Entries Tagged 'Movies' ↓

On our way home from Asbury, we stopped in Huntington, WV for a couple days. While there, we checked out some of the memorials related to the plane crash that killed most of the players on 1970 Marshall University football team.

Ever since we saw the movie, We are Marshall, we’ve noticed the exit signs for Marshall University on I-64 near Huntington, WV. So, on our final trip from Asbury, we finally got to stop.

Last November, we watched the movie, which is based on events surrounding the plane crash, and particularly, the rebuilding of the team in the months that followed. We enjoyed the movie and I wrote about it in this post (one of the more popular topics from search engine traffic, especially when the movie was still fairly new).

The story is a great example of leading during times of immense adversity. Coach Jack Lengyel, who was hired to rebuild the program, did a magnificent job!

For more on the 1970 tragedy, see Marshall University’s memorial page, which includes a number of links, including a link to the newspaper article that appeared on the front page of the local newspaper the day after the crash.

What we did …

• We ate lunch at the Marshall Hall of Fame Cafe.
• We visited the memorial at Marshall University.
• We traveled to the Spring Hill Cemetery to see the memorial and the burial places of six of the players whose bodies were unidentifiable (as seen in the movie).
• We saw the memorial at the football stadium.
• And, finally, we visited the site of the plane crash on a hillside near the Tri-State Airport.

It was an interesting experience, especially after having watched the movie. Now, I want to see the movie again!

This week, we watched the movie, The Martian Child (starring John Cusack and Bobby Coleman as Dennis, aka the Martian Child).

We saw a preview of “The Martian Child” a while back, and thought we’d like to see it. What we didn’t know at the time is that it is an adoption-related movie.

The movie opens with David (Cusack), a science fiction writer who’s recently lost his wife, considering the adoption of Dennis, a 6-year-old boy who thinks he’s from Mars. Dennis spends his time at the foster home in a large box because he fears sunlight. He wears a belt of batteries taped together because he fears he will float away due to earth’s weak gravity.

David eventually decides to take Dennis on a trial basis, at first. Once, David asked Dennis, “Why did they send you here? You know, the Martians?” Dennis replied, “To join a family and to learn human beingness.” Another time, Dennis is doing a Martian dance all by himself. David notices and then joins him. After their dance, Dennis says, “Nice talk.” In the movie, Dennis only eats Lucky Charms cereal — I’ve been craving Lucky Charms ever since!

The movie tells the story of David and Dennis’ journey, in the words of the movie’s tagline, “The story of a man becoming a father … and a boy becoming a son.” The movie is based on a true story. The original novel, The Martian Child, was written by David Gerrold, who wrote about his own story of adopting his son, who believed he was from Mars.

It’s a good movie.

We’re keeping a list of adoption-related movies. Previously, we wrote about Meet the Robinsons.

Also, please let us know (by posting a comment here) if you’ve seen “The Martian Child,” and what you thought about it (or even if you think you might watch it). Also, feel free to suggest other adoption-related movies.

Today marks our 14th our wedding anniversary. Over the course of the past 14 years, God has led us on quite an adventure!

We’ve spent about a third of our marriage in a doctoral program (that we’re trying to finish up!). That’s on top of beginning our marriage while we were completing a Master’s program. In all, we’ve spent nearly half of our marriage in school. We suppose it was fitting that we began our program at Asbury during the week of our 10th anniversary!

During the past 14 years, we’ve served 10 different churches between us. Because we’ve served in multiple church settings, we’ve served as many as 6 at the same time between us (currently 5). Also, we have lived in 6 different houses in 4 different towns since we’ve been married. “God has led us on quite an adventure!”

It’s been a great journey, so far, and we’re certain the adventure will continue. In the coming weeks, in fact, we’ll travel to Korea to become parents, which will be an adventure in itself!

