The Underground Railroad

MPAA Rating: NR Rating: ★★★★★
Release Year: 2021
Director: Barry Jenkins

Undine

MPAA Rating: NR Rating: ★★★½
Release Year: 2021
Director: Christian Petzold

Army of the Dead

MPAA Rating: R Rating: ★★
Release Year: 2021
Director: Zack Snyder

Wrath of Man

MPAA Rating: R Rating: ★★
Release Year: 2021
Director: Guy Ritchie

The Mitchells vs. The Machines

MPAA Rating: PG Rating: ★★★
Release Year: 2021
Director: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe

The Cinematic Summoned Self

I have an article published at Pro Ecclesia, an academic journal of Catholic and evangelical theology, on the voice of Christ depicted in Martin Scorsese’s Silence. Here’s the abstract: American filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s theologically imbued cinematic approach arguably reached its apotheosis in his 2016 film Silence, an adaptation of Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 novel. Through my theological film criticism, a novel constructive form of theologizing I call “theocinematics,” I propose that Silence is both a cinematic theology about vocation in its meditation on a …

Bright Wall/Dark Room: Adoption, Forgiveness, and Philomena

I have a new essay up at Bright Wall/Dark Room on watching the film Philomena as an adoptee, and how that first viewing prompted a search for my biological mother. Here’s an excerpt: The first time I saw my mother was the day she gave birth to me.  The next time I saw her occurred more than 30 years later. This is the story of how I met my mother. * If asked to name the 2014 Academy Award nominees …

The 2021 Cinemayward Oscars

Like everything else in our world, the Oscars have had to make significant adjustments due to the extraordinary circumstances generated by a global pandemic. Where the Academy Awards ceremony would normally be over and done with by late February, this year we will learn of the nominees on March 15, and won’t even know the outcome until April 25 (barring any postponements). So, prior to the official Oscar nominee announcements this week, here are my own nominees for the 2021 …