United 93

Where were you on September 11, 2001? Where were you when the world changed? As you watch United 93, the memories of that day will return in a flood of raw emotion that will make it seem like the unthinkable happened yesterday, and perhaps that’s why it’s important that this film was made, because we should never forget what happened that day.

There has been a lot of debate ever since United 93 and the other 9/11 movie coming out this year, World Trade Center, were announced. The question is; are we ready to see these events depicted on film? United 93 will not answer that question. In fact, United 93 really doesn’t answer any questions, or make any statements; it just is. This is a film that simply, concisely, and realistically documents the events that took place during one of the most tragic moments in our nation’s history. There are no major Hollywood stars to distract us. No huge special effects to wow us. No love interests to woo us. Just the story of what happened to about forty people who saw an average day inexplicably become their last. This is the beauty of United 93. You are not watching a movie, you are watching history. The film is shot so authentically thourgh the use of handheld cameras and a documentary style of apporach that the viewer becomes a fly on the wall; an unseen observer who cannot alter history, no matter how much we would like to as we watch the events unfold. We are all familiar with what happened on September 11, 2001, so I will not bother recapping the plot of this film, all I will say is that this is probably as close as we’ll ever get to seeing and knowing what took place on the one plane that did not reach it’s target, and as you watch, you’ll feel like you’re living that day all over again. You also get to see some of the other details of that day that may not have been as well known; the process of putting together what was happening, the military’s hampered effort to respond, and the air traffic controller who did their best to somehow avert disaster.

Part of what makes United 93 so difficult to watch, and part of why it works so well as a film, is that we know what is coming. As we watch the people on screen slowly begin to piece together the horrors that await them, we await with dread what we know is coming. The film’s pacing is perfect as the tension gradually mounts until it reaches a breaking point when the passengers of United flight 93 do what they knew had to be done. As you watch flight control officers, military officers and all the others who were involved that day try to figure out what’s going on, you want to shout out information to them, help them by reaching through what appears to be a portal into history in order to prevent the loss of life that occurred that day. But of course you can’t, for this is only a movie and not some sort of magic time portal, and you can only watch as the people on screen slowly come to realize what you already know. In many ways, that fact that we know what happened makes it that much harder to watch it unfold a second time.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment in the film is when the passengers of United 93 finally realize that they will perhaps not survive this day, and so they begin to call their loved ones to tell them one more time that they love them. As passenger after passenger makes their final call, some of them sharing their cell phones with those who don’t have one, it’s hard not to think of what it would be like if you had to make that call. I’m sure none of the people on United flight 93 ever imagined that when the door to their plane was closed and sealed they would never again leave that plane. It’s a powerful reminder to never take any day fore granted, to never forget to cherish those who are close to, and that we can never truly count on tomorrow. September 11, 2001 was just another day for everyone, until the unexpected altered that day forever.

The true brilliance of United 93 lies not is what it does, but in what it doesn’t do. It does not paint the terrorists as soulless villains, nor does it apologize for their actions. It does not assign blame for the slow response, the mistakes and the paralyzing inaction that took place that day. It does not politicize. It does not preach. It does not spiritualize. It does not dramatize (at least not in any sort of melodramatic, sweeping epic of an emotionally manipulative sort of). United 93 simply tells a story of what happened, and in doing seems to plead with us to never forget; exactly as it should. I, for one, will not forget. You may not want to ever see this film ever again, but you should see it.

