Posted by Alle Llama on Sep 17, 2009 in
Movies “Jesus the Jew”
The film, “Jesus the Jew” explained Jesus’ life from the Jewish perspective, suggesting that Jesus was solely a human. Throughout the documentary, it was explained that Jesus was a man who was perceived as a messiah due to certain optimal conditions, resulting in the Christian faith. During Rabbi David Rosen’s interview, it was expressed that Jesus was merely “articulating fundamental Jewish ideas.” Towards the end of the movie, Jesus was depicted as having human emotions such as “a panic attack.”
According to the film, Jesus was viewed as a messiah, starting with his birth in Bethlehem, and continuing to his being an assistant to John the Baptist. It was noticed that Jesus was able to work miracles, which led to the gathering of followers. Despite the fact that Jesus was a Jew, others of his faith regarded him as a threat. Since then, Christian churches have been built on the sites of Jesus’ miracles, culminating in a tourist attraction; in other words, Jesus remains the messiah to Christians today. The movie also addresses the friction between the two religions: Christianity and Judaism. At the same time, the film discusses the loss felt by the Jewish religion in having shunned the history of Jesus from their teachings. Because the documentary is viewed from a Jewish perspective, Jesus is seen as a human. Rabbi Rosen mentions that Passover is a time for uprisings; since Jesus was seen as a reformer, the whole situation seemed to be blown out of proportion. In conclusion, the film focused on Jesus as a human Jew who was idealized by the people of the times.
Posted by MediaGad Llama on Jun 6, 2009 in
Movies,
Netflix I am living in New York City this summer. I have an internship and a thirst for adventure. I have been here for three full days now and I have watched a lot of Netflix! (My job starts Monday)
Corpse Bride what a disappointment. I have never been one to wear a Nightmare Before Christmas zip-up sweatshirt but I think is definitely an auteur of our generation. I was really ready to like this most recent creation of his. Plus Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter did voices, so how wrong could it go? Well…it felt like Burton was trying to make this one a little more mainstream and made it both uncomfortable and boring. My biggest complaint was Danny Elfman’s score. Although he had composed the captivativing music for Nightmare this time he channeled Burton’s wayward mainstream vision. The songs were more Disney’s Aladdin than Beetle Juice. I finished the movie only because I wanted to keep knitting.
Then She Found Me was an unexpected film. I still don’t know exactly how I feel about it. I like it. I like that Helen Hunt looks her age. I like that her character struggles in a real and messy way. Colin Firth is wonderful as always, even as a crazy emotional single Dad…or maybe, especially? Pretty much the movie made me realize that I would love Bette Midler to be my mom. Or at least one of them.
For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, it is about a woman, April (Helen Hunt) who gets married to her friend, she is also adopted, and jewish. Oh! and she is a kindergarden(?) teacher and does not have any children of her own even though she would very much like one or two. She is trying to have kids but she is almost 40! (apparently the filmmakers haven’t heard 40 is the new 30 and anything is possible at 30) Another thing that makes having kids difficult…having a husband that doesn’t want to be married. I swear I haven’t given anything away, this all takes place in the first 10 minutes.
This film is for women with life experience who will appriciate other women’s stories of struggle and heartache. This is NOT a film for all females to watch and ogle Colin Firth. He doesn’t get that much screen time and only a few peticularly sigh worthy moments.
Today I watched Cleopatra, talk about epic! It is four hours, and I kid you not, I paused it and took a nap a the “intermission”.
Elizabeth Taylor was stunning in every shot. I wish I had just one of those costumes, and could look as half as fabulous in it.
I know this production is a classic but I have to say that Cleopatra and Antony wasn’t nearly as entertaining as Cleopatra and Caesar. I didn’t believe that Cleopatra would turn into a mushy pain in the ass for Antony. He never did anything, he wasn’t that hot, and I just don’t get why she liked him better than Caesar. Maybe I was just tired of the movie by the time their relationship starts 2 hours in. Even though their portrayal of the famous love affair didn’t hold my attention, the sets and costumes did, so I guess I shouldn’t complain. I’m just throwing this out there, I wouldn’t mind living in Cleopatras “tomb”.
Moral of the story is, Netflix is still awesome in NYC.
But despite my love for instant movies on my computer I will try my best to have a life outside my apartment this summer. I will keep you posted on how that goes.
Tags: Cleopatra, Corpse Bride, Netflix, New York, Then She Found Me