More than a decade ago, when I was writing for Christianity Today‘s movie-review website, I invited a variety of Christians who write film reviews to offer their opinions on “foul language” and whether or not Ted Baehr’s Movieguide and other “morality checklist” review sites were justified in their blanket condemnations of movies that contain cussing.

You can revisit that article here.

I thought of that article today when Alan Jacobs posted this link to The Atlantic… (more…)

As America waits to see Steven Spielberg’s Abraham Lincoln film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis in what some are treating as an automatic Oscar-winning performance, here comes another “Hail to the Chief!” kind of movie, starring Bill “He’s Overdue” Murray as FDR.

Here’s the trailer for Hyde Park on the Hudson. (more…)

I get a lot of emails from aspiring writers. Some of them I feel equipped to answer. Some of them I don’t…
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I’ve written a two-part reflection on the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which is appearing at Good Letters, the blog hosted by IMAGE. (more…)

Anderson’s cinema contains a peculiar mix that makes it an ideal opening night vehicle. There’s a kind of absolute auteurism, a hyper-aggressive formalism, an insistence on the camera’s view as a proscenium arch inside of which an entirely theatrical universe is created, alongside a lightness, a preference for melancholy swathed in the scent of vanilla, sadness as a weekend romp, the melodramas of parents and the children they don’t understand as storybook fantasies.

Robert Koehler attended this year’s Cannes-opener: Moonrise Kingdom, the new film by Wes Anderson. (more…)

Need a book that will keep you up past bedtime turning pages… even though it’s as big as a nightstand?  (more…)

There are so many reviews and commentaries on The Avengers out there, it’s kind of ridiculous.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t find some sharp needles in the haystack.

Here are a couple that I found particularly, um… sharp. (more…)

I’m giving two lectures at this weekend’s Northwest Christian Writers Renewal event.

As a preface to these events, Kirk Kraft asked me some questions. (more…)

I need to write this all down while the details are still vivid in my memory.

And then I need to stop telling the story for a while. I’ve answered so many questions about it this weekend that I’m exhausted and I need to set my mind on other subjects. You’ll understand…

On Friday morning, just after 9 a.m., at the corner beside our house, Anne and I waited in the left-turn lane for the signal to change. It was sunny. Anne was driving. I had an enormous red mug full of Earl Grey tea. We were on our way to Edmonds, Washington, for our typical Friday-morning writing session with our friend Reece Carson.

Across the intersection, a salt-and-pepper-haired jogger waited on the corner. Anne remarked that the runner was remarkably muscular and fit for a woman of that age.

There were no other cars at that intersection, although traffic was approaching behind us.

The signal changed, the left-turn arrow came on.

We pulled into the intersection gradually.

A blur of motion to our left caught my attention. … (more…)

On Monday night, April 31, Anne and I sat in the middle of a crowd of comic book superhero fans and film critics. And we had a fantastic time, as the crowd cheered and laughed and celebrated throughout The Avengers‘ 142-minute running time.

But then, what you feel while you’re watching a movie can be very different from what you think about after the movie.

I’ve written a review that includes all of the exclamation points that were exploding in my head while I watched the movie… and yet it also includes many of the misgivings I felt after the movie was over. (more…)