Journal My #1 Christmas gift recommendation — and five reasons why I've been asked to recommend five highlights from my many years of reading Image, my favorite literary arts journal. I had difficulty limiting my answer.
On Books & Writing In the Cosmos of the Arts, a Christian Cosmonaut Is Born Again “NASA Twins Study Confirms Astronaut’s DNA Actually Changed in Space.” That’s the headline that makes you choke, then narrow your eyes, and forget what you were searching for.Come on. This isn’t The Twilight Zone. A man left earth and came back as somebody else? If you
On Movies & Media Three professors profess their love for The Secret of Kells Listen as Jeffrey Overstreet welcomes Dr. Christine Chaney and Dr. Brian Bantum from Seattle Pacific University to a conversation about the many wonders of the movie The Secret of Kells.
Journal A tale of two podcasts: my visits to Forma and Libromania In which I find myself as a special guest on two separate podcasts, both of them hosted by David Kern, for conversations about Madeleine L'Engle and the best movies of 2018.
On Movies & Media Dead Poets Society and the Legacy of Dr. Luke Reinsma Four years ago this week, I wrote about how I had changed my mind about "Dead Poets Society." This week, I re-post it as a tribute to my favorite professor.
Journal Three qualities of beauty I think I might just scrap all of my syllabus explanations regarding how I grade essays and short stories in my writing classes. I'll just replace those with this passage from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose: For three things concur in creating beauty: first
Interviews The Theology of the Coen Brothers? A Conversation Between Matt Zoller Seitz and Jeffrey Overstreet Originally titled "O Coen Brothers, Where Art God?", this is my conversation with Matt Zoller Seitz about theology, Raising Arizona, morality, Fargo, good and evil, The Big Lebowski, and so much more.
On Movies & Media It's a Fourth of July. Enjoy it. It occurred to me that the Fourth of July was about to pass us by without anybody bothering to post an image of...
On Movies & Media Here We Go Again: Malick and "The Tree of Life" I know, I know, I'm late to this party. But I'm not really. I reported on Terrence Malick's Tree of Life project ages ago, and was quickly corrected and informed that I was merely perpetuating rumors about a project that was abandoned long ago.
On Movies & Media Art as oblation: Peter Chattaway goes to a lecture by Ron Reed What happens when a reviewer I admire goes to hear a lecture by a director of stage productions and a film critic I admire? Here’s Peter T. Chattaway pondering a lecture by Ron Reed, and considering ... the way art functions as oblation – the way it takes common elements, offers
"Christian" is a Bad Adjective What's wrong with CCM? (installment 1,006...) Kate Bowman is becoming one of the most interesting new voices in the dialogue about faith and art. And I just discovered an interview on her blog Evangelical Expatriate that had me nodding and even cheering at the insightful observations about “contemporary Christian music.”
On Books & Writing Robinson’s Gilead wins National Book Award, and notes on Ishiguro’s latest I mentioned the new book by Marilynne Robinson a while back, and now it’s made even bigger headlines. Right now, I’m reading the new book by Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day), Never Let Me Go. It’s a fascinting, spooky story about teenagers living in a
On Movies & Media Constantine director Francis Lawrence should pay closer attention Listen to Constantine director Francis Lawrence. Question: Mixing religious themes with a comic book sensibility, were you worried about how it might be received by the hardcore Christian audience in America? Lawrence: I wasn't worried. I thought it was going to be more offensive than it has been.
On Movies & Media The worst endings ever David Edelstein made me stand up and cheer with this statement: My choice for the worst twist ever: The Life of David Gale. Is this our generation’s Plan 9 From Outer Space? The dumbness is epic, colossal: You want to sink to your knees to worship the holy mother
On Movies & Media Quentin Tarantino speaks: Best of 2005 and his future “My favourite movie this year was Shaun of the Dead … that was my favourite script this year, that was my favourite movie this year. After that I also loved The Passion of the Christ. I loved Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. I loved The Incredibles. I loved Before
On Movies & Media Film Comment critics agree with Christianity Today critics for #1 movie of 2005 What a strange new world I live in. The critics at Film Comment have voted Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as the #1 film of 2005. That's the same movie voted #1 by the critics at Christianity Today! In fact, the two groups agree on five of
On Movies & Media The Incredibles are, well ... The collector’s edition DVD, which came out this week, is fantastic. The extras, including the short film “Jack-Jack Attack,” are definitely worthwhile. (There's even an encyclopedia of other “supers,” complete with audio interviews and portraits!) The special “animated” episode about Mr. Incredible and Frozone (complete with
On Movies & Media Joss Whedon, creator of Firefly, has a new superhero in his care Whedon will write and direct Wonder Woman. If you don't understand why I’m excited about this, then you haven't seen Firefly. That’s Whedon’s brilliantly entertaining, cleverly written sci-fi television series that's finding the fan base it deserves on DVD, and
On Books & Writing The Lord of the Rings: The Musical? I raise my glass to The Movie Blog for the tip. Coming to Toronto... “We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of musical theater, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material.”
On Movies & Media CT Movies getting something other than rage mail Hooray! We’re hearing from more who see the point and appreciate the efforts of Mark Moring and company at CT Movies! Finally, a Christian movie website that makes sense — educated and well informed. I am a movie buff, a strong Christian and someone quite frankly who was so tired
Mike Hertenstein Change of plans: No Cornerstone for me this year. Earlier I had announced that I’d be leading seminars at Cornerstone this summer. Unfortunately, I’ve had to withdraw, due to some very good news that means I’ll be even busier this summer. I hope to be able to share the news with you, but it could be
Politics Brad Bird on Incredibles politics Lou Lumenick talks with the brains behind The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. A: The idea that "The Incredibles," a mainstream animated feature, was thought of as provocative was wonderful to me. I was very gratified, though I thought some of the analysis was really kind of goofy.
On Movies & Media Paul Schrader sounds like another Paul... Describing his Exorcist pre-quel, which is getting an unexpected new life onscreen after the studio trashed it, Paul Schrader talks about the central issue that drew him to the project. His original prequel to The Exorcist seems very much in keeping with his own tradition – the descent into hell
