Interview: John Eldredge on “A Story Worth Living”

Posted on May 9, 2016 at 3:32 pm

John Eldredge, the author of books about faith like Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus. In his new film, “A Story Worth Living” Eldredge and his three sons, together with two life-long friends,take on Colorado backcountry on motorcycles to create a documentary about life, meaning and the longing to be part of an adventure bigger than one’s self.

“A Story Worth Living” is filled with spectacular scenery and inspiring conversations. It premieres in select U.S. Cinemas nationwide on May 19 through Fathom Events. In an interview Eldredge spoke about the way challenging adventures expand the spirit by helping us understand our own stories.

Tell me a little bit about the logistics of filming — it looked like there was at least one GoPro strapped to a rider but how many other cameras were there and who was operating them?

We had 17 cameras operating in all, what with the drone, three HD cameras operated by cameramen, and various go pros on the bikes and hemet cams on the riders.

Was everyone wearing microphones?

Sound is a tough one during adventure filming. We don’t always have the chance to mic everyone they way we would in a static setting. We used a combination of wireless mics, booms, and sometimes had to grab sound from gopros and helmet cams.

Did knowing it would be recorded affect your interactions and conversations?

What made this possible, what made it truly authentic and real – totally unscripted – was that this group of guys know each other really well, we’ve spent a lot of time in the outdoors together, and these are the kinds of conversations we have off-screen. That was a big part of our hope – to demonstrate that men can have meaningful conversations and not just bs about the football game.

What is the most important thing to look for in selecting companions for a journey like this one?

Ask yourself, “Would this person drive me to homicide if I was trapped in a car with them on a 17 hour drive?” Compatibility is huge. Now – everybody is quirky, everybody is a little odd. You just want to make sure that you love most of their quirkiness, that they make you want to laugh more than they make you want to scream.

What did you learn in your bike training that was particularly useful?

Confidence is everything. Like with skiing – you have to be willing to commit your weight downhill; if you lean back and fight it you will fall. We learned confidence on these big bikes by dropping them a lot, by skidding out, by hanging our bodies off them at every odd angle, so that we could fully commit when time came to cross a river or climb boulders on these powerful machines.

You spoke of the impulse for adventure — what defines an adventure? Is it risk? Is it the search for something new? For context?

d) all of the above. A big point we make in the film is that in our day of extreme sports experts, we’ve lost touch with reality, with what adventure is. you don’t have to catch a 30 foot wave in Tahiti; you don’t have to ride your motorcycle around the world, or even ride at all. Adventure is something that takes you beyond your own world, your comfort zone, something filled with risk, yes, but also with joy, with beauty. It’s a leap into the unknown with just enough ability so that it doesnt scare the bejesus out of you. That could be travel, could be starting a company, could be getting married.

How is the story of this journey different for the participants at different moments in their lives?

I love the age span on this trip, from 22-63. For the younger guys, the physical adventure wasn’t the big test so much as the honesty in conversation, the thrill of being with older men who have a lot more miles. But for Dan (63) and me (55) we took huge risks to keep up with the younger guys on the dangerous terrain. So the trip had challenges for everyone.

Were there any moments of disagreement or conflict?

Of course. There is actually an incredible amount of pressure added to a trip like this when you throw film-making into the mix. You’ve got so much pressure to make the shot, repeat sequences, get to the next stopping point, then be totally honest on camera. Most of the tension took place around the back side of the trip – the timing and logistics and the need to push ourselves 14 hours a day.

How can we be sure the story we create for ourselves is the right one?

The is the $60,000 question. Many factors are involved. First off – is the story you are living all about you? If so, it’s a small story. Is it governed by past hurts and fears? That , too, will trap you in small things – or push you to prove yourself in a story that frankly isn’t even true to you. Identity is a big factor – Most of us are living out scripts handed to us by other people. Bottom line, what is the motivating power? Is it love? Is it goodness? The desire for justice, or mercy, or kindness? Big stories call us up out of ourselves into something much larger than personal happiness.

