Chrisicisms
Hello everyone!
First off, I’m happy to announce that the podcast I co-host with two friends, “It’s My Favorite,” just dropped its monthly movie club episode. It’s a great listen if you’re interested in hearing about movies where kids take on a whole host of aliens, Army guys and, um, Falcor. This blog is really one of the highlights of my month, mostly because it gives me a chance to get together with friends and talk about pop culture, movies and other things for a while. If you’ve been following the podcast at all, you may be aware that this episode’s coming out a tad late, for reasons I explain at the beginning (basically: I forgotten we recorded it). So, give it a listen here. I hope you love it!
Second, I just wanted to take some time to talk about this blog. I’ve been blogging here at Patheos for a little over a month now, and I’m loving this new space. I love the conversation we’re having, and I love being part of a network that allows me to talk about film, faith and more in such an open atmosphere. I’m so thankful for every reader who comes here, and I hope to keep getting content out to you regularly. Just having this site and knowing it’s my responsibility to keep it updated has spurred me to write more in a month than I did at my old site in a year, and I hope you’re enjoying what’s been written. I’m starting to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t, and I hope to keep honing what’s here to make it a great destination. So I wanted to talk about what I’m hoping to implement in the coming weeks.
First, I hope you’re enjoying my look at movies about Christ. Again, I apologize for not having one this week — “Jesus of Montreal” is frustratingly hard to get your hands on, particularly streaming. My second choice, “The Miracle Maker,” was even harder. So I hope that putting in a more personal entry was okay.
I’m actually hoping to be able to do more posts like my communion one. And by that, I mean more posts about non-movie topics, such as faith, politics, news and general life. My main focus will always be film, faith and the areas where they intersect. But just as there are some film reviews that come without an overtly religious angle, so too does life exist without mentioning film. I believe a good film critic is one who is growing in other areas and can view film through those lenses. My experiences as a Christian, a parent, an American and more color how I see film, and I want to be able to share the thoughts and struggles I’m having with you. In the later years of his life, my favorite writings from Roger Ebert were the ones where he diverged from cinema and talked about religion, marriage, his illness and life. In no way do I think I’m as skilled as Ebert, but I know how much his writing on life helped me understand his views on film. So I’ll be incorporating more of that here as we go on. After all, you have several places on Patheos alone to find movie reviews. I want this to be a site you can visit because you know a little about the writer.
But movie stuff isn’t going away, not by a long shot. I can’t promise weekly reviews of new releases (with a full-time job and two kids, I won’t make it to every single release). But you’ll be covered for major films, movies I think look interesting or are generating discussion, or films that have what I believe to be an interesting angle on faith. And if something doesn’t hit opening weekend, just wait a bit. I’ll try to cover it eventually. I’m also hoping to add some interviews and other items as they become available, and I’m sure I’ll jump into television, book and music talk when I feel the occasion merits.
There are two new features I’m hoping to occasionally incorporate here. The first is Vintage Chrisicisms, in which I’m going to look back at older films that I either love, feel like giving another look, or just want to explore something about. The first of those will hit later this week as I look back at Matt Reeves’ “Cloverfield” in anticipation of this week’s “10 Cloverfield Lane.” The other series will be called Minding the Gaps, and it’s going to be a feature where I try to close up some of the embarrassing holes in my film knowledge. My hope is for these to be monthly columns at first, with the hope that they become a bit more regular down the road. Down the road, I’d also like to get into some exploration of the bodies of work of certain filmmakers and actors, but we’ll build slowly.
But now, I want to turn it around to the readers. What do you want to see here? Do you want film news? Trailers? Is there any coverage you’re hoping to see that you’re not getting here? Do you have an idea for a film you’d like me to write about? Sound off in the comments below!
Again, I’ve loved my first month here and I’m excited to see this site and its readership grow! So please, keep the comments, shares and more coming!
— CW
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