This is too funnny.

Last night I watched United 93. Incredibly intense and you leave the theater speechless.
The question surrounding the movie is “Was it released too soon?” There is even disagreement within the families of those involved in this horrific event. For me, it wasn’t too soon but this movie is very difficult to watch so I would caution any movie-goer. It’s not like the Passion where we see Jesus resurrected after the gory crucifixion. It’s not like Schindler’s List where there’s resolve in the end. I am not really sure what it’s like. Raw is the only word that seems to come to mind.

The acting is different – they shot long improvisations (one lasted 40 minutes) because the intent was to be as real and as chaotic as it was on that fateful Tuesday. A couple of the actors are not professional and FAA Ben Sliney plays himself. Personally, I thought highly of the authenticity of the characters from those in the control rooms and especially the passengers. The men who played the terrorists were very convincing as well. You really believe that they believe in this disillusion to give glory to Allah in this most evil of ways.

Again, this movie may not be for everyone. But as difficult as it was to watch, I could not help but be moved by these courageous passengers who stormed the cockpit. Still can’t really wrap my mind around it.

A couple reviews:
http://dickstaub.com/links_view.php?record_id=5173

http://www.infuzemag.com/reviews/movies
/archives/2006/05/united_93.html

A brief post on Dick Staub’s blog by Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune.

“UNTIL CHRISTIAN MUSIC STRESSES ART OVER AGENDA, IT CAN NEVER BE ANYTHING BUT SECOND RATE (my emphasis). As a music editor at the Chicago Tribune, I have a responsibility to turn my readers on to the best art out there. And as a Christian, I have an obligation to tell the truth at all costs, as I see it. If it’s bad, awkward, mawkish art that Nashville keeps shipping to me like so many day-glo W.W.J.D. bracelets, what choice do I have? I would rather be the voice of one crying out in the wilderness than win the approval of any cabal that is convinced–for all the wrong reasons–that the majority of “Christian” music serves a noble purpose.

Michelangelo makes us cry by depicting the finger-touch of creation in a majestic image. Johnny Cash could break your heart by revealing the serrated edges of his brokenness. Bono makes you wrestle and challenges all assumptions that God is of the right or left wing. None of this is a “business model” to be emulated. These are ways of approaching art and life we are talking about, meant to be done with all the fear and trembling of someone trying to point the way to a higher truth while walking a narrow path.”