Courageous

Posted on January 16, 2012 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some violence and drug content
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drugs, drug dealing
Violence/ Scariness:	Some violence, teen killed in an accident, shoot-out
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	September 30, 2011
Date Released to DVD:	January 16, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	B0062NAVXA

Courageous is the story of men who confront danger every day as law officers but who discover that it is a bigger challenge to be good fathers and family men.

Sherwood Pictures, the faith-based film production company behind “Facing the Giants” and “Fireproof,” gets closer with each film to matching its skill to its vision. “Courageous,” written by brothers Stephen (co-producer) and Alex (co-star and director) Kendrick. It is the story of four cops in Albany, Georgia. At work, they work to stop a drug smuggling ring. But the sheriff reminds them that drugs can appear appealing to people who are vulnerable because they do not have the support and attention of their fathers. It is their task as crime-fighters and as men, he explains, to be involved as fathers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9qd1xw7uvg

Adam Mitchell (Alex Kendrick) adores his daughter but has a hard time connecting to his son. And he is too often “too busy” to be there for both of them. Nathan Heyes (Ken Bevel) loves his children and moved them away from the city to keep them away from bad influences. But his son is intrigued by a new friend with a flashy car and his strict rules have made his teenage daughter pull away from him. He is adopted and never knew his own biological father. Shane Fuller (Kevin Downes) is divorced and shares custody of his son with his ex-wife. He makes up for their limited time and his own hurt about his parents divorce by acting more like a pal than a dad. And David Thomson (Ben Davies) has never acknowledged or supported his daughter by an ex-girlfriend. He left when she refused to have an abortion. The men befriend Javier Martinez (Robert Amaya), an immigrant who is having a difficult time providing for his family.

When Mitchell’s family suffers a devastating loss, Heyes’ adoptive father brings the men together for a formal ceremony to commit to a “Resolution” to honor God in every aspect of their family lives and then they bring it to their church, calling on other fathers to join them. When one of them makes a terrible mistake that separates him from his son, the fellowship of his brother officers helps him accept responsibility and seek forgiveness. The men also take on father duties for teenage boys who need their guidance.

The sincerity of this series of films and their willingness to present flawed characters in a spirit of understanding, compassion, and forgiveness make up for some predictability and inconsistency in experience in acting and filmmaking. It is a tribute to their vision and dedication that their movies have found such enthusiastic support and I look forward to seeing what they do next.

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Martin Luther King: Movies to Celebrate His Legacy

Posted on January 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

Today we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King and every family should take time to talk about this great American leader and hero of the Civil Rights Movement. There are outstanding films and other resources for all ages.

Every family should watch the magnificent movie Boycott, starring Jeffrey Wright as Dr. King. And every family should study the history of the Montgomery bus boycott that changed the world.

It is important to note that he was not asking for complete desegregation; that seemed too unrealistic a goal. This website has video interviews with the people who were there. This newspaper article describes Dr. King’s meeting with the bus line officials. And excellent teaching materials about the Montgomery bus boycott are available, including the modest and deeply moving reminder to the boycotters once segregation had been ruled unconstitutional that they should “demonstrate calm dignity,” “pray for guidance,” and refrain from boasting or bragging.

Families should also read They Walked To Freedom 1955-1956: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Paul Winfield has the lead in King, a brilliant and meticulously researched NBC miniseries co-starring Cecily Tyson that covers Dr. King’s entire career.

The Long Walk Home, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek, makes clear that the boycott was a reminder to black and white women of their rights and opportunities — and risk of change.

Citizen King is a PBS documentary with archival footage of Dr. King and his colleagues. Martin Luther King Jr. – I Have a Dream has his famous speech in full, still one of the most powerful moments in the history of oratory and one of the most meaningful moments in the history of freedom.

For children, Our Friend, Martin and Martin’s Big Words are a good introduction to Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.

‘Red Tails’ — The Real Story of the Tuskegee Airmen

Posted on January 15, 2012 at 8:00 am

George Lucas wrote the story for this month’s release, “Red Tails,” about the heroic WWII fighter pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. It will be in theaters on January 20.

