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Why Can’t Barbie and Ken Rule Together?
“Let’s go see Barbie,” my daughter-in-law said in a moment of spontaneity on the movie’s opening weekend. We knew this Hollywood production would be silly and fun and full of nostalgia and bright colors. And it certainly delivered! But we weren’t prepared for a deep, profound, soul-searching look at patriarchy and women. [spoiler alert] In Barbieland “Stereotypical” Barbie lives a happy and accomplished life naively believing she has conquered every roadblock women face. But when she personally enters the real world (our world), she discovers that men ogle her and women hate her. Devastated, she learns that “she has been making women feel bad about themselves since she was invented.” On…
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HBO’s Chernobyl: Socialism’s Epic Fail is Summer’s Best Viewing
And holds profound lessons for 2020 During these dog days of summer, HBO is offering one week free access—just enough to watch the blockbuster 5-part series (if you didn't see it in May) on the 1986 nuclear plant disaster that spread radiation all across Europe. Extremely well-written, terrific acting and an uncanny replication of 1986 Soviet Union, according to my husband who has taught theology there many times. And, It. Is. Riveting. The series begins with Valery Legasov, First Deputy Director of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, recording tapes he will secretly pass on to his fellow scientists. As the lead scientist on the committee to investigate the disaster,…
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Many Beautiful Things Movie: A world-class artist chooses between celebrity “success” and a hidden life of missions service
“This film is a miniature masterpiece.”–Os Guinness…“The whole world should see this movie.”–Michelle Dockery…One of the most lovely and personally inspiring films ever–Lael A new movie, Many Beautiful Things, introduces us to a true-life young beauty of means in Victorian England. An extraordinarily gifted artist, she is mentored and celebrated by John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the era, an Oxford professor and founder of its drawing school. He hailed her as one of the most potentially celebrated artists of her time. Ruskin’s challenge: “to give herself up to art.” If she would dedicate herself to this great gift she would take her place among the cultural elite…
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Review: Risen Movie: Through the Eyes of a Soldier
Today I have a guest post from my friend, Chrissy Segulin, who lives in Vicenza, Italy. She and her husband, Dave, attended the European premiere of Risen. Like CSI, the film “Risen”—a Sony/TriStar production that opened today—starts after “the main event” has happened, and it follows the main character as he seeks to piece together evidence. Set in Jerusalem at the time of Christ, the story begins with the Crucifixion rather than ending with it. It follows the fictional hero, Clavius (Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love), an ambitious, high-ranking Roman tribune, and his aide, Lucius (Tom Felton, Harry Potter), as they sort rumor from reality. Clavius has already seen…
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FRO*ZEN
Weeks of record low temperatures of – 42, – 26,-17,-11 are causing a freezing phenomenon. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reports that the lakes are now more than 85 % iced over. The world’s most famous waterfall, Niagara Falls is frozen enough that professional Canadian ice climber, Will Gadd, was able to climb to the top of the frozen left side. It is not supposed to thaw until May. Even in the Texas Hill Country are recent reports of trees iced over creating a winter wonderland effect that rivals the graphics in the movie “Frozen”. We know according to Webster’s Intercollegiate Dictionary that frozen means the state of “being treated,…
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50 Shades of Blue
Last Sunday at the 2015 Grammy’s our friend Brooke Axtell appealed to women trapped in abuse to raise their voice and escape like she did. When the man she loved began to abuse her she said, “I was stunned…I believed he was lashing out because he was in pain, and needed help. I believed my compassion could restore him and our relationship. My empathy was used against me. I was terrified of him and ashamed I was in this position. What bound me to him was my desire to heal him.” The Grammys audience erupted in applause as did The Washington Post, ABC News, Time magazine, Salon, Slate and many…
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Top Five Ways Unbroken will Enrich Your life–the movie and (even more) the book
For all Lauren Hillenbrand’s in-depth research and narrative craft and Angelina Jolie’s movie-making chops, only God could create the story of Unbroken on the canvas of Louie Zamparini’s life. Our little family did our part to make it #2 at the box office this past weekend (second only to the final Hobbit movie), but I first heard of the book four years ago when my friend Rosie, who reads stacks of books and rewards only the best, grabbed me by the shoulders; looked me in the eyes and said, “You have got to read Unbroken.” This was now the fourth friend endorsement (and definitely the most physical)…
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The Hidden Danger of Ignoring Inconvenient Rules
If you haven’t watched A Man for All Seasons in a while, now might just be a good time. It’s a story about what happens when you don’t want to keep inconvenient rules—a story very much for our times. Might be helpful for all of us who follow Jesus (Don’t gossip. Don’t have sex outside of marriage. Give sacrificially. Show hospitality.), with a specific application for President Obama, Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Ferguson protesters. The film should be a great conversation starter, especially when the House of Representatives just filed suit against President Obama for delaying requirements of the Affordable Care law until after this fall’s election. When…
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Of Rich Food, Julie and Julia and the Lord of Hosts
Hello readers! I’m new to Tapestry and quite honored to join such a thinking, articulate group. I look forward to exploring the wonder of our God and the richness of what he is up to with other women of influence who are running hard after Jesus. A friend who saw the summer hit movie Julie and Julia just posted on her blog: “Does it have deep and significant eternal implication? I don’t believe so. Was it entertaining and a sneak peek into the inner sanctum of the writer’s life? Absolutely!”