Archive for the ‘Movies’ Category
“The Last Exorcism,” a Review
“If you believe in God, you have to believe in the Devil.” Or so said the reverend Cotton Marcus in Eli Roth’s new movie, The Last Exorcism. That’s even the tagline on some of the move posters. Actually, I think he’s got it wrong. It should be the other way around: “if you believe in [...]
Winners and Losers, at the Oscars
I know this observation is a couple of weeks overdue, but I figured I’d go ahead and put this out there. Did you happen to notice that there were some changes in this year’s Academy Awards show on television? For one thing, even though they doubled the number of Best Picture nominees from five to [...]
“Twilight,” the Book: A Review
So I finally read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, the vampire mega-hit that is so popular today with early adolescent girls. I give it a B-.
Until about the last twenty pages, the plot remained strong and engaging. I appreciate the unique remote Northwest setting, with its rain-drenched gloomy atmosphere. Vampires, it seems, do [...]
Leap Like Calves
Below is the homily I preached this morning in Kramer Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN. I think I overdid it a bit with the references, quotes and illustrations. As the dean said afterward, “well that was a post-modern romp.”
Text: Malachi 4: 1-6
This is the way the world ends
This is the [...]
Paranormal Activity: Newest Nail-Biting Frightfest You Won’t Soon Forget
There is a new film called Paranormal Activity that some people are calling one of the scariest movies ever made. Produced in 2007 by unknowns with just $11,000 and shot in seven days, it’s being compared to The Blair Witch Project from ten years ago. It too was made by amateur filmmakers for a pittance [...]
Wassup with this Latest Vampire Craze?
You’d have to try pretty hard not to notice that vampires have invaded our popular culture to an astounding degree in recent years. What’s up with that? Vampire legends have existed in many cultures for many centuries and there have been quite a few variations along the way. Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, came out in [...]
Movie Review: District 9
District 9 is proof that you don’t need a ginormous budget or famous faces to put together a terrific movie. The special effects were stunning. The unknown main actor deserves to win awards. And the documentary style utilized by The Blair Witch Project (one of the scariest movies I have ever seen), Cloverfield, and Quarantine [...]
Movie Review: “Knowing”
I’ve always liked Nicolas Cage. He’s very talented but I must say that his career has many highs and lows. Our family really liked the National Treasure pics. 2007′s Ghost Rider was really low. But his latest film, Knowing, is thankfully on the higher end of the spectrum. Not that it’s incredibly original. Just another [...]
“What Goes Up…
…must come down.” There is a movie, new to DVD, that you may be interested in checking out called What Goes Up. Admittedly, most critics gave it a poor review. But what do they know?
Like all good stories, this movie asks some intriguing questions.
The film is about heroism. Why do we need heroes? And what [...]
“Don’t Come Knocking” from Wim Wenders
What if someone told the story of the Prodigal Son with an inventive twist? The story of the Prodigal Father. What would that look like?
In 2005, the masterful German director Wim Wenders, well known for the fabulous Wings of Desire, gave us Don’t Come Knocking starring Sam Shepard. The story was, in [...]
