52 in 25: #42-44 - "Research reading"

I am slogging through my “fun” reading right now, but remember I should mention the reading I am doing for “research.”  Here’s “3” books that I have read for a project I am working on.

The first is Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton.  I first came across this book while listening to the Bible in a Year podcast.  It is a little bit dated, since it is focused on teenagers at the turn of the century and a lot has happened since then, but it is an insight into how many Americans still view God.  Essentially, it is based on a survey and a series of interviews with teenagers around the year 2005.  The end result was their conceptualization of a new belief system they call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”  Moralistic means that God wants us to be good, nice to each other.  It is Therapeutic because it is all about being “happy” – and rejects things like repentance from sin, observing the Sabbath or holy days, and redemptive suffering.  Deism is a revision of 18^th century deism in that God is distant, but intervenes when needed to solve a problem.  The sad thing is how much I see this in so many people I encounter today, especially from my generation.  So, again, while it is dated, it remains important for understanding how to evangelize or re-evangelize some people who still hold this worldview.

Next is After Evil by Robert Meister.  The less I say about this the better.  Meister is a professor of social and political thought in California, and a Marxist.  This particular book is about so-called Human Rights Discourse following the evils of the 20^th century, and the search for true justice.  Some of it is good – calling into question moral logic that states that suffering is never good.  Most of it is really bad – essentially arguing that colonialism led to racism, which lead to genocide, and all because of democracy.  And to make matters worse, he writes in such a way that you know he is looking down his nose on anyone who is reading this; he is much smarter than you.  Again, the less I say the better (he should have heeded that advice).

 

Finally there are two small booklets which I will consider together a book.  A Catechism of Modernism by the Reverend J.B. Lemius, O.M.I., originally published in 1908, is basically a copy of Pope Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (“On the Doctrines of Modernists”).  But it is a “catechism” in that it breaks up the encyclical into questions and answers, as old catechisms did.  Honestly, this format does not do anything to help clarify, and in fact is probably less helpful (IMHO) than just reading the encyclical.  Then again, how available were encyclicals at the time?

Then there is Hope for Hard Times by Scott Hahn.  It is a self-titled “30-minute read” (probably, if you’re not taking notes).  I love Hahn, and this is no exception.  He breaks down hope and how it should be a remedy for suffering (hence the title) into eight chapters, which essentially consist of a premise, some teaching, usually using saints, and a take away.  Simple and effective.  It is also a direct contrast to Dr. Meister: suffering makes us holy.

52 in 25: #41 - Blessed Charles of Austria

I have a great devotion to Blessed Karl of Austria, whose feast day happens to be today (October 21).  So, I decided to finally read his biography: Blessed Charles of Austria: A Holy Emperor and His Legacy by Charles Coulombe.

 

If you want to know what a leader should be like, I highly recommend this book.  If you want to know what a husband and father should be like, I highly recommend this book.  If you want to know how to suffer well, I highly recommend this book.  If you want to know what it means to be a real man, an authentic Catholic, etc., I highly recommend this book.

 

Blessed Karl was the final emperor of Austria-Hungary, who came to power after Emperor Franz Joseph died during WWI.  He is known as the Peace Emperor, because he did everything he could to end the war earlier and save millions of lives, but no one would cooperate or listen to him.  He is known as the Eucharistic Emperor, because he would excuse himself from meetings to “see if the tabernacle light was still lit,” i.e., spend an hour or so in Adoration.  He died in exile at a young age, the father of 7 with 1 on the way, but his legacy remains as a great man and a great leader.  This biography no only examines his life, but also how his wife, Servant of God Empress Zita, who lived another 67 years after his death, continued his legacy, as well as his son Archduke Otto, the uncrowned Habsburg king.

 

I could write a long time about him, but that would spoil it.  Please, if you have a chance, read about this hopefully soon-to-be-saint, who is an example for everyone in so many ways.