The American armed forces were not integrated until 1948, so throughout WWII they were still segregated. The 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps, informally known as the Tuskegee Airmen, were the first African-American military aviators. The historically black Tuskegee Institute initiated a flight training program. When First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited for an inspection and was taken for a ride by one of the instructors, it brought some visibility and support to the program and the work of civil rights pioneers like the NAACP’s Walter White and labor leader A. Philip Randolph led to the passage of legislation specifically allocating funds to train African-American pilots.

The pilots and support crew of the Tuskegee Airmen had an extraordinary record of skill and heroism.

According to Wikipedia:

In all, 996 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1941 to 1946, approximately 445 were deployed overseas, and 150 Airmen lost their lives in accidents or combat. The casualty toll included 66 pilots killed in action or accidents, and 32 fallen into captivity as prisoners of war.

The Tuskegee Airmen were credited by higher commands with the following accomplishments:

15,533 combat sorties, 1578 missions

One hundred and twelve German aircraft destroyed in the air, another 150 on the ground

Nine hundred and fifty railcars, trucks and other motor vehicles destroyed

One destroyer sunk by P-47 machine gun fire

A good record of protecting U.S. bombers, losing only 25 on hundreds of missions.

Awards and decorations awarded for valor and performance included:

Three Distinguished Unit Citations

99th Pursuit Squadron: 30 May–11 June 1943 for the capture of Pantelleria, Italy

99th Fighter Squadron: 12–14 May 1944: for successful air strikes against Monte Cassino, Italy

332d Fighter Group: 24 March 1945: for the longest bomber escort mission of World War II

At least one Silver Star

An estimated one hundred and fifty Distinguished Flying Crosses

Fourteen Bronze Stars

Seven hundred and forty-four Air Medals

Eight Purple Hearts

An excellent made-for-television film, The Tuskegee Airmen, starred Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding, Jr., who appears in this film. “Red Tails” also stars Terrence Howard, who played a downed Tuskegee airman taken prisoner in “Hart’s War.” There is a PBS documentary, The Tuskegee Airmen, with the pilots and crew of the 332nd and those who are working to tell their story and restore one of their planes.

There are also many books, including The Tuskegee Airmen: An Illustrated History: 1939-1949 and the oral history Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II and the children’s book, Tuskegee Airmen: American Heroes.

More “The Real Story” posts:

We Bought a Zoo

Unstoppable

Soul Surfer

Sanctum

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The Real Story War

Joyful Noise

Posted on January 12, 2012 at 7:00 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for language including a sexual reference
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense family confrontations, bullies, brief fight, gun, sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters including disabled character
Date Released to Theaters:	January 13, 2012
Date Released to DVD:	April 30, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	https://amzn.to/4xxi2xm

Joyful indeed — this movie is pure cinematic sunshine, guaranteed to brighten the heart and gladden the spirit. Super-divas Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah play rival gospel choir leaders in an inspiring and heart-warming story filled with love, laughter, music, and praise.

G.G. (Parton) is still mourning the loss of her husband Bernard (Kris Kristofferson) when she receives another blow. She expected to take over his duties as choir leader but the church council picks Vi Rose (Queen Latifah) and her more traditional approach instead. Vi Rose’s husband is in the military and out of contact. She has to take on extra work to support Olivia and her son Walter (Dexter Darden), who has Asperger’s syndrome that makes social interaction difficult. She is devoted to the choir, a source of stability and connection for her. She wants it to be competitive but it is more important to her that it be clear that the focus is on the music as worship, not performance. When they get a chance at the national title — and a budding romance between G.G.’s grandson Randy (Broadway star Jeremy Jordan) and Vi Rose’s daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer of Akeelah and the Bee) — G.G. and Vi Rose will have to find a way to work together harmoniously. And that, after all, is what a choir is about.

Writer/director Todd Graff demonstrated in the underrated Camp and Bandslam that he understands teenagers as characters and works well with them as performers. His sincere and sympathetic appreciation for their stage of life is a pleasure to experience. Graff also understands the passion of those who love to perform before a live audience and the challenges they face. As an experienced theater nerd himself he knows how to stage musical numbers. And he is remarkably adept at managing a lot of characters and story lines gracefully, giving each element of the story its own dignity and spirit and sensitively evoking a touching sense of a small-town Georgia community hit hard by the economic upheavals of the past five years. I would have excised a not-very-comic sub-plot about one choir member’s difficulty finding a date after a man dies following their first night together. But the rest is skillfully blended with some sharp dialog. “You’re so country you’ve been married three times and have the same in-laws,” one character teases another. “Your train of thought makes all local stops,” says another.