As part of our anniversary celebration yesterday, we watched the movie, The Bucket List, which focuses on the adventures of two men, Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) and Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman). Edward is a corporate billionaire and Carter is a working class auto mechanic. Once strangers, their paths cross when they share a hospital room together where both men discover they have a terminal illness. Rather than giving up on life, however, they create a “bucket list,” an adventurous list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket.”

It’s a good reminder for us to be intentional about living life to the fullest and making the most of our days so that we do not allow them to slip away unnoticed. That’s an especially good reminder as we move toward bringing Ethan into our home.

All in all, we’re incredibly grateful to God for his presence in our lives, and we look forward to all that God will do in and through our family in the years to come!

Yesterday, we went to see the movie, August Rush (official movie site). The movie caught our attention a few weeks ago the moment we saw the first preview/commercial on TV. We knew immediately that this is a movie we wanted to see as soon as possible. August Rush just opened in theaters this past Wednesday. “An incredible journey moving at the speed of sound.” (movie tagline)

And we were not disappointed. In fact, we were blown away. August Rush is a very moving movie. It’s no wonder that the movie won a Truly Moving Picture Award.

The movie tells the story of an 11-year-old boy, Evan Talyor, whose name is changed to August Rush (Freddie Highmore) by the Wizard (Robin Williams), who Evan meets on the streets of New York. The boy lives in an orphanage, but believes that he will be reunited with his birth parents one day. He believes the music that he hears in everything will somehow connect him to his parents — Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) and Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) — from whom he was separated at birth.

We really look forward to this movie coming out on DVD in a few/several months. We may come back later and post some quotes from the movie after it’s released on DVD (subtitles on DVDs make it easy to transcribe some of the dialogue).

We’ve been wanting to watch We are Marshall for a long time but it’s been hard to find a copy of the DVD on the shelf at one of the local video rentals stores. We finally watched it, and it was worth the wait.

We are Marshall is a true story about the rebuilding of Marshall University’s college football team following the plane crash in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia on 11.14.1970 that killed all 75 passengers (including the school’s 37-member team and coaches as well as a number of other community members).

At first it appeared the school would not try to rebuild the football program immediately. However, students, including Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie), one the team’s players that wasn’t on the plane due to an injury, convinced school officials to rebuild the program, in a moving scene where students gathered on campus and shouted, “We are Marshall!”

Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) was the coach that was hired to rebuild the football program at Marshall. Lengyel was portrayed as a bit eccentric but was clearly the right person for the job.

In a major turning point, Jack convinced university president, Don Dedmon (David Strathairn), to get the NCAA’s approval to field freshman players. Jack asked President Dedmon, “Now, are you married?” After Dedmon said he was, in fact, married, Jack said, “I am willing to bet that you didn’t propose over the phone” and “I know … she didn’t say yes in a letter. Huh?” Jack went on to say …

You can do it. You’re an outlaw. Pioneer. Gunslinger. This is a whole new game, Doc. [...] There’s a first time for everything, Don. And if we’re gonna survive, this has to be one of those times. And you’re the only man that can do it.

Later, in a scene between Jack and assistant coach, Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), the former team’s only remaining coach who had switched out with someone else just prior to the crash. Jack tries to change Red’s mind about quitting the team.

Just before the plane crash, Red had earlier recalled Coach Tolley’s final words to his team that had just lost on the field. He said, “Winning is everything.” In a scene that took place in a church, where Jack found Red, Jack says, “He was right, you know.” Red asks, “Who was right?” Jack says …

Your boy Tolley. Winning is everything and nothing else matters. I mean, I’ve said that so many times myself I’ve lost count. You know? And it doesn’t matter what sport, and it doesn’t matter what country and coach who’se worth a darn in this business believes those words. Fact. And then I came here. For the first time in my life, [...] maybe for the first time in the history of sports, suddenly, it’s just not true anymore. At least not here, not now. No. You see, Red, it doesn’t matter if we win or if we lose. It’s not even about how we play the game. What matters is that we play the game. That we take the field, that we suit up on Saturdays, and we keep this program alive. We play the game, Red, and I’m telling you, one day, not today, not tomorrow, not this season, probably not next season either, but one day, you and I are gonna wake up and suddenly we’re gonna be like every other team in every other sport where winning is everything and nothing else matters. And when that days comes, well, that’s when we’ll honor them.

