What makes a great director? Is it someone with a singular aesthetic vision, like Ridley Scott’s early emphasis on backlighting or, to hit the other end of the spectrum, Yasijuro Ozu’s static camera placement? In my intro to this series, I wanted to explore directors who make great films but have no singular vision, aesthetic, […]

It’s often been said that there are no more original ideas; every story that can be told has already been written down. I doubt this. But if you have a complaint, as I do about Christian movies, then chances are very good someone has already voiced the same complaint. That’s why blogs and Substack exist. […]

This month’s “The Journeymen” article is only #2 in the series, and it appears I’ve already strayed off the path. That’s because Patrice Leconte in no way fits my definition of a “journeyman” filmmaker. I included him in my list because he’s one of my favorites. He also works in a variety of genres: comedy, […]

In my intro to this series, I posited that the Christian movie industry exists in part to give American Christians something they don’t often get from Hollywood: the dignity of being taken seriously. Movies like Shape of Water and Citizen Ruth paint churchgoing Christians as brainwashed hypocrites. They have ulterior motives for attending church, reading […]

I have a lot of “13 Films” list ideas. One is a tribute to 13 directors I admire but who don’t get a lot of scholarly love. This is because their body of work doesn’t fit neatly into an analytical box. Sergei Eisenstein made movies about revolution. Alfred Hitchcock is a master of suspense. Jane […]

The Holy Ghost haunts no one like the 20th century English writer. This robust literary tradition has given us J. R. R. Tolkein (Catholic), Evelyn Waugh (even more Catholic), Graham Greene (self-described “Catholic agnostic “), E. M. Forster (irreligious), Philip Pullman (atheist), and C. S. Lewis (atheist-turned-Anglican). Even among the nonbelievers, a streak of Christian […]

I’m going to kick things off with Chariots of Fire. The reason is simple. This film not only clearly demonstrates a muscular, unwavering faith, it also stands at a crossroads in time. The years after 1981, when Chariots of Fire opened, have been referred to as the “post-Christian age.” Before 1981, Christianity in the U.S. […]

Maybe I’m a snob, but I don’t like Christian movies. By that I mean I don’t care for movies specifically made for a Christian audience, even though I am a Christian. Of course there are gems. The Hiding Place remains a classic and The Passion of the Christ is an excellent, if hard to watch, […]

Lone Star is the Great American Movie. Oh, I know I nominated a number of films for this title (It’s a Wonderful Life, Sullivan’s Travels, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Citizen Kane, Ben Hur, Oppenheimer, October Sky, Malcolm X, Daughters of the Dust, and Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored—and believe me, there are more), […]

The Celebration (Festen is its original Danish title) encapsulates the dizzying innovation and creativity the 1990s afforded the independent filmmaker. Thomas Vinterberg and his crew shot the feature on the emerging medium of digital video, using a tiny handheld camcorder. This is also the first Dogme 95 movie, which meant it adhered to a set […]




