₦airaland Forum

If you've been nominated for an oscar you automatically join its voters. And each person votes on who they THINK deserves the award. The winner is the nominee with the highest number of votes. I'm not an Oscar voter. But if I were, my vote would go to Ben Affleck that year, as no doubt some voters' did. It's all a matter of Industry OPINION.

I thought the same when I watched Never-Ending Story. Of course it's impossible to make a movie for all generations. We're watching and filtering it all differently. Even movies for the[i] same[/i] generation are rarely ever unanimously experienced. Is why opinions differ on the impact of a given movie. There's still stuff that entrances me, though, and never gets old, but these are rarely films. The Muppet Show, for one. Danger Mouse, for another. I haven't seen Nolan's Dark Knight, but friends who've seen it say Ledger's performance carried the movie,and that the film itself transcends the superhero genre and is seriously Oscar worthy.

Haaaa. Off the topic again. Bad dog.

@ m Nwankwo

Arguments. Too much like disputes. Is why I avoid them. I was clarifying something that might or might not be clear: That I'm a christian,irrespective of my issues. I make no apologies for that. But I also said that was a label, and it's what one believes that matter, not what those beliefs are labelled or the religion to which it is attached. And I didn't say I was unwilling to examine other material.What on earth kind of stance is that? I'm saying the Bible cannot be disregarded since it is the very Foundation of the faith. Another book that would claim insider knowledge on the Bible and the mind of its God, and all the issues I have with religion and mankind and the universe had better be more than a collection of reflections.   

I'm reading The Grail Message, which, as you know, is fascinating stuff. The offer to answer questions on it is withdrawn then? Hmmmmm?

@evangsam
Since my conceited friend is following the thread with a greal deal of interest- it's about him after all, the yeye guy- I've no doubt he saw your message.

You should've added IMO. I liked Xena back then. I don't know if Wipe Out's been upgraded to PS2. It's cool. Only you race weird planes instead of cars.

There are a great many wheels engaged in producing a movie. But he says between actors and directors.

Casey Affleck blew my mind in Jesse James. He should've have gotten that best supporting actor oscar. Javier was awesome in No Country for Old Men,in his own way, a villain as chilling and profound as Hannibal Lecter. But my vote would've gone to Affleck for his performance.

The Bible is the basis of her faith, and of mine, and it's the primary place to search for answers. Everything is based on it. The Grail Message is one man's take on the truth, whatever that is, since truth is as different and as varied as individual realities and experiences. It's his opinion of the truth, and it doesn't make it less an opinion if he'D posted them on nairaland instead of publishing it in The Grail Message.

I'll digress a bit. Steven Pinker doesn't say our genes have morals and know right from wrong. He and Dawkins are saying, in the early stages of our evolution, our genes were somehow coded to put themselves first, and to strive to overcome others. Amino acids cannot differentiate good from evil. But you're describing the chemistry of DNA, and DNAs are more than mere chemical properties. It's like saying I'm made up of blood and spleen and fluids and heart and calcium and whatever stuff comprises my chemical make-up, and so I cannot distinguish between good and evil. I am more than the sum of my parts, and so are our genes. Someone said the world was round,not flat. Another said blood circulated through the body. Another said people died in unclean hospitals and surgeries because there were invisible things called bacteria that killed them. They were villified by professional colleagues, became laughing stock, and couldn't get their views or research published in the equivalent of peer review papers back then too. And yet these are things we now know to be true today. Given that there are no absolutes, and that the sum of what science knows is far less than what it doesn't, I find it hard to take an[i] absolute[/i] stance on any finding in any field, however fantastic. Because no scientist can claim to know all there is to know and all that will ever be discovered and proven in his field; science is an on-going process. And while I don't defend Pinker or Dawkins, something about their arguments made sense to me in a way those authors did not intend. Something about genes codified to be selfish in the dark, mysterious days of our creation struck me as very possible. These might be the physical, chemical results of a 'spiritual' event. Time alone will prove their theories right or wrong. Having some colleagues who disagree- mind you there are plenty who do not- and not being published in peer-reviewed journals carries no weight with me.

