James Henley

The Passion

Been out of touch with TV for a while - don't really watch it nowadays, except for a few series (mainly Skins) which I keep up to date with using 4od and iPlayer - but found The Passion randomly on the BBC iPlayer today and was pretty impressed.

It's a four episode retelling of the holy week narrative put together by the BBC and HBO - and from all the stuff they've built around it on the website and the first episode I just watched - I think it's probably some of the most relevant, provocative Christian programming the BBC have done in a very long time.

Sure, it's fairly inaccurate for those bible purists out there (think some Christian groups have spoken out against it), and there's a hint of pooey existentialism in there (Jesus says a couple of times "the kingdom of God is in your hearts", and that kind of thing). And yes, they all have silly English/Welsh/Irish accents - and Jesus is white...

But...

Jesus is presented as provocative and political, but loving and humble. He challenges, he's mysterious, and there's this general vibe that no one really know what he's really up to. It's about time the world allowed Jesus to grow up past the cute, cuddly best friend and into the revolutionary man we often miss. And I think that The Passion has discovered a little of that - I love it ;-).

Here's a link to the first episode (screened last night on BBC1) on the BBC iPlayer. Episode 2 is tonight at half 8 on BBC1, and then 3 and 4 follow on Good Friday and Easter Day.

Be interested to know what you think about it.

Vantage Point

Just got back from seeing Vantage Point (and trailer here) - and it was incredible. Probably in the top two of the films I've seen so far this year.

It's a film which shows the same events from five different viewpoints, with each "vantage point" revealing different aspects of the plot and missing others. Reminds me how often we need the viewpoints of others in order to see the whole picture, and why reaching shared decisions is so important.

Found it so hard this week in reaching a decision when my access to the viewpoints of others has been restricted. Think this may be a good thing rather than a bad thing.

Also, Vantage Point has the best car chase I've seen in a while - very cool, very gritty and very real.

Cloverfield

. ..is incredible. Saw it Saturday night. Possibly the best film ever. It blew my mind.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Splinter Cell

Watched O Brother, Where Art Thou? last night with good ol' George Clooney in, loosely based on Homer's Odyssey. Think my Dad must have taken me to the cinema to see it nearly 8 years ago. It's really funny in a totally random, surreal way. Very cool film.

Trying to spend my time at home well by catching up with some reading - got a pile of about 4 books now I want to get through. The Wii is just so inviting though, and the few peaceful hours when my brother and sister are at school seem to pass so quickly. Made it to Pro status on Wii Tennis ;-) and about halfway through the current "retro" gaming project - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

The Golden Compass

Just been to see the Golden Compass so thought I'd join the discussion on the whole religion/church thing surrounding it – for whatever my opinion is worth. First, though, as a film I thought it wasn't actually that amazing – some great moments but overall it didn't really get me that excited.

The whole theocracy element to the books by Philip Pullman seems to have actually been really played down in the film – apart from a few hints in uniforms and other bits and pieces there's no explicit connection drawn between the Magisterium – who are the government leaders – and the church. My little brother and sister (11 and 9) didn't make the connection watching the film until I mentioned it afterwards.

One of the huge themes at least at the beginning of the film pits the censorship, dictatorship and paternalism of the Magisterium against freedom of information, free will and the pursuit of knowledge, which the Oxford Scholars at the beginning of the film represent. I think that these are godly values – especially free will, which our God has given so much to preserve for us. It seems to me that any movement to subdue the Golden Compass for its anti-religiosity would be in danger of portraying itself much like the totalitarian theocracy in the film itself – this portrayal of a religious movement would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Beyond everything else, the film follows the story of a small girl driven by childhood curiosity and simple determination to challenge the circumstances and the system that has been placed around her. Something that Jesus himself pursued?

He did say something about becoming like children, I think.

"It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself."

Light-blue t-shirts, soul survivor on tour and angry whoppers

(But not necessarily in that order)

Just got back from the Soul Survivor roadshow in Cardiff – and from seeing my little brother, who'd driven down with a minibus full of guys from my home church – St Mike's. He came straight from school so he was even still in his school uniform – my old school uniform. Interesting he went for the light blue tee though, rather than my preferred white.

