By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The 85th Oscar ceremony has come and gone. While Argo won best picture, the awards were pretty divided between Django Unchained, The Life of Pi, Lincoln and Skyfall. Perhaps the biggest highlight included Shirley Bassey singing Goldfinger followed by Adele belting out Skyfall, the most memorable James Bond song since Timothy Dalton was 007. In fact, Oscar had better music than the Grammy Music Awards from a few weeks ago. Next week, The Miami International Film Festival (MiFF XXX), held March 1-10, will celebrate its 30th year making it the longest running film festival in South Florida. I am looking forward to interviewing veteran character actor James Cromwell and director Michael McGowan. The two are in town to champion Still Here, an excellent drama slated for local release in May.

Twenty Feet from Stardom opens MiFF XXX this Friday night. This documentary is about “back up” singers to famous rock stars like Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. Vocalist Darlene Love will be in attendance and is expected to sing. Another documentary, Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story makes it’s South Florida debut. This documentary concerns Ungerer’s neurotic obsession and finding his outlet through the visual arts. Director Brad Bernstein presents a 98-minute moving portrait of Tomi Ungerer from children’s illustrator to subversive artist. From the United Kingdom comes Venus and Serena, a documentary about The Williams Sisters of West Palm Beach. Filmed in 2011, this film follows the tennis circuit in which both sisters battled serious health ailments. Blackfish is about one of the biggest mammals in the world, the Orca Whale. Since Orlando’s SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed in a “rare” accident, Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite discovers evidence to the contrary. If you liked The Cove, you may want to check out Blackfish. For those interesting in adventuring in Miami for the next two weeks for MiFF XXX, check out www.miami.festivalgenius.com/ 2013.

By Gary Curreri

The last time Deerfield Beach won a state title it defeated Blanche Ely in the 1999 championship game. Now, both teams, in different classes, have the same aspirations.

Blanche Ely, the defending Class 7A champion and top ranked team in the state, survived a scare and held on for a double overtime, 85-79 victory over visiting Palm Beach Lakes to advance to Lakeland for the state semifinals this week.

The Tigers are hopeful of becoming just the third team from Broward County to win back-to-back state championships on Saturday night.

Marcus Owens scored 17 points and pulled down 8 rebounds, while Joshua Huntley added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks (28-4), who will play the state’s fifth ranked Hagerty (Oviedo) squad in the state semifinal on March 1. It is the Bucks first trip to Lakeland since 1999 when it last won the state title.

Deerfield Beach coach Kenny Brown said the team learned a lot in its two losses to Blanche Ely down the stretch. Blanche Ely handed Deerfield Beach its only two losses in its past 10 years.

“Those losses taught us we have to play 32 minutes of Bucks basketball,” Brown said. “We learned that we had to come out and play tougher and play hard. This is a different team now. I know that defense wins championships, but I am an offensive guy and we work on shooting.” Blanche Ely needed to work overtime to punch its ticket to the state tournament in Lakeland – double overtime actually. The Tigers (25-1) will face Bartow in the Class 7A state semifinals next week at the Lakeland Center.

Richard Lee led the Tigers, who are ranked No. 18 in USA Today’s Super 25 national poll, in scoring with 22 points. Lance Tejada and Dallas Cameron scored 19 and 20 points, respectively, as Blanche Ely rallied from a 63-58 deficit with a little more than two minutes remaining. Khalil Thomas finished with 16 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks as the Tigers outscored Palm Beach Lakes, 11-2, in the second overtime.

Our son, still a very young man, takes a well-deserved early retirement from the army this week. He returned from Iraq last year with more injuries than desires to explain them. But he is among the ranks of our more fortunate veterans who physically, mentally and emotionally survive the call to duty. Like most Americans, we are grateful. Like most parents, we are proud.

I remember our son as a young boy playing on the floor with those little green rubber soldiers. He would, as a child with pretense and make-believe, make sounds and crashing noises he would hear for real as a young man. I suspect he prays to forget those noises now …

It was a great privilege to see him carry the flag for his graduating class. A few years later, it was an even greater privilege for his mother and me to join a few thousand family members in the wee hours before sunrise to welcome home a few hundred of our soldiers.

It was joyful when the troops marched in formation to meet families straining to see and have that first glimpse of their soldier. All around us, we heard families when they saw their soldier excitedly call out, “There he is! There he is!”

It was somber when the troops once assembled were held in formation. There was a respectful silence that set upon this jubilant crowd when the troops were addressed by their commanding officer.

He gave thanks for each soldier being safely reunited with families and he gave thanks for the honored few who had already returned home, soldiers deployed with these troops the preceding year, but returned earlier, after having been seriously injured or after having given the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

Billy Graham once wrote on the topic of duty that “every generation is strategic. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and how well or how poorly we take advantage of the opportunities we have.”