Digression over. I'm a Christian. I am supremely comfortable in that religion. I am not looking to leave it. I am looking to UNDERSTAND it. I want to separate what man has made of it from what it really is. The questions I asked I got from reading the Bible. Though I will read The Grail Message, I can't see how one man's truth will be valid for all time and all beliefs and explain not only the mysteries of another holy book he had no hand in fashioning, but explain the very mind of God. Christianity and Judaism and Bible and Pope and the rest, are all man-created labels. A thing by any other name,  So labels are unimportant. I want to understand what it is I believe. I don't understand why the Bible says some people are going to hell when they have no business there. When they're a product of their environment and their upbringing. The Grail Message did not create that or any other doctrine in the Bible. Where did it get the answers then, to all its mysteries?

There's something about Christianity. It turns you into someone you can respect.  Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't fornicate-   Hmmm, well, that puts a bit of a damper on things-  but the point is, Christianity builds character. And that an ideal worth striving for,reward in and of itself. I'll read The Grail Message, but since the Bible is the basis of our faith, it is the primary source of answers, much like your holy book, and cannot be disregarded. The problem is, and remains, what the truth is in the Bible. What is it saying? Separating what is real and true and glorious from what man has taken and tampered with. Understanding exactly what I believe and why I believe it. That's why I seek answers. It can come from other sources. But what speaks to you may not necessarily speak to another, and there is no one universal TRUTH that knows it all.

OutlukBabe:
I have once ask my Pastor a question about the power of God. He told me he is all most powerful He can do and undo as he wills. He create the Heaven and the Earth and the Human beings. He has power to forgive sins and wipe away everything because of His Grace. But what still confounds me, is that the Pastor still could not answer one of my question bothering me. Ok Adam and Eve sins back in the heaven. God didnt forgive them, he decide to punnish them. Not only did he purnish them, He now said that the sin are transferrable to all the next generation. and generations and generations came and generation came all are sinners, not because of their sins today, but because of the sin of Adam and Eve until when he decide to come down to earth himself in another form, and call himself the son (sometimes I get confused as to which church should I believed in the concept of God and Son being one, after all they said they are different). Then God now decides to forgive all of our sins, the sins committed by Adam and Eve, and other generations. But for him to forgive the sins, he decided to allow himself killed on the cross like a thief by the sinners (He was even tried for treason in his own Kingdom). Why didnt he ask his twelve disciple to kill him on the cross, in a more ritual way (like Okija shrine), so that people will believe yes he decided to kill himself. However, in the chapter I read in the bible, It was not even God was telling us, no, it is one of the authors of the book that said so, not only did he said so, he Didnt quote God. So I ask my pastor, if God have power to forgive, why can't he just forgive? SAY I FORGIVE ALL YOUR SINS? That is all, and it is forgiven. Must he kill himself to forgive us? Why did he even have to complaint to another God for forsaken him when he was being killed? There is something wrong in the whole story. Either the bible writers could not account for the stories properly after all they have been passed from generation to generation on a hear say (they are all humans, and can forget) or something is wrong. Whenever I have conversation about this thing with my Pastor, he will tell me I should pray. I need the holy spirit. But how? Do I need the holy spirit to understand things? Why did God give me the brain to think?

Outlukbabe,welcome to the club.My sides ached from reading the SAY I FORGIVE ALL YOUR SINS part.I'm sure there are answers to those, but I have to confess I don't know em.

