Tag Archive | "movie"

Rapture 2011, Harold Camping and an iconic movie

Tags: , , , ,


Back in May 2011, the world was a buzz about the impending rapture predicted by Harold Camping. “Save the Date” billboards and bumper stickers were posted proclaiming that May 21 was the scheduled end of the world.

When the day came and went, Mr. Camping changed his mind. Instead of an earthquake we were to endure, all of mankind was “shaken with fear.”

For the last five months, you may not have known it, but according to Camping, we have been living in period of judgment with the final, FINAL rapture deadline moved to this Friday, October 21.

If on your “to do” list, reads:

  • Do laundry
  • Wash the car
  • Get salvation

You missed the deadline.

Apparently, according to Camping, no more reservations have bene taken after May 21. So, go ahead and cancel your plans for this weekend. The weather is bound to be terrible.

In all seriousness though, many Christians do take the idea of a rapture and second coming seriously, but most are content with the verse that states that “no man knows the day or the hour,” not even Harold Camping. With that in mind, Hollywood has helped spread the word over the years with mixed results.

Many movies have been made about the rapture by well-meaning Christians. Most try to scare the hell out of you and cause you to turn your life over to the Lord. Many times these have had the opposite effect.

Some will remember the Left Behind series that stared Kirk Cameron. It was inspired by the book series of the same name by Tim LaHaye who is said to be unhappy with the results and is seeking to have the movies remade.

The most recent movie with this theme to came out this year. Jerusalem Countdown is actually quite good. (Click on the link below to read my review). But the grand daddy of them all was A Thief in the Night.

While not the first end times film, A Thief in the Night is the most well known. It was released in 1973. Running a mere 69 minutes, the film managed to scare Christian children for years to come and not just because of the bad acting or the wardrobe. It just might be the perfect film to watch on Friday.

Thief is a story about Patty; a young woman who knows the gospel, but ignores it thinking that all one has to do to go to heaven is to just be a good person.

Her pastor, Reverend Matthew Turner, preaches that people don’t have to personally give their lives to Jesus to be saved, as the Bible is just an allegory in nature. One day, her husband and millions of others disappear and Patty realizes that she is living in the last days of the Antichrist.

A government system called UNITE (United Nations Imperium of Total Emergency) is set up giving all those “left behind” a special marking.

Those who resist receiving the marking are arrested. Patty resists UNITE but ends up cornered on a bridge and falls to her death.

Then, she awakens in her bed believing that all that had happened was just a dream. But not so fast – she stumbles out of bed searching for her husband and find his electric shaver still running and left in the sink. She realizes that the dream is starting to come true.

Thief was the brainchild of Russell S. Doughten. While Doughten worked on some secular films, most notably as an uncredited producer and director of 1958’s, The Blob, he is better known for his work with Christian end time films.

Thief was the first in a series of four:

  • A Thief in the Night (1972)
  • A Distant Thunder (1978)
  • Image of the Beast (1980)
  • The Prodigal Planet (1983)

Doughten himself appears in all four films as Reverend Matthew Turner, a survivalist who doesn’t completely believe in the Bible.

The rest of the cast includes little known actors including Patty Dunning (Patty), Mike Niday, Colleen Niday, Maryann Rachford, Thom Rachford, Duane Coller and Clarence Balmer.

While quite stylized, the quality of the film is very poor. The writing, actor and music make the film painful to watch, but is very much a part of Christian pop culture.

It features Larry Norman’s iconic composition, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” one of the earliest Christian rock his and one of Norman’s best-known releases.

Many have become Christians after seeing these films, but is debatable if that the best approach to share the “good news.”

Doughten went on to produce more faith-theme films with happier themes. His last film to date was A Stranger in My Forest in 1988.

Originally posted here.

Be Sociable, Share!

Sheen, Estevez find ‘The Way’ to make a non-preachy religious film

Tags: , , , , ,


How does a modern filmmaker with qualms about religion make a movie about the power of an ancient Christian pilgrimage?

