Tag Archives: film
Lenten music: Bonhoeffer, Dead Poet’s Society and the gift of being an alternative song
I wanted to share a portion of a letter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer written to his friend Eberhard Bethge while Bonhoeffer was in prison. Taproot Theatre is currently showing a marvelous dramatization of Bonhoeffer’s last days called “The Beams are Creaking” and it led me to re-read his Letters and Papers from Prison. Given that I just finished a book on pop music and that I think most naturally in … There’s more to read here.
Dragon Tattoo, Crazy Heart, Facebook and the End of Forgiveness
Like so many people this year, I have been swept up into the world of Lisbeth Salander and the Millennium Trilogy of the late Stieg Larsson that began with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Needless to say, the books follow a fairly predicable pot boiler thriller formula akin to a Scott Turow, Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy novel: an innocence protagonist is thrust (whether by chance or fate – you … There’s more to read here.
Toy Story and the kenotic self – The Gospel according to Andy
To escape the Seattle heatwave, my daughters took me to see “Toy Story 3″ last night (air conditioning and a good flick beat sitting in our house that was reaching 90 degrees upstairs). I had read quite a few reviews and heard that Pixar really hit the ball over the back field fence in completing the Toy Story trilogy and this was certainly the case. My friend Jeff Overstreet – … There’s more to read here.
The Gospel according to George Bailey: Musings on “It’s a Wonderful Life”
As with most years, my wife and I sat in front of the fireplace and watched “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Perhaps it is because my Scots-Irish heritage goes back to the Bailey clan that I connect with George’s bildungsroman so well. I have to admit that I am a bit of a weeper when it comes to such things, and after years of watching the film (pretty much … There’s more to read here.
Identity – On Derek Zoolander and finding our own ‘true’ face
In the 2001 film Zoolander, Ben Stiller plays a male model Derek Zoolander who is capable of seemingly endless sharp focused facial poses – Blue Steel, Le Tigre, Magnum – that are ultimately the same face. It isnt like Ben Stiller to embrace the depth of Greek tragedy, but this alone captures the heart of ‘persona’ – the Greek notion of theatre where multiple ‘personas’ or masks are used … There’s more to read here.
