Whose Playground Is This?: The Florida Project (2017) & The Beach Bum (2019)
Florida was a meme long before the internet. A vacation destination, a retirement home, a place where dreams came true—all the manufactured joy money can buy. For all of Florida’s appealing façade, it often seems that common sense gets trapped…
of the 1960s
As we continue into the 1960s, we see, once again, another dramatic shift in the film industry. Theater palaces are being forgotten in the wake of the creation of multiplexes. As history proves time and time again, capitalism stokes the…
Reel World Interview #005: Camp Manna
On this edition of Reel World Interviews: We chat with some of the creators and actors from the upcoming film, Camp Manna. We spend a bit of time getting to know writer/director duo Eric Scott Johnson and Eric Machiela and…
Reel World: Rewind #019 – Donnie Darko
On this episode of Reel World: Rewind . . . Blaine and Shannon are joined by Joe Nooft to talk about Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko (2001). They talk about their first experiences with the film, its allusions to 80s cinema, and possible interpretations of…
Oh! The Horror… | of Slaughtered and Transformed Masculinity
Clearly Rambo (I refer to the general type) has his secure place in popular cinema. That place is not horror, however. If Rambo were to wander out of the action genre into a slasher film, he would end up dead.…
God’s Grace Has the Last Word in Martin Scorsese’s Silence
There are many wonderful reviews and critiques out there for Martin Scorsese’s latest film (and I would dare say, masterpiece) Silence. What I want to dive into is the faith journey of the most central character, Father Sebastião Rodrigues, and…
Lessons of Love Found in THE CONJURING
I love horror movies. More specifically, I love horror movies dealing with the paranormal. And to break that down even further, I love horror movies dealing with the demoniac. However, even though I grew up reading Goosebumps books and watching…
Review| Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
I’ve never, in any meaningful way, consumed or been a part of the accouterments associated with the Evangelical Christian subculture. I didn’t grow up going to a youth group, I didn’t listen to Christian music, and I never read any…
Reviewing The Classics| The Day the Earth Stood Still
When director Robert Wise’s Sci-Fi drama, The Day the Earth Stood Still, debuted in 1951 it was met with mostly positive acclaim by critics but not as widely seen by audiences of the day. It finished 52nd at the box…
A Theology of the Force – Part 2
This is a continuation of an essay analysis of the Force from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. If you have not, read A Theology of the Force – Part 1 before continuing with this article. Also, a quick note on sources…