The Sower (Francen, 2017)
The Sower is not a great film, but it is so much better than any summary of its tawdry premise could make it sound that I’m tempted to just give… Continue reading "The Sower (Francen, 2017)"
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Gertrud (Dreyer, 1964)
Arts & Faith Spiritually Significant Films on Growing Old(er): #13 Carl Theodor Dreyer’s final film, Gertrud, is one of those slow, stand-offish masterpieces that tends to embolden naysayers to such… Continue reading "Gertrud (Dreyer, 1964)"
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Les Misérables (Shankland, 2019)
In the Spring of 1982, I switched sections of my high-school English class. Bored by the lackadaisical pace of American educational learning and being (I realize in retrospect) a bit… Continue reading "Les Misérables (Shankland, 2019)"
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Tolkien (Karukoski, 2019)
One can’t study J. R. R. Tolkien for very long without encountering his preface to The Lord of the Rings in which he rejects forcefully any interpretations of that work… Continue reading "Tolkien (Karukoski, 2019)"
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Breakthrough (Dawson, 2019)
I guess there are some features of this review that could be considered plot spoilers, although the film’s very premise renders the notion of the plot’s outcome being a “spoiler”… Continue reading "Breakthrough (Dawson, 2019)"
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Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins (Engel, 2019) — Full Frame 2019
Raise Hell is the film I kinda hoped that Life Itself would be: angry, funny, sad, and insightful. It probes the life of its subject, always celebrating Ivins and her… Continue reading "Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins (Engel, 2019) — Full Frame 2019"
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Jim Allison: Breakthrough (Haney, 2019) — Full Frame 2019
Whenever I attend a film festival, particularly the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, I try to schedule at least one film near the beginning or the end with the potential… Continue reading "Jim Allison: Breakthrough (Haney, 2019) — Full Frame 2019"
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Jesus: His Life (2019)
There is a scene early in the first episode of Jesus: His Life, where Robert Cargill cavalierly announces that the census which requires Joseph to take Mary to Bethlehem on… Continue reading "Jesus: His Life (2019)"
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Faith, Hope & Love (Englert and Krantz, 2019)
Faith, Hope & Love unites two of the most formulaic genres in today’s movies: the romantic comedy and the “Christian” film. Given that starting point, the film shouldn’t work nearly… Continue reading "Faith, Hope & Love (Englert and Krantz, 2019)"
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Captain Marvel (Boden and Fleck)
It’s been roughly four years (and a rough four years) since I gave a 1 1/2 star review to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, I have admitted to liking… Continue reading "Captain Marvel (Boden and Fleck)"