What makes a movie good?

TWO weekends ago, I had the opportunity to go see Snakes on a Plane with some friends. I know there was significant internet hype over this movie. Once the title was released, it became an instant joke. A parody of itself. From the title alone you knew two things: 1) there were going to be snakes on a plane (and probably not much else) and 2) this was going to be a B movie. Nothing is worse than paying $8.75 to go see a movie that drops your expectations to have them shatter on the floor in a tragic mess like a spaghetti dinner on grandma's best china plate. But with Snakes, they let you know (if you are a savvy moviegoer) to come in with the lowest of cinematic standards. And then they slightly exceed them. I can't really recommend this movie to anyone, it's all about audience. I went to the movie with some friends. I wish we had pictures. Jon, one of my good buddies, dressed up as a plane by putting a thin cardboard box around his torso (like wings) and duct-taping a cardboard propeller to his hat. I took a round piece of cardboard and used it to create a cobra like hood and made myself some cardboard fangs. We ran around in the parking lot before the movie began and Jon gave me a piggy back ride at one point just so the other theater goers could watch a snake on a plane for a little bit even if they were going to see another flick.

The theater was packed at about 10% capacity, but everyone there was excited to see the movie. We all cheered when Sam Jackson first appeared. We booed (and hissed) the snakes and generally laughed at all the plot points. It was a great movie experience but it wasn't a great movie. I wouldn't have enjoyed it if I went alone or watched it on tv. There are movies which move me and ones that I appreciate for artistic value. And then there's entertainment. Snakes on a Plane entertained me, and in the right context and with the right audience (crazed fans who might have had a bit to drink before coming to see the movie), it was a good movie.

Announcements

IT has been well over a month since I last posted. It is not for lack of things to post about. In fact a lot has been going on in my life lately but I've been rather apathetic towards this blog.

This past Sunday I announced to my church that I've begun courting a lovely young lady. I'm pretty excited about it! So much so that I've written this post.

The church that we both go to promotes courtship as the way to go for couples getting into serious relationships. We have known each other for a while but just recently started spending more time together. I had made up my mind not to date anyone until I could be "serious" about it. Which means I have been single for about 3 years now. While courtship has marriage as a goal, it's not like I am engaged just yet. We still have a lot to learn about each other and we are going to be taking things slow. I'll see if I can't get a picture of us up here sometime soon.

I've already been questioned many times about exactly what is courting and how is it different than dating. Depending on who you talk to, courtship has varying degrees of being "the same thing as dating". If you were talking to me though, I'd say: "Courting is like dating except you deliberately seek input from other more experienced people." First thing is to get the permission of the parents to even have the relationship. In our case, this was pretty easy to do. Both of our parents supported us as a couple. The next thing to do (which we have yet to start) is getting some sort of regular "accountability couple" who act to varying degrees like relationship counselors. I guess you can do the same thing with dating. Courting is a serious and responsible style of dating that is probably more formal in the way it is carried out. There is no real rule book for courting although many guidelines exist, so we are setting our own rules that we feel are appropriate with guidance from the accountability couple.... Yes we can hold hands.