Wink's Movie Blog

As part of this year’s celebration of Queen’s 40th anniversary, Queen drummer/songwriter/singer Roger Taylor is launching an American talent search to offer musicians the opportunity to star in the Queen Extravaganza Live Tour, scheduled to hit the road in 2012. And Downhere lead vocalist Marc Martel is auditioning for … well, lead vocalist. It takes a lot to compare yourself to Freddie Mercury, but fortunately, Martel is up to the comparison. He’s got one of the best and most unique voices in music, and if anyone can bring the whole Freddy Mercury package to the tour, it’s Marc. Don’t take my word for it. Check out his audition (below), which has almost half a million views on its first day up on the Queen Extravaganza contest site. According to the site, the contest works like this:

The audition process involves two video audition rounds to be judged by both a panel of appointed judges and the public. Taylor will be present to judge the final audition round, which will be held live in Los Angeles in early December. In addition, VEVO, the world’s leading music video and entertainment platform, will unveil exclusive content from each audition round as well as The Queen Extravaganza finals.

The final decisions will be made entirely by Roger Taylor. And this isn’t a tribute band; it’s a band that’ll bring the music of Queen to a new generation. Honestly, I’m not describing this in any way that’s nearly as exciting as it really is. I mean … QUEEN? And Marc front and center? How cool would that be?

Three more amazing videos showcasing Martel's voice -- from more Queen ("Bohemian Rhapsody", to a CCM classic (Keith Green's "Asleep in the Light"), to opera (Pavarotti staple "Nessun Dorma"). As one of the commenters said on one of these videos, Martel is "the Swiss army knife of singing." Yup, I'd agree. Marc Martel speaks - the Somebody To Love audition radio interview

As the World Trade Center cross makes the news again in recent weeks -- atheists suing to keep it from being displayed at the memorial, and a NY lawmaker wanting it to be called a national monument -- it's a good time to revisit a 2006 documentary that tells the story of that cross. The Cross and the Towers, winner of a Crystal Heart Award from the Heartland Film Festival, looks back at 9/11 and the ensuing days through the eyes of seven people, several of whom were on the scene and digging through the rubble in search of survivors. The 54-minute documentary follows their stories through the finding of the steel beams intersecting to form a perfect cross, a symbol of hope that remains at Ground Zero today. It's definitely worth a watch as we remember that historical, horrible day. The film is available to stream for $3.99 here. And here's the trailer:

This post is written by Mark Mooring of Christianity Today: Every Wednesday night during the school year, I join other adults to meet with high school students to study the Bible. According to the new documentary Divided, now showing for free online, this practice is unbiblical, worldly, and dangerous to families—not to mention an extension of evolution and paganism. From my 12 years as a volunteer youth worker, I know that just as churches are flawed, so are youth ministries. We’ve made mistakes. We’ve course corrected; pizza and eating goldfish are no longer the meat and potatoes of youth discipleship. And these kinds of conversations must continue; we have to challenge what we do and ask tough questions including: Why are so many church kids leaving their faith behind? Divided is supposedly asking the same question. It’s billed as a “journey to discover the truth about modern youth ministry, with this question in mind: ‘Is it an issue with the church, the kids, the parents?’” But this 60-minute film isn’t interested in fair exploration or discussion. Instead, it is propaganda, a commercial for the Family Integrated Church movement, an association of interdenominational churches which view age-segregated, peer-oriented youth ministries as “family-fragmenting” and unscriptural. The movie both begins and ends with the logo for producing organization The National Center for Family Integrated Churches (NCFIC). The movie begins with a young filmmaker, Philip Leclerc, saying he’s seeking answers to his questions about youth ministry. But by the end, that quest feels like a ruse—a fake journey for answers he already knew. (Leclerc, who made the movie with his brother, admits his father pulled him out of high school youth ministry.) By the time Leclerc delivers his final verdict—“God didn’t ordain youth ministry. He didn’t create Sunday school. He did create the church and the family”—it’s obvious he’s been toeing the company line from the start. The most striking evidence: Almost every Divided interview is with supporters of the movement, including extended time with NCFIC director Scott Brown (who is credited as an executive producer). Other interviews (like those with youth pastors at the National Youth Workers Convention) are truncated and used strategically—to the point that they can feel as if they are used out of context. This is not the only questionable methodology. The film is filled with scare tactics, vague overstatements, experts with random credentials like “Jake’s Café,” broad-brush painting and sketchy statistics like this from Britt Beemer of America’s Research Group: “90 percent of kids had so many doubts before college you could drive a semi-truck through.” How many doubts create such a hole? Are we talking an 18-wheeler? While some featured adherents of the movement present welcomed nuance (aka “this approach doesn’t work in all contexts but it does in ours”), most draw a black-and-white picture that youth ministry is not mentioned in the Bible—and is therefore categorically dangerous. They go on: Age-segregated programs date back to paganism and are actually schemes to get evolution into churches. (Get it? Students advance from first grade to second just like Neanderthals to humans). All nuance is tossed aside in the thesis that youth ministry must be eradicated wholesale in favor of fathers, and fathers alone, instructing and mentoring young people. We as a faith community must continue discussing how we reflect the model of church and ministry in Acts and the epistles. Unfortunately, the video equivalent of an angry letter-to-the-editor doesn’t extend that conversation. Watch the trailer here:

