The Next Fifty

In no particular order:

The Pianist – for a different look at the Holocaust, right BEFORE it started and what things were like in Poland outside of the concentration camps

Schindler’s List – probably would be in my top 50 if I had seen it more than once

Glory – Denzel. Morgan. Together. The end gets me everytime.

Clockers – a Spike Lee film about drug dealing with Mekhi Phifer and Harvey Keital. I saw it 3 times in the theater and bought the soundtrack.

In America – just a beautiful little film about an Irish family living “in America.”

Philadelphia – Denzel. Tom. Together. The end gets me everytime.

North By Northwest – I love the twists.

Psycho – I love the creepiness.

Rear Window – I love the humor.

Silence of the Lambs – I’ll never forget my surprise the first time I saw it when Lector sits up in the ambulance and takes off his “mask.”

About a Boy – I also really like Hugh Grant in Notting Hill and Love Actually.

Do the Right Thing – I haven’t seen it since I was in high school… maybe I oughta change that.

Mean Girls – plays like a 90 minute SNL skit, and really understands today’s teenager.

Saved – some Christians were offended. I was inspired.

The Game – the most underrated and underappreciated thriller of all time.

Seven – packs one heck of a visceral gut punch.

Braveheart – I’ve only seen it once, I’d probably like it more if I watched it more.

The Matrix – on imdb.com, the 1st Matrix movie scores a 8.6, the second- 7.0, the third- 6.4. I’d give the second 3.5 and the third a .1

The Iron Giant – you gotta love the Brad Bird movies (Incredibles, Ratatouille).

A Few Good Men – one of the most quoted movies of my generation.

Field of Dreams – never has a movie captured the love of baseball this well, except for maybe…

The Natural – the shmaltz works for me. Still can’t believe he strikes out at the end in the book.

Aliens – one of the top 5 action movies ever. Love me the Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn.

T2 – also in the top 5 action movies. To this day it is still a killer story with great effects.

Forrest Gump – it amazes me how many adults let their kids watch this movie though!

Hotel Rwanda – horrific, challenging, inspiring.

Reservoir Dogs – I’m a Tarantino fan. Good storywriting here.

Kill Bill 1 & 2 – so stinking cool.

Pulp Fiction – so stinking funny.

Jackie Brown – I have no idea why.

Sin City – the best job a movie has done at really making a comic book "come to life" on the screen. I was surprised by the chivalry of the men in this movie.

American History X – now this one is tough to watch.

The Sixth Sense – I'm still an M Night fan, despite Lady in the Water.

Joy Luck Club – makes me cry every time.

Best in Show – I like dogs.

Something about Mary – nothing is funnier in the entirety of cinema to me than Matt Dillon in those fake teeth.

Unforgiven – great “anti-western”. Saw it with my big bro at the UC theater on Shattuck in 1992!

City Slickers – dang funny movie... with the great Bruno Kirby.

Kramer vs. Kramer – much better than I thought it would be.

Gladiator – spawned so many lesser movies: Troy, Kingdom of Heaven, 300, etc.

The Emperor's Club – great lesson on integrity here.

Back to the Future – probably should have been in my top 50, but I can’t watch it anymore. I’ve seen it too many times. Yet another example instance where the sequels never happened.

The Untouchables – underrated crime flick with a great cast.

The Big Lebowski – the dude abides. And the Coen brothers score again.

Minority Report – it has a character named Danny who went to Fuller Seminary in it, along with great action and mind-boggling musings on predestination vs. free will.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – I wish it didn’t have to end the way it does… so sad... but imagine how sad it would be if we saw 10 more seconds?

Raging Bull – although I never feel like watching it again. We’ve owned it for 3 years and it is still in the wrapping.

Ratatouille – the first of 4 movies from 2007 on this list, it’s more for grown ups than kids.

Into the Wild – it just stuck with me.

Gone Baby Gone – kinda like Good Will Hunting meets Silence of the Lambs.

3:10 to Yuma – some good discussion on manhood here.

There you have it! If you feel like I left one out or you can't see why I included one you hate, put up a post! In the meantime, I will be trying to think up something to blog about now that I finally finished my movie list!

Jury Duty

Today I had my first jury duty experience. Ever since my high school government teacher told us we should take advantage of jury duty as a way to learn about the justice system I've been fascinated by the idea of being on a jury.

I was actually looking forward to the process - until I realized that on Monday I'm supposed to be in Pasadena for our Fuller staff meetings with all the staff from around the country. We do this just twice a year, and I've been looking forward to it for 6 months! Not only is it so fun, but we have meetings and training sessions that will affect my job for the next year. So I started to get a little nervous, but thought, "Nah, what are the chances?"

Shows what I know. I got what I asked for - I learned a lot about the jury system, starting with you never know what to expect and should prepare for anything! I figured I could check in over the phone and not even have to go in - wrong. I figured with only two trials that day and 100 people in the room I wouldn't be called - wrong. I figured if I did get called to a courtroom that they would do the selection that day and the chances were that I wouldn't be selected anyway and life would be back to normal before Monday - wrong.

