Popcorn with the Pope

by Mark Bauerlein

David Baird joins the podcast to discuss the new book Popcorn with the Pope: A Guide to the Vatican Film List. Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2024 0

Good Guys Have More Fun: What Works in The Force Awakens

by Alexi Sargeant

I caught Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my family over the past weekend. Before we got to the scrolling text on starry background (greeted by audience cheers) we were bombarded by trailers, mostly for movies about aliens blowing things up, with the occasional detour into mutants and/or Egyptian . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Dec 2015 0

Is There Prayer on Mars?

by Eric M. Riesen

Mars, the Red Planet, has stoked the imagination of stargazers for a long, long time. Could life exist on our planetary neighbor? Most recently, NASA announced that it appears that liquid water, at least occasionally, flows there. A manned landing is certainly within the realm of possibility. . . . . Continue Reading »

12 Nov 2015 0

Ralph Fiennes’ CORIOLANUS

by Carl Scott

I’ve finally now seen the recent film production of Coriolanus , starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes, and it is as I feared , a failure. It’s one of these updating adaptations of a Shakespeare play—in this case the politics and warfare of the early Roman city-state gets refitted . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Aug 2012 0

Carl’s Rock Songbook #53: What Are the Best Films about Popular Music?

by Carl Scott

Since I want films about any and every sort of pop music since the advent of jazz, and about the rock music of 1966 to the present, for this topic I’m sort of overlooking the rock v. rock n’ roll distinction I insist upon elsewhere . And since what I really want are films that convey what . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Jun 2012 0

Super 8 Great, Powerline Wrong

by Carl Scott

One of the guys at the indispensable Powerline, following the lead of Big Hollywood, is saying that the new film Super 8 fits the anti-military pattern we’ve been seeing for years with liberal Hollywood. Well, I saw it at a drive-in, and it was an E-ticket all the way. Very fun, and a . . . . Continue Reading »

27 Jun 2011 0

Ambiguity, Inception and Interpretation

by Jared Bridges

In an interview with Wired about his movie Inception, director Christopher Nolan is questioned about an ambiguous scene in the film:So, there’s no one right answer.Oh no, I’ve got an answer.You do?!Yeah. I’ve always believed that if you make a film with ambiguity, it needs to be . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Dec 2010 0

The Culture Wars Played Out in the American Cinema House

by Christopher Benson

We have seen it before and we will see it again: the culture wars are being played out in the American cinema house, this time covering the topics of same-sex marriage, Darwinism, and Evangelical scandal. Check out the trailers for these recent films.The Kids Are All Right (2010) 8: The Mormon . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Jul 2010 0

Oscar Buzz

by Christopher Benson

I meet people occasionally who think motion pictures, the product Hollywood makes, is merely entertainment, has nothing to do with education. That’s one of the darndest fool fantasies that is current . . . . Anything that brings you to tears by way of drama does something to the deepest roots . . . . Continue Reading »

4 Mar 2010 0

More Radical Anti-Humanism/Environmentalism at the Movies

by Wesley J. Smith

I have warned before that the anti-humanism of Deep Ecology is seeping into the messages of A-List Hollywood films. In previous posts and articles, I pointed to two recent major movies, the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still —in which an alien comes to earth to kill all humans, literally . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Jun 2009 0