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Black Narcissus
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The Girl on the Train
I suspect most of us have had to deal with someone plagued by the condition (some would say disease) of alcoholism. In American society we are offered an alcoholic drink at almost every social occasion and we are often judged negatively if we do not partake. It is estimated that one of three adults are…
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Life, Animated
Almost everyone has a history with Disney animated movies, especially those of us who profess to be film junkies. We weren’t taking the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorcese as children. Instead, we were covering our faces with blankets as Bambi and his mother ran from hunters or when Scar pushed Mufasa into a…
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Genius
There is a tendency, in this human nature of ours, to distill a thing into what we consider its most fundamental. Sex becomes pleasure, knowledge becomes a recitation of facts, culture becomes equitable with skin color. These derivations all seem essential in some ways, but, through this distillation, we lose the whole and are left…
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Queen of Katwe
Disney’s Queen of Katwe remains within the tradition of unintentional Christian filmmaking that prefers subtle nuances and unspoken demonstrations of conviction over tired clichés, recycled tropes, wooden characters, and soap-boxy platitudes positing overly simplistic answers to the complexities of life lived in a fallen world. In veteran director Mira Nair’s vision, we see strands of…
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The Light Between Oceans
Lighthouses hold a romantic fascination for most of us. Standing on the edge of civilization, broadcasting a beacon of light to those struggling to get back home, showing the way in the fiercest of storms and warning off ships from dangerous reefs. How many of us have heard our ministers use lighthouses as an analogy…
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Birth of a Nation
Few films arrive with as much controversy as Birth of a Nation. A promising run on the festival circuit (complete with a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festival) gave way to scandal when disturbing details emerged about writer/director/star Nate Parker’s past. The movie is here now, but is it any good? Birth of a…
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One Hundred Thirty-Six Years of Ben-Hur
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The Magnificent Seven
It seems as if every year, cinephiles are forced to reckon with an increasingly cyclical lineup of films. Beginning of the year throwaways; spring surprises; summer blockbusters; fall inbetweeners (I’ll explain); and winter Oscar bait. The inbetweeners always tend to be interesting. They’re the films that have the feel of the summer blockbuster, but also…
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Snowden
The prodigal son returns! Tim is back on the show to talk about the big release of September — Oliver Stone’s Snowden. Snowden tells the true story of Edward Snowden, a brilliant mind who rises through the ranks of the CIA only to expose the agency after discovering the government practice of spying on its…
