Explorations: Ahhh, NPR

OK, good comments first. The voice acting was great—no, awesome. The animation was impressive.

Even though the "songs" were actually fun for a musical, they were better left out. And, for the most part, it does seem faithful to the book. Howevah, the film was a sour experience for me because of the bratty, unavoidably bad performance of Dakota Fanning (whom I have liked before).

Her character's insolence ended up one of the main themes of the story: if you're a jerk to your parents about saving an animal who just happens to end up winning universal acclaim, they should apologize to you. Needless to say, I don't think my kids will be watching this one. 2 3/4 stars.

(**)

This movie is such a heartfelt exploration of women's lives, it's hard to believe it was written by a man. Based on a true story about a lovely girl who struggles with diabetes — and crazy townspeople — in a Southern town, this one will require a box of tissues for most any female viewer. Hilarious in parts, with great acting from Sally Field, Julia Roberts and (surprise!

) Dolly Parton. 3 1/4 stars. (***)

Idealistic teacher takes on troubled high schoolers.

No, it's not Dangerous Minds. This one has a true story, a much better actress (Hilary Swank), even better music, and more realism. Sure, it's still cheesy here and there, but for the most part, Hilary captures the naivete of her main character, and we still get a thought-provoking lesson on the difficulties of inner-city minority life.

And that's worth it. 3 1/4 stars. (***)

Though this started out as an over-the-top British comedy (think: a marriage of Guy Ritchie and a spoof), its second half quickly turned into the most bizarre experience I've ever had in the theatre.

The plot: a London cop is so good that he's putting the police force to shame. So they move him to the countryside, where he begins to smell trouble. Hilarious, yes.

Wild, yes. POE, oh yes. Not for the faint of 'art.

3 stars. (***)

One of the most brilliant films made by the ingenious Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who also directed The City of Lost Children and who's helming next year's adaptation of Life of Pi). It's the story of a curious girl who becomes a curious young woman, bent on affecting others' lives — for good or for mischief.

One of the most luscious, whimsical, imaginative, fun-loving movies ever made. 4 stars — at least. (****)

Bunuel is one of the most acclaimed directors of all time—and one of the strangest.

I remember seeing bits of this film on Schaeffer's How Shall We Then Live movie, but I don't think he realized that Bunuel was agreeing with him about the human condition. On the surface, it's a fairly shocking premise: a mild-mannered housewife becomes intrigued by her discovery that a friend from her circles has become a prostitute. Through negative example, this POE film reaffirms both marriage and morality through a captivating, sometimes dreamlike tale.

3 1/2 stars. (***)

You could call this lovely realist masterpiece by Vittorio de Sica a kind of artsy Harry Tonto. An aging man, barely scraping by on his pension, faces being thrown out when he gets too far behind on his rent.

The one thing that keeps him going is the love of his scruffy mutt, Flike. Beautifully restored, and genuinely moving, especially in the film's final scenes. 4 stars.

(****)

This Grand Jury Prize winner of the 2002 Sundance festival comes to us from writer-director Rebecca Miller (yes, her pops is Arthur; and now her husband is Daniel Day-Lewis). Three women, three stories, no resolutions. But despite the low-grade image quality, the unpolished stories, and many no-name actors, this film has an engaging, real quality to it.

I was reminded in a way of Paul Auster. Worth it? Ah, probably not.

3 stars. (***)

Keane, the recent British trio sensation, has been called "Coldplay with pianos" (since they are piano-based instead of guitar-based). I've only heard a few songs of their first album, and this second one took me a week or so to get into it, but it's now one of my favorites on rotation.

Wonderful, wonderful alternative sound, brilliant/mature lyrics, and catchy hooks. My faves: "Hamburg Song," "The Frog Prince," "Leaving So Soon," "Atlantic," ..

. aw heck, I love all of em! (****)

A great, great album by Joni Mitchell, that wonderful singer-songwriter with the smoky voice.

She decided in this album to make a song cycle that traces the progress of a relationship. And her arranger evidently decided to take orchestration lessons from John Williams and then do him one better. Astonishingly beautiful.

(****)

Some brilliant stuff is happening in this album, the solo effort of Frou Frou's lead singer (you've heard them if you watched Garden State). To be honest, I've only listened to the 30-second snatches of songs on itunes, and downloaded "Hide and Seek," which seemed to be the best one. But I've been enjoying the snatches!

3 1/2 stars (***)

A beautiful CD, a brilliant failure, and evidence of a talented singer-songwriter. This is the guy you thought was Dave Matthews when he sang, "I'm fif-teen years for a moment." There are some great songs here, and then there are some other songs, too.

My favorite: "If God Made You," half love song, half doxology. (***)

Billie Holliday is a wonderful singer. I was a little surprised to read in the liner notes, "though she was not blessed with a magnificent instrument.

..", which I suppose is one way of describing her charcoal voice.

But she makes you feel comfortable, and I always thought she was earlier in the twentieth century as a result of her sound. Holliday was the most significant influence on Frank Sinatra, and she's at her best when she's singing the slow ballads (like "God Bless the Child" and "The Man I Love"). But there are some songs that are really not worthy to be on a "best" collection, and many reviewers were upset that the disc didn't include her standard "Strange Fruit.

" (***)

A dreamlike myth, for children of all ages. A singer of tales falls into danger when the kingdom is overtaken by the Usurper and the land becomes overrun with Tookesheims. Who will save them?

Perhaps the princess? (***)

OK, probably the most briliant, loveliest, most powerful novel I've read in a long, long time. This is Foer's second novel, after Everything is Illuminated.

