best film

Every year there are various films that are nominated by the "Academy" and through votes they select which one is the best in different categories (best picture, best soundtrack, best actor, best actress, etc) in a ceremony called the "Oscars".

I am not an expert movie critic, and I know a few friends who can analyze movies in much deeper ways that I do. I do enjoy watching movies a lot.

Perhaps it's because as a child I started to watch movies with my parents (whether at home or at the theaters). But I do enjoy it and I am usually opened to watch various types/genre of movie (action, comedy, drama, suspense, psychological). Depending on the genre, there are different aspects of appreciation towards the film.

This year I made a point to try to watch as many movies as possible from the list of nominated films for the 2017 Oscars. First reason of this is mainly to spend time with friends who share this interest. Second reason is to learn to appreciate the films that the "Academy" selects. Third reason is purely for entertainment.

So I watched most of the nominations for best picture, and I am going to write a few sentence to describe my thoughts on those films:

• Arrival: I like Amy Adams, and she was the center of the film. The pacing and storytelling was pretty good to keep the audience in suspense.
• Fences: Denzel Washington and Viola Davis showcased their acting skills in a movie that looks more of a play. It's very conversation-driven, slightly difficult to follow.
• Hacksaw Ridge: a pretty inspiring story of a man who stood firm on his beliefs. The start is a bit slow, but the final battle scenes are intense (probably comparable to Saving Private Ryan)
• Hidden Figures: complete package of a satisfying movie: great story with themes of good cause, a main character who we can cheer for, and a strong supporting cast, 
• La La Land: it's very pretty, it's attractive and nice, flashy but lacking a bit in substance. The ending was very well done.
• Manchester by the Sea: sad, dramatic, but real and acted masterfully.
• Moonlight: it's an unique film with an unique theme and unique storytelling. It was very well done as a film, but it is difficult to be entertained by the story.

I personally think "Manchester by the Sea" is the best film of this list, but my favorite is "Hidden Figures".

After watching "Hidden Figures" I was very happy. The story has many good themes to fight for, including civil rights, equal treatment, and merit-based reward system. There are many elements from the story I could relate to, including overcoming obstacles, being part of a minority ethnic group, feeling of being an underdog, overworking and underappreciated (lol), and of course the appreciation of mathematics! The movie is so nerdy, and I can't help but to laugh and reminisce my days in undergrad

The movie is centered on conflict between a system (NASA workplace policy) and the people who are fighting against this system (African-American who are treated as inferior in this workplace). And I think some of us can relate to that, as we are Christians, and we hold fast to a set of principles that are in constant conflict with the system (the world) that surrounds us, whether it is the school environment, the workplace, or family.

I appreciate the ways that the African-American "fought" the system, as it did not incite any violent rebellion in midst of the unfair treatment, but they still submitted to the system and committed to hard work with the hope that their good results will change the situation for the better. In some instances, the characters were smart to find creative ways to "gain favor" from the system without incurring to any violent activity.

I find myself sometimes fighting a system in my workplace, and sometimes I kind of want to just leave or flip the table. But that is not necessary the right way to express my disagreement with the system. We are called to submit to our authorities and to submit to our bosses. And looking at examples of Joseph or Daniel in the bible, it is encouraging because they were put into very difficult systems that were contrary to their beliefs, but they persevered, they worked hard, they found favor, and God blessed them.

That's one of the beauties of being a Christian, that my ultimate boss is God, and that if I work hard to honor Him, He will indeed take care of you.

strange phd

Marvel movies are still coming, and we can see a progression on what type of superpowers and greater powers, and crazy stuff is going happen next...

• a high school student from public school Spiderman protects his friends in New York 
• students from a special private school, the X-men fights for the protection and integration of mutants in society
• a team with people from different educational levels, which we can average as undergrads called the Avengers show up when Earth is in danger of threats
• a masters in planning named Star lord, leads the Guardians of the Galaxy to keep the universe safe
• PHD, actually a doctor show saves lives, but due to an accident lost his abilities, and had to go onto a journey to be come part of a group of "sorcerers" to protect the"multi-universes" from evil forces, and his name is Dr Strange.

