At a crucial point in the film “Hereafter” (2010), a reluctant psychic (played by Matt Damon) visits the home of Victorian novelist Charles Dickens in London. On the wall is a famous painting: “Dickens’ Dream,” where the famous writer is pictured asleep, encircled by the spectral figures of the characters he brought to life in […]
It is the liturgical season of Lent, week two. Lent is Latin for “spring,” the season in which life sprouts, blossoms, hatches, emerges forth. The prophet Isaiah proclaims, The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. […]
In 1991, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to the disturbing psycho thriller, The Silence of the Lambs. Movie-goers were left wondering what meaning lies behind awarding such an horrific, grotesque, and arguably evil tale about serial killers with cinema’s highest honor, the Oscar. In the volleying commentary between art and culture, what does […]
The award-winning film “The Social Network” opens up a discussion of human loneliness.
In this essay, Kelly Johnson explores the categories of comedy and tragedy as she considers how we might stay informed about social injustices, suffering, and human rights violations and yet maintain and nurture Christian joy.
In this interview, Jeffrey Overstreet discusses his novel “Auralia’s Colors” and examines the way in which artists are compelled to “look closer” at the world, to “discover and reaffirm why things were put that way in the first place.”
A Menu Did you ever try “grown-up” food when you were a kid? Whether it was caviar, brussel sprouts or even a sip of merlot, your young taste buds were so unprepared for it, you probably hesitated to try that food again, even as an adult. The same can happen with films. If you’re like […]
You enter the theater anxious to get lost in the film you’re about to see. The lights dim, the seats around you fill, and the smell of popcorn on other people’s breath is almost bearable because of the experience you’re going to have. But, of late, the experience has hardly been worth the time or […]