Vintage21 Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a satirical video series on YouTube originally developed for a four week teaching series on Jesus developed in 2003. The four videos dub satirical voice overs on scenes from a classic Jesus film, highlighting what are regarded as preconceived notions from a staunch starched Sunday School era of the past.
Hide and Seek
“No Peter I wasn’t playing hide and seek. I only told you that so you would leave me alone. You see I’m an important guy…”
Church Meeting or Football
“Rule number two. You’re not allowed to have any fun unless you’re laughing at how dumb the devil is”.
Naming the Sinners
“Frank we all know what you did, but I can’t repeat it…because I’m Jesus”.
“John you drank too much wine the other night, not way too much just enough to make me angry”.
Jesus in the Temple
“Okay get me off this thing, if i can walk on water i can walk to the door”.
I managed to see a preview of Prince Caspian at the movies on Friday May 9, as a member of the press. Having read the Narnia books as a young boy, I was reasonably familiar with the story and expected a swash-buckling effects-laden experience. I was not disappointed. Here’s the trailer.
Filming was shot by NZ director/producer Andrew Adamson, whose earlier work includes Shrek I, 2 and 3, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Familiar NZ scenes for me were the Dart River near Glenorchy (I spent a week walking through there in 1991) and Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula (I spent Christmas there in 1982). Studio shots were filmed in Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic. Other scenes were filmed in Slovenia and Poland.
As Trumpkin says, “You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember”. Adamson takes the stories of battle hinted at by C.S. Lewis and brings them to the foreground. People and creatures die, though without any clear bloodshed. This is a family movie after all. A whole new sequence is added to the plot - the storming of the Telmarine castle. Battle scenes are provided with elaborate plot twists.
In the book the Pevensies (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) connect up with the Narnians towards the end. For the sake of dramatic interplay between the characters (including tension between Peter and Caspian) that meeting is introduced much earlier.
Adamson brings the story into the 21st century with an alternative to the C.S. Lewis sheltering of the female gender. Susan is clearly engaged in battle in the movie and enjoys a romantic attraction to Caspian. “It would never have worked out”, she says.
There are subtle flavours added by the casting team. Caspian, Miraz and the other Telmarines speak with Hispanic accents, a reference to their pirate origins. The centaurs appear to have an African origin. It makes good sense in terms of increasing the ethnic spread of the audience, but runs the risk of perpetuating the English jingoism that formed the backdrop of C.S. Lewis’ world.
My favourite character would have to be Trumpkin, played by Peter Dinklage. This dwarf has a deeply cynical, humorous and yet reflective character that appears to have been developed through years of patient long suffering.
The theology of this C.S. Lewis novel is subtle, with hints of questions relating to the absence and invisible nature of Jesus. Why can some see him and others not? Would the plot have been different if Lucy and her siblings had responded to Aslan’s guidance earlier? Aslan twice reminds Lucy that things don’t happen the same way twice, once in a dream sequence and once in waking mode. Was that a glitch in the script or an example of dramatic irony?
Be prepared for a long movie with stunning cinematography, simmering effects and a storyline that will keep you guessing.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, will be released in cinemas nationally in Australia on June 5. Heritage HM will also be delivering a range of resources to churches and schools Australia wide. For details contact 07 5445 6865 or email info at astounded.tv.
I’ve just heard (via Stephen at Prodigal Kiwi) that Mike Riddell’s 1997 book, The Insatiable Moon, is being developed as a feature film. In fact the film proposal is being taken to Cannes Film Festival this week.
The book (and now screen play) focuses on Arthur, a Maori man who is known to the residents of Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand, as the self-proclaimed second son of God. Arthur has a mission, which includes finding the Queen of Heaven (who turns out to be Margaret of Pakuranga). He interacts with the local vicar, a few homeless people and people living in the boarding houses of Ponsonby, to challenge the status quo of respectable society.
Mike, when he wrote the novel, was lecturer at the Baptist College of New Zealand in Auckland, a role he’d taken on after years pastoring at Ponsonby Baptist. Mike resigned and moved to Dunedin, knowing that many Baptists would have trouble with the gloriously graphic sex scene in the novel, let alone the ‘blasphemous’ exploration of a psychiatric patient’s claims to be the second son of God.
Arthur will be played by Rawiri Paratene , known around the world for his role as Koro in Whale Rider. I remember Rawiri’s poetry performances (with jazz pianist Mike Nock) from his time in Dunedin when he was Robert Burns Fellow at Otago University. Rawiri is likely to be joined by Timothy Spall, James Nesbitt and John Rhys-Davies.
