That's really random but I totally agree that they were innocent gowns.

So.

Last night, Dad, me, and my sis watched The Hobbit. yep, finally.

Random and Funny Musings
-Hearing my dad over and over go "I don't remember that from the book" or "Here comes ____" or "This is where ____"
-The fact that my sister stayed up through the whole thing, AND LIKED IT. (I'll explain the significance if you like)
-Hearing my sister's questions about lots of stuff, and her comments on Gollum.
-Having certain moments of sound/music/whatever scaring my sister's puppy (who was sitting in her lap). "It's okay, Liam." Sarah'd say to the pup. And then to Dad "I don't think he likes this part"
-Hearing/seeing Dad's shock when I told him there were two movies to come to finish the story. (He had thought the pace was dragging a bit. Just about half an hour in he goes "Wow, we're this far and we've only gotten to the dwarves' visit?") Oh, and tied in with that, Sarah's anguished wail of "So, I have to sit through SIX movies?!" (she promised a friend they'd watch The Hobbit and LOTR)

Thoughts
-The songs were SO pretty!!!!
-Wow, there was a lot of fighting

And... I forget what else I thought.

My older brother, one of my younger sisters, and I are currently in the middle of watching LOTR: TROTK the extended edition. I had hoped to watch more of it last night maybe even finish it, but certain parties, who are too young to watch or who don't want to watch it, didn't go to bed soon enough for us to even watch 45 minutes to an hour of it.

We still haven't watched The Hobbit part 1, maybe we can talk Dad into staying up and watching it tonight.

-Wow, there was a lot of fighting

That should make my brother happy.

SnowAngel

-Wow, there was a lot of fighting

That should make my brother happy.

SnowAngel

lol, sitting with my young friend watching it for my 2nd time, about halfway through the film I quitely said, "Wow, I never realized how many decapitations there are in this film!"
(I was thinking back to the 4 year old who was in the theater when I went to see it. )

She turned and looked at me and said: "You're just now realizing this?!?" (It was her 1st veiwing.) We're now on our 3rd viewing.

I found this really cool movie on netflix called "This Is Our Time"
This Is Our Time concerns five close friends who have just graduated from dorm life and are now entering the real world, strong in their Christian convictions, believing they will make a difference in the world.
it's a fantastic movie, complete with a fantastic script and great acting
they also used the song "Meant To Be" by KaelumWay which made me happy KaelumWay started in my hometown and my brother is friends with the band members
I highly recommend this movie for anyone and everyone!!

Erik Estrada...he was in the Cross & the Switchblade, wasn't he? Funny, that was on my list to watch soon, I'd only seen it once so...the movie sounds really good Liberty Hoffman, thanks for sharing!

This Is Our Time looks better than Fireproof but that's not saying a whole lot. Why must Christian movies always be akin to the quality and style of Hallmark media?

...but that's not saying a whole lot.

LoL, ouch *wince* . You're not alone in that statement, but at least they had a real actor? But if that's what you think of Fireproof...don't watch Flywheel. Seriously. That was slightly......painful. Looked like a home video.

Maybe they're Hallmark-esque beacause they don't have the talent and the funds like Hollywood? Sherwood Pictures is just a church. But some Christian films are better than others, The Grace Card looks good as did October Baby.Amazing Grace was really good, but that was a more BBC-like film.

......

Speaking of Christian films though, I saw that The Shunning's sequeal is out, The Confession. It looks like they changed the actress, but I'm looking forward to it. Is anyone planning on seeing it?

I must stand up for Fireproof. It is one of my favorites! Course everyone has their own opinion. I really like the message and think it is a really important topic.
I can't stand Flywheel either. Mainly because it is my Dad's favorite movie and he has seen it about a dozen times.
My sister likes Facing the Giants best though. And my Mom's favorite is Courageous. Guess we have them all covered.
I agree with AslansChild. October Baby was really good. I was afraid it would be all sad considering the topic, but they had some really funny parts as well. I was rolling on the floor laughing at some scenes and sobbing at others.
Amazing Grace was also one of the best! It’s another favorite of mine.

I've never heard of This is Our Time. I'll have to look into it.

The Widow's Might, Runner from Ravenshead, and Redemption Ride are some other good movies my family likes. They are not high quality movies, but I like them.
Oh! And Pendragon: Sword of His Father is one of my all time favorite Christian films.

This Is Our Time looks better than Fireproof but that's not saying a whole lot. Why must Christian movies always be akin to the quality and style of Hallmark media?

What does that comment add to the conversion? And if you dislike Christian movies so much, why do you bother looking at them? I am with The Lady Susan, Fireproof is one of my favorite movies that why it's my movie shelf. I also really like Courageous which I have only seen twice. Don't you have to walk before you can run?

Last Sunday, we gave my Mom How To Steal A Million for Mother's Day. It was just as good the second, maybe even better because we knew the funny lines and faces were coming. Plus this time the younger kids got to watch it with us big kids and our parents, family time is awesome.

Friday night, my older brother decided my younger sister and I could watch Taken with him, so we did. I thought it was quite good.

SnowAngel

This Is Our Time looks better than Fireproof but that's not saying a whole lot. Why must Christian movies always be akin to the quality and style of Hallmark media?

What does that comment add to the conversion? And if you dislike Christian movies so much, why do you bother looking at them?

We're allowed to do both positive and negative reviews on this thread. And you can't tell ahead of time if you're going to like a movie or not. Plus, some people watch movies for the sake of reviewing it, and not because they're personally interested. When it comes to the makers of Fireproof, I know many people who have disliked their movies so far, but keep watching each new one that comes out to see if they've improved any.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Fireproof either. The acting was rather bad; and the story not well-conceived in my opinion.

