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Samuel JamesFilm Reviews/HollywoodGender
The 1946 classic 'It's a Wonderful Life' offers an essential insight into male psychology that can help us address the crises facing men.
Zephram FosterFilm Reviews/HollywoodLiterature
Horror, by its very nature, points us to supernatural realities, whether intentional or not.
Robert BrownReadingFilm Reviews/HollywoodStar Wars
Yoda's correction of Luke in 'The Last Jedi' is suggestive of how we should all relate to classic texts and to our reading lives more generally.
Chris KrychoArtEvangelicalsFilm Reviews/Hollywoodnoah
For evangelicals, Noah works as a sort of theological-artistic Rorschach test. We seem to find it in what we expect given its origins and our disposition.
Brett McCrackenMediaTechnologyFilm Reviews/HollywoodCultureiPodMad MenWalt Whitmanthe cloudGravity
Does the iWorld of cloud-based media intake leave us feeling isolated, adrift? Do movies like "Gravity" and "All is Lost" reflect anxiety of the iPod era?
Brett McCrackenFilm Reviews/HollywoodCulturebodyHungerembodimentShameMichael Fassbendertheology of bodySolomon Northrup
Steve McQueen's films--Hunger (2008), Shame (2011), and 12 Years a Slave (2013)--each depict visceral, sometimes brutal explorations of human embodiment.
Brett McCrackenTimeFilm Reviews/HollywoodRoger EbertUp SeriesW.H. AudenMichael AptedJulie DelpyRichard Linklater
Can time be grasped? Richard Linklater's "Before" films and Michael Apted's "Up" series suggest that cinema may come as close as any to "catching" time.
Chris KrychoFilm Reviews/HollywoodLiteratureJ. R. R. TolkienHollywoodPeter Jacksonheroism
Yes, inner conflict is real, and tormented struggle is a major part of our lives. But so is the valiant hero.
Guest WriterFilm Reviews/Hollywood
The 2012 Anna Karenina film exists much closer to the book than most adaptations. Tolstoy captures humanity better than most; Anna Karenina is timeless.
Brett McCrackenFilm Reviews/HollywoodQuentin Tarantinotorturemovie violenceZero Dark ThirtyNewtownKathryn Bigelow
In a movie, does depiction equal endorsement? A look at the controversies in Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" & Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."
Guest WriterFilm Reviews/Hollywood
"Les Miserables" fails as a musical, though the book needs to be read. In fact, that's why the book needs to be read: the musical fails.
Brett McCrackenFilm Reviews/HollywoodSiegfried KracauerTom HooperVictor HugoMichael GersonLes Miserablesfilm theory
Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables" is criticized as often as it is lauded. Critic Brett McCracken takes a look at why it's OK that "Les Mis" moves us.