Prayers for the Doe family
Let me call a brief intermission from the mad, mad world of the Looking Closer Journal to ask you to join me and my wife Anne in prayer.Read more
Google Ads - Keep 'Em or Dump 'Em?
A temporary post here regarding business. So... regarding the Google ads... I've had complaints.
But ya know, in the past month and a half, they've brought me more monthly income to support Looking Closer's site costs and related fees than any pleas for donations ever produced.
So here's the deal: If you like the Looking Closer Web site and are willing to offer a modest donation to keep things running smoothly ... and if the donations I receive will equal what I calculate my annual Google ads income will be... I'll drop those ads like a hot potato, and you won't have to look at them again!Read more
Doug Cummings on "Howl's Moving Castle"
from filmjourney...
I find the mystery in Miyazaki's films to be one of their greatest pleasures, expanding their worlds with each viewer's imagination. When I was a kid, I loved to scratch my head. Not that Miyazaki crafts puzzling films; his cinema is highly accessible and entertaining at any age, yet he's a filmmaker who also appreciates how a few unanswered questions in the right places can enrich a fantasy story.
Are you a Narniac?
Today's Reel News is up, featuring your big opportunity to work for Disney for no pay, promoting a "masterpiece" that nobody's seen!
P.S.
Narniacs aren't the real problem. The real problem comes from nicknamaniacs who must put a label on everything and everybody.
Spring cleaning
No, I haven't posted my full review of Howl's Moving Castle yet, nor have I posted any of the interviews I've been promising for so long. (The interview with producer Ralph Winter is finished, and it'll be posted at CT Movies soon.)Read more
The CT Movies mailbag: More of the same
Over on the Feedback page of Christianity Today Movies, Mark Moring has posted some more of the letters responding to the reviews there.
There are some interesting reactions to Peter T. Chattaway's interview with Brian Flemming, the self-described "Christian atheist" and his claims that Jesus didn't exist. (I posted a link to this last week.)
There are also some forceful reactions to reviews of Cinderella Man and The Longest Yard.
Nothing terribly surprising, but as always, very interesting.
Specials: Top 1000 Movies, Pathetic Pink Panther
Today's specials:
- HALLIWELL'S TOP 1,000 MOVIES INCLUDES SURPRISES
I'd like to see the full list, because I'm really quite impressed with the Top 100. There are some brave and smart choices here that differ from the usual Citizen Kane-happy lists. The grand list-maker explains his work here.
Have you seen this film? You should.
- PINK PANTHER PULLED; FILMMAKERS SECRETLY ASK THEMSELVES "WHAT WERE WE THINKING?"
Well, actually, the operative word is "postponed." After a wave of early-screening bad reviews, it seems the studio execs are finally realizing what anyone with a brain could have told them all along... remaking The Pink Panther without Peter Sellers is a spectacularly bad idea. It's like remaking "The Bob Newhart Show" without Bob Newhart. Or Casablanca without Bogart and Bergman. Or Dr. Strangelove without... Peter Sellers.Perhaps the saddest thing about the whole affair is that Steve Martin and Kevin Kline ever went along with this idea to begin with.I watched a Steve Martin stand-up routine from 1979 earlier this week, and as I laughed until my sides ached, I also felt a pang of regret for the decline of Martin's humor. He can be such a comedy genius (I think his visit to the David Letterman show in 1988, during which he turned the studio into a pencil-throwing combat zone, was as inspired as anything he ever did), and he's also proven a surprising talent for dramatic roles as well (The Spanish Prisoner). Perhaps he'll find stronger footing in Shopgirl, the adaptation of his own novel, when it reaches the screens later this year.
In the meantime, if anyone participating in this sure-to-be-abominable "re-make" wants to maintain their dignity, I suspect that they should do everything in their power to bury this project where it can't be found.
Don't they look ashamed of themselves?
Seattlites! Don't miss UPC's film festival!
I've been invited to participate in this, but, doggone it, it's happening during the same weekend as an out-of-town vacation I planned months ago. So I encourage YOU to go, watch, enjoy, discuss, and be glad that Seattle's the kind of town willing to put on a festival like this one.
June 16-18
Local churches have come together to present The Film Fest on Justice to support the International Justice Mission and their efforts to open an office in Rwanda.
This three-day, four film event presents the films: 12 Angry Men, Hotel Rwanda, The Green Mile and After the Truth.
An expert panel follows each film with Grant Goodeve, Assistant Dist. Attorney Mark Larson, Lauri Evans Deason, Dr. Bryan Burton, Rev. Steve Ruetschle, Steve Lansingh, Bryan Zug, and many more.
The Film Fest takes place at University Presbyterian Church (4540 15th Ave NE, Seattle) June 16-18.
Tickets are $10/show or $30/all-fest pass and are on sale. Visit www.upc.org/filmfest or call 206.524.7301 x330. Space is limited.
Click on the poster for a larger version.
Brooks on Africa
David Brooks finds his perspective on the African crisis changing.
"I came here expecting despair, but now realize that we should be redoubling our efforts out of a sense of opportunity."
Personally, I've been thrilled by the headlines this week about new aid for Africa. This is, indeed, significant progress. But we still have such a long way to go.
Meanwhile, nobody's making more noise about the need for aid in Africa than you-know-who.