Between actors and directors,I'd have to go with the director. Ja, a lot depends on his or his agent's contract-bargaining prowess with studios, which are soulless money machines and don't give a shit about vision, but  a director's supposed to 'see' the characters in the movie in his head, and know who'll pull it off to perfection. If I can recognise bad acting, and I'm no movie director, surely those who strut about with that title should too. There are so many rivers to ford in making a movie,and I respect directors who have a vision and stick to it. Case in point: The English Patient.  Antony Minghella wanted Kristin Scott Thomas, 20th Centuty Fox wanted someone else. But he stuck to his guns, because he knew what he wanted. So he went to Miramax when 2oth wouldn't budge and cast Thomas.The result? One of the most affecting love stories and one of the most breathtaking movie cinematography ever. Winner of 9 oscars,including best picture. He was a director worthy of the label. Not all of them are.

Peter Jackson was practically begging,I think it was Disney studios,not sure, with The Lord of the Rings. He even swore to cut his vision short- heh-heh- and make it just two parts.They wouldn't let him breathe. So he took off to New Line Cinema,which gave him all the creative freedom he wanted and voila!The superb LOTR in all its poetryof motion and drama.

It takes a serious lack of talent to be bad at something you do for a living. Once you've good actors the problem is half solved.

Lost
Boston Legal
Ugly Betty
Desperate Housewives
The Sopranos, season 6.
Gray's Anatomy re-runs

Lost has the most intriguing plot and the most compelling characters I've come across on a series yet. Nothing compares to Boston Legal for wittiness, but Lost comes close in and more than makes up for the rest in sheer intensity.

Don't know why 24 refuses to engage me after the first season,which was great but had some unlikely moments.Sex and the City too.

@realcele:

Sorry I took this long to respond, but I needed to test the waters first and see if he'll read the Phillip Yancey book. He's still mulling it over. Don't mind him. He's jaded and very cynical. Thanks for your kind offer.

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa M Nwankwo!!!!!!

You know something? I'll go take another look at The Grail Message. I told you I read it when I was really young. And found some of the teaching VERY intriguing and some absurd back then. It'll be interesting to have a revisit.

What I mean by future? I meant the future you  meant when you said God can see and cannot see into the FUTURE. The word's meaning is pretty clear. Scientists. They have come.

You are making me laugh again, Mr Nwankwo. Hmmm, All right. I'll get a degree in genetics and evolutionary biology, then go back and read their material.

Now you were talking about how you know God can see and not see into the future. And other things. And don't imagine I'll be picking apart what you say merely for the sake of it. I'm not an argument junkie. But I can never get enough of what other people think and why they think it. And my disagreeing with it, if I do so at all, doesn't mean I don't respect it.

Your assertions are in The Grail Message? It's a religion of sorts, isn't it? Isn't the book like its own Bible? How does its writer KNOW that his theories are correct? At least Bible writers like to claim divine inspiration. How did the writer arrive at his teachings? Why do you believe it? There seems to be a process not unlike what obtains in Christianity. Though can understand not wanting to splash your spiritual experiences here. But aren't you simply advocating an alternative religion, one that makes as much sense to you and takes as much faith and gives the same spiritual rewards as christianity? How do I KNOW The Grail Message is the truth? Faith?

I'm convinced. As soon as I'm done with Lara Croft I'll give it a whirl. Annoyingly, when I'm at an impasse in ANY game it's all I can think about; at work, or any place else. And I so HATE giving up and crawling to the nearest walkthrough. Only Tomb Raider puts me through this humiliation. If I had to pick a favourite it'll have to be something that makes me work this hard.

Xena is old school, PS1.But if you haven't tried it give it a go. We seem to like the same games. Will pick up FF XII today.

Mr Nwankwo, I am laughing. But in a good way. Science and scientists seem incapable of unanimous agreement in any field. Your quarel is not with me, it is with these two scientists and their theories. Like I said, their argument is compelling and I haven't come across counterargument that discredits their research and their theories, which seem popular with other scientists. Though that wasn't a factor. HIV data? They were talking natural selection! You were giving an example in the HIV thing you cited,but we both know they weren't talking mere gene mutation,and that their research is far more complicated than you imply. I'm not a convert yet, but when their work is invalidated I'll be happy to consider what the other side has to say and balance that against what is available at the moment. You're certainly entitled to your opinion on their work. Like religion, there's little unity of opinion in science. But why should there be? Do you know any books that invalidates their theories? I'd like the other view, much more comprehensively.