That’s the dilemma that actor/director Emilio Estevez faced when making “The Way,” a new film that opened Oct. 7 starring his own father, actor Martin Sheen.

Estevez opted to focus on the personal dimension of spirituality, avoiding questions of doctrine and dogma that are harder to answer ― and run the risk of turning off audiences.

“The Way” takes place on the Camino de Santiago, a thousand-year-old pilgrimage route across France and Spain. Sheen’s character, Tom, is a doctor living a comfortable life in California who decides to make the trek after his son is killed in a freak storm while on the pilgrimage.

“I think that the film is a reflection of where I’m at on my spiritual path,” said Estevez, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, and makes a few cameos as Tom’s unlucky son, Daniel.

Sheen described himself as a “declared Catholic,” but he and his wife did not raise their children Catholic, and have let Estevez take “his own personal quest.”

Estevez said he grew up hearing arguments about religion, but never about spirituality. “It’s religion that divides us,” he said in an interview with his father, “and spirituality ultimately brings us closer together.”

In the film, Tom starts out as a lapsed Catholic. Along the pilgrimage, he meets others who slowly draw him out of his tight-lipped despair and help renew his sense of spirituality. None of these main characters is overtly religious and all have their own issues with God, but by the end each seems to have made some kind of pilgrim’s progress.

Estevez said he intentionally avoided “bludgeoning the audience over the head” with a religious message, although the film is filled with shots of churches and crucifixes.

“You couldn’t point a camera anywhere without seeing religious iconography, Catholic iconography,” Estevez said. “We highlighted it when we needed to.”

Co-producer David Alexanian said the film “echoes what the Camino represents, which is, ‘We’ll take all comers. We’re not gonna tell you how to do it, and we’re not gonna tell you what you’re looking for, but you might find it.”’

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, has no official route, but rather denotes any pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, said to be the final resting place of St. James the Apostle.

The path featured in the film is the most popular route, the Camino Frances, which starts in southwestern France and travels across northern Spain to Galicia, which Sheen’s father (Francisco Estevez) left for America.

Some pilgrims on the Camino decide to continue beyond Santiago de Compostela to Cape Finisterre, which was once thought to be the end of the world.

At one point in the movie, a Gypsy man tells Tom that he must scatter his son’s ashes in the ocean at Finisterre. “I’m not a very religious man,” Tom says, and the Gypsy replies, “Religion has nothing to do with it.”

“We have found that, if at any point the audience was feeling the movie was overly Catholic or overly Christian, that line helped them to get ‘underneath’ the movie and experience it in a much freer way,” Estevez said.

“The idea behind that line was that this is something you can’t categorize.” Or, as Sheen put it, “It’s the great mystery.”

Although Sheen and Estevez have not walked the full pilgrimage themselves, making the movie became a pilgrimage of sorts. After driving part of the Camino on a trip with his grandson (Estevez’s son, Taylor), Sheen suggested to Estevez that they make a movie about the pilgrimage.

The film was shot entirely on location with a small, “minimally invasive” crew so as not to disturb the pilgrims.

“Martin dressed like a pilgrim and walked the walk,” Alexanian said. He estimates that the crew covered about half of the nearly 500-mile route.

Sheen, Estevez, and Alexanian are currently on tour promoting the film, which is being heavily marketed to religious audiences. They’re also making a documentary out of the tour.

“This is a road trip about a road movie,” quipped Estevez.

Sheen added, “We’re still on pilgrimage.”

Watch the trailer here: http://filmtimes.net/the-way/

Be Sociable, Share!

You don’t need to be a love bird to enjoy The Big Year

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,


Every once in awhile, a movie comes out of nowhere and sneaks up on you with a pleasant surprise. The Big Year is one of those movies. There has been very little promotion for this film which makes one wonder if 20th Century Fox has low expectations for it as well. There has been some talk of disappointment that the film would be rated PG. Why is there such an assumption that a comedy has to be rated R to be funny or any good?

