Movies are getting strange when a rat is doing the cooking and people are on the menu. Last month’s “Cinemagogue” at Mars Hill Lake City featured the family friendly Ratatouille, with film and expository exploration of the film’s narrative themes. Next month we delve darker into a musical about monsters and meat pies with Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp.

 I had the honor of doing an audio review for Ratatouille, with a room full of parents and young children at nearly 9pm, with children showing signs of fatigue with bedtimes and potential meltdowns imminent. What transpired is one of the quickest audio reviews I’ve done, so hopefully brevity is the source of wit. You can listen to or download the audio at our sister site, Cinemagogue. 

Cinema is a modern day pulpit. Movie theaters are not so different from church assemblies; people flock to their local multiplexes, group together, and find themselves moved by a worldview revealed in story form, allowing themselves to be emotionally led by directors and screenwriters who influence how we feel, think, and even act. Whether a film moves us to tears, chills us to the bone or makes us laugh infectiously, you can notice its influence in repeated phrases, shared platitudes, and lives reflecting the characters that resonate with us.

We are image-bearers of our Creator. a master storyteller, whose narrative spans all of creation, a story in which we all play a part. Made in the image of our Creator, we have a yearning to both create, and be entertained, by narrative. People immerse themselves in story much like Christians treasure the story of Jesus. It is our hope that people would enjoy and engage cinema and storytelling mediums not just as “diversion” but with discernment, engaging the culture around us and reflecting on how it distorts and reflects the larger narrative of our lives.

Join us Friday October 17, 7pm at Mars Hill Lake City for Sweeney Todd, as we explore the unmistakeable artistic impression of Tim Burton and explore the film’s view of the human condition. You can also check out movie reviews from The Dark Knight to Woody Allen’s latest film at the Cinemagogue site.