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March 06, 2005

films to think about

Sarah and I rented Mean Creek last night. I read about it in Paste Magazine, reviewed by Jeff Overstreet, a member of Green Lake Pres. Sarah decidely did not like it.

It is a rather brutal representation of how kids treat each other in middle school. A group of teenagers decide to teach the school bully a lesson, and things end up going awry. I honestly don't think that I can say aything as intelligent about this film that Jeff already said in his review, so I'll let him take it from here.

It is interesting to see a film that is painful to watch, kind of like the Passion was painful to watch. Nowhere near as violent visually, this kid is more brutal verbally than I have ever experienced. By the time they push the bully in the river, I wanted him to get what was coming to him. Which shows the darkness in my own heart. Was I faced with the prospect of pushing this kid overboard, I doubt that I would have done anything different.

I think this is the mark of good art, when you are faced with a truth about life and you're forced to decide what you think about it and does your response hold true to what your view of the world.

Next up for us is hopefully Million Dollar Baby, and from what I've read ahead of time, I think we'll be faced with more moral challanges.

(Check out Jeff's website at http://www.promontoryartists.org/lookingcloser/ for more great reviews)

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