A Big Year is a term that many have never heard of before myself included. It is an informal competition among “Birders” (not “Bird Watchers” as one would suppose) who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year. This is a big deal as anyone involved in the Audubon Society can tell you. In fact, at the preview I attended, we sat next to a large group of Audubon members. My wife was talking to younger member about the organization and foolishly mentioned that she knew nothing about birds. At that moment, at least three members swung their heads around to see who would utter such ignorance. If you don’t know birds, but would like to see this movie, you have been warned.

The Big Year is directed by David Frankel, the guy behind The Devil Wears Prada and Marley and Me. It stars Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. With a trio like that, you might expect a slapstick comedy, but you would be wrong. It isn’t the funniest movie you’ll ever see, but is very enjoyable. Just don’t expect another Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Instead, Big Year is a hybrid of a road movie, a buddy film and a documentary. And it’s not about birds. It’s about marriage, family and friendship. It’s about following your dream but not to the exclusion of what is really important.

Stu Pressler (Martin) is a high-powered businessman who retires, twice, in order to pursue his dream of a Big Year. On the other end of the spectrum is Brad Harris (Black) who is young and having trouble making ends meet. He struggles with thoughts of failure and dreams of winning a Big Year. In the middle is Kenny Bostik (Wilson) a successful contractor and reigning champ of birding who will do anything to keep from losing his title. In this character driven story, the three actors share the screen time well together and show off each actor’s qualities that we’ve come to know and love.

The Big Year will take you to locations all over the United States from January 1 to December 31 – all in 100 minutes. You’ll experience every kind of weather and season, meet a variety of birders and get up close to lots and lots of birds. The photography is beautiful and the soundtrack is just bouncy enough to keep things moving.

The film features a long list stars playing bit parts including Brian Dennehy and Dianne Wiest (as Brad’s parents), Rosamund Pike (as Kenny’s wife) and JoBeth Williams (as Stu’s wife). Others along for the ride include Anjelica Huston, Rashida Jones, Joel McHale, Steven Weber and Corbin Bernsen.

The Big Year is not only a feel good movie. It’s one that you can take grandma or an older teen and not be embarrassed with the content. And you just might learn something about yourself too.

Originally posted here.

 

Be Sociable, Share!

Surprise! Dolphin Tale is actually good!

Tags: , ,


So, let’s just cut to the chase. I didn’t have my hopes set high with Dolphin Tale. The story sounded intriguing enough, but trailer looked trite. What a surprise. Not that the film doesn’t have its flaws, it does, but it is a solid family movie.

While not completely based on a true story, Dolphin Tale is inspired by one. The dolphin’s story is true, the human characters’ stories are not. The blending of fact and fiction actually melds into an engaging story. It is sort of like Lassie in fish form.

Kyle (Austin Stowell) is a award-wining swimmer with his sights on the Olympics. Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) is his cousin and biggest fan. But first, Kyle needs to join the service to earn the money he needs for professional training. Sawyer is sad with his cousin’s leaving and the fact that he has to spend his summer at summer school. While walking by the beach, Sawyer spots a young dolphin tangled and stuck in a crab trap and helps to release her. Later, Sawyer decides to check in on the dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and forms an instant bond with Winter, (the name given to the mammal) as well as Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff), the daughter of the aquarium’s leading vet, Clay (Harry Connick Jr.)

Clay sees the value of the boy/dolphin connection and encourages to the boy to visit her often while they treat her injured trail. Unfortunately, the tail needs to be amputated and the fate of the Winter is quesionable at best. Meanwhile, Kyle is injured in service and is sent back home in a wheelchair. His physical therapist is Dr, McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) who likes a challenge. Sawyer talks McCarthy into creating a prosthetic appendage to replace the dolphin’s tale. The rest is history.

The film starts out a little rocky. Stowell is good looking, happy and the BEST cousin EVER to little Sawyer. Zuehlsdorff is engaging as Hazel, but says almost every line with a smile that shows every one of her teeth. Gamble is the polar opposite with a sad sack personality. It’s all a little too perfect to be believeable, but the story improves quite rapidly.

