Storms

Let me be the first to say that I love storms. When there’s a severe thunderstorm warning I don’t get scared or hide. I look forward to it. You can ask anyone that knows me and they know that I enjoy watching storms and that I would love to see a tornado in person.

There’s just something about the weather and thunderstorms in particular that intrigue me. I love the smell of rain before it’s coming. I love watching the dark clouds roll. I love seeing the different types of lightning and I love hearing the thunder. I honestly have the best nights sleep when there’s a thunderstorm happening. Some of my favorite memories camping are when it was raining. There’s just something great about being inside your camper or tent while it’s raining outside and reading a book or playing cards. I have fond memories of sitting in a dark house because our electricity went out and playing Uno with my parents and brother by candlelight to pass the time. And maybe quality time with my family during those storms is one reason I enjoy them.

Some storms though cause destruction. I’ve not been through a truly destructive storm but I’ve seen my share of destructive storms and what they can do. They can truly be terrifying especially to those who are going through them. They can cause destruction to buildings and monuments and cause death to loved ones.

Here’s the thing about storms. They come and pass. Sometimes it’s a quick storm that lasts only a few minutes. Sometimes it’s a long storm that lasts hours and sometimes days. But all storms end the same, with peace and quiet and a promise. At the end of a storm the sun starts to shine, there’s that clean air smell, the birds start chirping, it’s quiet all around and people start to come out of their homes and buildings they took shelter in. Amidst all of that too is the rainbow. A visual and constant promise that God made to us.

Right now our world is going through a storm. It’s a storm unlike anything we’ve experienced before. It’s a storm that’s covered everyone in fear. Fear of getting sick. Fear of getting someone else sick. Fear of loved ones getting sick and dying. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. But this storm like all others will pass as well. It’s hard for us to see the end of this storm because it seems so big and endless.

However, I believe that once this is over with we will be a different people. We will embrace each other more. We will enjoy our time together more. We will remember to slow down. We will remember how precious life is. We see cities, states, countries all in lockdown or going in lockdown. We see people working from home now because of the restrictions.

Something that we should do during this storm is not be in fear, but be at peace because now we are practically being made to spend more time with our families. Time that we would’ve been spending doing something else. Fathers take this time to go outside and play catch or basketball with your kids. Husbands take this time to learn to cook with your wives and surprise her with a nice dinner. Mothers take this time to encourage your kids in whatever their interests may be. Wives take this time to see what your husband enjoys and maybe you’ll enjoy it yourselves. Families take this time and spend it together. Play board games together. Put puzzles together. Read a book together. Do devotions together. Pray together. Do these things today and don’t think on tomorrow. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Jesus’ words in John 14:27 say “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Also remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:22-26 regarding everyday things ““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Storms come and storms pass. God’s promises remain the same.

A Solo Review And Thoughts

I want to preface this by saying that this review will have minor spoilers. So here’s your spoiler warning.

When I walked out of The Last Jedi I was trying to figure out what I had just seen. Things about the movie threw me for a loop and were completely unexpected. I expected to see Luke Skywalker fight and I did not expect him to die. I expected him to receive his father’s lightsaber with reverence, not throw it over his shoulder. I expected him to care not to have considered killing his nephew. Needless to say I didn’t walk out of the theatre with a smile on my face. I was dumbfounded. Don’t get me wrong I really like The Last Jedi. But I love Solo: A Star Wars Story.

I walked out of Solo with a huge smile on my face, both times I saw it. I didn’t even have a smile the 2nd time I watched TLJ. I was still trying to process that. Solo felt so much like a Star Wars movie.