Queen Latifah gives her best performance to date because Vi Rose is the most complex character she has played to date, giving her a chance to show her confidence, her humor, and her warmth. She shines in a terrific speech about what incandescent beauty really means and sings a moving “Fix Me, Jesus.”

Parton makes a welcome return to feature films after nearly two decades in a role as tailor-made for her as her fitted choir robes. G.G. is flashy and outspoken. But she, too, is trying to hold on in difficult times. She is estranged from her daughter and trying to care for her grandson. In a scene of piercing sweetness, she remembers her life with her husband in a tender duet that gently evolves into a trio.

Jordan and Palmer are enormously appealing, with a quiet chemistry that lights up the screen.

Parton’s three tuneful new songs are mixed with raise-the-roof adaptations of gospelized classics Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” and Michael Jackson’s “The Man in the Mirror.” On stage and off, Graff shows us the characters’ kindness and sense of connection even when they frustrate each other and it feels very genuine. There is a lot of heart in the musical numbers that deepens our pleasure in seeing the characters find what the harmony they are looking for.

Parents should know that this film includes tense and unhappy family situations, sad deaths, bullies and a brief fight, a gun, sexual references, earthy humor and a non-explicit situation, jokes about character who can’t get anyone to sleep with her because someone died after they had sex, and some strong language (b-word, s-word).

Family discussion: What was the biggest difference between Vi Rose and G.G.? Who was right? Find out which members of your family have participated in choirs and go to see some of the choirs in your neighborhood.

If you like this, try: “The Fighting Temptations” and “Bandslam” as well as real-life gospel performers in Soul of the Church and Rejoice and Shout and the glorious Aretha Franklin in Amazing Grace.

The Iron Lady

Posted on January 12, 2012 at 6:43 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	Some violent images including war and terrorism
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the film
Date Released to Theaters:	January 13, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	B0059XTUVI

A performance by Meryl Streep of endless intelligence, skill, and sensitivity cannot keep this impressionistic portrait of Baroness Margaret Thatcher from being exactly the sort of sentimental nonsense she spent her career trying to avoid. “People don’t think anymore; they feel,” she says in this movie, with infinite disdain. “It used to be about trying to do something,” she says in an earlier scene. “Now it is about trying to be someone.” This film recognizes her point of view but then comes down on the side of feelings and of being rather than doing.

Margaret Thatcher was one of the most influential and polarizing figures of the last half-century. She was the first woman to serve as the British Prime Minister and she held the position for an extraordinary and transformational decade that included highly controversial privatization initiatives, major reductions in the power of unions, and a brief war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

Based on this film, however, one would conclude that she is a dotty old lady who was once fierce, peremptory, and ambitious, but now cannot quite remember what it was all about. It is always a relief to be spared the usual biopic structure of highlighted anecdotes as a shorthand explanation for the person’s motives and fears, followed by assorted personal and professional high and low points, all conveniently assembled to create the illusion that lives can be neatly dissected. But, as with “J. Edgar” a few months ago, this film goes too far in the other direction, leaving us with an unreliable, subjective approach. A movie about a real life should not pretend to be definitive, but it should be illuminating.

Streep is truly magnificent, creating a vibrant character of passion and strength and her scenes with Jim Broadbent as Thatcher’s supportive husband are touching. But without some sense of what made her so passionate and how she formed her ideas about economics and foreign policy it’s just a less glamorous version of “My Fair Lady.” A young woman is literally groomed for success, her hair shellacked into an intimidatingly immobile helmet, her voice lowered, her accent raised. Without a “why,” though, it’s just a trip to the ball. It is a shame that a film produced and directed by women takes such a diminished view of Thatcher, reducing the scope of any doubts or regrets she might have at the end of her life to house and home and overlooking the fierce engagement with ideas that was truly her core.

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