But this isn't about gene theories.I don't want to get bogged down in that, it's incidental to the discourse. It's not the point. This is about the mind of God and the explanations you proferred to the questions asked.I'm intrigued that you say God cannot see into the future. I want to know how you know the metaphysical things you know; the intentions and plans and thoughts of God. He can't see into the future? I'm really interested in that.

@M Nwanko

I'll do better. I'll refer you to two published books I know on the subject, although there are others. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins and How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker.

In an earlier post I said science wasn't all-knowing, and it was on a journey and hasnt arrived. That it is as full of controversy and authorities and diverse schools of thought as religion. However, once compelling arguments and evidence is offered for a theory,it dangles dangerously into fact territory. Unless another scientist can prove otherwise. Since you asked I've referred you to two reknowned scientists who have done extensive research on their subject matter, and the books they published. Their arguments validating the theory can be found there. I'm no scientist, so if you've theories that prove them wrong, since you say you're in the same field, let's hear em. 

I'm not an atheist, Mr Nwankwo. Though if I am so frigging what? I said in an earlier post that believing God doesn't exist is oddly harder for me than believing he does. But there are too many mysteries and too may questions. If I'm going to continue to believe I have to have compelling reasons to do so. So my friend's questions coincided with issues I already have.Read those books and research the research those people have done on natural selection and man's inherent bad-assness. But does it necessarily mean that proving selfishness and other things are in our genes offends or nullifies the existence of God in some way? I think a christian or a believer in God would rejoice that something that GOD said in the Bible could be somewhat scientifically established. Why should you feel threatened by natural selection or any theory or research done in the area? How does it hurt your faith, may I ask? And what ha it to do with the issues at hand?

I started out with Tenchu, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Racing, Need for Speed, Xena, Wipe Out,Syphon Filter, and the king- Metal Gear Solid, and my favourite, Tomb Raider. I've been playing variations of these games since. Playing the current Tomb Raider at present. I like kicking butt, even if it's racing, and feeling invincible. Is Final Fantasy XII good?

@Frizy

You too dey look sometink sef! Ehn. Na miracle them dey fin up and down, and the man must supply.  And hungry actors boku. The 'dead' man suffer for im money no be small. But if Joshua hear say e blink miracle don spoil be that. So pretend say e no blink when them dash am slap and praise TB Halleluyah praise TB amennnn

@poster.

I know what you mean. There's something fishy about the guy. Chris Okotie makes a lot of noise and all that, but he seems harmless. This Oyakhilome , on the other hand, there's something insidious about him. You know what they say about instinctive reactions to a thing; they are more often than not, proven correct. But I'm not sure I agree with posting what you feel about him in a public forum if you've no solid proof of his wrongdoing.
But I agree the guy is dripping with fish.

On stage or on screen when you come across something sublime you are transported. I've never been transported by a Nigerian on stage, and this is something I'm very sorry to say,since we've got the stuff. But most of our actors lack the passion and commitment to their art that distinguish their foreign counterparts. What could possess Nnaji, who had no real training or experience in the medium, to prance about 'acting' on stage? Na yam?

@poster:This was my response to Gamine's church post, and it serves here as well.

Man, do I understand where you're coming from or what? I hardly attend church, but I have a hunger to find and know God personally, and sometimes He's lost in the hustle and bustle and Pastor's posturings. I went mountain climbing one day. It was beautiful. The sky was four shades of blue. There were eagles and butterflies. To my astonishment, I got a glimpse of God that day. And I'm not referring to the physical environment. I would dodge questions like 'Did you go to church today?', and accusing looks if I say I hadn't been. Now I give a curt 'No,' and profer no explanations.

