Movie Recommendation: Band of Brothers

I've wanted to watch Band of Brothers for years now. I even rented the first couple of episodes from the video store to begin them a few years ago. However, for some reason or another, I never really fully committed to watching the entire series. Last week, I completed Band of Brothers, and I dare say that I'm not sure that I've watched anything better.

Thanks to a friend of mine (to protect his identity, we'll just call him Brenden) who allowed me to borrow his DVD set of Band of Brothers, I watched the ten episode series over the last month and a half, spacing it out between classes and Xperience events.

Band of Brothers was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and was presented on HBO in 2001. It was based on the book by Stephen E. Ambrose which chronicled Easy Company in the 101st Airborne. This particular company was one that parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day in Normandy and stayed at the front lines for pretty much the remainder of World War II. The miniseries is a stunning achievement in direction, acting, cinematography, and writing. The series' greatest achievement, however, is its telling of the story of those brave men of Easy Company and the hardships they faced together fighting to secure the freedom of Europe, and ultimately, the rest of the world.

It is a compelling story of a group of normal guys that decided to fight for their country and became heroes and comrades. Watching the documentary on the actual men of Easy Company in the special features, I realized how perfect the casting was and what a fantastic job the actors did in their portrayals of the soldiers.

Spielberg and Hanks created a World War II movie that far surpassed Saving Private Ryan in every way. Band of Brothers gets my highest of recommendations.

Back Into the Grind

Break's over and I've come back from home a little happier and a little fatter. It was good to get away from the pressures of school for a while, but now I'm back in K-zoo solving statics equations and finding sources for my research paper. In three weeks, the semester will be over and I'll be back home again, relaxing and drinking egg nog.

I hope everyone had a very good and relaxing Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

It's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I will be returning home from college this weekend to enjoy some time with my family and friends. I welcome this holiday. I think I am in dire need of a vacation, to get away from this town for a bit. I hope that all of you have a great, relaxing, loving holiday and don't get too stressed shopping on Friday.

Wikipedia entry on Thanksgiving.

Jacob IV: Destinies Assigned

Gen. 28

From the parent's perspective, one good thing comes out of Jacob stealing his brother's blessing and birthright. Esau married a couple of women that Isaac and Rebecah did not approve of, while Jacob is as of yet still unmarried. They do not want him to marry a Canaanite woman like Esau did and cause even more headaches for the family, and now that Jacob carried God's covenant, it was possible for it to fall into more noble hands. So, at his parent's request, Jacob leaves his home and makes his way North to a place called Paddan-aram, where his uncle Laban lives, in order to find a wife.

When Esau hears about this, he marries the daughters of Ishmael. With his blessing taken, he settles in to his destiny and begins to take his place as the second son of Isaac and Rebecah.

On his way to Paddan-aram, Jacob also is prepared for his destiny. While sleeping one night, he has a dream of angels ascending and descending down a staircase from heaven.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Gen. 28:13-15

With this dream, God officially places his Covenant with Abraham and Isaac on Jacob as well.

The next morning, Jacob took the stone he had used as a pillow and anointed it with oil and named that place Bethel.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you." Gen 28:20-22

So Jacob makes God his conditional God. If the Lord helps him, keeps him fed and clothed, and returns him home safely, he will accept him as God. Jacob is testing God's word and his Covenant. If God keeps his word to Jacob, he will become His servant and will pay a tithe to Him.

Now Jacob is on his way to fulfilling the destiny that God gave him, and even more, fulfilling the destiny that God gave to Abraham.

Back to Blogging

After a week's hiatus from blogging, I fully intend to return to the routine. Between my busy schedule last week, my emotional stress levels, and the fact that my internet was down, I haven't been very productive on this blog as of late. However, I do have three tests coming up this week, so I give no promises to the upkeep of this site.

I'm not going to Mexico this year. It was a big decision, but after praying about it, I realized that it was more important to stay here and focus on my studies. Perhaps I'll go on a different trip next summer, or even back to Mexico next year.

Also, two more movies have been added to The List:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Dr. No

These are two classic movies that I have not seen. I've been adding a lot to the list lately, but there are many, many more movies that will eventually end up there.

Lost has finished its initial six episode run and will not return until February. It will be well worth the wait, I'm sure.

Like Budwiser's Real Men of Genius radio ads? You can find every one of them on this site.

Enjoy.

Another List Update

Two movies have been added to The List:

The Lion in Winter

A Man for All Seasons

List Update

MASH has been crossed off of The List.

I didn't really enjoy this movie. Aside from having different characters from the TV show, it just wasn't all that funny. It had its moments, but for the most part it was just about the antics of a couple of sexist, childish, mean-spirited men. There was no plot and you never knew when the end of the movie would come.

I don't recommend this movie.

Remember, Remember...

"Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot..."

Today is my birthday. It also the day that Guy Fawkes attempted to bomb parliament in 1605 (a la V for Vendetta).

A great fictional event occurred on this date as well. The inventing of the flux capacitor, which makes all time travel possible.

Here's a link for more information on this fantastic achievement:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_capacitor

A Good People

Today I was riding in a car with a friend listening to a Christian radio station, when a song came on that I had not heard in a long while. It was Audio Adrenaline's Good People. The song brought back a lot of memories from my teenage years when I bought their first album and would rock out to their music. I still like their cover of Free Ride.

As I listened to the lyrics talk about how Christians from all over were unique in the fact that everyone knew they were good people from the way they lived, I started to wonder whether or not that was actually true. Christians like to pride themselves by saying that their different from everybody else and that they are kind and loving. However, from what I gather, society sees a group of hypocritical, judgmental people that gather in their churches and only relate with other Christians.

I guess most of my dissatisfaction with the modern church is that these perceptions are largely true. While I detest using the word hypocritical to describe Christians (the word can be used for any group of people as there is no one who is perfect), I do see churchgoers acting very judgmental toward non-Christians and fellow Christians alike. I also see a lot of churches planning events and fun nights primarily for their congregations with the hope that new people will suddenly decide to come in and be converted. This makes the church look more like a secret society that shelters and separates their congregation from the real world while also regulating how a person must act and talk in order to be a Christian.

All ranting aside, I know that the church has done a lot of good and that there are many, many churches that are doing awesome things for their congregations and their communities. But I think it is important that we as Christians examine ourselves and see if, in our quest to be God's people, we are failing in our mission to rescue the lost. Do we appear to be a good people, or are we just society's prime example of a good thing gone bad?