I watched Dr Strange on the weekend, and it was fun to watch. I am a bit of Marvel fan, so I will probably not get bored with superhero movies. Dr Strange is indeed a good origin-type movie that explains the background of a superhero before he became one, and the sequence of events that mold his character and solidify his resolve to fight for good.

The effects and the fighting was pretty interesting as it had some inception sauce and matrix spice. The character development was good, and I enjoy the comedic relief.

** spoilers alert **

One of the cool things about the movie is that there is a bunch of religious overtones. I mean, Dr Strange belongs to a group of "sorcerers" from Nepal, who draws power from other universes to create teleportation gates, shields, and weapons. The fact that it draws power from some sort of impersonal force, it has influence from the pantheistic worldview.

Another interesting concept shown is the art of "surrendering" when Dr Strange first was having issues with generating a teleportation gate, as he was trying to use that force to bend his way, but instead he had to surrender to it to use his power accordingly.

There are interesting characters who has very different motivations:

• You also have the "Ancient One" who always looked very wise, and she was a person with very good intentions who unfortunately had to break some rules and use the power of  evil to do good things while forbidding others from doing so. 
• This lead to a rebellion from a talented student who went ahead to practice the dark arts since he probably thinks the Ancient One is deceiving him. 
• Then you have Mordo who is self-righteous, and shows not much grace to those who "breaks the rule", and unfortunately due to his self-righteousness he now wants to annihilate other sorcerers. 
• There is also the guy who was paralyzed, and was able to recover by learning the "arts", but chose not to use if for a greater good, instead kept it for himself.
• Dr Strange started with been very self-conceited and proud, and shifted to be self-less and willing to sacrifice his own time and life to protect the earth

The villain's motivation was not portrayed as clear, but he did expressed the he abhorred the reality of "death", so he wanted to seek the dark arts to gain the eternity. That's not a bad start to start a spiritual conversation, because indeed the bible does speak about "eternity is written on our hearts" (Ecclesiastes), and there is a human longing for such concept, and we know that through Christ we are able to access to God our Father be able to spend an eternity with Him.

** end of spoilers ** 

burden of decision making

Recently I have watched two movies about the use of drones in war, one of them was a few weeks "Good Kill" with Ethan Hawke, and recently "Eye in the Sky" with Helen Mirren. They are both excellent movies and very thought provoking in regards to the moral validity on using drones to target dangerous enemies.

The latter movie "Eye in the Sky" centers the dilemma on whether to justify a drone operation to kill a group of terrorists in a small village while there is moderate probability on killing innocent people who are near the area. This is about a joint operation with the US, Great Britain, and Kenya. And there are military personnel, and a few British cabinet ministers monitoring the situation. But once this dilemma arises, among the military personal and British ministers were not able to agree in the next course of action. The movie gets really tense while trying to solve this situation (to go or not with the operation), and also a bit frustrating because it starts a cycle of "decision referral" (basically trying to get in contact with a person of higher authority so that he can make the decision).

The person with "higher" authority within group of people monitoring the operation could not decide, so he has to refer to another minister, and so on, until they reach the Prime Minister. So basically no one really wanted to take the burden on making this decision. It is also interested how they portray the difference between the US and British on how they determine whether collateral damage is justified or not.

It is not my intent to discuss about the use of drones, as I don't know enough to comment, but I want to focus on the weight a decision have for leaders. In the above example, it is about political leaders, and though it is very entertaining to read about the US elections, it is also a serious matter as it will determine the next leader of this powerful nation, which can influence in decisions like the one described above.

