Top Films 2013 & Most Anticipated 2014 Films

I'm a little late to the game, but as an avid film consumer, I thought I should on occasion add some cinematic inspired posts here. I present my top 5 films from 2013 (admittedly lacking, since there are a host of critically acclaimed films that I missed, some on purpose and others that I simply haven’t gotten around to seeing yet) as well as my most anticipated films of 2014.

MY 2013 TOP FIVE

5. The Way, Way Back: Heartbreakingly tragic and beautiful look at adolescence and growing up. Moments of laughter sprinkled throughout. Definitely worth it.

4. The Great Gatsby: I’m a bit of a sucker for Baz Luhrman’s unique directive vision (I love his Romeo + Juliet) and Gatsby oozed with it. The film captured the essence of the novel, in evoking the emptiness and loneliness of parties and extravagance. It looked amazing, but there was a haunting, tragic undercurrent to the entire film. The music was spot on, serving to bridge the world of Gatsby with our own, allowing a stronger connection between modern audiences and Gatsby and his associates.

3. Frozen: Entertaining and delightful. The songs are catchy and remain stuck in your head for days. In addition to all of that, the film provides strong female protagonists and a twist on the standard Disney-fied-idea of true love for the better, building on the progressive steps taken with Mulan, Tangled and Brave. Positive, uplifting and joyous entertainment.

2. Pacific Rim: Some would be appalled at the inclusion of this film on any sort of best of list, but it did exactly what it set out to do. Probably the most fun I had at a movie theater all year. Sure, it’s a bit far-fetched and over-the-top. But it’s giant robots fighting giant monsters. Awesome. It reignited the spark of childhood in me, reminding me of the joys of Power Rangers and imagination. And Idris Elba cancelled the apocalypse, how much more epic can you get?

1. Gravity: Breathtaking. Adrenaline pumping. I have never been on the edge of my seat, anxiously anticipating what was coming next like I was watching Gravity. And, it looks gorgeous. I was absorbed by space, wanting to drift away and float in the terrifying magnificence.

2014’s MOST ANTICIPATED (no order)

Interstellar: Phenomenal cast. Christopher Nolan. Space. Tantalizing teaser. What else do you need?

Transcendence: Another promising cast. Intriguing premise and first series of trailers.

X-Men: Days of Future Past: YES. X-Men are back, ideally solving the myriad of continuity issues between the original trilogy and First Class and bringing together the best from all of the movies. Xavier and Magneto were stellar in First Class and seeing them play off their older selves played by greats, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, will be a treat. And the trailer looks epic.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Lots of weirdness here, but Marvel Studios has yet to really disappoint me. I’m skeptical of this, but given Marvel’s excellent track record, my adoration of superhero films and soft spot for sci-fi, my fingers are crossed for this one. Superheroes, one of whom is a gun-toting raccoon, and space. Perhaps this can become like a cross of The Avengers and Star Wars.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson. Another phenomenal cast. The trailer promises it’ll be filled with Wes Anderson’s signature quirky wit.

Defending Examining Faith

It's been some time since I posted anything, but I hope to be more regular this year in writing, so here we go. I have several thoughts and ideas in the works, hopefully to be polished and ready soon.

I’ve been thinking recently about some close and not as close friends and their departures from Mormonism. Some, given my politics, skepticism and unorthodoxy, would suggest that I may be better off joining them. Yet, I can’t. I am deeply Mormon and love Mormonism. I too have faced and continue to face different struggles and issues with the Church, yet those problems aren’t ultimately destructive for me. They can be and I feel that my faith’s resilience is in large part due to my tendency to question and examine my faith.

This tendency is central to my defining and focus within Mormonism and is a common thread throughout much of my commentary. Here’s just a brief justification for living in such a way that you examine your faith.

Two main analogies serve within the Church to form the cultural view of Faith- the armor of God (with faith as the shield), and Alma’s discourse about the seed (which has been erroneously applied to faith, even though for Alma, the seed is the Word).

