Welcome to Looking Closer Journals’ first edition of HALF-SHOT, an occasional contest to make you really LOOK CLOSER at the movies. Here’s how it works: I post half of a shot from one frame of a movie. Name the movie. What do you win if you’re the first to post the right answer in the Comments? Eternal glory. Here we go… Read more
What would you choose as the Top Five Spiritually Significant Films you’ve ever seen? The Arts and Faith board posted their top 100 recently. (I didn’t vote in this process because I became increasingly baffled as to what “Spiritually Significant” meant to this particular group. When Apocalypse Now, or the films of Peter Weir, aren’t considered “spiritually significant”, I realize I must think very differently about the terms. To me, well, I think the label means: Films that move me,... Read more
Yep, that’s Bono kneeling toward the right, smack in the middle of Arcade Fire. U2 and Arcade Fire played together last night, performing Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” For those that were there, it must have been Thanksgiving all over again. For me, Thanksgiving is officially ended, unless someone can find me a recording of this performance. Read more
I was dismayed to realize this morning that I had forgotten to link to this Seattle Times feature on Greg and Suzanne Wolfe, the minds and hearts behind the extraordinary Image journal. Image is probing rather than preachy. That’s because the Wolfes, both authors in their own right, take pleasure not in fighting the culture wars but in blurring the battle lines. The journal is a showcase for the idea that you can find salvation in high art, beauty in... Read more
The Guardian interviews James McAvoy, who plays C.S. Lewis’s loveable faun. Caution: The Guardian allows language that your typical U.S. newspaper would not. Reader discretion advised. Read more
A few words from Over the Rhine: Hello from Ohio! Dear reader, we’ll try to be brief. (Please don’t hesitate to pass this info along to teachers, students, pets, friends, girlfriends, cousins, fledgling painters, sultry singers, young hitch-hikers off to unravel the world, listless little sisters, nursing mothers etc.) It’s that time of year again. Come in out of the cold, peel off your scarves and hats and gloves and join us for warm nights packed with songs and words... Read more
Saturday’s specials: I’m hoping Pride and Prejudice is the beginning of a turnaround for this movie year. In the next several days, I’ll be seeing Woody Allen’s Match Point, Andrew Adamson’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Michael Haneke’s Cache (Hidden), and more. I have high hopes for all of them, but the way this year has been going, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if each one of them disappointed.... Read more
I had almost given up on the big screen this holiday season. Nothing’s living up to the hype. Nothing’s making me feel nine bucks was well invested. Well, here’s one that does. Rosamund Pike, with very few lines, almost steals Pride and Prejudice from Keira Knightley. For one thing, in the role of Jane, the older sister in this family of girls-to-be-married-off, she wasn’t overly made up like a supermodel like Knightley was in every scene. She remained a natural... Read more
In a new article at CanadianChristianity.com, Peter T. Chattaway speaks the much-avoided truth about C.S. Lewis’s wonderland. This should try the patience of many Christians who celebrate The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as some kind of opposite to Harry Potter and other fantasy stories. Too bad. Peter’s right. The Chronicles of Narnia are full of references to pagan mythology. Read more
Friday’s specials: WAX OFF Farewell, Pat Morita. DAILY MAIL CRITIC GOES BANANAS FOR NARNIA Sheeesh! It is not just a ‘must see’ but a ‘must see again and again’. Where is that sixth star when you need it? Not only does it miraculously do full justice to CS Lewis’s classic fantasy, it improves upon it and gives a more sophisticated sense of humour. Above all, there’s a spectacular sense of scale that turns the children’s sagas into a worthy successor... Read more
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