I must confess, after I read a naysaying review of Foer's books, I hesitated to read his work. Foolish, foolish. (****)

One of Piper's newest, this 200-pager ends up as a sort of compilation of most of his previous ideas (future grace, desiring God, and so on).

I thought the opening chapters (his spiritual upbringing) and the last chapter (Making Most of Christ from 9-5) were the best. (***)

A gripping book that tracks the journey of Lewis's heart and soul after the death of his wife. Bitter at times, brilliantly blessed at others.

A short read, but one of the better things that Lewis wrote, in my opinion. (****)

Buechner is probably my favorite Believing writer (fiction or non-fiction). got an pre-press copy of the book for me, probably at one of those book conferences he goes to.

Thanks! This is a collection of some of his more famous "sermons" from over the course of his lifetime. "The Magnificent Defeat," his talk on Jacob's wrestling with God is, I was surprised to learn, one of his earliest sermons, from soon after he finished graduate school.

I am just getting into the first third of the book, but I am confident this will be one of my favorites that I will turn to again and again. (****)
I'm quickly becoming an NPR junkie. You know those annoying pledge drives they have every now and then?

Well, we listen to NPR so much that this time around, I felt guilty for not giving them money! It's not like we even have money set aside for that kind of thing, but we certainly do listen to our fair share.
I know that for some of you, just the thought of listening to NPR gives you mild seizures.

However, I'm convinced that your attitude is the result of malevolent fables passed on to you by some ill-tempered Disney-boycotter. Speaking as a former NPR-shunner, I tell you there is actually a great deal about NPR to love.
1.

Humor. Yes, humor. Funny stuff.

Many of you know that NPR is the only place you're going to hear such classics as and (a couple of the funniest shows ever invented). Some people, although not myself, also enjoy programs like , , and .
But aside from these programs, there's funny stuff all the time on NPR.

Like radio essays, for instance, an NPR specialty. Here's a recent on blog-reading accountability. I thought it was great.

This kind of essay turns up so often on NPR that every so often they sell "Driveway Moments" CDs, named after the fact that these stories are interesting enough to keep people sitting in their cars until they're finished.
2. Cultural refinement.

You know, nice stuff. NPR is really the only place to hear classical music anymore, and you've got plenty of choices with musical programs like , , , (my personal favorite), and . There's also , which can range from boring to excellent (this is where we first heard ) and , one of the lovely things that Garrison Keillor does well.

3. Intelligent news delivery. NPR has almost invented a new way of delivering the news.

The reporter will come on and introduce the story. Then, subtly, she will describe the setting of the story by introducing an unfamiliar word and defining it for us. Shortly thereafter, we'll get into a clever back-and-forth editing of the reporter's commentary and audio from the story's source.

Inevitably, the term that was just defined will pop up once or twice. Not only have we been exposed to real comments from someone other than the reporter; we have also been educated, gently.
4.

World education. Speaking of education, one of my favorite programs on NPR is called . The program covers world news, which is fascinating.

But it also does something most news programs can't afford to do: it gives you news that is not desperate. You know what I mean, right? Most news is of the murder-robbery-coup-election-courtroom type.

Well, on The World you're just as likely to hear about as you are to hear . Each show also features a (i.e.

, current music that's all the rage in some other country) and a , an introduction to the history, culture and current state of some place in the world. It's good stuff.
5.

Great stories I mentioned radio essays above. Well, some of these are funny, and some are just really good. Here are a couple good ones from recent days: on American accents today, on an Afghan convert to Christianity who now faces the death penalty, and a about a reservist teaching Shakespeare to soldiers in Africa.

6. Respect for the Christian worldview. Yes, I actually said that.

Many of the above essays and stories are from a program called , a show that was singled out for me as a child as an example of the general God-hating liberality of modern radio. Well, either things have changed since then or these comments weren't accurate. Could be both.

Sure, every now and then there's a story that smells of open-armed, smelly compromise. But you're just as likely (more likely?) to hear a story considering the thoughts of believers or including surprising Christian elements that are not at all insulted or toned down.

For instance, here are a few of the recent examples I can immediately call to memory: an Atlanta pie-maker was virtually put out of business recently by someone wishing to do her ill. But in the recent with her, she said she's praying that God would bless them, since one of the realities of life is that God takes what people meant for evil and turns it around for good. Needless to say, the near-trite phrase had a little more meaning coming from a believer who was truly demonstrating the forgiveness in that truth.

On the same day—in fact, just before the Willie Watts story—the program shared an on the recent church arsons in Alabama. This story brought in an interview with a pastor (Jim Parker) from one of the burned churches. He had asked to visit the young men in jail, not in anger, but to offer the forgiveness they can find in Christ.

"I'm going to talk to them about how they can find redemption...

and then go forward and rebuild their lives." It's not exactly what you had banked on hearing. Finally, Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana, was about the rebuilding of Louisiana.

I don't know enough yet to make a good judgment about her as a person, but her comments about the necessity of dependence on God, the reality that God allowed Katrina, and the implications of that reality for rebuilding a city with a mixed past like New Orleans were quite provocative.
There have also been stories about the reason continue to support Bush though they disagree with some of what he does, and a on one woman's mixed memoirs of her fundamentalist education.
These are just a few reasons why I like NPR.

To say "it expands my world" would be to put too much focus on me. I believe that it is inadvertently serving God's cause by continually reminding us that we are very small in the vast scheme of things, and that the kind of focus like a news report brings to an issue is gracious. Similarly, God's focus on someone as seemingly insignificant as us is gracious, too.

And it should do a believer great good to hear about his fellow image-bearers all over the world.

The best film reviews from the Christian perspective on the web.