Category: Columns
American Sniper: Of Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs
by Ted Giese “There are three types of people in this world: sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs.” In Clint Eastwood’s film American Sniper the central character, Chris Kyle, is a Texan who grew up wanting to live the life of a “cowboy,” content to chase the…
Be careful in the woods
by Ted Giese Rob Marshal’s new adaptation of the Tony award winning musical Into The Woods is Disney’s most recent foray into live-action film musicals. As in the original, Marshal’s Into the Woods finds its story centred on folk tale characters made popular by the…
The Hobbit: Prepare for battle before viewing
by Ted Giese Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies concludes his film adaption of J.R.R Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit—or at least begins its conclusion, since an extended edition will come out in about a year. These releases contain scenes with new…
Take a look in a book
by Don Schiemann In my seminary days I spent a fortune on books—at least it felt like a fortune. The twelve-volume set of Lenski’s commentary on the New Testament cost me $45! Every academic term, required textbooks steadily ate away at the savings I had…
Exodus: Wrestling with God and Scripture
by Ted Giese Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (2013) was an opinionated film chock full of dark cryptic extra-biblical mysticism and environmentalist concerns often feeling like propaganda for something. Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, on the whole, is a much different film. His “sword and sandal”…
Christmas is about Jesus
by Robert Bugbee “Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (St. John 1:17). Christmas is about Jesus Christ. That is as it should be. The faith of Christians is to be centered on Jesus Christ. The whole mission of God’s Church in the world comes…