Behold the new film guide from Jonathan Decker.
I thought this was a great little book. While movies will always be a matter of opinion, there are plenty of ideas here for people looking for movie suggestions that won’t burn their eyes out.
The author started a blog, mormonmovieguy.com, to help people find movie reviews with a Mormon perspective. This is more or less a compilation of some positive reviews. (The blog has both positive and negative reviews)
First comes an introduction about media, and then the criteria used for choosing the movies. The author looked at artistic merit, the presence of potentially offensive content, and how the film compared to the teachings of the Gospel. He includes scriptures and general authority quotes with the reviews, plus quotes and scriptures which expand on each film’s major themes.
The information is nicely organized. Films are listed alphabetically. Decker talks first about the film in a general way–the “artistic merit” part of the review–and assigns it a letter grade. Next are sections called Content Overview and Messages to Discuss.
There are plenty of kids’ shows here, but there are titles for grownups as well, from the Mormon cinema offering 17 Miracles to 2011’s We Bought A Zoo. Many suggestions are classics, like Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn and State Fair. A hefty percentage are cartoons.
I found several things I hadn’t seen and now plan to because of Decker’s praise.
My review is based on a complimentary PDF version of the ARC. Hopefully, the finished version will include an index. I miss the colorful movie posters that the blog provides, but that would greatly increase the cost of the book.
Buy the book here: Cedar Fort or Amazon
