My Top Ten Films of 2016

Top ten lists are, of course, silly things. A year or two from now, I may look at films on this list and realize I haven’t given them another thought. There may films I haven’t seen from this year that will become favorites, or films I saw, like Zootopia or Kubo and the Two Strings, that I’ll think I should have found a place for. But I love reading these lists, so I might as well go on making them myself.

10) Captain America: Civil War This film really makes the list because of one scene. The whole film is fun, but the scene where Tony Stark meets Peter Parker captures the character of Spiderman better than even the first, very good, Sam Rami films (I & II, not III).

9) The Witch This is a very odd horror film about, not surprisingly, witches. It is set in 17th century New England in the days of the witch trials, but the conceit is that the witches are real. Much of the dialogue for the film is taken from the transcripts of the Salem witch trials, adding a depth of realism.

8) The Lobster The last film was odd. This film manages to be even more odd. In the future, single people must find a mate or be turned into an animal. Yes, turned into an animal, of their choice. Colin Farrell has decided that if he doesn’t find a woman to love, he will be a lobster. It’s in the tradition of the avantgarde works of the 1960’s, but writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos doesn’t take it all too seriously.

7) Captain Fantastic Viggo Mortensen gives a great performance as a hippie, homeschooling father of six who must deal with the death of his wife and with in-laws who want a very different life for their grandchildren.

6) Hell or High Water Chris Pine and Ben Foster play Texas bank robbers who might be folk heroes if they had lived in the old west or days of the depression rather than the present day. Jeff Bridges plays the Texas Ranger who seeks to bring them to justice.

5) Hunt for the Wilderpeople Last year, a film from New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi made my top ten (What We Do In the Shadows), and he makes it again with a whimsical story of a foster child taken in by an elderly couple at the edge of the wilderness.

4) Love and Friendship Whit Stillman is one of my favorite screenwriters. He is very witty, and he usually directs his own story. For this film, though, he decided to adapt someone else’s work. He managed to find someone else with an equal, perhaps superior wit: Jane Austen. Stillman turns Austen’s unfinished novel, Lady Susan, into a very complete film.

3) Hail Caesar Joel and Ethan Coen tell a story of old Hollywood blending Biblical epics with Communist plots (the communists are as real in this film as the witches are in The Witch). This is one of the Coens’ “funny” films, more in the vein of The Hudsucker Proxy and Burn After Reading than serious films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men. The critics didn’t regard this film as highly as most from the Coens, but I liked it very much and thought it had some interesting things to say about faith.

2) Hacksaw Ridge Mel Gibson tends to make brutal films, and this is not an exception. But it is a powerful true story of a pacifist, Desmond Doss, who nonetheless desired to serve as a battle medic in World War II. I saw a number of Christian films this year, most of them not very good, but this story of a Christian man was excellent.

1) Sing Street  A number of people put the film La La Land at the top of their favorites for the year. It is a good film, an entertaining musical, but it’s not my favorite musical of the year. This film from John Carney, the creator of Once, is an autobiographical tale of his life in Ireland in the 1980’s. A young man in a Catholic high school tries to impress a girl by asking her to appear in his band’s music video. Though, in fact, he doesn’t have a band. But he forms one, which leads to a hope to build a new life. Mindy and I watched this film in the midst of our year long journey of touring the country and found in the film a kindred sense and appreciation of adventure. We’ve watched it twice, and I think we’ll almost certainly watch it many times again.

2016 Films Viewed in 2016

In theaters or through streaming services:

