Rush Hour 3 & The Last Confession
Sep. 8th, 2007 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annwfynFirst of all, I thought I'd mention that pierot, molez and I went to see Rush Hour 3 on Wednesday night, and it was everything you would expect it to be, but dumber. The only thing I have to say of note is that it's a bit sad to see Jackie Chan slowing down a bit - the fight scenes were being very carefully choreographed, with quite a lot of forgiving cuts - and it is odd how the use of parkour in films has raised my expectations for chase scenes. Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan seemed very slow and clumsy in comparison with David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli.
Then, last night, thirteen of us went to see The Last Confession. It was an incredibly interesting play about the 33 days in office of Pope Jean Paul I - the "smiling pope" and about the mystery that surrounds his early death. It was wonderfully acted, and left me feeling deeply contemplative.
One thing that was very interesting to me was the realisation that a lot of the Catholic Church's more hardline views were actually being debated and were not necessarily viewed as fundamental parts of the faith as recently as the 1970s. Pope Jean Paul I was shown as pushing for some form of artificial birth control to be accepted within marriage, and being supportive of various forms of artificial conception as well. One wonders how the Catholic Church would have changed, and how the perception of it would have changed had that been implemented before Pope Jean Paul I died.
The play also made me realise just how much the Catholic Church is affected by the man at the head of it. I have always thought of the Catholic Church as a great monolithic institution, when in reality it is, in part, a reflection of one man who the Cardinals of the Church hope has been chosen by God. That does certainly raise questions about the future of the Church, after Jean Paul II and after Benedict.
After the play we wandered around London and talked about the play a little. I'm still pondering my own views on religion and on God this morning, which probably means it was a good play.
pierot, molez and I went to see Rush Hour 3 on Wednesday night, and it was everything you would expect it to be, but dumber. The only thing I have to say of note is that it's a bit sad to see Jackie Chan slowing down a bit - the fight scenes were being very carefully choreographed, with quite a lot of forgiving cuts - and it is odd how the use of parkour in films has raised my expectations for chase scenes. Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan seemed very slow and clumsy in comparison with David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli. Then, last night, thirteen of us went to see The Last Confession. It was an incredibly interesting play about the 33 days in office of Pope Jean Paul I - the "smiling pope" and about the mystery that surrounds his early death. It was wonderfully acted, and left me feeling deeply contemplative.
One thing that was very interesting to me was the realisation that a lot of the Catholic Church's more hardline views were actually being debated and were not necessarily viewed as fundamental parts of the faith as recently as the 1970s. Pope Jean Paul I was shown as pushing for some form of artificial birth control to be accepted within marriage, and being supportive of various forms of artificial conception as well. One wonders how the Catholic Church would have changed, and how the perception of it would have changed had that been implemented before Pope Jean Paul I died.
The play also made me realise just how much the Catholic Church is affected by the man at the head of it. I have always thought of the Catholic Church as a great monolithic institution, when in reality it is, in part, a reflection of one man who the Cardinals of the Church hope has been chosen by God. That does certainly raise questions about the future of the Church, after Jean Paul II and after Benedict.
After the play we wandered around London and talked about the play a little. I'm still pondering my own views on religion and on God this morning, which probably means it was a good play.
