Not another movie critic

I have decided that there is just not enough movie buzz on the web so I am adding my totally unbiased input to the world of movie critique. You know I really do enjoy movies - especially a good action movie or comedy ... what guy doesn't. Mostly I want to be entertained but some times a movie will surprise me and I find myself unexpectedly reacting to the story, a character or the music.

I just saw Phantom of the Opera. The music moves me every time I hear it. Music can really draw you into a story - can really tug on your heart like nothing else. Who can ever forget 'Climb Every Mountain' from The Sound of Music (as well as just about every other song from it) ... or 'Money' from Cabaret ... or 'My Heart Will Go On' from Titanic. Oscar doesn't have a Best Song category for nothing.

Another thing that I like in a movie is character development. In Rainman I loved the way Charlie Babbit changed as he go to know his older brother Raymond ... it moved me to see love change him so much. I so appreciate a script where a character is confronted with new information or impossible circumstances and changes for the better. We all loved to see how everyone helped George Bailey at the end of It's A Wonderful Life - it lifted our spirits.

Have you ever been really surprised by a movie? I remember about 10 years ago watching Beauty and the Beast with my daughter - it shocked me how I was drawn into the story and moved by the music ... after all it was JUST A CARTOON. Dances With Wolves made me cry - how could we have done that to our Native American friends ... it totally changed my view of the history of our westward expansion.

A story based in fact always impresses me - Antoine Fisher, The Hurricane, Shadowland and Chariots of Fire come to mind. As a believer in Christ I felt inspired when, in Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddel told his sister that he felt God's pleasure when he ran ... it was a moving moment. Another scene that sucked me in was when Jack (C. S. Lewis) embraced his stepson and grieved at the end of Shadowlands ... I had just lost my first wife to heart failure and wept uncontrollably ... movies can really move you!

I could wax on about action movies and comedies but am running out of steam ... maybe I'll do it later :)