Animated Conversations

December 4, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

The Pre-Oscars — Hollywood’s own special brand of election in(s)anity — have begun in earnest. The big day (February 24th) feels interminably distant, and the next few months will doubtless prove as relentlessness in their demands “for your consideration” as ever. On the other hand, the Cinematic Silly Season — read that out loud; it sounds funnier than it looks — provides me with one of my favorite opportunities: the chance to think about the Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short candidates. That... Read more

A Lifelong Engagement

December 3, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

Below, a series of quotes that have been rattling around in my head all weekend: “…the Kingdom which the Gospel proclaims is lived by men and women who are profoundly linked to a culture, and the building up of the Kingdom cannot avoid borrowing the elements of human culture or cultures. ‘A faith that places itself on the margin of what is human, of what is therefore culture, would be a faith unfaithful to the fullness of what the Word... Read more

Music and Meditation for the First Sunday of Advent

December 2, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

As fellow Catholic Portalite Katrina recently cataloged, there is an extraordinary amount of Christmas music (both heavenly and horrendous.) Yet despite the seemingly-endless proliferation/commercialization of melodic good cheer for the Big Event itself, there is shockingly little Adventine music. My favorite exception to this depressingly-accurate rule? BWV 62 – “”Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland (“Come now, Savior of the Gentiles)” — a cantata from J.S. Bach written for the First Sunday of Advent. Checking economically in at just under twenty... Read more

Navigating the Tricky Waters of Childhood Memories

November 29, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

Childhood nostalgia can be a harsh taskmistress — powerful emotional responses triggered by memories that are not entirely clear, and sometimes completely unremembered until the very moment the trigger event takes place. I just had one of those moments. Two of Sundance 2012’s breakout stars are preparing for another adventure, as the “Safety Not Guaranteed” team of Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly have been hired to rewrite Disney’s “Flight of the Navigator” remake, which will be developed with as a... Read more

Monteverdi’s Marian Love Letter

November 28, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

Over at my old stomping grounds, the incomparable Robert Reilly just reminded me of something that has confounded me for years: I love Monteverdi’s Vespers. “Why confounding,” you ask? Because despite my relatively large musical sweet spot, I have always struggled to enjoy (or even to appreciate) Renaissance music. When confronted by a friend a few years back, I verbosely explained that “the melodic ideas expressed by most composers of that era are a trifle too dissonant for my Baroque-trained ears.”... Read more

The Gleam of Chrome Is Irresistible

November 27, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

I’m definitely a Chrome person. And it’s not just because I’m trying to tweak Raymond Loewy. I think it’s a reflection of the fact that I’m right in Google’s wheelhouse: I love “one-stop shopping,” I’m almost completely oblivious (aka “recklessly indifferent”) when it comes to privacy concerns, and the ability to log in from various locations is a life-saver when shuttling between the office and home. Also, I’ll be honest: I love being the “cool kid” in the various browser... Read more

Where I’m Goin’ Looks An Awful Lot Like Where I’ve Been

November 26, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

Today’s a bit of an anniversary for me. Two years ago to the day, I published my first “Through a Lens, Darkly” article, unleashing upon the world a two-year reign of terror and half-baked ideas on the cinematic arts. Looking back some seventy essays and entirely too many words later, I realized that I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun along the way. I also realized that I’ve had a tremendous amount of fun rubbing shoulders with the Catholic Portal’s... Read more

The Unimpeachable Testimony of Dr. John Watson

July 17, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

As someone who spent countless hours with his adolescent nose buried in the pages of The Complete Illustrated Strand Sherlock Holmes (Facsimile Edition), there are few activities that give me more pleasure than comparing, contrasting, and critiquing the many cinematic faces of The World’s Most Portrayed Literary Human. Interpreted by more than seventy-five separate actors, Conan Doyle’s legendary detective has been kneaded into countless permutations, all with varying levels of faithfulness to the original. Robert Downey, Jr.’s Steampunk Sherlock? Love him, but can’t shake... Read more

“Seven Chances” and Answered Prayers Unrecognized

April 30, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

A quick scan of the Lens’ archives reveals my propensity for darker cinematic fare. Nervous friends regularly ask me how I can bear to watch so many sad films. The answer, I tell them, is that I am not sad. They maintain an understandable skepticism. Therefore, in stark contrast with my usual, I blithely pronounce this week’s column Darkness Free. We will focus on one of the finest silent comedies of all time: Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances. A masterpiece rarely matched by the... Read more

Embracing Martha While Pining for Mary: Win-Win?

April 23, 2012 By Joseph Susanka

Life in a household of six boys often feels relentlessly jumbled and overwhelming. The wall of sound that greets me on my return home each day; the coughing, congestion and continual runny noses; the endless cycle of feeding, cleaning, and caring for this beloved brood of mine—my wife and I find ourselves willing-yet-worn-thin on the Sisyphean waterwheel of our sons’ lives. In this context, I recently had the chance to watch Tom McCarthy’s largely overlooked Win Win for the first time, and... Read more