My Resolutions for 2007 and Two Film Reviews

I am trying to keep things simple and short term when it comes to my resolutions this year.  In fact I have only three, and they all have to do with organizing my life/stuff.

As some of you know, I am a pack rat and therefor my life and living spaces become very cluttered.  So for the next month my resolutions are to:

1. organize my living room/office area at home
2. organize my bedroom and make it fit for sleeping
3. organize my office at the church

I have started on the first two items already, spending about two hours on the tasks.  I have completed about 25% of each task so far, and hope to do a little bit each day until they are accomplished.  Only then will I add other tasks to my resolutions.

In other news, at our Tuesday morning Bible Study we finished our study of Ephesians and will begin a new study next week on Philippians (one of my favorite books).  I will be trying to publish some of my thoughts on the texts at hand on the Monday before each study.

I also took the afternoon off and went to see a couple of movies.  The first film was Casino Royale, the new Bond flick.  Daniel Craig as the new Bond is excellent, but so are his supporting actors:  Judy Dench as M and Eva Green as Vesper Lynd (and like almost all Bond paramours, she is very easy on the eyes).  My only complaints with the film is that the poker game in the middle of the film is too drawn out and the movie (like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) feels as though it has at least three endings.  With a running time of 2 hours and 24 minutes, the movie is about 24 minutes too long.  However, this film could very well serve to reinvigorate the Bond franchise, and Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Sean Connery.  For a good full review of the film I recommend Todd McCarthy’s review in Variety.  I give the film 8 out of 10 dancing fish.

The other movie I viewed was Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto.  This visually stunning film, which features unknown actors (doing admirable work) could have been an excellent film, but alas and alack, this was not to be.  I have to agree wholeheartedly with Robert Butler of the Kansas City Star when he states, “The films of Mel Gibson reveal him to be a technical sophisticate and an emotional/intellectual primitive. Apocalypto is a perfect example.” See more of Butler’s review here.  And for me this has nothing to do with the blood and gore of the film.  I was much more appalled at the same in The Passion of the Christ.  And besides, filmmakers like Tarantino (Kill Bill 1 and 2), John Carpenter, David Cronenberg and George Romero far outstrip Gibson’s bloodlust.   No, for me Gibson’s take on the decline of the Mayan civilization appears to be the work of a juvenile, complete with the requisite silly sexual jokes. Even so, it is not a film without merit.  It just could have been so much better if Gibson would just grow up.  Another take on Apocalypto can be found in Robert Denerstein’s review in the Rocky Mountain News.  I give the film 6 out of 10 dancing fish.