Batman Beyond: Season 1

One of my favorite activities used to be coming home, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV to watch cartoons. Yes, after a hard day at work, I found it very relaxing to snuggle up with my wife every afternoon and watch my favorite hero in action. But this was a new version of my hero; a new vision that retained many of the core aspects that made his previous shows so successful while changing the formula enough to make it feel fresh and exciting. I’m talking of course about Batman, and in this particular case Batman Beyond. After receiving the first season set recently for my birthday, I was astounded by the reminder in the commentaries that this show is already almost ten years hold. Was it really that long ago that I was enjoying my favorite after work ritual? Apparently so, and thanks to the magic of DVD I can relive those halcyon days all over again.
Batman Beyond followed in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and The New Adventures of Batman and Superman, also known as Gotham Knights. The same excellent team of producers (Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, Glen Murakami, and Paul Dini) who put together those other shows and the successful Justice League shows were also behind Batman Beyond, which is immediately evident upon viewing any of these episodes. There’s a very nice continuity between this future version and the original Batman cartoon. Of course it helps that Kevin Conroy once again brings Bruce Wayne to life, but more importantly, the elements and spirit that made Batman: The Animated Series so enjoyable for fans is maintained in this future version of Batman. Better yet, the producers didn’t fall into the trap of updating all the old villains (with the notable exceptions of Mister Freeze in one of the best episodes in this set and of course the Joker in the Batman Beyond movie). Instead, they created all-new adversaries for Batman to face. Granted these new villains were cut from the same cloth as those of the classic Batman rogues gallery, but these new villains still provided a fresh yet familiar challenge for our young Batman. Will Friedle does an excellent job of voicing the new Batman, Terry McGinnis; a young, troubled high school student who falls into the Batman legacy by accident. While this new, younger Batman has some shades of Peter Parker in how he’s constantly trying to balance his social and school life with his super-hero alter ego, the stories are all pure Batman.
I think my favorite part of this new Batman series was the theme of redemption that ran through the show. Terry McGinnis is not a kid one would peg as a hero. Hot-headed and often in trouble, he comes from a difficult past that includes time spent in juvenile hall. It’s a past full of anger and mistakes that led him down the wrong path. As Terry says to Bruce, he’s the type of punk Bruce wouldn’t have wasted a second punch on back during his Batman days. But then he accidentally stumbles into the life of Bruce Wayne and the batcave, and suddenly Terry sees a chance to change all that. As Batman, he finds a chance to set right the things that he’s done wrong, to protect people and help those who can’t help themselves, to find meaning and perhaps redemption for his life. In many ways, that makes him the perfect successor for Bruce as The Batman. Bruce spent his entire life working for redemption, only to end up bitterly disappointed and alone; a destiny one can’t help but to wonder awaits Terry as well. The truth is, we’re all searching for redemption. We may not put on a suit and fight crime, but we all seek for ways to make things better, to somehow make-up or pay for things that we’ve done wrong. However, like Bruce we often find that our own efforts are merely frustrating, because no matter how much we do; it’s never enough. Enter the greatest hero the world has ever known; Jesus Christ. He accomplished for us what we could never do on our own. We no longer have to strive for redemption, we only have to accept it; and in doing so we can accomplish what The Batman never could, salvation both for ourselves and the people we help save.
Batman Beyond: Season One contains some excellent shows that not only have some pretty cool actions scenes, but they also retain the gravitas and drama of the original series. If anything, this show is much darker and more “adult� than the previous incarnations, which is rather ironic considering the WB approached the producers about the idea because they wanted a more “kid friendly� Batman show for their network. That’s just one of the few gems of information you glean from the few commentaries and interviews contained on this DVD set; which once again is one of the weaker aspects of the collection. As with the Superman and Batman sets, there are only a couple of commentaries and one main featurette. While there’s some interesting info contained here, it’s not nearly enough to satiate fans or to give insight on how such a unique take on the Dark Knight came about and eventually became so successful. I would say that we might be able to look forward to more details on future sets, but after the six previous sets of Batman and Superman contained about the same amount of scarce commentaries and interviews, I know better than to get my hopes up.
Overall, the transfer for this show looks pretty clean. Believe it or not, but they were still working with film back when this show was being made, so there are some signs of dirt and dust on the transfer. Still, the animation is solid, the colors (most of them dark) are vibrant, so there’s very little to complain about considering the age and source for the transfer of the show. The sound for the set is solid, but don’t expect any sort of THX demo track quality here (it is, after all, just a “kids� show.)
If you’re a fan of Batman or a fan of the original animated series, you owe it to yourself to check out Batman Beyond: Season One. It’s as good as any other Batman show or movie out there.

