Of Royal Blood?

OK. It’s been out now over a week, and the pundits, prognosticators, experts, teachers, pastors, critics (professional and armchair alike) have spoken. I’ve even thrown my hat into the ring and said a few words about it. But, there’s something quite obvious about The Da Vinci Code that really hasn’t been spoken and I’d like to say it. It’s something that’s been hinted at and touched on by many, but not addressed directly (or at least in my findings.)

Many people have addressed the issue of Jesus and Mary Magdalene marrying. People correctly ask “If these two produced an offspring, what would that status of its divinity be?� ½ divine? How about the grandchildren? ¼ divine? And, what about their descendants today, such as Sophie Neveu?

Dan Brown and others call this “the Royal Bloodline.� But isn’t there something strange about that term? I mean, a major point of the book is to debunk the divinity of Christ. Great pains are taken to humanize him, domesticate him, and make him into a mere man.

Think about this: If He is not the King of Kings, or even the King of the Jews, what kind of King is he? What kind of Royal Bloodline can He and Mary Magdalene produce?

If He a mere man (and therefore didn’t rise from the dead, didn’t ascend into Heaven and is in fact full of hot air when He claims divinity), than His heirs are no more royal than yours or mine.

The whole premise of the Priory of Zion and the Knights Templar needing to protect Christ’s heirs through the centuries is inconsequential, irrelevant and certainly a waste of time and energy.

OK. If Christ had heirs, the Church might want to suppress and eradicate them, but still, could you honestly call them Royal? What is Christ King of? Where is His reign? Whom does He rule over? Why should anybody put any stock into what He says if He was a big, fat liar? If “the Church� inflated him to be a “God,� He’s still not Royal? What’s the big hullabaloo?

Like C.S. Lewis said, either Jesus is who he said he is or He is a liar, a fraud or a crazy man. Either he is King and Lord of all, or He is a nut job. If the Bible is true, He made no provision to merely consider Him a good teacher. If the Bible is doctored up by the Church to make Him better or more divine than He really was, He should be discarded. There is no wiggle room here. He and The Da Vinci Code demand a verdict.

"I thank God for this movie..."

Check out the anonymous letter I recently received regarding my review of the ½ hour movie MOST.

“I was Muslim and I accepted the Lord a little over a year ago. I saw this movie and it really got to me. I have purchased several copies and I just ordered another. I thank God for putting this movie out there and using it to win souls. I agree this movie is much better in my opinion than Narnia or The Passion.�

Isn’t that cool? That’s why I’m so excited about the potential of my movie A Boy And A Boat. Like Most, it’s based on a sermon illustration and it's meant to demonstrate the power and scope of Christ’s redemptive work he did for us all.

Will you please make a tax-deductible contribution towards floating A Boy and A Boat? If you have already written out your check and sent it in, thank you very much.

To whom do I make out my check?
Please write your check to American Film Renaissance and mark A BOY AND A BOAT in the memo section.

Where do I send my check?
American Film Renaissance (AFR)
16000 Bent Tree Forest Circle, Suite 734
Dallas, Texas 75248

American Film Renaissance will send you a receipt for your records.

What is the Mission of American Film Renaissance?

The American Film Renaissance (AFR), a non-profit, nonpartisan organization, was founded to promote films that reflect the timeless values that made America great, including freedom of religion, free enterprise, free speech, personal responsibility and rugged individualism. Since our formation in 2003, AFR has organized four successful film festivals. Our first event debuted in September 2004 in Dallas, Texas, and attracted more than 4,000 attendees. It was widely lauded as the first-ever film festival specifically created to promote American values, and enjoyed extensive coverage in the world press, including the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, ABC News, Fox News, CNN, the BBC, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and newspapers in Britain, Germany, India, South Africa, Denmark, Brazil, and elsewhere.

In addition to sponsoring events, AFR works closely with independent filmmakers whose projects reflect AFR’s values. AFR’s mission is to aid promising filmmakers by awarding grants, providing business and legal training, and by assisting filmmakers with the marketing of their films. AFR is a 501(c)3 organization and all donations are tax deductible.

Please help “Float the Boat.� Please send in a gift. But, most of all, please pray for all involved with A Boy and A Boat.

Over the Hedge

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (animated movies)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

What separates you from opportunity? What are you hungry for? What will fill that longing in your belly? Food? Thrills? Comfort? Or is it something more? RJ the Raccoon discovers the answers to all these questions in the new DreamWorks computer animated comedy OVER THE HEDGE.

RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis) is a down on his luck, loner raccoon who is just trying to survive. When an effort to snatch a snack from a vending machine fails, he sneaks into a bear cave and steals a red wagon full of human snack goodies. Vincent the bear (voiced by Nick Nolte) isn’t too happy about RJ’s intrusion and proceeds to make a snack out of RJ. In the tussle, the wagon rolls out onto a highway and gets hit by an RV, smashing all the food to smithereens. Vincent demands that RJ restore the entire food stash (including the wagon) within a week, or else no more RJ.

So, needing to score some quick food fast, RJ stumbles into a park where he meets a rag-tag group of critters including a tentative turtle named Verne (Gary Shandling), a father/daughter possum team (William Shatner/Avril Lavigne), a hyperactive squirrel (Steve Carell) a sassy skunk (Wanda Sykes) and a trio of porcupines. They all discover a great big hedge dividing them from home and who knows what. Luckily, RJ knows all about what is over the hedge and begins to illuminate the parkland gang on the wonders of suburbia.

RJ gives a great monologue on the suburbs being a veritable food factory, where the humans only live to eat. So, in slick fashion, RJ mobilizes his new friends into a strike force out to collect and gather human food. (Little do they know, RJ has plans to take it all and give it away to Vincent.) Despite lots of close calls, they are able to collect quite a bit of food, but not without one angry homeowner calling a pest control company on them to destroy them for good.

The ending climaxes in an airborne ride for RJ and Verne, a fight with a homeowner and the pest control worker, and a big bear brawl with one angry Vincent.

The greatest lesson RJ learns (as do we the audience) is that community is just as important to survival as food. In fact, given the opportunity to merely survive alone or live together in community, it’s always preferable to be with others.

You and I were made to live in community. In Christ, there is no such thing as a “long ranger.� We all need each other, not only for physical things (like giving each other food and services) but for spiritual things (like fellowship and mutual encouragement). Even before man was made, God lived in community with the Father, son and Holy Spirit mutually giving to one another.

Like the other DreamWorks animated movie SHREK and SHREK 2, OVER THE HEDGE has uniquely-realized, fun, sassy characters. (It is only slightly less irreverent than the SHREK movies.) A large part of the movie involves a sort of R-rated gangster movie sensibility, where heists, double crosses and death threats loom. However, unlike many nihilistic gangster movies, this movie resolves on a life affirming, positive note.

You don’t have to fear what is over the hedge. But, you don’t have to steal in order to get it either. In Christ, you can find all that you need: food, fellowship, fun, and family.

— Overview

Build the Boat

"As a national author I write stories from a faith perspective and have been blessed to see two of my novels turned into movies of the week for CBS Television. I would love to see A BOY AND A BOAT become a reality as I feel it would be a powerful tool to create dialogue among audience members about the deep and abiding love of Christ. A BOY AND A BOAT is a sweet yet moving story about the lengths a boy would go to save his creation. If a small boy would go to such great lengths, how far would our Savior go for us? This is a valuable story that deserves to be told."

Donna Van Liere,
NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author of
The Christmas Shoes & The Christmas Blessing

“As an associate producer of the movie MOST, I know firsthand how film can move an audience and help them process their faith. Jesus was a storyteller and I believe film can provoke questions and thoughts that will lead people towards a stronger or new understanding of Christ. I think A BOY AND A BOAT has the potential to do just that.

Artists have a cultural and spiritual platform that can effectively speak to this generation. I believe that artists such as Matt Kinne need the support of the body of Christ to do the work that they were called to do as storytellers and as cinematic translators of the Gospel. He has my full support.�

Elkin Garabedian
MOST, Associate Producer

Praise God! Our prayers have been answered. If you have been praying for us, I would like to thank you very much.

We are ready to “Build the Boat.�

American Film Renaissance (AFR) has graciously agreed to be our fiduciary conduit in our fund raising efforts towards building A BOY AND A BOAT. (Our budget for the 25-minute A BOY AND A BOAT is a very reasonable $30,000.) They are ready to receive tax-deductible donations that will be fully converted (100% - zero administration fees!) into a financial grant which will go towards the production and distribution of A BOY AND A BOAT. Read below to find out what AFR is all about.

AFR's mission is to spearhead a revival of timeless American values in film and to serve as a forum for voices and ideas often marginalized by the contemporary artistic community. We assist filmmakers in producing and distributing films that reflect the principles that made America great, such as free speech, free enterprise, rugged individualism, freedom of religion and triumph of the human spirit. AFR is a Texas non-profit corporation with a Board of Directors and a Board of Advisers. AFR is also recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations to AFR are tax-deductible.

