Variety?

Hello all,
Having fiddled with the Archives page again (I can't seem to just leave it be), I discovered something rather shocking. We have almost no Marvel or DC reviews.
Now that's only shocking because superhero movies and TV shows tend to be a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, the secret I have been unintentionally keeping from the blog has at last come out.
And I'm sorry. Stacy and I will work harder to review these, since we do tend to watch quite a few of them. I suspect the reason there are so few reviews is because we see these in theaters, and people give you the "what are you doing?" look when you bring a notebook (actually, it's just hard to take notes in a theater. too many distractions, no pause button, etc).
But that is no excuse. I'm going to get right on this, probably over break.
Thank you again for all the visits! And as always, we're happy to take suggestions.
God bless!

Book Review: The Prisoner of Zenda

This book, like Peter Pan, is one of the books I have included in the British Literature course I am teaching. I hope that, even if I do not have much time to review books I have read in my free time, I can always turn to the literature courses I am teaching for material.

Title: The Prisoner of Zenda
Author: Anthony Hope Hawkins (commonly just "Anthony Hope")
Release Date: 1894
Genre: action, adventure, drama, fiction, Ruritanian Romance (like The Princess Bride!), politics, romance
My Rating: *****
Students'* Rating: Unanimous "Awesome!"
Official Rating: fiction
Age Group: 12+

Summary
Rudolf Rassendyll has never done anything productive with his life, and his sister-in-law can't take it anymore. Go see the crowning of the king of Ruritania, she says. Go rub elbows with the big shots. Have fun.
Fine. To keep his sister-in-law happy, Rudolf wisely heads off to Ruritania. However, on the way, he finds himself caught up in a political war and impersonating someone, the threat of death always upon him.
Best (worst?) of all? He falls in love with the woman he is courting--while impersonating her real betrothed.
Will Rudolf be caught in his impersonation? And how to rescue the man he is impersonating?
And what is he to do about Princess Flavia?

Word of Warning

• Characters get drunk. We don't see them acting drunk, they just are drunk.
• A character is drugged and kidnapped.
• People get hurt, but nothing graphic and usually not serious.
• A few chaste kisses.
• Sword fights. Guns. Excitement!
• A character impersonates another.
• Someone dies.

My Thoughts
This is possibly one of my favorite books of all time, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when my students liked it too. Maybe I wasn't biased after all!
No, in all seriousness, this is a fantastic tale. It's so good that it established the Ruritanian Romance genre (courtly romance in a fantasy setting). There is danger, impersonation, sword fighting, break-ins, and very interesting moral musings about what is right and what is not.
It's not the easy-going style of more contemporary writing, but it is intriguing enough and not too complex, making it readable, just a bit of work for younger readers less experienced in the classics.
The main character is fun, witty, and a great adventurer. And while he might start of careless and fun, he develops into a self-sacrificing man who ultimately does the right thing, no matter how heartbreaking that ends up being.

Fun Fact(s)
In addition to establishing a whole new literary genre, Hope/Hawkins earned the praise of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island.
Anthony Hope Hawkins is much better known as simply Anthony Hope, it is fun to note that he has the same last name as Stevenson's protagonist Jim Hawkins.
Though he wrote 32 works of fiction in addition to plays, Hope/Hawkins is best known for The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau.


*Students in this particular case range from grades 8-12, class contains nearly even number of boys and girls.

Album Review: Under the Arches

Hello all!
To usher in the beginning of a new church season, and because my ears are so very happy at the moment, I thought I'd do an interesting review of some music. Interesting because I am reviewing a cover album, so in a sense I am double-reviewing (reviewing the lyrics of the original as well as the covering artist). This will change the format a bit, of course, but hopefully it is still relatively familiar. Here I go!


Title: Under the Arches
Author: Summit Singers
Release Date: 2015
Genre: pop, country, classic, A Capella
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: N/A
Age Group: 6+

Summary: Summit Singers is an all male A Capella group based out of the University of St. Thomas. While they have been performing for a few years now, this is their first album. Below are the songs they covered and a review of the lyrics, as well as their renditions.
Their Website
Music Video of I Lived 
Updated to add: O Holy Night

My Thoughts
My one critique is that the balance between the main singer (the person with the lyrics) and the backup (the people with the music) needs some work. Far too often, the main singer is drowned out by the others. And along the lines of the main singer, they do not always pick their best singers to play that part. Which sometimes is actually a good choice given the song (lyrics, meaning, feel, etc), but sometimes can be a big frustrating.
Other than that, these guys are fantastic. Listening to their music, well, honestly I shouldn't be trying to use words to describe something like this, no matter how much we English majors value them. Words fail here. There is little to say except these young men are very very skilled and I hope you have the chance to enjoy these great songs not only in their original form, but in this A Capella rendition.
And one other thing: as fantastic as this CD is, it does not do this group justice. Someone else who has heard them live said the same thing. This is fantastic, and I love having it in my car so I don't have to wait for the biannual concerts, but as amazing as the CD sounds, they sound even better in concert.

