Author: Brandon Woosley

Looking Beyond the Planet of the Apes

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was released for home video this week.   This isn’t a review of the film, but I was reminded of a statement from one review I read which resonated with me.  The reviewer was talking about the extraordinary quality of the visual effects for the film, and said that this film was the first he had seen in which the CGI became invisible – he wasn’t watching cartoon apes, or actors in ape suits; his eyes told him that he was seeing apes.  I have to agree that I thought the visuals were extraordinary, and didn’t make me think of the trickery, but only served the story.

As CGI has gotten better in recent years, and as it continues to get better, it allows storytellers to unhinge themselves from reality in the service of telling the story.  Impossible characters like the apes in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” become possible.  A city can be folded on top of itself in “Inception”.  This has to be thrilling for the creative people who make films, and it opens up new vistas for those of us who watch them.  Now, if we can imagine it, we can see it in photorealistic images.

For many of us, entertainment is an escape from reality, and so the more thrilling and absorbing it is, the better.  We have a virtual world of entertainment available to us now, and it is enticing to sink deeper and deeper into it when our lives (and the world around us) are unappealing.

But as I thought about the CGI marvels of “…Planet of the Apes”, it made me consider howI believe Christians should function in the world.  I believe that we, too, are capable of presenting something more compelling, more thrilling and beautiful than the everyday that so many people are eager to escape.  If we are actually living the reality of the Kingdom, we should be able to show people a better life, one that in its own way is even more beautiful and extraordinary than anything we can dream up.  It’s not flashy, but it’s fully three dimensional.  Can you imagine it?

The Inexorable Creep

House has been one of my favorite television shows for years.  I’ve appreciated that it tends to be philosophical, even (or maybe especially) when episodes make me wrestle with what I believe and understand about life and the human condition.  I was going to say that I find the show “smart”, which I do, but I also realize that statement is probably saying more about how I see myself (look at me, I like smart television!).  But my “smart” show has done a couple of dumb things lately, and I couldn’t let this latest one pass unnoted.

I think the show has been stuck for a while, recycling the same basic philosophical conundrums with different cases.  The major cast shake-up at the start of this season gave me hope that the show would break its own mold and begin to present its stories in a new way, which might lead to exploring some new questions.  And it did…for about two episodes, before safely zipping back to the formula, even bringing back key performers who help keep the formula “safe” and easy to digest.

Now, tonight’s episode has insulted me in a way I have heretofore expected only from basic cable, or the Fox Sports division (please tell me Joe Buck is not involved in the production of House!).  I just got a stunningly obvious and wooden commercial for the new Ford Explorer dropped into a scene. Oh, wait…did I forget to say SPOILER ALERT?  Here’s your spoiler: the Explorer has “this new curve control thing, that automatically slows the car when it senses I’m taking a curve too fast.”  And just in case you missed the wide shot of the Explorer before the good doctor took a curve too fast, or the close-up of the tailgate of the Explorer (the camera car must have really been going too fast!), you’ll also get a follow-up shot of the front end of the car masquerading as a nice way to show us both of the actors in the scene.

Oh, and here’s another spoiler: one of my favorite shows may have just taken a curve too fast and driven right over a cliff.

The Adjustment Bureau

One of my pet peeves about contemporary media is the tendency of movie trailers to give away major plot points.  After seeing some trailers, I suspect I no longer need to see the whole film.

Having said that, I watched “The Adjustment Bureau” tonight, and it diverged from my expectations of it more than any other film I can remember seeing.  It was a good movie experience.  I am home alone tonight, with the rest of the family at the Ronald McDonald House at Children’s Memorial Hospital, and the movie made me think about how grateful I am for my family.

But I won’t say much more than that about the film, in case you haven’t seen it.  I thought it was a science-fiction movie, and it is.  At the same time, I think that it was a more personal and emotional brand of science-fiction than I am used to.  I suspect that there are a lot of people who assumed they would have no interest who would, in fact, enjoy it very much.

Make Your Own Tradition

Fireworks on the 4th of July haven’t quite worked out right for us in recent years. Zach loves fireworks, and isn’t bothered in the least by the sound. Josh loves the visuals, but the booming audio is unbearable for him.
For several years, we would sit out on our front sidewalk, where we could see the shows from several neighboring towns, and barely hear the crashes. Still, it was too much for Josh, so he would sit in the house, watching through the front windows and yelling out to us that he could still feel the booms.
Well, and entire summer at Disney World seems to have slightly loosened Josh up; in fact, when we were there again in April, Josh even endured being out in the park during a fireworks show one night.
So how did we watch fireworks this time?
Everyone curled up on our king-sized bed, watching out the bedroom windows. And as we did, Josh hummed “The Star-Spangled Banner”. He was determined to make his musical addition end with the show, so he kept looping back into the song as he neared the end. At one point, he switched to “Yankee Doodle Dandy” for a while, and I coaxed him into a little bit of “1812 Overture”. Still, we ended up back at “Star Spangled Banner”, and as the finale filled our window view, Josh broke out into full-throated joy: “O’er the land of the free/and the home of the brave!”
It was magic.