Some of the positive effects of Sandy for us were two nights at home watching a couple of good films: The Artist and J. Edgar. Sandwiched between them were two days of our church's Missions Conference, which meant that we had four consecutive great evenings.
I won't review the Missions Conference except to report that Bill Yarborough gave three solid messages on the theme of Jesus: King of the Nations. The breakout sessions with various missions partners were both informative and encouraging.
More appropriate for the genre of a review are the movies. The Artist won the best picture award at this spring's Oscars, quite an achievement for a silent film shot in black and white. The themes of pride, its inevitable (and just) fall, and redemption through romantic love were superbly portrayed. Silent films did and can continue to do a fine job of displaying even subtle emotions, and black and white can often be more effective than color. One would hardly wish to do without color for a wildlife documentary but the nature of the human condition is often best displayed in various shades of grey.
J. Edgar, a Clint Eastwood directed biopic of the life of long-serving FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, started quite well. Leonardo DiCaprio has become a fine actor and the first two-thirds of the script suitably nuanced Hoover's divisive rise to power. The final third, however, lost much of the earlier subtlety and, even though shot with very little color, was distinctively shaded toward the darkest portrayal of the man and bordered on a buffoonish characterization. The scene where Hoover and long-time assistant Clyde Tolson engaged in a fist fight that ended in a smooch on the floor was simply over the top.
In any event, while many other suffered from Sandy's depredations, we were warmly ensconced at home with fellowship of the Church and entertainment from the world.
I won't review the Missions Conference except to report that Bill Yarborough gave three solid messages on the theme of Jesus: King of the Nations. The breakout sessions with various missions partners were both informative and encouraging.
More appropriate for the genre of a review are the movies. The Artist won the best picture award at this spring's Oscars, quite an achievement for a silent film shot in black and white. The themes of pride, its inevitable (and just) fall, and redemption through romantic love were superbly portrayed. Silent films did and can continue to do a fine job of displaying even subtle emotions, and black and white can often be more effective than color. One would hardly wish to do without color for a wildlife documentary but the nature of the human condition is often best displayed in various shades of grey.
J. Edgar, a Clint Eastwood directed biopic of the life of long-serving FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, started quite well. Leonardo DiCaprio has become a fine actor and the first two-thirds of the script suitably nuanced Hoover's divisive rise to power. The final third, however, lost much of the earlier subtlety and, even though shot with very little color, was distinctively shaded toward the darkest portrayal of the man and bordered on a buffoonish characterization. The scene where Hoover and long-time assistant Clyde Tolson engaged in a fist fight that ended in a smooch on the floor was simply over the top.
In any event, while many other suffered from Sandy's depredations, we were warmly ensconced at home with fellowship of the Church and entertainment from the world.
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