As with all my music reviews, I've added a break here because the post is so long. I encourage you to click and read on!

Movie Review: Schindler's List

*******MATURE CONTENT WARNING*******

Disclaimer: I watched this movie for a theology class titled "Christian Faith in the Management Professions." Basically, it's a class about theology in the business world (and a fantastic class at that!). Because of this, I was paying close attention to the business aspects of the story. I realize there is more to the story than that, and I have tried to highlight it in my review, but if I miss anything, or say something hurtful or offensive, I apologize. The Holocaust was a horrible event in history, so horrible movies and books cannot begin to address it, but we need to start somewhere.
With that said, I humbly present my review of this stunning movie.

Title: Schindler's List
Author: Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson
Release Date: 1993
Genre: Drama, true story, historical, WW II
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: R
Age Group: 18+

Summary
World War II opens up a whole new world of business for eager entrepreneur Oskar Schindler. Finding that he can hire Jews much more cheaply than any other workers, the man makes a serious profit off Jewish labor while the Jews are kept in a Ghetto. His accountant/manager Itzhak Stern (also a Jew) takes the opportunity to make "essential workers" of people otherwise considered by the Nazis as useless. A one-armed man. Older people. A teacher. A little boy. The list goes on.
Slowly, Schindler starts to see the horrors that are happening around him and his little business. During the scene titled "Liquidation of the Ghetto" he finally sees reality and has no idea what to do.
Eventually, Schindler creates a good business that keeps Jews safe. When the camps begin to kill the Jewish people living in them, Schindler makes a list of all his workers. They are essential, he says, and he doesn't have time to train new ones. The little girls' fingers help clean out the shells of bullets, he argues, and they must come too. He pays the camp officials for his list of Jews and brings them to his home town where they work in a factory.
None of this, however, happens without struggle.

Word of Warning
 I'm going very general here. Let me say this: the movie is rated R and it has every reason to be. Personally, I regret seeing some of the scenes of this movie. It was very intense.

• Death. People die all the time. Most are shot in the head. A head blows to pieces, blood spurts from wounds, etc. Most of the violence is non-graphic and almost calm in an utterly disturbing way.
• Most memorable and painful death moments: a young child is killed and more young deaths are implied; the man's head being blown off; a whole "cabin" of men is lined up and every other man is shot; about five men are lined up and shot with one bullet, those remaining standing are shot individually; a man is hanged; a hospital shooting where everyone there is shot (the nurses killed the patients beforehand secretly); little boy shot while being held up by soldiers; the random killings by Goeth which are shown from affair but sudden an unexpected
• Nudity. Both Schindler and Amon Goeth (camp official) have mistresses. Goeth's mistress is seen completely topless more than once, but as far as I can remember not in a purposefully sexual way. It's usually just morning and she is lounging in bed. Jews are told to remove all clothes and forced to run about the camp for a physical evaluation--men and women are shown completely nude. This is non-sexual and usually brief. Women are shown completely nude going into a giant shower house. Again, non-sexual.
• Schindler is a player. He has a wife but is not at all faithful to her, and she spends most of the movie living elsewhere. He has a regular mistress in addition to flirting with other women and, in one scene, kissing a whole bunch of different women.
• An official mocks a young women who is barely dressed, beats her, and leaves her for dead.
• Drinking. One character is shown drunk.
• Burning of dead bodies.
• Language is an issue, but not to the point where it detracts from the movie. Considering how, when, and who uses it, I think it makes sense. It's just not appropriate language for younger children, but they should not be watching this movie.
• This movie is considered a relatively accurate representation of the Holocaust.

My Thoughts
This is a horrific masterpiece. I'm not sure how to describe it. The music, the acting, the black and white film, the dullness and simplicity, everything. It all adds up to show a beautiful story in the midst of something utterly horrific.
In the midst of it all, Schindler is oblivious at first, just as the girl in the red coat. But as he watches the girl, he comes to a realization: he can't be clueless anymore. She remains so, and dies. Schindler decides to live purposefully--and not just for money.
Money isn't the greatest good anymore--people are.
My heart broke more than once as I watched this movie. I don't regret watching it, but it was very very painful--as it should be.
Wonderfully done. Beautiful horrible story.
Praise God for giving us people like this in our times of need, to rescue the few they can.
And praise God for giving us film makers like this who can share the story and touch hearts all over again.

