Author Archives: davetcourt

And at last we come to my top films of the year. For me personally, I also like to highlight documentaries and special releases as there are more than enough dramatic films to fill multiple lists. My favorite special release of 2020: Black is King This stunning “visual” album by Beyonce is an imaginative takeContinue reading “2020 Retrospective: My Year in Film (Top Films of the Year)”

Back in December of 2019, I came up with the idea of travelling the world through film in 2020 and tagged it filmtravels2020. This would include compiling and watching films from that Country where available, researching that Country’s film history, and doing a reflection on what I learned where time allowed. To be honest, whenContinue reading “2020 Retrospective: My Year In Film (Film Travels 2020)”

It’s that time of year when many of us spend time looking back on the year that was. For us cinephiles that means making lists, checking them twice and trying to decide which films were deserving and which films were not. In Part 1 of my 2020 retrospective on film, I look here at myContinue reading “2020 Retrospective: My Year in Film (Stats, First Time Watches, and Outliers)”

Do a simple google search for “love across cultures” and you will enounter articles about a very specific study done over the last number of years that has been interested in answering the simple question, is the idea of the “love story” a modern Western construct, or is it a universal idea? Dig into theContinue reading “Its a Wonderful Matter of Perspective: Christmas Films, Love Stories, And Discovering The World Past The Seven Levels of the Candy Cane Forest”

One of the podcasts I follow pretty faithfully is a non-profit, privately funded resource group called The Bible Project.Headed by Tim Mackie and Jon Colllins, The Bible Project makes videos on different themes and topics related to the Bible along wih producing podcast espisodes that expolore themes and topics related to the Bible, with bothContinue reading “The NutrackerAnd The Four Realms and The Family of God: A Renewed Vision of God With Us”

It should not be suprising I suppose that one of my favorite films of the year (spoiler alert) came from the small, Irish, animation studio (Cartoon Saloon) that gave us the likes of The Breadwalker, Song of the Sea and The Book of Kells. This long awaited 2020 release arrived with much hope and anticipationContinue reading “Wolf Walkers, Princes, Fairy Tales and Myth: Finding the Truth of the Christmas Story”

It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a considerate fan of Christmas. I used to be in that bombastic, over the top kind of way. Over the years I have come to enjoy it in a more reflective and introspective kind of way. I always said, for all the struggles thatContinue reading “The Story of Christmas: The Darkness of Winter Solstice, the Light of Christmas, and My Top Favorite Christmas Films”

It was five years around this same time that I sat down to write my first blog. At the time this was meant to be a place for me to journal about some of my anxieties about quickly approaching 40. Over the years it has grown into a place for me to reflect on theContinue reading “Rebranding: Finding Me In the Second Half of Life”

Since we are isolated and stuck inside during this Christmas season, I decided this year I was going to put together a list of of my favorite Christmas stories. The angle I took in putting this together is Christmas “pairings”, be it in book form or film. These are stories that seem to me toContinue reading “The Stories of Christmas: 15 Timeless Tales That Capture the Spirit of the Season (Day 15)”

Since we are isolated and stuck inside during this Christmas season, I decided this year I was going to put together a list of of my favorite Christmas stories. The angle I took in putting this together is Christmas “pairings”, be it in book form or film. These are stories that seem to me toContinue reading “The Stories of Christmas: 15 Timeless Tales That Capture the Spirit of the Season (Day 14)”