1.     The Shield of Faith. I’ve enjoyed this idea for a while. A tangential anecdote to illustrate. As a missionary, we were asked to think of ways to build our faith daily and to send our thoughts and ideas to the Assistant’s. I have never really enjoyed this sort of thing and what it degenerates to (pray, imagine the person behind the door saying ‘yes,’ picture everyone dressed in white, etc. Those ideas may work for some people, but not for me and my somewhat jaded, snarky, skeptical self). So, I suggested somewhat seriously, but with my tongue pretty firmly planted in my cheek- to create a shield of faith to include in our planners to block disheartening and otherwise discouraging thoughts. For good measure, I went ahead and drew a shield, with some highly quotable scripture (something like 2 Timothy 4:7 with Paul’s deathbed words), ghetto-laminated it and placed it in the front of my planner. Of course, the AP’s loved the idea and I grew somewhat attached to my shield, and would create a new one every transfer. I also added a Sword of Truth to my divine armory (one time I drew a lightsaber, since truth is light, and what is a lightsaber if not a Sword of Light?). Anyway, if faith is really the shield that protects us from spiritual danger, we better examine it and find the weak points or we’ll end up like Smaug, with a glaring weak spot that some dark arrow will fly into, leading to our terrible death. In the examination, we may realize that we’ve got to rebuild our shield, with it taking on a different shape. Maybe, we don’t have any problems or weak points and we can focus on adding additional layers of strength and nuance to our shield, finding connections between different topics.

2.     The Seed. The moral here is the same. If faith is a seed, then we need to nourish and care for it, always checking for disease or other issues. There is much more on the individual here in the actual building of the faith than with the shield. Maybe the seed grows fine, until there is some issue as a full-grown tree and you need to prune off whole branches. Again, if faith is neglected, like a seed, it’ll die. You can think it’s fine, until someone goes to grab an apple and the tree is withered and dead. Or maybe you thought it grew into a tree, but haven’t checked in awhile, so you go back and then turns out your poor, unexamined faith-tree is malnourished and you basically need to start over from the ground up.

I’m not trying to imply that all those that leave the Church do so because they had not sufficiently examined their faith from a younger age. That may be true in some cases and for others, the act of examining may have sparked the thoughts that led to the departure. Yet, I believe that an individual is better off living a life with an examined, thoroughly questioned faith. One where they know why they believe what they believe. It can be a hard road, when no one else seems to care, but a road worth walking.

Perfectly Fallible

The Church recently updated the section on “Race and the Priesthood” contained on lds.org. The changes follow the trend that was manifest in the language used to introduce Official Declaration 2, going further in establishing that the reasoning used for the restriction was not inspired and essentially due to pervasive racism amongst the leadership and membership of the Church. The entry is a positive step forward, but brings a more complicated view of prophets than typical held within the Church.

A post on By Common Consent establishes two possible implications to draw from the information provided. The first, for me more compelling and logical, implication is that the restriction was never the will of God and therefore prophets sometimes misspeak and perpetuate practices and ideas that are hurtful and not inspired. The second possible route to take is that the ban was inspired for some unknown reason and that simply the reasons espoused to defend it were incorrect. As I don’t identify with the second, and BCC already covers the differences and reasons to go with option one, I’ll focus on what this means for me, and likely others.

If prophets made mistakes in the past and those mistakes were perpetuated and uncorrected through decades, with incorrect reasons and support espoused from the pulpit, even in General Conference, there may be, and likely are, current trends/beliefs/practices that are taught (even during General Conference) that are not inspired of God. This understanding has become the only way that I can reconcile past practices and beliefs with my understanding of the Gospel. However, it serves to seriously complicate the approach that I have to GC and reading prophetic counsel and guidance.