Harry Connick Jr. wouldn’t have been my first choice for this story, but he does surprisingly well with the role and Ashley Judd as Sawyer’s mother doesn’t disappoint either. Morgan is featured promintely in the trailer and is always a pleasure to watch, but is only in the second half of the movie. But the film really relies on the strength of child actors and their interactions with the real Winter, playing herself. (Footage of the actual events is shown at the end of the film and you see just how tiny Winter was when the event happened.)

Despite already knowing the ending, the movie effectively creates tension but it all wraps up neatly at the end. This isn’t Oscar bait, but a movie parents will be happy to take their children to as it features no language, sex or violence. Although there is some dolphin nudity.

 

Originally posted at Examiner.com.

Be Sociable, Share!

Cowboys and Aliens: Biggest disappointment of the summer

Tags: , , , , ,


Oh, I know I will take some heat for this, but I didn’t much care for Cowboys and Aliens, an adaptation of a comic book from Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.
For me, it is the biggest disappointment of the summer. It had so much going for it. A great cast, a great director (Iron Man), Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are listed as producers and the great Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers.
But oh, did it fail to deliver. It didn’t help that just before it, there was a preview for the next movie based on a board game, Battleship, but that’s another rant for another day.
Set in the old west of 1873, a stranger, Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), wakes up to find that he has a mysterious shackle attached to one wrist and no memory of who he is. He is in the town of Absolution (really?) a town that lives in fear because of the way it is run by iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford).
The town doesn’t care for strangers. Suddenly, they are attacked by space ships that zoom through and wrangle up many of the townsfolk including the Colonel’s son.
Lonergran knows a thing or two about fighting and soon works together with the Colonel, members of the town, nearby indians, Absolution’s new bartender Doc (Sam Rockwell). When another stranger, and a woman at that, wants to join them, they agree without a fight which seems odd for the odd west who supposedly took care of the women and children.
While hard to pinpoint the mistakes of this film, Cowboys and Aliens is a mess. Although not a terrible movie, it’s not great either. The choices in actors are fine but they are stuck with soan adaptation of Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s comic bookme of the worst dialogue ever, (Young Man: I wish you had been my father.Old Man: I wish I had a son just like you).
You don’t end caring for any of them except maybe Doc, the new city slicker bartender who doesn’t know how to shoot a gun. His English accent missing, Craig scowls more than speaks. Everything you like about Harrison Ford has been reduced to a grumpy old man – again. Movie cliches are rampant as well. (Horses are begin killed left and right, but don’t worry, the dog will be okay).
Cowboys and Aliens has too many storylines and too many characters and never gives you a reason to care for any of them. The movie does feature a lot of action, but few surprises. It starts off well with a mystery, but as that mystery is revealed, eyes will roll.
Except for some language, there isn’t much to be offended with but there isn’t any message either.  There was much unintentional laughter filling the theater from where I sat but then, many still clapped with appreciation at the end. To each his own I guess.
Cowboys & Aliens

Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell

Director: Jon Favreau
Originally posted here.
Be Sociable, Share!

Christian movie and television award event to be aired on Hallmark Channel

Tags: , , , , , ,


The 19th Annual Faith & Values Movieguide Awards Gala, which honors family-friendly films and TV programs, will be aired on May 16 at 7 p.m. on the Hallmark Movie Channel.

The event was actually held last Feb. at the Universal Hilton in Hollywood, Continental News said. Now, with its scheduled airing on May 16, the general public can share in the festivities by watching it on air.

The Movieguide Awards has always sought to encourage the making of movies and television programs that are spiritually uplifting and family friendly, according to Christian Newswire.

The Movieguide Gala program is hosted by Kevin Sorbo, who starred in the films “Soul Surfer,” “Hercules,” and “Sam Steel and the Crystal Chalice.” Sorbo said on Movieguide’s website, “I was thrilled and honored to be a host and presenter at this year’s Movieguide® Awards shows. Ted Baehr [founder of Movieguide®] and his team put on a great night, and I’m especially excited that it will air on the Hallmark Movie Channel.”

