I have not seen this Norwegian film, but it has been recommended as a child friend film:

The Polar Bear King

In the enchanting kingdom of Summerland, a handsome and newly crowned King Valemon refuses to marry the evil witch. His refusal to align himself with the dark forces causes the witch to cast an evil spell that transforms Valemon into an enormous polar bear. While escaping north to the icy kingdom of Winterland, Valemon falls in love with a beautiful, young princess who sees beyond his frightening appearance to the kindness within. It is up to the princess to prevent the witch s wicked scheme, rescue Valemon and break the spell of The Polar Bear King.

A quick review of the new Sherlock Holmes flick, now in theatres…

Plot: Evil nobleman plots to take over the British universe, ah, empire using “magical” arts. Holmes and Watson go through a LOT of dangerous, special effects ridden, violent action while jumping through hoops to foil him. Plucky sidekick played by Holmes’ true love, who happens to be a professional thief. Moriarity makes brief appearances in shadow. Holmes’ fabled deductive reason appears to be more of an action movie tool than the cold, hard reason of the classic Holmes figure. Lots of cgi landscapes, which unfortunately for me ripped the suspension of disbelief veil at just the wrong time, the cliffhanger moment.

That being said, the effects were well done. The cast was universally White, and while references were made to magical arts in ancient cultures, there was no intrusion of non-European peoples or cultures, which was quite a relief.

The best thing about the movie for me were the titles at the end…not joking here, nor belittling the movie, which is reasonably good. Just some really sweet titles where people morph into really lovely drawings. Worth the price of admission just for those.

Score, B+. Worth a look-see.

Laurel

Laurel,

Thanks for the review that does sound nice.

Box office Bible hero kicks serious butt

“The Book of Eli” offers moviegoers a narrative where the Word of God is humanity’s only hope in a desperate world, and where one, solitary man shielded by his faith, in obedience to Providence, defends the last remaining Bible on earth with prayer, trust in God and one seriously wicked knife.

Haven’t seen this movie, and while the plot sounds interesting, the hero is played by…Denzel Washington.

Sure would like to see a movie with a real Christian hero who was White…

Laurel

A film directed by Peter Jackson(Lord of the Rings) on the do not see list. It looks bad and wrong in so many ways. I have not read the either, do not wish to see film or read the book: The Lovely Bones (film) based on the novel, The Lovely Bones.

The “Book of Eli” is proof that Christianity isn’t all that bad as long as it can be divorced from those pesky white Europeans.

Chocked full of blood, violence, and profanity…it’s rarely worth the few psuedo-Christian moments of inspiration throughout.  Sorry folks…the third-world is not going to take up the banner of Christ, and there is no lone, black hero carrying the Bible through the valley of the shadow of death. 

That honor is reserved for those with ears to hear and hearts to feel.

Sometimes one has to go backward in time to find appropriate movie fare. A movie the whole family can enjoy, at least as long as children are old enough to follow the subtitles for the German language film, is Sissi. Made in 1955, this historical romance is based on the real life story of the wife of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. Following is the IMDB plot summary.

16 year old princess Elisabeth, ‘Sissi’, follows her mother and sister Helene to the Austrian court in Ischl, where the engagement between Helene and the young emperor Franz Josef will be announced. But he meets Sissi when she’s out fishing and falls in love with her. Sissi loves Franz Josef but a marriage with him comes with a bonus, his arrogant and headstrong mother.

This is the first of a trio of movies about the life of the Empress; Romy Schneider, who was actually sixteen at the time the movie was made, is charming as the young Sissy. Overall the performances are excellent, and if the overall tone is somewhat saccharine, it’s a kind of sweetness that doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Positives:

Excellent acting.
Strongly routed in European culture and traditions, especially Germany and Austria.
No profanity or violence.
Love leads to marriage.
All actors are cast in an appropriately ethnic fashion to the parts they portray.
Refreshing in mood.

Negatives:

It’s in German with subtitles. Personally I do not mind this, and I’ve heard there’s a dubbed version available that is poorly done, so I’m happy with what I have.
No one blows anything up. I don’t care, but some guys seem to prefer films in which things blow up.
Christianity is portrayed as Catholic Christianity.

I’d give it four stars out of five. And it’s available through Netflix, either on DVD or via online streaming.

God bless,
Laurel

A review of the John Ford’s 1956 film
The Searchers

IMDb user reviews for The Victors (1963)