New Archives Page

Hello all,

We have a new Archives Page! Read on to find out more!
Or, instead of reading all the details, stop by and check it out!

Movie Review: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Title: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Author: Starring Chris Pine and Keira Knightley
Release Date: 2014
Genre: action, drama, romance, war, thriller
My Rating: ***
Official Rating: PG-13
Age Group: 14+

Summary
After a horrific accident in a helicopter, Jack Ryan works for the CIA undercover. He has possibly one of the most boring jobs out there: watching numbers on a screen. But one day those numbers show something frightening, and Ryan reports to his boss. Who promptly tells him to go to Moscow and fix the problem.
Now, Ryan's not supposed to be an agent in the field, but he's the only one who really knows what the data says or what he's looking for. Plus, this mission should really just involve looking at a few accounts and coming home.
Yeah, no. That never happens in these kinds of movies. And while we're at it, let's throw in a girlfriend who thinks Ryan is cheating on her because he's suddenly keeping things from her, and a surprise trip by this girlfriend to join Ryan in Moscow.
Things can't get much worse, can they?
Oh yes, they can.

Word of Warning

• The helicopter is hit by what looks to be an RPG. This seriously injures Ryan and those inside, and we see Ryan on a stretcher, skin singed, two broken vertebra and in serious pain.
• An unmarried couple living together and presumably having sex. A few kisses, more desperate (since people are almost dying) than passionate.
• A man pretends to be drunk and insults his fiance. This might not merit being mentioned, but it was just really sad and horrible to see how he treated her verbally.
• People die. A lot. A man drowns, others are shot, and Ryan barely escapes with his life more than once. There is mention of torture (waterboarding and others), specifically that of inserting a lightbulb into a young woman's mouth with the intention of breaking said bulb while it is in her mouth. One man likes to kill people with a metal sheers (like the one you use to sheer sheep). While silent and not very gory, there's something very disturbing about this.
• Guns. Jumping off crazy heights. Car chases. Car crashes. A bomb. Basically, all that you would expect from this genre.
• Language? I don't remember it being a big deal, but I know there was some in the movie.
• The end of the movie is the death of a main character. It is silent, with classical music playing in the background, and not dramatic, but heartbreaking.

My Thoughts
Well, that was good. I love a good action movie, far more than I like other genres, and on a Sunday afternoon this one did not disappoint. I don't think I'd watch it again, but action movies in general are not very enjoyable to re-watch. I also don't regret watching it. It was relatively clean and not very gory, intelligent in its premise, but with enough action to do what every good action movie does: make you think the movie is over a good hour before it is. Because you're so sure that's the climax, and then it's not, so that must be it, but that's not it either and so on.
Basically, it was good. I appreciated that the language wasn't a big issue and that, compared to other movies in this genre, the content wasn't too bad.
I'm rambling, and I know that. That's because I liked the movie, but it doesn't stand out enough for me to say, "This is the most amazing movie I've watched!" nor does to say "I really regret wasting my time on this."
So there you have it. It was good. It wasn't the best, or the worst. It just fell in a nice place somewhere in the midle.

Book Review: Johnny Tremain

Title: Johnny Tremain
Author: Ester Forbes
Release Date: 1943
Genre: adventure, war, revolutionary war, romance, coming of age, historical fiction
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: children's fiction
Age Group: 10+
Awards: Newbery Award

Summary
Young Johnny Tremain has it all. He's the star silversmith apprentice at a successful shop in the New World. He's set to inherit the practice, and marry the silversmith's pretty daughter, in a few years' time. And the thing is, he's good at what he does and he loves it. Sure, he's an orphan and still has no idea who his father was, but he did love his mother very dearly before she passed on. And while he still misses her, he's made a great life for himself.
Until he slips. Literally, he slips. Working on a Sunday to get a very important job done, Johnny slips and burns his hand in molten silver. When the bandage comes off, it is discovered that his thumb has grown attached to his palm. He's not useful as a silversmith anymore.
Kicked out on the streets while tensions rise between the colonists and the British, Johnny must find a way to survive.

