Summer Movie Review: American Gospel

I watched the film “American Gospel” over the weekend. I would recommend the film but wouldn’t describe it as good or enjoyable. The film is sad and disappointing but it is informative and eye opening. “American Gospel” is worth the watch.

“American Gospel” does a good job of presenting the gospel. Then it goes into the way the gospel is shared by well known American pastors. There are sharp differences. America’s most well known pastors are sharing a false gospel and their message gets shared around the world.

This movie shows clips from celebrity preacher sermons. The sermons can be described as blasphemous. They can also be described as scams. There are testimonials from people that have followed the teachings of mega church pastors and their regrets. A nephew of so called faith healer, Benny Hinn, who worked in his uncle’s ministry also tells his story in hindsight.

I don’t follow the ministries of celebrity pastors but for the most part I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt and hope that some good comes from their ministry. The exception is Benny Hinn who is obviously a long time charlatan. The revelations by his nephew are worse than I imagined. They are heart breaking.

There were people in “American Gospel” who shared their experiences following mega church teachings. One woman ruined her career and financial standing. I don’t think she worked for the church but she followed the teachings of a popular preacher and quit her job believing she would be miraculously provided for. She wasn’t.

The bottom line of the film is that the popular American Gospel isn’t following scripture at all. They preach a message that is designed to sell books, get clicks and views and garnish donations, not teach the Bible and save souls.

The film also includes the testimony of a family where the wife is terminally ill and their faith and studies of the Bible. Their story isn’t miraculous and wouldn’t make anyone feel like a special snow flake. But they share what God’s word did for them and their family.

I would recommend watching “American Gospel”. It’s well researched and presented. I think it is fair. I think that viewers can learn a lot about the gospel and the difference between what the Bible says and the message being shared by popular preachers.

“Discarded Things”: A Review

Discarded Things is a part of the genre that I will call Christian movies. I enjoy Christian movies. They are the English language equivalent of Mexican soap operas. Christian movies are a bit campy, dramatic, kind of over the top with a limited budget. Yet the are quite entertaining. They always have an inspirational message. God always prevails after all.

I’m going to avoid spoilers because this film has an ending that will knock your socks off. I’ll keep this brief. I enjoyed this movie. It was a bit corny but I enjoyed the acting and it was a good story. The lead actress is named Karen Abercrombrie. She plays Grace Wyatt who is a teacher for trouble children. She’s fifty eight and a real fox. She was foxy in the movie and they styled her down. Check out her IMDB. Karen is fire.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1620433/

Cameron Arnett plays a pastor named Solomon Grant and the father of Grace. He was in the film briefly but his performance was memorable. He did a great job in this film and played a great villain. I hated him with passion. Cameron did his job. I think he deserves an Oscar.

My criticism of the film is that Grace is a teacher for troubled youth but the youngsters are super sweet and squeaky clean. They aren’t believable as juvenile delinquents. The other criticism is that the film almost feels like it’s two distinct films. I wish the first act that involved Grace’s childhood could have lasted longer. The middle dragged a bit until it picked up at the end.

Check it out if you get the chance. Regardless of your beliefs explore Christian films. They are wholesome albeit a bit corny. They are family friendly and always have an inspirational ending.

Lockdown Reviews: The Chambermaid

“The Chambermaid” is a Mexican film about a twenty four year old hotel maid who works in an upscale hotel Mexico City named Eve. It is in Spanish and I watched it with English subtitles. This movie doesn’t have a lot of action and it barely has a plot but nonetheless I enjoyed it.

There is absolutely nothing special about Eve. She is average looking, mild mannered and bit standoffish. She makes her living in a low skilled job and isn’t particularly ambitious.

The film follows Eve through her days at work in the hotel. She experiences annoying, odd and pushy hotel guests, phony coworkers, a workplace fling and disappointment at work. It’s fascinating. We know very little about Eve’s life outside of the hotel except that she has a four year old son that is cared for by a babysitter.

I find average people to be interesting. There’s always a story there that could rival any Hollywood production. I’ve had numerous service industry jobs and I can tell you that I’ve met some real characters with interesting back stories.

There is so much drama and tension involved in workplace relationships and politics. I think that’s particularly true in low wage jobs. People that work in low wage, service industry jobs have more stress and inconsistency in there lives which leads to more pressure and things such as promotions and raises that could pay a few more cents an hour are higher stakes.

There were brief moments of suspense in the movie when a guest requested extra towels and we weren’t sure if she would be able to remember the room number to where they were supposed to be delivered. She wrote the number on her hand but I was afraid she would get her hands wet or sweat the ink off. The melodrama in the movie is very subtle.

Eve is the kind of person that goes through life almost invisible and she’s not particularly interested in being seen. This was her story and it was enjoyable to watch.