Arts and Faith

A collection of 23 posts

Journal

Three Colors: Blue at 30

My 10,000-word deep-dive on Kieslowski's masterpiece is published in a new anthology.

The Weekender

Weekender: New Twitter. Doctor Strange's Multiverse. Faith in musicals. SDG on The Northman.

Looking Closer has a new Twitter account! Also: Here are my first impressions of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a link to the latest Arts & Faith movie list, and one of the reviews of The Northman I've been most looking forward to.

On Movies & Media

2015's best films for a church basement film club?

If you were starting a "Looking Closer Movie Club" in your church basement, inviting adventurous viewers from your congregation, which films might be best to consider sharing with them? Discover the 2015 Arts and Faith Ecumenical Jury Awards.

On Movies & Media

Memento or Vertigo? What's Your Favorite Film About Memory?

The long-running community of friends and colleagues called Arts and Faith has published their latest list of essential films: The Top 25 Films on Memory.

On Movies & Media

Is Groundhog Day the Most Meaningful Comedy Ever? Or The Truman Show?

On Monday, I'm going to share a special two-part post on comedy. That's because the great Steven Greydanus of The National Catholic Register is stirring up conversation about great comedies with his introduction to the newly published Arts and Faith Top 25 Divine Comedies. Read his

On Movies & Media

Valentine's Day Special: Are These the Top 25 Films About Marriage?

When I think of great big-screen testaments to the challenges of lasting love, three films jump immediately to mind. And they're on my mind today as I peruse a new list of "The Top 25 Films About Marriage" from the Arts and Faith community, which is hosted by Image.

On Movies & Media

The Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time!

Image has just posted their list of the Top 25 Horror Movies. I participated in the vote, and I'm pleased with the results (although I now have to update my Netflix queue with those titles I haven't seen). You might ask, "What in the world

On Movies & Media

How many of the Top 100 have you seen?

A note like this can make my day... I saw your post about the Arts & Faith Top 100 list on Twitter. Thanks for reminding me about that. A few years ago I made a goal to watch all of the films on AFI's Top 100 list(s)

Film Lists

The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List: The Podcast!

The Arts & Faith Top 100 Films list, hosted by IMAGE journal, is the best place to start for planning your next 100 Netflix rentals. (Here's the introduction I wrote for it.) Dick Staub, Greg Wolfe, Jennie Spohr, and I talked about the list at Hales Pub and

On Movies & Media

The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films - the live event

You've seen THE LIST. You've read THE INTRODUCTION. Now join us for THE EVENT! Here are details from the IMAGE announcement: The Kindlings Muse Presents The Arts and Faith Top Five Films May 10, 7:00 pm Hale's Ales Brewery & Pub 4301 Leary

On Movies & Media

The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films List!

Think for a moment about the short list of films usually recommended in Christian media. If you do that, you will probably be surprised — nay, thunderstruck — at the list of the Top 100 movies as voted on by many who spend their days pondering the intersection of art and faith.

Olivier Assayas

In the Olympics of Stupid Movie Ideas, America Keeps Winning Gold.

So, the filmmaker Olivier Assayas makes a beautiful, poetic film called Summer Hours, which ends up among the handful of movies most celebrated by critics in 2009. It's hard to find any fault with it. It explores a broad array of subjects - art history, nostalgia, globalism, family

Arts and Faith

Browser: ArtsandFaith.com, Pixar Wine, Nick Cave's Gladiator 2, St. Vincent... and Love.

I'm sorry that things have been slow on the blog lately. I've just wrapped up an essay for an upcoming issue of Image, and I'm burning the midnight oil as I revise Raven's Ladder for an early 2010 publication. But I'

On Movies & Media

Should Christians Give Christian Movies Rave Reviews?

If you've been reading this blog recently, you know that Christian film critics sometimes get blasted for pointing out weaknesses in Christian films. I thought I'd ask the thoughtful, eloquent crowd of Christians over at ArtsandFaith.com what they think about this question: How should a

Film Lists

Looking Elsewhere: November 21, 2005

Monday's specials: Will Your Pastor's Sermon win Narnia Sermon Contest?In other words, can your pastor be bribed into lacing your Sunday morning worship with Hollywood propaganda? What's that? Is that the sound of a whip lashing in the foyer? And who's

On Movies & Media

The Arts and Faith Top 100

Film critics and cinephiles at the Arts and Faith Conversation have revised their list of 100 Spiritually Significant Films, and the picture has changed dramatically. Michael Leary offers a fantastic commentary on the list over at The Matthews House Project. How many of the Top 100 have you seen? What

On Movies & Media

2005 Film Nominations for [AFC]2 ... so far ...

Time to resurrect this post, if only to point out how lame the year 2005 is when it comes to movies in U.S. theaters. (Notice how carefully I said that. Elsewhere in the world, there are, no doubt, amazing films being revealed, films that U.S. distributors don'

On Movies & Media

2005 Film Nominations for [AFC]2... so far...

UPDATE: The currently updated list is located now at THIS post.

On Movies & Media

The 2005 Arts and Faith Film Critics Circle Awards - Nominations

For those who don't know, the Arts and Faith Film Critics Circle is a fellowship of critics applying Christian perspectives to film through reviews and discussion, seeking to encourage revealing and intelligent dialogue about the human experience. Formely the Promontory Film Critics Circle, this four-year-old association changed its

On Songs & Albums

Sixpence alert

☠️2025 Update: This post is past its expiration date. The featured link does not work due to the cruel realities of the Internet’s impermanence. I’m preserving this post for archival purposes. This was posted by my colleague Joel at the Arts and Faith board: Leigh Nash is preparing

On Movies & Media

Greydanus slays King Arthur

The Decent Films critic showed up at the Arts and Faith Conversation ranting about the latest big screen Arthur. His comments here are shared with permission: Give Troy this much: It made an attempt to hit basic plot points from the Trojan war story. This King Arthur includes one (1)

On Movies & Media

Ron Reed celebrates a list of spiritually significant films

Film critic Ron Reed considers the Arts & Faith Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films today at CT. In a time when nearly the entire history of cinema is available through the web or at your local cinemaniac video store, and when so much of the cultural dialogue seems to center

On Movies & Media

100 Spiritually Significant Films

[2025 Update: This post is past its expiration date. I’ve updated the links that I can, but others may no longer work due to the cruel realities of the Internet’s impermanence. (If you find a solution to the broken link, let me know.) I’m preserving this post