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Catholic

2015-04-11T15:17:40-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Illusion of Self-Sufficiency

Last updated on: April 11, 2015 at 3:17 pm By Joseph Susanka

Reinventing a cinematic icon is a daunting task. Ask George Lucas, who has been struggling to rehabilitate one of the silver screen’s greatest villains for over thirty years. Or ask Stan Lee, whose Marvel characters are subjected to ill-conceived “reboots” on a nearly annual basis. Just don’t ask Sylvain Chomet, the insane genius behind The Triplets of Belleville, whose recent animated feature, The Illusionist (L’illusionniste), makes it abundantly clear that reinvention is not only possible, but worth the effort. Based on a... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-04-02T15:57:24-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

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

Last updated on: April 2, 2015 at 3:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc (La passion de Jeanne d’Arc) was released in the spring of 1928, making it one of the oldest Lenten-themed films available for these all-important days of Passiontide. Yet despite its age, it remains a moving cinematic portrayal of redemptive suffering and the power of faith. Based on the transcripts of St. Joan’s Trial of Condemnation in Rouen in 1431, The Passion details the saint’s unjust conviction and eventual execution at the hands of an... Read more

Faith

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-03-09T17:47:17-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Love’s Little Ways and “The Road Home”

Last updated on: March 9, 2015 at 5:47 pm By Joseph Susanka

The great Chinese director Zhang Yimou is best known to Western audiences for his superb wuxiatrilogy: Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower. This trio of films, with their spectacular colors, brawny action sequences, and breathtaking set pieces, has earned him a reputation as “epic” in the truest sense of the word. Audiences who marvel at the scope and scale of his more famous works may be surprised to learn that The Road Home, a Yimou film made barely two years... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-06-03T12:06:22-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Standing Still at the Tipping Points

Last updated on: June 3, 2015 at 12:06 pm By Joseph Susanka

Mr. Harley: Your impatience is quite understandable. Klaatu: I’m impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. Mr. Harley: I’m afraid my people haven’t. I’m very sorry… I wish it were otherwise. It’s easy to see why writers and directors are attracted to remakes. While studios like them for the built-in audiences, low risk factor, and negligible pre-production, the “creatives” are often motivated by less economic considerations. They like the chance to introduce new generations of moviegoers... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-03-03T11:54:55-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

These Pricking Thorns of Guilt

Last updated on: March 3, 2015 at 11:54 am By Joseph Susanka

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. (Isa 49:15) Death and Guilt have a great deal in common. They both have the ability to bring life to a shuddering standstill. Both are terrifying consequences of our humanity. And both will have profound consequences for those we love, no matter how diligently we prepare for them. I’ve Loved You So Long (Il y a... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-03-01T16:22:06-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

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

Last updated on: March 1, 2015 at 4:22 pm By Joseph Susanka

To misquote the old Aesopian saw, familiarity breeds complacency—a truth nowhere more painfully illustrated than in the classic Ealing Studios film, The Man in the White Suit. Set in the textile mills and factories of early 20th-century England, the film tells the story of Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness), an eccentric, secretive young scientist obsessed with creating the perfect artificial fiber: a synthetic polymer that will never wear out or deteriorate, rendering all other textiles obsolete. His brilliance is unquestioned; as he... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-02-02T10:08:06-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It Takes a Town to “Get Low”

Last updated on: February 2, 2015 at 10:08 am By Joseph Susanka

It has been said that there is no such thing as a private sin—that the relationship humans share as members of the Body of Christ makes such a distinction impossible. While the theology may be a bit fuzzy, the notion that transgressions committed in secret send ripples throughout all of humanity is borne out by experience; when one falls, all are brought low. Get Low, a Southern fable told through the life of an idiosyncratic Tennessee recluse, reminds us that... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-03-01T16:23:32-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Renoir’s Rules Affirm Our Lenten Need for Sacrificial Love

Last updated on: March 1, 2015 at 4:23 pm By Joseph Susanka

Jean Renoir, son of the famous impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, must have been a remarkable child. Growing up in a world overshadowed by such fame and artistic ability as that wielded by his beloved father, one wonders if he ever felt driven to pursue a career outside of the arts, where he’d have a better chance of escaping the inexorable, unflattering comparisons to his famous père. Rather than shrinking from the pressures of his father’s fame, however, young Renoir pursued his... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-06-03T12:21:19-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Me, Myself, & GERTY

Last updated on: June 3, 2015 at 12:21 pm By Joseph Susanka

This review discusses a number of SPOILERS. Proceed with caution. Duncan Jones is a grateful man—deeply, unapologetically grateful. Unlike many of Hollywood’s brightest lights, whose lofty positions cloud their ability to recognize the greatness of those who have come before them, Jones is a firm believer in acknowledging his creative influences, seeing himself as just another filmmaker in a long and illustrious tradition. A commercial director previously most famous for his genetics (how many filmmakers can claim Ziggy Stardust as their father?),... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

2015-01-20T18:14:40-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Film Noir Loves a Tell-Tale Heart

Last updated on: January 20, 2015 at 6:14 pm By Joseph Susanka

He didn’t get away with it, did he? He’ll go to the chair, as he should. A few dates are all it takes to realize that Miss Film Noir, despite her reputation as one of the most beloved and oft-studied genres in cinematic history, is one strange, frighteningly bipolar dame. The deadly molls, hard-bitten gumshoes, and rain-drenched streets popularized by Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler, and their compatriots (and brought to glorious cinematic life by directors like Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger, and John Huston) conjure... Read more

Movies

Through a Lens, Darkly

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