I have been radio silent here for some time. This is a terrible time in our nation’s history, and I don’t think a blog can solve it. In fact, blogs have too often been part of the problem, with their huffy headlines and hot takes. In addition, I am working many more hours than when I started, and I don’t have the time to keep up with comments that I used to have, though I deeply value the people I’ve... Read more
This post is part of a ten-part series drawing from the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films. You can read the introduction the series here. Please note that this article contains spoilers. I first heard about The Bicycle Thief, the 1948 film by Vittorio de Sica, at a writers conference, where it was held up as an admirable example of spare plotting and basic story structure, and described as one of the greatest films of all time. In this film,... Read more
Readers, with each new tragedy and act of violence that hits the news, my words feel more inadequate. It’s a terrible feeling for someone who has always been a writer; words are my “thing.” If I could just say the right words, I could persuade, engage, heal, sort out this mess of a world. Except that social media, blogging, relationships … all of it just brings to the forefront the inadequacy of my words, of anyone’s words to fix this... Read more
A claim has been going around that one Donald J. Trump has converted to Christianity. A man I looked up to as a child, Dr. James Dobson, is asserting that prosperity theology preacher Paula White has led him to a born-again faith. While I try to pray frequently that Trump does indeed come to a point of conversion, turning from darkness to light, from selfishness to care of neighbor, from self to God, that this has occurred now seems (by... Read more
This post is part of a ten-part series drawing from the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films. You can read the introduction the series here, along with the schedule of films to be featured. This film is being featured out of order as I work to acquire a copy of The Bicycle Thief. If there is anything the polarized debate about abortion needs a lot more of, it is story, narrative, lived experience of those who have been personally involved... Read more
If my past review of The Armor of Light (a film about Rev. Rob Schenck, a pro-life pastor who has begun to speak out about American evangelicals’ love affair with guns) got your attention, you have an opportunity to see this amazing documentary on PBS’s Independent Lens tonight. You can find a lot more information on the Independent Lens website. The documentary will be followed by a town hall meeting called Guns in America. In the past, Independent Lens documentaries... Read more
Our nation is currently beset by a candidacy that is based around one fundamental principle: winning. All that matters is winning, dominating, conquering. It doesn’t matter how one does this or who gets trodden underfoot. Winning is the one true value and virtue of the Trump campaign, under which everything and everyone else is subsumed. You win if you have the hottest wife. Pro-life wins if you discover that someone who could have been aborted become a winner, a “superstar.”... Read more
This post is part of a ten-part series drawing from the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films. You can read the introduction the series here, along with the schedule of films to be featured. I don’t even know how to begin to talk about the visual masterpiece that is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Why is it so staggeringly effective? It has almost no plot and the only character given significant development is the supercomputer HAL 9000 that we... Read more
Oh, readers. I have been getting so behind on my commitments. That includes my commitment to the Arts and Faith 100 film blogging series I’ve been working through. Rather than catch up only to have another deadline looming over me, here is a more realistic schedule for the remainder of the posts. My apologies for the delays! April 29–Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (Amazon–available for rental) May 13–The Bicycle Thief (Amazon–available for rental) May 27–4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2... Read more
This post is part of a ten-part series drawing from the Arts and Faith Top 100 Films. You can read the introduction the series here, along with the schedule of films to be featured. Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” –Revelation 19:9, NIV The Apostle’s Creed begins, “I believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth.” That bare statement forever attaches the Christian... Read more
Rebecca Florence Miller
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