Tomb Raider: Legend - Impressions

I have never been an avid Tomb Raider fan. I tried parts of the first two games just to see what everyone was talking about, and although I had fun, I wasn’t super impressed. While it was fun to explore tombs filled with traps and whatnot ala Indiana Jones, the rest of the game play was fairly average. After that, I didn’t pay much attention to the franchise, and from what I’ve read it wasn’t really worthy of attention any way. After the debacle of the last game, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, it seemed the series was destined to disappear forever. What a difference a developer can make. Crystal Dynamics was given the reigns of the series in a last ditch attempt to revive the much derided franchise, and they’ve done a pretty good job. Looks like Lara Croft will be around for the next generation after all.
After playing the first three and half levels of Tomb Raider: Legend, I can tell you this much; the game is actually pretty fun, and as we all know that’s the most important thing to get right for any game. Crystal Dynamics has done an excellent job of recapturing what made Tomb Raider a cool game to play; exploration of vast, ancient ruins filled with traps and puzzles. Sprinkle in a little combat here and there and you’ve got a pretty decent game. Best of all, Lara isn’t restricted to that ancient grid system from all the other games. She moves fluidly and freely about the environments. It’s not exactly Prince of Tomb Raider, but it’s close and it feels right for this game. I will say however that I thought the physics were a little off. Everything feels a bit lighter than it should, especially during the motorcycle sequence. The bike just didn’t feel like it had any weight at all. When Lara does her leaps and jumps about the various cliffs and ledges, she seems to float a bit, which takes a little getting used to but by no means ruins the games. Once you get used to the fact that everything has a bit less weight than it should, you probably won’t even notice.
On the X-box, Tomb Raider looks pretty good. It’s not the prettiest game on the system, but it’s no slouch either. Lara is rendered in a decent amount of detail, although the enemies look a bit blah. The environments may not wow anyone graphically, but they still look good and have some nice lighting and bloom effects. There’s a decent amount of draw distance, and thus far I haven’t encountered any lag in the frame rate, although I’ve read that can be a minor problem. On the X-box 360, this game really shines. Everything is rendered beautifully and smoothly. If you really want to see the Tomb Raider: Legend in all its pristine, high definition glory, 360 is definitely the way to go.
The sound for the game is decent, although it seemed a bit muted on my admittedly un-state-of-the-art surround sound system. Most times I could barely hear what my colleagues were saying over Lara’s headset. Again, it was a bit distracting but once you get used to it you won’t really notice. The voice acting is solid, and the music blends in well to the background and does a decent job of adding to the intensity or drama of whatever is taking place on screen.
All in all I was fairly impressed with my first couple hours of the latest Tomb Raider game. The story, while a bit out there, seems fairly intriguing. It has something to do with the Arthur legend somehow, and I got the merest taste of some of the spiritual/magical aspects of the game towards the end of my first run, so I can’t really comment more on those elements until I play further. Of course most Tomb Raider games, like the Indiana Jones movies, have some sort of occultic/spiritual/magical elements to them, so I was taken by surprise when I came across them in this game. I think Tomb Raider fans will be very pleased with what Crystal Dynamics has done with this addition to the franchise, and gamers who enjoy a good adventure game like the Price of Persia series will also find a lot to enjoy here. Although the game doesn’t break any new ground, it fixes what was broken and improves on what worked to create a solid game that’s fun to play.

The Ten Commandments - Updated (2006)