And he was right. At the end of the movie, viewers are told that Jack Lengyel resigned as head coach in 1974 with a record of 9 and 33. In fact, Marshall lost more games in the 70s than any other program in the nation. But yet, football remained. In 1984, the Herd had their first winning record in 20 years. They followed it with 8 conference titles, 5 straight bowl wins, and 2 national championships. The Young Thundering Herd proves that sometimes you just gotta play the game!

Just before the team’s first home game after the crash, Jack started a tradition at Marshall, taking the team to the cemetery where team members who died in the crash were buried just before the game. Here’s what Jack says to his team …

This is where we have been. This is how we got here. This is who we are today. I wanna talk about our opponent this afternoon. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, more experienced, and on paper, they’re just better. And they know it, too. But I wanna tell you something that they don’t know. They don’t know your heart. I do. I’ve seen it. You have show it to me. You have shown this coaching staff, your teammates. You have shown yourselves just exactly who you are in here (pounding his chest with fist). Now, when you take that field today, you’ve gotta lay your heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game, but if you play like that, we cannot be defeated.

It’s great comeback story!

The DVD also has a great 40-minute special feature that alone is worth the rental fee. The spot features legendary coaches, including Jack Lengyel, Bobby Bowden, Pat Summit, Lute Olson, George Horton, and John Wooden in their own words. It’s a leadership seminar! In the coming days, I’ll (Randy) post some quotes and reflections on the words of these great coaches.

Don’t just live a life, leave a legacy!

Awhile back, we watched The Ultimate Gift (official movie/movement website). We watched it again while visiting family in Tennessee earlier this week. It’s a great movie with the tag line, “A life experience becomes a gift.” The movie is based on Jim Stovall’s book, The Ultimate Gift.

The movie begins with the death of Red Stevens (James Garner), a wealthy businessman. One of his family members, Jason Stevens, expects (as does the rest of the family) a big inheritance. Instead, his grandfather recorded several video vignettes during his final days, which become a crash course on life for Jason. Red states …

So I want to give you a gift—a series of gifts leading up to, well, I wanna call it “the ultimate gift.” Now, you fail in any way, it’s over. You get nothing.

During one of his recorded speeches, Red says …

Our lives should be lived not avoiding problems but welcoming them as challenges that will strengthen us so that we can be victorious in the future.

That’s a great statement!

If you watch The Ultimate Gift on DVD, be sure to watch the beginning of the credits at the end of the movie for a recap of the “gifts,” which include:

The gifts of …

• Work
• Money
• Friends
• Learning
• Problems (You don’t begin to live until you lose everything, Red.)
• Family
• Laughter
• Dreams
• Giving
• Gratitude
• A day
• Love

The music in this movie, composed by Mark McKenzie is good. Our favorite is “Something Changed” by Sara Groves. The song is about life transformation. The chorus says …

And I cannot make it. And I cannot fake it. And I can’t afford it. But it’s mine.

The song, which appears on Sara’s 2005 Add to the Beauty CD (you can listen to 30-second clips of all of Sara’s songs at her site; just find the album and click on the song title) [EDIT: Sara's site has changed and this link no longer works, unfortunately], proclaims that life change is God’s work — you can’t make it, fake it, or earn it, it’s a gift from God to all who will receive it.

Since the movie we’ve become very interested in Sara’s music! We especially love her latest single (from her upcoming CD, “Tell Me What You Know” called “When the Saints,” an inspirational song for people who want to change the world).

One of the movie’s sponsors, Once Upon a Family, has put together a kit to help families put the message of the movie into practice. As we prepare for parenthood, we’re thinking about things like legacy and developing strong character in children. This movie certainly comes at the right time for us!

