Review| Fences
“Some people build fences to keep people out…and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you.” – (2.1.32) of August Wilson’s Fences I had no familiarity with August Wilson or…
Oh! The Horror… | of a Very Scary ‘Black Christmas’
Before ‘The Shape’ ever stepped foot back in Haddonfield, Illinois and Jill Johnson was warned that the terrifying phone calls were coming from inside the house, there was ‘Billy,’ the perverted killer in the sorority house attic who wreaked terror…
Review| Nocturnal Animals
“The very nature of love is something that requires sacrifice of self; an emptying of ego, pride and want so that the other person becomes the recipient of all that we have to offer…”
#115 – Hacksaw Ridge and More Than Pacifism
On this episode of the Reel World Theology Podcast: After ten years of living in scrutiny from his Hollywood peers and the public at large, Mel Gibson is back in 2016 with his latest directorial debut, Hacksaw Ridge. For the…
Oh! The Horror… | of Double Features
I am so pleased this week to be collaborating with a good friend of mine, Joseph Nooft, who is a contributor for Mockingbird. We wanted to bring to you a couple of suggestions each for some double features—a non-horror film…
Review| ‘Hacksaw Ridge’, Pacifism, and Mel Gibson’s Surrender
With the mere mention of a new creative endeavor by Mel Gibson, the public memory once again recalls the man’s actions ten years ago as he drunkenly accosted police with anti-Semitic and misogynistic language. It was an ugly scene and…
Reel World Rewind #009 – Vampyr (1932)
On this episode of Reel World: Rewind, Blaine is joined by Blake Collier to talk about Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932). While Dreyer’s take on the vampire myth, with its refusal to submit to basic rules of continuity editing, is deliberately…
Oh! The Horror… of Broken Bodies & Dreadful Revelations
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. — Matt. 11:12 (KJV) “Martyrs are exceptional people. They survive pain; they survive total deprivation. They bear…
Oh! The Horror… of ‘Blair Witch’ (2016)
Oh! The Horror… | Of Blair Witch (2016) “A third and final transformation to the magic circle has to do with the disappearance of the circle itself, while its powers still remain in effect. During [Lovecraft’s story, “From Beyond”], as…
Oh! The Horror… of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999) & ‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2’ (2000)
The Blair Witch Project’s promotional attack in 1999, leading up to its July release, was a marvel on the levels of The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Matter of fact, it may have been the perfect combination of…