The Moviegoer: Is Irresistance Futile? Of Silver Linings and Unchaining Django

Django Unchained

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell) & Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)      Part of the sports fandom playbook is the power of positive thinking. For instance, here is a trajectory of things that I may or may not have said to my dad during [...]

Our Favorite Films of 2012

Top Ten Films

The Christ and Pop Culture writers got together and hashed out our list of the best films we saw this year. Here’s what we came up with.

The Moviegoer: 25 Memorable Moments from 2012 Moviegoing

Loneliest Planet, Gunpoint

Inspired by Aren of the Brothers Bergstrom film critic triumvirate, I’ve decided to share several of my favorite moments from the year in film. I’m going to try to avoid overlap with Aren’s list, but in a couple of cases, it’s simply unavoidable. I don’t plan to publish a personal favorites list until sometime between [...]

The Moviegoer: A Roundup of Hobbit Reviews

The Hobbit

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. My family has a wonderful Christmas tradition. We love to go see a movie together during the week before Christmas. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy became a three year fixture of this tradition. So it was a given that the family planned [...]

The Moviegoer: Gangsters, Imposters, Motors, and other Awards Season Notes

Killing Them Softly

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012) My anticipation for Killing Them Softly–Dominik’s long-awaited followup to his excellent 2007 feature, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford–was admittedly high. I thought the latter a masterfully crafted, slow-burn thriller of a western. Reunited with [...]

The Moviegoer: A Portrait of President Lincoln

Lincoln

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln might be described as a brilliant portrait, a distinctive picture of a particular historical moment that gives us representative insight into a United States at Civil War. But, more than that, we’re treated to filmic portraits of a President who is able [...]

Can Faith in the Better Story Sustain Us? Survival and Significance in “Life of Pi”

Life of Pi

Stories are an important signal of faith’s existence, but are they wondrous and hopeful enough?

The Moviegoer: In the Shadow of Skyfall

Skyfall

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. Editor’s Note: There are some fairly minor *SPOILERS* here that you won’t be able to sneak around. “Orphans make the best agents,” M (Judi Dench) says in her characteristically matter-of-fact manner. The statement probably suggests something about the shadow that is cast over the [...]

The Moviegoer: “Wreck-it Ralph” Could Use some Fixing from Felix

Wreck-it Ralph

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. There’s a fun scene in the latter half of Wreck-it Ralph in which brutish “bad guy” Ralph is helping his little glitching, pixeled companion, Venellope von Schweetz, build a go-kart made of candy. The scene encapsulates the film’s brimming possibilities. The arcade characters build [...]

The Moviegoer: Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede, Angel of Death?

Bernie

Each week in The Moviegoer, Nick Olson examines new and upcoming films. The film (and the story it’s based on) has been around, but just in case: Spoiler Alert! Bernie is available via Redbox and Netflix steaming. Widely considered unpleasantly cold by her town neighbors and even family members, Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine)–a recently widowed 81 [...]