Tag: Rated PG-13

The Fault In Our Stars — 3 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Sad

SUMMARY: A depressing ride to death through the lives of people with no hope to hold onto.

DETAILS: Sad… this film is sad on a couple of levels. Sad in that it deals with death and dying. Our main characters are on their way to the grave. But more sad in that no one in the film has a hope to hold onto… there is no afterlife, no heaven, no God, no hope. The brief glimpse of any Christian influence is done in a mocking manner of a cancer support group leader who makes a hook rug of Jesus and is portrayed in a very cheesy way. The part that I did like was the Willem Dafoe character… who really is the God character in the film. He is the author of book that our heroes love… but the book literally ends in the middle of the sentence. Our characters must travel across the sea to meet this author and ask him why and what really happened next. When they arrive they are sorely disappointed and they learn that “God doesn’t care about them or for them” or so they perceive. But in the end this God character comes to our heroine and leaves letter that she won’t read until later, a letter that brings an element of redemption. The farther I get from this movie, the more I like it… or at least parts of it. Or maybe I just like being far from it???

SCORE: 3 out of 5

RELEASE: 2014
RATING: PG-13

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Beyond the Farthest Star — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Complicated
SUMMARY: A family and their hidden secrets shake up a small Texas town.

DETAILS: Complicated…. This is probably one of the best “Christian” films I’ve seen. It’s gut-wrenching honest dealings with issues of hidden pasts, parenting difficulties, and troubled relationships are sure to hinder the profitability in the traditional “Christian Market” for this film, but hopefully it will help it find a much broader audience who are hungry for this style of honest filmmaking. A pastor and his family move to a small town to start afresh. The pastor was once sold as the “next Billy Graham” but something has obviously changed. His daughter is dark and into cutting and burning herself, his wife hides deep secrets of their past, and his story is about to thrust into the national spotlight due to a civil liberties case. The denouement of this film is way too long, but almost necessary to unravel all the threads that make up this complicated, yet compelling storyline. Look for it next Spring in select theatres. My good friend (and editor of two of my own films) James Burgess did the editing on this film and it’s definitely worth a watch.

SCORE: 3.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2013 – Not Yet Released
RATING: PG-13

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Music and Lyrics — 3.5 out of 5 stars

ONE WORD REVIEW: Fun!
SUMMARY: A has-been pop star and the girl who waters his plants work together to write a new hit for today’s current hot act.
DETAILS: Fun!… Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore star in this romantic comedy about an unlikely pair who team up to write a song. Grant’s character can write the melodies but lyrics are not his strong suit… and his previous solo album (and its failure) are proof of that. Barrymore has a gift with words, but lacks the confidence needed to write them down. Together they create a great song and of course, they fall in love along the way. It’s lighthearted and fun, yet still teaches us about overcoming our pasts as well as our failures and shortcomings.

SCORE: 3.5 Stars out of 5

RELEASE: 2007
RATING: PG-13

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Duplex — 2.5 out of 5 stars

Ben Stiller & Drew Barrymore move into a Brooklyn duplex with a noisy, crazy, but charming upstairs neighbor who they can’t get to leave. They soon realize that their only option is murder.
SCORE: 2.5 out of 5

RELEASE: 2003
RATING: PG-13

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Blue Like Jazz — 4 out of 5 stars

Donald Miller’s story of college and christianity. At an extremely secular campus he gains a sense of what is real about his faith in spite of all the hypocritical christians he knows.

SCORE: 4 out of 5
RELEASE: 2112
RATING: PG-13

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