Category Archives: Uncategorized

Film Journal 2023: Poor Things Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos I found this article on Sartre to be a helpful companion piece to fleshing out Director Being and Nothingness One of Sartre’s glaring holes as an existentialist is his notion that nothingness (or non-existence) is liberation. Everything for him begins with a meaningless existence (which isContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Poor Things”

Film Journal 2023: Godzilla Minus OneDirected by Takashi Yamazaki Finally found the time to jump on this ever growing bandwagon, and I’m happy to say the hype is real. Its not just that setting this in post war Japan returns Godzilla to its roots and its primary metaphor representing the horrors of atomic destruction. TheContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: Godzilla Minus One”

Reading Journal 2023: How Do You LiveAuthor: Genzaburo Yoshino Picked up this recently translated version of Yoshino’s popular Japanese classic upon the news that this book, reportedly famed Hayeo Miyazaki’s favorite book, would be the source material for his reportedly final film. I can see what Myazaki loves about the book. It is highly philosophicalContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: How Do You Live”

Reading Journal 2023: The Princess Bride Author: William Goldman A pure delight and a classic fairy tale true to all its form. Goldman pens a this memorable tale, filled as it is with the glorious fictional history, through the lens of his own imagined back story. The book he grew up with, the one hisContinue reading “Reading Journal 2023: The Princess Bride”

Film Journal 2023: The Boy and the Heron Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Distanced is not a word I thought I would ever use to describe my experience with one of Miyazaki’s films, but I’m finding it hard to come up with a different descriptive. What I don’t know is if it simply needs a rewatchContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: The Boy and the Heron”

Film Journal 2023: Wonka Directed by Paul King From the voice behind the beloved Paddington films comes a colorful new vision of Wonka’s past. This is, if there was a pure defintion of the term, the very defintion of a family film, one that sees its success in bridging that gap between old and young.Continue reading “Film Journal 2023: Wonka”

The other week I mentioned to my pastor that my entire conception of Christmas was being overturned in one fell swoop this year. I consider myself to be fairly well read, and I have experience in and with a variety of denominations over my many years as a Christian. I’ve been through undergrad and seminary,Continue reading “Reimagining Christmas: Encountering A New Way of Seeing the Advent Season”

“If we imagine that ‘law’ simply means a moral code- as many readers of Romans have done- we will miss much of the point.”– N.T. Wright (Into the Heart of Romans) 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in myContinue reading “The Double Edged Nature of the Law and Its Fulfillment”

Film Journal 2023: May December Directed by Todd Haynes I’m a big fan of Todd Haynes. Far From Heaven is a legitimate masterpiece, Carol isn’t far behind, and Wonderstruck is a legitimate all timer for me when it comes to my personal favorites list. May December doesn’t feel out of place in terms of hisContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: May December”

Film Journal 2023: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesDirected by Francis Lawrence Songbirds and Snakes might not have the same epic scope as the Hunger Games trilogy, but, like the book it is based on, it trades this for something intimate, self contained and distinct. It does of course fits within theContinue reading “Film Journal 2023: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”