The Camp and Queer Bible Goes Down Under

Last updated on: June 18, 2013 at 8:50 pm By Richard Lindsay

On short notice, I was given the opportunity to contribute an introductory essay to an event surrounding an exhibit of Father Michael Morris’ biblical film poster collection. The exhibit, called Epic! 100 Years of Film and the Bible, was showing at the Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne. The event was part of their “Midsumma Festival,” and focused specifically on LGBT interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. Many of my students and colleagues have heard my lectures or descriptions of my dissertation... Read more

Living a Double Life

Last updated on: January 31, 2013 at 2:21 pm By J. Ryan Parker

There are some difficult documentaries in the Oscar field this year. Filmmakers have addressed rape in the military, grassroots HIV treatment, Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and controversial Israeli secret service activities. These are hardly feel-good viewing experiences. There is one other documentary in the mix that is not like the others, one that provides a more purely enjoyable viewing experience, Malik Bendjelloul‘s Searching for Sugar Man. (more…) Read more

Protest Filmmaking

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 11:17 am By J. Ryan Parker

Like few other media, film can capture the fragility of life and the pain of its loss. It also has the ability to more viscerally capture instances in which that loss results from injustice and oppression. Few recent films have done this as powerfully as one of this year’s Oscar-nominated documentaries, 5 Broken Cameras. (more…) Read more

Exposing the Invisible War

Last updated on: January 28, 2013 at 6:02 pm By J. Ryan Parker

I’m trying to see all the available Oscar-nominated documentaries this week. I’ll watch all of them except The Gatekeepers, which doesn’t seem to have a DVD a streaming release date yet. I started off this little mini-film festival with Kirby Dick’s The Invisible War. (more…) Read more

Leaving Cults and Lingering Trauma

Last updated on: January 21, 2013 at 11:54 am By J. Ryan Parker

I’ve found some unintentional yet common threads through some of my filmwatching over the past year, especially in light of having read Serene Jones’ phenomenal book, Trauma and Grace. I’ve watched numerous films that manage to get at the long-term, invasive effects of traumatic experiences. Through sophisticated editing and brilliant acting, these films portray the brokenness of post-trauma life and the (in)ability of victims to live well-adjusted lives. One such film, Martha Marcy May Marlene, also points at the role... Read more

Navigating Terror

Last updated on: January 17, 2013 at 5:06 pm By J. Ryan Parker

I subsisted, largely, on handheld gaming during our travels last year. Thanks to the PS Vita, this wasn’t too much of a hardship. I was, however, looking forward to catching up on some console games, specifically The Walking Dead video game episodes that had been collected onto one disc last month (they were previously available as downloads on PS3, XBox, and mobile devices). It’s been touted as one of, if not the, best games of the year and rightly so,... Read more

Religion and Lit Snapshots: Canticle, Gilead, and Damned

Last updated on: January 15, 2013 at 2:14 pm By J. Ryan Parker

During the recent holiday season, I read three books that could not have been more different from each other, even as they each had religion/religious belief as a central theme. One is a post-apocalyptic novel about a group of monks, the second a novel-length letter written from a dying, elderly pastor to his young son, and the third a satirical novel that is a twisted take on The Breakfast Club set in a version of hell like none we have ever... Read more

Ten for 2012

Last updated on: June 18, 2013 at 9:05 pm By J. Ryan Parker

It’s been an uprooted year for the editors of PopTheology.com, as Ryan and his wife Amy traveled the world for ten months and Richard moved to be with his partner Fred in southern Louisiana. Some films that would have been available in multiple theaters in the coastal cultural center of the Bay Area flitted through for a few brief showings in smaller cities in the United States or in the various obscure spots on the Parkers’ tour of Asia and... Read more

Fear Mongering and the Wisdom of Children

Last updated on: December 28, 2012 at 8:34 am By J. Ryan Parker

I’ve been spending some of this holiday season catching up on films I missed during our world tour this past year, largely raiding local Redbox outlets for the latest DVD releases. By far, my greatest “find” yet has been ParaNorman. In these fearfully irrational times in which we find ourselves, this animated fairy tale is a welcome message for children of all ages…and adults too. (more…) Read more

This is 40…and It Ain't Pretty

Last updated on: December 28, 2012 at 7:59 am By J. Ryan Parker

With the cast that This Is 40 boasts, there were few films that I was as excited about seeing this holiday season. Paul Rudd, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Segel, Albert Brooks, and Charlyne Yi (I’m leaving out Leslie Mann intentionally)…what could go wrong?! Well…pretty much everything. Unfortunately, This is 40 will most likely end up being one of the worst films of the year. (more…) Read more