New movies are usually released to theaters every Friday, but who’s got 10 bucks these days to drop on a movie that may well be a load of crap? Given those odds, on Friday I offer an alternative on DVD that you can rent at your local video store (or in some cases, avoid at all costs). Some will be new releases, others you may have to hunt for, but all of them are available to light up your small screen should it be a lazy Friday night.

Road to Perdition

With 2010 kicking off a brand new decade, everybody and their mother has been putting out a “best of the decade” list for every imaginable category.  IGN, a great entertainment website, is in the midst of making their picks for the best movies and video games of the past ten years, listing a top ten for each individual year before compiling the best of the best.  As I read through their list, it’s been fun to think back about some real gems that I haven’t revisited in a while.  One of those films is Sam Mendes’ superb 2002 drama Road to Perdition, one of my personal favorites.  A great story of fathers and sons rounded out by an absolutely stellar cast, this is a movie that should be required viewing for any film fan.

Set in the Capone mob era of 1930’s Illinois, Road to Perdition tells the story of Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks), an enforcer for Irish-American boss John Rooney (Paul Newman in his final onscreen role).  The orphaned Sullivan was taken in as a boy by Rooney, whose fatherly provision helped Sullivan to establish a life and family of his own, with his seedy work hidden away from his two sons.  One night, his curious older son Michael Jr. stows away in his car on a job, only to witness his dad’s partner, Rooney’s son Connor (Daniel Craig), gun down a man in cold blood.  Worried that the boy will spill the secret, Connor comes after him and forces the two Sullivans to flee for their lives.  With a psychopathic hitman (Jude Law) dispatched by the mob to take them out, the elder Sullivan must find a way to keep his son alive and end the cycle of violence, giving his son a chance at a good life. 

While you could certainly describe Road to Perditionas a mob movie, this certainly isn’t Goodfellas or The Untouchables in tone or subject matter.  The focus here is intensely personal, exploring the nature of the relationship between fathers and sons and the toll that violence takes on the human soul.  Essentially, this this a movie about three sets of fathers and sons – the two Sullivans, the two Rooneys, and the adoptive father-son relationship between Hanks and Newman’s characters.  Each relationship explores a different dynamic, and they all add to an emotional climax that cuts to the core at what it means to be a father.  With such a focus on characters, it goes without saying that the film is only as strong as its cast – and in this case, that’s high praise.  All the heavy-hitters are in top form here, with a supporting cast of character actors like Stanley Tucci and Ciaran Hinds rounding things out and providing a cast of characters that feels truly authentic.  The source material for the movie is taken from a graphic novel, and cinematographer Conrad L. Hall (also his final film) does a beautiful job of lighting and framing each shot to create a visual masterpiece that sets the tone for the film’s action and is a subtle treat for the eyes.  Composer Thomas Newman’s score is beautiful and deeply haunting.  Mendes ties it all together in a pitch-perfect package.  There’s really not anything negative that I can say about this movie.  If I were to compile a ten-best of the decade, Road to Perdition would certainly be on it.  If you haven’t seen it, it should be at the front of your to-watch list.  It’s a masterpiece in every sense of the word. – **** (out of 4)

Road to Perdition is rated R for violence and language.

Ed Stetzer reported today on a very interesting event in Dallas where an evangelical church, a synagogue, and a mosque all attended one another’s services recently.  Before you get visions of ecumenical nonsense dancing in your heads, go and read Stetzer’s interview with the pastor involved, Bob Roberts of Northwood Church.  After reading it, this sounds like one of the most interesting and compelling ideas I’ve heard a church have in quite some time.  May God use the bridges built for the Gospel’s sake.

HT: Vitamin Z

When Paul talked about “filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ,” this is not what he had in mind.

How sad that one can look at the cross and turn to this for redemption.  We simply must understand exactly what Jesus accomplished for us through his suffering, and we must make sure that we communicate that well to other people.  Doctrine matters.  People will read this news and be weirded out by the practice, but the doctrine that drove the pope to do it is the real problem.

“The question that arises is whether people do what they are, or if they are what they do.  The answer to this is imperative, because if we are what we do, then all we need to do is train people to act differently, and they will change themselves.  But if we do what we are, then we do bad because we are bad, and we cannot do good until we become good, the very thing which bad people cannot do, no matter how many dollars are spent and organizations are founded to help them.”

- Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission

Brush Strokes by Doug Wilson – Caverns and Monsters from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

It’s here!

Doug Wilson has been writing a bit lately on the topic of the morality of food.  He’s got an especially helpful post up today about how the history of what we consume should (or rather shouldn’t) affect our conscience.  It’s well thought out, and a good principle that is relevant far beyond the dinner table.  Go check it out.

Tolerance – it’s a word that’s thrown around a lot these days.  It’s the belief that one should be respectful and accomodating of someone else’s differing views.  Unless, apparently, you percieve those views to be intolerant.  In that case, intolerance is OK.  In fact, you can even be preachy about the intolerance of the other people while you yourself are being, by definition, intolerant.  It’s a pretty awesome deal.

The AP is reporting that a collection of women’s groups are strongly protesting the upcoming Super Bowl commercial from Focus on the Family featuring former Florida quarterback and upcoming NFL draft pick Tim Tebow.  Why?  The ad is pro-life.  Tebow’s mother was advised to abort him due to complications with the pregnancy, but she refused.  He was born, they were both healthy, and you know the rest.  The two of them will be telling their story in the 30-second spot, and apparently that is a horrible thing to some people.

According to National Organization for Women president Terry O’Neill, the ad (which, keep in mind, she hasn’t even seen) is “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”  Really?  A woman telling the story of her choice (that is, after all, the word these groups so dearly love) and the son who is now living an amazing and influential life because of it is extraordinarily offensive and demeaning?  “That’s not being respectful of other people’s lives,” O’Neill continues. “It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else’s.”  Unless, of course, you’re suggesting that women having the right to abort their children legally is superior to women not having the right to abort their children legally.  In that case, it’s not offensive at all. 

This kind of intellectual nonsense would be funny if it weren’t so sad.  We live in a culture that claims to value tolerance, but when you look at stories like this it becomes crystal clear that we do indeed value tolerance – we just value it in other people.

“As to myself, if I were not a Calvinist, I think I should have no more hope of success in preaching to men, than to horses or cows.”

- John Newton

And yes, I apologize for the title.

HT: Kevin DeYoung

As we mark the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and mourn the millions of lives lost since that day, read this sobering and thought-provoking post by Kevin DeYoung.

HT: Vitamin Z