 

“Thy holy will be done. Jesus, Jesus, come! Yes—yes. My Jesus, thy will be done—Jesus.” – his last words

Movies by Decade: 2000s

The 2000s are an interesting decade for movies.  There’s some really good movies, no question (you will see from my rankings the best tend to come from the first half – a continuance of the 90s?).  But we also start to see an over-reliance on CGI that plagues us today.  There’s just a whole lot of movies, ranging from some of the worst ever made to some legitimately great ones.  There’s also an emphasis on sequels, though not as bad as today, because there’s plenty of really good stand-alone movies.  Overall, it’s perhaps the second-best decade for movies.

 

Before my list (remember this is “best,” not necessarily “favorite”), a few notable movies not mentioned, because I have not seen them: Mystic River, Brokeback Mountain, There Will Be Blood, Chocolat, Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Moulin Rouge!, Chicago, The Hours, Seabiscuit, Ray, Capote, Babel, Michael Clayton, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Precious, A Serious Man.  Then there’s the bad movies that people think are good: Lost in Translation, Crash, Million Dollar Baby, A.I., The Da Vinci Code.  And the overrated Avatar, No Country for Old Men (among others).

 

Honorable Mentions: Memento, Cast Away, Catch Me If You Can, The Bourne Identity, Frequency, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Chicken Run, Snatch, Spy Game, A Beautiful Mind, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Spider-Man, The Pianist, Signs, The Two Towers, The Italian Job, Open Range, Return of the King, Big Fish, Miracle, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Incredibles, Cinderella Man, Munich, Inside Man, The Fountain, The Departed, Casino Royale, Miss Potter, 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Dan in Real Life, Cloverfield, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, The Dark Knight, Moon, The Young Victoria, Zombieland

 

Top 10 Countdown:

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

            This top 10 was really hard to determine, and this last spot could have been at least a half-dozen different movies.  I have Ocean’s Eleven here because it is a great mixture of funny and exciting.  It’s perhaps the best heist movie that I’ve seen.  The ensemble cast is fantastic.  It’s a very well-made movie (and much better than the original).

 

Unbreakable (2000)

            In the decade that started the run on superhero movies, the best is one outside of the major comic franchises.  I love this movie because it’s the best of Shyamalan: subtle, yet once you finish it you see how all of the pieces fit together.  I can still remember seeing it in the theater, being perplexed by the introduction about comic books, then being overwhelmed at the end of how great a superhero movie it was.  Yes it’s slow, but that was intentional, because it was made to be the first of a trilogy, deconstructing origin movies.

 

Finding Neverland (2004)

            I can never get through this movie with dry eyes.  Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and the children are all fantastic.  You get caught up in the wonder of one of the great children’s stories of all time.  You really feel for the loss of their mother because you get invested in the characters.  It’s a beautiful movie.

 

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

            I love revenge movies (it’s a flaw of mine), and this is one of the greatest.  Jim Caviezel is fantastic.  Really all of the cast is.  You have to love Richard Harris.  The score is phenomenal.  The payoff is perfect.  A truly underrated gem.

 

Gladiator (2000)

            Originally, I had this ranked higher, but it fell back as I took some time to think these movies over.  It’s great, and maybe worthy of the top spot, but it is a little long and perhaps gratuitous in violence at times.  It is a top example of how great a movie maker Ridley Scott can be.

 

Road to Perdition (2002)

            Without a doubt, this is one of the most perfect movies based on a graphic novel.  The cast is fantastic.  The directing and visuals are stunning.  The score is beautiful.  The scene in the rain with just the score and no other sound is one of the greatest scenes in movie history.  What a way for Paul Newman to go out.  “I’m glad it was you.”

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

            I also had a hard time ranking this because it’s hard to think of Lord of the Rings separately.  For me, this is clearly the best of the trilogy (Two Towers makes dumb changes from the book and is clearly a set-up movie, Return of the King is too long at the end).  As an achievement, there are few things like LotR.  It’s really great in every aspect.

 

Black Hawk Down (2001)

            This could be the best war movie ever made.  It is heart-breakingly real.  The ensemble cast is great.  It makes you cheer on the Americans while hating they were there to begin with.  As great as the movie is, the book is even better.

