Force Is with You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives

by Stephen Simon and Stephen Simon

Book Overview

Movies are the most electrifying communications medium ever devised and the natural conduit of inspiring ourselves to look into the eternal issues of who we are and why we are here. >br>So says film... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571743499
• ISBN13: 9781571743497
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Finding Spiritual Meaning in Cinema

Hallelujah! We finally have a book that's dedicated to covering the newly emerging category of spiritual cinema! THE FORCE IS WITH YOU is written by Hollywood insider Stephen Simon, who writes straight from his heart about the significant messages in more than 70 movies. Spiritual Cinema is all about exploring the meaning of love, life, death, time, and space -- which are the topics I most enjoy seeing in the movies. Most of my favorite movies are included here: The Matrix, Sliding Doors, Somewhere in Time, The Kid, Frequency, Star Wars, Lost Horizon, The Sixth Sense, Ghost, What Dreams May Come, Defending Your Life, Groundhog Day, Contact, Phenomenon, Powder, Being There, The Truman Show, Sleepless in Seattle, Family Man, and It's A Wonderful Life.What I love best about THE FORCE IS WITH YOU is the way it so clearly conveys a sense of hope, inspiration, and purposefulness about the way humanity learns about its worst fears and greatest hopes through stories. Yes, we love to vividly imagine the end of the world... but we also love to dream of ways we can find solutions to our biggest problems. We know that it's not easy being more spiritually and psychically evolved... but we love to imagine how those of us who are different can be accepted in mainstream society.THE FORCE IS WITH YOU is priceless for clarifying what the new genre of "Spiritual Cinema" is all about, and for providing an inspiring list of the most spiritual movies of all time. It is my deepest hope that this book will help establish awareness in film-makers everywhere of the importance of making spiritual movies, as it helps movie-goers better understand the significance of the movies they see.

The Force is with Spiritual Cinema.

Stephen Simon's book is an inspiring read. Right from the beginning, you realize that this author, a producer and film executive with over twenty-five years experience in the Hollywood arena, is writing from the heart. He is passionate about awakening us to the spiritual cinema genre, movies that contain spiritual messages. Although this is a genre as yet not recognized by Hollywood, Simon maintains that these movies already exist, and indeed have done so for quite some time. He takes us on an entertaining, intimate, thought provoking and often humourous journey through a personal selection of seventy or so such films. Rest assured that this is not a book that critiques film, rather it illuminates. Perhaps Neale Donald Walsch says it best in his forward to the book: "If you love movies, you're going to love this book. If you love life, you're going to adore it. And if you love a good story, get set, because you're about to hear some great ones." I thoroughly loved reading "The Force is With You", and I think you will too.

The force is with you.

THE FORCE IS WITH YOUTHE FORCE IS WITH YOU is a mesmerizing account of what it's like to be a movie producer. Besides sharing his own stories, Stephen Simon has written a thought provoking analogy of over 70 movies and the mystical messages he found in them.Who will cherish this book? Movie lovers; people pursuing spiritual growth; anyone interested in any aspect of movie making... anyone...I believe it was Mr. Simon's unquenchable love for humanity and the planet kept him going against all odds. The word "no" is unrecognizable in his consciousness. Oh - he's heard the word all right, more than most people. His heart has been shattered over and over, but love pieced it back together and motivated him on the relentless pursuit of his dreams. Did you know, for instance, that "What Dreams May Come" was 20 years in the making? Twenty years! And that "Somewhere In Time" bombed when it came out in theaters? Read the haunting and amazing story of how it resurrected itself and became one of the best lovedfilms of all times.Stephen Simon is a visionary. The human race is evolving rapidly now and movies are one of the most profound tools we have to assist our evolution. Mr. Simon is forging a path for the genre of mystical movies (a genre Hollywood has not recognized). He discusses the industry and where he sees it heading.Read this book. But be prepared to cry, to laugh, to be inspired and to grow in consciousness....

Look Closer

Author Stephen Simon writes an excellent book about spiritualism and the messages in movies; movies that speak to the emotional context of a person's soul. I realized that the messages Mr. Simon writes about the very things that I found missing in most mainstream films. (Thank God I live in city where art houses exist, but I realize not everyone has that luxury) Finally someone was able to show that there is more going on up on the big screen than what meets the eye. Every movie that he writes about in his book is in some way or another a winner, regardless of what it did in box office receipts. Still this book is a lot more than just a much of plot synopsis and message of some really great movies. Mr. Simon writes about his life growing up in movie industry. His battle to get both "Somewhere in Time" and "What Dreams May Become" (both based on books by author Richard Matheson-a great writer himself) made into films. His elation of getting both films made and then watching as the critics ripped both of them both apart , only to become resurrected and warmly welcomed on cable, video and DVD by thousands of people years later. Plus, his very telling reasoning on why mainstream movies have to stay "commercial," he writes volumes in a few pages that will generate debate for years to come. Whatever your spiritual beliefs, I think there is something in this book for every movie lover. This is new movement and a new way of thinking about movies and I'll gladly be in the front row watching as those beautiful, special images and messages flicker over me.

This book is a force to be reckoned with!

If you've ever watched a movie with an extraordinary message and wondered afterward, "What was that about?" then read this book! After reading this thoughtful and reliable account of many of the most profound movies ever made, I was struck by the realization that Hollywood Insider/Producer Stephen Simon is a visionary, writing about the underlying messages in visionary movies, to (if you are drawn to this book) visionaries themselves. I'm a writer and found "The Force Is With You" to be a writer's dream come true. Not only is it chockfull of insights into the spine and spirit of some of the most influential movies of our time, it's an inspiring work about inspiring storytellers, and how their stories eventually got made into movies that impact both our lives and our "take" on who we are, and why we're here. All in all, Stephen Simon's insights into the movie industry that, for him, has been bred in the bone, as well as his personal perspective on life, love, death, and the universe itself, is entertaining, inspiring, and has shifted my consciousness about the power of mystical messages in the movies that influence our lives. After reading this book, I'm quite sure that if we only had more self-described "loose cannons" making movies these days, the world would be a better place.