Tinsel
When a youth becomes aware of horrors of humanity, does he react with hope or despair? Read more
When a youth becomes aware of horrors of humanity, does he react with hope or despair? Read more
In a movie landscape dominated by teen heroes, The Giver makes the case for grown-up freedom. Read more
Warning: This analysis contains spoilers that include the film’s ending. For atheists who love movies, the trumpeting and stomping elephant in the room all year long has been God’s Not Dead (hereafter referred to as GND). Although a few Christian film critics laudably objected to this aesthetic shop of horrors (Peter Chattaway’s detailed evisceration is my favorite), that didn’t prevent GND from becoming the top-grossing Christian movie in film history. For those unfamiliar with its basic storyline, this movie situates its freshman... Read more
Roger Ebert (1942-2013) exemplified the best traits of a film critic. For over forty years, he excelled as a populist communicator unafraid to expose his audience to novel cinematic works. I am grateful for the thousands of reviews that contribute to his literary legacy, but how I would’ve loved to attend one of his 5-hour frame-by-frame analyses of such classics as The Third Man. As a freethinker, I find much to admire in his meditations upon religious belief and the afterlife, and I wholeheartedly share... Read more
When it comes to the romantic comedy genre, there’s not much to break away from. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end. In fact, by definition, romantic comedies are the most predictable movies because you’re almost guaranteed the ending. The viewing pleasure is not in the uncertainty but in the ride. Of course, there have been successful exceptions in the past. Woody Allen’s Annie Hall may have been the first film to tip the genre... Read more
Who would’ve thought a film about subatomic physics could be so stirring and virtuous? Particle Fever surpassed my expectations as the best new documentary I’ve seen this year. Read more
Jeff Bridges has worked on 'The Giver' for 20 years. He calls it a beautiful poem. Read more
The Giver by Lois Lowry is one of those books that leave me utterly confused, nearly crying, and covered with goose bumps. Read more
20 years ago, Jeff Bridges directed his father Lloyd in a home version of 'The Giver.' The world needs this footage! Read more
If it sounds like a disastrous mix of clichés, a messy pastiche of Blues Brothers and Partridge Family, Begin Again manages to rise far above it. Read more
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