Word of Warning

• Violence and death. This being a young man's experience with the Revolutionary War, there is violence even though the book is considered children's fiction. None if is particularly graphic, but people do get hurt and die.
• Crime is sometimes glorified. For those who know the history of the Revolutionary War, the rebels who are so often praised acted very much like common criminals at times, stealing, destroying property, and hurting people. Granted, this particular book only hints at these deeds, but it should be noted that our "heroes" do commit criminal acts.
• Guns. A war is fought with guns, and characters get guns and they use them and people die.
• A character who could be considered disabled is shamed and treated poorly. However wrong this is, it was the reality of the time and this is historical fiction.
• Along those lines, this story is also told from a very one-sided point of view: a young white male colonist. This could potentially constrain the story to missing other important things. But on the other hand, a point of view does need to be taken or the author won't be able to get anything done.
• Our good old Johnny Tremain can be a bit of a bully, particularly in the beginning of the book. This should not be taken lightly. The hero is a bully. Once he is on the other side of things, he does change some of his ways.

My Thoughts
Honestly, this is one of my childhood favorites. It's one of those books you read once every two years or so just to remember how great it was. It's the book you buy whenever you see it on sale because you know some young person in your life could use this great adventure (or am I the only one who rescues books from the sales shelf and rehomes them?).
And all the objections up there? This might sound awful, but they don't really matter. I mean yes, they are bad things, and yes, we need to consider the youth we are handing this book to because not everyone should read this. But this is historical fiction, and these problems are treated as such. They are a representation of what life was like, not what it ought to be like. Because that's what fiction in general does: it represents a truth the writers sees in the world, not necessarily the way the world should be. That's the reader's job to figure out based on a well-formed conscience, faith, and the reality the writer is pointing out.

Book Review: Peter Pan

Title: Peter Pan (also known as The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up or Peter and Wendy)
Author: Sir James Matthew Barrie (Scottish novelist and playwright)
Release Date: 1911
Genre: adventure, fantasy, family, pirates, children, friendship, motherhood, coming of age, magic
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: children's book
Age Group: 10+

Summary
Peter Pan sneaks into bedroom windows, kidnaps children, and brings them to Neverland--boys though, always boys. Then one fateful night he loses his shadow, and it's a girl (Wendy Darling) who figures out how to reattach it by sewing it back on. Peter is delighted, and decides his Lost Boys need a mother. He, of course, has no need for a mother. But the Lost Boys do, and Wendy's little brothers John and Michael can join them.
So off they fly to Neverland where they have great adventures, don't grow up, start to lose their memory, and quite honestly don't learn anything that will advance their moral development. When an attempt to return home is thwarted by Peter's greatest enemy, Captain Hook (feared even by Long John Silver, who is the only man Flint feared), Peter must save the day. Can he? What happens if he does?

Word of Warning

• Everything is a game to Peter, and games are very real. Sometimes, he imagines that all the boys have eaten, and so no one is allowed a real meal because of this.
• Peter is all about adventure. Killing is just an adventure. Death? "The greatest adventure of them all."
• Peter apparently cut off Hook's hand and fed it to a crocadile.
• Hook kills people ruthlessly.
• The natives of the island are called redskins.
• Everything on the island is very childish. There's nothing wrong with children and childishness, but Barrie shows a world where childishness goes unguided and causes great horrors.
• Tinker Bell has quite the mouth on her! She says the word a** several times, and other times is said to have sworn but we are not given her exact words.
• All sorts of vices. Pride, jealousy, disobedience because it is fun, and so on. Remember, these are children who have no guidance.
• Peter's a bit of a jerk. Ok, a lot of a jerk, but a charming jerk so people tend to forgive him.
• The Lost Boys cannot see women for anything other than their potential to be mothers. While seeing the potential to be a mother is a beautiful thing, it's also short sighted to not look beyond fulfilling the need the boys have for a mother by using whatever woman happens by as such.
• There is a common misconception, probably due to Disney's movie, that Peter is a hero and Hook is a horrible person. In the book, this isn't nearly as clear. In fact, there is an argument to be made that it could be the other way around. Basically, the warning here is not to improperly idolize Peter.

My Thoughts
It's a fun, easy to read book. I don't think it was written as a theological study on the right way of living, facing reality (acceptance), growing up, motherhood, and children. It's too free and disconnected for that.
But it's there anyway. This is a fascinating fun little story that goes much farther than the adventures Disney shows us. It digs deep into the heart of the human being and what is needed in order to live a full life.
But, you know, if you just want some fun reading and not too much thinking, this is still a great book. Because on the surface, that's what it is. Plus, it has a fantastic writing style that's carefree and gives the tone of childish to Neverland. And it's a blast to find all the references to Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, which, yes, were intentional.
 Below that though, there is something very interesting going on in the story that merits deeper study if one is up to the challenge.