Movie Review: Amazing Grace ****

This movie moves me greatly. It is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

For those who don't know, this movie is the story of William Wilberforce the father of slavery abolition in the British Empire. It follows him through years of struggle against political corruption, and social opposition. He fought against decades, if not centuries of entrenched political and social norms. But he brought the dirty shame of slavery to the forefront, and left people with this thought,

"Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way...but you can never say again that you did not know."

The lead character is played by Ioan Gruffudd, some of you may know him as Horatio Hornblower. He is surrounded by a wonderful cast, including Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Ciaran Hinds, and a new actor for me, Benedict Cumberpatch (tell me you've ever heard a more british name).

This movie still brings tears to my eyes, it is powerful in its message as well as its presentation. I strongly encourage everyone to see it.

He was in part inspired by the man who wrote the lyrics to the hymn Amazing Grace (obviously the title comes from this). This is a hymn that I have never been particularly fond of. I think that it has been overdone, and has become rather trite. However, much like many things in this cynical world, when one takes the time to look more closely, it is powerful and inspiring. I'll leave you with the second verse, as it is less well known, and the message is powerful.

T'was Grace that taught...my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.

A great man, and a fabulous movie. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Movie Review: Stardust.

The whole fam was raving about this one, so after wrangling a babysitter, Alisa and I went over to the dollar theater (now three dollar theater, dang inflation), to catch this one this last weekend. It was great.

Set in England/a bordering fantasy world, its the story of a boy born from the fantasy world and raised in England that goes back to the fantasy world to prove his love for a chick. Claire Daines was quite good in this, so where a whole host of others in bit/supporting roles. Robert DeNiro stole the show for several scenes, I found him hilarious. Great date movie, it was fun, well written, well-acted, and romantic. I want to see it again, and will probably buy it when it comes out on DVD.


Note: My wife correctly guessed that the old dude who guards the wall that is the border between fantasy and reality is one of the old dudes from Waking Ned Devine (another one we saw recently thanks to Netflix).

Life, liberty, and talking to your bff Jill. :)

So, I figure this will be an ongoing topic. I'll post on this topic when I hear something that bothers me. As a preface, I don't expect everyone to understand all the vaguaries of constitutional law, but, when people start asserting their rights, I think they should know whether or not its a real one.

Today's case in point. On the radio on the way in to work this morning, they were discussing the new idea of banning texting in school. This post is not a yeah or nay comment on that idea. They received texts from people expressing their opinions. They received one that stated, they can't ban texting, that goes against my freedom of speech.

Okay, I like the first ammendment. Its a nifty thing. But lets be honest here. Does anyone believe that the first ammendment protects your right to text messaging, in school? Anyone? You in the back, put your hand down, you still think income tax is unconstitutional.

I am all for people asserting and defending their rights. But, if you are going to publicly decry policies as 'unconstitutional', its probably best to at the very least, get familiar with the bill of rights. I'm not saying you need to understand the commerce clause, but at least the bill of rights. Thats it.

You don't have an inalienable right to texting. Thats all I'm saying.