Art & Faith…Available!

My new book, Art & Faith, is now out and available on Amazon.  Publishing a book is a strange but fun process.  Amazon says funny things, like it was released in September 2012.  Not true – it was just released.  Anyhow, get a copy and let me know your thoughts.

Top 10 of 2012

Here they are.  A great year for movies.  I could say a lot, but this is the definitive list of nothing other than my favorite theater experiences of 2012…

10. Spiderman

I won’t lie – it was hard watching this.  It was hard to know how to feel.  On the one hand, it was so darn similar to the Sam Rami/Tobey Maguire films and those films were so good (first two).  I really really like Tobey Maguire and I was proud of those films.  But I couldn’t help it.  Although it screamed “Unnecessary!”, I really enjoyed this installment.  It got it right.  Maybe even more right than Rami’s vision.  At the very least, it was pure fun…

 

 

9. Life of Pi

This movie did what I desire from every movie watching experience: it took me away to a place I’ve never been.  Emerging from the theater was like coming back to reality after being to some exotic location on an exotic adventure for two hours.  I saw this with my son which added a whole dimension to the experience.  I was able to see it through his eyes which made it all that more magical.

 

 

8. Argo

Was it the best picture of the year?  Probably not, but it was fun watching a movie about an event I was old enough to actually remember.  Well done.  Unfortunately it suffered from Apollo 13 syndrome…because it was real, I knew how it ended and that couldn’t help but detract from some of the tension.  Although the fact that it created tension at all in light of the known ending is a testament to its story-telling craft.

 

 

7. Ted

It’s crazy – I shouldn’t have liked this near as much as I did.  At the most, it should have just been funny.  But I found it more than funny – it was engaging…I was genuinely engaged.  Why?  I’m not sure.  But I loved it…felt it.  And any movie that gives so much homage to Flash Gordon (a movie on my HS freshman year A-list) is a hit with me.

 

 

6. The Dark Knight Rises

I love Christopher Nolan’s reboot of this franchise.  It’s comic book for adults, and I appreciate it.  Kudos to Anne Hatheway for an excellent turn as Catwoman.

 

 

 

 

5. Hitchcock

This film was absolutely panned by critics.  I don’t get it.  I loved this period piece surrounding the making of Psycho.  All the actors were spot-on.  Wonderful fun.  At its heart – this movie was about marriage.  The challenge and subtleties involved in marriage as we grow older and deal with the changing parameters and scope of love.  I thought it was classy and well done.

 

 

4. Prometheus

Big, Bold, and Beautiful.  This movie was criticized as being “a mess”.  I don’t think so.  A better word is “ambitious.”  And, in general, movies would be better off if more films risked being “messy” in order to achieve this kind of ambition.  This was a long movie – that could have/should have been longer (in order to make sense of some of the leaps of logic and character behavior).  This is one mess that I would have gladly sat through more of…

 

 

3. Lincoln

Let’s hear it for long, well-made, historical dramas.  They always make me nostalgic for the great films of my youth.  Great attention was given to detail here…well crafted in every aspect.  I realized how much I liked this movie the day after I saw it.  It’s the way it stuck with me for days and days after viewing that impressed me the most.  In some ways, this movie was just as bold as Prometheus (obviously, in different ways).  It’s not easy to be a leader in any context, and the portrayal of leadership here ministered to me at a much needed time.

 

 

2. Killer Joe

I’ll just go ahead and say “don’t see this movie.”  it’s a hard R, and I’m a pastor.  I have a difficult time thinking of any movie I’ve ever seen that is a harder R rating.  The people at the box office were actually warning people before seeing it.  Apparently they had a lot of people walking out of the theater demanding their money back.  No doubt, it’s not easy to watch.  But it is one of the most well-rounded and well told stories I’ve seen in a long time.  The characters are real, by turns hilarious and tragic.  The tension is livid.  And, perhaps the highest compliment, I didn’t want it to end.  “No lights, don’t go up…I want to stay and see more!”

