oh shoot I pi**ed off Kevin Sorbo...

I rented GOD'S NOT DEAD (2014), finally.  I wasn't expecting anything out of it.  I don't like Kevin Sorbo.  I don't know if he's been on any "day time soaps", but if he hasn't, I don't know why.  They are not beneath his acting chops.  The story itself I'd already heard from my mom, and it sounded intense and edge of your seat awesome.  The opening credits were drenched in simplicity.  The people who made that movie failed on so many levels.  Did they even hire a cinematographer?  Or was the sun-soaked day seen in the opening credits just filmed and presented as-is?  Set designing was also not a strong suit of the film.  The tone and atmosphere were non existent.  The song played during the opening credits was randomly chosen, it seemed.  Storywise, it would have been better as a book.  And I would not have read it, because I'm still (very very slowly) going through The Bible.  I actually haven't picked it up in over a week.  (rats!).  I keep thinking I'm not getting anything out of it.  I need to pray more.  I don't know if I know how though.  I can think.  I can talk.  I can believe God is listening.  But if God started talking back, and I was aware of it, what would it be like?  It seems like it'd be like falling out of a helicopter and landing in the ocean and then continuing to fall until I hit the other side of Earth...in other words, scary as all get out...much like death itself, which, if I would actually put my instinctual fear aside and just do it, wouldn't be such a bad thing.  If God intends to remove the sin from my soul at some point (probably during or after entering Heaven), it would probably be enjoyable to spend time with God and all his people.  For some reason I can't figure out, I don't like spending time with people, just hanging out and talking about things that don't matter.  Even talking about things that matter makes me sick to my stomach eventually.  Talking about politics, for example, it doesn't do any good.  It just establishes common ground between you and the person you're speaking with.  And then once you establish that common ground, then what?  You sit around watching 60 Minutes and getting ticked off about how politicians are running this country into the ground?  And when the "way of the world" becomes obsolete - politics, commerce, etc. - what important things are there to talk about?  "How was your day?"  "Oh, I had a lovely time walking in the garden with God"  "Oh!  That's great"...I suppose Heaven might not be all God all the time...I don't think people become omnipotent when they enter Heaven, so if I were to have any friends...well...maybe God will be a part of every conversation, since He IS omnipotent...which if the case, every day would be the same.  But maybe the craving for variety is a symptom of our sin curse?

Anyway, watching GOD'S NOT DEAD is not required viewing for Christians as it speaks what Christians ought to already know.
  And I would not recommend it to agnostics or atheists except maybe the ones that don't have functioning eyes.

I also rented THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.  Also a new release.  I thought the chances of it being a good film were pretty good, given the pretty good (500) DAYS OF SUMMER and the almost great THE SPECTACULAR NOW were written by the same people and so was THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.  Well, third time broke the charm.  It's a very shallow film.  The dire situation of a 17 year old dying of cancer was not well expressed, thusly the aggravation she felt toward her parents for being her parents and all that entails did not compute fully, and then practically two minutes after all of this is being explained, she meets the man of her dreams, who tries to get her attention by staring at her and smiling at her.  Also, I know I'm watching a movie when I'm watching a movie.  I'm not one of those people who just forgets about the outer parameters of the screen.  When a character talks about her fictitious life "not being like the movies", that makes it that much harder to swallow the fiction that is presented.

Well, I tried.  Twice in one day.  Failed both.  That's $7 apprx down the drain.  Fuuu.
I will return both of them tomorrow if the rain can hold off 'til noon or so, and get $3.50 rental account credit from Hastings, which is enough to rent 3 old release movies and if I return just one of them the day after renting it(?), that'll leave me enough to rent a 4th movie.  If I return all of them early, that's enough to rent 6 or 7 movies...dang, I'm tired.
I wanted to rent GODZILLA.  I'm sick of every good movie being an adaptation of some classic iconic idea.  X-MEN, BATMAN, GHOSTBUSTERS, GODZILLA, PLANET OF THE APES...GONE GIRL looks very promising.  I was so looking forward to the sequel to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, but I'm starting to think it's never going to happen.  Although I wasn't impressed with THE SOCIAL NETWORK, kind of confused as to why so many highly regarded critics were going ga-ga over it.  Same deal with THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON...  GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn has been a high ranking bestseller since it came out though, and I think given the apparent strength of the material the scribes had to work with, and David Fincher's penchant for the grandiose (i.e.: FIGHT CLUB), the film probably won't disappoint.  I thought about seeing it in theaters sometime soon.  I'm pretty much out of money though.  Maybe in November tho, if it's still playing then...
It does feel like the world is falling apart.  On one hand, the world has always overall rejected God.  Noah was the only one out of an entire planet who was deemed worthy to survive the flood and that was probably several thousand years ago.  I think the end is probably more distant than anyone thinks.  It's so easy to see the prophecies unfolding though.  Ebola could very well spread throughout this entire nation and kill a large segment of the U.S. population.  And given our political situation, what with congress not doing anything and our national debt mounting and then some, and all the anti-American Jihadist movements taking place throughout the middle east, the situation in Russia...also, whereas Christianity once held prominence in most of the world, it now is being scrutinized and rejected by much of it.  The USA was founded on the ideas present in The Bible, but much of the USA has forgone those principles.  The first and second amendment are being stripped away very slowly, but surely.  USA Soldiers aren't allowed to carry The Bible on them.  But every pornographic thought and image is fought tooth and nail with victory after victory.  Not that I think porn should be illegal.  Outlawing immorality is pointless.  If society did its job, it wouldn't be an issue.  The few oddballs who engage in beastiality etc are not hurting anyone except maybe God.  And God will do what he needs to do when he's good and ready. 
Anyway, I just mentioned that b/c I often wonder what the point of commerce is.  I bought a $1.99 clearance rental copy of THE SPECTACULAR NOW.  Yeah, my $1.99 didn't go directly to the filmmakers.  Yeah, it's only $1.99, the video store probably doesn't care.  BUT: if I hadn't bought it, someone else would have.  As things stand, with me having bought it, someone else who would have bought it had I not, being unable to buy it used, may very well buy it brand spankin' new.  I wouldn't.  But not everyone is living on a $720/mo income.  Actually, I probably buy a lot more movies and CDs compared to most people in my income bracket...largely because I've been blessed with a fixed rent via my sister who owns this house I presently live in, and I've never succumbed to nicotine or alchohal(sp???what the heck spell check, get with it!!) addiction...

Ug.  I need to get to bed so I can walk to Hastings tomorrow morning before the rain starts falling all around us.....not sure if I'll succeed.  But here's to hoping......