If you believe as I do that answering the call to duty for our nation is important then faint not at the idea, it is even more important that we answer the call to duty in the church Christ leads.

When Jesus says, “Come, you that are blessed” he challenges the very people who say we are his disciples to chose a path that is neither pretense nor make-believe.

It is the Christian’s uncomplicated call to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. And we will be held to account as to how well or how poorly we take advantage of our abundant opportunities to do these things.

MATTHEW 25

The Truth is we serve a Lord even greater than the greatest nation in the history of the world, who makes it possible for even fallen soldiers to reunite one day with loved ones.

JOHN 12:27

Jesus says, “For now my soul is troubled and what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.”

Friends, these are among the reasons we are blessed to answer our call to duty!

Join us Saturday @ Six and Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The Sunday Message “Call to Duty” is based on Matthew 25: 31 – 40.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

By Gary Curreri

Deerfield Beach High boys’ basketball coach Kenny Brown believes this could be the best team he has had in his five years at the school.

“I think this year’s team compares favorably to the teams we’ve had in the past,” said Brown, whose team defeated Cypress Bay, 54-34, behind Marcus Owens’ game-high 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals in the regional semifinal on Tuesday night. “I think this year’s team is deeper. We have a sense of urgency because these guys are seniors. Many of them have been on varsity for all four years. It’s been a long time coming. They deserve what they can get.”

The Bucks (27-4) are the top-ranked Class 8A team in the state and are hoping to reach the state final four. The team lost in the regional final last year to Spanish River, 67-61. Until then, Deerfield Beach hadn’t reached the state series since 2004.

“It hurt immensely,” said Brown, whose team will host Jupiter on Saturday night in the regional final. “It hurt a lot, but at the same time, we used it as a learning experience of what it takes to get to where we want to get to. We know this is a small stepping stone to where we are trying to get. I can always reference back to last year and say if you don’t like that feeling, make sure you do everything you need to do.”

The Bucks are hopeful of winning a state title they first won in 1997.

They won again in 1999 under then coach Melvin Randall, who now coaches at Blanche Ely and led the Tigers to the Class 7A championship last season.

Two of Deerfield Beach’s four losses this season were to Blanche Ely, another was a loss to Sagemont and the fourth was a 5-point defeat to Ballard (KY) in the Kingdom of the Sun holiday tournament in Ocala.

“This is fun, but we want more,” said senior guard Terence Johnson, who leads the team with 17.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. “We want the state championship. The seniors know this is our last year so we are more hungry because we want to go out on top. There isn’t really any pressure. We know we are the favorites and we don’t want to let anybody down, especially ourselves so we are going to try and win it all.”

The Bucks have also received solid performances this season from senior guard Owens (16.1 points, 6.2 RB), senior center/ power forward Joshua Huntley (7.2 points, 7.8 RB), junior guard Vanderbilt Carpenter (9.4 points, 6.1 assists) and senior small forward Javaris Jenkins (9.4 points, 7.3 RB).

“I think we are good enough to be a state championship team,” Owens said. “We just have to play hard and have no let ups. We have to play 32 minutes of Bucks basketball.”

Brown said playing a team like Blanche Ely this season is a benefit.

“Those games definitely helped us down the road,” Brown said. “The competition level … the intensity … the amount of focus you need the entire game. There was no let up.”

Brown smiled when asked if they could win a state championship. “Stay tuned!” he said.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

The National Endowment for the Arts has placed Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima on “The Big Read” list, along with titles like “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Maltese Falcon.”

Given the brevity of the novel, the deep themes about religion, folklore and Latino Culture, it was only a matter of time that a movie would be produced. Set in New Mexico during World War II, the film opens with Antonio (Luke Ganalon) narrating the story about his childhood. He is a boy caught between his mother’s Roman Catholicism and his father’s dreams of being a cowboy

in the tradition of Mexican “vaquero.” When Grandma Ultima (Miriam Colon) moves into the house, Antonio finds an elder who can explain the complications of life.

In the Latin Culture, Ultima would be considered a “curandero;” in an Italian Culture, she would be considered a “strega;” to ignorant cultures, Ultima would be considered a “witch.” In fact, Ultima uses nature’s bounty to solve both physical and spiritual ills and mentor Antonio about good, evil, acceptance and understanding. Director Carl Franklin has created visual poetry within the narrative framework in this film. Without 3-D imagery, this motion picture features vibrant cinematography that will inspire the New Mexico tourist board.

Despite the inherit drama of Bless Me Ultima, the actors are understated and provide a truthful performance. As young Antonio, Ganalon provides the maturity often found with children found in rural settings. As Ultima, Colon captures the character’s transcendental tendencies.

