The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)

Based on a true story, this film details the tragic story of Soraya, a woman in Iran oppressed by a violent husband who arranges her execution by stoning in order to marry a 14-year old girl. 

    This is a powerful film. It makes you want to stand up and scream at the men who push and punch women and who teach their young sons to do the same. There needs to be change and justice. These kind of brutal crimes cannot go unrecognized.

      Shohreh Aghdashloo stars as the aunt of Soraya who tells her story to a journalist passing through. She is beautiful in the role with her strong personality even in a culture that represses women and furious love for her family. If there are women like this in the world, there is hope. Soraya is also good in her stillness, unable to move for fear of being struck, but she also harbors boldness that is punished with death. She is a martyr. 

    This movie is rated R for one scene. The stoning. It is truly brutal and seems to drag on and on. Her cries are absolutely heart-wrenching and the attitude of the crowd is to be abhorred. They will be receive their due in the afterlife, for sure.

Let the Right One In (2008)

Based on the best-selling Swedish book, "Let the Right One In" tells the story of Oskar, a young boy bullied by his classmates, who meets Eli, the mysterious girl next door who is not as innocent as she appears. 

     Best vampire movie ever. Absolutely breath-taking. The atmosphere is dark and chilly and gritty. The gore factor is relatively low for this kind of movie, but seeing beautiful little Eli with clotting blood all over her face is definitely disturbing. The little boy who plays Oskar is gorgeous, his skin is transparent and his hair the whitest of white-blond. It's the perfect contrast to Eli, who has dark hair and almost grayish, blueish skin. Their acting is exceptionally subtle, almost emotionless, which balances out the extreme, horrifying events of the movie. 

    The only flaw is there are lots of unanswered questions. For people who read the book, the movie makes perfect sense, but most of Eli's back-story is not stated in the film itself. This makes several things confusing. 

     This is such a good vampire story. You feel both terrified and enchanted by Eli, she's animal-like in her hunt for blood, but her tenderness towards Oskar is more human than many of the other characters. The movie questions the very nature of evil and innocence. What is a "vampire?"

The Secret of Kells (2009)

 Nominated for best animated picture in 2009, this film takes a fantasy twist on the history of the famed Book of Kells, Ireland's most valuable artifact.

   I knew that "UP" would win the Oscar, it's Pixar, but "The Secret" is probably the most beautiful animated movie I've ever seen. Every frame is unique and drawn with such care, the music is crystalline, and the story is simple but drenched in historical significance and spirituality. The problem with that combination of simple and layered is that if you are not familiar with the Book of Kells, that history is lost on an audience. The Book of Kells is a beautifully-illustrated collection of the Four Gospels. If you don't know that, the book could be anything. Knowing that is the Word of God, the story of Jesus, makes it more understandable why the monks would be willing to protect those papers with their lives. However, the sheer beauty of the film overwhelms the weakness of the story. It's a beauty that doesn't take itself seriously, there is lots of humor in it, but never losing that feeling of sophistication. This is not "Cars." This is something deeper, something artistic. If I were an animator, this is how I would want to animate.

Blue Beard (2009)

Shot as a story within a story, two young girls read the gruesome fairy tale "Bluebeard" in the 1950's while the audience watches the action unfold in the 17th century.

   This is definitely a "WTF" movie. It's very short, not even an hour and a half, and it's beautifully-filmed, but I really did not understand the purpose of the film. The story is very straightforward, it's "Bluebeard," no question about it, but the last two minutes or so completely blow the movie into the bizarre and you're left feeling devastated and utterly confused. I have a feeling the director tried to be too....vague, maybe? Not necessarily artsy...I don't even know what was going on in her mind. I really liked Bluebeard and the young girl as a couple in terms of filming though, her smallness was exaggerated by large furniture and the giant who played Bluebeard who happens to wear like 100 pounds of clothing. There's a brilliant scene where they're eating breakfast side by side and he has this huge ostrich egg and she's eating these tiny quail eggs. He's very gentle with her, they barely touch in the movie, and he seems so devastated when he knows he has to kill her, I question the very foundation of the story and WHY he has to do it. In the original fairy tale, it's pretty clear he's just crazy, he gets really mad and drags her by the hair, but in this, he seems to rational and like he really loves her, it makes me think there's more going on than what the simple story portrays. Again, I feel this confusion is a shortcoming of the film itself.

Deliver Us From Evil (2006)

Using interviews with victims, their families, and Oliver O'Grady himself, this film chronicles the horror of a priest who is responsible for molesting children for over 30 years.