Film director and photographer Peter Rodger is working with composer Alexander van Bubenheim to shoot Oh My God, a film set in over 22 countries, exploring the different ideas and thoughts people from around the world have on God. Rodger is treating the film as a work in progress and has released a four minute trailer based on filming already done in India, Kenya, Israel, Palestinian territories, Morocco and the United States of America.
Peter explains some of the background to the Oh My God project.
“We are experiencing days of religious turmoil, of fundamentalism, fanaticism and the breakdown of spirituality through technology and reason. After the collapse of the piety that was rooted in myth, cult, occult, ancient myths and religions, I ask the question, “What is God?” It’s not so much “Who is God”, but “What” is God?”
“I want this question to be answered from the mouths of many different people - from religious leaders to a peasant child; from an industrialist to a fisherman off the coast of India; from a Hollywood celebrity to a Maasai Warrior.”
Peter says that many of his subjects were stimulated by the question, “What is God?” to start thinking, in some cases coming back to ask for a second interview to express new insights.
The trailer is available to download in HD Quicktime,
I’ve just had a look at the trailer for Jonathan King’s horror movie, Black Sheep. Set in New Zealand. the movie tells the story of Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister) returning home to sell his share of the family farm to his older brother Angus (Peter Feeney), who is carrying out secret genetic experiemnts. While trying to reveal Angus’ experiments, a pair of environmental activists accidentally release a mutant lamb, which infects the herd and turns them into killer sheep.
The film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year and is being released on NZ screens in March this year by Icon, originally supported by New Zealand Film Commission
Weta Workshop is providing animatronic puppets, special make up effects and other trickery to bring killer sheep to life in gory detail.
Get ready for the violence of the lambs. If you dare, see the Quicktime trailer for Black Sheep online at www.blacksheep-themovie.com
Also worth checking out is Scott Weinberg’s interview with director Jonathan King for Cinematical.
Some time soon we’ll be hearing about the cinema release of Highlander: The Source, the first in a new trilogy of films featuring Duncan Macleod, the immortal Highlander, and his friends as they search for the holy grail of their world.
Here’s the promo from the official movie site:
The world is falling into chaos. As he roams a crumbling city, Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander, remembers happier times before the love of his life left…
Hopeless and alone, MacLeod finds his way to a band of immortal companions, including his mysterious friend Methos, and a mortal, Watcher Joe Dawson. Together this small group sets out on a quest to find the origin of the first Immortal and The Source of their immortality.
Shooting for the film begain in Lithuania in October and finished in December. Director is Brett Leonard, with Adrian Paul starring as Duncan MacLeod as well as producing. Brett pioneered the creation of digital visual effects in filmmaking with 1992’s Lawnmower Man. He also directed 1995’s Virtuosity, and most recently completed Marvel’s Man-Thing.
Davis-Panzer Productions is busy further immortalizing the Clan MacLeod during the series’ twentieth year with an anime feature film in partnership with Imagi of Hong Kong and Madhouse of Japan and a video game with SCI Games Ltd. of London. David Abramowitz, writer from the TV series, is writing the script.
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Adrian Paul’s Diary - straight from The Source - has details on the shooting of the movie. Highlander Worldwide, the official Highlander fan club, has photographs from the shoot.
The UK and USA have had their premieres of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Narnia opens in NZ tomorrow. But in Australia we have to wait until Boxing Day. Maybe it’s because we don’t have such an investment in the movie. The book was written by a Brtish writer born in Ireland, C.S. Lewis. The film was directed by a New Zealander, Andrew Adamson, known for his direction of Shrek. The filming was done in Auckland and parts of the South Island. No doubt the money came from the USA.
So we have to rely on trailers and reviews on Narnia from around the world.
One interesting resource I came across recently was the Christianity Today interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis, Honorary Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Foundation and the co-producer of the film. Gresham points out that even though he has a Christian faith he chooses to interpret the Narnia books and movie in broader terms. He points out that there are dying/living stories connected with Hinduism and Norse mythology.
“Christians who watch the movie or read the book will look for Christian symbolism. But I think that’s the wrong way to approach it. I think it’s far better to read the book or see the movie and try to find out where you fit into Narnia. Analyze yourself and how you would react under these circumstances. Who are you? Are you an Edmund? Are you a Peter? Or a Lucy or a Susan or a Tumnus? Where do you fit?”
Gresham talks about his stepfather’s unease with the movie industry. C.S. Lewis wrote a letter to BBC producer Lance Sieveking in 1959 in which he outlined his reluctance for the books to be made into movies. The text is available at NthPosition. “Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare”, Lewis wrote.
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Lewis was a writer and a man of his time. I imagine he may have seen things differently now if he had seen the work done by Jackson on Lord of the Rings.
