Foolish Wisdom: Making History

Tuesday, January 20

Making History

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Matt Davies
Journal News
Jan 20, 2009

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Matt Wuerker
Politico.com
Jan 20, 2009

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Bob Gorrell
Creators Syndicate Inc.
Jan 20, 2009

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This Week's Theme: Best of 2008

So as we head in to 2009, this seems like a good time to look back at some of the best media that I discovered in 2008 (not neccessarily produced in that year)

Books:
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
Yes, Adams has graced this column already, so I won't go into great detail. All I can say is that I'm glad to have discovered these books.
"It Came From Within!" by Andy Stanley
Ok...I do not read Christian "self-help" books. Ever. I only read this one because I was required to--but I was pleasantly surprised. Basically, this book studies how attitudes such as anger and greed have unexpected roots in our hearts, and what to do about them. Fun and easy to read, but very compelling and easy to apply.
"Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis
Sadly, I forgot to put this on my favorite books of all time list, where it definitely belongs. This book was stunning. I won't give away the plot, because that would spoil the emotional impact. But man, this book was quite a roller-coaster for me. Highly recommended.
"A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" by (I don't remember lol)
I feel obligated to put this book on the list because it is so well written and powerful. However, I did find that this book--a classic in every way--made me feel depressed every time I started reading...For books about people's depressing lives in New York, I preferred Chaim Potok's books. Try "The Chosen" or "My Name is Asher Lev" for a start. Don't read "In the Beginning" unless you want to be really depressed...

Movies:
The Dark Knight
So you've all heard about--and probably seen--this summer blockbuster, the second installment in Christopher Nolan's new Batman franchise. Just know that this movie is not for everyone...some people will just find it depressing and scary. I, for one, added it to my favorites list on the spot. Intense, but very deep.
We Are Marshall
For a long time, "Glory Road" had held firm as my favorite sports movie. But now it has been surpassed. "Marshall" avoids a lot of sports movie stereotypes, and did a very good thing when they cast Matthew what's-his-name as the head coach. Very inspiring and enjoyable.
Noelle
Being some little movie that a Christian family made from nothing, this Christmas story cannot really stand beside the Hollywood biggies. However, I must say that I was impressed--this movie captured a subtlety and power that almost every other Christian film barges right past. IMHO, this blows stuff like "Love Comes Softly" out of the water.

Music:
I discovered a lot of very good, if obscure, musicians in the latter part of this year. Please note that you can find all of these artists at Christianity Today's music website.
Steven Delopoulos
Just talked about him in the previous column
Ben Shive
This guy has done a lot of producing, writing, and instrumentation for big-name Christian artists (Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, etc.) Just this year he came out with his first real album all by himself, virtually unheard of...and instantly Christianity Today picked it up as one of the 12 best albums of 2008. And boy does he deserve it. Great stuff, if rather untraditional.
Waterdeep
This group has released several albums, and their lead singer Don Chaffer has done several on his own. These people have amazing lyrics and great music--really classic rock and even some country-folk acoustic stuff. I love Don Chaffer's voice...but unfortunately a lot of their albums have his wife singing as well, and she sounds kind of harsh and whiney. So I mostly go for albums where Don does all the singing. Anyway, great people. Not for light listening, but when you want something really deep to chew on.
Andrew Peterson
This guy does fairly gentle music with solid lyrics. He teams up with Ben Shive a lot, and is more comperable to him than to Delopoulos or Waterdeep. His voice takes a lot of conditioning to get used to--it is very nasally--but eventually his quality shines through

Research Paper

Working Bibliography:

Books:

Botkin, Isaac. Outside Hollywood: The Young Christian’s Guide to Vocational Filmmaking. San Antonio: Vision Forum Ministries, 2007.

Print sources from an online database:

Guthrie, Stan. "Entertaining Truth." Christianity Today 50.12 (Dec. 2006): 62-63. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 26 Oct. 2008
http://ezproxy.mylibrary.us:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=23361368&site=ehost-live

Rosin, Hanna. "Can Jesus Save Hollywood?." Atlantic Monthly (10727825) 296.5 (Dec. 2005): 161-168. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 5 Nov. 2008 http://ezproxy.mylibrary.us:2051/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18848651&site=ehost-live.

Web Articles:

“Three Views of Hollywood.” Advent Film Group. 2008. 20 October 2008.
http://www.adventfilmgroup.com/Three_Views_of_Hollywood.html

Bowen, Barry. “A History of Christian Films.” Christian Headlines. 2003. 12 November 2008.
http://www.christianheadlines.com/filmhistory.html

Christiano, Dave and Bowen, Barry. “A History and Overview of Christian Films.” Christian Films.com. 2008. 12 November 2008. http://www.christianfilms.com/overview.htm

Taylor, W. David. “What’s A Christian Movie? (In Four Parts).” Christianity Today Movies (2004) 24 October 2008.
(Part 1)http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/goodchristianmovie.html (Part 2) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/honesttogodtruthaboutmovies.html
(Part 3) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/mereentertainment.html
(Part 4) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/violenceprofanitynudity.html

White, David. “Christian Film Making...Oxymoron?” Christian Cinema. 2005. 21 October 2008.
http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/newsdesk_info.php?newsdesk_id=132

Transcripts of Interviews/E-mail Exchanges:

Gresham, Douglas. “Christians in Cinema.” Interview. Christian Cinema. Eds. Angela Walker. 2008. 23 October 2008.
http://christianmovienews.com/christians-in-cinema-douglas-gresham/

Harvey, Angela & Swartzwelder, Rik. “Should Films Be Faith-Explicit? (In Four Parts).” Christianity Today Movies (2005) 24 October 2008.
(Part 1) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/filmsfaithexplicit1.html (Part 2) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/filmsfaithexplicit2.html (Part 3) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/filmsfaithexplicit3.html (Part 4) http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/filmsfaithexplicit4.html

Schroeder, Zena. “Interview With Zena Dell Schroeder.” Interview. Maryann Diorio Blog. 2006. 21 October 2008. http://www.maryanndiorio.com/blog/archives/general/000312.php

Tuesday, January 20

Making History

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