(This coming from a guy who hasn’t been in one since high school.)
I think my/our generation is confused when it comes understanding what love really is. While music and movies paint a rosy picture of “finding the one” and living happily ever after, the reality is that nearly half of our families have been split apart by divorce… and the way we look at relationships and love has been tainted as a result.
They say that you can see questions our culture is asking through the art it creates… movies, music, literature… and over the past few years I feel like there have been a few movies that are clearly articulating some profound questions we’re asking when it comes to love and relationships.
(500) Days of Summer is one of them.
Being a hopeless romantic (and a dude) it was interesting that this movie which would appear to have all of the trappings of a classic “chick flick,” is actually more about the story from the guy’s perspective. It focuses more on his emotions, feelings, highs and lows, and his experience of battling with the questions he’s asking of himself, his purpose and relationships.
I loved this movie for many reasons but here’s a few…
It’s real. Plain and simple. I felt awkward in the awkward moments. I felt the emotions of the characters. It wasn’t a pretty package, it was painfully real.
Actors were fantastic. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a crush on Zooey Deschanel since I saw her in Elf. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt? I don’t think I’ve seen him since 3rd Rock From the Sun, oh yeah… I went there. (French Stewart, anyone?) Anyway… I digress. They were a winning combo had a great thing going on screen.
The soundtrack is phenomenal. Regina Spektor, Feist, Simon & Garfunkle. How can you go wrong?
It was creative storytelling. The way they told the story was sooooooo creative. It wasn’t start to finish, it was non-linear and all over the place. They so creatively unfolded the story and characters. Pay attention to details if you go to see it.
There’s a few surprises. (SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT… like a breakout scene from a musical. Hilarious!)
Cinematography, although I’m not an expert, was great. They did some creative stuff, like a split screen between “expectations” and “reality” that I think is painfully real for a lot of us.
Bottom line… this movie, more than others I’ve seen, really does articulate the confusing mess that is love and relationships in our modern context. Full of
I was having dinner with some friends recently and one of them said sometimes you have to “give up your right to the bow”… meaning you can’t always package things nicely. Sometimes things have to be left undone… messy, incomplete… and too often I think movies present a pretty package… but (500) Days of Summer really tells it how it is… and I’ll let you see it for yourself to see how it wraps up!
It’s official, Hillsong United’s full-length movie, We’re All in This Together, is going hit theatres in the USA for one night only in November.
The film has been years in the making and will be for the Church what Call + Response was for everyone else.
The movie is part of a movement started by Hillsong United called the I Heart Revolution.
I-HEART is a movement of people helping people – showing the love of God in practical ways, wherever need exists. Right here, real soon, you’ll find an online community with the sole purpose of offline action – sharing ideas, being inspired, shoulder to shoulder, part of the solution – transforming local initiatives into a collaborative global impact. But in the meantime, let’s take time to look beyond ourselves and truly see others…Their worth, their needs, their future. Because it’s together that we love… and think… and act. As one, I-HEART.
The concept was first introduced through the I Heart Revolution CD + DVD from Hillsong United last year and the movie will serve as a springboard for a broader global movement that is going to be launched by Hillsong United and Hillsong Church.
On the I-Heart blog, Hillsong United frontman Joel Houston shared,
I-Heart is part apologetic, part documentary, part call to action, the film is a story made up of many stories, told by many voices, no individual voice any more or any less important than any other, yet every voice working together to ultimately tell the ONE story – A story that involves everyONE; that seeks to capture our collective and idiosyncratic purpose in ONE.
And so… WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER will officially be launched this November. We’re taking it into cinemas for ONE night only – our prayer; that the Church across the earth would rally together and do whatever it takes to see as many people as possible gather at the same time in cinemas everywhere and be stirred and inspired by the message of Christ, to ultimately work closer together in seeing the real needs of humanity collide with a love that can only be found in God who by definition – IS Love.
W.A.I.T.T. isn’t for a second about Hillsong UNITED.. It doesn’t serve to document the music and the adventurous nature of travel, nor has it been designed even to quench our thirst to be entertained.. This is a ultimately about YOU - It’s about all of us.. And so our hope is that we would ALL get behind it.. We never had a big budget.. No corporate sponsorship or professional help.. It has been pulled together by a small team of incredibly selfless and dedicated people who have tirelessly given of themselves and persevered to make it a reality.. And our prayer is that we all as individuals would play our part and take it upon ourselves to see as many of our friends, youth, churches mobilised to be a part of this event.. It has the potential to be HUGE!!
More details including locations + theaters will be posted soon, and I will of course post them when I find out more.
Joel’s closing comments on the blog were:
I don’t know where this is all headed.. But I’m convinced, that if we all choose to play our part and continue to work together in loving God and loving others with everything, that there is no end to what we can see established for the Kingdom and the glory of God in our lifetime.
My sister drug me to see Julie & Julia with her a couple of days ago. Yeah, I know.
But for real… it was a great movie. And you can quote me on that.
I remember watching Julia Child on PBS as a kid growing up, don’t ask me why. And, I also remember the infamous Saturday Night Live skits.
She’s an icon.
But, I guess I never thought about how she got her start and became so good at French cooking. Sometimes we don’t think about that kind of stuff… people’s backstories. Oftentimes we just see the success and not the journey and obstacles people had to face that got them there, which is in most cases more significant.
So, the movie is partly her story and the story of Julie Powell, a girl who was living in NYC in 2002 who decided to blog her way through all of Julia Child’s recipes in the span of a year and blogged the entire journey as a creative outlet.
The movie parallels both of their stories… two women who were essentially bored who found a passion for cooking that was life-giving to them. They found life in their creativity. Their passion gave them joy when life around them was boring and at times incredibly difficult.
Being the geek that I am, one of the parts that I found most fascinating about the movie, other than learning the story of Julia Child’s rise to fame, was to see how much blogging has developed and shaped our culture in recent years.
In 2002, it was still a rather novel thing and it’s interesting to see and hear about Julie’s journey of understanding the blogging world.
But back to the movie… the thing that stuck out the most to me was the importance of finding something you are passionate about and pursuing it. There will definitely be some letdowns along the way, but if you go for it and count the cost, you can do some really significant things as you pursue your passions.
I heard someone once say whatever you are passionate about is often key to your calling.
Julie and Julia were passionate about cooking (and eating!)… one changed the way people cooked and the other changed her life and got a great book (and movie) out of it.
So anyway, if you want to be inspired you should see it. I think there were some really redeeming lessons to learn about life, passion, and even marriage in this story.
And, I think Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar for her performance in this movie. She was brilliant.
What are you passionate about? What are you willing to overcome obstacles for?