Also featured in the program are musical numbers by Ace Young (who first gained fame on American Idol), and Mary Mary, Christian Newswire said. Presenters include Maria Canals Barrera, Eric Martsolf, Kristy Swanson, Bailee Madison, Nadia Bjorlin, Nancy Stafford and Dean Cain, among others.

Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to land on the moon, will announce the Best Family Movie of the Year, according to the Movieguide Awards website. The entire event is a production of the Christian Film & Television Commission and its sister organization, Movieguide: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment.

Baehr told Christian Newswire, “This is an extraordinary blessing and opportunity to help people see that there is a growing amount of faith and values based, high quality entertainment.”

Baehr also said to Continental News that he was pleased that Hallmark decided to air the program this month. “[It] lets the whole country in on the faith, the fabulous and the fun.”

Awards

Awards that will be handed out include the Epiphany Prizes of $100,000 each for Inspiring Movie and TV production. This year’s winner for film is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is the third movie from the Narnia series. For television the award went to Amish Grace, according to the Epiphany website.

Another financial award is given by the Kairos Prize totaling $50,000 for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays by First-Time and Beginning Screenwriters. Other awards are the Best 10 Movies for Families, the Best 10 Movies for Mature Audiences from teenagers to adults, the Faith & Freedom Awards for Positive American Values, and the Grace Awards for Most Inspiring Performances in Movies & TV, Christian Newswire said.

The John Templeton Foundation is the sponsor for the Epiphany and Kairos prizes. The Christian Film & Television Commission ministry, and Movieguide are both international ministries headed by Baehr, Christian Newswire said.

CFTVC and Movieguide are committed to “redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media,” according to the Movieguide website.

Be Sociable, Share!

Soul Surfer, inspirational film about Bethany Hamilton, slated to hit theatres

Tags: , , , , ,


Soul Surfer, a movie based on the inspirational true story of Bethany Hamilton, will be shown in theatres starting April 8.

Hamilton, 21, has inspired millions through her autobiography, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, published by MTV Books, I Am Rogue reported.

A professional surfer, Hamilton was born in Kauai, HI in 1990 to a family that was devoted to the sport. When she was eight years old she entered her first surfing contest and won in both of the categories that she competed in, according to I Am Rogue.

A year later, at the age of nine, she won the Rell Sun Menehune competition. This opened the door to her first sponsor, Ripcurl, which stayed by her even after the tragic accident when a shark bit off her left arm when she was 13 years old, I Am Rogue reported.

Hamilton told I Am Rogue, “They continued to support me through the loss of my arm, recovery, and return to surfing.  I’m proud to wear their clothes and use their products.”

Shark attack

It was on an Oct. 31 morning in 2003 when Hamilton, a rising star on the waves, was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark that chewed off her left arm just below her shoulder, according to her website.

She was 13 years old, and she lost 60 percent of her blood from the accident. There followed several surgeries within the next week, according to I Am Rogue. But one month after the attack, she was back in the water trying to surf, her website reported.

She got her skills back in two months, and competed in the Open Women’s division surf competition, where she placed fifth. She won her first National Title shortly after one year, landing first place in the 2005 NSSA National Championships in the Explorer Women’s Division, her web site said.

Movie

Soul Surfer stars Anna Sophia Robb, who plays the part of Bethany Hamilton. Robb said that Hamilton was a great help in fleshing out the role. Robb told Just Jared, “She is not scared to talk about her arm. No question is off limits with her. It’s just so wonderful that she is so receptive because as an actor, I want to portray her as real as possible.”

Hamilton said of Robb, “I’m stoked to have her play me. I never thought I would actually find someone to play me that would do it justice. I had such high expectations. I didn’t know who could fill this role and she did an amazing job. She’s the girl for me, I guess (laughs),” according to Just Jared.

Hamilton also said she was delighted to have a movie made about her. She told Just Jared, “Having my life being made into an hour and a half movie is amazing. I never would have thought a movie would be made about me, but it’s happening and it’s real.”

Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid play the parts of Hamilton’s parents, Cheri and Tom. Quaid told Just Jared that he was impressed with Robb’s work. “You could not ask for anyone better to play this part. She is so dedicated as an actress and very natural. You don’t really feel like she’s acting and that makes everyone else better as well.”

Also in the movie is American Idol winner and country singer Carrie Underwood, who plays her first film role as Sarah Hill, a church youth leader who helps Hamilton to strengthen her faith amid the trauma, according to I Am Rogue.

Be Sociable, Share!

Carrie Underwood’s film Soul Surfer, and bible film Goliath slated for 2011

Tags: , , , ,


Christians may want to keep two films in mind that are slated to come out this year. One is a Christian movie, Soul Surfer, starring Carrie Underwood. The other is Goliath, which will be based on the biblical story but with an action twist.

Soul Surfer is the true story of Bethany Hamilton (played by 17-year-old Anna Sophia Robb), a young American woman surfer who survives a shark attack, but loses her left arm. Despite this, she never loses her dream to surf again, The Tennessean said.

According to Hamilton’s website, she was a rising competitive surfer before the accident. However, her disability has brought her world fame, and many more awards including the ESPY award from ESPN for 2004 Comeback Athlete of the Year, the Gene Autry Award for Courage and Inspiration Values in 2004 and the USA Today Free Spirit Award in 2005 among many others.

In the movie Underwood plays the role of a counselor. Soul Surfer also stars Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid. It is slated for release nationwide on April 8, according to its website.

Of her first venture into film, Underwood told the AP, “I’m definitely new at this and just doing what’s fun right now.” She added that she didn’t feel she was up to carrying an entire movie in a starring role. “I love my music. That’s my first love,” she said.

Of Soul Surfer Underwood said, “It’s definitely an uplifting movie. Everybody would definitely feel a lot better coming out than they did coming in,” the AP reported.

Goliath

The second movie that Christians may want to see is Goliath, which will be directed by Scott Derrickson, who directed The Exorcism of Emily Rose. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will be “a period action movie made with contemporary sensibilities.”

Goliath will be given a modern touch that will be reminiscent of treatments of The Bourne Identity and 300, The Hollywood Reporter said. The script is written by John D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

In the movie, Goliath is sent to find the prophesied king of the Israelites. This sets the shepherd David on an adventure where he must fight for not just his own life and that of his loved ones, but also for his people, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Derrickson’s last movie was The Day the Earth Stood Still in 2008. He is also slated to direct the science fiction family oriented film, The Substitute, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  

The movie will be produced by Ryan Kavanaugh of Relativity Media and Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill, the production firm that is also behind the Twilight Saga movies, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Be Sociable, Share!

Murder of Baptist minister, wife featured on Dateline NBC

Tags: , , , ,


The story of the killings some 30 years ago of a Baptist minister and his wife, plus the life journeys of their two children who were shot but survived, was told on the Jan. 9 episode of Dateline NBC.

Over 30 years ago Pastor Richard Douglass and his wife Marilyn, former Southern Baptist missionaries in Brazil, were murdered when two transients chose their home at random and broke in with robbery in mind. The killers tied up the family, killed the parents, assaulted and shot daughter Leslie, then shot son Brooks, then 16, and left them for dead, 2News reported.

Brooks and Leslie survived the assault by murderers Glen Ake and Steven Hatch, Steamboat Today said. Ten years later, Brooks became Oklahoma’s youngest senator at the age of 26, and championed groundbreaking legislation for the rights of victims of crime, 2News reported. In 2002, Brooks left politics but found additional inner healing when he, together with Hollywood writer and director Paul Brown, co-wrote Heaven’s Rain, a movie about his life, The Associated Baptist Press said.

The film premiered in Hollywood last September and was shown in Oklahoma in limited release. It will be shown in theaters on February, ABP said. Adam Wald, associate producer of Dateline, told Steamboat Today that the movie is one reason for the Dateline special adding, “We had a great story to tell that took us through Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Wyoming. On top of that, there’s this great senator who took something terrible in his life and turned it into something positive for himself, his family and families to come who may unfortunately have to deal with similar circumstances.”

