Rich Kao

I saw the DVD in it's entirety today.  I liked it on several levels.  1) Never seen Al Gore so natural and passionate.  He probably would have won the election had he just communicated like he did in this video, vs his wooden campaign style. Refreshing.  2) His use of slides, video, pictures, graphics were outstanding; course it helps to have world class professionals help you craft the presentation.  3) As a scientist, I liked his attempt to draw on science, and speak from depth and data, but not having heard or examined the "other side" I just can't swallow his message hook, line and sinker.  4) However, I liked the overall tone and message that there are things we can do to be good stewards of the earth.  Why not?  Why plunder and pillage and live like it won't make a difference?  Call it creation care or whatever you like, but living in ways that are responsibly materialistic in my mind is a biblical concept.  5) Lastly, where do I land on the global warming issue?  To be honest, my personal experience matches up more with the global warming advocates than those that are against it.   Since my childhood days, I've seen the weather get wonkier, seasons are not as predictable, there are greater catastrophic weather events, sections of the ice shelf breaking off is indeed troubling, and temperatures seem to gyrate more wildly.   This is decidely visceral but my experience would tend to corroborate the global warming theory, not contradict it.  In the meantime, for me to change my ways to be a good global citizen is hardly a hardship, and as far as I can tell, there's only upside to it, and possibly a heroic one at that.

Terrific, terrific movie.  Inspirational and moving.  It's a biopic about William Wilberforce, the English politician that helped outlaw slavery in England.  With wonderful sets, costumes, music and dialog (my favorite part; I loved the high, dignified thoughts of the characters), the film recreates the pain, perseverance and ultimate triumphant experienced by Wilberforce in his mission to overturn the injustice of slavery.  An amazing arc in the movie is Wilberforce's relationship with John Newton, the converted slave trader that penned probably the most beloved hymn of all time - Amazing Grace.   Serving as Wilberforce's spiritual mentor, Newton spurs him on to finish the course and complete the task.  Truly an amazing story, and a true one at that.  Thank God for William Wilberforce and John Newton.  What he hath wrought through vessels of clay.

Universally praised, this is a great movie based on a true story of a hotel manager that sheltered 1200 Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide of 1994, even though he himself was a Hutu, the ethnic group perpetrating the mass killings of the Tutsis (nearly one million of them) .

Besides great acting (Don Cheadle) and story line, I found myself personalizing the story in nearly every scene? Would I have sheltered the Tutsis at the risk of my own life and my family's? Would I have acted with such courage? Where do you draw the line between acting in self interest (and ones family) and leaving others behind to die? How would I have reacted to the massacres and rapes and gross injustice? Would I have instructed my wife and kids to "jump to their death" instead of being killed by machetes? How would I respond as a Christian? Would I have been as quick on my feet in facing down danger as Don Cheadle's character was?

On a different level, the film brought out the incomprehensible horror of ethnic wars and genocide, and this is far from the first one. The cruelty of humanity is without words. No wonder people question God. Where is He in all this? Yet, such barbarism and atrocities are not a case against God, but a case against man and his need for redemption.

I think of all the lives of men, women and children that were literally hacked to death in this genocide. Will all that suffering be for nought? Somehow God will use that injustice to bring true recompense as only He can, and I would not to fall into the hands of an angry God when it happens.

If you haven't seen this movie, see it.  It will put something fresh in your soul.

Great movie by lawyer, comedian, gadfly, social commentator, and courageous documentarian Ben Stein.  Taking on the entrenched and hostile Darwin Evolutionist crowd is no easy task, but Ben Stein does a solid job in bringing to light the disdain and scorn Intelligent Design (ID) scientists have to put up with when they raise reasonable and scientifically based questions about the veracity of evolution.  Mr. Stein's basic objection is that freedom of speech, expression and civil dialogue is being suppressed.  I think his case was well made in the movie.  He does a great job of juxataposing old time black and white clips betwen the color story line, sometimes with great hilarity.   Course the evolutionist establishment will feel duly offended and tweaked by it.

Underpinning the movie is a sypathetic if not supportive view of ID's positions and claims that in fact 21st century science points to intelligent design.  Darwinian scientists are still unable to answer the big question of life, namely, how did this all start?  Where did all the starting material come from?

ID as a view is a minority one, and certainly politically incorrect.  It stirs up a lot of head shaking because the secular academics immediately equate it as a front for creationism.  But that is not the aim of the ID community.  It is a science based position that concludes the best way to make sense of the data is by overlaying it with an intelligent design model, not a chance and natural selection one. 

If evolutionists could suppress their emotions for awhile, maybe they'd catch a bit of the drift that the ID scientists are trying to put forth, unless of course scientists have embraced evolution as a world view.  In that case, then let's be out with it, scientific data is not what is governing the day, it's our own sense of morality.

 

What a story.  Moving. Inspiring.  Powerful.  It's a story of determination, love, dignity, overcoming odds, grit, a father's undying commitment to his son, and a real life happy ending.  This movie is based on the true  story of Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith), who went from penniless living, a wife who abandoned him, to a successful businessman all the while raising his son as a single dad.    From being kicked out his home to living in homeless shelters, even bathrooms in a train station, Chris Gardner's first priority was always to be a father to his little boy despite the intense pressure to become a stock broker with Dean Witter, where only 1/20 got hired.   Having never seen his dad until he was 28, Chris' mission is to break the cycle of fatherlessness.

The dynamic between Will Smith and his real life son in the movie (who plays Chris' son) is magical and amazing.  The power is in the details, expressions, nuanced interplay.  This is not one of those wham-bang or special effects action movies, or one of those throw-away comedy films.  It's just fantastic acting revolving around a great story.  One of my top five favorite movies of all time.   So many themes that converge, it's hard to describe them all.  From a preachers perspective, you could probably get five sermons out of  this movie.

Buy the DVD.  It's a great family investment that will be watched many times.