I believe that prophets are inspired and led by revelation. I believe that God loves everyone, that whatever is best for all humankind is God’s will. These two beliefs mean that I cannot accept the words of every prophet spoken during their tenure as a prophet as doctrine and God’s will. Therefore, to maintain my belief in prophets, I have been driven to develop an alternative approach to determining when they are acting and speaking as a prophet. GC is a decent standard, but historically that platform does not exclude human errors taught as divine.

I have chosen to follow the guidance of J. Reuben Clark and seek the Spirit while prophets are speaking, to have a feeling of confirmation. While some may view this as a method for me or others to simply justify whatever beliefs I want and discount council I do not wish to follow, the reality is much more complex and spiritually challenging. I, and I believe most that share my concerns, truly want to know Truth and wish to come closer to the divine. Choosing to maintain belief and fighting for understanding in the face of ambiguity and confusion is a challenge and a choice that requires constant re-evaluation.

I must rely on the Spirit witnessing to me of the truthfulness of any given statement. Otherwise, I have nothing. I must constantly seek to have the Spirit with me and to know what is from the Spirit and what is not to determine the inspired nature of what is said. While this introduces complexity into historical narratives and understanding what is and is not doctrine, it allows me to hold firm to my belief in the Church as inspired, yet led by fallible people. It requires constant vigilance to determine what is and is not doctrine and what I need to do, but the struggle has been immensely rewarding. I am constantly faced with ambiguity and questions, but have felt a deepening of my faith and strengthening of my reliance on the Spirit. After all, it’s a faith worth fighting for.

Why I Love Ambiguity and You Don't Need To

I’ve been thinking a fair bit recently about the large variance in how individuals respond to going to Church and the various topics that are discussed. I struggled for quite some time with enjoying my Church-going experience (and to be honest still do on occasion). Yet, I continue to go because Church was never a social or primarily fun activity for me. At first, I went out of habit, developed by my family regularly attending Church for as long as I remember. However, I gradually began to go as an outward manifestation of my love for and commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Church was a place where I hoped to commune with the divine, a piece of grabbing on to the holy and keeping it with me throughout the Sabbath.

However, this was sometimes frustrating, when I would go and felt that the lessons or discussions were superficial or went in a direction that I disagreed with. I suppose that is the downfall of strongly holding the minority opinion. I would come away from Church frustrated and irritated, wondering how people could think the things that they do or not even consider anything beyond the surface. As I faced this continued struggle, I had a moment of inspiration, partially inspired by a fantastic piece of Eugene England’s titled, “Why the Church is as True as the Gospel”.

I realized that everyone has unique talents and perspectives and that together we can come closer to the truth. As much as I would like people to see things a little more broadly or openly, perhaps that’s not what they need from the Church. It’s also not what they bring. Yet, to find the truth, the full picture, we need to bring ideas into conflict, to feel out the contradictions and the oddities. We need to use what each of us was given for the good of everyone else.

Perhaps a fitting explanation of my belief that truth and beauty lies in conflict is in a short poem I wrote a year ago to define beauty (it’s intended to be beat poetry, complete with bongos accompanying).

A QUEST FOR TRUTH

The moonlight breaking through the clouds

The sun peaking through the gray mist

One man running through many crowds

Ambiguous as a clenched fist

A sign waiting up in the sky

A bright spot amidst the darkness

One man ready to jump and fly

Conflict asserts her agelessness

The joy of first discovery

The pain of not fully knowing

One man deep in recovery

The Search is forever flowing

A quest for truth

A search for life

Conflict brings us

Beauty in strife

If I can help provide a differing perspective than most have and provoke some thought causing individuals to think about why they believe what and how they do, then I have helped build the Kingdom. If others can bring me to question and deepen my own convictions and understanding, then they have built the Kingdom.

The thing is, all of us are needed. I need to remember that not everyone loves to question and dive into theological speculation to enrich their spirituality. To reference an overused, but effective analogy, as the body of Christ, we can’t all fill the same function- if the eyes tried to do what the hands did or the feet wanted to be your mouth, everything would fall apart. We all have a role to fill and together we make a whole. Not everyone rejoices in ambiguity. And that’s the way it needs to be. For all of us. 

