HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL. is a deadly satire that exhibits a Christian compassion not always evident in its protagonists. Not that those protagonists have the self-awareness to register their lack of same. This satire finds much to mock when it comes to mega-churches and the gospel of prosperity, but it chooses to use… Read More »
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE
For all the meticulous detail in THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE about the early life of Tammy Faye Bakker, this biopic about the rise of fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker has an ending that is curiously sparse. It’s not just Tammy Faye’s second marriage to Roe Messner that is erased, though he does… Read More »
PILGRIMAGE
PILGRIMAGE tells a dour tale of faith and fanaticism. Set in 13th-century Ireland, it blends mysticism with realpolitik in a time and place so distant from ours that a subtext of imperialism might be almost too subtle, while the vicious commonplaces of summary justice, revenge, and casual violence are all too vivid A prologue set… Read More »
FRANK VS. GOD — Henry Ian Cusick Interview
I may not have had the best phone connection when talking with Henry Ian Cusick on June 7, 2017, but his passion for intriguing roles and material that allows him to stretch as an actor came through clear as a bell. The occasion of our conversation was the online release of FRANK VS. GOD, a… Read More »
LONG STRANGE TRIP — Amir Bar-Lev Interview
LONG STRANGE TRIP is a glorious four hours dedicated to The Grateful Dead that I watched in one big gulp, and that left me wanting more. So when I spoke with director Amir Bar-Lev on April 14, 2017, my first question was about his reaction when he realized that he would not be constrained by… Read More »
THE TICKET — Ido Fluk Interview
The premise of THE TICKET is the decidedly mixed nature of blessings. In this case, what happens when James, played by Dan Stevens, miraculously regains his eyesight after losing it as a child. The initial euphoria felt by him and his wife, Sam, soon gives way to the stresses that ensue as their relationships change… Read More »
THE SHACK
THE SHACK, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, is a well-meaning and heartfelt film that dares to tackle a fiendishly tricky question. If God is good and loves us all, why does She allow evil in the world? Couched in parables and riddles, and for all its gentleness of spirit, it arrives… Read More »
THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT (Le tout nouveau testament )
THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT is a clever and wise deconstruction of dogma and patriarchy. Taking as its premise that God (Benoît Poelvoorde) is real, but less than benevolent, it gives us the story of his other child, the one who didn’t get her own book and who doesn’t like the status quo and takes it… Read More »
THE WITCH
The true horror in THE WITCH does not lie in its supernatural underpinnings. Rather this dour psychological thriller plumbs the depths of madness that human nature invites upon itself with a closed mind and a conviction of righteousness. Set in a New World colony in the early 17th century, it is an incisive deconstruction of… Read More »
Why BLACKBIRD Soars
I have rarely been as moved by a film as I was by BLACKBIRD. A thoughtful, poetic, compassionate film that uses truth, humor, and tragedy into an elegiac story that transcends the specifics of its plot, transmuting them into a timeless story of love, acceptance, and moving on. When I spoke with director/co-writer Patrik-Ian Polk… Read More »