Entertaiment

If you haven’t seen The Best Two Years yet, you’ve really been missing out. When I first reviewed the film for Meridian at the beginning of its theatrical run, I said that “I just [couldn’t] see anyone making a film that is better suited for the LDS market than this one.” With the release of the DVD/video version this week, I had a chance to revisit that statement, and I still feel the same way.

After all, if you were to choose one film that you felt most members of the church would identify with, what elements would it have? First of all, I think it would be a comedy. Not a hold-your-belly-while-you-roll-on-the-floor kind of comedy or one that is laced with a sarcastic kind of humor like so many Hollywood-release comedies seem to be these days. No, I think it would be a sweet, feel-good kind of comedy – the kind that entertains you and then leaves you feeling good about yourself, everyone around you and life in general.

It would almost have to be a missionary movie. Mission experiences are such a big part of Latter-day Saint culture … even for those who have never served one. If you don’t know what I mean, think back to the last time you heard someone say “While I was on my mission…” either as part of a talk or a lesson, or even as a comment during a lesson that someone else was teaching. Of course, it would need to portray an accurate reflection of mission life as most members of the church remember it, complete with a lazy missionary who is about to go home, his greenie companion, their district leader (who, of course, has a girl “waiting” for him at home), and his overly ambitious junior companion (who can’t figure out why he hasn’t made assistant yet) all living together in a pleasant if not well-maintained apartment.

Continuing on … It’s become an absolute requirement for the film to have Kirby Heyborne in it. It’s almost gotten to the point where if you’re sitting in a film about Latter-day Saints and you don’t see Kirby’s familiar boyish face, you get nervous that the film might have been made by anti-Mormons or something, since any good Mormon would cast Kirby in a leading role.

Music? Well, if you aren’t going to have me score the film, you’d be smart to include songs by a familiar, established LDS artist such as Michael McLean or Janice Kapp Perry – somebody with a sound that members of the church identify with. Oh, and set the film in a foreign country and get plenty of beautiful shots of the countryside. It will make members feel like they’re getting a cultural education – kind of like attending a foreign language film festival.

On top of that, it wouldn’t hurt if the film actually told a good story about faith, with likeable characters who struggle with their faith but learn to trust the Lord in the end. Toss in a few miracles that might be explained away as mere coincidence, but we all know that they’re not – be careful not to make too big a deal about them – and you’ve got yourself a winning combination.

The Best Two Years fits that description – and about any other description of the ultimate member-friendly LDS film I could come up with – to a “T”. My lighthearted analysis aside, this is a fun, enjoyable, well-made movie. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, hurry up and get with the program. It’s available from your favorite LDS video/DVD store … right now.

Someone Was Watching

I came across another interesting film recently, this one released direct-to-video by Thomson Productions. It isn’t specifically LDS Cinema – the characters are not identified as members of the church or anything like that – but the filmmakers are members of the church, and it stars a lot of the familiar faces fans of LDS-made and Utah-made cinema will recognize.

The film’s title is Someone Was Watching. It’s the story of a young man named Chris (played by Jonathan Rudy) whose sister Molly went missing and was presumed drowned three months previous. One day while watching a home video that was shot the day of the girl’s disappearance, Chris and his friend Pat (Ben Watson) notice something that leads them to believe that Molly might still be alive. Before long, Chris and Pat find themselves headed for New Mexico hoping that they aren’t just deluding themselves and that somehow, they can find Molly alive and well and bring her home.

Written and directed by Mark Goodman, produced by Mark Goodman, Lee Groberg and James Jordan, the film is based on a book with the same title by David Patneaude. Although the main focus of the story is on the two boys, it stars some of my favorite actors in supporting roles, including Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables), Jongiorgi Enos (Brigham City), Rick Macy (Brigham City, Little Secrets and Testaments), Frank Gerrish (Baptists at Our Barbecue, Brigham City) and Dalin Christiansen (No Dogs Allowed, Partners in Crime), who is one of the nicest people you will ever meet in person, but somehow always seems to end up playing psycho roles and doing a very believable job of it (and this film is no exception).

It’s a very ambitious film, and although it has some uneven moments, it’s still a pretty good one. The weakest point of the film is probably the young men’s decision to go to New Mexico. As a viewer I wasn’t quite convinced that they had enough reason to do so, and although this could be easily explained by showing that they were acting more out of a desperate need for hope rather than logic, the performances didn’t sell this to me. On the other hand, once they got to New Mexico, the story takes some charming twists and turns. Follows and Enos have some nice chemistry, and the boys get some help from some very cute kids. The fact that I happen to know the part of New Mexico where the boys supposedly go and the movie’s portrayal looked nothing like it (the actual town of Glennwood, New Mexico, is little more than a post office/general store that you pass on the way to Silver City) didn’t even distract from my enjoyment of the film.

Also Watch For

Fans of John Lyde’s films (The Field is White, The Collectors) will be eager to see his latest releases Hoops (starring Kirby Heyborne – of course – and Michael Birkeland), Dear John, and a DVD featuring two inspirational short films, Thy Will Be Done and Mariah’s Prayer. (I composed the score for Mariah’s Prayer.) All three DVD’s are being released by Thomson Productions. Lyde has turned into one of the most productive young LDS filmmakers around. He also worked as a cinematographer on the upcoming Sons of Provo (February 2005 release date) and has begun casting his NEXT three film projects: Take a Chance, Shadowman and The Youth of Zion.