When Disney announced that they were making a movie based on a young Han Solo, I was completely against it. I was saying that this isn’t a movie that the fans want or need but if they’re doing it, it better be done right. Then Phil Lord and Chris Miller were announced as directors and I thought well The Lego Movie was good and the Jump Street movies were decently received, but I was concerned about how comical it would be. After months of being in production, Lord and Miller were fired and we got Ron Howard to direct. I started to be intrigued at that point because I realized that LucasFilm was taking this character and story a bit more seriously. This was a guy who worked directly with George Lucas and was a friend of his so I had trust in what he would bring. It wasn’t until the 2nd trailer came out is when I became extremely excited for the movie. Alden Ehrenreich seemed to nail some nuances of Han Solo in the trailer and Donald Glover seemed to embody Lando Calrissian. Needless to say I was happy with what I was seeing but still being very cautious with different actors portraying these iconic characters. Then I saw the movie.

Hats off to Alden and his portrayal of Han Solo. He completely embodied the character but made it his own. Five minutes into the movie and I knew I was seeing Han Solo on the big screen again. I didn’t care at all that it wasn’t Harrison Ford. He was nailing Han’s way of thinking, small body movements and body language, and he was talking the way Han Solo would talk. Alden’s chemistry with Joonas’ Chewbacca was spot on! They worked so perfectly together! I seriously cannot say enough good things about Alden as Han. I hope that I get to see him continue to play this character! There’s a shot towards the end where Alden is standing in an elevator and the camera stays on him for a second and you just know you’re looking at Han Solo.

When it comes to Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, I think everyone expected him to do a good job. When Lando shows up for the first time you only hear his voice, but it sounds just like Billy Dee Williams. Throughout the movie the “Lando sound” goes in and out during Donald Glover’s dialogue but it works very well and it’s a way for him to make it his own. It does really feel like a young Lando and he does very well on his line delivery. He nails Lando’s charismatic attitude and the way he handles himself. This guy has swindled his way smoothly throughout the galaxy and you can see how he eventually becomes Lando Calrissian, the administrator of the facility on Cloud City. He was cocky, smooth and confident but also willing to take a deal to get ahead and to save his own hide. There’s one scene where he says “I don’t like it. I don’t agree with it. But I accept it.” You can imagine Billy Dee’s version later on saying that to Vader on Cloud City. It almost felt like I had seen or heard him say that before. There couldn’t have been a better actor portray a young Lando.

Now after seeing this movie twice and absolutely enjoying the heck out of it and LOVING, yes loving the movie, I’m having a really hard time trying to figure out why it’s not doing well at the Box Office. It doesn’t even seem like it’s going to make $500 million worldwide which is disturbing because I want to see a sequel, especially with what’s set up at the end. I feel like after the divisiveness of TLJ that this is the Star Wars movie that fandom needed to unite everyone again. It pretty much ticks off every point on a Star Wars fan’s checklist and even adds a surprise character that nobody ever expected to see. You get to see how Chewie and Han get together, you see how Han got his DL-44 blaster, you see the Millennium Falcon make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Sorry if those spoil the movie for you but they are major points in Han Solo’s life and they’re everything, I as a hardcore Star Wars fan wanted to see in this movie. The other actors who play new characters also did a great job.

Here’s what I’m trying to say. This movie deserves to easily break $500 million without breaking a sweat. It’s quick, it’s fun, it’s energetic and it doesn’t even feel like a 2 hour and 15 minute movie because it’s constantly moving and everything leads up to Han and Chewie flying the Falcon. This is a great Star Wars movie and I urge you to go out and watch it. Someone, who isn’t a major Star Wars fan but enjoys the movies, said it was their favorite Star Wars movie. It deserves to be a top movie of the summer but for some reason it’s not making money. Don’t let that keep you from seeing Solo.

I can easily give this movie a 9.75/10. It’s so much fun and exciting as a Star Wars movie. I give credit where it’s due and those who made this movie deserve much credit. Ron Howard re-shot 70-80% of the movie after being brought on to direct it. He made an exhilarating Star Wars movie in half the time that most movies get and I would love to see him tackle a sequel with proper production time. Go see this movie and don’t listen to naysayers or the Box Office.

Avengers: Infinity War Review

First off I want to say that this review will not have any spoilers in it. If I do mention something that seems like a spoiler, trust me it isn’t.

