Movie Fest

I don’t think I’d normally do a post like this.  However, with the realization that I’ve very little else to do besides work endless and stupid hours while running my own business in a turmoil and hectic economy, I figure writing something to get everyone pumped up and excited for the month of May (there are a plethora of amazing movies coming out) might be a semi-decent use of my time.  So with that let me give you a list of the top 5 movies that I am absolutely excited for this coming May.  This is going to be a GREAT MONTH for movies, and I absolutely need to spread my enthusiasm for the awesomeness of this month. 

#5: Battle for Terra, May 1st

Now I know that this is a probably one of those “sleeper” movies that not too many people are going to know about because until I watched Monsters vs. Aliens (which was an all around pretty good movie) even I had no idea about this one.  However, Battle for Terra promises to be not only a great 3d experience (which, btw, the 3d movies I’ve been watching lately have been doing a TERRIFIC job of optimizing that once negligible feature) but also a great storyline: humanity is on the brink of destruction because we are running out of oxygen, so in order to stay alive we must invade another planet and take over their world.  This is a very interesting movie idea, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony and role reversal the film is trying to achieve.  I mean, it’s definitely going to beat the hell out of recent “alien movies” that have come out like Indian Jones 4 and The Knowing.  Honestly, whoever decided to throw aliens into the plot of Indian Jones 4 and The Knowing deserves to be SHOT. 

#4. X-Men Origins, May 1st

Okay honestly, the previews for this movie looked ABSOLUTELY STUPID.  Okay, I just watched it again and NEVERMIND IT LOOKS AWESOME.  I thought at first it might be overdone, like wayyyyy too much effort (Think Matrix 2 and 3…fail).  However, surprisingly it has been holding up VERY well in Rotten Tomatoes.  And because Rotten Tomatoes is basically my “movie bible”, I believe everything it says, no questions asked.  The way I generally look at it, if either the critics or the user reviews are over 70%, it’s going to be a pretty good movie.  X-Men Origins, with six votes so far, is a sparkling 100%.  I’m sure that’ll drop to somewhere around the 70-80% mark, but I still think this movie overall will be solid.  It’s definitely not a “sure-fire” lock for a great movie, but I think it’s going to be worth watching.  If I were you, I’d keep an eye out on Rotten Tomatoes and see how it fares once most of the critics have seen it.  As for me, I’m probably going to catch this one on opening day because…well…I’m a loser with no life and friends and only my mom and sister to hang out with.  Woe is me.

#3. Star Trek, May 8th

OKAY.  I AM NOT A BIG TREKKIE.  As much of a nerd as I am, I HAVE NOT degraded myself to so low a level that I will endorse the Star Trek franchise, or learn everything there is to know about William Shatner and pee myself everytime I see him on TV.  No, I do not salivate over the thought of meeting him.  HOWEVER, after watching this trailer and seeing the early reviews, I HAVE GOT TO SAY THAT I AM COMPLETELY STOKED for Star Trek.  JJ Abrams seriously pimped out the Star Trek series and I seriously think this one is going to be as exciting and revitalizing to the franchise as Batman Begins was to the Batman Franchise.  Pretty soon, I’m going to have to go to Star Trek conventions in my Star Trek suit, be forty years old and still living with my mom without a wife, and believe that UFO’s really are going to invade and take over the earth one day.  The fall is big for those who get sucked into the Star Trek world. 

#2. Up, May 29th

Okay, the 1 and 2 spot were VERY tough for me.  Pixar has got to be one of the best movie companies of all time.  Their work is AMAZINGLY solid, with many of their films probably in my top twenty films of all time.  Monster’s Inc is seriously AMAZING.  However, as funny as this fat little kid looks like he will be, NO ONE CAN BEAT Boo from Monster’s INC.  SHE IS THE BEST EVEN THOUGH SHE DOES NOTHING THAT IS FUNNY AT ALL.  With Pixar, they’ve set the bar SOO high on other movies that it seems almost impossible that they can make a movie better than some of the previous ones that they have made.  I think currently my list of “favorites” is:

1. Monster’s Inc, 2. Ratatouille, 3. The Incredibles, 4. Toy Story 1-2, 5. Finding Nemo, 6. Wall-E, 7. Cars, 8. Bug’s Life

When such a quality movie like Finding Nemo is in fifth place, you know you’ve made some pretty freaking damn good movies.  Kudos to Pixar and especially Steve Jobs who has done an amazing job with both Apple and Pixar.  It will be a very sad day when you die, man.  Good thing I’m a PC guy.

#1. Terminator Salvation, May 21st

DAMN.  DAMN.  HOLY FREAKING DAMN.  ARE YOU NOT EXCITED!?  DID YOU NOT JUST WATCH THE SAME TRAILER I JUST WATCHED?  OMG!!!  FINALLY A TERMINATOR MOVIE WITHOUT FREAKING ARNOLD.  It’s been a LONG TIME COMING.  Christian Bale is such a stud, besides his ungodly cussing rampage on set, HE IS THE MAN.  “IF WE STAY THE COURSE.  WE ARE DEAD.  WE ARE ALLLL DEAD!”  DAYUM!!!! 

What a stud.  If I had a girlfriend and she left me for Christian Bale I’d forgive her BECAUSE I KNOW THE LADDER THEORY.  Although.  I’m pretty sure Christian Bale’s not really into the “imaginary girl” thing.  I swear Mr. Bale, if you could see her you’d think she’s hot too…

Now…to go make friends I can watch the movies with that aren’t invisible to everyone but myself.

Twenty – Four

If you have this song, it might be good to play it while reading this post.

Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago

Still I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And I’m not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You

Twenty four reasons to admit that I’m wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong

See I’m not copping out not copping out not copping out
When You’re raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now

And You’re raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I want to be one today
Centered and true

I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
You’re raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You’re raising the dead in me

I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You’re raising the dead in me

Listening to this song, every time, stirs something up in my spirit.  I am actually not quite sure why–for the longest time, I didn’t even understand what the words really implied.  I just knew that there was something really heartfelt and meaningful behind them.  So I began to ask myself the question, what does it all mean?  Why is this song so riveting if I know so little about it?

I started researching a little about the song.  Here’s an interesting fact: Jon Foreman wrote this song on the eve of his 24th birthday.  That’s going to help a lot in the interpretation…

So here it is, an interpretation (this is my own, whereas I am sure of some parts, I am taking a lot of guesses on many sections of the song so feel free to disagree): 

Twenty-four years have gone by in Jon Foreman’s life, and he’s experienced the different “seasons” of life depicted by the “skies” and the “oceans”.  Basically, that imagery is used by Jon to capture the essence of twenty-four tumultuous and difficult years of life.  Within that, he’s realizing (after twenty-four years of life), that each year has been the root of so many failures; that although he’s trying his best to be perfect in everything, he’s always falling short.  He’s had “twenty four” tries at life, and every year, he’s come up short and missed the mark.

Furthermore, after twenty-four years of life, he’s in “twenty-fourth” place, which is an expression of feeling inferior and just completely down and lost in this world of hardship and anxiety.  He feels like after all his efforts, the only thing that his work has netted him is a spot that not even comes close to first.  It’s almost like a feeling of “man, after all these years what have I even accomplished?  What have I even done?”  This same feeling is furthered by the “twenty four drop outs”, showing that he hasn’t finished so many things that he had intended to do.

This line of thinking culminates on the “life is not what I thought it was”, meaning that in his youth (twenty-four hours ago), he was under the naive impression that life would work out exactly like he had thought it would.  However, he was confronted with reality: that life often doesn’t work how you want it to.  Even though you try and struggle through life, so often we find ourselves on the other side of where we wanted to be. 

Yet…even in that, Foreman utters the prayers of his heart, that the “Spirit” (God) would take him up in his arms.  That even though life has been chaotic, and that life has been hard, there’s something so sweet about the embrace of God that just brings a sense of peace and comfort into his life.  Foreman feels that although it’s rough and although it’s hard, he wants to run after the one thing, the one place where he knows he has sanctuary.  God.

He then goes into a slight verse refrain, where he states “twenty four reasons to admit that I’m wrong”.  During this phase, he’s basically confessing to God that he knows he hasn’t done well in this life.  He knows he hasn’t done all that he’s supposed to yet, and that he’s still so imperfect.  However…

“I’m not coping out”, is a declaration of his heart’s intent to never “give up” and to never surrender, especially when God is “raising the dead in him”.  That even though he’s fallen short, he knows that God is still doing his work in him, and that he’s not going to give up and he’s not going to let go of his faith in Him.  He knows that God is changing Him still, and that although he has his insecurities and fears, that he’ll be made complete and find his ability to keep on going and persevering through God.

Which leads to his next assertion, “I am the second man”.  This is a declaration that he’s submitting to God, that he’s the “second man” and God is the “first man”.  That God is the one leading, and that Jon is simply trying to do his best to follow the lead.

Following this is “twenty four voices”.  This part was a little bit more tricky to understand, but the way that I interpreted it is that God is taking him through all these experiences and all these things in life and raising up “24 voices with 24 hearts”.  All of these are a hodgepodge of experiences that are screaming into the life of Jon, and that are singing out of him.  They are not BAD, per say, but they are a collection of hurts, difficulties, and tons of situations that have been flooding his life and helped to grow and mature Jon.  However, he wants to be “one today”, “centered and true”.  This is a powerful assertion: it’s a request, a beseeching of God on Jon’s part to bring him under ONE authority, under ONE voice.  That everything else in his life would drown out but the voice of God, the only voice that matters.  The only truth that matters.  He wants to be centered in God.

Finally, it goes into “I want to see miracles”.  This part is the final request that Jon makes to God, in this prayer/song.  Jon wants to experience God and wants the world to experience Him.  He wants “more than just a feeling”, “more than just a cause”.  In fact, when he wrestles with God, he wants more than “just a name”.  Basically, Jon is asking that he wants his interaction and relationship with God to be so true, and so right.  That it’s MORE than just what traditional Christianity has taught us to accept about our relationship with God.  He wants authenticity, something so powerful and real that it completely changes his life and the lives of the people around Him…

And yet, even though Jon hasn’t figured it out quite yet.  Even though life is not perfect yet.   Even though he’s failed, and will probably fail millions of times from here on out…

“Spirit, take me up in arms with You”.