Kung Fu Panda - Theater*

Hail Caesar - Theater***

Race - Theater**

Zootopia - Theater***

Miracles from Heaven - Theater*

Risen - Theater*

God's Not Dead 2 - Theater*

Love and Friendship - Theater***

The Jungle Book - Theater*

My Name is Doris - Theater*

Captain America 3: Civil War- Theater***

Sing Street - Theater***

The Family Fang- Theater**

The Nice Guys - Theater***

The Man Who Knew Infinity - Theater**

The Meddler - Theater***

Central Intelligence - Theater**

Finding Dory - Theater***

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Theater***

Star Trek Beyond - Theater (IMAX)**

Ghostbusters - Theater*

Cafe Society - Theater*

Captain Fantastic - Theater***

Hell or High Water - Theater***

The Insanity of God - Theater*

Pete's Dragon - Drive-in*

The Secret Life of Pets - Drive-in*

Scout Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - Hulu**

Don't Think Twice - Theater**

Sully - Theater***

Queen of Katwe - Theater**

The Witch - Amazon***

Miss Perigrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Theater***

Elvis and Nixon - Amazon**

Priceless - Theater**

I'm Not Ashamed - Theater**

Kubo and the Two Strings - Theater***

Hacksaw Ridge - Theater***

The Finest Hours - Netflix**

Eye in the Sky - Amazon**

Dr. Strange - Theater**

London Has Fallen - Netflix**

Arrival - Theater**

Moonlight - Theater***

The Confirmation - Netflix***

Moana - Theater**

Keanu - HBO***

Magnificent Seven - Theater**

The Lobster - Amazon***

Loving - Theater***

Midnight Special - HBO**

The Edge of Seventeen - Theater**

Rogue One - Theater**

La La Land - Theater***

Top Ten Films of 2015

10) "What We Do in the Shadow" Because I love the vampire/were wolf comedies.

9) "Antman" The Marvel Movie of the year (sorry, Avengers)

8) "Ex Machina" - My favorite Oscar Isaac film this year (sorry Star Wars)

7) "Bridge of Spies" - Sure, some of it was corny. But Spielberg and Hanks still bring some great moments.

6) The Martian - Funny and smart, about as good as the book.

5) "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter" - Japanese film about a woman who believes "Fargo" was real (we've all been there)

4) "Mad Max: Fury Road" - Not as good as "The Road Warrior" but what is?

3) "Brooklyn" - A sweet love story (though the heroine isn't so sweet when you think about it)

2) "Spotlight" - An ugly story told as well as it could be told.

1) Inside Out - Once again, Pixar makes the best film for adults, for the kids.

Bottom Five Films for 2015

I'm sure there may have been worse films, happy to have dodged them, but here are the five worst films I saw last year.

5) "Blackhat" Michael Mann has made great movies. Thor as a computer hacker was not one of them.

4) "Do You Believe?" was a bad Christian film. But it was almost worth it to see Maddie Hayes married to the 6 Million Dollar Man.

3) "Taken 3" - I was all for Liam's daughter rescue the first time around. The audience felt taken this time around.

2) "Pixels" - Adam Sandler crushes your childhood dreams of video games coming to life. The Anti-"Wreck It Ralph".

1) "Woman in Gold" - The Holocaust used as way to save Ryan Reynolds' career.

My Top Ten Books of 2015

Favorite 2015 Nonfiction


You don't have to got much further than 'Black Lives Matter' to see the Civil War still matters.

Jesus said we should visit the prisoner. It's sometimes not an easy thing.

That other big boat sinking is also a fascinating story.

Orville and Wilber come across as two interesting men of integrity.

The main reason to read this is to laugh a lot. The other to be reminded that people you know are going through difficult things that they are afraid to share.

Favorite 2015 Fiction

You get Sherlock and Dr. Who stories in one place.

Non Fanny Brice, but an interesting story of the making of a sixties sitcom.

The TV show did not know how to end the story by Lindsay does. (As for that title...Spoilers!)

Is everyone on the train reading this? They have good reason to.

This book got hated on a lot. But as a quite imperfect father, I liked reading this part of Aticus Finch's story.

And why are these my top ten? I think the main reason is that these are the only ten things I read this year that were published in 2015.

The Problem with Heroes

I'll admit to mixed emotions about the protests against Woodrow Wilson at Princeton University. I first read about the racism of the former president (of both Princeton and the United States) in junior high in a piece claiming he endorsed the film Birth of a Nation as being "History written in lightning." Though I subsequently learned that the quote is dubious, Wilson's favorable writings about the  Ku Klux Klan were not, nor was his work to promote segregation in the federal government and in the armed services.

Seeing a man formerly considered a hero of liberals and the Democratic Party torn from a podium of honor like communist statues after the after the fall of the Wall, as a Republican, has its appeal for me. But another part of me - the better part, I think - sees the foolishness of a cultural revolution to purify unpleasant history from our presence. I think a healthy perspective comes from my faith and knowledge of Scripture.

