Christ and Pop Culture
I intended to see The Rum Diary (starring Johnny Depp), but those plans fell through—and that may have been a good thing. So, instead of a review this week, I thought I’d pass along some interesting movie-related links. Enjoy!
Over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells has some early impressions of Jason Reitman’s upcoming black comedy, Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron. Here was my favorite line from Wells:
[I]t’s darkly funny during the first two-thirds to 75%, and sometimes hilarious; it’s a kind of Jason Voorhees horror film about a raging blind woman, about egotism and myopia and the absolute mania of the self; as I thought about it during the after-party I began to realize it’s more than just a character study or a black comedy, but a cautionary tale about a kind of egoistic Kardashian-like malignancy afoot in the culture right now.
I hoped as much based on the trailer. Sign me up!
Thanks to Courageous, there’s been quite a bit of talk in some corners of the blogosphere about “Christian movies.” What exactly that means (?) is for another column, but did you know that: A) Steven Spielberg is considering directing a Warner Bros. film called Gods and Kings about the life of Moses and that B) Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is directing a Noah epic?? Here is the trailer to Aronofsky’s graphic novel that may provide some stylistic hints for the film. Aronofsky reportedly wants Christian Bale to play the 600-year-old Patriarch. For those keeping tabs, Bale is on pace to be able to say that he starred as Batman, John Connor, Noah, John Rolfe, and Jesus.
In not-so-exciting “Christian movie” news, Left Behind is back!
If you’re not familiar with the trajectory of Terrence Malick‘s film-making career to this point, here is what it looks like: Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), The Thin Red Line (1998), The New World (2005), and The Tree of Life (2011). That’s a total of five feature films in close to forty years. So color us Malick fans—and the rest of the film world—surprised when we realized the notoriously reclusive director is not only in post-production on his sixth film (rumored to be titled The Burial) but also that he’s started filming his seventh (Lawless) with plans to shoot his eight (Knight of Cups) immediately afterward. While Malick’s productivity may be changing, his attraction to top actors apparently hasn’t. The lineup for The Burial is perhaps his most impressive since The Thin Red Line: Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel Weisz, Barry Pepper, Jessica Chastain, Michael Sheen, and Amanda Peet. Meanwhile, Lawless and Knight of Cups are both set to star Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett. Also joining them for Lawless will be Driver‘s Ryan Gosling and The Girl in the David Fincher Films, Rooney Mara. Those who know me know that I’m excited.
Lastly, in the dark spirit of Halloween week (it’s not too late, people), did you know that Image’s “Arts and Faith” forum has a Top 25 Horror Films list? My favorite is The Silence of the Lambs, but I confess to not having seen many of the films on their list. What’s your favorite horror film?
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