Scream 4: He's Back! ***

Scream is a big franchise and it's actually a pivotal moment in a horror legend's career. Wes Craven, I think, was born to make the scream movies and it shows. He's on his fourth outing with some pretty awesome classics that follow up before this one. After Craven made the Scream movies he was pretty much cursed making nothing but garbage, until now. He comes back to form in the fourth and definitely not the last outing of this brilliant Scream franchise.

"Why do you like horror movies so much?" Many people have asked me this question, my pastors, my parents, my wife and pretty much anyone I know. I'm not a morbid person, I'm not sadistic or immoral, I just think horror films are artistic and powerful but also they are just plain fun. Scream is full of fun and will probably be the best time you'll have at the movies this summer, if you like slasher films that is. Scream is not about the character development, it's not about the plot, it's about how much corn syrup can be spilt and how many times can we entertain the audience. It's funny, suspenseful, creepy and scary.

This one almost acts like a remake, it brings back all of the original cast members, Dewey, Gail, and of course Sydney, then it fuses them with a bunch of new cast members. There are some surprising faces here and you could tell they all want a piece of the action when they heard Craven was in town. The characters are cardboard and silly, there's good guys, bad guys and dumb guys. There's hot blondes flirting with the movie nerds and yes of course the movie nerds are the jocks in a film like this. You see if you especially have a respect and love for movies then scream is catered for you. The original Scream was huge simply because it took the slasher film and exploited it, well the same antics are up here. Scream 4 is a celebration of horror films but at the same time it pokes fun at "the rules" and makes things very cheesy, which always makes for laughs. Not all is glorious in this new addition though.

This movie does not bring a new sense of cleverness or innovation the first film did. Wes Craven does everything he should've done for this movie, which works, but nothing spectacular came out of it. The scare scenes were great, some better than others, but some just could've been that much more if there was a little bit of patience behind the camera. The movie does get tired, it gets tired up until the final scene where the movie shows Craven hitting his stride, once again, and the entire movie I was waiting for sparks like this. The end of movie borders the line of insanity, psychotic behaviour and it really get's to the heart of Scream as a whole movie franchise. I thought the ending transcended the whole film and the film is just there to build up to the final fifteen minutes of the film. It's suspenseful, creepy, disturbing and awesome, it just makes me wish that the whole movie was that good. At least it was fun, which is what Scream does best.

The Passion of the Christ. As we've never seen it before. ****

The Passion of the Christ. The most thing that people think of when they hear this term is controversy. This film was probably one of the most controversial movies ever made. Mel Gibson had a idea stirring in his heart for quite some time and he describes that while he was filming "We Were Soldiers", he had this idea of doing the crucifixion of Jesus. Now Mel grew up catholic but his faith was front and centre in this venture and we can see it. I remember fondly when this movie came out, the long interviews, the religious leaders debating and complaining, the parents and critics judging and criticizing Mel for his sadism. It's funny how people pointed the finger at Mr. Gibson but really he's showing us a glimpse and a taste of how cruel crucifixion was. I remember my friends at school discussing this movie, I remember people in my community discussing this movie and I remember almost anyone I knew discussing this movie. This movie did impact everyone in any place whether it was good or negative. This movie was the talk of the town. I remember signs outside the theatre, beside the ticket box office, and right outside the theatre door, the sign read something like this:

"This is a warning that the film, "The Passion of the Christ", has extreme scenes of violence, mutilation, and torture. These scenes are grim and not meant for youth or children, blah blah blah"

It's funny that the movie "Hostel" didn't have this sign but a movie about Jesus has it. Interesting.

This movie is breathtaking. Mel Gibson paints us a picture every "christian" film failed to paint. I grew up thinking Jesus was tall and elegant and everyone in bible times were white and clean cut. They all had cheesy lines, lame effects, and dumb music, "christian" films were just lame. Sure they had good intentions but really the execution was not there. But with this film it's different. Wow. I remember not knowing what to expect with this film. I remember thinking, wow this movie is going to be gory and gross and intense. It's all these things but Mel focuses on something else much more important, the heart of Jesus. This movie is a tear jerker, even if you believe that Jesus is Lord, or you just believe he was a man, this movie is emotional. The movie has an epic scale that Mel is so good at in creating his films. The music creates an amazing pace but it's also very dark and moody. Amidst all the evil that lurks in this movie the act of Jesus on the cross is so epic and triumphant. Mel's portrayal of Satan is bang on, Satan is creepy but charismatic and he/she continually mocks Jesus. It paints a perfect good/evil portrait that suits the film nicely. Now the violence.

This is a very violent film. Blood pours over the screen, whips dig into Jesus' body as he yells in pain, there is even a shot of the lash ripping into his eye. The guards are sadistic and laugh as they whip his body then they turn in over on his back and start lashing his stomach. It's intense. I've never seen Jesus crucified like this and I grew up watching films about this. I couldn't watch some of it, and I couldn't help but feel emotional as I seen my saviour and an innocent man get battered, but that's what happened. It's funny how people complained about the violence, but Mel showed tons of restraint. The romans weren't nice and being crucified is still one of the worst ways to die. They didn't even crucify roman citizens, they saved the cross for the worst of criminals. Some criminals even had there genitals nailed to the cross, the romans were great at torture and punishment. This is what happened to Jesus, I grew up watching films that showed Jesus with a scratch here and there, in Mel's film, he looks like a piece of meat. For the first time in my life I actually grasped how brutal it really was, it is emotional to watch and hard to watch but it actually makes me think of the crucifixion in a totally different way. This is an emotional film that is dark, sad, brutal, violent and ultimately triumphant as Jesus is resurrected and beats Satan. Mel's portrayal of the crucifixion is epic, beautiful, caring and spellbinding. I'm so glad that this was so violent, for the first time we see what Jesus could have actually gone through and that He loved us so much to be the ultimate lamb and go through such hell and torment. This film is authentic and sound and is a perfect way of showing people a little glimpse of what I personally believe in. I believe that Jesus showed us how to love others ultimately and his love shines through this film, even after all of the blood and gore, he is always victorious. Thank you Mel for showing an authentic vision of the most important and famous spiritual story ever told.