10 years ago I never thought that what I witnessed in this movie would even be possible. Then Avengers happened in 2012 and we were introduced to the big bad of the MCU, Thanos. We got bits and pieces of Thanos throughout the years leading up to this movie and wow it paid off.

I’m gonna gush on Thanos for a minute because he is the bad guy that we’ve all been waiting to see the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy fight against. What a great villain! I was sitting in the theatre during a scene with Thanos in it and I was thinking “well what he’s saying does make sense and he does have a point.” He truly 100% believed that what he was doing was right. Also the dude can fight! There’s a fight he’s in right at the beginning and you really see his agility and fighting ability. That’s all I will say about that. The visual effects on Thanos were on point! There are times where you get close ups of Thanos and you can see the subtleties in his facial features and muscle movements that you don’t get a lot of the time with CGI characters but they knocked it out of the park! Josh Brolin killed it in this role! He was menacing and mean but you also saw a softer side of Thanos and Josh Brolin performed it all perfectly!

Now let’s talk about the film itself. So this is a combination of multiple different movies with different vibes and feels to them…18 to be precise. If you’ve seen the Guardians of the Galaxy movies you know that they have a very different feel to them than say the Captain America movies. The Russo brothers decided to do something very ballsy in that when the Guardians are on screen, it feels like a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. When the scene is on Earth, it feels like a Captain America/Iron-Man/Black Panther/Spider-Man movie. That is something that when I first heard about it, I didn’t know how well it would work but those guys pulled it off tremendously and it’s something I’ve never seen done before.

The pacing and the humor in this movie are both great. With this many characters there has to be a lot of jumping around because there are 3 different groups in 3 different places at different times throughout the movie. Also it never feels like a super long movie because it’s always moving forward and everything on screen matters so it helps to pay close attention to everything going on. Also there is quite a bit of humor in this movie like the rest of the MCU but it’s done at the right moments. The humor though doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the situation that the Avengers and Guardians are facing. The stakes are high, the risks are high, everyone is in danger and nobody is safe from Thanos. It is quite possibly the darkest movie in the MCU. By dark I mean things get a little hairy for everyone.

As I’m sitting here writing this review reminiscing on the movie and of course itching at going to watch it again, I’m trying to find things that I didn’t like about the movie and I’m struggling quite a bit with finding those. I can’t really think of anything to be quite honest and to me that makes it a near perfect movie and possibly a perfect superhero movie. I got to see this movie with a group of friends (we took up about 4 rows of seats) and we all had so much fun watching the movie together which made the experience even better. The visual effects, the different locations, adding to the lore and mythology of some of the characters and even the Black Order or the Children of Thanos, all of it was just amazing. After the movie the theatre was completely silent. I have some friends who live in Texas and watched it as well and their theatre was silent afterwards, which to me just says that all in all people were awed by the movie. I don’t do this often to movies but I’m having trouble finding faults and I have to give it a 10/10. Having that many characters in a single movie and not feeling like anything was left out is something that doesn’t happen very often in movies. I hope this movie gets some sort of Academy nod next year. I believe Anthony and Joe Russo deserve an Oscar for being able to put together a movie of this magnitude and making it work and flow to almost perfection. I say almost because nothing is perfect. Everything about this movie though worked and I cannot wait for what they’re bringing us with the next Avengers movie next year. Between that one and this one though we have Ant-Man and the Wasp, which by the way Ant-Man’s and Hawkeye’s absences from the trailers are explained and shown in this movie. Then after that movie we have Captain Marvel in March. But I will be seeing this movie multiple times before the next one and I can’t wait to see what the Russo Brothers bring us!

Also I wanted to add that there is only one end credits scene and it is at the very end of the credits. You don’t want to miss what it is either!

Go see this movie!

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Risen Movie Review

“I have seen two things which I cannot reconcile: A man dead without question, and that same man alive again. I pursue Him, the Nazarene, to ferret the truth.”