How did seeing one member of your group get injured affect the others?

It was terribly sobering. My accident was especially hard on my sons – they really feared something worse was going to happen. We were amateur riders in some extreme altitudes, and we could feel every day the fear trying to get in that someone was going to get really hurt. So we prayed a lot!

What is the next adventure?

Several things. Bow hunting for caribou in the arctic – a film about where does your food come from and what does ethical eating look like? The young bucks are training for a half iron man, and making a film about that.

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Interview Spiritual films

Mothers and Daughters

Posted on May 5, 2016 at 5:18 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for brief drug content
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drugs
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense family confrontations
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	May 6, 2016

No one matters more to us than Mom and there is no one we can at the same time want everything and nothing from. We need their unconditional love and approval. We need them to always be glad to see us, always comfort us when we hurt. But we also need to feel that we can do without her, be independent. And then we don’t want to.

Last week’s awful “Mother’s Day” attempted to mine this material. This week, “Mothers and Daughters” does a better job. It still falls into the trap of putting the story in New York City but having all of the characters white and having them keep running into each other and resolving everything too neatly. But it avoids the sit-com vibe and intrusive product placement and has some understated and affecting moments.

In one of the movie’s highlights, Susan Sarandon appears with her real-life daughter, Eva Amurri Martino, who plays Gayle, a woman who is estranged from her family. She insisted on living with her boyfriend, who wants to start a high-end bakery and is sure he will get the loan he needs. But Gayle is getting nervous about the money he is spending and determined not to ask her parents to help them.

Selma Blair plays Rigby, a photographer whose married boyfriend has just — kindly — broken up with her to return to his wife. She is offered her dream job, accompanying a rock star on tour as his official photographer, when she discovers she is pregnant. “How long do I have?” she asks her doctor (“The Blind Side’s” Quinton Aaron). He smiles and tells her it’s a baby, not a terminal disease. She makes an appointment for an abortion, certain that she does not have it in her to care for a child, especially because she feels guilty about not doing more for her own mother, who is in a nursing home.

Sharon Stone is Nina, a fashion mogul whose daughter has dropped out of a prestigious internship and won’t tell her what she is doing instead. Mira Sorvino is Georgina, whose new line of bras is launching, and who has a secret she has not told her very supportive boyfriend. And Courteney Cox is Beth, a wife and mother of a teenage son. Her own mother has just died, leading to the revelation of a family secret that has caused great anger and pain.

There is a quiet sincerity to the film that makes up for some slickness in the screenplay, with its overly convenient twists and rapid progress toward hugs and forgiveness.

Parents should know that this film has mature material including sexual references and discussions of family secrets. There is some alcohol and brief drug use.

Family discussion: Which family had the most difficult problem? Why did Rigby change her mind?

If you like this, try: “The Meddler”

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The Russo Brothers Tell Us What to Know Before Seeing “Captain America: Civil War”

Posted on May 5, 2016 at 3:20 pm

Captain America: Civil War

Posted on May 4, 2016 at 8:00 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem
Profanity:	Brief strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended superhero/action violence with chases, crashes, and explosions, characters injured and killed.
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	May 6, 2016
Date Released to DVD:	September 13, 2016
Amazon.com ASIN:	B01D9EUNB4

The most important element of any superhero movie is the villain. He (or she) has to pose a credible threat to humanity and challenge particular strengths and vulnerabilities of someone with extraordinary powers. In “Captain America: Winter Soldier” there was a paranoiac Pogo-esque “we have met the enemy and he is us” theme that is expanded in “Civil War.” It goes to the heart of the Avengers themselves as a critical issues divides them so they are fighting each other.