One of the great heroes of the Bible is Abraham, the great man of faith who followed the call of God to find the Promised Land. But the book of Genesis repeatedly presents embarrassing episodes of this great man denying his own wife in moments of cowardice. And his son, Isaac, did the same thing. And his son, Jacob, was a momma's boy and a swindler. Yet these men are honored as the founders of the nation of Israel.

Moses, writer of the first five books of the Bible, was God's agent in presenting the Law to the nation of Israel and, in turn, the world. But Scripture also records the unfortunate fact that he murdered a cruel overlord who was abusing a Hebrew slave. David, of course, murdered to cover his adultery.

Those of us who grew up with the Bible learned these stories from an early age. And yet, I don't remember any Sunday School protests. Never any occupations of the Christian Education building. Never any talk about throwing the Ten Commandments out of the Bible because the words were given by a killer or throwing out the Psalms because there were written by a philanderer who arranged the death of the man he cuckolded.

Those Bible stories prepared us to face the ugly truths of life that all men were imperfect and that noting on this Earth was pure. That's why, I think, we were able to accept that many of the Founding Fathers (Washington, Jefferson and Franklin among others) - who wrote so movingly about liberty - were slave owners. Just as Moses presented Laws he himself failed to follow, our country's Founding Fathers often failed to live up to their own ideals. They recognized their weakness, which led to such important concepts as the balance of powers.

How much better is to have, as an example, men and women who stove to do better, to proclaim virtue greater than they could themselves accomplish than to look for perfect heroes? We who believe in Original Sin are not surprised by the shortcomings of the cast of history.

There are a great many people in our history more worthy of respect than Woodrow Wilson but - for better or worse - he's an indispensable part of our nation's history and, specifically, of Princeton's. Past or present, none of our leaders has ever been perfect. But many of them served a God who is perfect and sought to honor ideals greater than themselves.

There is a place for evaluating the honors bestowed on figures of history. This should be done with thoughtfulness and humility. It should not be a temper tantrum. Someday, these campus protesters may come to realize they aren't perfect either.

(Thanks to Ricochet editors for the polishing.)

All the Fun the Actuaries Allow

In Young Life we routinely sent kids to the electric chair. It was called the Hot Seat. A chair hooked up a 6 volt battery. Some games were in a quiz format with kids getting zapped for a wrong answer. Sometimes the shock came as a surprise at the end of a skit for a kid or leader. (Campus Life actually can take the credit or blame for innovating this particular stunt.)

At Woodleaf (Young Life's camp in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains) during the fall retreats, fields were watered down, if they weren't already swamps of mud. Many years ice and frost covered the field. We then played a game called Wells Fargo. The campers were divided into two teams, the Cowboys and the Indians. Each leader and high school student got a piece of tape on the forehead that became the "scalp". One of the objects of the game (along with stealing gold from the other team's "bank") was to "scalp" as many members of the other team as one could. Girls could scalp guys, but guys couldn't scalp girls. So roving band of ten or twelve girls would target guys, often bringing down linebackers. After the game, muddy campers would jump in the chilly lake to clear off. (Do I need to mention that doctors visits after a round of Wells Fargo were not an infrequent occurrence?)

A game less likely to cause physical damage (though perhaps not free of psychological damage) used a sheet and lipstick as props. Three girls and three boys were chosen as volunteers. The same lipstick was applied to each of the girls who then went behind the sheet. Small holes in the sheet revealed three pairs of lips. Each boy was assigned a pair of lips. They were told to kiss the lips and guess which girl he had kissed. The boys didn't know that each had kissed his own mother who had been asked to sneak into club.

Young Life is an interdenominational Christian organization that uses camps and clubs as a means to form relationships with High School students (and Middle School students) and present them with the Gospel. The games and skits were tools.

In I Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible... I have become all things to all people so that by all means possible means I might save some." Young Life did a lot of crazy things to win kids over because it was the  motto of founder Jim Rayburn that "It's a sin to bore a kid with the Gospel."

Of course, this was all thirty years ago. Now the insurance companies and adult committees have reined in much of the insanity that was common place.

I did some fairly stupid things as a youth pastor. Once, the church had a piano that was well past its prime. So I let kids attack it with a sledgehammer. It did make the most amazing sounds but a kid could have gotten badly injured. Not to mention the time we did bowling at color TVs.