 

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

            I had this at the top for a little bit, but guilted myself into swapping the top two.  The sad thing is how few people have heard of this movie (which absolutely deserved sequels).  While Russell Crowe is very good in Gladiator, he shines as Captain Jack (and it’s the main reason I dropped Gladiator down).  The rest of the cast is great as well.  I don’t know if I can think of another movie that has done such a fantastic job of making you feel like you are there, living the life, experiencing the events (yes, I consider it much better than Das Boot).  It’s truly impressive and, again, deserves a lot more credit.

 

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

            This is tops not just because of the subject matter, it’s because Mel Gibson is one of the greatest directors we have ever seen.  He crafts a movie like few others can.  Everything is precise.  It’s incredibly emotional.  It’s hard to beat.

 

Extra fun: the best movie scores of the decade

 

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Howard Shore)

The Village (James Newton Howard, also Dinosaur, Unbreakable, King Kong)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Edward Shearmur, also Reign of Fire)

Road to Perdition (Thomas Newman, also Finding Nemo, A Serious of Unfortunate Events, Wall-E)

The Fountain (Clint Mansell, also Moon)

Gladiator (Hans Zimmer, also Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, The Last Samurai, The Holiday)

The Nativity Story (Mychael Danna, also The Time Traveler’s Wife)

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil)

Catch Me If You Can (John Williams, also Harry Potter 1-3, The Patriot, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Mission: Impossible 3 (Michael Giacchino, also The Incredibles, Ratatouille)

The Italian Job (John Powell, also The Bourne trilogy)

X-Men (Michael Kamen, also Open Range)

Spider-Man (Danny Elfman, also Big Fish, Hulk, Terminator Salvation)

Love Actually (Craig Armstrong, also The Incredible Hulk)

Hellboy (Marco Beltrami, also Live Free or Die Hard, 3:10 to Yuma)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Harry Gregson-Williams, also Kingdom of Heaven)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Patrick Doyle)

Casino Royale (David Arnold)

Atonement (Dario Marianelli)

Transformers (Steve Jablonsky)

 

Other music from the decade: for me, this is the decade of Coldplay, as well as Muse, and a good smattering of rock like Audioslave, Linkin Park, System of a Down, and Chevelle.  And while it’s not my style, this was the decade when rap/hip hop clearly started to take over.  But you can also find some good indie music (thanks to Zach Braff) with Imogen Heap, The Shins, Cary Brothers, Joshua Radin, and Schuyler Fisk.  A final mention must be made for the masters of the music video: OK Go.

52 in 25: #40 - Jungle Tales of Tarzan

I had started this a bit ago, but decided to finish it before the weather got too cold.  I’m talking about the next entrance in the Tarzan canon, book #6: Jungle Tales of Tarzan.  The stories ran as monthly additions in Blue Book magazine from September 1916 through August 1917, and were published together as a book in 1919.

 

This one is a bit of a departure from the others for two reasons.  It is a collection of short stories, and it takes place when Tarzan is younger, before he meets Jane.  On the one hand, it is interesting because we get to engage with the more primal Tarzan.  On the other hand, the short stories vary in effectiveness from “what the heck am I reading?” (“Tarzan’s First Love”) to “that’s pretty cool” (“The End of Bukawai”).  Overall, it’s definitely on the lower end of Tarzan books.  Read it for completion’s sake, but don’t expect to be all that excited about it.  I think the biggest problem is that the short story format takes away one of the great strengths of Burroughs’ writing: 3-4 concurrent stories that come together in the end in a satisfying way.

Movies by Decade: 90s

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the 90s are, without question, the greatest decade of movies ever.  1995 and 1993 are a close run for the greatest year in cinema history.  So great that I couldn’t list just 10 movies.

So much was happening this decade it’s difficult to summarize.  The biggest thing is the rise of CGI and the overall use of computers (there had been some in the 80s, but minimal).  Some of the CGI still holds up today, and is probably better than today (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.).  There is, of course, also the start of computer animated movies (thanks to Pixar) that (unfortunately) has basically replaced hand-drawn animation for the most part today.  Basically any genre you want is represented this decade (even Westerns), with the notable exception of musicals (not counting Disney animation).