 

 

1. Django Unchained

What can I say?  I loved this movie – one of my favorite from the man (QT).  All the things you expect from a Tarantino movie – only this time it worked.  It wasn’t perfect by any means…but a great time at the theater.  Another I could see over and over…

Wants & Bodies: Continuing Sunday’s Conversation…

Leaning heavily on Dr. James Smith, our latest sermon series at Bggars Table has, among other things, prcoclaimed us – as human creatures – primarily driven by what we love, what we crave, and what we desire.  Another way of saying this is that what we want always trumps what we know.

What we want trumps what we know to be right.

A good friend of mine who is a professional therapist and counselor recently told me about counseling men who are involved with pornography.  he said they almost always come into his office saying they “struggle” with pornography.  One of the firs things my friend councils his clients to do is let go of the word “struggle”.  In other words, the first step to healing is getting clients to admit that they do what they want to do.

Again – what we want always trumps what we know to be right.

The question was brought up Sunday about spiritual disciplines.  Implied in the word “discipline’ is the idea that it is not an activity that we want to do.  Exactly.

Our wants and desires are malleable.  They’re not writeen in stone.  What our bodies want (our wants always come to us from our bodies) can actually be changed…altered.  Contrary to many popular notions, we are not necessarily slaves to our passions.  Our passions can be directed.

This is exactly what spiritual disciplines are about.  They change our wants.  When practiced regularly, spiritual disciplines actually alter our wants and desires.  The point of discipline is not to make us forever engaged in something we hate but have to do.  The point is to change what we want.

The other great lesson spiritual disciplines teach us?

In order to change our wants we have to engage our bodies.  Disciplines do just that – they engage our bodies.  They’re practices that involve what we do and don’t do with our bodies.  Who cares what you think of solitude?  you do it.  Who cares what you think about reciting the Jesus Prayer?  You do it.  The disciplines teach us that our locus of transformation is in our bodies.

Some food for thought…and good conversations.

Fire Ned

A good manager has a lot in common with a good bus driver. 

They’re both doing a good job when you don’t notice them. 

Top Ten of 2011

 

 

I haven’t been able to write as much here due to other writing projects and a general apathy of late.  But I wanted to offer my annual top 10 because I think it may be my most well received entry.  I’m not just sharing my favorite movies…I am, perhaps, contributing to movie watching experiences all over the metro.  I can only wish…

Starting at #10 and moving to #1…

 

10. The Descendants

Not Alexander Payne’s best…but still provocative and touching.  It took awhile of processing to realize this movie is – first and foremost – about forgiveness.  A tough subject to address honestly and realistically.  It does a great job.  I was thoroughly invested.  It took awhile to reorient myself to KC.

 

 

9. Hugo

A fun, fun, fun movie to watch.  At the theater.  In 3D.  I’m not a huge 3D guy, but this movie did it justice…all the technical details were glorious.  The central mystery revolving around historical movie magic adds to the fun.

 

 

 

8. Tree of Life

Not for everyone…but this is something special.  It almost feels more like viewing a museum than a movie.  Terrence Malick has guts.  This movie defies all conventional and commercial wisdom.  And the results are absolutely beautiful.

 

 

 

7. Hannah

An edgy action flick that feels like an art house film.  Amazing!  This movie reminded me of what made the great X-Files episodes great…science fiction clothed in taught espionage.

 

 

 

 

6. Martha Marcy May Marlene

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was supposed to be dark and disturbing.  Instead, it was just another pop thriller posing as something sinister.  This movie is the real thing.  If you want something truly dark and disturbing that will stick with you long after it’s over, this is the movie for you.  Very well done…and did I mention disturbing?  Oh, and everything they say about Elizabeth Olson being a great actress…it’s true.

