Looking Closer
A few days back, Christianity Today Movies published an interview with film director Richard Dutcher, who has a Mormon background. And this provoked a classic reactionary response. (more…) Read more
A few days back, Christianity Today Movies published an interview with film director Richard Dutcher, who has a Mormon background. And this provoked a classic reactionary response. (more…) Read more
From an insightful friend who just saw Apocalypto: I found Apocalypto truly repulsive. There really is no point to this disgusting movie. Unfortunately, it appears to justify everything negative we’ve heard about Mel’s predelictions. I still haven’t seen The Passion, but now when I do, I’ll be unable to view it without a lot of baggage — the result of watching Apocalypto. … Something’s wrong with Gibson. It’s pretty sick. … I cannot fathom how anyone could bring themselves to... Read more
On Friday, I spoke to a class of English literature students at Seattle Pacific University. I told them about my life at the movies, about the varoius warnings I’ve heard from Christians over the years about the dangers of movies like… oh… The Empire Strikes Back, Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, and The Story of the Weeping Camel. My primary goal in sharing my experiences with them was to encourage them to bravely venture forth into the art of... Read more
This was a scene at Geoff and Melody’s house just a few weeks ago. You can only see four people on that couch… but there were, in fact, six people on that couch. Two of them weren’t quite ready to be born. But now, they’re here. The twins have been born! I’ve been through a lot with these two since we first met during freshman orientation at Seattle Pacific University in 1989. The adventures they’ve had, the courage they’ve shown,... Read more
UPDATED: Some friends of mine over at ArtsandFaith.com have just seen Apocalypto, yet another film I couldn’t see due to ice and snow this week. Here are a few things they’ve said: Wow. This is the most violent movie I’ve ever seen. People die in some extremely graphic, horrific, unimaginably nasty ways. If you thought The Passion was brutal, well, some of the killings here are even more explicit than the scourging at the pillar sequence. … Visually, it’s admirably... Read more
Since snow and ice have kept me from the Seattle press screenings of The Nativity Story, chances are you will see the movie before I do. (I’m going to try to catch a Saturday or Sunday matinee.) If you see it, tell us what you think of it. The reviews in the mainstream press are wide-ranging, from ridicule to raves. I know at least one Seattle church has rented out a whole theater for an early screening tonight. Is your... Read more
I have received the text of Auralia’s Colors back from the publisher, and my editor has come up with a tantalyzing list of questions, encouraging me to give some of the supporting characters more time to play a part in the story. (more…) Read more
Which Christian film critic calls The Fountain “a syncretistic mishmash that never addresses core biblical teaching about humanity’s sin and our need for a Savior”? And which one calls it “a brilliantly conceived and executed artistic vision”? Who said Deja Vu “feels a bit like a shell game”? What do Christian critics think of the new James Bond? Is Bobby going to “lead many people astray, morally, politically and theologically” with “false Romantic, Neo-Marxist liberal ideology and … rhetoric”??! Or... Read more
Danish director Lars von Trier gave us a remarkable, audacious film in 2004 called Dogville. The film starred Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Anne Bancroft, and a supporting cast of familiar faces, but it also demanded our own participation. The story played out on a stage decorated with a few props and chalk outlines that told us where the houses, streets, and other important landmarks were. The film told the story of a gangster’s daughter, Grace, who happens upon a small town and, during... Read more
Well, I took a deep breath and watched United 93 during the Seattle snowstorm. And it was just as harrowing as I feared, just as harrowing as it should be. (more…) Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In