Lady in the Water

Rating: 4 out of 5
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Paul
Giamatti [Cleveland Heep], Bryce Dallas Howard [Story], Jeffrey Wright
[Mr. Dury], Bob Balaban [Harry Farber], Sarita Choudhury [Anna Ran],
Cindy Cheung [Young-Soon Choi], M. Night Shyamalan [Vick Ran], Freddy
Rodríguez [Reggie]
Viewed on the big screen

The only thing keeping me from giving this movie a complete five is the fact that it didn’t have the trademark M. Night Shyamalan shocking ending. Other than that, I think Lady in the Water was a pretty solid movie.

It’s sort of a modern fairy tale about a water-dwelling lady named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard)
sent to help land-dwelling folk bring change to their way of life, and
in a way save them. But not before the humans save her first.

I
found this film really thrilling, suspenseful and very engaging. I was
thinking my way through this film; always getting myself ready for the
unexpected twists and turns that Shyamalan’s films are known for. I
even let out a few screams during this one — yes, there are some
really jarring moments to this "Lady". Consider yourself warned.

The
movie is also a bit talky, so you’d have to pay a lot of attention to
understand everything. If you’re snacking on chips or anything crunchy,
I’d advise against that. I was eating nachos while watching this and I
missed out a few words in the dialogue — not good! But do take note of
what is being said by the characters because the lines they say are
like pieces of the puzzle that you, as part of the audience, are trying
to put together.

Moving on… I liked the lead actors Paul Giamatti,
as Cleveland Heep, the super super or what I would like to call a
glorified and handy handy-man, and Howard as the title character, for
their fine performances, both conveying sadness, worry, uncertainty,
frailty and courage convincingly.

I loved how the story was told
and the fact that this is mainly a plot-driven movie — very few of
these nowadays. I also liked the fact that even though the ending was
not what I expected and not in keeping with Shyamalan’s past four
films, I genuinely had a blast watching it. I was thrilled. I was
engaged. I was screaming. I was always kept in suspense.

M.
Night Shyamalan is one of the directors I consider as one of the great
storytellers on film and with Lady in the Water, he adds another gem to
his filmography and makes me right in my decision of lining him up in
my great storytellers list.

Matt the Discerner

Who We Are Instead

By: Jars of Clay
Rating: 5 out of 5

Whenever I listen to Who We Are Instead (WWAI), I am reminded of Jars of Clay’s
self-titled debut album and why they are to me the best band in the
world. It has the same elements of their 1995 release — the overall
acoustic feel, the poetic lyrics, emotionally inviting vocals — but
WWAI showcases the band’s maturity as musicians, as ministers and as
individuals.

The men of Jars of Clay, like most everyone, are
people living in a world full of confusion, peace, doubt, certainty,
heartache, joy, unfaithfulness, loyalty, worry and trust. They way they
explore these issues through their music shows that they themselves
have gone through it, learned (and still learning) to deal with it and
encourages listeners that they can do the same.

I find every
song in this 13-track CD so relatable that I could recall specific
situations of my life with each song played and how each theme so
succinctly applies to my life.

Sunny Days and Lonely People take on the issues of patience, being single and loneliness. "So
if you’re waiting for love, well it’s a promise I’ll keep. If you don’t
mind believing that it changes everything, then time will never matter," and "This
is for all the single people, thinking that life has left them dry:
don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup. You’ll never know
until you try." These guys have been single at one point in their lives so they know what they’re talking about.

Amazing Grace and Lesser Things
focus on our mortal tendency of pursuing the wrong things and feeling
sheepishly sorry for it and how God’s grace always comes to the rescue
just at the right time. "I grew this heart into a drifter, never
felt the roots I bare. Sold my sight, oh brother, sister, for a
mountain of fool’s gold — it’s gone only God knows, God knows where," and "Set our bodies down like offerings, while we pray to the god of the lesser things… Is there grace for the wayward heart?"

Only Alive and Jealous Kind
are love songs on opposite sides of the spectrum. One is a proposal
that kind of says ‘if you’ll have me, I’ll love you forever’, and it,
to me, is JOC’s most romantic song. "I’m only alive with you, I can’t get by and I won’t get through."
The other is more of the apologetic type that confesses a lover’s
transgression and sort of says ‘I’m sorry. I’m built this way. Forgive
me anyway?’ and is for me the most melodramatic song of the band. "I’d rather feel the pain all too familiar, than be broken by a lover I don’t understand."

Faith Enough and Show You Love tackle the issues of faith — and how even during our times of doubt, just enough of it will get us through ("It’s just enough to be strong in the broken places… should the world rely on faith tonight.") — and love — and how actions can be more potent at conveying it ("I’m gonna show you love that need in every language, I’m gonna speak with words that need no form").

I’m In the Way and Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet are the exhortation songs. The first one is an upbeat song with an upbeat message — "Life is never what it seems. Sometimes it only takes a while. I’m in the way of falling down. I won’t let you go that far now.". The second one is more loopy with the same lyrics sung over and over, but it is no less effective in reminding us that "Jesus’ blood won’t fail me yet!".

Trouble Is
has a little cowboy/Western feel to it and contains the CD title in its
lyrics. The message here is we all got a good thing but we "keep running the other way… trouble is we don’t know who we are instead."

The last two songs on the CD, Sing and My Heavenly
are very emotional songs for me. Singing the former always pulls me
closer to the Lord because it reminds me of how great His unfailing
love is. "Bury my head for the shame You pick me up, You say I look
like You. Though it makes no sense to me, You make me believe that I
could trust Someone. Singing the latter reminds me that things here aren’t forever and that I’m merely missing my home, my heavenly. "There
is a river, there is a road, place of holy riches untold it’s where I’m
supposed to be, where I’m supposed to be, my heavenly."