 

 

5. Bridesmaids

Sublime.  Not only is this rip-roaring/laugh-out-loud funny, it’s also – like all great comedies – touching and heartfelt.  Kristen Wiig creates a completely sympathetic character who we, by turns, ache and cheer for.  In a perfect world this movie would have a legitimate shot to win Best Picture.  Best seen in a full-house…the laughter will shake the walls.

 

 

 

4. Midnight in Paris

This movie is romantic.  There is no better word for it.  Romantic in the best sense.  The longing for something more.  The desire to grasp something better…something just out of reach.  The repulsion of the merely pragmatic and utilitarian.  All set in glorious Paris.  I saw this at Town Center (a dreadful place to see a movie) with construction workers hammering away in a closet directly below my seat.  It didn’t matter.  I was still transported to another place by this film.

 

3. Drive

It’s a cliché, but a true one…they don’t make them like this anymore.  Steve McQueen would have been perfect for this role forty years ago.  Character driven action movies don’t come around often these day and it was sheer pleasure sitting through this one.  I didn’t want it to end.

 

 

 

2. Another Earth

I realize that I love a certain genre of movie…I’m not sure if it has a name.  It involves very real characters dealing with very real life circumstances.  True character driven drama…but with one twist: a slowly unfolding supernatural element that transcends understanding…almost as a background character.  (I didn’t see melancholia, but I can’t wait to rent it…seems like the same kind of thing).  I can’t say it any better than I was completely absorbed in this tale of love, loss, redemption…and another earth which mysteriously resembles our own as it moves closer and closer…

 

1. Beginners

There aren’t many movies that cut to the core…speak directly to my heart.  But this one did it.  This is kind of personal.  There are different kind of movies for different personalities.  This one is mine.  It was almost uncomfortable…but achingly sweet also.  I want to see it with my best friends so we can bond over it.

 

A group called “LMFAO” performed the grand finale in last night’s American Music Awards.

How do I know this?  I watched it.

Why would I watch a three-hour long awards show featuring the brand of pop music embodied by former American Idol contestants, trendy hip hop wannabe’s, more techno-garble than a IBM power plant, and, basically, everything prepubescent?  Simple.  Because my son loves it.  Somehow – unbeknownst to me – an unwelcome alien entity must have invaded my son’s room (or something) and taught him the lyrics of all of these headache inducing songs that previously existed in an alternate reality from mine.

His favorite group is the aforementioned LMFAO.  I checked out their cd at Barnes & Noble.  Two guys with their

LMFAO - Cool Dudes

faces pressed against a girl’s bare midriff.  It was the only cd I found with “Parental Warning – Explicit Lyrics” stamped on the cover.  They feature songs called “Party Anthem” and “Too Sexy For You”.  Monday evening I became aware that my son knows all the lyrics.

At dinner last night he began singing a phrase, “I have passion in my pants”.  Here’s the conversation that followed:

“Palmer, what are you saying?”
“I’ve got passion in my pants.” (unabashedly)
“Why are you saying that?”
“It’s a song I like.”
“I really don’t want you going around saying that…it’s inappropiate.”
“Why?  What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.  Eat your spinach.”

I’m processing how to navigate (and feel) about this latest development of…growing up.

The thing is – I wanted so much more for my boy.  When he was a baby in the crib, I put him to sleep to Johnny Cash and The Cowboy Junkies.  I made a point of raising him on Buddy Holly and Wilco.  I remember him finding one of my Van Halen cd’s when he was four years old (Van Halen I for those who care) and performing a dance number for his mother and I to the entire cd.  Van Halen wasn’t where I wanted him to end up…but it was an acceptable starting point for a 4-year-old.  I was parenting well…

What happened?

Me and Palmer were driving the other day and I decided to listen to his favorite radio station with him (don’t ask what station – it’s mentally blocked out).  I tried to find common ground.

“Palmer, this all sounds like music made for dancing.  It has a strong dance beat – meant to be played at dance clubs.”
“Yeah.”
“You know – when I was your age a lot of popular groups made similar music.  It wasn’t as techno because…well…they didn’t have the technology.  But it was still made with a similar beat and made to be played at dance clubs.  They called it disco.”
“I’ve heard of that.”

