THE MAGIC OF MOVIES

For many years I have been wanting to promote my most inner self publicly, but I have lacked the necessary venue to do so. But now with blog technology I have the ability share the things that are most precious to me on this website.

The Moment

That being said, today's topic is the first of a three part series on movies. For all of you who know me, you know that I love the medium of film. It's a wonderful art form that has the ability to make grown men cry, well, at least this grown man. Cinema is the greatest art form, because it is a combination of three mediums, literature, music, and visual image. Therefore, movies don't undermine these forms of art, they merely collaborate together. And when these three meet perfectly, they create a sense of wonder and awe that is difficult to articulate at times. This wonder and awe is usually captured in "The Moment". "The Moment" comes in many forms, emotions, and genres. Any attentive audience member knows of what I speak; it's that fraction of a second when we say to ourselves "yes" I affirm what is being presented to me, body and soul. For anyone who doesn't know what I mean, allow me to give some examples to explain this concept. "The Moment" is captured in the first time we see the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park . It is manifest when the nail goes through the hand of Christ in the Passion of Christ, or when Belle confesses her love for the beast in Beauty and the Beast, and when George Bailey prays for is his life back in It's a Wonderful Life. The list could go on for quite a while, but I hope that you get the drift.

How and why do movies appeal to our senses?

For starters, movies tell stories, and we love stories. Even the gospel is a story, in fact, it is the greatest story ever told because it is true. Although movies are not true in the real sense, the emotions are still real and true. Ideas and concepts are nice, but without the context of a story they remain bare and void of meaning. And so we like stories, because every one's life is a story and the climax is still unknown. We love to tell our story, and we love to share other people's stories.

Movies are Nostalgic.

The love of movies starts when we are children, and as adults we still watch films through the lenses of a child. This explains why we still love to watch Elliot fly over the moon in E.T. or sing along with Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Films function like a time machine, because it allows us to travel back to a more innocent time before cynicism crept into are thought processes. The movies we enjoyed as children allow us to go down memory lane with new and old friends about the experiences we had when we watched "that movie". Hopefully you will be able to recall some of these moments and appreciate the gift of cinema.

In my next post I will elaborate on the wonder of the cinematic experience, and I will also recognize specific filmmakers who have made the movies so wonderful for me and you. Thank you for reading

TN