Given the attention the Oscar-nominated films will see this weekend, Bless Me Ultima may get lost in a crowd of motion pictures with big marketing budget; this is sad. Like most great literature dealing with a child’s “coming- of-age” (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, To Kill a Mockingbird), this film features fine family entertainment.

I was talking to a prospective bride and groom the other day. The bride happens to be a doctor. And she let me know that she has opted to keep her own name.

She told me that she does not want to have to go through “the burden” of all the red tape it would take to change the name of her medical practice, her medical degrees and all the other certifications she has.

The future groom wanted to know if I had ever heard of such a thing and I told him about a verse in the Torah where we read, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”(Exodus 6.6)

What were the burdens that we faced under the Egyptians? Sure, we know we were slaves, but what specific burdens did we have? Back breaking work, no days off, meager food to eat — those are givens. But how many of you remember the miniseries Roots? In the process of taking away a slaves freedom, what was one of the first things that the masters did?

They took away their given names, their African names and forced them to accept a new one at the master’s whim. Our people who were herded into the Concentration Camps … they weren’t even entitled to a name; they were given a number.

In the Torah, we read about two midwives, but according to many, Shiphrah and Puah had those names forced upon them. Their real names were Jewish names. And, when the Egyptians were not around, they made sure to use their Jewish names.

During our lifetimes, we will each be known by many different names … in our younger years, perhaps a nickname. Our parents probably had special names for us and some of us have titles that have become like names to us.

Being able to create a new name for ourselves by the way we live our life is a great freedom that we have been blessed with. In fact, the Torah even uses several names for the Holy One and, according to Biblical Scholars, each name of G-d can denote a particular period or a particular attribute of Gd. The same can be said for the names we are known by.

Rabbi Marci Bellows reminded me of a poem printed in Mishkah T’filah that teaches us a lesson about names with these words:

“We each have a name given by G-d and given by our father and mother.

We each have a name given by our stature and smile and given by our attire….

We each have a name given by the stars and given by our friends.

We each have a name given by our sins and given by our yearnings.

We each have a name given by celebrations and given by our work …

We each have a name given by the sea and given by our death.”

Let us have the wisdom to behave in such a way that we create a good name for ourselves and for others. There is an ancient Japanese proverb. My Japanese is more than a wee bit rusty, but let me try to translate it. It says, “Tigers die and leave their skins: People die and leave their names.”

Let us have the wisdom to behave in such a way that we create a good name for ourselves as a lasting legacy to our children, to our children’s children and to the world.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Of the nine Best Picture Nominations, “Silver Linings Playbook” is the most domestic motion picture. It has a leading man (Bradley Cooper) who was once People Magazine’s sexiest man of the year, the hottest young actress in the movies today (Jennifer Lawrence), a master thespian (Robert DeNiro) and Jacki Weaver, an actress who has become an overnight sensation after four decades of film work in Australia. Throw in Director David O. Russell and the Weinstein brothers’ marketing blitz and Silver Linings Playbook has the potential to garner a few Oscars.

This film is a comedy drama about a Philadelphia family. Pat Jr. (Cooper) is released from a mental institution and moves in with his parents, Pat Sr.(DeNiro) and Dolores (Weaver). As part of his therapy, he takes therapeutic dance classes with Tiffany (Lawrence), a woman with her own self-esteem issues.

Silver Linings Playbook is a lively film with genuine moments. As the bipolar Pat Jr., Bradley Cooper invites the audience to ride the emotional roller coaster from sorrow to joy.

Benh Zeitlin spent almost two years writing his script for Beasts of the Southern Wild. With practically no money, Zeitlin cast New Orleans locals and directed his movie in approximately 36 days. After a successful screening at the Sundance Film Festival, his film became an overnight sensation when the print was purchased by Fox Searchlight.

While the trailer leaves one wondering if they are watching a poor man’s Godzilla featuring giant Pot-Bellied pigs and a haunted child, “Beasts of Southern Wild” is a simple coming-of-age film shot documentary style.

Quvenzhané Wallis portrays Hushpuppy, a feral 6- year-old little girl who lives in the swamps with her angry, but dying father (Dwight Henry). As she copes with the reality of floods, fires and hurricanes, Hushpuppy finds more terror in her nightmares involving rampaging Beasts.

Last, but not least, The 2nd Annual Blues Film Festival will commence Feb. 16-17 during the Riverwalk Blues Festival in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale. F o r d e t a i l s and showt i m e s , v i s i t www.riverwalkbluesfestival.com and www.bluesfilmfest.com

By Gary Curreri

Highlands Christian Academy’s boys and girls’ elementary school teams swept through the South Atlantic Coast Conference (SACC) and captured the championships in their respective divisions. Sydney Blackburn scored eight points for the Knights, who defeated Zion Lutheran in the championship game, 22- 14, and finished the year with a record of 4-3.

