Knowing - movie review

We usually check the movie reviews on Plugged In (www.pluggedinonline.com) before we rent or watch movies. I did NOT read the review for Knowing before we went to see it tonight, but I can tell you that even if I had, I completely disagree with the way they've reviewed this movie. I've posted before that we only go to one or two movies a year because it's so expensive. The only thing Sarah wanted for her birthday was a night at the movies alone with me so she and I went tonight and saw Knowing.

I've always been a huge Nicolas Cage fan, but unfortunately I was hugely let down by this film. In case any of you were considering watching it - with or without your teenagers - I thought you might find some advance warning helpful. First off, I would positively, absolutely NOT take children to this movie. Honestly, if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't take a young teen either and I told Sarah this after the movie.

For starters, since the movie is PG-13, the previews before the movie were absolutely horrible. I found them completely unacceptable. The first preview that came on started showing these girls in a fraternity and it honestly looked like they were having a good time, they were joking around, and even though there was inappropriate behavior (boys and girls having sex at a party, boy who cheated on his girlfriend, etc.), I was totally not expecting what came next. The joke got out of hand, and it actually showed the boy killing another girl with a tire iron. It was so unexpected and horrible that I told Sarah we might have to leave if this is what was to come. To her credit, when I started to tell her, she already had her ears covered and her head lowered. She was not watching any of it. Now this was just in the PREVIEWS!!!

I think the next preview was the one that had a horribly violent movie about a bunch of robots who are killing everyone Earth. It was very violent. I told Sarah just to keep her head down the whole time during the previews. It's good because the next preview had two girls KISSING... It just got worse and worse. These previews are approved for ALL AUDIENCES (meaning children, too). I'm seriously going to be checking into who rates previews and doing some articles about that on my website when I return from Washington DC. I couldn't believe the content of the previews.

So on to the movie... In a nutshell, this is the worst example of New Ageism combined with UFO-logy and "Christianity" that I've ever seen. I put Christianity in quotes because it is so convoluted that there is no Christianity left in it. Basically, the premise of the movie is that this little girl knows when the end of the world is coming - the exact date. Not only that, but she writes numbers on a paper in 1959 that predict ever major disaster that happens until 2009. She couldn't finish writing her numbers on the paper before the teacher snatches the paper away so the little girl finds a closet and scratches more numbers into a door there until her fingers are bloody and torn to pieces. The paper is put in a time capsule and opened in 2009 at the elementary school where the little girl went and also Nicolas Cage's little boy. His little boy starts hearing voices and it's all linked together so that (DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ FROM HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE END OF THE STORY) he and a whole bunch of other little chosen children are taken to a "new world" with a "tree of life" by aliens with angel wings in spaceships that look like things described in Ezekiel in the Bible.

The problem is that the Bible makes it clear that NO ONE knows the time when the end will come. Other problems include the fact that Cage's dad, who is a pastor, says to them as they die at the end of the movie (the whole earth is destroyed - how's that for uplifting?!?), "Don't worry son, there will be life after this" or something of that nature. The problem with that is that the Cage character is not a Christian and he will not have life after death - the Bible makes that clear. The children are not going to be taken up and chosen to start a new Garden of Eden. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

There is one scene where someone refers to a woman's breast size. There is a LOT of drinking - Cage drinks a lot of whiskey and is so drunk in one scene that he is asleep and doesn't pick his son up from school at the end of the day. There is cursing and using the Lord's name in vain. Prophecy is rampant and made to look "Biblical" because it's so closely tied to prophecy in Ezekiel, but they've convoluted it. There is violence, lots of people killed, animals on fire running out of a forest (in prophecy), and the total destruction of the whole earth.

