R.V.

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

Don’t call it a comeback ... no, really, don’t. R.V. is the first Robin Williams vehicle since his “dark Robin” phase (Insomnia, Death to Smoochy, and One Hour Photo), but a continuing lack of a silver screen presence would be better than this footnote in his movie career. Robin Williams movies only come in a few flavors: dramatic (Good Will Hunting), manic (Mrs. Doubtfire), and depressive (movies he simply should have known better than to do, like Being Human). R.V. is a depressive movie masquerading as a manic one.

Bob Munro (Robin Williams) heads the Munro clan, a family too busy to spend time with each other. They even IM (instant message) each other for dinner. With family time running out due to the kids going to college, they decide to vacation - seeking rest, relaxation, recuperation, and rekindling (of their relationships). They rent an R.V., which they dub the “Big Ole Turd,” rather than go to Hawaii, under the pretenses of spending time together (since Bob is trying to get work done). They bond through a series of travails: themselves, raccoons, the desert, the wacky R.V. community.

Was there a void left in the cinematic universe when the Chevy Chase Vacation series ended that I was now aware of? Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty, Men in Black), R.V. comes from an impressive comedy pedigree. Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) plays the dutiful wife and Will Arnett (from the late and much lamented sitcom gem, Arrested Development) plays his boss, but if you look closely, you can see the strains of desperation in their performances. Williams’ antics try to cover a weak script, but not even Houdini could distract from the belabored and repetitive sequences. For example, I didn’t know whether to be offended by the teen white suburban caricature adopting hip hop culture or feel sorry for the performer - sadly, one thing I didn’t do was laugh.

“We ain’t everyone’s cup of sunshine.” – Travis Gornicke (Jeff Daniels)


The Munros, more often than not, arere victims of their own unfriendliness. Technology has allowed them to isolate themselves even from one another. From laptops to Blackberrys to iPods, they don’t have to do anything with one another.

We say we want community, but we don’t really. We want that close circle of connection where one experiences a deep sense of belonging, acceptance, and love. That’s the lure of community, but we don’t want to do what it takes to achieve it. This myth of self-sufficient image may work for some, but we were not created to be islands of solitude. We’re born for relationships–be they family, friendships, or colleagues–and that is what shapes us (in fact, the absence of relationships also forms us). Learning community is a discipline. One of the toughest things within community is to learn the rhythm of other people. Doing stuff together, living life with one another, risks the chance of getting on one another’s nerves. People are messy, they have moods, they have quirks. We don’t always fit comfortably one with another, but that’s the price we pay to have what truly matters in life. A conclusion Bob Munro reaches when he proclaims “What you think about me is the most important thing in the world.”

Often crude (there is a near vomit inducing sewage disposal sequence), R.V. can’t decide what sort of movie it is: wacky family comedy or non-stop facile slapstick. So either you’ll find it pleasant, heart-warming, goofy fun, or you’ll be getting out of the way of a “big ole turd coming through.” It doesn't commit to either, nor build toward anything, so ridiculous, corny, and silly, with too few laughs, describes them both. Either way, go to this one with low expectations.

— Overview

ATL

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

Talk about a movie trying to be all things to all people: the problem with ATL boils down to the fact that I’m not sure what kind of movie it wanted to be. The story by Antwone Fisher (yes, that Antwone Fisher) comes off as a “Roll Bounce in the Hood.” As is so often the case, a voice over is the first sign of lazy story-telling. It’s a slice of life character study filled with a host of characters–like people you know from the neighborhood. It is a rite of passage movie, an examination of manhood and what it means to be a man that also looks at the responsibility and obligations of family. In other words, in trying to do too much, it does too little.

T.I. (playing Rashad) carries the movie on his dour yet charismatic shoulders, a performance easily on par with 50 Cent (Get Rich or Die Tryin’). Rashad works part time, saving money in order to look out for his younger brother Ant (Evan Ross) after the death of their parents; raising him despite sharing a roof with their Uncle George (Mykelti Williamson). In their free time, they are a part of a skate crew, The Ones, while trying to figure out how to take the next step in their journey to manhood.

“Dreaming is the luxury of children and you should enjoy it.” Rashad’s Pop

ATL is about growing up and all of its inherent pitfalls. In the setting of Atlanta, pitfalls include falling in love and the lure of the streets and the fast money of the drug life. But mostly, the movie is about finding community and a place of belonging. Whether it be found in skate crews, clown posses, gangs, family, or even church, we all have a need to find community. We were created as relational beings, and despite the myth of independence and self-sufficiently, we need to connect with others.

When institutions like family or church fail to do what they were created for other, unexpected communities spring up in their place: gangs, skate crews, etc. Communities that make a sense of belonging a priority because they know that finding a place is the first step in figuring out who we are..