Jason Thomforhde scored 15, while Ben Middlebrooks added 13 for Highlands Christian Academy, which defeated Coral Springs Christian in the championship game, 45-35. The Knights defeated Zion Lutheran in the semifinal, 33- 16, to advance to the final. Highlands Christian finished the season at 11-2.

The South Atlantic Coast Conference is composed of six teams – including Highlands Christian, Zion Lutheran, Coral Springs Christian, Sheridan Hills Christian, Hollywood Christian and Westminster Academy. Not all these teams had elementary programs, but may have junior high or junior varsity divisions.

Highlands Christian Academy offers several elementary sports for the fourth and fifth graders.

In the fall, there is an elementary volleyball team and elementary soccer team. Highlands Christian also won the volleyball and soccer championships back in October.

“In the winter, we have elementary basketball for the girls and then also the boys,” said Jim Good, who is the Highlands Christian Academy Athletic Director and Boys Varsity Basketball coach. “I’m so glad to be a part of a school that supports us having an elementary athletic program. It gives the kids the opportunity to compete against other schools and enjoy all the benefits that team sports have to offer.”

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

Every time I flip January off my calendar, I get the urge to write about LOVE.

I sit down at my computer and realize that actually, in one way or another, I’ve “done” Valentine’s Day dozens of times. Is there anything, I ask myself, that I can say about love in all its forms that I haven’t said before – any angle that I haven’t covered?

So I throw my hands up in the air, get out of my chair and go to the movies. And what better to see under the circumstances than “Amour?”

I tell you folks that IMO (in my opinion) this is the most extraordinary piece of artwork I’ve experienced in longer than I can remember. Admittedly, the subject is not for everyone, but to get beyond the content and into the production, direction, acting and overall palette is to witness something rare. It is not giving anything away to state that the film is about the relationship of an old married couple and what happens when one of them becomes helpless. It is in French, by the way, with English captions. If it were merely that, I would not blame anyone for skipping the rest of this column with a capricious “Not For Me,” despite the fact that in some sense, each of us can relate to such a situation, be it personal, possible, or actual with some close family or friends.

What makes this film extraordinary is the way it treats ordinariness, the way it shines as a brilliant display of all that is good in life and is accepting of that which is not good and cannot be changed. There are several tiny bits of what Hollywood would call “shtick,” small examples of life routines, the boring stuff that we barely even notice – washing dishes, drinking coffee, having a most mundane conversation about nothing important, that suction the viewer into the world of the screen in a magical way that defies analysis.

A pigeon flies into an open window and Georges, the

husband finds a way to help it fly back out of the window – until the time, days later, when it flies back into the house. And true to its title, this film is a depiction of what love – without the concomitant joys and compensations of sex – is really all about.

This is no Pollyanna approach to the hardships that Georges experiences in his care for his longtime wife, Anne. Nor does it whitewash the resentments, anguish and inner turmoil that erupt, even as he is able to suppress them. His loving care is merely a reflection of what comes naturally to him, and he doesn’t even entertain the possibility of any kind of alternate response.

Aside from the slim but riveting storyline, which basically depicts Anne’s slow and agonizing descent toward the inevitable, the film glows with its subtle exploration of a variety of feelings in addition to “love” – an incandescent quality that is rare in cinema. Despair, frustration, nostalgia, loss, pride, defeat, doubt, empathy, acceptance – all are portrayed from the gut and depth of two French stars whose performances “blow you away.”

I was once asked for my definition of “love” and quickly changed the subject because I couldn’t come up with the exact response I wanted. This movie says it all.

JAMES 4:7-10 Humility Cures Worldliness

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doubleminded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. NKJV

• SUBMIT

Submit: to give over or yield to the power or authority of another like clay to the potter.

Submit: to relinquish or concede; to cease opposition; give up complete possession of and claim to.

When we truly submit to God and the Godly things in our lives, we get blessed in all areas of our lives. Want your wife and family to be more submissive? Then you had better make sure that you are submissive in all areas of your own personal life. You can’t just decide to be submissive when you need God to move in your life; it must be a condition of the heart. The same Biblical principle applies to reaping and sowing. You just can’t sow when you want to reap something. You must continually sow in order to continually reap. Don’t stop sowing when you begin to reap.

GENESIS 26:4-5

4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; (Why, God, are you going to do this?)

5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” NKJV

HEBREWS 12:9

9 Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever? NLT

• RESIST

EPHESIANS 6:11-13

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. NKJV

1 PETER 5:8-9

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. NKJV

MATTHEW 4:3-10

When Jesus fasted for 40 days, the devil came to tempt him. Jesus quoted scripture and he resisted the devil. It’s easy to resist when you submit your life to God

• FLEE

MATTHEW 4:11

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. NKJV

LUKE 4:13

13 When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. NLT

Pastor Tony Guadagnino ministers at Christian Love Fellowship Church