Top 5 Tuesday- Non-Christmas Movies with Christmas Elements

Something looks a little like Christmas… You may not think of these as Christmas movies, or notice the Christmas elements at first glance, but you might just get away with showing them at your next holiday party… maybe. I can’t guarantee anything.

5. Iron Man 3-

This 2013 superhero flick begins at a New Years Eve party in 1999, and  moves to the Christmas season following the battle of New York in The Avengers,(I’m pretty sure that battle is confirmed as being in 2012). Christmas is never a major plot point, but, like the sci-fi in Star Wars, is an important piece of the setting.

4. Star Trek: Generations-

Though it is a minority view, I am personally a fan of the Next Generation/Original Series crossover film. The reason it can be considered a Christmas movie is the heartwarming Christmas celebration Captain Picard has with his idealistic family inside the dream-like Nexus.

3. Toy Story-

Seeing as Toy Story is a film about the secret life of toys, and toys are often a major part of the gift-giving in the Christmas season, it would make sense that the ending scene of the movie takes place around the Christmas tree. This scene secures Toy Story as a closet Christmas classic.

2. The Princess Bride-

How in the world does a movie about witty, swashbuckling heroes fighting for true love and revenge in a make-believe kingdom have anything to do with Christmas? Well, the Christmas elements actually appear in the story surrounding the story- the scenes with the boy and his grandfather. Some of the decorations in the kid’s room imply that it is either the Christmas season, or fairly soon after Christmas. Try showing it at a Christmas party. Any party is a good excuse to watch The Princess Bride.

1. The Fellowship of the Ring-

As is well known among fans of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga, December 25th was the date that Frodo and his band of adventurers left Rivendell on their grand quest to dispose of the ring. This not only makes Tolkein’s Fellowship of the Ring a Christmas book; it also makes Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring a Christmas movie.

So, which Non-Christmas movie are you going to watch at your next Christmas? (By the way, I take no personal responsibility for people’s reactions…) Are there any other movies you would include? Let me know in the comments!

This list was inspired by a series of posts by the guys at Strangers and Aliens Podcast. Check out their list of strange Christmas movies here!

Merry Christmas!

Elora

When I Look to the Heavens

    If you’re seeing this post a little bit late, it’s probably because of my proximity to a gravitational anomaly, which has slowed time for me, while time runs faster for you.

    I saw Interstellar the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful cinematic excursion into the cosmos, set in a fascinating near future. It was hard sci-fi, which to the best of its ability, wove current ideas of physics into an intriguing plot carried by vibrant, realistic characters. (In other words, I recommend it.)

   Going into the movie, however, I could already guess the theme: we as humans are masters of our own destiny. Humanity will continue to better itself through evolution, and is the ultimate source of meaning in the universe. I was right. It was a story driven by humanism.

    How did I see that coming? Well, it was a hard sci-fi space epic. In today’s world, scientific progress, space exploration, and stories about them, are equated with a humanistic worldview.

    The modern era has seen reality split in two. There is the sacred reality- religion, morality, and the like- and the secular reality- things like science, and discovery. The church was kicked into the sacred reality box, and has frankly been quite content to stay there.

    Humanistic scientists, however, have not held up their end of the deal. They are looking out into the universe for answers to the big questions of life. They are not staying in their secular box. That’s because reality doesn’t come in two separate pieces. Truth is truth.

    Take, for example, the Rosetta project, which recently landed a small probe called Philae on the surface of a moving comet called Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The multinational group of  scientists who sent out Rosetta are hoping to find data concerning their hypothesis that all life on earth was seeded by a comet.

    People aren’t researching, experimenting, and exploring just to crunch numbers, or use tax dollars. They want answers about the meaning of life.

    Why should we as Christians care? We already know the ultimate answer. And that is exactly why we should care. I have a twofold reason for this answer.

    First, we know from Romans 1 that there are things that can be learned about God from His creation. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

    When we look into the sky, or into an atom, we can learn more about our smallness, and God’s greatness. We can get a glimpse into the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice for us by seeing His handiwork in a subatomic particle, or a supernova.

    

Secondly, we should care about the exploration of the world around us, because people who don’t know God are looking there for meaning and purpose. When we get involved, we can show the world that the answers they are looking for are found in the creator of everything!

    

So, let’s unabashedly pursue the knowledge of God through every avenue in which He reveals Himself. Let’s look forward to the findings of the Orion Mars missions, because our God is great, and He made Mars! Let’s speculate about the what-ifs in story and art, because our God is vast, and glorious, and mysterious. Let’s turn the tables so that society stops assuming that every space movie is a hot mess of humanism, and every comet lander is looking for our amino acid ancestors.

    Most of all, let us look to the heavens, and fall down and worship our king. Let us humble ourselves as King David did, when he wrote: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,what is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

Keep on glowing in the dark,
Elora

Top 5 Tuesday(?)- Time Machines!

Wait! Saturday?! How did I get here? Looks like my time machine systems need a reboot  (unlike some things). Sorry, I was supposed to travel to Thursday for this post, but looks like I overshot that by a few days! Since I’m here, I might as well give you friends in the future this list of the top 5 time machines.

Here goes!

5. The Imagination Station (Adventures in Odyssey) -

If you haven’t listened to Focus on the Family’s ongoing audio drama about the small town, Odyssey, you should definitely give it a try! It is not really a sci-fi show, but there are lots of good sci-fi elements in it. The Imagination Station is technically a virtual reality machine invented by the local ice cream shop owner and all-around great guy John Avery Whittaker. However, the kids of Odyssey usually use it to explore Biblical and historical scenarios. It is one of the most fascinating features of Mr. Whittaker’s shop, Whit’s End, and of the entire show.

4. The Guardian of Forever (Star Trek) -

“City on the Edge of Forever” is generally held to be the best episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. This living time portal is the driving force of the story. Though this is the only episode of TOS it appeared in, it has been revisited in several Star Trek novels, and the imaginations of fans everywhere.

3. The Delorean (Back to the Future) -

One of the most iconic time machines in recent history, the Delorean combines all the best elements of time travel and breaking the speed limit in a really cool car.

2. The Time Machine (The Time Machine) -

H.G. Wells’ groundbreaking novel was one of literatures first forays into the fourth dimension. Even with the modern influx of time travel stories, his vehicle is still one of the first that comes to people’s minds at hearing the words ‘time machine’. After all, it is The time machine.

1. The TARDIS (Doctor Who) -

Of course I don’t want to get in trouble with all my fellow Whovians, but even aside from that, I do think the TARDIS is the best time machine around. We just keep learning cool things about her! She’s bigger on the inside, she’s actually alive, she’s dimensionally transcendental ( I just love saying that). Plus, the TARDIS is an example is a prime example of sci-fi changing the cultural perception of an everyday item. Fifty years ago, a police box was just a police box. Now, it is probably a time machine.

So, how did I do? What time machines would you add to my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Keep on glowing in the dark,

Elora

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BREAKING NEWS: 
This week, Top 5 Tuesday will take place on Thursday." How can it simultaneously be Tuesday and Thursday?" you may ask... TIME TRAVEL.