On a "very lesser" (not sure about my grammar) example, when I go out for a meal with friends, it can be time consuming to make a decision on where to eat, because either no one has a strong preference or there are opposing preferences (e.g. "no fast food", "no healthy food"). On my recent trip to Japan, there was a point where we were a group of 8 people, so whenever we have to decide for food, we would stand on a circle, and each of us will go to Yelp to find options, and then we discuss about them, and so on... it takes quite a bit of time. Of course, there were times I have to make an executive decision, and though that "solves the problem", it does put a burden on me. What if the food is bad? What if the service is awful? At the end, I do feel responsible for everyone's experience with the choice I made (even though I know my friends will not blame me even if the experience was bad).

On recent group trips, I was a major part of the trip planning, and I have to admit that during the trip there were moments where I would feel relief that nothing bad happen with the decisions that I have helped made, which is kind of silly because it does distract me from enjoying the actual trip.

These last examples are kind of silly, but it can tell us a bit on how leaders feel when they make big decisions. For example, pastors, church board, fellowship executive committee, etc. I was privileged to serve on various fellowship and small group leadership roles, and it is a big responsibility because decisions we make might affect the spiritual lives of the people we serve (to a certain degree, as God's sovereignty is in the picture). I remember the wise words a good brother told me a long time ago, reminding me that we should serve with seriousness as at the end we are accountable to our Great Maker and Creator.

the force

so yeah, many people have been in crazy joyful mode since "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" came out. Many fans were crazy about it, and I even got to enjoy a 85% day off because of a Star Wars event at work.

The three original movies were a classic, achieving a legendary status, and revolutionary on the time that were released. Then there were some fake movies that came out later, but that was catastrophic, and the only redeemable thing that came out of it was this: http://winterson.com/2005/06/episode-iii-backstroke-of-west.html

The new movie got very positive reviews. I will abstain on taking too much about it, but I have to admit, it is very entertaining and fun, but the more I analyze it, the more I dislike it.

I want to expand on the concept of the "force", which plays a very major role on the Star Wars story. The force is this impersonal power that seems to be everywhere, and certain individuals can use or control part of it to do cool stuff (psychokinesis, mind control, reading minds, fighting abilities, etc). It seems that individuals must concentrate, focus, and train to use the force. But the force can be used for either good or evil purposes, depending on the user. There is a light side, and there is a dark side. A great deal of the story from the movies is to show the battler between both sides, and how an user from the light side can be tempted to to the dark side.

The idea of the force is very influenced by the worldview of "Pantheism". It is not my intent to describe this worldview in details, but I just want to point out a couple of key points on it:

• Pantheism describes"god" as an impersonal "force"
• The goal of man is to become one with the "force", and that is usually accomplished by denying one's individuality (via meditation, mantras, chants, etc)
• the concepts of good and evil does not really have a standard, other than favoring the process of becoming one with the force, as a "good" think (e.g. karma is considered good, as it helps me to be closer as one with the "force")

There are issues with this worldview, the major one been the classic issue of ethics, where there is no absolute standards that defines what is good and what is evil. Plus the concept of an impersonal god (consistent with the lack of standards of good and evil) is not very hopeful for a purposeful life, and the assurance that a "god" is watching over us.

In Christianity, we have a personal God, who is almighty, all powerful, and is loving and just. The fact that He is personal, and that He has created us in His image is very encouraging, because our lives are made with a purpose, and we are most satisfied when we reflect His image in our lives. This is a much more hopeful and worth "worldview" to live for. Due to God's character, there is a clear standards on what is good and what is bad, and there are instructions on how to walk in holiness.

We praise God for what he has done, by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our transgressions, so that we can find forgiveness and be reconciled to Him, so that we can live in eternity with Him.

Merry Christmas!

maximus decimus meridius

"What we do in life echoes in eternity." - Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator

Gladiator is one of the my favorite films of all times, and I really believe every man should watch it. It shows a character with so many commendable characteristics:  a man who is honorable, who is respected, who keeps his word, who overcomes great adversity to triumph, who fights for justice. I don't get bored at all re-watching this movie. It's also worth mentioning that a lot of the good deeds Maximums end up doing in the movie produce fruits that he did not get to enjoy.

