Exporting Love, Exporting Hate
One of the more striking contrasts between Rocky's mission and IHOP's is that his orphans have names.
Category: Reviews
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After Tiller (Shane & Wilson)
Abortion is not an abstraction.
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A Fierce Green Fire (Kitchell, 2012)
Mark Kitchell's A Fierce Green Fire takes a longitudinal view, contextualizing arguments about global climate change by showing what led up to them.
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Remote Area Medical (Reichert & Zaman, 2013)
It is hard to think of a proclamation of Jesus that is harder to understand--or believe--than "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I bring this up in the context of considering Remote Area Medical, Jeff Reichert's and Farihah Zaman's documentary because (at least in the first half) the directors focus on the recipients rather than the dispensers of free medical care. They are consistently, if not universally, a hard bunch to love:
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Venice Souvenir (Gaffin, 2013)
Comprised of dozens of short (one or two minute) vignettes, Venice Souvenir attempts to capture the unique flavor of the location that allegedly gets more tourists than Disney Land.
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In America (Sheridan, 2003) — 10 Years Later
Between 1989 and 2003, Jim Sheridan was nominated for six Academy Awards. Three were for writing, two for directing. The last last was as the producer for a best picture… Continue reading "In America (Sheridan, 2003) — 10 Years Later"
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Searching for Sugar Man (Bendjelloul, 2012)
In sublimating every other theme to it, he ends up repressing the film's potential greatness for too long, never fully exploring the deeper questions that transcend the idle narrative curiosity imposed by the artifically constructed mystery.
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Finding Nemo (Stanton and Unkrich, 2003) — 10 Years Later
The older and more experienced I get, the more confidence I have in my own judgment. That's as it should be. When it comes to "family films," however, it feels as though each passing year allows me to drift further and further from any sort of critical consensus about what is desirable within the genre and what particular films meet the criteria for meriting praise.
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Amour (Haneke, 2012)
Negative reviews or critically acclaimed movies are like exclamation points: one only gets an indeterminate but exhaustible number in life before people stop paying attention. Indifferent reviews are more like semi-colons: people begrudgingly admit you are correct but hate you anyway for being such a smarty-pants.
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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (Wirkola, 2013)
From column one select a famous name (historical or fictional). From column two select a mythical creature. From column three select a verb that is in the thesaurus as a synonym for "kill." Ready? Go. Winnie the Pooh: Mummy Exterminator. Ronald Reagan: Unicorn Euthanizer. Johnny Unitas: Mermaid Slayer. Jack and Jill: Mothra Extinguisher. Congratulations, you've just green lit the 2014 winter movie season.