First of all, I'm a Christian. Second of all, I really like movies. Some people think the two can't mix, but I think they can complement each other pretty well. I see film as a powerful medium in today's culture. Like it or not, anytime you go to a movie you're leaving the theater with something you didn't bring inside. Perhaps it's a new point of view about something, or maybe it's just a sense of satisfaction. Whatever it is, you have it, and sometimes it's so subtle that you don't even realize you have it.
Film today provides a way for people to indirectly "overhear" the messages that sometimes are either not preached from the pulpit, or are preached insufficiently. The characters in all art, whether it be film or paintings or literature, offer a way for us to state and express our own points of view about something and know that people will listen to it. For example, a person might go to the movies and see a cronicly depressed person on screen. That person might then indirectly realize that he himself is depressed. Movies provide a way for us to unconsciously relate fictional events to our own lives. And this, in my opinion, is a very good thing.
This site serves two purposes: one, it's for me to simply be able to write down my thoughts about movies - who knows, maybe I'll end up being a critic some day. Two, it's an opportunity for me and you to examine movies from a new point of view: a spiritual one. It's time for us to be able to watch a movie and think: What is this film trying to communicate? Is God present anywhere in it? Are Christian messages expressed? I don't think film was meant to be a medium of mindless entertainment. On the contrary, it serves to communicate some of the messages that people these days need to hear.
So when I review movies, I'm not just going to look at whether the acting, story, directing and other physical aspects are good. I'm going to do my best to discover if the film is positive from a Christian point of view. Obviously, I probably won't be able to find spiritual elements in every single movie I review. However, I'm going to do my best to find them in as many films as I can. If you're not a Christian and don't really care, then you don't have to pay attention to that part. But if you are and do, hopefully my comments will make you think more about the messages that these films express.
And yes, I do realize this site's design isn't exactly the neatest thing since the invention of Spam. If I ever manage to get FrontPage or learn more HTML, this will change. However, until then, tough cookies.
Andrew Johnson, Nov. 15 2003