I remembered when I was in university, an upper year brother challenged me to think about the legacy I want to leave behind in my years in school. This is a question that most people will not naturally think about, since school is usually treated as a stepping stone to get a job that pays well. Indeed, this is a question that I still think about today. How do I want to be remembered when I leave the "current place" I am in? If I am able to answer the previous question, what steps can I take to achieve it?

Often, we are placed in locations where we are just there temporary (5 years in school, a job placement, a full-time job, etc) and it is very tempted to do the minimum to get by or to work hard only on the aspects that will benefit us (e.g. work extra hours at a job to please my manager). But how about helping those around us (which is outside of our "job description")? How about making a positive impact on the people that I see everyday at work?

This is often challenging especially when the responsibilities of the "job description" is already stressful enough.

I have been swimming through a bit of disappointments at my current job for some time now, and it got significantly worst when changes occurred on my job management (people moving to different teams, people leaving, people getting fired). So it is easy to be demotivated and wanting to just do the minimum.

But God has called us to do our best in the work we do, as if we are working for Him (Col. 3:23) and we are also called to be the salt and light of this world (Matthew 5). And even if life is tough, we are called to do our best in all situations, walk that extra mile, and be a good witness in all. Even if the my work employers does not appreciate the work that I do, I can only find assurance and peace when I know that my efforts are pleasing our ultimate Boss, the our great Father, our great King.

so much to learn...

Ownageness of the Dark Knight

** warning: there will be spoilers about "The Dark Knight Rises" movie in this post **

This summer I was really excited for the last Batman movie. I actually didn't watch the first two movies in theaters because I was in school so I was totally outside of the movies world, but got to watch them on DVD a few years after they were released. What got me excited was to watch the trailer for the  "The Dark Knight Rises" earlier this year (I was probably watching the Avengers haha) because I really like to watch the conclusion of a story.

So two weeks before the "The Dark Knight Rises" was released, I re-watched "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" to refresh myself of the overall story line. It was actually quite an enjoyable exercise!

On the Saturday (one day after the release date), I went to watch last movie with a group of 18 people and I reserved the seats through the Empire Plus (cost $2 more but I don't have to go for lineup). And after watching it, I started to think more about the movie, and as I thought about it more, I realized how good it is, to the point that I wanted to re-watched it (which I did). I think this trilogy of Batman can become one of the best movie trilogies of all times.

I want to take this opportunity to express my thoughts regarding the "The Dark Knight Rises" and why I think its' so great.

Weak points
First, I will start with the weak points. I heard of criticism towards this movie, and I agreed with most of them. For sure this is not a perfect movie, but I think these weak points do not overshadow the greatness of the movie. Here are the two main weak areas:

• Too unrealistic: there are a fairly amount of exaggerated events like Bruce Wayne coming back from the Middle East to Gotham in a matter of hours after he climbed up the hole, or his back getting healed, or the terrorist group able to set up explosives so easily, etc. But if we are picky about loopholes, then most movies will fall short. In general, I don't think it was too far-fetched.
• Bane as a character: I really didn't like his muffled voice, but we don't get to know much about his motivation as a villain (other than his allegiance with Tania). It would have been nice to know a bit more about him, though there was already too many characters to focus on (Catwoman, Detective Gordon, Robin Blake, Tania).

Actually my greatest disappointment about the trilogy is that Katie Holmes didn't take the role of Rachel on the second movie.

