Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Summa This, Summa That

Home
Catholic

Through a Lens, Darkly

Select a Category Art Baseball Faith Family Lenten Music Movies Music No Commentary Necessary Parked By the Jukebox Photography Politics Quodlibets Streaming Video Suggestions Summa Short Films Television The Man Behind the Booth Through a Lens, Darkly

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

April 2015

April 14, 2015

The Value of Knowing Another’s Secrets, Movie-Wise

For Wilder the writer, knowledge is power, and the way he wields it is wonderful...

September 2013

September 04, 2013

Poppy Hill and the Wonderful Ordinary

On the wall above my desk, there hangs a home-made plaque with this Chesterton quote:...

January 2013

January 28, 2013

“Liberty Valance” and the Obligations of Progress

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of watching and then discussing John Ford's inestimable...

December 2012

December 21, 2012

Peter Jackson Misses the Point

This past weekend, I joined millions of moviegoers around the globe in what will doubtless become a...

July 2012

July 17, 2012

The Unimpeachable Testimony of Dr. John Watson

As someone who spent countless hours with his adolescent nose buried in the pages of The...

April 2012

April 30, 2012

“Seven Chances” and Answered Prayers Unrecognized

A quick scan of the Lens' archives reveals my propensity for darker cinematic fare. Nervous friends regularly...

April 23, 2012

Embracing Martha While Pining for Mary: Win-Win?

Life in a household of six boys often feels relentlessly jumbled and overwhelming. The wall...

April 02, 2012

The Absurdity of God’s Forgiveness

WARNING: This review reveals plot points perhaps best experienced in person. For those who have...

March 2012

March 19, 2012

Obamacare Questions: Windmills or Giants?

"They said that I should lose my ideals and begin to believe in the methods...

February 2012

February 14, 2012

A Cinematic Refuge for the Valentine-Averse

Well, here we go again. After a year of relative safety, we have arrived once...

February 07, 2012

Waiting On Happiness In Mateo Gil’s “Blackthorn”

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear,no eye has seen a...

November 2011

November 11, 2011

Shadow-Warriors No More

Above all," the self-help gurus say, "you must be comfortable in your own skin." We...

November 03, 2011

Losing for the Sake of Winning

Sorry that you feel that way The only thing there is to say Every silver...

July 2011

July 14, 2011

Elmer Gantry and the Cult of Personality

"I have passed the test. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain...

July 11, 2011

The Booth at the End and Our Faustian Selves

What would you do if you knew with absolute certainty that the completion of a...

June 2011

June 23, 2011

No Sunrises Without Sunsets

I hate to see this evening sun go down. Lord, I hate to see this...

May 2011

May 26, 2011

The Illusion of Self-Sufficiency

Reinventing a cinematic icon is a daunting task. Ask George Lucas, who has been struggling...

April 2011

April 21, 2011

Bruised for Our Iniquities: “The Passion of Joan of Arc”

Carl Theodor Dreyer's silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d'Arc) was released...

April 14, 2011

Love’s Little Ways and “The Road Home”

The great Chinese director Zhang Yimou is best known to Western audiences for his superb wuxiatrilogy: Hero, House...

April 07, 2011

Standing Still at the Tipping Points

Mr. Harley: Your impatience is quite understandable. Klaatu: I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have...

March 2011

March 31, 2011

These Pricking Thorns of Guilt

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?...

March 25, 2011

Familiarity, Complacency, and “The Man in the White Suit”

To misquote the old Aesopian saw, familiarity breeds complacency—a truth nowhere more painfully illustrated than...

March 18, 2011

It Takes a Town to “Get Low”

It has been said that there is no such thing as a private sin—that the...

March 11, 2011

Renoir’s Rules Affirm Our Lenten Need for Sacrificial Love

Jean Renoir, son of the famous impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, must have been a remarkable...

March 04, 2011

Me, Myself, & GERTY

This review discusses a number of SPOILERS. Proceed with caution. Duncan Jones is a grateful man—deeply,...

February 2011

February 25, 2011

Film Noir Loves a Tell-Tale Heart

He didn't get away with it, did he? He'll go to the chair, as he...

February 18, 2011

The Road Less Traveled: Reconsidering the Easy Life

Americans love a good con man. Perhaps it is our implicit endorsement of P. T....

February 11, 2011

Divorce, Granted

C. K. Dexter Haven: Sometimes, for your own sake, Red, I think you should've stuck to...

February 04, 2011

Trust and Doubt: Our Endless Dichotomy

A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our shelter He, amid the...

January 2011

January 28, 2011

To Be Pickering in a Henry Higgins World

When George Bernard Shaw first learned of the creative licenses taken in an effort to...

Related posts from Summa This, Summa That

Catholic

SVS: "Air Force One"

Summa This, Summa That

Catholic

SVS: "Lawrence of Arabia"

Summa This, Summa That

Catholic

SVS: "The Bourne Identity"

Summa This, Summa That

Catholic

The Brutality of Grace

Summa This, Summa That

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos