Tuesday Time

JESUS CAMP (2006)

A multi-layered reaction to this documentary, mostly only the lines of my views on faith, conformity, and politics. Viewing this in Bush America might have been one one upsetting experience, seeing this worship of leaders in Obama Nation is another. How many people in this movie respect, let alone look up to, Obama as a man of faith? And the cameo by closet drug-addict / homosexual Ted Haggard is another sick element.

YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (2008)

This could inspire as much thoughts as the above movie! But mostly it's a textbook example of why I consider myself a film snob. I did laugh at this, but there were so many clumsy moments, dragged out disgusting scenes, and just idiocy, that the only venue for watching this would be late night and/or drunk. Having to pay for this and watch it a theater would be absolutely horrible. It would be a cinematic prison, sitting in a dark multiplex while having extremely dumb images and words forced on me with no escape, while smart and intellectual things were going on around the globe without me.

What made this redeemable however, and it's something very important, is that if you're going to make something this insipid, hire good actors. Adam Sandler always has his moments, and if you cast John Turtorro as the main villian, you at least have lines that are delivered enthusiastically. There were points that I was chuckling BEFORE the punchline, just because the delivery was so much more important than any point any jokes in this film were supposed to make.

Anyway, more on this some other time.