A while back, Nicole wrote a column for the WOF Association newsletter.  Some of you may have read it and recall that she invited readers to send in their favorite classic movie selections.  We’ve begun to tally the votes, and we’re so excited to see what you’re watching.  Here are the current “Top Five Classic Movies” as submitted by readers:

1. To Kill A Mockingbird

2. It’s A Wonderful Life

3. Gone With The Wind.

4. An Affair To Remember

5. The Sound of Music

Here’s Nicole’s article.  Let us know what movies are inspiring you to a Fresh Brewed Life!

“I watched an old movie the other night…

Silence settles over the courtroom as the prosecution calls it’s next witness, Christine Vole. Then a murmur replaces the silence and gasps are audible as the wife of the defendant takes the stand to testify against her husband in a murder trial….

I’m watching Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard and Marlene Deitrich masterfully bring to the big screen Agatha Christie’s compelling play, Witness for the Prosecution.  It’s a classic, riveting, legal drama that I have loved since the first time I saw it twenty years ago.  But as I watched it again with friends, I was struck by what makes a really great movie.

Unquestionably for me, a movie is great when it has a complex, show-me-something-about-life plot.  Witness for the Prosecution is fifty years old and it stands taller than most of the movies I’ve seen in the past year.  It is a great film, but not because of dazzling special effects, or camera tricks, or even great editing, because it has none of these.  It has incredible actors, but this is a great film because it was first a great story, well told, revealing truth about us as human beings: we’re capable of making a mess out of life and in desperate need of grace every day.  This truth is made more interesting by the fact that most of the characters in the story have no idea how much they need grace…. from themselves….and from each other.

Since this movie was made, plots have become more complicated, and people’s motivations seemingly more complex, but the human condition has not improved.  People are still capable of great disaster.  Every day we read about a person who tries to better their own life at the complete expense of someone else, and the very real consequences of that choice almost always brings anguish and suffering. We have watched it played out time and again on the big screen and even on the little screen of our own lives when we’ve made those destructive choices ourselves.

Great movies are great reminders of what we know deep in the core of our humanity: that we are prone to making mistakes and the more we think we’re not, the more urgent our need for the freedom and grace to let life be “messy” sometimes. So pop some popcorn and rent an old movie tonight.  Cuddle up on the couch with your loved one, or your spaniel, and treat yourself to a reminder of our greatest human need: grace and many “do-overs” for the mess we sometimes make in life.  And as the tape is rewinding or you’re popping out the DVD, don’t forget to give yourself a little room to forgive yourself and forgive others.  Have faith that we all stand in grace each and every day."

Nicole

If you have a minute, go onto our message boards and tell us about your favorite movie.  We’ve created a topic called “Classic Movies: Your Favorites,” and we’d love to hear what you’re watching!  Or email us at (orders@freshbrewedlife.com).