To find out more about AFR, you can visit their website at http://www.afrfilmfestival.com/who.htm

What is A BOY AND A BOAT about? A whimsical tale of redemption, A BOY AND A BOAT is a 26-minute film about a boy who makes a toy tall ship, loses it down a river, looks for it everywhere, and later finds it for sale at a toy store. The toy store owner will only sell it back for $200.00. Since another boy is interested in the ship, the original boy/owner works all night long to the point of near death overcoming obstacles at every moment to buy back his beloved creation.

The script is written, and accomplished, proven production team is secured. The locations scouted, and a cast recruited. The shooting dates are blocked out. And, a national distributor is interested in taking a look at the finished product. The only resource needed to build our boat is financial.

So, now it’s time to roll up your sleeves. Now it is time to not only pray about A BOY AND A BOAT but it’s also time to take action. If you’d like to make a financial contribution towards A BOY AND A BOAT, please send in your tax deductible donation to:

American Film Renaissance
16000 Bent Tree Forest Circle, Suite 734
Dallas, Texas 75248

They will process it and give you a receipt.

If you would like me to send you a full proposal outlining the full scope of A BOY AND A BOAT, send me an e-mail at mattpaulkinne@yahoo.com, and I’ll e-mail you all the information.

We need to start pre-production the last week of July. We need to shoot by the end of August. There isn’t much time to collect the funds. Please send in your contribution today. Every bit helps. Please be one of our special crew who will launch A BOY AND A BOAT.

Thank you and God bless you. - Matt

POSEIDON

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Ships)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

“Oh, It was sad (oh it was sad)
Oh, It was sad (oh, it was sad)
It was sad when the great ship went down to the bottom of the sea
Husbands and wives, little children lost their lives
It was sad when the great ship went down.�
- From the popular camp song, “Titanic�

What do you do when your life is turned upside down? How do you keep your head above water? How do you surface from your troubles? You need help. You need grace. You need someone who can show you the way. And sometimes, you need someone who will sacrifice him or herself for your safety. I’m talking about the new movie POSEIDON, but I could just as easily be talking about your life when a crisis hits. We’ve all been there. We’ve all felt like we are drowning at times. And that is why these adventure/survival movies keep being made and why they keep resonating with audiences. They are perfect metaphors for our struggles here on earth.

The1972 THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, a B-movie classic, starred Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons and Shelly Winters. This one stars Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jacinda Barrett. Seconds after ringing in the New Year, a “rogue wave� upends the ocean liner POSEIDON, making anything not locked down into a projectile weapon, killing many and injuring countless others. One man, in this case Josh Lucas as Dylan Thomas, realizes the only way to even possibly surviving is to find his way to the hull (or bottom) of the ship and escape out the propeller shafts. Several others come along, despite the protests of the captain played by Andre Braugher. Together they swim, climb, avoid electrocution, evade fire, and otherwise scream and scare themselves out of harms way. A few die, most survive, while countless other nameless passengers face a watery tomb.

There are two major differences between the 2006 movie and the 1972 movie and they are qualitatively significant. Unlike the first version, the 2006 movie has no back-story or context. We don’t know where the ship is, where it is traveling. Secondly, we know little about the 2006 characters that are on this upward journey, and hence, we don’t care much about them as individuals. Hence, the story isn’t as rich or as powerful as the original. (Sequels. Sigh!) In fact, Gene Hackman played a priest with a faith crisis in the 1972 movie, a character with some real depth and intrigue.

Nevertheless, despite the shallow characterizations and the bigger explosions, the 2006 POSEIDON had one key scene that made it a perfect parallel to the saving power of Christ. The two weakest people in the upward traveling team, a hysterical stowaway woman and a child, combine their limited resources and save the rest of the team from death. The woman gives up her cross necklace and the boy uses it as a screwdriver to reach his little hands through a narrow hole to unscrew a hatch so others can crawl out of a duct, quickly filling with water. The least of these and the cross of Christ brought salvation to others. It was a scene to get my own water works flowing.

POSEIDON isn’t a good movie. It’s not original. Its characters are shallow. And, is falls back on special effects to “wow� us, like too many modern stinkers. But, it contains so many biblically rich parallels, its fun to discover them and to be surprised by the joy they bring. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it offers unexpected spiritual pleasures. Indeed, it takes a broken vessel to receive a blessing.