~Riella

I understand fully what W4J is saying, and what SnowAngel is saying too. I enjoyed Fireproof, a lot more than I thought I would. I've liked Kirk Cameron since back in the 80's when I watched him as a kid on the sitcom Growing Pains (boy did I just age myself!). I felt that Fireproof was a good, decent movie with an important message. Is it hokey? Absolutely! And it does have the mild tang of Hallmarkesque moviemaking about it (feel good, lots of fluffiness at times), but it's a major improvement over other Christian flicks I've seen in the past. But remember, just because it's a Christian movie does not automatically mean every single Christian is going to enjoy it. If I gave all of you my list of Favorite Movies I imagine your jaws would all drop open and your brains would explode.

I'm disappointed that Christian movies don't seem to understand the language of storytelling - it's metaphors and symbols, not painful exposition, altar calls and crosses in the forest. It's not worship music in pubs (ha!). It's about having a Christian worldview and expressing that naturally through the characters and story.

Also, while "Fireproof" had a good message, I feel the movie wasn't well made and that you can't deal with the topic of pornography and it's affect on one's marriage in a PG-rated movie. There's just so much hurt and trust issues that go along with all that and the intensity of the betrayal can't be expressed in a movie for young ones. Finally, it seemed his wife was blameless. She played her part in it too. They need to stop putting women on pedestals. It's hurtful and dangerous.

The budget excuse also doesn't fly. One of my favourite movies "INK" is a sci-fi/fantasy/drama made for $250,000 US. Christians just need to learn the language of cinema and learn it well. God wants our best efforts.

I just rewatched the movie "Children of Men". It's a dystopian thriller, very sombre but also redemptive. The movie also features strong language and violence but the story is effectively the Christmas story. It's so well done - the script, the acting, the cinematography and music choices. All top-notch. No, it's not for children or those who can't handle more mature movies, but I get so much more out of watching a quality movie with Christian themes than a Christian movie (that's almost always poorly made).

Where does one find "Christian movies"? In Britain, they would never be allowed in cinemas or on TV. Are they direct-to-DVD things?

It's not worship music in pubs (ha!).

Ditto.

I watch "Christian movies" from time to time, and sometimes they can be good, but other times a little painful. Mostly because they are too simplistic, too polarized in terms of worldview, or really cheesy. Or, worse, they try throw in a couple references to certain elements in order to convey maturity and just leave the audience rolling their eyes.
Sherwood, for me, fits in to the category of simplistic story lines and sometimes not-too-airtight theology and some hallmark fluff. The acting is distracting, but for Sherwood, I don't really consider that as a foremost evaluating point. I don't just say this in a "I'm such a rebel I don't like 'Christian movies'" way and I don't shirk back from Sherwood on principle because I'd have to sacrifice cool points if I didn't. To be honest, Sherwood is one of the better ones. There's a lot of Fox Faith stuff that is... just...really... not to my taste. Sherwood has said that their main point is telling the gospel, but not necessarily through a story (whether or not that's wise storytelling is a different point), so I know they're not going for the idea of Narnia. And they seem to give credit to Christ unlike many other "Christian films," so I don't really think they're that awful.

I liked Fireproof's message, and I do like the film, but like Warrior 4 Jesus said, I don't know if it handled some things realistically. Certain aspects and certain characters were underdeveloped.
But, like I said, personally, I don't look to find fault with everything in a Sherwood film; I try to watch it and appreciate what they're trying to do, while admitting that sometimes they can get cheesy and sometimes they try to appeal to the mass Christian audience in gut-wrenching ways. Even though the acting is not that good and even though the theology is very weak sometimes, I kind of liked Facing the Giants and Flywheel more because they felt a good deal more authentic than the newer ones do. Not to say I don't acknowledge Fireproof's and Courageous' certainly improved aspects. But the first two seemed to be a little more authentic, for me at least, because an ensuing barrage of "be like the movie!" merchandise did not hit the stores after those two.

Sherwood films are not necessarily my favourite, but I don't really like hating on Sherwood for the sake of doing so (mot accusing anyone on here of doing that! Just giving my two cents.) I tend to like watching their films to see how they've come along, and then try and see where they faltered. I like filmmaking, but I know that I'd be doing my storytelling and such in a very different way than what Sherwood and other "Christian movies" do -- and that doesn't mean that compromise will be involved, because I believe that "Christian movies" have compromised in a lot. I don't believe that presenting the gospel and cheese have to go together - because of precedents that have been carried out poorly, it's very hard to present the gospel in powerful ways through the medium of film, but it's worth it to work hard and tell a story in the best way possible because the gospel is a very complex and powerful, simple yet beautiful, story. And it's sad that many filmmakers seem to convey that Christian themes are too kiddish to be complex. And it's sad that people inappropriately exploit the story.
I've seen Amazing Grace but I'm not sure if that one is really "Christian" since it was mostly in the lines of historical drama? I don't recall many Christian references.
I saw The Grace Card, and many aspects of it were good, but others were very simplistic.

Where does one find "Christian movies"? In Britain, they would never be allowed in cinemas or on TV. Are they direct-to-DVD things?

Most of them are direct-to-DVD, yes, and they're made available through Christian bookstores or the internet. A few though do feature on the big screen. I think perhaps they can do so if they have the budget? I think the qualifications are more financial than legal, but I'm not so sure about that.