Of
course, this is just my perception, my experience of the album. And it
has been such a wonderful blessing to be able to listen to Who We Are
Instead. Plus the way Dan (Haseltine) sings it and the way Charlie (Lowell), Matt (Odmark) and Steve (Mason) play their instruments just makes it even more powerful and meaningful.

The
reason why I am so enamoured with this CD, its songs and this band is
because they make good music that pleases the ears, touches the heart
and enriches the soul.

Be Filled With Thankfulness

“Just As I Am”

from Our Daily Bread

+ + + + +

Charlotte
Elliott learned an important lesson about Jesus one sleepless night in
1834. She was an invalid, so when her family held a bazaar in Brighton,
England, to raise money to build a school, she could only watch from
afar.

That night she was overwhelmed by her helplessness and
could not sleep. But her sadness turned to joy she realized that God
accepted her just as she was.

Her experience inspired these
well-loved words: “Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood
was shed for me, and that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God,
I come! I come!” When she published the poem in The Invalid’s Hymn
Book, she included with it John 6:37.

Jesus always accepts people as they are.
In John 6, the people had come from mile around to hear Jesus. When the
crowd became hungry, He miraculously fed them with a boy’s unselfish
gift of five loaves and two fish. Then the Lord offered Himself as “the
bread of life,” promising that He would not turn anyone who came to Him.

It’s still true today. No one who comes to Jesus will be turned away. Come to Him with all your sin. He’ll accept you just as you are. — Dave Egner

+ + + + +

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!  – Elliott

+ + + + +

No one is too good or too bad to be saved.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Rating: 5 out of 5
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny
Depp [Jack Sparrow], Orlando Bloom [Will Turner], Keira Knightley
[Elizabeth Swann], Jack Davenport [Norrington], Bill Nighy [Davy
Jones], Jonathan Pryce [Governor Weatherby Swann], Lee Arenberg
[Pintel], Mackenzie Crook [Ragetti], Kevin McNally [Gibbs], David
Bailie [Cotton], Stellan Skarsgård [Bootstrap Bill], Tom Hollander
[Cutler Beckett], Geoffrey Rush [Barbossa], Naomie Harris [Tia Dalma],
Martin Klebba [Marty]
Viewed on the big screen

A wildly entertaining film that successfully picks up where its predecessor left off, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (DMC) renews my faith in the possibility of sequels topping their originals.

It
definitely helped that most of the cast and crew involved in Pirates of
the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (CBP) came back for this
second installment of the trilogy (and presumably also for the last
part, At World’s End). Gore Verbinski is back as director. Screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio as well. The main cast is back too, with Johnny Depp reprising his nuanced delivery of Captain Jack Sparrow.

The film takes the original to next level in terms of action, drama, humor, visuals and sound.

Action.
When this film hit the high gears, it goes all the way. The action
sequences were so exciting and I actually felt like I was running
around, dodging cannon balls, escaping the tentacles of the Kraken and
evading the crew of the Flying Dutchman. There is a lot of fun and
enjoyable action in DMC and none of it get in the way of the story. I
liked that whenever there is a sword fight or a chase scene or
explosions, it was used to move the story forward — action that makes
sense.

Drama. From start to finish, this film shows heart –
figuratively and literally. The character arcs are well-explored and
the new plots (and subplots) are well-integrated. The film begins on a
very dramatic note — the botched wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley)
– and ends on another — the appearance (or reappearance, if you will)
of a key character in the trilogy (no spoilers here!). This is one
well-balanced film, with the dramatic parts put in the right places. I
like the whole back-story of Davy Jones’ (Bill Nighy) chest, the development in Will and Elizabeth’s relationship, and Jack Sparrow’s fate at the end. All dramatic.

Humor.
As in the first one, DMC is peppered with light to heavy moments of
laughter that, thankfully, I was able to share with the audience I
watched the film with. The laughs, of course, came mostly in reaction
to Johnny Depp’s performance — he still has a zing as Sparrow. Kudos
also to writers Elliott and Rossio for coming up with a smart and witty
script. They were able to carry that tone over to this film.

Visuals.
The special effects, the set designs, the costumes and the locales were
all beautiful. I was particularly impressed with how they were able to
animate Davy Jones’s face — with the mouth and the tentacles and all.
It was seamlessly integrated with Nighy’s impeccable acting (which,
frankly speaking, could be written in a separate blog. this actor’s
always on the mark!). The effects of the Kraken were also nice. The
crew of the Flying Dutchman were surreal (with all their crusty,
sea-creature looks) and they’re way better than those walking skeletons
of CBP. I loved the white beach where Jones’s chest was buried — it
was such an pristine looking stretch of white sand.

Sound. I
came into the theater during the end credits. I was able to listen to
the soundtrack and just from that I got the sense of action and
impending dangers that the film promised in its trailer. Hans Zimmer’s
score for DMC is rich and conveys the emotion and excitement of the
film really well. Also, the sound effects in the movie were great and
made my viewing experience complete.

I was able to check some
online reviews for the film and was quite surprised that some gave it
low scores. Well, to each his own. But as you can see, I gave it a five
and i enjoyed myself in the theater watching this sequel.

The
actors were good. The film’s direction was handled well. It was
visually and aurally satisfying and it made the Pirates movies a much
stronger series. I can’t wait for At World’s End to come out.

- - - - -

p.s.
If you left the theater before the end credits stopped rolling, you
missed something! ;o) [for those who haven't seen it yet, stay until
the dog shows up. hehehe]