A weeklong journal from a movie copywriter. Margery Doppelt writes copy for movie trailers, TV commercials and print ad campaigns. She’s a freelance writer living in D.C., somehow managing to make it all work.
Category Archives: Movies
America as Spider-Man
A Newsweek article about Spider-Man 2, which primarily focuses on the near firing of star Tobey Maguire, includes this adept observation of how America sees itself:
Much has been made of the fact that “Spider-Man” was the first post-9/11 blockbuster, and the conventional wisdom is that the film was a phenomenon because America needed heroes again. But maybe it’s something more. To the rest of the world, the superhero symbol of the United States is Superman
Reality Film
Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 made $23.9 million in its opening last weekend, making it the highest-grossing film of the weekend and the highest-grossing documentary ever (not including IMAX or concert films). Just like TV, reality is in.
“Documentary filmmakers have started to tell good stories, interesting stories, and have realized the word documentary should not be synonymous with castor oil,” Moore told AP in a piece about the rise of the documentary.
In addition to Moore’s election year success, he held the previous record for a documentary with Bowling for Columbine and had a rare hit with 1989’s Roger & Me. But Moore’s not the only one. This year’s Super Size Me, last year’s Spellbound, 2002’s skateboarding documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, and 2001’s Winged Migration have all seen multi-million dollar success.
Top 100 Spiritual Movies
Though flicks like The Passion of the Christ and Saved! are the latest rage, spirituality has long been explored in cinema. Arts & Faith — an online discussion board for film critics, including a few ChristianityToday.com reviewers — has released a list of their Top 100 Spiritually Signifcant Films, listed in alphabetical order (link via bloggedy blog).
Some well loved and expected choices are there, including The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Apostle, Tender Mercies, Dogma, and The Passion of the Christ, among others. But there’s also a few surprises, including Groundhog’s Day, The Star Wars Trilogy, Fight Club, Life of Brian, and Blade Runner, among others.
It’s an interesting way to spark dialogue about spirituality in film.
Chris Seay on Braveheart
“Most pastors woud be depressed if we knew how much more Braveheart changed men than our sermons.”
-Chris Seay, pastor and author of The Gospel According to Tony Soprano, from an interview for my upcoming New Man magazine article on making entertainment choices.
(the final Seay quote, I swear!)
Chris Seay on Saved!
Another interview excerpt from my upcoming New Man magazine article on making entertainment choices from Chris Seay, pastor and author of The Gospel According to Tony Soprano. Seay was responding to a question about whether or not our entertainment choices are true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, etc. (Phil. 4:8), and Seay made the point that what we dwell on is the important factor, not the specific content:
As I finished watching a film like Saved! this last week, I’ve got a choice as to what I dwell on, but I end up learning a great deal from it. That becomes our responsibility. We do what we have to do, you can’t say I
Super Size Me
Another interview excerpt from my upcoming New Man magazine article, this time from Chris Seay, pastor and author of The Gospel According to Tony Soprano, talking about the fast food bashing documentary Super Size Me:
“More Christians need to watch this film than just about any out there. It preaches to us in a way that many pastors need to learn from.”
(For more on Super Size Me, check out the CT review, which includes a compilation of other reviews)
Saved! Tomorrow
Saved! opens tomorrow. It’s really an intriguing movie for people of faith. Maybe more of a swamp — it’s one of those iffy kind of movies that people will get passionate about.
I wrote up a quick review of it today, more because I felt like I needed to say something about the film.
Dodgeball
Every few months I see articles popping up about that timeless playground sport, dodgeball. Here’s another one. Grown adults are starting leagues, tournaments and pick-up games and whipping rubber balls at each other. Dodgeball was the unofficial game of my youth group in high school, something we’d play religiously after every Wednesday night meeting.
I’d probably get trounced if I played now, but it’d still be fun.
The article also mentions an upcoming Ben Stiller movie, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. It also stars Stephen Root of Office Space fame, which is just too perfect. It opens June 18th.
The Passion of Youth (part 2)
It’s that time once again to grow out the beard and put on the annual Passion play. Last year the youth group needed a Jesus, and I obliged. This year I’m doing it again.
But what’s so funky about this year is the $300 million Passion. There’s something deflating about performing a weak-kneed, sheets-as-costumes, local-church production of a $25 million movie. When I stagger down the aisle I won’t have quite the impact of James Caviezel. Of course it’s still the Passion. There’s something gut-wrenching about watching teenagers from your church spit on a guy that looks sort of like Jesus and then, worst of all, start shouting “Crucify!” when you’re used to a gentle, quiet sermon.
But as I prepare for the role, I’ve thought a lot about the different passion plays throughout the years. Mel Gibson certainly wasn’t the first (just the first to make $300 million).
I’d like to propose a theoretical Jesus movie night. I say theoretical because it’s unlikely I’ll have time to watch all these Jesus movies before our performance on Palm Sunday. And I don’t know which movies are worth watching and which would be a waste of prime Buffy time.