The Youth Worker Book of Hope is written by The Journal's very own Tim Baker, with additional contributions from some of our regular columnists. While you may think I'm a bit biased, the theme and stories that appear inside are perfect for today's youth workers who are under constant pressure from all sides. The sixteen topical stories of hope are based on other youth worker's real life experiences and can be invaluable to your walk and your ministry for years to come.

Overview: Hollywood has spent the last fifteen years taking cartoons and action figures from my youth and turning them into either really great, or really poor action movies. So, when one my oldest boys asked me to join him during the opening weekend of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, my expectations were for a large crowd, lots of special effects and a very thin, predictable plot-line. Were my expectations met? “Sir, yes sir!”

Every Christmas, Hollywood releases a couple of films that revolve around the dynamics of dysfunctional families and how they interact over the holidays. While there always seems to be one that rises to the top, with some genuine humor or a true Christian narrative, most of these Christmas films are usually formulaic retreads of previous stories released during previous Christmas seasons. While Four Christmases does have its humorous moments, it unfortunately falls right smack in the middle of all those other forgettable films from the ghosts of Christmas past.

Several years ago, I vaguely remember my tween-age daughter telling me about Twilight, a new book that she and her friends were reading. Mom had looked it over and assured me it was no big deal. Now, flash forward to opening night of the new big screen version of Twilight and I can tell you from being there, the words “Big Deal” are a HUGE understatement. At our nearest theater, young girls (and their moms) were in line two hours in advance of the theater doors opening and, on a national level, Fandango reported that they had been selling 5 Twilight tickets per second as of early Friday morning, “making Twilight online ticket-seller Fandango's fastest-selling film since The Dark Knight last July.”  Yes, it’s a very big deal and the young ladies in your youth group will definitely be seeing this one.

From Fargo and Raising Arizona, to last year’s No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers have built their careers on films that strangely blend the absurd with the normal. Burn After Reading, and the self-absorbed goofballs that make up the film, neatly fit into that bizarre, yet entertaining, repertoire of movies.

For the first time in a decade, everyone's two favorite investigators of all things paranormal, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), are reunited on the big screen in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Unfortunate to say, if you’ve been a fan of the X-Files throughout the years, you’ll probably leave the theater more confused than you came in and wondering… What was I supposed to believe?

If you like a movie that rolls the nostalgia of the Hulk of old in with the hi-tech CGI of today’s top computer programmers, this is a flick for you. You’ll flash back when you see the “lonely man walking down the empty highway” scene that closed each Hulk episode during it’s TV run, smile at the cameo appearances by Stan Lee (the creator of all things Marvel Comics), Lou Ferrigno (the original TV version of His Hulky-ness) and even one of Bill Bixby (TV's Banner) shown on a television screen. You may even laugh out loud when Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) stops by Stanlee’s Pizza (Stan Lee’s...get it?). Then you’ll either be totally mesmerized, or sea-sick, by the whirl of non-stop special effects that take place in the 3 or 4 major fight scenes.

In 1920, a committee was formed to investigate allegations of the throwing of the 1919 world series by the Chicago White Sox. As “Shoeless” Joe Jackson – one of the most revered member of that infamous White Sox team – exited the hearing, a small young fan was waiting for Joe on the courthouse steps. The young boy, with tears in his eyes, looked at Shoeless Joe and uttered those now famous words, “Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so.” Joe never answered but his career was over.

To be in full disclosure, let me just say that Iron Man was my favorite superhero when I was growing up. As an avid comic book fan I was thrilled to find out that Iron Man was the next Marvel hero to be made into a movie, until I learned that Robert Downey Jr. had been selected to play the lead. However, with each trailer and each sneak preview I found on line, I became more and more excited to see the finished product.