Best Movie of the Summer

If you know me very well, you know that I’m not terribly picky about my movie selections. I’ll tell you if I don’t like it, but generally I like most flicks I see. This summer was full of some ups and downs, but very few “incredible” movie moments. The disappointment started in the spring with 28 Weeks Later being WAY too weak in comparison with 28 days Later. Then we hit the lamest Spiderman movie yet. Not even a Bruce Campbell cameo could save it (and if you’re a Campbell fan and/or a spy flick fan with a sense of humor, you MUST be watching Burn Notice on USA. It’s excellent!). Pirates and Shrek were both “ok”. I loved the Pinocchio interrogation scene in Shrek! Harry Potter and Bourne both let me down, especially Potter. 1408 went from awesome to stupid about halfway through, but Transformers left me feeling good about movies again. Still, the scene of the main character (Shia LaBeouf) making out with his girlfriend on the hood of the Transformer (after he KNEW it was alive!) will haunt me for awhile. Speaking of Shia, two of the best movies I’ve seen this summer are ones that came out in April and are already out for rental. Disturbia (w/ previously mentioned Shia) is awesome and fun, Jill and I really liked it. And Hot Fuzz, with the guys from Shaun of the Dead, is amazing!

Hands down the funniest movie of the summer was The Simpson’s Movie. The other two funny movies I saw were great, but I can’t admit to having watched them on a public blog! All of this brings me to my big reveal…the best movie of the summer, and maybe one of my all-time favorite movies (only time will tell) is…

STARDUST!

This show is incredible! We went to see it today and I loved every second of it. It’s funny, but not too corny. It’s got great heroes and well done baddies. Jill and I both loved Robert De Nero especially. His character was a lot of fun, and very well played. I just wish he had a little more screen time. Claire Daines and Charlie Cox were perfect as well…and the whole thing just had this amazing “larger than life” feeling to it. Absolutely my favorite movie of the summer…and I would say a must see. Jill and I are considering going back to see it again tomorrow, and that’s something I haven’t done in a LONG time!

Here are a couple of quotes from my man Harry Knowles at Aintitcoolnews. com. I know it may seem like I’m gushing here, but I REALLY loved this movie, and Harry’s review hit on some things that really sold me on the movie. Especially what he says about Hayao Miyazaki (who did “Princess Mononoke”, also with Claire Dianes and also totally awesome!) and about Ian McKellen.

“The overall sensation of the story is literally like watching a live-action Miyazaki film.”

“You see, the movie begins with narration by Ian McKellen, and you know… Sir Ian’s voice just instantly makes you want to accept everything that follows as being from a long time ago, far far away, when a boy could become a man that could become so much more.”

“I genuinely believe that this is a film for romantics, which is predominately women, with a select group of us men that are not afraid to go gooey over falling in love. However, I’m not entirely sure that Paramount is ever going to get them in to theaters with the trailer they’ve cut.”

“I absolutely love this film and feel it could very well wind up being amongst my favorites of the year when all is said and done. If not, we’re in for one helluva year.”

“Don’t trust me? Just wait till you see Moriarty’s Love Letter once he sees this at Tribeca… or Quint’s – who saw it with me. This is the genuine article, unless you’re a single dude that stays up all night playing first person shooters and grunting out attack jargon on your headset. And you know who you are.”

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Feeling Old…

Today Maddy started Kindergarten.

She could hardly sleep last night, she was so excited. This morning she sprung out of bed and was giddy the entire time she was getting ready for school. We went downstairs and she sat on a stool and talked to me as I cooked her breakfast. “Daddy”, she said, “I’m a lot excited, but I’m a little nervous too.” I assured her that feeling that way was totally normal, and that she was going to do great in school. It helps that her teacher is a big science and animal fan, which is totally Maddy’s thing. She’s going to have a tadpole in her classroom too, which is timely considering Samuel, our tadpole, died last night. He went peacefully though…

So this morning we paraded the entire Meade family through the halls of Maddy’s school. Jill and Aiden kissed her goodbye at the door and I walked her into her new classroom. There were parents everywhere dropping off their kids, taking pictures and crying. Some kids couldn’t wait for their parents to leave, others were holding on to mom’s leg for dear life. Maddy smiled at me, gave me a kiss and said “love you dad”, and was off and running with some of the girls in the class.

After dropping off Maddy, Aiden and I went back to the house to hang out. He was coloring in a Mickey Mouse book and turned to me with his 3 year old wisdom and said “probably I think Goofy is a rabbit.” I told him that in fact Goofy is a dog, to which he replied “No dad, Goofy has long ears, jumps and has hands. He is a rabbit.” It’s hard to argue with that kind of logic, espescially when Aiden prefaces it with his new favorite word “probably”.