I'm displeased with the Plugged In review because it almost makes it sound like "some Christians will like it and some won't." Gee, that's ok and that's all... I'm telling you - this movie is NOT ok. Sarah and I spent the whole trip home discussing everything that was wrong with it and I'm so sorry I took her to see it. I told her we would even have to pray to get some of the scenes out of her head. (The little girl's bloody fingers, for example, was totally unexpected.)
I'm stepping out on a limb here to even share my thoughts. I don't want anyone to think I'm a horrible parent because I took Sarah to see this. I told her that this would be the LAST movie we watch in a movie theater. Even Horton Hears a Who turned out to have some things in it we disagreed with and I really don't mind little things that I can discuss with the children later, but it was obvious even from the previews and every single thing presented in this movie that we are in such a huge battle here for people's spirits. I heard people coming out of the theater even contemplating that the end of the earth could happen this way - with aliens coming down to save us from environmental doom or natural disaster. This is not what the Bible says, people!!! Do not be drawn into it.

If you were planning to go see this movie, don't. I like Nicolas Cage, but it's not worth it. And whatever you do, please do NOT let your teenagers go see this movie, especially alone. You will need to talk with them about EVERYTHING in the entire movie (and the previews).

Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

Update on health issues

My friend and I traveled to Vanderbilt Medical Center on Monday. We made frequent stops so that I could walk around because my legs were hurting so much, but the trip went well. We had to be at the hospital at 7:45 yesterday morning and when we eventually saw the doctor, she spent about ten minutes with me and then said I could leave. They did some blood tests and said that they would call my doctor here and give permission for me to start the new medication. I guess my doctor really just had me visit her so that he would have a second opinion that I was a good candidate for this medicine. It is still relatively new.

This doctor did agree with the other doctors that I should have a scan of my brain due to the continued pain at the base of my skull, but she couldn't do the scan there. The doctors here were planning to do it after I visit a neurologist at the end of March, but I didn't feel that I could wait that long. After I came back last night, the pain in my head was so bad that I went to the ER around 10:30 and spent the next several hours there. The nurse said perhaps I was just dehydrated, tired, etc. and the doctor said he didn't think Coumadin caused headaches. I emphasized again that this is not a headache, but a pain in the back of my head. I told the doctor I wasn't leaving until they did SOMETHING so he finally wrote me a prescription for the MRI to be done outpatient.

The scheduling girl had sympathy on me and she was able to work me in tomorrow. I have the scan at 4:00. The doctor said I could have a small blood clot or something back there causing the pain. Hmmm... I have a serious history of clots and might have a blood clot in my brain, but that's not an emergency. Needless to say, I am beginning to have much disdain for the medical field. (Thankfully I really like my primary care doctor and my new hematologist. They both seem to have a lot of sense and actually care whether I live or die.)

I spent the whole day in bed again today. The spot in my head hurt so bad that I just didn't want to move and on top of that, now I have another spot that is hurting. These aren't "headaches," but actual places that HURT. If they do not figure something out by Friday (my next appointment), I've already decided that I'm just going to stop all the medicine and live with the clots - or the possibility of new ones - and the risks associated with that. I can no longer handle all the pain, the constant appointments, the bills, the time away from my family because I'm so sick or gone to the doctor, etc. I just want to take care of my family and write.

I do thank you all for your prayers and support. I've appreciated the encouraging e-mails as they have been a small ray of light through all this.

Thanks,
Sonya

Your Guide to the Grand Canyon - a book review

I would give anything if we'd had this book when we visited the Grand Canyon on our trip out west in 2007. It is the most amazing book! It has full-color photographs, covers almost every area of the Grand Canyon, has an in-depth look at the geography of the canyon, contains photographs and discussion of canyon wildlife and animal life, shares historical perspectives, etc. Students will also have a clearer understanding of how the evolutionary view of the canyon was forced upon scientists while a foundation for the creationist view of a massive flood is a more likely scenario. This should be a required purchase for every parent who actually wants their child to be interested in science.

Obviously, I would highly recommend this for everyone, whether they homeschool or not. It would make an excellent schoolbook and is a must-have if you are going to visit the Grand Canyon in the future! The book would also make a wonderful gift.

Reading Level: Although the material is probably geared toward middle or high school age students, elementary age students would love the photographs and, with a parents help, could understand much of the text as well. Adults will find the material quite engaging and the photographs stunning.

Price: $15.99 retail

Publisher: Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group

Copyright date: June 2008

Authors: Tom Vail, Mike Oard, Dennis Bokovoy, Dennis Hergenrather

Review: Sonya Haskins, www.thehomeschooladvocate.com