Hoops is the story of two young men who are not only brothers, they’re also best friends. Every Saturday these young men play a game of basketball. Shooting hoops has always been their way of bonding. Through numerous games, both discover what it means to be a friend, the importance of the Gospel, and the blessing of serving a mission.

Dear John is a romantic comedy about love and missionaries. (I think you know where that one is headed.)

Thy Will Be Done tells the story of a young man named Greg who struggles with the help of his brother to deal with the death of his wife and accept the will of God.

Mariah’s Prayer is a cute story about a girl and her fear of the monster under the bed.

Take a Chance will tell the story of two brothers from Texas who travel to a small town in Idaho in search of the girls of their dreams. In their quest to win the girls’ hearts they learn what true love really is. Kirby Heyborne and Corbin Allred star as the two brothers. The cast also includes Bobby Swenson.

Shadowman is scripted as a thriller set in high school where seven students in after school detention find themselves terrorized by an unseen force.

The Youth of Zion is a series of short films based from the LDS, “For the Strength of Youth.” Each film will be approximately 60 minutes long and distributed for Video/DVD exhibition in the United States and abroad. The first film will be about “Honesty.”

Preston Hunter (of LDSfilm.com) once said of Lyde: “If you are not familiar with Bro. Lyde, just imagine that Akira Kurosawa and Roger Corman joined the Church and had a child together: The result would be John Lyde.” Um, well, yeah. I don’t want to think about it. Suffice it to say, Lyde is a very talented filmmaker who has gained an outstanding reputation for doing amazing things with the tiniest of budgets. His subjects range from action-packed (but bloodless) martial arts films and Latter-day Saint-friendly horror flicks to inspirational missionary stories and personal dramas of faith. If you’ve never seen a John Lyde film, you’ve got to try one. It’s quite an experience. I, myself, am hooked on them. They’re often low-budget productions – in some cases the lowest budget productions you’ll ever see on a video store shelf – but everyone who sees them comes out very impressed and wondering what this guy could do if he had a budget of a few million dollars to work with.

Especially for Members Outside of Utah (or those inside too)

Let me tell you about what happened when God’s Army came to Los Angeles. I was a student at UCLA at the time, and to tell you the truth, I hadn’t even heard of the film. The Sunday before it was scheduled to play (for one week and one week only) in one theater (and only one theater) in the Los Angeles area, a friend in our ward who happens to also know Richard Dutcher told me about it. I was lucky. I heard about it BEFORE it played there. But not lucky enough. It was a real headache to get a babysitter on a few days’ notice and drive all the way across town just to see a movie I knew basically nothing about, and besides, I was in school and had plenty of other things to keep me busy. I didn’t end up seeing God’s Army until months later when we happened to notice a copy of it at Hollywood Video, and – knowing more about the film by then – took the opportunity to rent it. If I had known about it earlier, I could have gone to the web site for Zion Films and signed up to be notified when the film would be arriving in Los Angeles. Presumably then I would have had enough notice to actually make the arrangements in advance to actually have made it out to see the film.

But I still say what a headache! Do members of the church outside of Utah have to go to a different web site for every single LDS-themed film they might be interested in seeing to sign up so they can be notified when that film might be coming to their area? Yuck!

That thought stuck with me for a long time. Now, years later, LDSfilm.com has done something about it. (Disclosure: I am one of the co-webmasters of LDSfilm.com.) About two-and-a-half months ago, the LDSfilm.com Regionalized Mailing List was inaugurated. Here’s how it works: Anyone interested in receiving occasional e-mail notices (and by occasional I mean two mailings per week maximum – usually a lot less often than that) about films that will be playing in their state can sign up for a regionalized mailing list on the LDSfilm.com web site. There is a different list for each state, with Utah and California actually being divided into two lists (north and south) – yes, even Utahns can sign up. Although you are asked for your zip code, this is entirely for research purposes. No one even checks to see if that zip code is in the state you signed up for. If you want to know what’s playing in Alaska and you live in Florida, that’s fine. You can also sign up for as many of the mailing lists as you want to. There is a simple verification process to make sure that no one registers for someone else on the site, but signing up is painless, obligation-free and easy to do. (There’s nothing more irritating than receiving mailings you didn’t ask for.)

Once you are registered for the site, you should receive notice of various films made by Latter-day Saints that will be coming to theaters in your area, hopefully as early as a month before they actually arrive. Further reminders may be sent a week or two in advance of the film’s arrival and on the day that it opens in your area. These are not paid advertisements. LDSfilm.com provides this as an informational service for free to all who subscribe and has never accepted any paid advertising from any source. Notices contain information about which theaters the film will be playing in as well as additional information about the film, including links to web pages where you can research more about the film yourself and the filmmakers involved in making it (for example, links to any reviews of the film that might be posted in Meridian Magazine).

You can sign up for the regionalized mailing lists by going to https://www.ldsfilm.com and clicking on the regionalized mailing list link near the top of the page or you can just go directly to .