The movie reminded us of Leonard Sweet’s book, SoulSalsa, especially the chapter called, “Bounce Your Last Check.” You can read extensive portions of the book at Google Books (scroll down to page 52 to read a portion of this chapter). In the book, which you’ll find in our list of recommend books for leaders, Sweet says, “Soul artists receive good things gratefully and give it all away in the end.”

We strongly recommend “The Ultimate Gift.” Even more importantly, this is a movie that needs to be more than simply watched and enjoyed, it needs to be internalized and put into practice.

May God help us all to leave a legacy!

The movie “Hitch” highlights the importance of believing in what you do.

Hitch, starring Will Smith, who plays Alex Hitchens, or “Hitch,” known as the “date doctor,” and Eva Mendes as Sara Melas, is a great movie, especially if you like romantic comedies.

Hitch basically helps guys get dates. Sara is a gossip columnist for an NYC tabloid. Despite both having been hurt in relationships, they begin a relationship with one another. But things get difficult when their work collides and brings their relationship to an end.

We watched the movie a a good while back, but the movie has a lot of good scenes and lessons. One scene toward the end of the movie especially has a great lesson for leaders. Do we believe what we’re “selling” or, has our job simply become, well, our job? Do we truly love God and love people or, has loving/leading people simply become a product we sell?

This particular scene involves Hitch and Albert (Kevin James), one of Hitch’s clients. Albert’s relationship with Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta) gets destroyed because of Sara’s work as a gossip columnist when she discovers that Hitch is the “date doctor.” She think she’s discovered evil motives behind his work.

The following scene/transcript begins when Albert enters Hitch’s apartment with a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Here’s the transcript:

Hitch: What you got there?

Albert: This? (box of doughnuts) I figured maybe if my heart stops beating, it wouldn’t hurt so much.

[…]

Albert: I want you to fix it.

Hitch: I got nothing, Albert. Hey, you wanna do something? We should get out tonight.

Albert: Honestly, I never knew I could feel like this. I swear I’m going out of my mind. I wanna throw myself off of every building in New York. I see a cab and I wanna dive in front of it, because then I’ll stop thinking about her.

Hitch: Look, you will. Just give it time.

Albert: That’s just it. I don’t want to. I’ve waited my whole life to feel this miserable. If this is the only way I can stay connected with her then this is who I have to be.

Hitch: No, you don’t. You can change, you can adapt. You can make it so you don’t ever have to feel like this. Ever again.

Albert: Oh, my God. You just don’t get it do you?

Hitch: I get it.

Albert: Let me get this straight. You’re selling this stuff, but you don’t believe in your own product.

Hitch: Love is my life.

Albert: No. Love is your job.

Hitch: Hey! You wanna jump out a plane without a chute, be my guest. But forgive me if I don’t join you.

Albert: This isn’t about love for you at all, is it? (Hitch walks away) Yeah, this whole time I thought I was the coward. (Albert turns to walk away)

Hitch: Where you going?

Albert: Skydiving! (Albert storms out)

Have you lost touch with why you do what you do? Has your call to lead simply become a job or a product you sell? Or, do you believe in what you’re doing?

Movie inspires viewers to keep dreaming!

Last week, we watched The Astronaut Farmer. The movie made me think about dreams and creativity.

A few years ago, I read John Maxwell’s Thinking for a Change, which includes a sad survey on the state of our creativity. The survey reveals that as we age, we become less creative. According to the survey, 2% of men/women in their 40s were found to be highly creative. As they continued their study, they also found that 2% of 35-year-olds were highly creative. This proved to be true all the down until they reached 7-year-olds. 10% of them were determined to be highly creative. However, as researchers continued, they discovered that 90% of 5-year-olds were highly creative!