The issue is not one we usually see in superhero movies or indeed action movies in any category: consequences. Part of the fun of action movies is seeing all of the chases, fights, and explosions, without having to worry about the cleanup or what the military euphemistically calls “collateral damage.” But this story has more impact because it acknowledges and engages with the damage that superheroes do while they are preventing worse damage. It falls somewhere between “The Incredibles” and “Eye in the Sky.”

The true meaning of collateral damage is presented early on in “Civil War.” Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has just announced that he will fund all of the student research projects at MIT when he is confronted by a mother (a small masterpiece of devastation and fury from the extraordinary Alfre Woodard). Her son was on a humanitarian mission when he was killed in the Sokovia crash of an entire city at the end of Avengers: the Age of Ultron. For her, it doesn’t matter that the entire world was saved in theory by a supervillain who is not around when her son was killed in reality by a man who is. “You think you fight for us,” she says. “You fight for yourself.”

Stark is devastated. “We’re no better than the bad guys.” The man we first saw demonstrating his company’s military weapons as though he was a rock star performing an arena show and who had no problem defending the money he made in munitions finally has to reckon with the truth he barely realized he had been moving closer to. And that is why, after the typical superhero opening action sequence we get a non-typical reaction. With SHIELD collapsed following “Winter Soldier,” the Avengers are operating on their own, without any oversight. A coalition of 117 nations insist that they agree to be subject to a UN commission (the “or what” is not ever spelled out because, what would it be?).

One of the film’s most intriguing developments is that not only do the Avengers line up on opposite sides but they don’t take the positions we might expect. Stark’s post-confrontation grapple with guilt has the most anarchistic of superheroes suddenly looking for the comfort of some rules. And the shock of SHIELD’s corruption has the most Boy Scout-ish of all superheroes, Captain America (Chris Evans) suddenly resistant to putting himself under anyone’s control. Some of the avengers pick a side on principle; some are more instrumental or practical. The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), who has her own history of unspeakable crimes, says, “Staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo deftly manage an enormous cast of characters. It’s easier to list those who do not appear in this film: Pepper Potts, Thor, Nick Fury, and the Hulk. Pretty much everyone else is here, and superbly added to the mix we have Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, who has some surprises in store, Black Panther (a lithe, powerful, and compelling Chadwick Boseman), avenging the death of his father, and the brand-new Spidey (Tom Holland, with Marisa Tomei as Aunt May). Bucky/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) is here, too, and his storyline nicely mirrors the larger themes. He has been responsible for terrible crimes and abuses and some can never forgive him. But Captain America knows something about military operations. “We try to save as many people as we can,” he says. “Sometimes doesn’t mean everybody.” He knows how a human can become a weapon, and he is determined to get his friend back. Remember, this is not the Justice League. They are Avengers, and another character’s determination to get vengeance provides one of the movie’s most signficiant twists.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll just say the action is everything you’d hope, with superhero-on-superhero collisions beyond the dreams of fanboy heaven. Keep an eye on the motorcycle. And the helicopter. And Ant-Man. And some cool special effects with Stark’s augmented flashback/therapy. And stay through the credits, of course.

Parents should know that this film includes extended sci-fi/comic book action violence with chases, crashes, and explosions, characters injured and killed, and brief strong language.

Family discussion: What are the best arguments for Ironman’s position on the accords? For Cap’s? How is this Spider-Man different from other portrayals of the character?

If you like this, try: “The Avengers” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”

Coming to Netflix: The Queen Elizabeth II Story “The Crown”

Posted on May 3, 2016 at 3:54 pm

As Great Britain’s longest-reigning monarch turns 90, “The Crown” focuses on Queen Elizabeth II as a 25-year-old newlywed faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world’s most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and a young woman takes the throne….a new era is dawning. Peter Morgan’s masterfully researched scripts reveal the Queen’s private journey behind the public facade with daring frankness. Prepare to be welcomed into the coveted world of power and privilege and behind locked doors in Westminster and Buckingham Palace….the leaders of an empire await.