Looking for Trouble

August 16th marks another year since Elvis Presley passed away, and once again, thousands of fans gather at his Graceland estate in Memphis, TN, to pay their respects. If you're a fan like me, but you can't make it to the "Elvis Week" festivities this year, perhaps you'll mark the day by cranking some of his tunes or popping in one of his many movies.

Elvis made 31 scripted films in 13 years. Many of them have been dismissed by critics, which is unfortunate because Elvis always wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. Sadly, even as the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, Elvis just didn't get many opportunities to do serious work, and he grew to hate the kinds of roles he was often forced into. From time to time, though, Elvis made waves when he got the chance to really show what he could do!

When Elvis left for the Army in 1958, he wasn't sure if he'd still have a music career when he got home or not. He was afraid Rock 'n' Roll was just a passing fad, and nobody would remember him a couple years down the road. After completing work on King Creole, however, Elvis felt sure he could come back to a serious acting career. It's sad that Elvis' movie career didn't end up the way he hoped, but this film is still often held up as one of the best examples of Elvis' acting ability, and it boasts one of his strongest dramatic plotlines.

Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) and co-starring Walter Matthau and Carolyn Jones (who would go on to star in The Addams Family), this flick features Elvis in the role of Danny Fisher, an underprivileged, inner city youth in a story that's one part teen angst (a la James Dean) and one part film noir.

Don't Wreck-It - Let God Fix-It!

Disney's 2012 animated film, Wreck-It Ralph, tells the story of a video game bad guy who regrets the fact that everyone hates him for being a bad guy, and he wishes he could somehow become good enough to earn the respect of the other characters in his game. In order to do this, he decides to leave his own game to win a medal in another game, but in so doing, he causes havoc across multiple games. Along the way, he meets, Vanellope, a "glitch" in a racing game who is bullied by the other characters in her game and is just as desperate as Ralph to change her situation, but the two seem to bungle everything they do.

On the surface, it seems like the message is that you should be happy with who you are. After all, near the beginning, Ralph joins a villain support group, where the motto is:

"I'm bad and that's good.
I will never be good, and that's not bad.
There's no one I'd rather be than me."

But if you dig a little deeper, the movie has a lot more to say than just, "be content with the way things are." It has a lot to say about the way we treat each other, about dealing with our own flaws, and even about moving on toward perfection...

The Lone (But Not Alone) Ranger

I don't know why, but Hollywood has really been on a kick for the last decade or more, trying to turn every TV show you can remember from childhood into a big screen blockbuster. Some have been better than others, but I've really grown to dread these remakes. Maybe the rest of the country has grown to dread them, too, or maybe cowboy pictures just aren't "cool" anymore. I'm not sure how to explain the fact that after only one weekend, Disney's The Lone Ranger is already being called a flop, but I personally thought it was pretty good. It might not be as family-friendly as the TV show from the 1950s, but it's entertaining enough I thought it would fare better!

Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer in The Lone Ranger

I'm not even a big fan of Johnny Depp, but I have to say he's hilarious as Tonto, and I think Armie Hammer puts a good spin on the role of the title character. Despite some language, a visit to a brothel, and some occasionally brutal violence, there's still a lot about this movie that is faithful to the original, and not every change is bad.

As I watched the new movie and thought back on the classic TV series, I came up with five points of encouragement I think Christians can take away from this story.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!!!

A Super Symbol of Hope

The legendary comic book character known as Superman has been captivating readers and audiences for 75 years. Over the years, the character has appeared in countless comic books, cartoons, radio programs, TV shows and movies, as he fights his never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way. But what that means and what that looks like has evolved many times over the years, as various artists, writers, actors and others have put their spin on the world's ultimate superhero.

Of course, the basics of Superman's appearance haven't changed too much since the beginning. Show a picture of anyone in a "super suit", and kids and grown-ups alike will recognize him instantly. But that doesn't mean the suit hasn't been modified a few hundred times over the years! Designers have played with various shades of blue and red, and the new movie, Man of Steel, is the first depiction I'm aware of where the Big Blue Boy Scout doesn't wear his red underwear on the outside of his outfit!

Perhaps the one piece of Supes' costume that has gone through the most changes is the "S" shield/logo he wears on his chest. The colors, shapes and sizes of the logo have been reworked and revisited, and are often the subject of scrutiny and criticism from fans whenever a new version is revealed. Besides the appearance of the emblem, the significance has also evolved with time.

More Than Play-Acting

In 1986, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short teamed up as a band of heroes who rode from town to town, saving Mexican villages from bad guys right and left. Well... They weren't really heroes... They just played heroes in the movies!

Yes, as Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms and Ned Nederlander (respectively), Martin, Chase and Short were the ¡Three Amigos! - stars of the silver screen - but they were destined to become real life heroes (in the movie) after a Mexican woman saw one of their films and apparently mistook it for a documentary!

It's a wild, crazy adventure comedy, but it makes several points I think are important for the modern Church.