Before my list (remember this is “best,” not necessarily “favorite”), a few notable movies not mentioned, because I have not seen them: Ghost, Goodfellas, The Crying Game, Howards End, The Piano, The Thin Red Line, Malcolm X.  There are also terribly overrated movies like The English Patient, Forrest Gump, Titanic, and Unforgiven.

 

Honorable Mentions: The Green Mile, Rounders, As Good As It Gets, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovery Country, Home Alone, The Rocketeer, A League of Their Own, Sneakers, Much Ado About Nothing, Shadowlands, The Man Without a Face, Rudy, Gettysburg, Groundhog Day, Maverick, Stargate, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Looking for Richard, Misson: Impossible, Amistad, Contact, The Prince of Egypt, Toy Story 2, Galaxy Quest, The Mummy, The Matrix

 

Top 25 Countdown:

Fargo (1996)

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Aladdin (1992)

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Toy Story (1995)

Tombstone (1993)

Seven (1995)

A Few Good Men (1992)

The Lion King (1994)

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Braveheart (1995)

 

Top 10:

 

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

            It really hurts to leave some of those out of the top 10.  We are getting into basically perfect movies, with minor differences in ranking.  Red October is so immersive, you can’t stop watching it when it’s on.  Personal issues aside, I would love to have seen Baldwin play Jack Ryan more.

 

The Fugitive (1993)

            A strong case for the greatest thriller of all time.  Perfect cast.  Great score.  Great action.  Somehow the third best movie that year.

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

            If the hairs on the back of your neck don’t stand on end during the final scene, there’s something wrong with you.  They perfectly build the tension.  Jodie Foster is very good (though her accent is a bit sketchy).  But Anthony Hopkins, of course, steals the show with one of the greatest villain performances of all time.

 

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

            I feel this movie gets forgotten, but it shouldn’t.  Emma Thompson did a remarkable job making this famous novel even better by actually fleshing out the characters and making their motivations and decisions make sense.  Yes, she is a bit old for Elinor, but who cares?  The rest of the cast is perfect, but Alan Rickman in particular stands out.  And the score is beautiful.

 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

            I actually had a hard time ranking this one, because of the reasons so many others have pointed out.  The opening scene is remarkably brutal, one of the most realistic war scenes ever (and it completely changed how war movies were filmed).  The rest of the film is good, but there are some flaws.  In the end, it is too good not to have it this high.

 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

            Perfect.  The greatest science fiction action movie of all time.  Arnold is great.  Robert Patrick is incredibly scary.  It’s non-stop action, but it flows so well, unlike other movies.  Nothing will ever beat the sequence from the invasion of the lab, through the chase, to the end in the furnace.  Easily James Cameron’s best.

 

Jurassic Park (1993)

            Since this is my favorite single movie (and the #1 reason I had to go to Hawai’i), it pains me to have it at 4, but the others are just a touch better.  It’s the perfect blend of CGI and real.  The wonder and awe of dinosaurs has never been matched.  I still get goosebumps when they first see the Brachiosaurus.  Can’t forget John Williams’ score. 

 

Apollo 13 (1995)

            We all know the story, but Ron Howard still somehow makes the audience feel the tension.  And you know a movie is good when the men who actually took part in the event herald it.  Again, this was the age of do as much in real life as possible, and use CGI when necessary.  The launch was so perfect that some NASA guys wondered where they found the footage.  And all along, James Horner indulges us with music to fall in love with spaceflight.  This could have been #1.

 

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

            Speaking of splitting hairs and could have been #1.  Shawshank is the perfect movie to bring hope.  It is also a perfect example of male friendships.  Filial love.  Morgan Freeman is fantastic.  My only knock on it, and the reason why it’s #2, is that I cannot stand Tim Robbins.  To a certain extent he plays the character well, but I just can’t stand him.  Otherwise, it’s perfect.

 

Schindler’s List (1993)

            It’s a bit of a cliché to have this first, and I really debated about ranking it lower.  This is especially true if you consider “replayability”, which is nearly zero.  In fact, a part of me would say that for the year, Jurassic Park was better.  But, it’s a heart-breakingly perfect movie.  Again, outside of how much you want to rewatch it, there aren’t any flaws.

