Children of Men

[Ryan Scott]

I finished all my work for my summer class yesterday, so we've been doing a weekend movie binge. This RedBox thing at McDonalds is something amazing.

We did hit the theater to see Knocked Up this morning. It did have an ultimately positive message about the value of life, family, and relationships, as well as the importance of taking responsibility, but I imagine that one has too much profanity, nudity, and vulgarity to be appealing to any NazNet posters so I'll forgo it.


Regardless, Children of Men was an interesting movie. The whole thing takes place in 2027, in a world that has collapsed politically and socially due to worldwide infertility. No babies have been born for 18 years on the entire planet. Ultimately, Theo (Clive Owen) is drafted to help a young, pregnant woman reach safety. There is a good amount of violence in the movie, with things blowing up and guns everywhere, but it deals with themes of hope, immigration, community, humanity, dignity and many other very important matters in truly unique ways. I think I may have to see it again (or ten more times) to pick up on a lot of the images.

I thought it was very original and well made. I was looking forward to seeing Julianne Moore in a prominent role, but, alas, she exits early on.

I'd be interested to know other people's impressions of this movie. It seems like there could be a lot of profitable discussion.

[Larry Brincefield]

I haven't seen the movie yet, but the book was awesome! The "nativity scene" at the end of the book was fascinating. A man overseeing the birth of an important baby, not of his blood. Brings to mind Joseph and Mary. I have heard that P. D. James makes a profession of faith in Christ.

[Brad Mercer]

What's the RedBox thing at McDonald's?

We saw Children of Men recently. It mainly bugged me that the group was so sure that keeping the baby a secret served their purposes better than publicizing it. But it was an interesting and memorable concept, and you're right about the interesting issues it touches on.

Brad

[Jeremy D. Scott]

What's the RedBox thing at McDonald's?

Red Box is incredible.

It actually inspired a blog post:
http://jeremydscott.blogspot.com/2006/12/eat-drink-be-merry.html

In short, it's a small vending machine that rents recent movies (including new releases) for $1 a day. You can read about it here: http://www.redbox.com/

[Brad Mercer]

Red Box is incredible.

It actually inspired a blog post:
http://jeremydscott.blogspot.com/2006/12/eat-drink-be-merry.html


Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard of it before.

More importantly, thanks for the link to your blog. It's really good. I've bookmarked it.

Brad

[Ryan Scott]

We saw Children of Men recently. It mainly bugged me that the group was so sure that keeping the baby a secret served their purposes better than publicizing it. But it was an interesting and memorable concept, and you're right about the interesting issues it touches on.


I really liked the Christological themes throughout. The idea that one small, innocent child could be the source of hope for the entire world, buried in chaos. It's a tad violent for a Christmas movie, but it might work in some settings.

Redbox is fantastic. Right now they have this promo code for KC (as its new here) to get one night free. We realized today that it only tracks the credit card number, so we've got two accounts with two cards each, that's four movies we'll get to see. Am I so cheap as to enjoy saving a dollar? Yes, I guess I am.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

I really liked the Christological themes throughout. The idea that one small, innocent child could be the source of hope for the entire world, buried in chaos. It's a tad violent for a Christmas movie, but it might work in some settings.

Redbox is fantastic. Right now they have this promo code for KC (as its new here) to get one night free. We realized today that it only tracks the credit card number, so we've got two accounts with two cards each, that's four movies we'll get to see. Am I so cheap as to enjoy saving a dollar? Yes, I guess I am.

Meghan and I watched it last night. I'm not really sure I have anything to add...

I guess I found it odd that none of the British soldiers did anything after seeing the baby. The scene was really cool - all the violence ceasing at the cry of a baby...but after, I thought that somehow Theo & the girl and baby would be ushered away or something. But the soldiers returned to fighting...seemed odd if there had been no babies for 18 years. Perhaps the quick return to violence served the purposes of some of the greater themes.

And while I can appreciate the vagueness of the end in leaving the viewer to choose a hopeful or a hopeless situation, I wanted more.

For those that have read the book, is the baby not born until the end?

[Billy Cox]

I'd be interested to know other people's impressions of this movie. It seems like there could be a lot of profitable discussion.

There is something strangely compelling about movies that portray a dark future. I saw the movie tonight (finally). The scene in which all of the violence stops due to the baby is such a gripping scene.

The ending in which the refugee camp is bombed reminded me of the ending from Fahrenheit 451 - of the cleansing that it represents, while the main characters turn the page on a new chapter.

The police state sense of despair reminded me alot of setting in the computer game Half Life 2. The parade in the refugee camp just happened to look like a clip of Hamas in the Gaza Strip; right down to the covered faces, AK-47s, and the green banners with Arabic-like text.

I liked the movie, but I wouldn't describe it as spectacular.