The Ten Commandments. A film full of splendor, color, life, and excitement. It’s an epic telling of a classic tale that’s breath taking in its scope and spectacle…oh, wait, that was fifty years ago. This new version of The Ten Commandments that aired on ABC last night and again tonight is none of those things. In fact, I can think of exactly two words to describe this new made for TV version; drab and boring.
Now one of the major concerns a lot of people seemed to have about this new version of The Ten Commandments was how true to the Bible it would be. Well, it’s not any more or less faithful than the version made in 1956. Both versions take dramatic license with the story, just in different parts of the story. However, faithfulness to the scripture isn’t the primary concern here. I know that’s an odd statement to make, but there’s a bigger problem to worry about with this new version; is anyone going to want to watch it? The story of Moses is one of the most epic tales in all of history. It’s a story filled with amazing, astounding events that surround the compelling story of an ordinary man sent to do the impossible; take on one of the most powerful rulers in the world and get him to relinquish his power. Yet the version I watched last night didn’t even begin to compare to the true story of Moses; it was small, dull, underwhelming and boring. Here’s just a quick list of some of its shortcomings: The glory of Egypt wasn’t all that glorious. In fact, Egypt looked like a backwater desert village instead of one of the most powerful civilizations in the world (and is it just me, or did all the palace scenes with pharaoh look like they were filmed on the same set with rearranged furniture and slightly different camera angles to convince us they were in different rooms?) Moses moped about with hardly any emotion at all. Even his “Braveheart� speeches lacked any real power. Not that I’m suggesting that the portrayal of Moses needs to be one of a confident, heroic stud like the Charlton Heston version. I could buy a darker, more brooding version of Moses…if it was portrayed properly. Dark and brooding doesn’t mean lacking energy, intensity or emotion. Christian Bale perhaps demonstrated this best in the recent Batman Begins. The special effects were underwhelming at best, and the miraculous, devastating plagues that eventually brought Egypt to its knees were glossed over so quickly that one barely had any understanding of what was going on, or of why they were such a big deal. Pharaoh, for some reason, was a simpering weakling who wasn’t intimidating at all. I had a hard time buying that he was the imposing, powerful leader of one of the most glorious nations in the ancient world. Why Moses was worried about confronting him is a complete mystery. This list goes on, but I think you get the idea.
In every way possible, The Ten Commandments suffers from the Made-For-TV syndrome. It never feels epic. It never feels grand. It truly feels like a small budget, made for TV film. I find it incredible that a version of the same story that was made fifty years ago could be so superior, and yet it is. True the DeMille classic is overly-melodramatic and hammy at times, but it’s a bright, vibrant, engaging, epic full of pomp, splendor and spectacle that was most importantly, entertaining. Therein lays my main problem with this TV version. People already think the Bible is boring. Creating a movie version of one of the Bible’s most well-known stories that’s drab and boring only reinforces that which people already believe. It does a disservice to the Bible and to all whole believe in the Bible. A movie, any movie, needs to be entertaining if it is to succeed, but last night’s film was drudgery. If you can’t even entertain you target audience (which in this case I would assume would have to be Christians), you can’t expect anyone else to enjoy it either. The worst part is we still have whole two-hours to go tonight before we get to the end. If you want to learn about the story of Moses and the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, I suggest you actually read the Bible. Trust me; it’s much more exciting than what was on TV. However, if you truly want to see a version of The Ten Commandments, do yourself a favor; go rent the ’56 DeMille classic.

Well, last night The Ten Commandments came to an end on ABC, and I can’t say that the second half (or at least the hour of it that I actually watched) improved any on the first half. Things still plodded along as the Israelites trudged through the desert to the Promised Land. God still seemed to take the brunt of the blame for all the bad stuff that happened, and Moses seemed to get most of the credit for anything good that happened. Intense violence during a battle scene did little to up the emotion stakes, but probably seemed like a good idea to the producers, because hey, any time you include a battle scene with gratuitous violence and blood ala Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings, or Gladiator it’s obvious that your film is intense and takes itself seriously. Perhaps that’s the problem with this new version of The Ten Commandments; it’s takes itself so seriously that it never realizes just how boring it really is. The Bible says the word of God is living and active, but I failed to see any life in The Ten Commandments. It will forever be a mystery to me how the stories of the Bible, some of the most epic, amazing, intense, dramatic, funny, adventurous stories ever told could be so notoriously difficult to properly display on screen.

Invisible Children

As the sun sets, fear rises. Fear of being abducted. Fear of losing friends and family. Fear of being forced to kill. Fear of innocence lost, and childhood taken away. These are the fears of the children in Northern Uganda, and it drives them nightly to leave their homes, go to a town, and sleep wherever they can find room in large groups… for protection from their fears. These are Invisible Children, whose plight and story went unseen by the world until three students from Southern California happened upon it.

