Now that we're practicing social distancing measures as a nation and my job is finally letting me work from home, we can jump back into our look at pre-Iron Man superhero filmography with some of the most well-known and well-loved superhero movies of all time: the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. The Spider-Man trilogy was an …
Author: culturallyopinionated
“Rise of Skywalker”: The best ending to this trilogy
When The Rise of Skywalker was released in theaters last December, I went to see it with Julia on opening night. Considering how critical I've been about Disney's Star Wars, it might seem surprising. Usually midnight releases of movies are only attended by the most devoted and excited fans. But as much as I have …
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“Let the past die, kill it if you have to”: Disney’s Star Wars and the Expanded Universe
Recently, Rolling Stone magazine interviewed the president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, in preparation for the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in a few weeks. During the conversation, Kennedy was asked several questions about the new film's production, such as this one: It's these few lines at the beginning of this section, however, …
Jesus at the Movies, Part VI: Wrapping Up
Ben-Hur (2016): Ruining a classic So now that we know what "message films" are and their purpose, we can come back to where we started -- with Jesus and Ben-Hur. In 2016, a new version of Ben-Hur was released by Paramount Pictures. I actually paid to see this remake in theaters, not because I generally …
Jesus at the Movies, Part V: Message Films
So as we have seen, the filmmaker who attempts to tell the story of Jesus has more to deal with than other directors whose films remain in the realm of the secular. Even films that feature overt “Christ-figures” are usually able to avoid angering religious communities because they don’t deal with Christ directly, no matter …
Jesus at the Movies, Part IV: The Historical and Theological Problems
The Historical Problem Third, Tatum argues filmmakers must deal with the historical aspect of Jesus. How historical does the director want his Jesus to be? Since the first films about Jesus of Nazareth were made, directors have attempted to portray Jesus and his historical surroundings as accurately as possible to preserve the sanctity of the …
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Jesus at the Movies, Part III: The Artistic and Literary Problems
Now that we've examined the Promises of Jesus being portrayed in film, let's look at what Tatum identifies as the Problems for filmmakers. The Artistic Problem First, Tatum argues that filmmakers must decide how to approach their project from an artistic perspective (in this case, in the context of cinematography). As we've seen, artistic mediums …
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Jesus at the Movies, Part II: The Promise
A Quick Note Before we dive in, I feel I should address a few things. First, I'm going to be rating films featuring Jesus as successful or not based on the number of awards they have received or for which they have been nominated. I understand that one of these films may represent the “truth” …
Jesus at the Movies, Part I: Can Jesus Films Be Redeemed?
Some of the many faces of Jesus on the silver screen Introduction: Why do Jesus movies suck? During my graduate program at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, my goal was to study mythology rather than contemporary religion, and I was fortunate enough to take numerous courses on all sorts of different mythological topics. But the institution …
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Thanksgiving TV Episode Viewing List
This episode list will feature guest contributor Julia: With Halloween over and the rest of society seeming to hurtle headlong into Christmas already, I want to take a moment to appreciate the glorious holiday that is Thanksgiving. For starters, it’s an ENTIRE DAY devoted simply to eating good food and spending time with people you …
Culturally Opinionated 