E.T.'s Film Review Turns 4 Years Old! - Lent 2012

Greetings my friends! Hello again and welcome back to “E.T.'s Film Review!” Those of you who've been following the Review for the past three years know the general process of things, but here’s a review for those who are new to the Review.

Some Christians choose to fast during the liturgical (church) season of Lent. Some give up meat, soda, Facebook, etc.; something that will challenge them to offer a daily sacrifice for Christ. Others choose to add something to their "spiritual diet" to strengthen their faith. Alongside fasting I've chosen to review motion pictures for the 40-Day season of Lent. My reviews will incorporate elements of critical review (directing, editing, sound design, scoring, etc.) and biblical review. For the latter I will attempt to study and review the film through the words and stories of the Bible. The overall aim of each review is to give you a sense what the film is about from a technical perspective and how we might learn more about God (and ourselves in so doing) through the stories, events, and conversations held within the motion pictures at hand.

In keeping with the many "God In The Movies"-type projects which have become so popular with contemporary theologians and entertainment aficionados I'll give fair treatment to both the technical and spiritual aspects of film review. The "Reel Revelation", however, is the focus of this Review.

I encourage you to visit daily and read these reviews so that, by God's grace, you might discover Biblical truths in the movies you love! Maybe we'll even learn a thing or two from movies we haven't seen.

I took it upon myself to select the films for this year's review along with a few suggestions. I've decided to incorporate two film series this year and will be going back and completing series which I started years past but only reviewed in part. This will once again present wonderful opportunities for series-based reflections and the chance to unpack larger or "richer" theological ideas.

I am excited to get into the broad and yet gracefully balanced selection we have this year. Together we'll cover classics, favorites, and films you've possibly never seen. Aside from seeing people grow in their relationship with Christ I am always pleased when someone reads the Review and decides to see a film that's new to them in order to see what they get out of it. There's no shortage of movies to watch, and I hope those of you who love film will be encouraged to keep watching as a result of this Review.

I will only post reviews Monday-Friday, taking Saturday and Sunday off. I will endeavor to post each review in a timely manner. More often than not the reviews won't be available until late afternoon/evening. The first review will be posted later tonight, Wednesday, February 22nd.

In addition to the individual reviews I hope to do video posts along the way. The videos I've posted on Facebook were well received and i'd like to continue with that here. I'll try to do at least one a week. I'll post them directly into the Review blog or provide the link to where the video can be viewed on YouTube or Facebook.

I welcome you and pray you’ll enjoy my words and (more importantly, by far) the Word of God as it comes to us through the unique, beguiling, challenging, and wonderful medium of the motion picture. – E.T.