As you know, I like movies. I keep a running list of good ones and ones that look good that I need to see. Movies sometimes help point me back to the Master Story.

Here’s the list, which will change as things go… but click on the clickable ones for more.

• The Village
• Contact
• Donnie Darko
• Groundhog Day
• Luther
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Primer
• Shawshank Redemption
• Simon Birch
• Spider Man
• To End All Wars
• Truman Show

I’ll also post other movie-related thoughts, like good movie recommendation sites, under the rolling site category: Movies.

Note: this post was originally a page, but I decided to turn it into a post since things get stale… here are the original comments:

This is the movie that secured Shamalyan’s status as my favorite movie storyteller. The Sixth Sense was a good one that got my attention. I then noticed that Signs had some good things going. But then The Village absolutely grabbed my whole attention.As you can see, I’m pretty excited about this film…

You might want to just watch the movie first and then get into this stuff. What follows is a bunch of seemingly random stuff that doesn’t make much sense unless you’re already “in” on the movie. Warning: there are definitely “spoilers” in what follows.

Here is my (long) list of striking insights:

• Simply as a story, or even as a movie (I mean, as basic entertainment), I think that The Village works because of a few things. It has a grabbing conflict (the villagers vs. “those we don’t speak of”), an overall element of mystery, interesting characters (especially Ivy and Lucius), a love story, and a final resolution with which most people can relate (Ivy saves Lucius).
• The village is an intentional community set-up separate from the surrounding culture in order to protect the members from evil and to preserve innocence.
• The elders realize that they can’t totally guard from evil. They come to the realization that suffering is just part of life that they need to endure (as seen in the opening scene of the film where a father grieves over his son’s grave).
• Shamalyan expresses this theme in a blatant way through the brief guard shack scene. This scene is the only view of the outside world during the film. We see the newspaper headlines and also hear the radio news full of stories of war and murder. This shows that Shamalyan is toying with the idea of separating from the outside world. He’s saying, “I see the insanity of this surrounding culture, and so what would happen if people actually set-up a real sheltered society like this village?”
• A Christian worldview seems incompatible with this village, as it seeks to sustain life out of the world instead of in but not of the world. The Christian call is to be different from the surrounding culture, but also to influence the culture with the Christian message. I would make the case that groups like the Amish are more “in the world” than this village because of the word of witness that the Amish currently speak into the surrounding world. Our culture actually knows about the Amish and is horrified at the idea (it’s working). This village is totally secluded and so only exists for itself. A possible greater good is that this village may preserve something true if the rest of mankind were to totally dissolve.
• The experiment by the elders in establishing the village works because the elders have set-up a force of fear to achieve the seclusion of the members. The question is, “What is permissible in achieving the end of preserving innocence?” Should fear be allowed as a means to a seemingly noble end?
• I’ve heard that this idea is close to what’s called Plato’s “noble lie” – that a society can be based on an untruth if that untruth sustains a “greater good”.
• Elder Walker and the mother of Lucius (Sigourney Weaver) deny their feelings for each other. This is the right thing to do because Walker is a married man. All right! He does what he can for this widow and shows her real love by keeping a special eye out for her son Lucius , but all the while he denies any inclination or opportunity he feels to show her love in the physical way that she, and even he, might want.
• Excellent moment that hit me hard on what it means to be caught-up with a beloved: Lucius shows up at night on Ivy’s porch. She asks him why he’s there and then continues to talk away. She even asks him flat-out if they’ll dance on their wedding night. “Why can’t you say what’s in your head?” “Why do you always say what’s in yours? Why must you always lead when I want to lead? If I want to speak, I will speak. What is it if every thought from the time I wake is on you? What is it if I cannot think clearly or work properly because I think of you in harm. I only fear for your safety before all others. Yes, we will dance on our wedding night.”
• Ivy is lost when Lucius is injured because his light is dim. She looses her place in the world without the guiding light of her beloved.

More Questions:

• If the community fails then was it a worthy endeavor? The Irish elder guy resigns to Ivy being allowed to travel to the city by saying that the village won’t fail if it is, in the end, worthy. Worthy how? Worthy in the sight of God?
• Noah = Evil? Is Noah the only one that acts out of any selfish ambition in the movie? He seems to act out of the jealousy he has for Ivy.
• Tough question: Why is Ivy so beautiful? To Lucius? To me? Is there such a thing as true beauty?

Quotes and misc:

• Elder Walker: “I hope I am always able to risk everything for the just and right cause.”
• Continues… “She will not fail because she is led by love. The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.”
• “A leader is one that people will follow – is one that sees light when only darkness surrounds.”
• Even after Walker tells Ivy not to fear, she is still afraid upon touching the costumes and she is still afraid when in the woods. Does she have any rational reason to fear? No, but it’s difficult to control the emotion of fear.
• We should not operate out of fear in relation to our life and purpose but instead we should act out of love and trust.
• She says that if Lucius dies she will die with him. She can live as though dead – without fear of death, what else is there to fear?

How’s about somebody lets me know if anybody ever finds anything neat in what I’ve collected here?

I like movies.

I keep a list of good movies, some of which I’ll feature on this site.

I intend to post about some good movies with the hope that I can share with my people a love for good story.

Good stories are ones that contain bits of what I’ve heard called, “The Master Story” – the all-surpassing Good News that the God of the universe loves us and has shown it through his son, Jesus Christ.

Really, I’m not that into movies… I know that these movies in themselves will all pass away, and only the master story will remain. Only the good that the stories portray will survive the great shaking of the earth. Only the stuff that is part of the master story will remain at all because it will be found in Him.

And so we hold onto these movies lightly and we focus on the golden parts of them. No movie is perfect. Sorry for any junk you see in them. As we say, “Eat the fish and spit out the bones.”

Enjoy the movie list and the first movie post, The Village.