These results cause me to wonder what happens between ages 5 and 7 that causes us to lose our creativity. Maybe Dr. Suess was right, “Adults are obsolete children.”
The Astronaut Farmer is about a middle-aged man’s dream to go into space. In the process of building a rocket in his barn, he encounters a lot of skepticism and ridicule from small minded people who don’t understand his dream. Charley Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton), when asked by reporter why he was building a rocket and planning to launch said, “It’s always been my dream.”

The movie takes place in a small town. At one point, Farmer’s friend, Arnie, said:

I’m your friend first and a banker second, all right? Now, folks around here, they think you’re crazy. I happen to think you’re a genius. You got bad credit, but you got great character, and uh, that rocket ship of yours is amazing. But as a friend, I have to look you in the eye and say that I think it’s time you give it a rest.

Later, after serving Farmer a 30-day notice of foreclosure on Farmer’s property, Arnie says:

You got 30 days, so you gotta open your eyes. Look at this as a wake-up call, because the dream is over. It’s gotta stop now, before you lose everything.

Because Farmer throws a brick through the banker’s window, he must see another childhood friend, Nurse Goode, for a psychiatric evaluation. She tells him, “The rocket is not going to bring you a happy childhood. We all just have to grow up and just take responsibility.”

These statements remind me of what I heard Ed Young Jr. say at a seminar in early 2006: “Little people with little vision will go after awesome people with awesome vision.”

My favorite quote in the movie comes at the mid-way point. Farmer, standing before the FAA committee to determine whether or not he would be permitted to launch his rocket, said:

You see, when I was a kid, they use to tell me I could be anything I wanted to be. No matter what. And maybe I am insane, I don’t know, but I still believe that. I believe it with all my heart. Somewhere along the line we stopped believing we could do anything. And if we don’t have our dreams, we have nothing.

We must guard our dreams. Bobb Biehl says, “Dreams are like soap bubbles floating close to jagged rocks on a windy day.” Isn’t that a great picture of the fragility of dreams? Guard your dreams. Don’t let anyone cause you to doubt God’s ability to accomplish great things through you!

Creativity is something we’re thinking about as we prepare to be parents. Part of the key, it seems, is simply not killing creativity. Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Lately, I’ve been thinking about good movies for leaders, movies teach, inspire, and challenge leaders to make a difference in the world. Here are some of my favorites …

• Coach Carter
• End of the Spear
• Freedom Writers (see our previous post here)
• Glory Road
• Mr. Holland’s Opus
• Pride
• Remember the Titans
• The Devil Wears Prada
• The Pursuit of Happyness

We also put these movies in the sidebar in a list called “Movies for Leaders.” The list will change as we add movies to the list.

We’re sure there are many other good movies for leaders. To add a suggestion, please click on “comments” and post the name of your recommended movie for leaders. We’ll add them to our personal list of movies to watch, and if we like it, we may add it to the blog list.

Song from the movie “Music & Lyrics” makes a good prayer.

Awhile back we watched the movie Music & Lyrics on DVD. It’s a romantic comedy that Joleen, particularly, wanted to watch. At first, it was just an okay movie, but overall, it was a good movie, especially if you like romantic comedies.

Music & Lyrics is about a washed-up 80s pop singer, Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant), who is given an opportunity to write a song for a top young musician. Unfortunately, he’s only given a couple days to do it. His strength has always been writing music, not lyrics. During the couple of days he meets a writer, Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), who seems to have a knack for composing lyrics. The movie is about the development of their relationship, how music and lyrics go together.

Anyway, toward the end of the movie Alex composes and sings a love song that I think makes a great prayer, especially the ending …

“And now I know I’ve already blown more chances than anyone should ever get. All I’m asking you is don’t write me off just yet, don’t write me off just yet.”

God is constantly at work in us, molding and shaping us into the people he wants us to be. Sometimes we yield and surrender and God is able to form us. Sometimes we resist, and God’s formational work in us gets much harder. Sometimes I just want to say to God: “Don’t write me off just yet!”