On the way up to the courtroom I ran into a friend from church who happens to work in the D.A.'s office. It was fun to see a friendly face in a strange place! When we got to the courtroom they read the details of the case, and then had us fill out a questionnaire. Although my buddy wasn't in the courtroom, the D.A.'s office was prosecuting the case. On the questionnaire they asked if we knew anyone in the justice system in Oakland, so I mentioned my friend's name. I was hoping a little bit that would be my ticket out of there and my ticket to Pasadena, but also not wanting to exploit the system and be a whiner.

Then the judge said we would need come back another day for jury selection - on Monday! We had the option to fill out a "hardship" form if we wanted to be excused from the case. We had a two hour break and had to come back to plead our case before the judge. My heart was pounding the entire two hours! I spent time talking on the phone with my co-workers and Danny trying to come up an argument the judge would accept. I felt bad the whole time since I really didn't want to skip out on the system, but I really wanted to be part of the staff time in Pasadena!

I came back at the right time with butterflies in my stomach, ready to be grilled by the judge on why I wasn't smart enough to postpone jury duty before the day it began. (Like I said, I realize now how naive I was about the system.) Then the court clerk came out and said the judge had looked over our questionnaires and had a list of people who were excused. I held my breath...and my name was on the list! I'm thinking that the fact that I already bought plane tickets for next week and the fact that I know a guy in the D.A.'s office probably combined to get me excused.

I had been praying all day about it, alternating between selfish "I want to go to Pasadena!" prayers and "Take control and do what's best" prayers. When I heard my name called I was really thanking God! Danny asked me later if I would have thought to put my friend's name down on the questionnaire unless I had run into him, and I'm not sure that I would have! God may have thrown me a little bone by having our paths cross.

So I'm relieved of jury duty for a year, get to get on a plane and see my friends on Sunday, and learned a lot in the process. Not too bad for a day I didn't have to go work. (Now that my heart has stopped pounding, the change of pace was nice!)

Other than that, here's a quick run-down of what we've been up to:
- In one weekend, we went to a musical, a wedding, and a funeral
- The funeral was for an elder at the Campbell church who died suddenly of a heart attack. Browning was a dear friend, my adviser and confidante while I was a missionary in Japan, and I feel more like I lost a grandfather than an elder. Through the grieving process I've learned that not all churches have elders like Campbell elders, who are true shepherds and pastors and not just administrators. I'm truly thankful for my Campbell church family!
- The day Browning died Danny and I had tickets to see Bon Jovi in San Jose. I had been looking forward to it for about 7 months, but I wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. But, when my boys hit the stage and got a few songs going, I was on my feet and singing along, albeit a little more somber than my usual Bon Jovi-induced hysteria. I love them in concert!
- I've begun my Spring class at Fuller, Intro to Christian Spirituality. It's exciting to be "forced" to read spiritual classics like Celebration of Discipline!
- We're still planning on a vacation, maybe to Italy, but may have to put it off because we've got sticker shock on the airline tickets. But we definitely need time off, and I need to get off the continent, so I'm praying it happens!

I think that's about it for the Fitelsons for now. Leave us some love!

The Greatest Film Ever Made

During the winter of 2004, two young filmmakers were just beginning to hone their craft. One was new to the pressures of writing, directing, and starring in a short film. The other had never worked with adults before, only middle schoolers.

These two men faced challenges such as a shoestring budget, a narrow driveway, and the need to find a camera operator who shared their vision so that they could both be onscreen together for a few shots. In the booming and competitive FCC digital video industry, these two pioneers forged ahead in their quest to show people what they wanted, nay, BEGGED to know: "What do you guys DO all day?"

The answer, my friends, can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwIykc_7nB8&feature=related

Like other great films such as Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Howard the Duck, you may want to watch this again and again. But you may also want to learn more about what went into the making of the film. For a short documentary, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1UE5XYggw&NR=1

To go behind the scenes and rewatch the first part of the film with commentary from the co-creators, directors, actors, and the key third camera operator, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIJCZM7E5DA

For commentary on the second part of the film, direct your mouse here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVkjO-8Pb-c&feature=related

Nobody is perfect. Screen legends are human and make mistakes too. For bloopers, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOyXprI58IM&feature=related

There you have it, #1 on my list of my 50 Favorite Movies. I encourage you to file your complaints in the comments section of this post. Also, come back next week when I list "The Next 50" - some of my other favorites that missed the cutoff.

One last thing. Hypothetically speaking, let's say that in the winter of 2002 these two filmmakers succumbed to one of the various pitfalls they faced while making this movie, such as the camera battery running out. Let's say the unthinkable happened and A Day In The Life of D Fitty and G Branny was never made. In that event, the world would be a sadder place. And I would have to consider the #2 movie on this list my favorite movie of all time.