Coming Soon: "Final: The Rapture"

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Last Updated on Friday, 07 June 2013 08:31 Posted by Clash Friday, 07 June 2013 12:46

Watch the movie trailer here!

Scariest Christian Movie of the Decade' Having it's World-Wide Premiere on June 27

"Final: The Rapture" Opens Nationwide in Theaters in October

In what is becoming the most "scariest Christian movie of the decade," pastors, politicians, leaders, and Hollywood stars will join several hundred people from more than six countries to watch a film on the days immediately following the Rapture based on the novel.

"The Confession" - DVD

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Last Updated on Friday, 07 June 2013 09:46 Posted by Clash Friday, 07 June 2013 12:36

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A love from her past. A hope for her future.

Raised by an Amish family, Katie Lapp (Katie Leclerc, TV's "Switched at Birth") starts a quest to find her birth-mother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett (Sherry Stringfield, TV's "ER"). Along the way, two very different men try to help her overcome a devious scheme to steal her rightful inheritance and divide her heart between two worlds.

GMC TV CHANGES ITS NAME TO UP ENTERTAINMENT

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Last Updated on Friday, 07 June 2013 09:47 Posted by Clash Friday, 07 June 2013 12:30

At the stroke of midnight as the calendar turns to June 1, GMC TV will begin writing the latest chapter in its evolution as America’s leading television destination for uplifting entertainment when the network changes its name to UP. The fresh, new name will better communicate a clear sense of the network’s unique brand position, which has always been, and will continue to be, “Uplifting Entertainment.”

Review: "The Internship"

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Last Updated on Thursday, 06 June 2013 12:53 Posted by Clash Friday, 07 June 2013 01:00

Review: "The Internship"

Film And DVD Reviews by Phil Boatwright

CREDITS: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, John Goodman, Will Ferrell. 20th Century Fox. Written by Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern.  Directed by Shawn Levy.  6/7/13

FILM SYNOPSIS:  Frat Packers Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson play hotshot salesmen whose company closes.  Out of work and middle age, they find an opportunity as interns for Google.  Fish out of water, they are teamed with 20-somethings in tune with all things Internet.  The guys quickly becoming outcasts.  Then they learn about surviving in this new world market while passing along life lessons to their younger teammates.

REVIEW:  By now I’m sure you’re expecting various degrees of crudity in today’s movie comedies.  But I’m not sure the vast majority of comic movie supporters see it that way.  While I’ll give you Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are funny men, they seldom stray from coarseness – they know their audience.  It’s difficult to relate to grown people who like their humor direct from the bathroom.  I’m trying to say that in a non-putdown manner.  So, I apologize to any of those with hair on their knuckles.

The film starts out downright dreadful.  It mines humor out of losing a job, a house, and a marriage – all in the same day.  (I expected a doctor to phone with foreboding lab results.)  But all this is done to set the stage – at 45, these guys’ lives are at a crossroads.  And in a world where college students graduate with few prospects other than the fast food industry, it quickly becomes clear that it’s even tougher for people from the 1970s to capture the American dream in this new millennium.  They are archaic and out of touch with the venues that make up today’s electronic corporate life.  It takes a deft comic ability to generate humor from such fearful realities.  And the first half of the film is just not that deft.

 The humor is sloppy, the pacing downright slow, and the concept as predictable as Rodney Dangerfield’s Back To School (although that wasn’t a bad film).  Will Ferrell does a cameo, doing his angry manic man bit, which is as funny as a large tattoo.  What eventually saves the film from its bombastic vulgarity and joke-by-the-numbers simplicity is the likeability of the two stars.  Except for their occasional misuse of God’s name or Christ’s (which sends negative signals to those of us who still belief God the Father and the Son should be reverenced), Vince and Owen show a sincere warmth that gives their later jokes some substance. And while they ridicule the disconnect many in Generation X suffer from, thanks largely to the “wonders” of this electronic age, Misters Vaughn and Wilson also do their best to inject civility and caring into the lives of their fellow interns. They actually get them to look up from their iPods long enough to see the sights (pretty girls and the Golden Gate Bridge).  Until now, these nerds have preferred viewing both on tiny glowing screens.

The film comes alive during the second half, but it’s a difficult film to recommend as it is full of bawdy sexual inferences, references and enactments.  The Internship also contains enough profanity to make a point that, well, I’m not sure what the point would be of using Christ’s name as a mere expletive.  The film lacks any true satire.  It’s not smart enough or original enough to satirize Google or this generation’s slavery to all things electronic, but the jerks lose in the end and all things good come to those who get jobs with the search engine of the moment. So, if you’re not looking for a more sophisticated parody or satire, and if you’re not bummed by irreverence to our Creator by two actors who apparently seldom attend church, this will be a pleasant enough time killer.

I would suggest Network or The Social Network as entertaining alternatives. Alas, while they are smartly written and still socially relevant, both those films also have their share of profanity and graphic sexuality. You see my dilemma?  Occasionally a film’s profundity may outweigh the profanity.  But I catch heck for just suggesting that argument!

One could call this movie merely an opportunity for a product endorsement as it reverences Google (not God, just Google) at every app-ortunity.  (I know, I also just cringed at that one.)

PG-13 (crude sexual references throughout; around 30 obscenities, mostly the s-word, but the f-word is also well represented; God’s name or Christ’s is profaned at least six times; a brief bar brawl; it is suggested that the lead sleeps with a woman on their first date – always a great message for young people (not!); the group goes to a strip club, with lots of scantily clad women doing provocative pole dances and lap dances; many sexual conversations; no nudity, but scantily clad women are seen in a club; at the strip joint, the leads teach their younger teammates how to drink – well, how to get drunk).
Running Time: 119 min. Intended Audience: Older teens and up

Besides providing a monthly column for Baptist Press, he reviews films for www.previewonline.org. He also is a regular contributor to "The World and Everything In it," a weekly radio program from WORLD News Group, which also publishes WORLD Magazine.

For information about Phil Boatwright, go to moviereporter.com.

DEFINITIONS

Profanity – God’s name followed by a curse or the abusive use of Christ’s name

Obscenity – a swear word, indecent language

Expletive – minor curse words such as damn or hell

Crudity – vulgar, often coarse situations or dialogue dealing with bodily functions

Adult Subject Matter – situations or subjects unsuitable for or difficult to comprehend by children

Review: "The Book of Esther" - DVD

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 19:20 Posted by Clash Tuesday, 04 June 2013 12:00

Review: "The Book of Esther" - DVD

Film And DVD Reviews by Phil Boatwright

Pure Flix Entertainment offers this DVD release on June 4, 2013. Based on the Bible book, Jen Lilley (General Hospital, Revelation Road) plays the young Jewish maiden who becomes a Queen.

Review: "After Earth"

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Last Updated on Thursday, 30 May 2013 11:04 Posted by Clash Friday, 31 May 2013 01:00

Review: "After Earth"

Film And DVD Reviews by Phil Boatwright

CREDITS: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo. Action/Sci-fi/adventure. Columbia Pictures. Written by Gary Witta, M. Night Shayamalan. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 5/31/13

FILM SYNOPSIS: A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help.