The blogosphere’s cupboard has been pretty bare this week, especially when you filter out the Christmas stuff. Anyway, here are two solid links to get you going. More next week … probably.
Have a great New Year’s!
Our Rating: 4 Stars
What’s Cool: The film’s three stars are fantastic. Tom Hanks plays Congressman Charlie Wilson, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays CIA operative Gust Avrakotos, and Julia Roberts plays socialite/activist Joanne Herring. Each actor turns in a great performance and gets the most out of Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay. Speaking of Sorkin, fans of West Wing and Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip will celebrate the return on his witty banter.
At face value, Charlie Wilson’s War is about a likable but lazy congressman who takes it upon himself to free Afghanistan from Soviet control in the 1980s. However, the film is much more than a history lesson. Charlie Wilson’s War demonstrates what can happen when the self-absorbed wake up to the plight of the world around them and take action. Through Wilson’s journey we see the importance, glory, and price of changing the world.
What’s Not: The film, like its protagonist, has a few character flaws. Charlie is a philanderer, we know that much from the trailer. But the camera comes close to objectifying women as much as Charlie does. For instance, Charlie’s office is staffed by a collection of bombshells (a more executive batch of Charlie’s Angels, as it were), and we simply laugh and think of him as a scoundrel. The camera, however, never misses an opportunity to linger a little too long on one of these bombshells, or ogle them via a slow zoom. At any rate, it seems as though Charlie’s indiscretions may have rubbed off on our director and his crew.
The Bottom Line: This film unfolds slowly, so action fans need not apply. Those who enjoy an intriguing slice of history, however, should get in line.
We’re putting the finishing touches Jan/Feb issue of COLLIDE, so I don’t have much time for the blog right. However, I wanted to get your thoughts on something. In the upcoming issue, Craig Gross of XXXchurch.com fame expresses his dislike of GodTube.com. Essentially, he asks why we need a Christian version of YouTube when YouTube works just fine. He asks, “Why not use the sites where the people are?”
At its core, this is a huge conversation about Christian versions of everything from rock music to breath mints, and I’m really doing it a disservice by not developing it properly. However, I’m interested to hear what you, the COLLIDE blog reader, think of GodTube.
Normally, we don’t support junk. But in the case of the Junky Car Club, we’re willing to make an exception. If you’re not familiar with the club, here’s a little bit of info scraped from their website:
Junky Car Club members are learning to live with less so we can give more. We’re a bunch of happy drivers who are politely rebelling against consumerism by driving junky cars. We encourage our members to use their dough to support social justice causes instead of making fat car payments. We believe in environmental stewardship and hanging onto things a little longer. Junky Car Club members sponsor kids living in poverty through Compassion International.
This Christmas, the Junky Car Club is inviting you to help them raise money for homeless kids by purchasing a 2008 Junky Car Club Calendar. Rather than traditional pin-ups, the calendar features great design work and pictures of Junky Car Club members with their junky cars. The concept of living with less in order to give more is so powerful (although rarely evident in my own life) that I hope you’ll consider supporting the Junky Car Club this Christmas.
