Go Speed Racer, Go!

Jenny and I are trying to watch a movie every week or two, to have a kind of "date night" and, for me at least, to catch up on the summer films we missed.  We watched two recently, The Forbidden Kingdom and Speed Racer.

The Forbidden Kingdom
*** out of *****
Coming in to this, I knew that it was going to be a letdown.  The box office and reviews showed that the pairing of Jackie Chan and Jet Li was a major letdown.  Thus, I could go into this movie without big expectations.

And what I got was a mindless Hollywood production with the typical "Crouching Tiger" effects.  It was fun and great to look at.  The supporting actors were okay to good, which is better than horrible.  The scenery was beautiful to look at.  And Jackie Chan was funny, as usual.  The negatives?  There weren't any great fighting scenes, and the plot was dull.  So overall, this was a fun movie, but not terribly memorable.

Speed Racer
*** out of *****
When I first heard that the Wachowski Brothers were making Speed Racer with a huge budget, I was pumped.  I also like the previews at first.  But the overwhelmingly poor reviews really dulled my enthusiasm.  When I watched, I saw plenty of negatives.  There were too many characters; a meandering (and sometimes confusing) plotline; and a feeling that the brothers didn't know how to make a family movie (I couldn't tell who the audience was at most points).  The worst part was that the filmmakers seemed second rate...they didn't know how to keep the story going without telling us EVERY SINGLE THING that was happening through dialogue.  The story only moved along through dialogue between the characters.  The actions never told us what was happening - even in the races!

So, I would have given the movie only one or two stars.  But...I did really enjoy the special effects.  Yes, they looked cartoony and were confusing, but they were still pretty fun to look at.  And I enjoyed the final race - I thought that sequence was very well done.  So, the last race and the effects move this up into three-star range.

Greatest Quarterbacks of the Last 26 Years

(Edit: I was in a hurry and forgot Dan Marino and thought better of my Favre ranking :P)

6. Steve Young - Perhaps Steve Young would have been number one on the list if he hadn't had such a short career - he started in only about eight seasons, having to back up Joe Montana for years and starting his career in the USFL.  Anyway, the man was probably the top quarterback of all time in regards to throwing on the run.  Plus, he's got a Super Bowl ring and maybe the greatest Super Bowl performance ever to his credit (six touchdown passes against San Diego, if I'm remembering correctly).

5. Tom Brady - If anything, this past year keeps Brady behind Manning in my book.  Manning did more with less last year in getting to the Super Bowl. Then again, you still can't argue with the three rings.  My biggest knocks on Brady?  His numbers aren't nearly Manning's - and when he finally had the weapons and put up monster numbers last year, he couldn't win the big one.  Of course, he's still got years to go and could win a couple more Super Bowls.

4. Peyton Manning - I put Peyton slightly ahead of Brady because of his career numbers.  He also controls the offense which has to be the overall best in the NFL in the past 6-8 years.  He also finally got the Super Bowl win last year.

3. Brett Favre - Favre is here for several reasons: been to two Super Bowls and won one; won three consecutive league MVP awards; strong numbers year in and year out; and his toughness.  He isn't higher because of inconsistency: near the beginning and near the end of his career, Favre through tons of interceptions; he had a tendency to make some awful decisions because of his confidence in his abilities; and he also can't claim to have shown up in all the big games.

2. Dan Marino - The man broke just about every passing record possible and still has records that stand today in a much more passer-friendly league.  And though he never won a Super Bowl, he did go to one and put up outstanding numbers without ever having a good running attack and without a great wide receiver (Mark Clayton was okay, but certainly not great).  He might have the quickest release of all time and he was the only person who stood in the way of my '85 Bears and undefeated season.

1. Joe Montana - Four Super Bowls and zero losses.  Just as I was about to have to admit that Brady might actually finally be in the same class as Montana, Joe Cool j and Bradshaw remained the only QBs to be 4-0 in the big game.  To top it off, Montana also had some amazing comebacks (including one huge Super Bowl comeback against Boomer and the Bengals), continued to play well even after he left the 49ers and still is second or third all time in quarterback rating.  Never a fiery leader, he was still able to just win and win and win.

Honorable mentions: John Elway (overrated), Jim Kelly, Phil Simms (underrated), Troy Aikman

Barbacoa

This is my first xanga entry in four months - so much has happened, one would think it would be about:

       A) Impending fatherhood
       B) Our new home
       C) Other significant life changes (including my new part-time job with Florida's education agency)

But no, this entry is about none of these monumental events.  This entry is about burritos.

If you leave your business card in a fish bowl at the Chipotle on Stassney, you can win free burritos for you and eight of your co-workers.  Whenever Jenny and I go there, we leave our cards.  Well, during lunch today, Jenny got a call saying she won!

Then a half hour later, I listened to a message on my machine saying that I had won, too.

I called the manager and found that it was no mistake.  We'd won 18 free burritos. 

Maybe this will be enough to turn Jenny from the dark side (Freebirds) for good.

I can't wait...

Currently Reading Ten Thousand Sorrows : The Extraordinary Journey of a Korean War Orphan By Elizabeth Kim see related

Ungrace

Question: What's the biggest reason that Christianity is looked down upon by so many Americans and other westerners today?

Answer: Simple, its because of the Christians themselves

A lot of westerners and atheists do not believe in the God because of intellectual, reasoning and otherwise scientific reasons.  I think that many of these ideas can be assuaged if are able to intelligably speak about science, reasoning, philosophy and history, and if unbelievers could read the Bible with an open heart and mind (many I know refuse to do this step, either purposely or not).

That leads to what I believe is the biggest reason that many in the western world will not believe in Christ: its because of the Christians.  We are representatives of Christ who, unfortunately, live lives of ungrace for all the world to see.  And we paint a picture of Christianity that isn't pretty.  In fact, its quite ugly.  And it misrepresents our God.

Like it or not, people pay a whole lot more attention to the sinful things we do than the good things.  And in an ungraceful world, it is not the unbelievers who should show grace to us when we fail; it is US who must demonstrate grace to others by being lovely to the unlovely, by doing the right thing even when it hurts and by being set apart in a hurting world.

But the tricky thing is to balance our lives, which are to be lived righteously, with the idea of grace.  I didn't experience the ungrace that many have growing up in churches, but I've read a lot of testimonies about the harshness others have grown up with.  Some of those testimonies are of believers, most of whom came to know Christ because they experienced God's true grace; others are not believers and have become bitter and angry at a bitter and angry institution.

One thing we must never lose sight of is grace.  Because when we lose sight of grace, we lose sight of Jesus.  And without grace, there is no gospel message, and all that we Christians live for is gone.  We can tell others we are Christian and do "Christian things," but its all very hollow without grace.

After all, its grace that makes the difference. Without grace, we are left with law - something that weighs us down, makes us feel guilty and puts us under the wrath of God.  With grace, we enjoy the perfect love that casts out fear and that accepts us, no matter how broken we are.

If you haven't yet, I'd highly recommend anyone reading this to watch the ABC News: Kirk Cameron vs. Atheists - gives both Christans and non-Christians alike a lot to think about and be challenged with: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3148940 As Christians, I feel like we need to be more bold and share our faith - Luke 8:16: "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light."