Adam White

 I really love this film. I remember walking out of the cinema with a buzzing feeling after viewing it for the first time, wanting to buy another ticket and watch it all over again.

This is not just another romantic comedy, this has smarts, realistically flawed characters and a relationship that takes time and is so believable (at least to me it was).

In Zach Braff’s only film as a director (before this he was best known for the TV comedy Scrubs) he also stars as the main character, Andrew Largeman, who has had physicological issues since he was young and returns home for the first time in years after his mother dies. On this return trip he meets up with all of his old friends along with some new ones and over the course of 100 minutes gets his life back.

The soundtrack is one of the first thing you notice. Kicking off with Don’t Panic by Coldplay and throwing in everything from Zero 7 to Simon and Garfunkel it grabs you and launches the film to a higher level. Some soundtracks do just stand out from the rest and this one is one of my favourites.

The real winner of this film though is the relationship that forms between “Large” and the incredibly quirky Sam played by Natalie Portman. You can see the sparks straight away but instead of jumping straight to it this is a realistic relationship that slowly builds from friendship. This results is an ending that grabs you and leaves you feeling great.

If I was to have one complaint it would be that since this Zach Braff has not directed anything else. However, that might be a good thing as I can’t see how he could possibly top this!

[9/10]

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I thought I would start this series with a question about Jesus. This bloke that supposedly lived (and died) 2000 years ago, did he actually exist or is he just aanother character in this book called the Bible?

When I was an athiest I thought that the Bible was a fictional book full of myths and fables and this Jesus that everyone keeps going on about was just a character in one of the stories. So it came as quiet a surprise to me when I later discovered that actually no serious historian actually doubts that he was a real man that was crucified by Pilate 2000 years ago!

So what is the evidence for this? First off there is the Jewish historian Josephus. This man was a Godly man but not a follower of Christ. However, in one of his most famous passages from The Antiquities (A.D. 93) he describes Jesus as “a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man” who was crucified and who “on the third day he appeared [to those who loved him] restored to life”. To be fair, the authenticity of some of the more supernatural references in this passage are disputed by scholars but nobody doubts that the man Josephus was writing about was Jesus.

In A.D. 115, Tacitus (the most important Roman historian of the first century) wrote about how emperor Nero had persecuted the Christians as a scapegoat. Tacitus had referred to them as followers of the Christ who had “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurator, Pontius Pilatus”. So while this passage does not refer to Jesus by name, it does refer to a man who was crucified by Pontius Pilate, from whom a the religious movement of “Christians” was borne.

On top of these there are also references to Jesus by Pliny the Younger and Suetonius, two more Roman historians.

The fact that authors and historians that were outside of Christianity confirm that Jesus was a real man that did exist and was crucified like the Bible says was really important to me. It meant that the option of him being a totally made up character was no longer an option and what that left me was to decide who he was instead.

If you want to know more why not read these Wikipedia articles: Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Jesus. Or if you would rather read a book written by a respected author I highly recommend The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

Or if you would rather have the opportunity to discuss this with people why not find a local Alpha Course to go on where you can debate your issues with real people who probably have the exact same questions as you!

Posted by Adam under Faith | No Comments »

I’ve been playing with the idea of launching a new series of posts for a while based on some of the questions I have had surrounding God and Christianity. It struck me what better time to kick it off than Easter, the day that Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus about 200 years ago.

I need to put in a disclaimer before I start this series though: I am not a theologian, I have not been to Bible college and I am not a great reader. However, I do tend to be naturally sceptical and if there is something I have trouble with I will do as much investigation as I feel necessary to come up with a suitable answer.

This means that everything I write in this series is solely my opinion so if anybody wants to question of criticize anything I write please be my guest; that’s what the comments are for!

Also, if anybody has a question of their own that they find is a real sticking point with them believing Christianity or is something you ignore in you walk with God as you just can’t get your head around it please ask it and I will attempt to share my opinion (and hopefully others will share theirs!)

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Living in Swindon, I had always noticed a little town called Cricklade just up the A419. I had driven through it on my way up towards the M5 a couple of times and had always thought it looked like a pleasant place. So, this Saturday, I decided late in the day to pay it a little visit.

With my map in hand I set off on a gorgous 5 mile trek along the Thames path, disused canal and old railway line, through fields and quaint villages. The weather was cool but sunny and it was late in the day which meant less people and more peace and quiet.

I was on my own for this one so it gave me an opportunity to listen to some Christian teaching, reflect and give my parents a call.

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I love space based sci-fi films: 2001, Star Wars, Alien, Aliens, Dune, Event Horizon. These were films I grew up loving. However, the first time I had ever heard of Silent Running was when Mark Kermode kept on talking about it on his radio show.

It is in Mark’s top 5 films of all time and is a film he says was “what 2001 could have been”.

So, when I got the opportunity to see it when I saw Mark live in Leeds I thought I was going to be in for something really amazing. I should have known better…

80 minutes later I felt so disappointed. It was dull, badly explained and cringeworthy in places.

It was the directorial debut from the man who had worked on the special effects for 2001 and this was the one thing the film did do well. The external shots of the spaceships were fantastic and the little robots were excellently created.

It’s a shame that the story about bringing back wildlife to the Earth by growing plants in space was so dull. I didn’t care about the characters at all and appart from a brief moment when the robots are playing poker I found it hard to connect with.

I’m sorry Mark, we are going to have to disagree on this one; there’s a reason I’d never heard of it.

[4/10]

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