   This is probably one of the more disturbing movies I've ever seen. It's an excellent documentary. There is no voice-over and minimal text. Most of is pieces of interviews, images of newspapers, conferences, etc. It really grips you with absolute horror. This is evil. A man with a priest's title who can slide into your house and your heart, earning your trust, and then causing such damage...it's the stuff of nightmares.

   What is most disturbing is the long interview with O'Grady. His voice is completely normal, completely matter of fact. There is no tone of regret, nothing. He even laughs when he's describing going to confession and telling the other priest of an incident with a young boy. You are absolutely dumbstruck by this man.  

    One is also pretty shocked by how the Catholic Church dealt with it. The bishops and archdeacons were sending this man across California, switching from parish to parish, trying to escape the eye of the police. It's unbelievable. 

   This is not a movie for everyone. It pretty graphic in terms of describing of the actual incidents. However, it's a major issue, especially recently, and this is the documentary to see on this topic.

Jesus Camp (2006)

An indie documentary looks into a charismatic camp where young children and teenagers are taught to be "warriors" in the battle to reclaim America for Jesus.

    This was an interesting movie to watch as a Christian. Part of me thought that the documentary was unfair as it was of course biased in some way, but the other part was absolutely horrified that this sort of thing goes on in churches.

    Religion should not be mixed with politics. That is not something I will back down on. No where in the Bible does it say that Christians should be taking over government. Jesus didn't do it. These kids are being taught to battle against "extreme liberals," they pray over a cardboard cutout of George Bush, and they are all home-schooled by their mothers, free from an environment where some of their beliefs might be tested. Indoctrination is the only word for it. The minister who leads the Jesus Camp of the film, Becky Fischer, openly advocates for indoctrination in the movie while debating a radio host. I was deeply troubled by her statements.

    The only other thing that bothered me was the use of "tongues." The children are told, "Come on, we're going to speak in tongues now." They then begin speaking illegibly, weeping, and waving their hands. I have nothing against passion for Jesus. I know that people speak in tongues. But children of this age? Upon command? I'm not convinced. I just don't think that an eleven-year old, an eight-year old, a five-year old, can possibly comprehend the nature of spiritual warfare and be fluent in tongues. I'm not saying it's impossible, but there's no way to tell when people like Becky Fischer are instructing them so intently. 

    This movie is hard to understand if you are not a Christian or a Christian who leans more toward the charismatic. There were a lot of things that I noticed and I thought, "Oh, I do that. It's really not that strange." But when you're on the outside capturing it through a film lens, it can look strange. 

Devil (2010)

Five strangers are trapped in an elevator. All of them have corrupt pasts. One of them is the devil, seeking their souls.

*Contains minor spoilers* 

    This was a fascinating movie. It took what is best about M. Night Shyamalan (his ideas) and got a director and screenwriter who could do it justice. It reminded me of "Signs" with its use of religion as a story thread but was much more like "The Happening" and "The Sixth Sense" with its gore and suspense. It is certainly a step up from M. Night's past three films. Having separate people write the screenplay and direct seem to a good idea for M. Night.

     I loved how this was filmed. Many of the shots are highly symbolic and besides being just visually "cool," as a viewer with a religious background, bursting with meaning From the beginning upside down sequence to the ending right-side up sequence, you enter the movie with a tingling sense of "something being wrong," and then it is resolved at the end. There are random shots of cross-shaped objects, such as the top of the elevator during the opening credits. There's at least two places where the name "Bethel" is used, which means "House of God" in Hebrew. The idea of the absence of action is used perfectly - the elevator is often flung into complete darkness and the audience can only hear what is happening. When the lights come on again, we face the aftermath of what occurred. 

     The writing was quite good. It was generally very natural and not overly-dramatic. The only character in particular I had a problem with is one of the security guards, a Hispanic man, who has to play the part of the "religious guy." His lines are pretty shallow, he gets to sound crazy most of the time.  There were a couple of lines that really hit me. When the devil is finally revealed at the end, the dialogue is strikingly but also subtly religious, one character says, "Take me instead." The devil responds by shrieking, "STOP SAYING THAT!" It stroke me because that it what the devil hates to hear because it is what Jesus did when He died, He was a replacement for mankind. The last line of the film is also very powerful. I won't print it here, but I will say it offers hope during an otherwise terrifying movie. 

    As a Christian, this movie affects me differently than it will a non-Christian. I am not terrified of the devil, but I appreciate the movie addressing him as he is to a non-believer: terrifying. He is very real. He comes in many forms. However, there were people in the theater who chuckled at the speeches about the devil taking revenge. There were people who proclaimed loudly, "That was dumb." One couple left during the climax. I think your personal beliefs about the devil and God will affect your opinion of the movie. I thought it was well-done and powerful because I do believe in the devil. I believe in God. I don't expect everyone to see the movie the same way.