This I Believe

I Believe in God.

I believe that God is love.

I believe that belief is valuable.

I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Friend.

I believe that scripture (the Bible, Book of Mormon, etc.) is the word of God as understood by prophets, historians and others that recorded their revelations.

I believe that all can receive revelation from God.

I believe prophets receive divine guidance for the world, however filtered it may be by their own experience.

I believe that God communicates with me through the Spirit.

I believe that God constantly strives to help humanity better understand His word and truth.

I believe that Truth should be sought for and Embraced.

I believe that people are inherently good.

I believe that the worth of every soul is great.

I believe that I have a Mother in Heaven, without whom God is incomplete and not god.

I believe that men and women are equal and deserve equal rights.

I believe that we are all children of Heavenly Parents.

I believe that we all have freedom to choose.

I believe that we will be judged by what we have done with what we were given.

I believe that I have the divine potential to become like God.

I believe in the power of music.

I believe that all things testify of Christ.

I believe that literature, film and other mediums of art teach truth in profound ways.

I believe that life does not end with death, nor did it begin with birth.

I believe that life is to bring me joy.

I believe that joy is made sweeter by experiencing suffering and pain.

I believe in the power of laughter.

I believe that all things will fail, except for Charity- pure, divine Christ-like love.

I believe that embracing Truth will lead to joy.

I believe that Truth can be found in many places, but that Truth will always bring me closer to God.

I believe that belief is power.

To paraphrase the words of Mark in his ninth chapter, twenty-fourth verse, And straightway I cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

And This I believe. 

My Scripture: Sources of Truth

What is Scripture for you? Once I was asked this in a Bible as Literature class by the professor. My gut reaction was to spout off the LDS canon of scripture, The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, yet something caused me to reflect and consider what I truly consider scripture and what makes something scriptural. Scripture for me is a source of truth. I am reminded of Nephi’s words in 2 Nephi 25:26 describing why they wrote and compiled records, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

Those purposes detail what makes things scriptural. That may seem limiting to some, but I find it to be rather inclusive and liberating. Alma 30:40-44 and Moses 6:63 expand the idea of what testifies of Christ and the reality of God by saying that “all things denote there is a God”. Hence, scripture for me has expanded to include works of literature, art, film, etc. I generally have rankings or categories for scripture that designate the weight given to them. The Canon is top, with words of prophets next, viewed as a commentary on or extension of the Canon, sometimes with disastrous implications, that I discount as scripture. Other religious texts, such as The Quran, form another category. The Bloggernacle and articles written for various Mormon or other religious studies’ journals provide perspectives and insight that I may not otherwise receive. However, the largest and for me most expansive and powerful supplement to scripture is great works of literature and film.

Some works that resonate strongly with me include the Harry Potter series, The Man Who Was Thursday, Trinity, A Tale of Two Cities, Ender’s Game, Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses”, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”, “O, Captain, My Captain”, “Invictus”, Star Wars Saga, The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Lion King, The Fountain, Les Miserables, etc.

These works have gained their personal scriptural status by the spiritual experiences that I have had interacting with them. The witness that I have felt from the Spirit helps me to better understand Truth. Perhaps this occurs because I have a deep abiding love for literature and film. Perhaps because the exploration of doctrinal truths in a different context causes new revelation to be had. Again, this is not to say that I value such works as greater than canonized scripture, but simply supplement the canon with works that I have interacted with and felt a deep, moving connection to the divine. I feel that as long as I am grounded in Canon, it is possible and beneficial to seek truth anywhere it can be found.

Ultimately, scripture is that which brings us closer to God, that teaches of truth. The truth may be expressed in a variety of ways, perhaps literature and film are not your thing, but you feel the majesty of God in nature or in a busy city. Maybe it’s art that touches you or photography or language. I seek for truth and embrace it, wherever it may be.