Kingdom of Heaven
Read Burr in the Burgh's awesome review of this lousy film. He delves into the shockingly bad theological problems with the movie. From an artistic point of view, there were some terrific cinematic moments. The way the snowflakes hung in the air at the beginning and the landscapes were spectacular at points. But casting is so darn important, and it was totally messed up here. Orlando Bloom may be pretty, but he simply does not have the presence needed to carry off this role.

And on a common theme in many movies today, the catholic priests were portrayed as devils. And we wonder why people think the church is irrelevant. Most movies and tv shows portay pastors as 1) crazy, 2) devilish, or 3) immoral. I know a lot, I mean A LOT of pastors, and while they are certainly sinners like the rest of us, I find almost all of them completely sane, tireless, and faithful to God and their congregations. So, it burns me up when movies demean them.

In the same week, we watched Hotel Rwanda. Don Cheadle was amazing. He embodied the role with such skill and precision. The story was sad but important. And it demonstrated wonderful values of courage, familial love, and generosity, which was sorely missing in Kingdom of Heaven.