If everything goes according to plan for director Scott Derrickson, he'll direct a feature film based on John Milton's Paradise Lost, and we'll see the war in heaven and the fall in the garden depicted more vividly than any film that has come before. But he's apparently not the only one with such ambitions. The Hollywood Reporter says that producer Martin Poll has a similar aim. Who knows? Paradise Lost may follow in the path of Truman Capote, who had two films about him released within a … [Read more...]
Still Life (2006) and Up the Yangtze (2007)
April 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
These reviews of Still Life and Up the Yangtze were originally published in the "Through a Screen Darkly" column at Christianity Today. - Nothing here along the Yangtze River is what it seems. If we just look at the mountains, we'll be fine. They're breathtaking, looming green and formidable over the river's winding silver path. They flow into and out of one another like waves, shrouded in an eerie mist as if the ghosts have gathered here to rest. If we watch cruise ships drifting … [Read more...]
Browser: Sam Phillips, David Bazan, Robert Shiller, economic bubbles, Bono on Easter, and Jim Jarmusch
April 27, 2009 By 2 Comments
I'm so busy editing the next strand of The Auralia Thread, Raven's Ladder, and composing new articles for Image and Christianity Today that I'm flat out of time to blog anything substantial. So here's a rundown of links that caught my attention over the last few days... There's a new Sam Phillips song on the way May 1st. David Bazan rocks Seattle Pacific University. Robert Shiller discussed Starbucks VIA, Miracle Whip, and economic bubbles, at Seattle Pacific University's Downtown … [Read more...]
Kindling Discussion About Recent Films: “Knowing,” “Coraline,” “Sunshine Cleaning,” and More
April 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The latest Kindlings Muse podcast is up, featuring Dick Staub, Greg Wright, Jennie Spohr, and myself in conversation about: Knowing; Coraline; Sunshine Cleaning; Days and Clouds; Rachel Getting Married; Still Life; Silent Light; The Robe; and Jesus of Montreal. … [Read more...]
Through the Eyes of Angels, Cowboys, and Christians: A tribute to Wim Wenders, and an appreciation of his films.
April 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
This interview was originally published at Looking Closer in 2006. An abridged version of this feature and interview was previously published at Christianity Today Movies. - A movie star is sitting on an old couch in the middle of the street in Butte, Montana. … [Read more...]
Today at Filmwell: Mike Hertenstein Climbs “Treeless Mountain”
April 22, 2009 By 1 Comment
I'm back from The Netherlands, and I hope to cook up a good long journal entry for you about all of the exciting things that happened there. Meanwhile... Have I expressed how excited I am about Filmwell, and all that is is slowly becoming? We decided *not* to prescribe what the site would be. We made a list of places we wouldn't go, things we wanted to avoid, and then decided to let a mystery emerge. What would happen in the chemistry of relationships, the variations in perspective among a … [Read more...]
Times and Winds (2008)
April 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
This review was originally published at Good Letters, a blog published by Image. - Sharing cigarettes, two boys recline on a sun-baked rock high above their village. Here, close to heaven, they’re able to forget their troubles and enjoy the view. A gunshot jolts them from their reverie. Down among the technicolor trees, a hunter blasts at a bird with his rifle. He hits his mark, but then wanders off without claiming it. Bewildered, the boys descend and find the bird. Why did the … [Read more...]
No Thank You
April 13, 2009 By 2 Comments
Thank you for alerting me to your breaking-news scoop on a celebrity and his troubles. No, I don't think I need to blog about it. I've been through enough hardships of my own to know that having people blog about them would only intensify the suffering for all involved and indicate that the public has a right to shove their noses into my personal business. There are far better ways to respond to celebrity gossip than to throw fuel on destructive flames. Please write again when there's … [Read more...]
The Strange Horizons Interview
April 13, 2009 By 1 Comment
Thanks to John Ottinger for the interview about Auralia's Colors and Cyndere's Midnight that appears at Strange Horizons today. I take a lot of encouragement from this as I prepare to revise Raven's Ladder, the third book in The Auralia Thread. … [Read more...]
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