Don't get me wrong. I occasionally attend services and I'm uplifted by a message, and I have pastor friends,but I've grouses with Nigerian churches a mile long. It's a culture over here, church. It has its own language and practices and ways of life, and once you master them, you can pass yourself off as anything. That's why my cheeks used to ache from all the false smiles I'd dispense in church, because I have to pass muster. Religion is a blanket people use to hide who they really are beneath. Tiresome,motonous religious activity that do little to change the darker sides of one's personality. Once you master it, anyone can feel at home. That's why Nigerians can loot public funds and still go to church and piously raise holy hands.

Not to mention there's no real love amongst church members. Pastors are arrogant and strut about like peacocks, expecting you to worship the ground they walk on. They pass their own prejudices and jaundiced view of life off as religious doctrine, and you'd better obey or it's off to hellfire you go. They tell you what to do, what to think and how to think it. One pastor came to my house and,when he didn't get the 'Daddy' and the 'respect' he thought it my constitutional duty to furnish, became hostile and began to misbehave. I 'dashed' his annointed face a good slap. Yes, I did. And to pastor worshippers who're clutching their hearts in horror and looking to consign me to hell,good luck to you. A pastor is merely an office in a church, and is no more noble or deserving of respect than an usher or a chorister. God is no respecter of persons but we are, forming cliques in church and not recognising or respecting boundaries if it kicked us in the foot.

Church today is a travesty of what it was intended to be. I'n under no obligation to conform to its rules or abide by its dictates. There's a Bible, and I can read. Your brethren is not the people who gather with you in a hall to perform religious ceremony. They are people with whom you share a spirit and the love- translatable into practical, giving action-of Christ. So you can be in a congregation of 100000 while your actual brethren therein are 1000.

I totally understand your dilemma. I face the same. Just don't let some misguided sense of duty guide your life, and remember there's just this one life and it's short. Do everything from your HEART.

@Sam Milla,

You're too darned ridiculous for me to take offence at what you say. I'm laughing even as I post this. You're a national treasure, man. Museum of Natural History dey take two eyes dey find you. I go tell them say their Neanderthal Man dey nairaland dey post for thread, make dem come carry their property.

I assure you science has used natural selection to prove man's inherent not-so-goodness. You'd be amazed at how far science has come, and what it has accomplished. Something as esoteric and intangible as selfishness in our genes has been proven.

Now this is a new twist. You're saying GOD cannot see into the future? He cannot discern our thoughts and intentions and see the future?

You talk with a great deal of assurance about God's thoughts and His intentions and cosmic events that happened long before man came onto the scene. You talk like a man who knows. I like that. How do you know the things you say are true? How do you know the thoughts and intentions of someone you've never met, and who has, in all likehood, not disclosed these things to you?

Hm

I remember the Abiku movie. Long time ago. The little writhing possessed girl won an award.
Scariest movies ever?

Cannibal Holocaust- the director is demented.
The Omen. Incomparably horrible, especially part 2.
And something so frightening I could never endure more than ten minutesof it no matter how many times I tried back then: The Thing.

Blood and gore and screaming isn't scary. It's those evil directors that torment you in deeply psychological,subtle, insidious ways that really scare.

Atonement was a good movie. There were some places I was almost lost. I didn't immediately get that the corny scene where James Mcavoy runs after the bus was hockey because it was happening in the mind of an extremely unpleasant girl who wanted to atone for an unbelievably monstrous thing she did by concocting fantasies of happiness, as if that atones for anything. Good movie.

If a movie hasn't engaged me in five minutes it probably never will. If I want to watch a bad movie I watch Nigerian ones. When foreign ones are bad they're really bad and aren't much fun. But a bad Nigerian movie, after two hours watching Part 1 to Part infinity I am almost deaf from all the shouting, and delirious with joy.

There are so many annoying foreign movies it's hard to pick a favourite. It'll have to be anything with Martin Lawrence in it.