Divided Trailer from NCFIC on Vimeo.

Coming to theaters next month, Machine Gun Preacher is a movie that will appeal to some Christians because of its subject matter. It will also turn off some Christians . . . because of its subject matter. The movie, opening in limited release on September 23, is based on the true story of Sam Childers, a drug-dealing hell raiser as a teen and young man who began to turn his life around after finding Jesus. Today, he spends much of his time in Sudan and neighboring countries, allegedly fighting pockets of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) with his own band of gun-toting rebels while sweeping up orphans who have been left behind -- and then putting them into orphanages that he has built in the area. Some Christians will love the film for showing Childers' path from rebellion to redemption. Others may avoid it for the same reason; the first 15-20 minutes are as in-your-face and gritty as anything you'll see in an R-rated movie (which it is), with a sex scene, drug dealing (and taking), brutal violence, and foul language. Even after Childers -- played terrifically by Gerard Butler -- finds God, he's still got some rough edges, and his flaws stick with him through the rest of the movie. Sounds pretty realistic to me, and I appreciate the filmmakers' boldness in showing those character flaws. But it's also a bit much for the "safe-for-the-whole-family" folks who prefer their "Christian" movies to be G-rated fare. Relativity Media, which is distributing the Marc Forster-directed film, realizes this, but knows it's also got a film on its hands that can have terrific crossover appeal -- for Christians because of the redemptive arc of the tale, and for secular audiences who appreciate character development woven into what is in many ways an action movie, with Childers as its real-life action hero. In an attempt to reach both audiences, Relativity has released mainstream and faith-based versions of the movie poster. They also plan to release "exclusive" clips for the faith-based market in a week or so. Stay tuned. Here are the two posters -- "secular" on the left, "faith-based" on the right. Both include the phrase, "Hope is the greatest weapon of all." In the latter, the cross motif is evident, but seems forced, especially as it cuts off Butler's forehead. But there seems to be a clear focus on the children -- the main motivation for Childers' work -- in the background. Finally, here's the trailer:  

Adam Young, best known as the pop sensation Owl City, was up late Sunday night recording a cover of the modern hymn, "In Christ Alone," by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. On his blog, Young said it wasn't for any particular album or project: "Not for anything special, just for fun." "Something about this song makes me bawl like a baby," Young wrote. "If I were to count on one hand, the number of songs that have ever deeply moved me, this one would take the cake. Last night I probably spent more time actually crying at the piano than I did recording it. Such are the secret confessions of a shy boy from Minnesota . . . "As I’m so often reminded what a priceless gift my life is, I ache with everything in me to make it count, so that when I finally cross the finish line, I’ll hear the words, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'" Young also noted that the spiritual meat of the song is not "intended to be 'crammed down the throat,' if you will. That is not my intention. This is what I wholeheartedly believe, and to that belief, I remain steadfast until He returns or calls me home." Click here to listen.