Category: Culture watch
Thor: Ragnarok — Chuckling at the Apocalypse
by Ted Giese With Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in the Thor franchise within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the series receives a Guardians of the Galaxy-style makeover with comedy director Taika Waititi at the helm. As a result this new film feels dramatically different compared…
Blade Runner 2049: Souls searching for a miracle
by Ted Giese With Blade Runner 2049, Canadian director Denis Villeneuve provides an admirable sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner. Set 30 years after the first film, the dystopian future Villeneuve presents is grimmer and bleaker. Advances in technology, collapses in the…
It: Of Fear and Faith
by Ted Giese Every 27 years the town of Derry, Maine undergoes a series of tragedies often involving children. Lurking beneath the tragedies is a malevolent force, an evil entity feeding off the fear of its victims, stalking the weak and defenceless, hunting the put-upon…
Leader’s Guide for Luther Movie Showings
ONLINE – As congregations prepare for observances of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in October, some will likely be planning to watch a film adaption of Luther’s life. Many such congregations will turn to the 2003 film Luther starring Joseph Fiennes. Lutheran Church–Canada is…
In Review: Dunkirk
by Ted Giese Writer/director Christopher Nolan has done for the WWII evacuation of Dunkerque, France (code-named Operation Dynamo) what Steven Spielberg did for the Allied D-Day amphibious landing in Normandy, France (codenamed Operation Neptune). But where Spielberg’s 1989 film Saving Private Ryan left the French…
Alien: Covenant—Exploring creation and creators
by Ted Giese Alien: Covenant is the sequel to 2012’s Prometheus. Both films, directed by Ridley Scott, are prequels of Scott’s original film Alien, an outer space horror film with the catchy tagline, “In space no one can hear you scream.” The premise of the…