— Overview

So Mark the Con of Dan

I want to make a prediction on THE DA VINCI CODE box office return. Just like MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3, THE DA VINCI CODE will be the number one movie on its opening weekend. But, just like that movie, it will fall below expectations. While I want to see it, as do many other Christians, I think a large population of the church will not see it, at least opening weekend. A large part of the church population may see OVER THE HEDGE or some other movie instead, as sort of �othercott� to THE DA VINCI CODE. THE DA VINCI CODE will go on to be the big hit, but not as big as the studio wishes. We shall see....

United 93

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Airplanes)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

I usually like to start my reviews with some fun play on words, but that seemed entirely inappropriate for UNITED 93. It’s just too sobering, too serious, too important and too tragic a movie to inject any humor into the situation. Many people aren’t ready to see a depiction of what happened on 9/11/01. One critic said, “it’s the best movie this year that nobody will want to see.� I attended a 4:00pm Friday showing in a fairly small town and the theater was over half full. Perhaps that critic is wrong. Perhaps people do want to see what happened.

I wanted to see UNITED 93 for several reasons. One, I like the work of director Paul Greengrass and was impressed by his last effort, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. Two, I attended college with both UNITED 93 victim Todd Beamer, and his wife, Lisa Beamer, author of the popular and poignant Let’s Roll. While I can’t say we were good friends, I remember both their cheerful faces around campus, and I wanted to see how they depicted a fellow Wheaton alum and brother in Christ. Third, I wanted to remember what happen. I wanted to not forget.

Director Mel Gibson said a big reason why he created THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST was that he wanted people to remember and not forget what Christ endured for you and me. Indeed, whoever sees that movie will have images indelibly etched on their memory. Watching UNITED 93 was a little like watching THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. It’s all horror, all the time – and it’s real. It happened. It’s not a pleasant experience, and it invites you, along with the panicked passengers, to feel their pain. You ride right along side them and slowly realize that this situation isn’t going to get any better, only worse. It’s sickening really, but it was very, very profound.

We meet the passengers, crew, terrorists and air traffic controllers as the events of the morning of 9/11 slowly unfold. Greengrass constantly keeps the camera in motion, achieving a newsreel, cinema verté look that strongly complements the action on screen. We take a look inside the cabin and see the last phone calls to family and friends. We see the frustration of the air traffic controllers and the military as they feel confused and unsure of how to interpret the unthinkable events they see. We witness the take-over plan the passengers come to agree on, once they know the plane is on a suicide mission. And, we see their final retaliation on the terrorists, which has them storm inside the cockpit, but as history records, only too late. UNITED 93 is a window to what could have been, a plausible, but slightly flawed depiction of that doomed flight.

Unfortunately, two aspects of the depiction of my classmate Todd Beamer saddened me. First, his character swears a lot on the plane. Believe me, I’m no prude and if I was getting hijacked by terrorists who wanted to kill me, I’d probably swear a lot too, but we saw many other characters on the plane who didn’t swear much if at all. And knowing Todd’s great Christian character, I think he’d leave the lion’s share of swearing to someone else. Secondly, his wife took great pains to write in her book that it was her husband Todd who said the words “Let’s roll� on the plane, and Greengrass puts these words in another actor’s mouth – another young man actor who looks somewhat like Todd but isn’t the Todd Beamer character. Anyway, I may nitpick, but I wonder what Lisa Beamer thinks about these things.

Some conservative and Christian film critics are unhappy that the film isn’t more patriotic. I think they are wrong. First, at the start of the movie, Greengrass shows a billboard that reads “God bless America� as if to say from the get-go, this movie is for our side, our home turf. Secondly, he lets the facts speak for themselves. We see Muslim terrorists pray. We see Christians recite the Lord’s Prayer. We see a cross section of America in the cross hairs of evil and nobody wins. We, if we see it in a movie theater, get to sit amongst fellow Americans and collectively share our grief. The movie does honor the dead, and so it honors America. Afterwards (and during the movie), I cried, but I also felt like giving a fellow movie watcher (i.e. American) a hug because we lived through a very profound and life altering event together – this 9/11. Heck, I’d hug a non-American too if one was nearby and he’d let me because we’re all human and we all know pain.

I have a slight fear that this movie may stir up anti-Islamic feelings amongst its viewers but those who thought THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST would stir up anti-Semitism were wrong. After all, sin is no respecter of race or nationality. We’re all on this planet together, and we are all made in the image of God. And, those who follow Christ are called to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. I pray this movie compels all who watch it to love more, hate less, pray more, curse less, and look for opportunities to reach out to others, especially those who are still reeling from the pain of 9/11.

— Overview