Inception 2010 • Rated PG-13 Directed by Christopher Nolan [SPOILER WARNING: Don't read unless you've seen the movie] Inception has been called "an elegantly cerebral story that is primal, compelling, and as visually disconcerting as it is completely captivating" as well as "a tremendously challenging and tremendously rewarding movie, the type that will have audiences talking -- and debating -- long after the credits roll." After seeing it again last night I'm in ...

Inception 2010 • Rated PG-13 Directed by Christopher Nolan "Avatar was one man's film pushing his vision of the world using amazing technology. Inception is a film exploring the human mind, guilt, regret, forgiveness and the power of beliefs through imagination and creativity. With Avatar I felt preached at; with Inception I felt invited to explore my core beliefs, how guilt drives my behavior and my perception of reality." That's what I wrote on my Facebook status ...

There Will Be Blood 2007 • Rated R Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson There Will Be Blood (2007) was recently named the Film of the Decade by Total Film Magazine. This movie—a grim retelling of the novel “Oil!” by Upton Sinclair—reveals how corruption and greed engulfs two men living during the oil boom of Southern California in the late 19th century. In doing so it leaves little room for hope and only hints at redemption through its conspicuous absence. No ...

Gentlemen Broncos 2009 • Rated PG-13 Directed by Jared Hess Review by Ron Reed New Yorker's Richard Brody is rare among film critics in finding things to praise about GENTLEMEN BRONCOS, the third film from Mormon film maker Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, NACHO LIBRE). One of the most audacious American movies of 2009, Jared Hess’s “Gentlemen Broncos” (on DVD from Fox) — a loopy comedy that blends frumpy down-market vulgarity with excremental humor and ...

~ Thanks to Ron Reed for bringing this to our attention: The Conversations (at Slant.com) is a monthly feature in which Jason Bellamy and Ed Howard discuss a wide range of cinematic subjects. This month, an extended, detailed and really substantial consideration of two Jesus movies... Jason Bellamy: I never followed the amateur filmmaking documentary series Project Greenlight, which was perhaps best known for having celebrity producers (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) and for failing to discover any major breakthrough talents, but I'll never forget one of the episodes I happened to see. ...

From the time the Harry Potter books first crossed the pond from England there has been both praise and disparagement of the books. Most of the criticism came from Christian voices raising concerns about the glorification of magic and the dangers of the occult. Now that the final book has been around for some time and before we see the arrival of the final two movies (the last book is being split into two films because of the density of content as well as Hollywood squeezing every last dime it can from the franchise) we can take a step back and think a little more critically about these ...