C.S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, once said that "we are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." The pursuit of keeping it real is a laudable one; the problem lies in what we call real. For New New (Lauren London), real means ghetto.

Ghetto life is a reality -- a cauldron of pain, anger, poverty, and injustice. Our culture too often reflects the self-hatred that comes from living a nihilistic existence. It’s bad enough that the “real hip hop” brand of blackness is marketed to death to our youth, with the “bling-bling” mentality fomenting a sense of entitlement through our music and culture. ATL is directed by hip hop video director Chris Robinson, and another hip hop artist, Big Boi, stars alongside T.I. The pursuit of money, the trappings of wealth, and “making it” are themes that point to a greater identity problem.

“I can’t be a man for you. You have to figure out the best way to do that for yourself.” –Rashad

From “females to friends to funerals” Uncle George wants Rashad and Ant to be able to recognize what’s real so that they “don’t look back on life with a bunch of regrets.” And that’s where many of us find ourselves: examining our lives trying to figure out what is true and what is false. Like each member of The Ones, we’ve constructed a false self, where we are defined by what we do, by what we have, and by what people think about us. We believe this lie and try to fix it ourselves, essentially creating a self-salvation scheme as we try to re-create ourselves. “I am not”–a man, for example–but “I can be if”I have the right rims, the right car, the right kind of money, the right bling, the right girl, go to the right school, get the right job.

“Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” –John Garnett (Keith David)

For me, finding true self involves finding my identity in Christ. It means realizing what He’s done and made in me; my gifts and talents tied to Him and coming from Him.

ATL is often a wildly uneven movie; its tone veers between Friday and Menace II Society. But it has a nostalgic feel to it, along with an aimlessness about it, as it does a lot of surface exploration of many themes. Yes, you know these characters from around the way, but you like them. The movie pulses with warmth and heart, however, thus making it truly ghetto-fabulous.

— Overview

Take the Lead

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

From the trailers alone, you learn everything you need to know about Take the Lead. It’s Dangerous Minds meets Save the Last Dance. With every plot point shown in those commercials, save yourself the trouble of sitting through another 'going-through-the-motions' film.

Based on a true story, Take the Lead is meant to be part inspiration and part fable. I suppose what rubbed me the wrong way was how the movie treated social issues with a near cavalier lip service. But I digress.

The situation is familiar. A group of students come under the wing of an inspiring teacher who garners their devotion with creativity and passion. In the process, he wins their respect and teaches them about life.

When Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) blows into the lives of a motley bunch of students in a detention system minus resources, we’re not sure of his motives. But he seems mainly interested in spreading his love of dance and manners.

I almost called Take the Lead “Footloose with Negroes,” but I'm experiencing fatigue for the “Negroes for Dummies” sentiment that can accompany movies like this. This movie tries to do too much: explore the tensions of race and class; provide social studies into the home lives of the students; and examine the inner city street life. Unfortunately, it starts with caricatures instead of real people. And there are many disparate threads that don’t come together in a cohesive whole. It even lacks the passion and the heart of the documentary Rize.

“Maybe I’m not made to dance.”
“Do you like dancing?”
“Yes.”
“Then you were made to dance.”
–Caitlynn (Lauren Collins) and Mr. Dulaine

Just like in my Rize review, this movie makes spiritual connections for me because of the natural connection between worship, dance, and spirit. The word 'perichoresis' describes God as Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) and has the same root from which we get the idea of choreography; here it is used to describe the Trinity as a divine dance, showing each person of the Trinity in movement together.

God created us to dance, to move our lives in His rhythm. Sin moves us out of that rhythm and into our own rhythm, so much so that our lives become all about our individual dance. We need to hear His dance and move with Him. In so doing, we honor each other, create space for Him, and follow His lead.

“Dance is like life.” –Pierre Dulaine

The Christ figure in this movie, Dulaine, carries his message of liberation—that escape and freedom can be found in dance—from his world to another. He's all about this calling and purpose. Beginning with his own (the wealthy elite), he moves on to another group (the students) when his own prove inadequate hearers. The outcasts, the lowly students—these are the ones he adopts as disciples.

As he takes his message to their world, the inevitable clash occurrs. Like any other starting conversation, he has to contextualize his message to their culture. In casting the vision, Dulaine provides hope; it's up to the students to decide whether or not to buy into it. But in accepting it, they learn respect, dignity, and self-worth. His message builds bridges between two cultures until they are “like two songs working together.”

Dulaine’s students start with broken rhythms. Each dances to their own beat, moving ever further from the rhythm of life. In learning then how to truly dance, they meld their dance to a greater one. They find life’s rhythm and move in accordance with it.

“All I see are choices. Choices waiting to be
made.” –Dulaine

We were all made to dance.

