Rob Bell: THE GODS AREN'T ANGRY: Part 2

Top 5: Best Film, Athletic Theme

Top Five: Best Film, Athletic Theme
5. Rudy
4. Hoosiers
3. Remeber the Titans
2. We Are Marshall
And the SRWGFA (Subversive Reformation Writers Guild Film Award) goes to:
1. Miracle

Top Five: Rocky Films
4. Rocky II
5. Rocky I
3. Rocky III
2. Rocky Balboa
And the SRWGFA goes to:
1. Rocky IV

The Greatest Film of All Time is...

Most award or reality TV shows wait until the end of the show or for the season finale to reveal the ultimate winner of any given competition. The "Subversive Reformation Writers Guild Film Awards" however is neither an award/reality TV show nor a competition. Rather, the SRWGFAs exist to rearticulate the goodness of good films. All bad films have already been completely dismissed.

The Greatest Film of All Time is...
BRAVEHEART (1995)

Here are the reasons why BRAVEHEART is the SRWGFA Greatest Film of All Time:

Narrator: I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes.

Narrator: In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland - starving and outnumbered - charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom.

Princess Isabelle: The king desires peace.
William Wallace: Longshanks desires peace?
Princess Isabelle: He declares it to me, I swear it. He proposes that you withdraw your attack. In return he grants you title, estates, and this chest of gold which I am to pay to you personally.
William Wallace: A lordship and titles. Gold. That I should become Judas?
Princess Isabelle: Peace is made in such ways.
William Wallace: Slaves are made in such ways. The last time Longshanks spoke of peace I was a boy. And many Scottish nobles, who would not be slaves, were lured by him under a flag of truce to a barn, where he had them hanged. I was very young, but I remember Longshank's notion of peace.

William Wallace: There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.

William Wallace: It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom.

Malcolm Wallace: Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.

William Wallace: Every man dies, not every man really lives.

Oscar is not a good name.

For those of you named Oscar please do not take offense. I actually really like the name Oscar for human being or for a grouch just not for an award. I am trying to think of a name to call my Film Awards that I am beginning in March. Some of you already commented with a few of your thoughts. Without giving any certain order or category, here are the films that are in the running to be mentioned. Please add your nominations.

Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Braveheart
Reign Over Me
The Prestige
Forrest Gump
Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
A Beautiful Mind
Pay it Forward
Crash
Mr. Holland's Opus
Saving Private Ryan
Kingdom of Heaven
The Matrix
Fight Club
The Bourne Ultimatum
Cinderella Man
Blood Diamond
Batman Begins
Dangerous Minds
Finding Forrester
John Q
Antwone Fisher

This list is definitely not exhaustive or complete. Please add your nominations.

Our Lives and Minds on Film.

Coming soon to a Subversive Reformation near you.
Opening Saturday, March 1.

Subversive Reformation will be posting a series of entries dedicated to the screen play writing, the cinematography, the digital editing, and the acting that is the religious and culturally formative film industry. I will be composing several posts that include the competitive ranking of films in pliable labeling systems including:

Most Intellectually Stimulating Film
Best Picture on Reality
Most Inspiring Monologue
Best Character Development
Most Meaningful Film
High Entertainment Value

Please post your film recommendations for any of the above categories and also suggest other categories.

A Community Mind.

Last night I re-watched A Beautiful Mind, one of the films in my "Top 5 Films" list. John Nash is a student at Yale who reforms the dynamics of economic theory proposed by Adam Smith. His underlying principle is that one making a choice must not make a decision for his own benefit but rather make a decision for his own benefit and the benefit of the community. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross initially benefited/benefits the community but not himself. He suffers terribly for the sake of the community. Am I to suffer for the sake of my community or am I to make decisions in line with the Kingdom of God that benefit myself with the hope that a kingdom-approach will ultimately benefit the community (presuming that the community needs realigned with the Kingdom of God)?

American Gladiators.

American Gladiators was one of my favorite shows on Saturday mornings when I was a child. Nitro, Viper, Storm, Electra, and others took on the "contenders" in a series of physically challenging competitions. Though I am a reader of Henri Nouwen, who does not advocate competition, I must appeal to the game-like, simulated-competition entertainment that is the returning American Gladiators. The show returns to NBC on January 6 with a special program this Wednesday evening. I'm sure I will have some upcoming posts comparing and/or contrasting the television show to real gladiator battles about which we read in history books or watch in cinematographically enhanced films starring Russell Crowe. Alas, I have my calendar marked for some American Gladiator viewage.