Posted on 01/19/2006 1:25:07 PM PST by moviewatcher
They do. The problem is that those who do do not have pockets as deep as Hollywood's. Therefore, most projects look somewhat amaturish and fail to garner widespread support, even from Christians.
"Movies like Megiddo are a great start in my opinion."
They're a start. On the other hand, you have "The Passion of the Christ." Compare the two films, as regards quality of presentation.
One was seen by an enormous audience. The other was seen by a small minority, even of Christians. Consider the reasons for the difference.
Quality will win every time. Quality will be seen. Mediocrity will simply not be seen. Making mediocre films is a waste of money and talent.
Good Christian-themed movies have long been made. The Robe, The Lion in Winter, Ben Hur, just to name three very quickly. All were made by major studios, by major directors, and acted by major actors of their time. All were huge successes.
Nothing else will do. Megiddo will not live on to be seen again and again. It failed in its mission, since only those who already see it as semi-prophetic even bothered to see it. Quality is essential, and in every facet of film-making. Anything less will fail miserably.
With the range of entertainment options out there, it takes an exceptional production to get people to make whatever effort it takes to see the production. Anything less fails.
It's not Hollywood that's to blame, quite frankly. It's a failure by all but a few Christian film-makers to actually produce a film people want to see.
As a Christian may I just say this: I have seen three movies in theaters since 1997. Two were to use free passes my company gave me just before they expired. The third was The Passion Of the Christ that I saw with a church group. I didn't want to see it and I did not enjoy it.
Projection tv's with good quality will soon dip below the $1000 mark. As they gain popularity (which they are), people will find that not only does the theater offer nothing positive that they cannot experience at home, but it offers many negatives that can be avoided at home.
It is not a hard decision: The whole family entertained all month via netflix for $20, or $9 a head PER MOVIE, PER PERSON, plus traffic, parking and food. It is not a difficult choice.
Not necessarily. Not every movie's mission is to be a blockbuster. In fact, most are made to simply make a profit. Maybe this movie achieved the profit it was seeking.
"Projection tv's with good quality will soon dip below the $1000 mark. As they gain popularity (which they are), people will find that not only does the theater offer nothing positive that they cannot experience at home, but it offers many negatives that can be avoided at home.
"
Well, the one thing that the theater can offer that no home theater can is timeliness. I like seeing movies on opening weekend, especially highly-anticipated ones. I like the crowd. I like the larger-than-life screen, the Dolby sound with speakers I could never afford. I even like the movie theater popcorn, something I've not been able to duplicate at home.
But I'm a big movie-goer. I recognize that not everyone is. You may be right. I don't know. Movie making will change drastically, though, if the theater isn't part of the equation, and it won't change for the better, I'm afraid.
Not necessarily. Again, there are lots and lots and lots of mediocre movies out there. And many make a profit.
I don't think Bushman was advocating not going to the movie.
It is possible to go AND to pray. :)
Tomorrow in all theaters is a great Christian movie...A TRUE STORY..."POINT OF THE SPEAR".
except that one of the main characters Chad Allen is openly gay...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020354/#himself
bump
A "bit" wooden is putting it nicely, in reference to the writing of the Left Behind series. When I found myself *still* rooting for the antichrist in book three, I thought that perhaps I hadn't emotionally connected with the main characters, and perhaps I'd best stop reading.
Quite a few movies are being made in the Intermountain West (Utah, Idaho, etc) lately, with limited theater release in the area, and good DVD sales after... as digital technology gets even better, expect to see more and better movies from a Christian perspective.
But as another poster said, it's going to take time.
Time, and some heavy-duty editing. I really adore good books, and generally, when I see "Christian fiction" as the category, I can count on it being fairly trite, some really bad dialogue, terrible plot sequencing--if it was a great book, it could make a great movie. Mediocre books make for blah movies, though.
I don't want to see a sermon--but I do want a good movie, and if it happens to have some prayer, or spiritual stuff, then that's great!
Your points are valid. We don't have TV in our home and avoid radio and subscribe to no publications. I even use Gmail to avoid all ads. We are always flabergasted at all the movies that are now on video that we never even heard of. For us, we are in a time lag so that often the first we hear of a movie is when we see it available at netflix. So they ARE brand new movies to us! 8^>
On the other hand, there is a terrific "black" Christian movie out there, "The Gospel." It has the same feel as "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," which was as good a real-life portrayal of Christ-like forgiveness that I could imagine.
Because of the "Passion" and "Narnia," I think Christians too quickly think Hollywood can turn out anything Christian and make money. It won't happen. Like anything, you still have to have a good story and good acting.
"Why cannot Christians form companies to make, distribute, and screen movies? I fail to see any reason it cannot happen."
Philip Anschutz apparently has asked himself that question and decided to do something about it. He's part owner in Regal Entertainment Group (Regal Cinemas) as well as owner of Walden Media (Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe"). Forbes has a profile on him. He can now produce the movies as well as show them at his theaters. Seems to be doing quite well.
The Lion in Winter was "Christian-themed"?
Good article. I've noticed this phenomenon in "black-oriented" films myself.
I saw "Diary of a Mad, Black Woman" and was struck by the simple fact that all of the characters went to church, and the heroine wouldn't have sex with her beau outside of marriage. These things weren't lampooned and they weren't presented as controversial, they were just part of the story of a Christian woman overcoming betrayal.
"We went through half a box of cleenex though, beginning about 10 minutes into the movie and progressing pretty much to the end."
Aw jeez, that sounds like me when I watched Dumbo (for the first and only time) when I was pregnant.
It was amazing - Although I've never been pregnant...
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