In the discipline of dance, there is power, grace, elegance, and beauty. There is sensuality, also. We were created with bodies meant to feel and enjoy creation. We have to discipline ourselves to learn to be comfortable in our bodies. Often we buy into the idea that our bodies are bad, that they're havens of unbridled lust or the total of our identity. Our culture makes us feel uncomfortable in our own bodies; we feel self-conscious and unable to live up to its ideas of beauty. Dance helps us learn how to live in our bodies in a physical and real way. We learn from it the discipline of movement, how to move in community with one another, how to celebrate the vitality of our bodies, and the truth that our bodies are capable of much beauty.

The themes and images in Take the Lead have been seen in many films. It hits every cliche and does nothing new with the subject matter. It lacks the magic spark that moves a film from earnest message to good story. With Take the Lead, you'll have to be satisfied with its earnestness, though you can’t help but leave with a greater appreciation for dance.

— Overview

Slither

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

“This shit’s about as far from God as shit can get.”
–Mayor Jack MacReady (Gregg Henry)

Sorry to start you off with that blast, but it pretty much sets the tone for this movie, or at least how many folks are going to react to a review of it. Let me preface this review by stating that I can’t believe that I found the Gospel message in this movie. A mix of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Evil Dead movies, and any of a number of zombie movies, Slither covers some well-worn territory, yet stands poised to become a cult hit. With a mix of effective action and gross out titillation, it wasn’t a bad little movie.

Reminiscent of Troma films (convenient, since director James Gunn is a Troma alum), Lovecraftian monsters (well, those of the squiddy variety), and hentai comics (let’s just say the movie is filled with phallic imagery), the movie ostensibly sets its plot against the backdrop of Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest. Posing the existentialist issue of how man would handle a challenge to his dominion and place in the created order, enter the extraterrestrial slug creatures (because pods are so passe). With these bloated slugs using people as “skin cars,” our intrepid band of heroes—Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks, 40 Year Old Virgin) and Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion, Serenity, aptly filling the Bruce Campbell role in the movie)—manage to stay one step ahead of extraterrestrial slugs going down their throats and all manner of spewed goo. All choreographed with an enthusiastic zeal.

Like many old-school horror films, Slither seems to have a moral core at its center. Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), the possessive husband tempted by the possibility of adultery, is the first to encounter the alien and is punished by becoming its primary host. Brenda (Brenda James), the temptress, is punished by becoming the breeder of the alien host. Much of the plot, in turn, revolves around the credo “marriage is a sacred bond.” (As an aside, when I saw Hellraiser II, I remember thinking that while I may not ask much of a potential spouse, having skin is one of the requirements. When watching Slither, I couldn’t help but think that my spouse being turned into a blob-like creature with tentacles has to be a reasonable ground for divorce.)

Slither, while not specifically using zombies, does make use of the imagery of the zombie trope (eating raw meat instead of brains). These creatures portray a resurrection to walking death. They are the living dead, with no hope, only the eternal existence in a “body of death” (Romans 7:24). They are particular reminders that there are worse things than death. Which leads me to the question of how the Gospel is found in this movie.

“How can you blame someone for acting according to their own nature?”
–Grant Grant

Let’s start at the beginning. Grant Grant is the first man—the Adam, if you will—introducing the worms to humanity. Through Grant comes death. In this way, the worms are like the nature of sin, an infection that spreads and grows almost like a conscious disease. Because of the introduction of sin, the created order is disrupted; neither humanity (once infected with sin) nor creation are as they are meant to be. There is disharmony between each person and themselves (their bodies are not their own, not doing what they know to be right), disharmony between each person with each other person, disharmony between humanity and creation (even the animals are different), and ultimately, disharmony between them and God (symbolized as even the clergy of the day are infected). The center of the conscience, this sin that has lead to a cycle of death and depravity, has to be crushed.

“Jesus saves.”
–sign reflected during the film

Enter Bill, as a Christ figure (the second Adam in theological language). Through Bill comes life, but that life is purchased at a cost. Bill has to absorb the infection into himself, his side literally pierced for humanity’s sake. By taking the infection onto himself, he ultimately is able to triumph over it. Bill frees everyone from the tyranny of the worms. How does Christ save? He cleanses the infection of sin and by proxy, reorders creation and brings man back to unity with God. That work is done, it’s only a matter of whether humanity chooses to see it.

Look, I’m not going to lie to you: Slither isn’t for everyone. This movie is often gross, violent, and has dark sensibilities about it. There are no surprises here—you know from the trailers/commercials what kind of movie this is. Once you get into the over-the-top spirit of the movie... well, scratch that—you have to get into the spirit of the movie to enjoy it.

Slither is a B-movie thrill ride that doesn’t aim to be anything more than that. The movie works because it doesn’t take itself seriously, enjoys itself, and is darkly comic. It’s infectious that way.

— Overview