It was a good morning.

Virginia

There’s something really cool about driving through the mountains/hills of Virginia listening to James Taylor. I’m speaking this week to the Virginia Nazarene Jr. High summer camp, and having a blast. Today we did a big Q&A session with the youth leaders on the topic of jr. high ministry, and it was a really great time. They have a lot of awesome adults who are really committed to jr. high ministry. It’s a blast hanging out with them!

Beauty

I’m amazed by the places in which we find beauty. Check out these two videos, which remarkably come from the same TV show, “Britain’s Got Talent”. I would NEVER have expected to find something like this there. The first video moved me to the edge of tears, the second one totally got me. Maybe it’s because I can see a bit of my little girl in the girl on the video.

Thanks to Mark and Marko for these.

Todd is famous…

Just saw that my buddy Todd Ramsey got shout-outs on two blogs this week.

Doug Pagitt’s blog

and

Kirk Longhoffer’s blog

In honor of his achievements in blogging, I’d like to recommend you check out some great posts he’s put up recently at http://toddblog.net. Also, if the mood hits you, be sure to link to his blog and keep his nice streak going. Oh yeah, and Todd is also a featured speaker on the Stuck in the Middle website too.

Happy Birthday Star Wars

This past Friday the Star Wars franchise turned 30. I must admit that I’m not nearly the fan that I used to be, but I still love the characters and stories. This past week we watched Episodes 1 & 2 (totally by coincidence that it was this week) with the kids. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen them, and it was sad to realize how drastically better the originals were compared to the latest three movies. The first one, Episode I, was especially weak. I understand that it was aimed at younger kids…but seriously, a trade embargo and a senate political battle…yeah, that just screams “kid friendly”. All complaining aside, there are some new Star Wars TV shows coming out in the future, which should be really cool. In tribute to Star Wars, here are a couple of hilarious videos that you won’t find in the movies or on TV. Enjoy!

Jr. High Summit

Here’s a pic of the crew from the ‘07 Jr. High Summit. Marko and Eric Venable had to leave early and missed the pic, but everyone else is in there. Thanks to Andy for the shot!

Some highlights from the week:

• Spending time with friends. This was only my second year at the Summit, but these people all feel like family to me. I recently attended another gathering type event, and I had an ok time there. It wasn’t until I arrived at this gathering that I began to realize how drastically different the two gatherings are. The other one was more of a business gathering, a time for networking and conversation with a handful of friends. There were a lot of agendas at that gathering, and it was difficult to build new relationships with the people there. The Summit, on the other hand, felt like a family reunion. No agendas, no sales pitches, no posturing…just a safe, fun, passionate environment.
• Learning about the development of the teenage brain. We had some amazing guests with us who helped us process through our reading of “The Primal Teen”. We were specifically looking at adolescent brain development and the implications that modern findings might have on our approach to young teen ministry. It was a thought provoking conversation, and I am still processing a lot of it.
• Seeing a bear! For most people, this wouldn’t be a big deal…for me, it’s huge! I’m an animal fanatic. I’ve been backpacking all over Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Colorado…always with an eye open for my first bear sighting. Even though it was only for a second, I finally did see a black bear walking up the trail behind the lodge where we ate our meals. Thanks Alan!
• Speaking of food… The food this past week was unreal! We had an incredible chef, D’arcy, who prepared for us some of the most unusual and tasty dishes I’ve ever had. Hopefully one of the other Summit crew will post a menu from the week…because it was unreal. The chocolate soup (made from $40 a pound chocolate) was very rich and tasty, and I greatly enjoyed the juevos rancheros on our last morning there.
• Laughing. What could be more fun than a group of people who work with jr. high students? Some highlights include a trip to the local movies to see a zombie movie. One person thought we were going to see the sequel to a Sandra Bullock chick-flick, another person took the opportunity to sneak back into the theatre after a bathroom break and scare the crap out of several people. After the movie, we were treated to the final part of a massive police hunt (helicopter and all) right outside the theatre. On our last night at the Summit, we gathered together to play a board game. Nate Rice tried to explain the rules to us, but it was an uphill battle at best. I can’t tell you why it was so funny, but it was one of those times where I found myself laughing so hard that I was crying. It was a great night.

It was a great week. As Andy Jack said on his blog, it’s one of the few times and places where I feel totally normal. I love this group of people, and I love this time of learning and sharing. This is a week that I will look forward to all year long.