As for the roadshow itself, it was alright. I think Soul Survivor's lost most of its magic for me now though – the simple worship-talk-worship format seems a little bit old and tired, and I don't quite adore Mike Pilavachi as much as I used to (sorry Mike!). And with no time for ministry or anything afterwards tonight, it felt a little bit like it was all over too soon.

On the plus side, Andy Hawthorne from the Message spoke pretty well and Mike and Andy did a good job of enthusing everyone about Hope 2008 – which I'd seen around but wasn't actually 100% sure what it's about. I'm still not sure really what's happening about it – but I now know that that's because Hope is about us serving our communities in ways that help them, and so it's up to us to decide. It's definitely something to discuss over our first couple of Lab Team meetings (Yay!)

As always the issue is in getting the organisation sorted – but hopefully we'll be able to partner up and do some stuff – especially given it's the kind of stuff that we're looking to be doing as the Lab anyway.

Got to go for a burger with everyone afterwards and have a good chat with David (my lil bro).  Tried out the infamous Angry Whopper (seen the advert?), which was pretty sweet with jalapenos and onions and stuff. Was really sad to say goodbye, but the whole family's coming down next weekend so I'll get to spend some more time with them all then.

Right, was going to watch Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, but it's kinda late so I guess I should get some sleep. I know it's supposed to be pretty disappointing but it caught my eye on the discount shelf in WHSmith so I thought I'd see for myself.

Rendition

Saw Rendition last weekend – another film with a powerful message.

It covers this idea of being held indefinitely without trial, and torture. It's insane to think that the CIA can just kidnap someone like that, and then just make them disappear into thin air just because there's something a little suspicious about them.

There's also an interesting conversation about torture – where the protagonist is told that information obtained by torture has prevented attacks in London and the US, and he replies by asking how many innocent people have been tortured to get that information.

On a totally different note, played the new Radiohead album at Stuffed last night - think the general consensus is that it's pretty good. Especially when you can choose how much you want to pay for it.

The Kingdom

Just got back from the pictures to see this film about an FBI team sent to Saudi Arabia. The way the film ends is absolutely amazing – really got me thinking. It's one of those moments when you're left speechless.

I love the way Hollywood is churning out really good films that make us ask questions about our society.

It got me thinking about justice and revenge. Can we get them messed up? It's way too easy for our grief to become anger, and then to justify that anger with the label "righteous". Although I don't want to belittle at all the pain and anguish of those who've lost loved ones at the hands of other men.

'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.'

It reminds me of the unanticipated thought that went through my head when I studied World War II in history: It's quite possible that right up until his death Adolf Hitler thought he was a "good" man.

Did he label his anger as "righteous"?

1408

Just been out to the pictures to see 1408 – possibly one of the scarier films I've seen recently.

It's about this evil hotel room that morphs and changes and generally makes life incredibly nasty for the guy staying in it. There's an interesting clip halfway through when the main character goes for one of those hotel room bibles, but all the pages inside are blank. Discuss.

Although it was something else about the film that really resonated with me. About halfway through the room becomes freezing cold – covered in frost and ice and stuff – and the main character (with his Dictaphone as an door into his mind) starts to liken the situation to the 9^th level of hell or something – and it made me kind-of think about my understanding of hell.

There's so much imagery to do with hell that is thrown at us, but as I watched the film I was thinking maybe we try to box up our understanding of hell and try to explain it away in terms we can understand. And then I know the same is true of our understanding of God and life and the bible – we try to box it up so that we are more comfortable with it.

They say that you fear things that you don't understand – why is that? What is we embraced those feelings of experiences beyond comprehension, beyond understanding? What is we trusted our beliefs,  and trusted God one hundred percent? Would those moments that make us so uncomfortable become moments of breathlessness – moments when we enjoy what it is to be fully human in the arms of someone so much bigger and more aware than ourselves?

Why is it that it is one of man's great missions, great dreams to explore the unknown? Is it because we can't stand that uncomfortable feeling of not understanding? Or do we enjoy the unknown so much that we devote our lives to exploring it – to experiencing those feelings?

Is that why the whole horror/supernatural/thriller genres exist? To provide us that short moment of experiencing something we can't explain?

Would accepting that we can't understand everything be accepting defeat? Or would it be the beginning of some new adventure of faith?

Yet more questions… I'm so sorry… I guess it's just been one of those days when you over-think everything.