Stephen Leslie France

I'm not ashamed asks one of the most powerful questions a Christian can ask - if God loves me so much, why does he put me through so much pain? It's a question with an answer that's granted in the Bible and shown in this movie, but the answer is something we will wrestle with our entire lives. I'm not ashamed reveals this challenging question and answer with a real-life story. A brilliant movie.

This is a 90's classic. Telling the story of Danny Roman, a good cop and specialist in negotiation, we are drawn into a plot of betrayal by his closest companions. This is one of those films I've watched many times over with the strange concept looming over me that the outcome might be different. This is managed through entertaining story-telling and quirky character designs - I'm especially referring to Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey). This is one of those films you can watch anytime, anywhere.

To continue on in life, enduring the unnatural situation of outliving a child is pure courage. This film reminds us of the greatness of God in the most tragic of circumstances with many great lessons about living out a life with Jesus carefully interwoven throughout the story.

I watched this yesterday, wondering how I'd missed this movie in the Kendrick brothers' collection. From the first scene in the film, I then remembered the final scene and realised I had watched it before. How could I have forgotten? I love Kendrick Brothers' movies for their wholesome, Godly cheesiness. This particular film shows the power of The Father's guidance in a child's life; the guidance to win the race both metaphorically and literally in this film's case. I read another review from the LA Times that said this film takes a long time to get its message across. I would agree, but the conclusion is well-worth the patience investment; what a beautiful ending. "The Father is the best coach" and I mean that from a faith based perspective.

If I could summarise Flight, I’d say it’s a movie that reveals the activity of divine providence and what it looks like when it meets our broken, fallen world. This divinity is unveiled to us as a series of miraculous coincidences and the delivery of this notion in the plot of Flight is truly spectacular. An alcoholic pilot—a truly broken man—is compelled to face his demons when they are brought to light through a malfunctioning plane. This is a brilliant, emotional story of Truth, manipulation, integrity, and subtle deceit. The ending is remarkable.

What I love about films like Mother’s Day is they reveal powerful universal laws. When an extreme, horrific storm clashes with typical human lifestyle--all the ‘standard’ ongoing lies included--all masks and pretences are hurled off. Three sadistic brothers and a twisted mother enter the worlds of modern-day, western society citizens. The outcome is savage – physical mutilation, torture, excessive violence one wouldn’t expect – all of it marks this nightmare of vessels nurtured in pure hate visiting upon ‘normal’ people… So many themes, ideas, and symbols in this dark tale; even the weather anomaly of the tornado in the background of this plot, speaks volumes of what the lead characters have to experience.

Cape Fear was created at a time when directors, writers, and actors thought deeply about the messages they wanted to present. That’s why these films have stood the test of time. Cape Fear exhibits a very broken family who live on multiple deceptions, headed by a husband and father who tries to rectify the deceptions he’s created through his own wisdom. With a bitter wife who conceals her resentment with sarcasm and a disobedient, naïve daughter who revels in rebellion, lead character Sam Bowden lives the family-life-consequences of his own making. In this depiction of the standard troubles within family life, one of Sam’s deceptions returns from burial in the form of a severely disgruntled ex-client Max Cady. And ‘disgruntled’ is a gentle way of describing him. This living, walking representation of one of Sam Bowden’s deceptions is a beast of a man, who refuses any discussion, compromise, or compensation for the wrong that Sam did ‘unto him.’ This plot message exposes the very real-life fact that there is NO compensation for our sins—a terrifying thought when people so often try to rectify their public misdemeanours via their own perspective of balance. On the contrary, this animal of a person—Max Cady—has taken it upon himself to be a relentless force of vengeance. Perhaps the scene that justifies my clarification of antagonist Max Cady as an ‘animal,’ is when he bites the face of one of his female rape victims while beating her up. He is a terrifying incarnation of what vengeance looks like in the flesh. There is no talking him down. One of my favourite scenes is when both protagonist and antagonist examine remuneration. It’s a philosophical debate with one real answer – we can never balance the scales of our wrong doings. A timeless classic, this film is one of those didactic productions that everyone should watch at least once.

This short, sweet film is a tale that satisfies the base instincts of vengeance and balance from a survival perspective. It definitely has a viewer question the concept of re-inventing themselves as protagonist Tom Stall is taken on a journey back into his darker past. Can a person fully reinvent themselves? Can a person be reborn? (a proper fresh start) Whatever your feelings regarding these questions, this film has a suitable amount of depth and entertainment to keep you watching and re-watching.

A classic movie with great nostalgia as I recall watching these films with my brother and sister. I think most people born and raised in the UK or US can identify with the protagonist Stanley in some way; a hopeless romantic, 'niceguy' who's down and out on his luck (in many ways similar to Bruce Almighty). The Mask is a fun movie with memorable comedy moments. I especially like the scene when the Mask is put on for the first time; Stanley goes about the neighbourhood causing 'cartoon' chaos and although the jokes are like something silly out of Looney Toons, they still make me laugh.