Author: Jonathan Erdman

  • Bourne vs. Bond: Two American Stories

    Bourne vs. Bond: Two American Stories

    “You’re no use to anyone now.” — M to James Bond in Die Another Day, 2002. “I volunteered because of a lie.” — Jason Bourne James Bond and Jason Bourne, the two super spies of cinema. They stand alone at the top of the genre as the two most recognizable and influential characters in the…

  • The Innocents

    The Innocents

    Faith is twenty four hours of doubt, and one minute of hope. Serene liturgical music fills the ears as the film opens, the voices of women, nuns in a contemplative convent. And we are held there, just long enough, long enough to feel the way a sacred space can open something within us, can deepen…

  • Searching for Sugar Man

    Searching for Sugar Man

    What if Bob Dylan had never sold a record? Imagine that. Imagine that none of us have ever listened to one of America’s greatest singer-songwriters. What if one our most iconic musicians had cut two albums — just two — but we’ve never heard the songs; we’ve never heard “Mr. Tambourine Man” or “Like A…

  • Carol

    Carol

    “I see her the same instant she seems me, and instantly, I love her. Instantly, I am terrified, because I know she knows I am terrified and that I love her. Though there are seven girls between us, I know, she knows, she will come to me and have me wait on her.” This was…

  • Her

    Her

    The film opens with a man’s voice. It’s a sincere voice, affectionate, sensual yet caring. The camera slowly pans over the man’s face, and he’s reading an intimate letter, a letter that (we assume) is written to the person he loves. The man’s words are tender and earnest, and it is instantly familiar and soothing…

  • Gone Girl

    Gone Girl

    If you’re into a psychological thriller of the kind to make Hitchcock happy, then consider Gone Girl for a cold, late winter’s night film. A chill and a thrill. The thrill is in following the character development of characters who are more mysterious (even to themselves) than may meet the eye. Mysteries within mysteries. The…

  • It’s a Wonderful Life

    It’s a Wonderful Life

    If you’re looking to gratify a sense of nostalgia, or if you want to be stimulated by a film that has a good old-fashioned love story, or if you have an itch to see someone stick it to the man and watch an underdog fight the powers-that-be, or if you have a soft spot for…

  • The Force and the Death of God

    The Force and the Death of God

    We are now six deep. In two months, it will be seven. In two months, the enchantment of the Star Wars Universe will expand and our intrigue will deepen. It’s no longer just a world of weird Wookies and speculative science fiction. Many of us, myself included, grew up with access to the Star Wars…

  • A Few Thoughts On Using the Force

    A Few Thoughts On Using the Force

    I’d like to open the comments of this article to anyone who wishes to confess that they’ve tried to use the Force. Maybe you haven’t found yourself up-side-down like Luke Skywalker, lifting rocks up and gently moving them through the air. Perhaps you’ve never been able to rearrange the furniture in your living room while…

  • Back to Brokeback Mountain

    Back to Brokeback Mountain

    Personally, I wouldn’t have guessed that things would have moved so fast — not ten years ago. Back then I wasn’t even quite sure where I stood on the issue of gay marriage. Like most thoughtful Christians in their late twenties, I was in a bit of an intellectual and political pickle. There was the…