Since Peter Jackson has just made it offical… he’s not going to direct The Hobbit… the biggest guaranteed blockbuster on the “Coming Soon” list is now in need of a director. MGM is probably going to have directors lined up begging for the job. And I know who they should hire. Consider this record: The timeless, beautiful children’s film A Little Princess Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban, the best of the Potter film franchise so far a standard-setting,... Read more
Here’s TheOneRing.net’s big breaking news on The Hobbit… So, since Peter Jackson will not be directing The Hobbit, but MGM is planning to find another director who will… (more…) Read more
Today is the last day of editing for me on Through a Screen Darkly. I’ll get to check the final proof in a few weeks, but this is my last day to make any changes. What a week it has been. I can’t go into details, but let’s just say we suffered a significant setback in our process this week that required a great deal of attention to the text. As I am also halfway into writing a new novel,... Read more
I’ve seen Pan’s Labyrinth, and it is a harrowing, beautiful film. It leaves me with as many questions about the artist as it does about the story, and so, reading Sight and Sound‘s coverage of the film, I’m happy to learn a lot more about Guillermo Del Toro, and what an interesting, conflicted, brave, dedicated visionary he is. (more…) Read more
I was recently surprised at just how good Akeelah and the Bee really is. I’d seen it promoted as a “Starbucks movie,” and that didn’t exactly make me want to rush out and see it. Neither did the DVD cover, which makes it look like a cheap after-school special. What I found was a surprisingly ambitious, multi-layered piece of commercial entertainment that featured strong performances by all of the leads. And it gave us some much-needed perspective on the plight... Read more
Todd Field, director of In the Bedroom and Little Children, is one of my favorite American directors. Today as we talked, we were surprised to make these connections: (more…) Read more
I’ll be interviewing Todd Field, director of In the Bedroom and Little Children, this afternoon (right before I head off to the screening of Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men). You may have seen his work… and you may have seen him, too. He played the jazz pianist in Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. If you’re interested in Field’s work and have any questions for him, let me know! Here’s an interesting Washington Post article/interview that reveals some intriguing details about his... Read more
… is here on DVD at last. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is not only one of the best films to play on American screens this year, but it also boasts one of the greatest performances by an actress in the last several years. Julia Jentsch is riveting in this film. (more…) Read more
One of my favorite writers, Wendell Berry, is getting some well-deserved attention today from Christianity Today. Read more
U218, which arrives in stores Nov. 21, is a waste of time for anybody who already has the best-of collections that they released a few years ago. There’s nothing in these 15 singles that you don’t already know by heart, except… the recent U2/Green Day collaboration-cover of “The Saints are Coming,” which does indeed rock, and… “Windows in the Sky,” which is as jubilant and celebratory as “Beautiful Day,” and which U2-friendly churches are more than likely to integrate in... Read more
Looking Closer
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