For Your Summer Viewing: Other People's Parties

The daughter of one of our friends at church is one of the writers and producers of a film that won 1st place at the 2008 Napa Valley Film Festival and was shown at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. She also stars in the film playing the role of Sasha.

It is a cute comedy called Other People's Parties about two friends who start a party planning company but get a bit sidetracked on the way to success.

Best of all, you can watch it for free here on your computer: http://www.indiemoviesonline.com/.

The movie is about an hour and a half in length, so set aside some time to enjoy it!

Not Just For Traditionally Built Women

Portia, Babs and I are VERY excited about the debut on HBO of a new series based on the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Andrew McCall Smith.

We LOVE the heroine, Precious Ramotswe, of Botswana. Andrew McCall Smith lived in Botswana at one time and writes very sympathetically about African life. Precious reminds us of many of the wonderful Nigerian women we have had the opportunity to meet through our good friend Dr. O. Like them, she is a believing Christian and her faith is reflected in the stories, although it is not a prominent theme. It's just part of her personality and life, as it is with most of us. It appears that the producers have taken great pains to make the series reflect the wonderful calming tone of the books.

This looks like a great series for the whole family, so pull up a chair and a cup of bush tea at 8 Sunday evening and enjoy. It's not just for those of us who are traditionally built.

CORRECTION: The series begins NEXT Sunday. Mark your calendar. Mea culpa.

Movie Review: Elizabeth The Golden Age

I bet this will be the only review of this movie you read that references Dallas Willard. Hang with me here and I'll explain in a bit.
Yesterday Babs, our good friend Jane Long (her blogname because she is a Texas history teacher and Jane Long is known as the mother of Texas) and I went to see Elizabeth The Golden Age. We almost missed it because it hasn't been very popular. And we basically agreed that this is because it takes dedicated Tudor history nerds like us to sit through it.

First let me say that Cate Blanchett is an excellent Elizabeth I. I've seen a lot of them, and think she equals Glenda Jackson in the role. She's definitely the best part of the movie. That, and the photography. And the costumes and scenery. The movie is more about artistic style, which it has aplenty, than dialogue and action, which it lacks. As the Spanish Armada approaches the director depicts Elizabeth as some kind of cross between the mythical Bodaceia and Joan of Arc on a big white horse leading the troops to battle. There were seemingly endless dizzying shots of scenes in circular motion that made me dizzy enough to have to look away. Enough with the fancy effects!

There were historical inaccuracies that we spotted. For example, Mary Queen of Scots would not have had a Scots accent because she was raised in France and actually spoke little Scots or English when she returned to her throne after the death of her husband the King of France. Another example is that although there were plots against Elizabeth's life, she was never confronted by an assassin with a gun while at prayer as depicted in the movie. I could pick a few more nits, but it's a movie and not a history book.

Back to Dallas Willard. El Jefe and I have been reading his Renovation of the Heart in our Sunday School class. This morning we were discussing Willard's thesis that to change ourselves spiritually we must change our thinking and not focus on our feelings. If you change your thinking, he says, your feelings will follow. Focusing on trying to change your feelings just won't work. My experiences in life tell me that this is true.

As I watched this movie about Elizabeth, it struck me that Elizabeth I mastered her feelings and emotions by concentrating on controlling her thinking over the course of her life. I've read many biographies of Elizabeth. Her duty as sovereign of the people of England was her paramount consideration. Many times, she refused to compromise that duty in the interest of her personal feelings. Whenever she was torn between duty and emotion, as was shown in this movie when she was reluctant to condemn Mary Queen of Scots to death for treason, she ultimately chose duty.

Some movies made about the Virgin Queen make the mistake of focusing on her emotional life, which is something that history shows she did not do. Elizabeth The Golden Age did not. For that, I give it two thumbs up.