In the opening shots of Martin McDonagh’s film The Banshees of Inisherin, we’re introduced to a fictional Irish town that, at first glance, seems totally idyllic. We descend from the sky, taking in the emerald sweep of pastureland. As the camera drifts along the seaside, we hear strains of an ethereal chorus sung in Gaelic.Continue reading “Maybe There Are Banshees: Friendship, Fault Lines, & the Fractured Conscience of American Christianity”
Tag Archives: Movie Review
Deconstructing Cinema: The Top 10 Movies for People Leaving Religion
The acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert, whose reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times influenced generations of moviegoers, once described his appreciation for movies in this way: We are all born with a certain package. We are who we are. Where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We are kind ofContinue reading “Deconstructing Cinema: The Top 10 Movies for People Leaving Religion”
Love and Time: My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024
Okay, so here’s the deal. Every year for the past five or six years, I’ve compiled a list of the ten best films I saw in that year. Usually, when people make similar lists, they focus on movies that were released in a given year. However, since I’m too poor to attend the cinema regularlyContinue reading “Love and Time: My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024”
Movie Review: A Complete Unknown
How does it feelTo be on your ownWith no direction homeLike a complete unknownLike a rolling stone? More than any other Bob Dylan lyric, that legendary chorus may come closest to capturing the spirit of its author – a lonesome, mercurial, dissembling spirit that no musical biopic could ever hope to fully represent. Wisely, JamesContinue reading “Movie Review: A Complete Unknown”
Words for Wayfarers 