Plot
Comparing to "The Dark Knight", the "The Dark Knight Rises" is slower in pace, and it feels less intense. I guess "The Dark Knight" did set up a very high standard (94% on rottentomatoes) and it is considered one of the best superhero movie ever, often described as an art masterpiece in the form of superhero film. There is not a single boring moment, hard to predict plot, and psychologically very engaging. One has to realize that "The Dark Knight Rises" is a different type of movie. First of all, the main villain is quite different. Having the Joker definitely spices up the movie to be action-packed, unpredictable, chaotic, and mentally really engaging. "The Dark Knight" focuses more on the battle between good and evil, whereas "The Dark Knight Rises" focuses more on the resurgence of the Batman as the symbol of hope for Gotham, hence there is less action and more stuff about Bruce Wayne's internal battles, and in how he gets owned but gets back up again.

Theme
The overall theme of the trilogy is the battle of good and evil. "Batman Begins" focuses on revenge, and "The Dark Knight" touches upon the corruption and promptness of evil in men. "The Dark Knight Rises" talks about rising up after failure, not giving up after defeat but coming back even stronger to own your enemies. Something that is encouraging since we will face many failures in life.

Character development
"Batman Begins" is cool because we get to see Bruce Wayne getting trained as a ninja and growing from an angry and directionless adolescent to a man who is committed to fight crime. In "The Dark Knight" he is consolidated as Gotham's superhero but finds the possibility of retiring and letting Harvey Dent be the Knight of Gotham, and pursue a personal life with Rachel. Even though we think the Joker lost the battle in "The Dark Knight", it was actually a total lost for Batman, his love interest (Rachel) died, the guy who he thought would represent the good side of Gotham turned into a bad guy (Harvey Two-Faces), and the symbol of hope that Batman represented now turned into the embodiment of evil (for killing Harvey) so that Gotham will not resigned in its fight against evil.

So "The Dark Knight Rises" focuses on the resurgence of the superhero who had given up pursuing a personal life and is content with letting the name of Batman embodied hatred from the people of Gotham, and is slowly rotting as a human being. But he gets back in the battle, but shortly is badly defeated by Bane to the point of almost death. But his life is spared only so that he can experience the desperation of seeing Gotham getting destroyed. And it is in the hole when we see Bruce Wayne battling his desperation and fear to climb the pit to save his city. He was not able to climb it in the first couple of times because he didn't really fear death so the fear of losing his city was not at its highest peak. It's until he gets rid of the rope and knowing that is all-or-nothing so he was afraid of dying (because dying means losing Gotham) then he was able to rise and rise.

The introduction of Catwoman was genius. Her character does complement Batman very well, and her existence sheds some light for Bruce Wayne.

Legacy
At "Batman Begins", Bruce Wayne wanted Batman to be the symbol of hope for Gotham in the fight against organized crime. It was to give courage to every citizen to stand firm in this battle. By the end of "The Dark Knight", this symbol of hope became the embodiment of hatred (since Joker turned Harvey into a bad guy, so Batman had to falsely become the responsible for killing Harvey in order to not cause people from Gotham to lose hope). This was an act of sacrifice he made for Gotham's sake, and it is very honorable but at the same time does not result in a long lasting solution.

But in "The Dark Knight Rises" after he comes back from the hole, he leads the counterattack to save Gotham, and he saves the city from the nuclear explosion by sacrificing himself. The difference from the previous movie is that he sacrificed himself ensuring that his legacy of hope in fighting against rime will be carried on by the people of Gotham (especially Robin). This is key because Batman was not meant to be there forever but was intended to encourage the city as a whole in this battle against evil. This was accomplished in "The Dark Knight Rises".

There was an interesting dialogue between Catwoman and Batman right before they were about to embark in battle, Catwoman tries to convince Batman to leave with her before the city gets destroyed since Batman has already given everything to Gotham, but Batman replies, "not yet, not everything". Perhaps leaving this legacy was what he had not done yet.

Overall, "The Dark Knight Rises" resolves the problems that Bruce Wayne inherited from "Batman Begins" and  "The Dark Knight"  by establishing Batman as a lasting symbol of hope for Gotham, giving his best on his service to Gotham (to follow his father's shoes) and developing a life for his own (maybe with Catwoman). I really enjoyed how this ended, definitely a very ownage trilogy and ending.