Tag: Cinematography

  • First They Killed My Father

    First They Killed My Father

    Most people living today have only a vague memory of the Vietnam War, or none at all.  As a teenager growing up in a very conservative area my memories were taken from Walter Cronkite’s TV reports, my local paper, and a few radio broadcasts. We were told America was sending soldiers to Southeast Asia to…

  • Blade Runner 2049

    Blade Runner 2049

    Blade Runner is a classic. That’s undisputed. The 1982 film, directed by Ridley Scott, is a breathtaking blend of noir and science-fiction that offers us a glimpse of the future we desire and dread. Harrison Ford shines as Rick Deckard, a “Blade Runner” tasked with hunting down and killing a group of rogue replicants. Replicants…

  • Downhill Racer

    Downhill Racer

    In junior high, I was given the most fantastic textbook. That might seem an oxymoron to you and maybe I had low standards at the time, but it was an English textbook, and what I remember are the short stories, several of which among the best I’ve ever read. One of them, published in 1980,…

  • It

    It

    Stephen King doesn’t typically make the “must read” list for Christians. On the surface, his tales appear dark and deranged, but a deeper look reveals a different story. Regardless of whether King is a practicing Christian (he declared himself one on his website, but has since pushed back on the label), his work speaks for…

  • Paris Blues

    Paris Blues

    Paris Blues has many shades, but only one is visible to us: a whole crew wrote and rewrote the script, and in receiving the reports on these various drafts, there is much to mourn. Primarily, Sidney Poitier, “whose story this ought to be,”* dropping to third billing, after Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, cast as…

  • Apologia for Malick

    Apologia for Malick

    Not that Terrence Malick needs a defense, but it seems that he has taken some heat from the forum of critics (including some of our own) as of late. This is understandable; Malick films tend to move against the grain of traditional narrative and shooting style. Anything we are unaccustomed to or unacquainted with, that…

  • Dunkirk

    Dunkirk

    As Hollywood obsesses over superhero movies, power has shifted from directors to producers. Just ask Edgar Wright and Patty Jenkins — two veteran directors who dropped blockbuster projects after learning Marvel Studios was in charge, not them. But there is one director who continues to buck the trend and maintain his legacy as a true…

  • Song to Song

    Song to Song

    Chances are high that you haven’t seen Terrence Malick’s new film Song to Song. Few people have. It’s only grossed $421,856 since opening in limited release a month ago. The critical reception has been equally poor. Things weren’t always this way for Malick. Six years ago, he released The Tree of Life to universal acclaim…

  • Oscars 2017 – Who Should Win? (Part One)

    Oscars 2017 – Who Should Win? (Part One)

    The calendar may say we’re in a new year, but 2016 is alive and well for movie lovers. Our calendar runs March to March, because the year in film doesn’t end until Oscar night. The Oscars are our Super Bowl. Everything leads to the one night where movie fans across the world gather together to…

  • La La Land

    La La Land

    At the end of 2016, we need a movie like La La Land. Musicals offer an alternate universe where people don’t sit around mad at each other, they get out on the freeway and sing together. The film is a throwback to the classic era of old-school Hollywood, while still managing to be relevant and…