As the story begins, revenue for their last few films have been low. After the studio fires the trio, the Amigos are elated to receive a somewhat confusing telegram inviting them to make a personal appearance in Mexico. They really have no idea what they're getting into when they decide to make the trip to face off against the village's enemy, a man known as "El Guapo". They think it's just a show... but nobody else knows that they're only actors!

Suffering Together

There are a lot of hurting people in this world, and everybody needs love. As if recent things like the bombing in Boston, the explosion in Texas and earthquakes all around the world didn't make that clear enough, I was reminded of it again recently as I was watching the 2012 movie, The Lucky One.

At the beginning, we meet Sgt. Logan Thibault (Zac Efron), a U.S. Marine serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. There, in the desert sand, he discovers a photograph of an American woman. As he stops to look at it, there's an explosion nearby! It would have killed him if he hadn't stopped when he did! Fast forward several months, and we see that Sgt. Thibault still has his lucky photograph. Although he has no idea who the girl in the picture is, he and others believe her to be his guardian angel, because he has stayed safe despite several dangerous encounters!

Jackie Robinson Day

The new movie '42' is a home run!

Yesterday, we went to see the new movie, 42, which tells the true story of how Jackie Robinson got his start in Major League Baseball in the 1940s. I highly recommend the film, whether you're a baseball fan or not, but as with most movies today, I would caution parents about taking small children to see it because of the film's use of profanity - especially racial slurs. That said, I'm glad filmmakers didn't "pitch around" the issues of the day.

I'm also glad they didn't "pitch around" the role that Christian faith played in the story.

Besides Jackie Robinson, himself (played by Chadwick Boseman), the second most important character in the story is Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), the executive for the Brooklyn Dodgers who chose Robinson specifically for the purpose of breaking baseball's unwritten color barrier. The mutual faith of these two men is alluded to early in the film by a humorous observation from Mr. Rickey:

"Robinson's a Methodist, I'm a Methodist, God's a Methodist... We can't go wrong!"

It's a line that elicited laughter from the rest of the theater, but - while I really don't think God cares very much about denominations - as a Methodist myself, I couldn't help but cheer just a little!

Would You Believe...?

Maxwell Smart, Agent 86,
"drops in" today!

At the height of the 60s spy craze, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry asked the question, "What would happen if James Bond and Inspector Clouseau somehow had a child?" Their answer... Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. For five years on network television, Don Adams played the bungling secret agent who helped America's CONTROL agency thwart the evil intentions of KAOS, whose Bond-like villains tried their best each week to Get Smart.

Get Smart really was a smart, fun show, which appealed to people on multiple levels. Some, no doubt, appreciated the satire of American politics. Others watched for the physical comedy, as Agent 86 fell in and out of trouble every week. And still others probably tuned in just to hear their favorite catch phrases (like "Sorry about that, Chief," and "Missed it by that much!") in Adams' unique voice! The series was cancelled in 1970, but not before winning 7 Emmy awards - 3 of which went to Adams for "Best Continued Performance in a Comedy".

Well, over the next few hours, I'd like to explain how there are no less than 764 life-altering lessons we can learn from watching this TV show. Would you believe it? 764!

No? Would you believe... if I include all the sequels and spin-offs of the show, I can list for you 209 important insights?

Still no? Eh... How about 3?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone 

who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

- 1 Peter 3:15b (NIV)

Recently, Amber and I went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, Disney's new prequel to the Judy Garland classic, The Wizard of Oz. Ordinarily, when I hear "Disney" or "Oz", I tend to imagine things that are bright, cheerful and family-friendly; but for some reason, when these two came together (as before), they created something often dark, scary and I would say not really appropriate for smaller children. It only earned a PG rating, but I'm surprised!

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in 1939 anymore!

That being said, I thought the Wizard's origin story was interesting, and the movie took time to emphasize several good lessons, which is (of course) why it's being featured here!

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Everybody Loves... the Meaning of Life

Why are we here? That's the question Ray's daughter Allie asks in the Season 6 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond titled "Talk to Your Daughter". It's a question people have pondered since the beginning of time, and depending on whom you ask, there are probably a million different answers people can give. In this episode, each of the adults offer their insight, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to look at their various answers, and then give another possibility at the end.

The beginning of the episode doesn't even hint that it will deal with anything so deep. It opens with Ray trying to prove to his friends that he can call his wife Debra mean names and get away with it as long has he says it in a nice tone. When Deb catches him calling her "Smelly Tramp", however, she is not amused. That night, she calls Ray immature and accuses him of shirking responsibility. To prove her wrong, Ray offers to step up and have "the sex talk" with his daughter, who's been asking questions lately. But for all his studying, Ray is thrown for a loop when he approaches Allie and learns that her real question isn't so much where babies come from, but WHY they come at all!

Ray: "OK, here's what happens. When a man and a woman love each other very much, they get married, and then sometimes, they decide to make a baby.
Allie: "Why are there babies?"
Ray: "Right, OK, I'm gonna get to that. What a man and a woman do is-"
Allie: "No, I mean, I know that the man and the woman have to do something, but... Why are we born? Why does God put us here?"
Ray: "...because...that's...WHAT?"
Allie: "If we all go to Heaven when we die, then why does God want us here first?"