Movies

I went to see Kingdom of Heaven tonight. I was glad that it only cost me $4.50, and that included a Coke.

The first thing that really put me off was the title. I suspended my criticism for the sake of enjoyment, but it didn’t really matter.

It was simply a poor movie. To me it was merely a repackaged “epic film” that wasn’t all that epic in any aspect, save length. Plotline: hero in lowly station, hero learns something from past that changes life, hero undertakes quest, makes moral decisions, enjoys forbidden love (for which we’re all supposed to be excited, regardless of the fact that she’s married to another), conquers insurmountable odds, wins in the end, and, having learned something about life, chooses the quiet life…or does he? Orlando Bloom was, well, Orlando Bloom–a prince like in Troy, a blacksmith like in Pirates of the Caribbean, with a little sprinkling of Legolas.

Oh, by the way, Islam = good, Christianity = bad. I don’t know enough history to critique the historicity of the film at this point, but I did, perhaps from a preexisting bias, see a comparison between the two, holding the former up as noble and the latter up as not. The crusades were a mistake, to be sure. But the film was just one more stroke.

If I think about it more, I’ll process it more. If not, no worries.

25 June 1530

Today marks the 475th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. It is the confession we Lutherans continue to make today. I’d encourage you to pick it up and read it this weekend. You can save it as a .pdf if you like. It’s a brief read but extremely edifying.