Clavius, a Roman tribune during the 1st century A.D., tasked with investigating the disappearance of a body of a dead Nazarene by the name of Yeshua, a man who he saw with his very eyes dead on a cross. The Roman emperor is on his way and Pilate wants everything to be in order when he gets to Jerusalem. He chooses one of his top tribunes to investigate, find the body, and keep things in order.

When you first hear that synopsis you don’t immediately think of a “Christian movie” unless you’re already a Christian. This is the type of Christian movie I’ve been waiting for. It’s not preachy, has great acting, and feels and looks like a big budget movie (only a $20 million budget). Another great thing about this movie is that it’s scripturally accurate in the parts that it needs to be. It takes certain creative liberties because it is from a Roman tribune’s perspective which is not in the Bible. When it comes to period Christian movies, we normally get it from the perspective of one of the disciples or from one of the authors from the 4 Gospels, but in this it’s from a character not in the Bible, an outsider to the disciples, and one who completely does not believe that a man rose from the dead. Some of my favorite scenes were when Clavius was interviewing some of the people about Yeshua’s body and followers.

The cast and acting in this movie was fantastic! Clavius was played by a great actor by the name of Joseph Fiennes. Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame played Lucius who was being trained by Clavius. Peter Firth played Pilate. Cliff Curtis of Fear the Walking Dead fame played Yeshua.

So much of this movie just worked for me. I could easily see someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus go see this movie and then read the Gospels in the perspective of Clavius. Those Christian movies like War Room, Fireproof, Courageous, God’s Not Dead, etc. are great to have for those who are Christians but they more than likely are not going to bring in non-Christians. Movies like Risen, will. We need more Christian movies like this that are biblically accurate but aren’t overly preachy. I’m hoping this movie does fantastic (which it should) because I am really wanting to see a movie about David and his mighty men. I’m wanting to see biblically accurate movies and not movies that take huge creative liberties like Exodus: Gods and Kings and Noah. Risen could start that trend.

Risen appeals to Christians and non-Christians alike. You should go see this movie and I’m calling on all Christians to go and support this movie! I would give this movie 4/5 Gingers only because there were times where it felt small in scope when it should’ve felt big. The acting and the story were top notch!

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Review

For my first blog I find it fitting to make it about my favorite movie franchise of all time, Star Wars. If you’ve lived under a rock the past couple of years then you need to know that a little new movie just came out called Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens directed by J.J. Abrams. As of this writing the movie is breaking financial records left and right and hasn’t even hit China yet. It just broke the Worldwide Opening Weekend Box-Office record with $529 million previously held by Jurassic World with $525 million with the added benefit of being released in China the same weekend. The movie is not only getting very positive reviews from fans but it currently sits at a 95% Certified Fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com from movie critics. Needless to say the movie is good and it’s been a long time coming. And it all started with a $4 billion acquisition made by Disney to Lucasfilm. I want to get into a review for this movie but first off ***SPOILER WARNING***!!!

There now that that’s out of the way…
I’ve seen this movie 4 times as of this writing and I must say it’s gotten better each time. Now I’m not saying that it was bad the first time I saw it. The first time I saw it, there were so many emotions going through me and I was trying to take in as much as possible but you just can’t in the first sitting you need at least 2 more times to take in everything. Let’s get into this review shall we?

THE OPENING CRAWL:
IT HAS “EPISODE VII” IN THE CRAWLER!!! OK I know to some of you that might not seem like a big deal but really it is. See the marketing was not including “Episode VII” and so it was making me and quite a few fans nervous about whether “Episode VII” would show up in the crawler or not. The guys on a podcast I listen to called Rebel Force Radio were also concerned that it might not have “Episode VII” in there as well but alas it did and it made me happy!
The very first line in the crawler almost had me to tears but I was trying to read the whole thing and take it all in. The line is “Luke Skywalker has vanished.” When you read that how does that not make you immediately excited about this movie?!
The entirety of the opening crawl isn’t the best that has come from Star Wars it does lack that George Lucas touch that you get from the other crawls. Other than that it was great seeing that opening crawl back and with “Episode VII” in there as well!