Then I remembered – I remembered just how hard it is at his age not to like what everyone else likes.  I remembered that I owned Andy Gibb and the Bee Gee’s crap when I was close to my boy’s age.  One of my 45’s was A Taste of Honey’s Boogie Oogie Oogie.  And it wasn’t musical doom.  It just takes a while to discover yourself…to live into who you will eventually become.  No need to panic.

The conversation I started during that ride was a conversation about not needing to like what everyone else likes.  Feeling free to choose what’s good over what is popular.  I said, “You can listen to whatever you want to and I’m cool with that.  All I want for you is to listen to what you like and not just follow the crowd.”

He nodded politely and looked out the window.

I have more hope for my daughter.  Last year she wrote in class that her favorite movie was “All Elvis Movies” and she recently asked if I could paint a mural of the Beatles on her bedroom wall.  Daddy’s Little Girl.

 

Disengenuious Perhaps?

No doubt this is an entertaining and even fun movie to watch.  I couldn’t help smelling conspiracy, however.  Is it possible that between the hard cracking business dealings of Billy Bean and his self promotional movie, there lurks something that is…well, false?  Consider:

• Is is completely genuine for Johnny Damon to be heralded as the Oakland Athletics franchise player who broke their hearts because he wasn’t affordable?  (There is a true story here but it isn’t located in Oakland California).
• Is it completely genuine to suggest that the Oakland A’s won so many games during the 02 season with a team full of “Undervalued” players?  (I seem to remember the likes of Jermaine Dye and Miguel Tejada on that team…funny they were never mentioned).
• Is is completely genuine for Billy Bean to take credit for the Boston Red Sox’s curse breaking World Series Win when that team was led by players such as the aforementioned high-priced Johnny Damon? (One among many to comprise one of the highest payrolls in MLB).

Stop the Football!!!

Uuhhgg!  I can’t take the ceaseless football talk anymore.  As if there’s not enough football once the season starts.

Football – it’s everywhere and I am sick of it already.  Honestly – I was soooo looking forward to a break from the whole thing this fall.  Will someone please lock them out again?

The funny thing is I somewhat enjoy the sport.  I just feel so overly saturated by football – like listening to a song you like over and over to the point you grow to hate the song.

I realize the reason for this reaction is largely a byproduct of where I live.  It’s probably not a coincidence that my two favorite sports are baseball and basketball – two sports that I, by contrast, can’t seem to get enough of.

Baseball coverage in KC is limited.  We have a major league team, but a team that is perennially in last place.  Thus the Royals chatter tends to dry up after a couple of months.  Local college teams, of course, have baseball.  But college baseball is hardly a phenomenon that captures the popular imagination and is, therefore, rarely addressed on local or national media.

KC has no professional basketball team.  There is a sweet sweet season where college basketball is on the radar, but that comes and goes relatively quickly and, honestly, doesn’t seem to garner much media hype until March Madness which, again, comes and goes pretty quickly.

Football though.  It’s everywhere.  Chiefs Chiefs Chiefs.  It’s all I hear about.  Who cares that they’re a middle of the road/mediocre team and have been my entire life?  In this city – they’re perennial contenders.  And then there’s the whole college football thing.  We are surrounded by three Big 12 teams who are all taken very seriously by the local media (much more seriously than any of them merit).

Football!  Stop playing the record!  Someone lock them out again…it was so promising…

Trop Rock – Not Prog Rock

“Do you want to go to a Trop-Rock concert tonight?”

The question was posed by my Mother in Law when leaving the beach after our first full day at their home in Gulf Shores, AL.

My spoken response – “Sure.”
My internal response – “What the hell is “Trop Rock” and did my Mother in Law really just ask me to go to a concert?”

