Interviews, Ripperger, and Hell

The concert last night at 1st Pres went great- sold a good number of Cds and was able to talk to a bunch of kids- most of whom only knew StephenSpeaks- they all wanted to know why we broke up- and i gave them the nice version. Still trying in some ways to let people know that if they liked SS- well- im kind of the guy who wrote and sang all those songs... One at a time- I guess...
Have a couple of interviews today- one with the TV station that did the show on Saturday night and one with Urban Tulsa- Should be good exposure in this market, at least. Still hard to get the word out to everybody who is interested when you dont live in a place- just pass through several times a year. Tulsa, in many ways, is still my musical home-base.
It was good to be back at Park Plaza yesterday- ended up seeing bunches of old friends, etc. Always makes me really glad I dont still live in Tulsa, though. I wonder sometime what that life would have been like- but truthfully- I dont think I could have done it for long, in any case. I wonder at Ripperger- He seems to be happy here- that's great-but I would have thought Tulsa would feel too small for him. He and I are getting together for dinnner tonight- hopefully he will sign this contract and we will be officially done working together forever. Then, just old buddies who used to be in a band- not business partners.
News on Jonathan ******- sounds like he is doing better and better- if you are interested in keeping up and sending a message to the family- check out his family's blog- www.kievster.blogspot.com .
From here on out, today- I try to be a movie reviewer. Not sure why- but read on if you like.
---------TJ"S REVIEW OF CONSTANTINE-------
Last night I saw a crazy movie. As I have mentioned before- I like strange things. Things that would not interest most people. This falls into that category. Constantine, the new movie with Keanu Reeves, is a sci-fi, religious based horror/action/deep thinking movie. Kind of like the Matrix goes to hell, in some ways. Keanu plays the same morose character that he usually does- only this time with cigarettes. Based on a comic book series, this movie follows the Keanu character through his earthly (and otherwise) fight with both Heaven and Hell as he tries to keep both sides in balance and kill enough bad guys to earn his own salvation. Sound like an oscar winner?
Now- I was pumped about this movie. I love religious themed movies-it always interesing, if also mostly maddening. I convinced my sister to go with me (bad move) and we sat through two hours of not-good acting and disturbing world(eternity)view.
Hell, in the movie, looks like Los Angeles after the nulear holocaust. Everything is crumbling and firey- about like you'd expect. Demons, who look like Gollum with his head chopped in half, set to tearing up human souls. Pretty "Inferno"-based, and largely not too scary. If that is all Hell is- well its not Hellish enough. Great effects, but not especially original in any way.
The movie will spark some good conversations- but maybe more about the cross shaped shotgun Keanu wields than the theological underpinning of the film. High point:- Gabriel. At one point, this androgynous, slightly foul-mouthed angel answers Keanu's question-
"Haven't I done enough for Him (God)? What more does He want?"
Gabriel answers- "That's just not how it works- none of that matters to Him-He wants what he has always wanted- self sacrifice, repentance and faith."
Later in the movie- Gabriel continues- "All your sins, all your failings- and the Creator of the Universe has offered you complete redemption from yourselves. Just for repentance and faith. You are the only ones who can boast this claim, and still you ignore Him and wallow, mired in your own wretchedness."
I felt like that was pretty close for Hollywood. Apart from all the other theological mumblings of the movie- that gave me a little hope that people might take something good away from this. As for me- well... Im not a Rachel Weisczxcz(however you spell it) fan and while i really liked the (first) Matrix movie- i felt like this movie had the same problem as they last two Matrix films in many ways- too much underdeveloped philosophy to make the script compelling. As a Christian- I just wanted to scream at the writers- "Hey! Dont you get it that God and the Satan aren't exactly playing with the same deck of cards!!!?? And the movie's premise that God and the Devil can't directly intervene is heresy- considering Jesus was God's ultimate intervention.
In the end- same old same old. All the old, wierd Catholic stuff being drug back out and used poorly. Those things take the focus off of the more important (and scarier) realities of eternity. The idea that there are charms and magic latin words and undiscovered books of the Bible- disturbing portrayals of suicide- even the whole Son of Satan thing- its all here and really weighs down what could have been a pretty good, slick, thoughtful action film. In the end, I hope that it does spark some conversations- and I hope that none of you spend your money on this movie.