Why is the Sound of Freedom so Controversial?
Even amidst major releases like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Indiana Jones, the most talked about movie of the summer is a low-budget indie actioner that has broken every…
Oppenheimer’s Nihilism: Where Is Christopher Nolan?
In March of 2001, Memento was released in US theaters. The film, initially having a difficult time securing a distributor, became a financial and critical success. Memento…
Sabrina and the Loneliness of Illusions
I recently rewatched the 1995 film adaptation of Sabrina with Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford (an improvement, I venture to say, on the 1954 Audrey Hepburn original)…
Saying Goodbye to an All-American Hero
Indiana Jones is an All-American hero. He is the embodiment of everything America dreams about itself: suave and sophisticated with an adventurous, romantic, and individualistic spirit. He…
Will the Real James Cameron Please Stand Up?
I’m old enough to remember when James Cameron’s Avatar was a surprisingly controversial topic of discussion. My Evangelical Tea-Party supporting family regarded the film with relative disdain, ignoring it…
Groundhog Day and the God of Community
It is now thirty years since Harold Ramis’s memorable Groundhog Day (1993) was released. An honor the film garnered a decade after its release was being chosen…
Predicting Our Own Demise
In the world of science fiction, technology plays a significant role in shaping the imaginative landscapes that captivate audiences.[1] From spaceships and time travel to aliens and…
Space Operas and Human Folly—Pandora, Perelandra, and the Fall of Man
I’m old enough to remember when James Cameron’s Avatar was a surprisingly controversial topic of discussion. My Evangelical Tea-Party supporting family regarded the film with relative disdain,…
Gnostic Reality and Horror Theology: Matt Cardin’s Guide to Modernity’s Apocalypse
The horror genre, despite boasting literary classics such as Frankenstein, Dracula and the Castle of Otranto (to name but a few), is not often associated with high…
The Bleak and Empty Heart of Everything Everywhere All At Once
At the heart of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey is a story of transformation. The film is often disregarded by casual moviegoers for its…
Movie Art and the Nature of Story
Almost anyone who has taught film studies has drawn on one of the numerous editions of the superb textbook by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson Film Art…
Seeking the Transcendent and American Cinema
“To be a person is to be transcendent. We therefore know about the transcendent, God, only because we participate in that mode of being.” - David Walsh,…
007: The Timeless Story of a Blunt Instrument
“James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about life and death.” This sentence from Goldfinger…
The Sexual Sublime and Salvation on Pandora: The Romantic Imagination of James Cameron
“I see you.” That simple phrase by Jake Sully to Neytiri consummates their relationship long before their having sex from which Jake “becomes a man” in passing…
All Donkeys Go to Heaven: “Eo” and Jerzy Skolimowski’s Masterpiece
The 1989 animated musical fantasy All Dogs Go to Heaven humorously poses the question do dogs go to heaven after their life on earth. The dog lover…