 

 

Extra fun: the best movie scores of the decade (Like the movies, this decade of film scores tops them all.  It’s the reason why I got into film scores to begin with.  Actual, full, orchestral scores, with memorable themes.  This time of music is nearly unheard of today.  I will choose one to represent each composer, because it’s impossible to list everything.)

 

Jurassic Park (John Williams – Home Alone, The Phantom Menace)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Michael Kamen – Lethal Weapon 3, The Three Musketeers, Don Juan DeMarco, Mr. Holland’s Opus)

Apollo 13 (James Horner – The Rocketeer, Patriot Games, Sneakers, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, The Mask of Zorro)

The Hunt for Red October (Basil Poledouris – Starship Troopers, For Love of the Game)

The Last of the Mohicans (Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman)

Waterworld (James Newtown Howard – The Fugitive, Outbreak, The Postman, The Sixth Sense)

Tombstone (Bruce Broughton)

Dances with Wolves (John Barry)

Sense and Sensibility (Patrick Doyle – Much Ado About Nothing)

Edward Scissorhands (Danny Elfman – Dick Tracy, Mission: Impossible, Sleepy Hollow)

As Good As It Gets (Hans Zimmer – Days of Thunder, Backdraft, Crimson Tide, Broken Arrow)

Cutthroat Island (John Debney)

The Mummy (Jerry Goldsmith – Total Recall, Rudy, The Shadow, First Knight, Executive Decision, The Ghost and the Darkness, The 13^th Warrior)

The Shawshank Redemption (Thomas Newman – American Beauty, The Green Mile)

Speed (Mark Mancina – Bad Boys, Twister, Tarzan)

Stargate (David Arnold – Independence Day, Tomorrow Never Dies, Godzilla)

Contact (Alan Silvestri – Forrest Gump, Eraser)

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Shirley Walker)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Cliff Eidelman)

Terminator 2 (Brad Fiedel)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Wojciech Kilar)

Maverick (Randy Newman – Toy Story)

The Phantom (David Newman – Galaxy Quest)

The Rock (Hans Zimmer and others)

 

Other music from the decade: this is the music of my middle school/high school days.  Grunge was king for me.  The 90s saw basically the end of real “rock.”  It was also the end of real country music.  90s music is a little bit more serious than the 80s, though there’s some fun music to balance it out.  What other decade would have given us Lump or Peaches or If I Had $1000000?  Then there’s ska.  And “swing.”  Punk, alternative, rap, etc.  One thing you can say about 90s music, it was all over the place, eclectic, much better than the bland generic noise that’s out today where everyone sounds the same.

52 in 25: #39 - The Apollo Murders

Uh oh, I have fallen behind pace…

 

My latest completed read is The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield.  I was intrigued by this book because it had good reviews and it was written by a real-life (Canadian) astronaut.

 

It’s long, but it’s a page-turner.  This is squarely in the “historical fiction” genre.  NASA is preparing to launch Apollo 18, the final mission to the moon, this time with purely military astronauts.  They have realized that a new Soviet space station in orbit has the ability to spy on the United States, uncovering major military secrets, so they divert the mission to go deal with the station. (Major spoilers) Once there, they find out the hard way that the station is already manned, and armed, and the Soviets are prepared to protect it.  One astronaut dies, as well as one cosmonaut, and as the space station is destroyed, the final cosmonaut finds her (yes, her) way on board the Apollo capsule and ends up getting a surprise ride to the moon.

 

There’s a good bit of action, and even more intrigue.  My main issue with the story is that I don’t completely buy the (in my opinion not fully fleshed out) motivation of the commander of the mission, who is a last-minute replacement due to the death (murder?) of the original commander.  That being said, the basis in real history (there really was a military mission planned, there really was a Soviet space station and Soviet rover on the moon, many of the people were real) makes it that much more interesting and believable.  Recommended for space history nerds as well as science fiction fans.  Just don’t expect, despite what might be read into the title, a mystery story.