(There are some spoilers for the film The Banshees of Inisherin ahead.) Colm Doherty cares about important things. A lifelong resident of the fictional Irish island Inisherin, Colm has spent his days playing music and chatting at the pub with his best friend, Pádraic. But when stricken by existential dread—hastened in part by the 1923 Irish Civil …
Caring About the Little Things In The Films of 2022 Read More »
Ant-Man doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Even when he’s trapped in a prison cell in the mysterious other world known as the Quantum Realm, staring down his purple-and-green-suited captor, Kang the Conqueror, the superhero remains undeterred. “You’ve made a big mistake,” Ant-Man tells Kang, pausing for full effect. “I’m an Avenger.” “Oh, an Avenger,” Kang responds, …
Based on the video game of the same name, the HBO series The Last of Us imagines a world ravaged by cordyceps, a real-world fungus that controls the motor functions of the organisms it infects. Set in an alternate 2023, 21 years after the initial infection, the show focuses on loner Joel (Pedro Pascal) and the spunky …
“Part of humanity has been judged.” So declares the home invader Leonard after his three captives—husbands Andrew and Eric, along with their young daughter Wen—refuse his obscene message. Together with three associates, Leonard has interrupted their vacation to tell the trio that only they can forestall the end of the world by having one member …
Miles Bron (Edward Norton) is an impressive man. He founded the impressive tech company Alpha, creator of a new fuel system sure to revolutionize travel. He owns an impressive private Greek island dubbed Glass Onion, complete with a mansion topped by a recreation of the titular object. Even the invitations to his parties are impressive, intricate …
TÁR may be a 158-minute movie, but it starts rolling its credits at the beginning of the film. Not the usual type of opening credits, listing the names of movie stars and the director. Rather, TÁR begins with what movie industry folks call “below-the-line” credits, showing the names of orchestra musicians and the various studio personnel. Most movies …
Tár: If An Artist Moves Mountains But Has Not Love, She Is Nothing Read More »
In The Black Phone’s third act, a little girl named Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) leaps out of bed and rushes toward her dollhouse. Opening it, she pulls out several pieces of Christian iconography, including a rosary, an ichthus with the word “Jesus” written inside, and a cross. Falling to her knees, she clutches the cross and …
Think Christian: Responding to God’s Call in The Black Phone Read More »
Joe joins Josh Larsen and Sarah Welch-Larson to talk Stanger Things on the Think Christian podcast.
With its images of loincloth-clad warriors leaving carcasses in their wake, The Northman is a full-bodied affair. The movie’s approach to bodies can be seen in one of its earliest moments, in which Heimir The Fool (Willem Dafoe) welcomes two visitors into his cave. His muscles illuminated by flames, Heimer drops bowls of broth and fish before …
Protected by the night, a gang of street toughs bully a young initiate into attacking an innocent bystander. But as the boy hesitates and the bystander pleads for help, heavy footsteps echo from a nearby tunnel. With every step punctuated by composer Michael Giacchino’s thundering score, Batman emerges from the shadows, slowly, menacingly. “Who [are] …
Living Lutheran: Privilege and Participation in The Batman Read More »