THE HOURS
RATING: PG-13
STARRING: Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Toni Colette, Claire Danes, and Jeff Daniels
DIRECTOR: Stephen Daldry
PRODUCERS: Scott Rudin and Robert Fox
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mark Huffam
WRITER: David Hare
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY: Michael Cunningham
DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures
GENRE: Drama
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers and adults
SUMMARY: In The Hours Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman star in a movie that parallels the lives of three groups of people over three time periods. Each group is affected by the Virginia Woolf novel, Mrs. Dalloway. Mrs. Woolf’s conclusion on the meaninglessness of life and subsequent suicide pull heavily on the other characters. Each one of them parallels the characters in Woolf’s book. They lead lives of quiet despair and melancholy with happiness being only a small moment of respite amid dreary, trivial lives.
The Hours considers friendship among women, including lesbian behavior, as the strongest bond of all. The men in the movie are either homosexual, or simple and doting. The Hours will undoubtedly win numerous awards for writing, direction and acting, but most viewers probably will be bored to tears, or sleep. This pretentious movie has a very strong secular humanist worldview. The only solutions it offers to the triviality and meaninglessness of the characters’ lives are personal selfishness at the expense of others, suicide or living for moments of affection.
CONTENT: Depressing, hopeless humanist worldview with very strong homosexual worldview elements, some pagan elements and a politically correct, feminist viewpoint; light language with two "f" words; violence includes the depiction of two suicides by falling and drowning; depicted sexual immorality includes lesbians kissing and an acceptance of homosexuality; no nudity; and, miscellaneous immorality such as lying to one’s spouse, and portrayals of mentally distraught women who can’t cope with life.
THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS: THE LIFE AND WORK OF C.S. LEWIS
RATING: TVG
RELEASE: Now on video
NARRATED BY: Sir Ben Kingsley
DIRECTOR:
PRODUCER: Skip Duncan
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: David Crouse
BASED ON THE BOOK BY: John Ryan Duncan
DISTRIBUTOR: PBS
CONTENT: Clear Christian worldview refuting the paganism of our age.
GENRE: Documentary/Biography
INTENDED AUDIENCE: All ages
SUMMARY: The Magic Never Ends is a PBS documentary on the life of the famous literary genius and Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis. Christians everywhere should buy this video as an evangelistic tool to help their friends understand "the magic that never ends."
CONTENT: PBS is not known for its evangelistic programming, but the PBS program The Magic Never Ends is one of the most Christ-centered evangelistic television programs ever. C.S. Lewis expert Walter Hooper comments in this documentary that the best writers sometimes lift a corner of the curtain to let their audience see a little bit of the truth. C.S. Lewis pulls the curtains back to the full width of the stage to let the audience see the whole truth, which is to see the world as God sees it.
People argue over which one of his works was the best. The fact is, they were all phenomenal and have helped millions of people to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This documentary not only helps the audience understand Lewis, but it helps them understand the Gospel, and it pays close attention to the work of God the Holy Spirit in C.S. Lewis’s life. If this documentary had been made for the Christian bookseller’s market, it would be a best seller. As it is, Christians everywhere should buy it as an evangelistic tool to help their friends and neighbors understand "the magic that never ends."