CHARACTERS:

• Rey:
  Who is this girl? Unfortunately we aren’t told who she is or where she’s from. All we do know is that she is on this desert planet called Jakku and that she’s been waiting for years for her family to come back and get her. We find out later that she is very strong with the Force but how does she use or know how to use the Jedi mind trick? Was she taught before to use the Force? What is this character’s back story? We can only guess until books come out or Episode VIII comes out. We do know that the lightsaber that Luke had in Episode V and his father Anakin had before that, calls to Rey in this movie. Does that mean she’s a Skywalker? Luke’s daughter maybe? I am very much looking forward to seeing this character fleshed out and grow. Hopefully we’ll get a really good glimpse at what Jedi training is like in Episode VIII. She is played by Daisy Ridley who just absolutely stole the movie. You couldn’t tell that this was her first movie ever and she nailed it!
• Finn/FN2187:
  We first see Finn as a stormtrooper with the designation number FN2187. He has no other name besides his designation number because he was taken at birth to be a part of the First Order and “programmed” or brain washed to become a stormtrooper. Him and Poe Dameron steal a TIE Fighter to escape the First Order and Poe gives him the name Finn based on the letters in his designation number. He is a character that wants to do the right thing but is terrified by the First Order because he’s seen what they’re capable of. As far as we know he is not Force-sensitive. He is a character that all he’s known was serving in the First Order and never knew his family. He is played by John Boyega who is known for his role in Attack the Block and also the re-release of the 24 TV series. The chemistry between John Boyega and Daisy Ridley was off the charts and excellent!
• Poe Dameron
  To finish out what will more than likely be the main three in this new trilogy, Poe Dameron is easily one of my favorite characters and “the best pilot in the galaxy” as Oscar Isaac put it in an interview. If you read the comic series Shattered Empire, you get a glance at Poe’s past. Both of his parents fought in the Rebellion and were pilots. He seems to be light-hearted and not afraid of much of anything. There’s a scene at the beginning of the movie where Kylo Ren confronts Poe and Poe’s response is “So do you talk first or do I talk first?” Unfortunately we don’t get a lot of dialogue from him but it seems like he will bring the witty sarcastic side to this group. He is by far the best star pilot in the Resistance. There’s a scene during the raid on Maz’s castle where you see just how good he is. Poe is played by Oscar Isaac who was in Ex Machina and will be Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. He is well on his way to becoming one of the next great actors of our time.
• Kylo Ren:
  Now Kylo Ren is a very interesting character. There is alot to this character. He has a very dynamic personality. He’s rough around the edges, has a short fuse, lots of anger and rage, and yet he’s very conflicted. He is the first character and I should say darkside character that we’ve ever seen in Star Wars that has felt a pull to the lightside. We find out in the movie that he was being trained by Luke Skywalker when Luke was training new Jedi. Somewhere along the lines Kylo Ren, who’s real name we find out is Ben Solo, went to the darkside and destroyed everything that Luke was trying to accomplish. We know that he was seduced by Supreme Leader Snoke to go to the darkside. But we don’t know how Snoke did that or why Kylo chose to go to the darkside. It does seem like he knows who Rey is though. There’s a scene in the film where an officer comes to tell Kylo the news that they lost the droid, he then goes into a tantrum and destroys a bunch of computers and asks if there’s anything else, the officer tells him about a girl and Kylo looks at him, Force grabs him, and asks “What girl?”. So it seems that he knows who she is. Snoke tells Kylo that he will be tested. And Kylo’s father Han confronts him inside Starkiller Base and Kylo kills him because he is being pulled by the lightside and he thinks he can defeat that pull by killing his father. We are led to assume this was Kylo’s final test to decided whether or not Snoke would finish his training. I am very much looking forward to seeing this character get stronger and to get more background on him as well. Kylo Ren is played by Adam Driver who is famous for being in the Girls TV series on HBO. He is also from Mishawaka, Indiana. Being from Indiana myself I think that’s pretty cool. I thought Adam Driver played this character very well and he has a really cool deep dark voice. In my first viewing there were a few laughs when Kylo Ren took the mask off. I think people were expecting him to look more damaged but he wasn’t very scary looking without the mask. That seems like that will change in Episode VIII now that he has an Anakin scar on his face. It also seems like his lightsaber was destroyed so we should get a more true-to-form darkside lightsaber once his training is complete.

