island

Survival (Island, Book 2)
$5.99
In the second book of this series, the castaways must learn how to cope after the shipwreck in Book 1. On the deserted island where they washed ashore, they prove very resourceful at setting up camp and finding food. While they hope for rescue, everything seems to be going fairly well - at least as well as can be expected - until a sea plane lands near the island and they realize they are not alone. Middle grade readers will enjoy the adventure as the unlikely heroes fight for survival.
--Reviewed by Michelle Delisle

The Island
$12.98
When did sci-fi flicks become very slightly techie "Law & Order" episodes?

While I'm pretty sure I've been in high school detentions before that seemed harder to escape from than the facilities in this movie, I do think it's neat to be able to watch made-for-FX movies on DVD before they hit rotation because I can pause them and stuff since I don't go for the whole TIVO thing.

As for science, mostly this movie proves that you can probably get Ewan (and thus a number of "sure I'll do a movie with Ewan" actors) to act in your movie if you let him ride a hover-bike or some other really cool toy. Oh, wait, we already kinda knew that from Star Wars. Nevermind.

Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (2006)
$24.99
This isn't a film that "features" Orthodoxy, it isn't a film that has Orthodoxy as part of the plot. It is Orthodoxy, in a sense. Many of the deeper messages won't be understood by non-Orthodox. They may interpret scenes (like the first miracle, with the pregnant woman) as him "intuiting" or "guessing" the woman's predicament. Clairvoyance is some sort of hoodoo magic in the West. The idea of theosis being lost in the West, a non-Orthodox viewer won't understand what actually happens. And the beauty of this film is that the Orthodoxy is so seemlesly interwoven into the general story-line that it truly is an Orthodox film, not a film *about* Orthodoxy or *featuring* an Orthodox character.

And the shots, the cinematography . . . not genius, but as close as you're going to get in any film. A truly brilliant film, just as a film, that is also truly Orthodox. A fool for Christ as the central character - only out of Russia would you be able to get a film like this. I cannot recommend it enough. But for any non-Orthodox viewer, try to have an Orthodox Christian explain certain aspects of theosis and the idea of fools for Christ before viewing, or as you view, to get the "full" experience of this magnificent, beautiful film.

Personally, upon watching this again, I was nearly crying at every scene - much like I nearly cried with every chapter of the books on Father Arseny.

the sinner,

Patrick

Nim's Island (Widescreen Edition)
$19.98
Nim Russo (her mother "invented" the name before vanishing at sea, purportedly down the throat of a whale) has a life many kids might envy. She lives with her father, Jack, on an isolated South Sea island where they generate their own power, grow their own food, connect with the world via satphone and satellite Internet, and get a visit from the supply ship every so often; no one but its crew is allowed to know their location, and no one including the crew is allowed to step ashore. At 11 she's totally homeschooled (or "island-schooled," as she calls it), mostly by way of the many books they order, and associates only with her father and her pets, including a sea lion, a pelican, a sea turtle, and a spiny lizard. Jack is a marine biologist whose fixed obsession is the discovery of a new one-celled organism, to be named Protozoa Nim. One day he heads out to sea in their little sailboat to see if he can find it. Nim stays behind to rescue the little turtles about to hatch from her pet's nest. When a sudden storm cripples Jack's boat and leaves him unable to communicate with his daughter, and Nim finds her island about to be "invaded" by Buccaneer Tours, it's up to her to find a way to fend off the outsiders. For help she calls on Alex Rover, the world's greatest adventurer--who, unknown to her, is actually the creation of Alexandra Rover, a seriously agoraphobic San Francisco novelist. But when Alexandra discovers that her new cyberpal is an 11-year-old girl left alone on an island and coping with a 5" gash on her leg, she somehow finds the courage to conquer her fears and set out on a wild journey halfway around the world.

Nim, played by Abigail Breslin, is a child-heroine for today and one boys and girls alike should enjoy--cool under pressure, resourceful, self-sufficient and free. Jodie Foster manages to bring Alexandra to life in a slightly over-the-top way, with an exaggerated sort of humor that's unexpected given her previous roles. Gerard Butler plays a dual role--Jack and Alex, who's a combination of Indiana Jones, Richard Halliburton (see Richard Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels), and Lawrence of Arabia. This is a fun family movie with a slightly improbable yet somehow plausible story. Recommended.