My derth of posting is due to an attempt to rescue my yard and garden from an encroaching forest. To that end… From the Mysteries of Lisbon DVD liner notes, Ruiz says: “While I was shooting Mysteries of Lisbon, I often thought about Linné– a garden is a battlefield. Any flower is monstrous. In slow motion, […]
For me, it all begin with Jeebus, who was made manifest to the world in the fifteenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons. In this episode, titled “Missionary: Impossible,” Homer flees a mob of angry PBS telethon hosts by hopping a cargo plane to hide out as a missionary in Microasia.* Realizing the gravity of his situation, Homer gets on […]
“Cult” as a label has recently re-entered national conversation on the heels of conservative voters trying to figure out how to best think about Mitt Romney’s Mormon religious affiliation. The ensuing confusion expressed at times in this debate is a good example of how fluid and misunderstood this term often is. For recent generations, the […]
There is often talk of framing our cultural experiences in terms found commonly in Christian spirituality. On account of this, we find film and theology groups that are structurally identical to group bible studies. We reserve watching certain films for certain spots on the Christian calendar, like annual Easter screenings of Gibson’s Jesus film. In […]
One problem I have always had with year-end list making is that it forces me to break up the little thematic and emotional connections that develop between films, directors, and genres over the course of a year of new cinema and rank films according to a different metric. Rather than a list, I would like to […]
I recently saw an advertisement for an intensive film and theology course at a local seminary, and it jogged loose a few thoughts about how these courses are typically conducted. It is not my intention to lampoon this upcoming event, as I am happy to see any hint of good cinema becoming part of the […]
If you flinch while you watch Tyrannosaur, that is the right response. For an angry person, a flinch is a form of communication. It is a sign that their grievance, nameless as it may be, has been heard and felt by someone else. There isn’t anything therapeutic about the chain of events that results in […]
A recent longread in GQ provides a rare glimpse into the film project by Ilya Khrzhanovsky that has managed to cobble together funding for a five year Stalin-era installation in a small Ukranian city. The slow trickle of anecdotes related to this project have intimated that this is not your average film set, but this essay […]
For the record: don’t read this. If you are not familiar with the story of the Dunbars, it is best to just let this one unfold as you watch it. Whether it is the smoking Twin Towers, smoldering Branch Davidian compound, or the Zapruder film, we have all had our faces rubbed in some televised […]