Wald added, “At Dateline we do a lot of true crime stories. That’s our bread and butter. What people want to hear is not necessarily about the crime that was committed, but rather the relationships that happened between the killer and the victim, or between victims, or between killers. I think that’s what makes a great story,” Steamboat Today reported.

According to Wald, even the story about the arrest of the murderers is compelling. He told Steamboat Today that Hatch and Ake raided the home of Mike Pondella with intention to steal, and pointed a gun at him. Pondella, however, managed to befriend the two. They drank beers until Hatch and Ake passed out, then Pondella ran to the office of the Sheriff.

The sheriff and some men headed to Pondella’s isolated ranch and captured the fugitives when the latter tried to escape. Jeff Corriveau, who was sheriff at the time (now retired), told Steamboat Today, “They had no plan whatsoever. It still amazes me that they both ran from the house when they had every reason to stay there. They had food, they had firearms, they had ammunition.”

Ake was handed a life imprisonment sentence, while Hatch received the death penalty and was executed, Steamboat Today said. Ironically, Brooks Douglass said that when he finally met with Ake 15 years later at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, he forgave the triggerman, ABP reported. “I said, ‘for 15 years I just wanted nothing more than to see you dead.’ Just hearing myself say that, I knew I had to let go. Did I get off that floor to go kill him? Is that what my parents would have wanted for me? The power of forgiveness—if we’re going to move on past, we’re going to have to find a way to forgive.”

Leslie, the other victim, told ABP, “If you have hate for people it makes you a hateful person. I don’t want to live like that the rest of my life.” Leslie was not involved with her brother’s movie. After the tragedy she finished college, graduate school, became a teacher and then an assistant principal. She is married with two children.

Be Sociable, Share!

Actor Corbin Bernsen’s Christian film, “Rust” to be released next month

Tags: , , , , ,


Corbin Bernsen, formerly of L.A. Law and currently with the USA Network’s TV show Psych, will be releasing a Christian film on DVD next month.

Bernsen, who produced, directed, wrote and acted in the faith film called “Rust,” told CBN News that the film in many ways reflects his personal journey and rediscovery of God. “Rust” will be released on October 5.

Christianbook.com says “Rust” is about a former minister, Jimmy Moore, who undergoes a crisis of faith. He goes back to his small hometown and discovers that it had just undergone an extreme tragedy. The website says the movie as a “unique story of friendship and calling,” and a “mystery that will leave you seeking the power of grace, the beauty in sacrifice, and the hope of faith renewed.”

Bernsen told CBN News that in writing “Rust” he was thinking about a midlife crisis that involved more than marriage, but focused on a parting of ways with God after having worked in ministry for one’s entire adult life.

“I wanted to create that story here with a guy who’s faced with this or a similar situation, but instead of a wife, he’s married his life to the service of God in Christ, and he needs to get on the road back to it,” Bernsen told CBN News.

In the film the main character says leaving God is “one heck of a messy divorce.” Bernsen told CBN News, “You can walk away from a wife and three kids, and I suppose you might find somebody new and create a new family and new experiences and at least have the surface appearance of ‘it’s all worked out OK.’ (But) when you walk away from God and you walk away from Christ, you’re basically uprooting the very foundations of being.”

Bernsen told CBN News that he personally started his journey back to God when his father died, and he held his ashes in a velvet bag. It was difficult for him to think of his father as just ash and bone, and so questions of heaven and of God came to mind.

He said that children have an innate notion of God and Christ, but unless they are educated about it, it remains simply a feeling. He told CBN News, “Either we forget about it over time, or we’re scared away from it.”

In “Rust” Bernsen also tackles the issue of the role that pain and suffering plays in life. Referring to the characters in the movie he told CBN News, “With that family there was a pain and a suffering, but look what came back and what James has become. What influence, because he’s restored his faith, could he have on the world? We don’t know what the plan is. We just have to have faith in the plan.”

Be Sociable, Share!

Ads

Advertisements

Switch to our mobile site