Chei!, see legs like chicken something.

they now over-photoshopped the whole thing,

Laughter is killling me here o.

But if I were a guy I would totally date her. Over photo-shopping aside she's hot. Wetin be this oyinbo people problem sef?Now I'm male now I'm female. If they're not cross-dressing they're transvestiting. Change sex for Naija here. Dem go just carry you do juju.

She will go and tear up more modelling contracts. Dem born am leave im sense behind.

Nna,u  sabi twist wetin persin talk well well. How the blue hell does something as serious as the things you want to be and what you want to do with your life compare with going to stripper clubs? They're so far apart they're not even on the same planet, talk less the same page.  

Man, I said it was wrong thinking of you to think all the women who 'opened their mouths to condemn' the girl's stupidity incapable of love. It was a silly and unnecessary sacrifice. The two of them no well. Period.

Now that's an annoying pick up line.

If guys could get visions of crisp booty out of their minds whenever they see a gal I bet they could be more original. The creepiest ones are 'I want to marry you.' One guy followed me home whining that one, and succeeded in entertaining the entire street. After decades in service I think we can agree the horrible 'You look familiar' should rest in peace. Any guy says that, he becomes a non-person, right before my eyes. Shawtayyy!Boo! I could kill Usher. One yeye guy couldn't remember the irritating Babay and went Ya Babey Ya Babey in the the thickest Ibadan accent you can imagine. I nearly expired of laughter. I couldn't imagine where he'd picked it up.He was so not the Babay type.

If a guy can be original- he doesn't even have to say anything if he can not say it with with some originality- then I'm listening.

@Sam Milla
Man you are one wrong-thinking dude.The guy obviously does not love her. If he did he would be supportive of her. Anyone who isn't affirming of your worth and your ability to reach and do more and be more isn't worth bothering about. Tearing up a contract because the guy is unhappy doesn't prove she loves him, it only proves she's the new standard by which we should now measure stupidity. Is she and her mother breathing through the same respirator? Whose life is it? He's insecure, she has no sense of self. Lovely couple.

Manmustwac, you can tell by the post that I do believe. A non-existent God is oddly harder for me accept than one who does exist. But there are questions questions questions, the darned questions. And you know,it's almost inevitable that at a period in one's life you stop accepting hand-me-down religious experiences and other people's definitions of God. And you desperately seek answers. Is why these posts have been so helpful.

And it doesn't help that most churches are so illiterate finding a balanced one is a nightmare.So I hardly ever go. I hate religion; its sounds and rites and rituals irritate me. So relentlessly repetitive, calculated to bore you to death so you make heaven that much sooner sooner, I guess.

And I've said plenty on Gamine's post about religious leaders who pass off their own prejudices and jaundiced views on life as religious doctrine. You are not going to believe what I am going to relate. A friend, on my case about my worrisome lack of church affiliation, invited me to a church once and I accepted. After the formal service the pastor's wife wanted to talk to all the women in the congregation. We gathered dutifully together. Then she began a dissertation about feminine sexuality. She let us know that it's unbiblical to have MouthAction with your husband, and proceeded to fish out verses that supposedly supported her odd theory! I kid you not!

And women in the audience ate it up before my incredulous eyes, nodding and jotting notes! I wondered what they were jotting down. I mean, do you see damage this one teaching will do to the women there? And they won't question it, because Mummy in Israel said it. And the woman isn't being vindictive or planning to have a horde of placard-carrying husbands outside the church office, she was teaching what she really believed! I don't want to imagine what else she's taught those women.

Apart from diverse doctrine there are deeper issues, like the questions asked, and it all makes me very very tired and very sad. I just need to understand what it is I do believe. I need to understand, and religious activity do not seem to help. Another reason why praying for my friend isn't do-able.

I hope I haven't offended sensitive sensibilities by mentioning the unmentionable above, but that's just to illustrate how dangerous religion and some churches can be, especially to someone who has issues with them.