When my family showed up at the local civic center’s back lawn forty minutes later my daughter immediately whispered in my ear, “Daddy, why is everyone so old?”

Thus began one of my most curious evenings in recent memory.  I don’t know if it’s fair to call it a concert – at least the way I remember concerts, but it certainly qualifies as one bizarre social phenomenon.  What was up with song after song

Brent Burns

about irresponsible living, drunkenness, and doing nothing all day?  I could understand the general theme at a Poison concert via 1988, but these were retired bankers and teachers.  These people looked like my parents (or thereabouts), but they called themselves “Parrot-Heads”.

At one point, Brent Burns (the featured musician – a career Trop Rocker) sang a song about monkeys and a bunch of retired, elderly women ran up front throwing stuffed monkeys to each other in rhythm with the beat.  For a moment I was terrified my mother in law would join them but she, thankfully, left her monkey at home.

At another juncture in the festivities Mr. Burns introduced himself as a loyal member of the local United Methodist Church to which a good number of the audience cheered.  He then proceeded to sing a song called (I’m not kidding) “I’m leaving ugly but early” – a song about how he would rather leave the bar early with an ugly girl instead of trying to make it with a beauty.  In other words, just take an ugly girl home tonight because it’s so much easier.  I watched as dozens of United Methodist’s members happily sang along with smiles on their botoxed faces.

Brent Burns and his sidekick talked and talked after every song.  They plugged their cd’s relentlessly, and they must have mentioned that they were “Trop Rockers” ninety-five times.  They were obviously very proud of this label.

Then it hit me.  I began to interpret the evening a bit.  This was a generational phenomenon of sorts.  The excessive number of older retirees, the silly and intoxicated behavior that seemed inappropriate for the current day and age, wallowing in thoughtless lyrics about complete irresponsibility, and most of all – the incessant pride of being categorized and labeled…musicians actually wanting people to label them.  This was a gathering of baby boomers and the out working of where that generation’s ethos has led them.

I’m not a fan or even a casual listener of Jimmy Buffett, but I hear tell that he is the king of the “Trop-Rock” and I can only imagine what his concerts are like.  But if you ever wonder where people congregate who failed to develop a social conscience throughout their years of professional and family life, you can certainly find them sitting on lawn chairs and singing “I”m Leaving Ugly But Early Tonight” at a local Trop-Rock concert.

 

Technology Lamentations

O my wireless anguish.  I grieve as two beloved establishments…nay – not establishments – Sanctuaries – have closed within the past two months.  Places that meant much to me throughout the past twenty years.  Places of congregating.  Places that hold stories and memories.  Places where I always have to go to the bathroom because my body finally relaxes from all of its crazy tensions.  Places.  Places.  I’m living in a world that’s losing its places!

I recognize the value of technology as much as the next person.  Father forgive me – I even subscribe to Netflix!  Oh the shame.  But I’ve long-held that ultimately technology’s biggest social impact is that it keeps us in our homes.  The more technology advances and becomes accessible to the general public – the less we get out of our hovels.  The less we meet our neighbors.  The less we interact and congregate.  Hands down – the friends I have who are most giddy about gadgets are the same people who always seem to detest people the most.  I’m not saying this is a rule.  I’m just saying.

Goodbye SRO Video with your creaky floors and awesome selections.  My name was under my dad’s name on your crazy database.  Ronald Bowles and Jon Bowles.  Always checking out great movies.  Thanks for being open late – a gold light shining from a welcoming window on those nights when me and JD craved Hitchcock.

Borders at 91st & Metcalf – I don’t know what life is like without you.  I walked into the hallowed room where I used to read, converse, and create.  Where I brought my children and saw fascination in their eyes.  Cafe shut down and dark.  Chairs stacked on tables.  Vultures plundering your shelves for closing sales.  They don’t know.  They don’t care.  You are violated.  I feel woe.

Convenience is killing the places I used to go.

I hope Mexican food never becomes wireless.  I can’t imagine losing Jalapenos.