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This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection
If faith can give meaning to one’s life, conversely, losing the meaning of life can make one lose faith. We may look at the heroine of This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, Mantoa, an old widow who first suffers from bereavement and then eviction with all her neighbors. In this plight, what does…
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My Darling Vivian
The legacy of Johnny Cash is eternally tied to the concept of, “walking the line.” The 1956 ballad is one of his most enduring hits. The 2005 Hollywood biopic took its name from the same song. His public struggles with substance abuse (and later declaration of Christian faith) all played into the weaving meta-narrative of…
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A Hidden Life
Have you ever watched a movie that hit you so squarely it left you without words? I don’t remember the last time I felt that way about a movie. I’ve watched some great films, but discussion seemed so natural and readily available almost before the credits began rolling. I have not hidden my personal sentiments…
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Just Mercy
Reproductive justice. Climate justice. Food justice. Social justice. Append the word “justice” to any other word and you’ve got a ready-made brand platform for niche activism. As cultural forces shape the meaning of words over time, they risk losing their specificity and sharpness. The word “justice” risks dissipating into a partisan nebula. Depending which side…
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The Irishman
Christmas movies are overrated. Why not spend the holidays with a film full of sociopaths instead? That was Netflix’s gamble when they released Martin Scorsese’s latest offering on their streaming platform in December. According to them, 26 million people have streamed the movie to date. Clearly, the gamble paid off. Scorsese has made a lot…
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Parasite
As protests spring up worldwide and economic populism becomes the defining politic of the moment, it was only a matter of time before a film tapped into the zeitgeist. That film is Parasite. The movie, directed by Bong Joon-Ho, nabbed the Palm d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, opened in wide release across the…
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Ad Astra
I entered the film Ad Astra (or “to the stars”) not really knowing what to expect other than it was another Brad Pitt vehicle. Almost coincident to his star turn with great reviews in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Pitt is also featured in this film. Would it be a cheap knock-off science…
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I lost my body (J’ai perdu mon corps)
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Joker
No film in recent memory has been as polarizing as Joker. A scroll through Rotten Tomatoes reveals a spectrum of reactions ranging from the highest praise of the year to anger that the movie was even made. One thing’s for sure though: everyone has seen it. Joker is officially the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time…
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Under the Shadow (زیر سایه)
The “haunted house” trope – an abandoned Victorian mansion sitting alone in the middle of a great estate or a crumbling castle on a rain-swept hillside – has been urbanized over the last thirty years. Our modern cities don’t have enough noise and technology to keep ghosts away. Candyman sets a vengeful spirit among Chicago‘s…
