of Rhoda's murders.  We only see her blonde pigtails and her cute smile.  This is evil masquerading as innocence.  The Bible describes Satan as beautiful (Isaiah 14:13,14, Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4).  If he were hideous or frightening we would run from him.  He masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
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Similarly themed films: Devil Times Five, Bloody Birthday, The Good Son, Bad Ronald, The Omen, The Children

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Andrew Stanton: (b. 1965, Massachusetts, USA) Film director, screenwriter, producer, voice actor. Two Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature) for Finding Nemo and Wall-E.

Vladislaus III Dracul: (b. 1431, Wallachia (Romania) – d. 1477; aka: Vlad Dracula; Vlad the Impaler; Vlad Tepes) Prince of the Romanian principality of Wallachia.  The family crest was a dragon hanging down from a cross.  In Latin “draco” means dragon, in Romanian it means “devil.”  Romanians and others in the region remember him as a Christian prince who repelled the Ottoman advance into Romania.  He was praised for this by Pope Pius II, who also criticized his methods.

When Ottoman envoys refused to remove their caps in his presence, he had their caps nailed to their heads and sent them back to their Sultan, Mehmet  II.  When mehmet II lead his forces to the outskirts of Tirgoviste, he saw “the Forest of the Impaled,” 20,000 Turkish prisoners impaled through their bodies on sharp poles sticking up out of the ground.  He signed his name as “Drakula” or “Drakulya.” To much of the world ,he is considered to have been brutal and sadistic and he is the real-life inspiration for the fictional vampire character, Count Dracula.  Roman Catholic.

http://www.bucovine.com/en/pages/vlad_tepes.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vlad_Tepes_002.jpg

Y-Ben Hok: In 2008, Y-Ben Hok, the pastor of a 132 member Ede tribe Christian congregation, was arrested in Vietnam and died in police custody.  The official report was that he committed suicide.

Johann von Staupnitz (b. ca. 1469, Saxony – d. 1524)  He was the vicar general of the Augustinian Order in Germany and a personal friend of the monk, Martin Luther.  He never became a Protestant and complained of the uproar the movement caused within the Roman Catholic Church.

Kim Shin-Jo: In 1968, North Korean Kim Shin-Jo was a member of a thirty-one person assassination squad sent into South Korea to kill President Park Chung-Hee.  Kim was the only one of the assassins to survive the attack.  North Korea executed his parents after he became a South Korean citizen in 1970 and converted to Christianity.  He eventually became the pastor at Sungrak Sambong Church in Gyeongg- do.

Just in Case

"I'm a non-believer, but I recently switched from atheist to agnostic ... just in case there is any truth to it.  I don't want to get on the Big Boss' bad side."  Daniel Stamm, German-born film director of The Last Exorcism (2010), his first horror film.

What They Think of Us: Klingons for Jesus

Klingons for Jesus (http://klingonsforjesus.50webs.com/ ) is a spoof website based on the savage, brutal, but noble alien race from the Star Trek series of television programs and feature films.  The Klingon culture is based on a military model in which promotions come primarily from killing your superior in hand-to-hand combat.
Some of the tenets of the Klingon Jesus Movement are:
1. "Jesus was tortured, Klingons like torture."
2. "We believe it is our duty to force others to believe as we do."
3. "You can be a mass murderer or serial killer as long as you accept Jesus."

Links from the site take the reader to other spoof sites:
Two Guys from Andromeda for Jesus
 Microsofties for Jesus
Landoveroids for Jesus
Lizardoids for Jesus
Orion Slave Girls for Jesus
Ferengi for Jesus

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