Movies and culture

The movie, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," has many of the same elements as "Grosse Point Blank," a 1997 film where John Cusack plays the assassin. "Grosse Point Blank" has an R rating for violence and language. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" rated a PG-13. Still the same violence but not the strong language. For elements of humor, "Grosse Point Blank" wins out. Both movies were shoot-em uppers like few others. The characters fire over walls, around corners, with no aim but great success. People die all over, but with minimum blood loss. These movies both seem to come out of the glory days of westerns. It seems like the same Indians are getting killed over and over again. We live in a culture where violence is considered part of life. We eat, breath and wear it. We are fascinated and entertained by it. But it is nothing like reality. The reality is that people are killed and maimed by violence. Gang members and innocent bystanders die in our streets. You...

I like chick flicks. They bring my daughter and me together on Saturday nights for a laugh and popcorn. But this flick was disappointing and predictable to the point of being a cliche. Commoner is engaged to prince. But rival comes into scene and points out prince can't marry because of rule against marrying commoners. Rival woos prince while embarrassing commoner. Rival gets prince almost to the alter, when commoner finds loophole. Prince marries commoner who gets revenge on rival. Dah! Acting was as bad as the story line. No wonder Julia Stiles didn't want to do this movie. Supposedly set in Denmark, it says more about the snobbery of royalty than it does about Danish culture. Maybe the only cultural comment is that the Danes love their king. I would think the whole movie would be an affront to the Danes. Scenery was nice and inviting. However, Americans who decide they want to visit Denmark because of this movie should be warned that it was actually filmed in.... Where was i...

At the recent LDS Film Festival, the Deseret News (January 27, 2006) reported, Richard Dutcher was irked. Apparently Mormon audiences are choosing "the goofy stuff" - like "Singles Ward," "R.M." and "The Home Teachers" - over his more serious work. His movies "Brigham City" and "States of Grace" have not had the audiences the lighter works have had. Dutcher said "it is time for faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to vote for cinematic excellence with their pocketbooks." Surely, room exists in the marketplace for both types of movies. I have yet to see "States of Grace," but enjoyed "Brigham City," which brought together the secular and religious in an intriguing mystery story. I also enjoyed "Singles Ward" and the other "ha ha" movies because they made fun of Mormon culture. They were not great movies, but I was able to laugh at them and myself. ...