I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thursday night. As I wandered down the hallway towards theatre 9 with two members of the family I commented on how few people were walking in. I would have thought the place would be packed. I soon found out why. Everyone was already there. I ended up with a seat three from the front - not good for the neck I tell you. Apart from the awkward seating angles required to see the screen, it was well worth going.
The movie opens with Harry, Hermoine and the Weasleys heading off to the Quidditch World Cup with two members of the Diggory family.
The first thing I noticed was the long hair. These are teenagers as I remember them in the mid 1970s. The visual effects were sheer magic. The director Mike Newell managed to convey a the sense of panic and destruction that ensues on the night of the match.
Mike Newell was also the director of Mona Lisa Smile, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil. He’s quoted as saying, “”I was very anxious to break the franchise out of this goody-two-shoes feel. It’s my view that children are violent, dirty, corrupt anarchists. Just adults-in-waiting basically.”
The movie, and even more so the book, brings out the ambiguity of life. Harry’s discovering that it’s not so easy to distinguish between good and evil. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione goes through the throes of jealousy, mistrust and sheer bad communication - the plight of fourteen year olds. And then there’s the sheer frustration of fourteen year old girls struggle with the inability of their peers to rise to the challenge of romance.
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Roger Lloyd-Pack, best known for his work as Owen Newitt in Vicar of Dibley, does an excellent job as Barty Crouch. Eric Sykes, famous English comedian, plays the part of the murdered caretaker right at the beginning. Reporter Rita Skeeter is played by Miranda Richardson, best known in our house as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) in Blackadder. Madame Olympe Maxime is played by Frances de la Tour, known for her role in British sitcom, Rising Damp.
I received an email today from Christian Music Updates. I’ve been on this list for a while. I’m not sure how I got on the list. I tried unsubscribing at one point. Anyway I’d been thinking about trying again. But today’s post caught my eye.
It began with the text:
As we’ve previously done with films like “Polar Express,” Motive Entertainment has created a wide variety of resources and events for the upcoming release of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” (in theaters Dec. 9) - for faith, educational, and community leaders.
Hey that sounds good I thought. So over to www.narniaresources.com I went. The site provides a movie overview, the capacity to register for updates, order free materials, download trailers, behind the scenes videos, and promotional imagery, as well as information on buying block tickets for churches, schools, scout troops and other large groups or organisations.
Only problem is that the free Narnia School kit, Educator’s Guide, Discussion Guides and posters are only available within the United States.
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So who is the we of “Motive Entertainment”? It turns out that Motive Entertainment is Paul Lauer, the man behind the promotion of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and Tom Hanks/Paul Zemeckis film, “The Polar Express”. See Motive Marketing’s web site for more details.
Tim at Challies.com was complaining last week about the crass movie marketing targeted at Evangelicals. Adrian Warnock at his UK Evangelical Blog says that he’s all too happy to receive sneak previews about what ’should turn out to be the film of the year’. I’m with Adrian on that one.
On Sunday night I went to see The World’s Fastest Indian at the Reading Cinema in Invercargill, ten days after the world premiere there. The family were curious to see if Uncle Jack Johnson got into the movie as the driver of one his 1960s cars.
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The World’s Fastest Indian is the story of Burt Munro, a 68 year old Invercargill resident who takes his 1920 Indian motorbike from a capacity of 55 mph to a speed capable of setting a world record. To do that he sets out from Invercargill for Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, via Los Angeles. Doesn’t sound much of a plot does it. But somehow this movie seems full of humanity and drama.
Roger Donaldson, director of The Recruit and Thirteen Days, takes the true local story and weaves it into a true piece of cinematographic theatre. Filming took place on location in Invercargill and Utah, making the most of financial incentives from local governments. I wonder if the one condition for Invercargill City Council support was the casting of mayor Tim Shadbolt as the man in the post office. Fortunately Tim didn’t upstage Anthony Hopkins who gave a captivating performance as Burt.
The movie has an official site at http://www.worldsfastestindian.com/ which includes a quicktime trailer. Indian Motorbikes have a page dedicated to the TWFI, including photos of Burt, trivia on the making of the film and excerpts from articles published by Burt Munro in the 1960s.
The great thing about seeing the movie in Invercargill was being able to see one of the bikes used in the movie on show in the theatre foyer. The other bonus was sharing in the laugh when Tim Shadbolt first appeared.
Duncan Macleod posts on life, faith and culture in Australia, drawing from his involvement in the creative industry, the Uniting Church, the blogosphere, generational research, the emerging church and life on the Gold Coast.
Shooting for the film begain in Lithuania in October and finished in December. Director is Brett Leonard, with Adrian Paul starring as Duncan MacLeod as well as producing. Brett pioneered the creation of digital visual effects in filmmaking with 1992’s 
One interesting resource I came across recently was the 
