Burning Bush (Holland, 2013)
I am about to recommend a four hour movie--a three episode television miniseries, actually--in Czech, about a dissident student who sets himself on fire to protest the occupation of his country by the Soviet Union.
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Peter Brook: The Tightrope (Brook, 2012)
Film critics don't talk about acting much these days. Have they ever?
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The Thin Place #46: Violence in The Edge of Tomorrow
Back after a hiatus, Ken and Todd discuss Doug Liman's sci-fi film, The Edge of Tomorrow. Why is the way violence is represented in the film particularly disturbing? Are we intended to laugh at it? And why does Todd say the movie reminded him of watching someone play a video game?
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Troy (Petersen, 2004) — 10 Years Later: Part III
Think for a moment. How interesting is it that the Iliad is one of the most famous and inspiring stories in the history of the world? (As legend has it, Alexander the Great always kept copy of the Iliad under his pillow.) I bet this seems strange to many of us now, living with our modern ideas of morality, with our culture’s sensitivity to individual “natural rights,” with our entertainment’s cardboard cutout characters who are designed to be identified with, sympathized with, copied, emulated, worshipped, cheered for, etc. It is quite true that the Iliad does not possess our modern sensibilities, whether in politics or in entertainment.
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Burt’s Buzz (Shapiro, 2013)
The film strives so hard to model its subject that its practically not there.
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Manuscripts Don’t Burn (Rasoulof, 2013)
The setting of Manuscripts Don't Burn may be painstakingly specific, but its themes are broad, perhaps even universal. How much are we willing to risk, to sacrifice, for freedom of speech? Why does one act of violence seemingly begin a never ending chain?
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22 Jump Street (Lord & Miller, 2014)
For now, I'll will just say that my defense of 22 Jump Street is nearly identical to my defense of Moms' Night Out. You can make a list as long as my arm of things wrong with the movie, and I won't disagree. But I laughed.
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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit — Now Available on DVD
The new Jack Ryan doesn't so much have greatness thrust upon him as shoved down his—and our—throat.
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Kids’ Rights: The Business of Adoption (Dudko and Rudnieva, 2014)
A new documentary claims that there are over 132 million orphans in state custody. In a given year, less than 1 in 500 of them will be adopted. Are restrictions against perspective parents too rigorous? Why are those willing to parent being turned away?
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What does the motto “Inconspicuously Christian” mean?
By choosing “Inconspicuously Christian” as a motto for this film blog, I hope to signal two things...