Subscribe!

Hello, faithful readers. I'm not going to be posting for a little while. Stay tuned. I should resume the Intersections, Roundups, and other assorted entries in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience!

Top Five Movies (according to box office returns)
1. Funny People (R)
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG)
3. G-Force (PG)
4. The Ugly Truth (R)
5. Aliens in the Attic (PG)

Notables: In most movies, when someone of bad character hits rock bottom, they have a conversion of sorts. The womanizer finally sees the error of his ways and settles down. The self-centered jerk embraces selflessness. The shopaholic realizes she loves her friends and family more than her shoes. You know the drill. Well, in Judd Apatow's newest film, Funny People, the lead character (played by Adam Sandler) finds out he is dying from cancer. He is then told he will make a full recovery (I've read that I'm not ruining anything by giving this away, so don't yell at me). Here's what's interesting, though: it sounds like the movie plays against type in that the Sandler character doesn't change on the other side of his health scare. Now, I've not seen the film. Maybe he does eventually change. I don't know. All I know is that according to stories I've read, Apatow's chief goal in the film was to explore what happens when a person fights against a conversion of sorts on the other side of something tragic. But is this against type? Or is it a look at something that happens all the time? One thing I've learned in pastoral ministry is that trials and tribulations either make us better people or worse people. There's not much middle ground.