Most of the other characters are either from the OT or they don’t have much story/back story to them. Snoke and General Hux being a couple of characters we don’t know much about. Except that Snoke seems to have been around for a long time and knows alot about what’s happened in the past. He definitely is someone that J.J. has said is a vulnerable character but also a very powerful character. He’s got 2-3 scenes in TFA but it’s a gigantic hologram of the character so who knows if what we’re seeing is really who he is. General Hux is a young general in the First Order. He seems to have risen in rank rather quickly and is ruthless. He has an abnormal amount of faith in his troopers. Claiming them to be programmed from birth to fight. Kylo Ren on the other hand suggests the use of a clone army (nice nod to the prequels).

Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher as Han Solo and General Leia Organa respectively, came in and owned their roles 32 years ago. Neither one missed a beat! I was surprised by how well Carrie Fisher did! I really didn’t know how her portrayal of Leia would be after so long but she nailed it. Harrison Ford back as Han Solo seemed like he never even left that role. His banter with Chewie sometimes was great! He was Han Solo again in a very Han Solo-centric movie! It was great seeing that character come full circle as well, in that he accepts that the Force and the Jedi and the darkside was all real. Harrison did finally get his wish to see Han Solo die hoping to save his son. Unfortunately Luke was not in it enough to comment on Mark Hamill’s performance but what I saw at the end made me super excited for the next one!

BB-8 was such a fun droid in this movie! My favorite BB-8 moment though was when he used his little flame as a thumbs up to Finn. They added so much emotion to this little droid that it made you want to have one for yourself. His banter back and forth with Finn and his loyalty to his master (Poe Dameron) were just so neat to see. I hope to see him, C-3PO, and R2-D2 together in the next movie.

MUSIC:
John Williams is back with a brand new Star Wars soundtrack and I loved every minute of it! My two favorite pieces are Rey’s Theme and Jedi Steps. Rey’s theme has that sound of wonder and light heartedness but with the sense of adventure. The Jedi Steps piece has that sense of mysticism with a Force vibe to it. I could definitely see it becoming a sort of Jedi temple or Jedi training or Jedi in general theme. Snoke’s theme was genuinely creepy with the deep low chant going on the whole time. I will definitely be listening to the next Rebel Force Radio Star Wars Oxygen podcast episode where they will discuss the music for TFA.

STORY:
As far as the story goes for this film it’s almost beat for beat with Episode IV. It parallels with ANH so much that you could almost play them side by side and see a similar scene on both. That is not a bad thing though. It was a good launch pad for a new trilogy and a new set of stories. It moved quick but it gave you a moment to breathe here and there.

Starkiller Base definitely seems like a rehashing of the Death Star but it was much bigger and much more dangerous. In fact it was a planet and the First Order turned it into a weapon which I thought was really neat. It would grab the energy of the nearest star killing the star and then shoot out multiple beams that could destroy entire star systems. But when Poe destroyed it, since it had harnessed a star’s energy, itself became a star.

All in all the story worked, it was fast paced, and fun. It felt like Star Wars but updated. Like I said in the beginning I’ve seen it 4 times and I want to see it again! The ending was perfect and it made me ready for Episode VIII!

I hope you enjoyed this little review! Feel free to leave a comment or get in contact with me via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

May the Force be with you!