Invisible Children is a documentary made by Jason Russel, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole, all three of whom are from Southern California. In 2003, they decided that they would travel to the Sudan to document the civil war that was taking place there. Once they arrived, however, they had trouble finding anything worth documenting other than snakes and their own sickness. Discouraged, they decided to travel to some refugee camps that had been set up in Northern Uganda. It was during this side-trip when they discovered the story of children who would travel into town each night to sleep in large groups. Thousand of kids, with nary an adult in sight, packed together in conditions we here in American wouldn’t wish on our pets, let alone our kids. It was a horrifying, confounding image, and so the three friends begin to digger deeper into the story of these Invisible Children.

There is no denying that the story of this short (55 min.) documentary is a powerful one, but first I want to talk about it just as a film. It’s obvious that this was the first attempt by these young filmmakers to create a documentary film. The first quarter of the film demonstrates this best. While it’s nice to meet the makers of the film, and it’s good to get to know a little about them, for the most part the beginning of the film feels a bit over-indulgent. Shaving even five or six minutes off of this portion would have helped quite a bit. Now that isn’t to say that this portion of the film is bad; it is in fact necessary. The tone is so radically different from the later part of Invisible Children that it shows just how much these people were changed during the course of film. However, choices such as using music from The Lord of the Rings (a bit jarring and distracting) and showing themselves throwing-up repeatedly take a bit too long. After this section is over, we hardly see the creators of this film anymore, which again shows just how much they were changed and their focus changed during the course of their adventure.

Once the story moves on to the events of Northern Uganda, Invisible Children becomes one of the most affecting and powerful documentaries I’ve seen in a while. It does a good job of explaining the situation and why these children sleep in huddled masses. The images used to go along with what is talked about are hard to forget, and help the viewer further grasp just how dire the situation is. One problem with this later section of the film is that it’s almost too much information. We get the entire history of the civil war, the stories of several individual children, stories of those who survived being abducted, and the story of what takes place each night as the children travel to town to sleep. That’s a lot of information to cover in the forty-minutes or so it has of screen time, but it’s handled well for the most part. You will definitely have a better understanding of what is taking place after seeing this film, which is certainly a success for those who made it.

Perhaps the best part of Invisible Children is the fact that it isn’t a film that shows comfortable westerners how good they have it just for the sake of making them uncomfortable; it compels the viewer to do something about what is going on. It is perhaps not professional to become involved in one’s subject matter, to develop an emotional attachment to that which you are objectively documenting, but in this case it couldn’t be helped. During one of the most powerful scenes, a young boy talks about his brother who was killed by the rebels and he begins to cry.

Now the children of Uganda never cry, because if the rebels who abduct these children see them crying, they believe that they must be thinking of home, and so they kill them. To see this young boy finally begin crying, weeping for the loss of his brother is both shocking and moving. As he cries, you can hear one of the film makers try to comfort him and eventually start crying as well.

It’s at this point that you realize what the filmmakers realized; Invisible Children had to be more than just film, something had to be done. Jesus said that if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones they will not lose their reward, a mandate that seems to echo in the hearts of the creators of Invisible Children. This story has become their mission. They have returned to Uganda to document more of what has taken place and hope to make a feature length film to show in theatres sometime in 2007. They have created a movement that is traveling across the country trying to raise awareness of the horrible tragedy that is taking place in Uganda. They are organizing The Global Night Commute, a night when people across America will travel to central locations in cities all over to sleep in the streets as the children of Uganda do; and once you see Invisible Children, I think that you too will be moved to do something; whatever your time and talents may be.

Invisible Children may not be a perfect film, but it is a moving one. It will move you emotionally, and it will move you to action. There are horrible atrocities taking place all over the world, and we would feel much more comfortable not to know about them—if they remained invisible. However, there is hope if we are willing not to ignore that which is ugly, but instead are willing to confront it. The children of Northern Uganda have hope now that three friends who were looking for something to film happened to stumble across their story, and are now working tirelessly to do something about it. Darkness can be oppressive and massive and intimidating, but all it takes is one small light to banish that darkness. Are you willing to be that light, or will you remain invisible when the world needs you most?

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help the children of Uganda, or about the upcoming Global Night Commute, please visit www.invisiblechildren.com.