Author Archives: davetcourt

Book Journal 2023: Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and The Shalom of God Author: Matthew Lynch The tagline on the back cover poses the question “what do we do with a God who enacts and condones violence”. Narrowing in on two of the most essential narratives in the Bible associated with violence- the floodContinue reading “Book Journal 2023: Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and The Shalom of God”

Film Journal 2023: Godless: The Eastfield ExorcismDirected by Nick Kozakis A gut punch. Not something I expected from an exorcism film that, for all appearances, seems like your run of the mill genre film. I don’t know how it was pulled off, but the way the Director tows the line between retaining a respect forContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism”

Film Journal 2023: Somewhere In Queens Directed by Ray Romano It’s not unusual to talk about right time, right place when it comes to viewing film. This is the subjective side of film critique, and I think its fair to say this carries more weight than any objective measure. True objectivity is, after all, somethingContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Somewhere In Queens”

Film Journal 2023: The Eight Mountains Directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch I remember when Broken Circle Breakdown released I was championing it everywhere I went to as many people as possible. I found the films writing and it’s thematic focus, along with the central performances, to be a profound revelation, especially consideringContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: The Eight Mountains”

Film Journal 2023: Asteroid CityDirected by Wes Anderson Reminiscent of Anderson’s earlier work, Asteroid City plays with his familiar style of humor and eclectic framing while sticking to embedded themes rather than reaching for anything overly subversive. What makes his latest effort that much more intriguing however is that, on paper at least, it feelsContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Asteroid City”

Film Journal 2023: Nimona Directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno A rough first three quarters pays off in the end with a satisfying third act. The pivotal point comes with a pairing of subsequent scenes that fill in the backstories of our characters, explaining motivations, bringing the different characters together, and establishing an arcContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Nimona”

Reading Journal 2023: Babel: An Arcane HistoryAuthor: R.F. Kuang The time period is the early 1800s. The setting is Oxford. The context is the colonizing interest of the British Empire. From here, following an immigrant who is sent to study at the Royal Institute of Translation, emblematic of the Oxfotd Library tower, the book beginsContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: Babel: An Arcane History”

Reading Journal 2023: MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One Night at a PubAuthor: JD Lyonhart From the opening page of this book I felt seen. Which is always a good sign when it comes to a worthwhile read. Why did I feel seen, orContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: MonoThreeism: An Absurdly Arrogant Attempt to Answer All the Problems of the Last 2000 Years in One Night at a Pub”

Film Journal 2023: Ruby Gillman, Teenage KrakenDirected by Kirk DeMicco For me, Ruby Gillman represents a tale of two films. Or better yet, a story of competing expectations. Not entirely on it’s own, albeit, rather in relationship to another animated release this weekend, Nimona. Although from a small selection or voices, engagement with film TwitterContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken”

Claim: the law of non-contradiction is fundamental. There is nothing higher that we could use to prove its existence, for it is already the highest law. Response: Could we not say that time, space, and causality might not be provable but that is because they too are fundamental? I mean, how could one prove theContinue reading “Two Claims, Two Applications: The Law of Contradiction”