I'm older now and currently out of youth ministry. I'd be much more cautious these days because that happens with age. Professional Youth Ministry in Churches and Parachurches has been tamed.

But I can't say I don't miss the wildness. 

WWJD with Gotcha Questions

As the presidential primaries gear up, it's time again for Gotcha Questions; or at least the accusation of Gotcha Questions.There is much disagreement about what constitutes a fair question. I don't blame candidates for being annoyed by some such questions. If I was on a talk show and was asked to spell the capital of Somaliland, I would not be pleased. ("Dang! The 'I before E' rule doesn't apply for Hargeis?") A candidate that can't recall what the Fourth Amendment is all about gets less sympathy in my book. The motivation behind the questions makes all the difference. Is the questioner genuinely trying to get information or just trying to embarrass or harm the person answering the question?

Gotcha Questions are not a new phenomenon. They've been around for at least a couple of thousand years. Jesus got a slew of Gotchas. I think it would be helpful for your average presidential candidate (which obviously doesn't include Donald Trump) to look at how Jesus handled them. I think his answers might also be helpful for the average voter...And Christian. So, four observations about how Jesus dealt with verbal traps through looking at for different Scriptures:

1) Jesus acknowledged the fact that it was a Gotcha Question, but answered nonetheless.

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They
came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by
others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in
accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay
or shouldn’t we?”
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a
denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is
this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
And they were amazed at him.  (Mark 12)

Notice what Jesus said in verse 15? "Why are you trying to trap me?" He acknowledged that
that his answer could cause real controversy and perhaps even get him in real trouble with certain
answers to those questions. If he said, "Sure, pay your taxes. You don't want to get the Romans
mad", he would have been portrayed as a coward and a collaborator with the Evil Empire and
lost favor with his Jewish followers. If he said, "Caesar is a pagan infidel, don't give him a red
cent" he might have found himself charged with treason by the Romans.
The religious teachers are playing dirty little games and Jesus doesn't let them get by without
pointing it out. But he goes on to answer the question nonetheless. Note first that he slows things
up by asking for a coin. He doesn't rush an answer.
Then his answer is short and succinct and yet profound. His few words have provided fodder for
discussion for theologians, ethicists, and philosophers for centuries.

2) Jesus questions the premise of the question.

18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third.22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too.23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of
God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like
the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in
the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly
mistaken!” (Mark 12)

Jesus isn't about to let someone ask a "Have you stopped beating your wife?" type of question
(and not just because he wasn't married). The Herodians are asking a brain teaser that has no
Scriptural basis. Despite the impression you get these days from sappy romantic fantasy films,
the Bible never says romantic love or marriage is eternal.
And again, Jesus moves beyond oratorical games to an issue of great importance: eternal life. He
uses one of the most important passages of the Scriptures, at the heart of Jewish tradition, to teach about the eternal nature of God and man.

3) Jesus treats everyone with respect.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and
he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman
caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this
woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women.Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis
for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.7 When they kept on
questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be
the first to throw a stone at her.”8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus
was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman,
where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8)

Most anyone who looks at this story can't help but notice that the woman is used by the
questioners as a prop. The man who was committing adultery is nowhere to be seen. Jesus treats
the woman with kindness. While all eyes might otherwise have been focused on her, Jesus subtly
draws attention to himself by stooping down to write on the ground.
But I recently heard it pointed out in a sermon that Jesus also treats the accusers with kindness.
After his statement, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her"
forces the men to examine their hearts, he allows them to do so in private by again stooping to
write on the ground.
Jesus would at time criticize people (calling Pharisees "whitewashed tombs"), but he never
weasels out of answering questions with name calling. These questions were intended to be
confrontational, but Jesus manages to avoid hostile confrontations in these situations.

4) And on a few rare occasions, Jesus doesn't answer the Gotcha Question.

One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good
news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to
him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this
authority?”
3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of
human origin?”
5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why
didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because
they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Luke 20)

Yup, sometimes Jesus just doesn't bother. They asked a Gotcha Question that Jesus saw no
benefit in answering. So he didn't. Jesus didn't let himself be a slave of the question. Because he was the answer.