jmayward.bsky.social
Asst. Professor of Christian Ministries, Theology and the Arts @ George Fox University, OR • PhD, St Andrews • Pastor-Theologian • 🍅 approved Film Critic • Author (books on Dardenne brothers, Christopher Nolan, Sufjan Stevens) • Human (he/him)
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Anderson's films can be criticized for many things, but the claim that they "coast on looks without much character development or depth" simply isn't valid or true.
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Oh no! I'm so sorry, Jon. If there's anything I can do to support you, I'm willing to help.
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And the full image, because why not?
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It's the most "fun" or playful academic book I've written. The chapter on MEMENTO is structured backwards: you begin with the Conclusion and read until you end with the Introduction. The chapter on THE PRESTIGE follows the pattern of a magic trick: The Pledge, The Turn, and The Prestige.
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One director came to mind. This book is the result. I began writing it in 2019 before TENET was released, and completed the manuscript in summer 2024 after OPPENHEIMER won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. www.bloomsbury.com/us/theology-...
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Like the Dardennes, their films would also need to consistently explore theological themes and concerns, as well as generate transcendent cinematic experiences for the audience without being outright “religious” movies. And it would help if I personally liked this filmmaker’s movies.
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This director would have to be a recognized auteur who made Hollywood blockbuster films that were highly expressionistic/formalist, contained lots of exposition directly explaining its ideas and themes, and which embraced familiar genre conventions while forgoing typical chronological narratives.
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I wondered whether my approach for viewing film as theology (what I call “theocinematics”) could be applied to films outside of international arthouse cinema. Was there was a contemporary filmmaker whose movies were the opposite of the Dardennes’ documentary-like social realism?
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This book project began in Sept 2019 when I was nearing the end of my PhD at the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts at St Andrews. My PhD research focused on the Dardenne brothers, and was eventually published as my first academic monograph. www.routledge.com/The-Dardenne...
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Perhaps consider adding a "Prosperity Gospel" church, which is akin to "Lights, Music, Action" but distinct in its goals: blessings, wealth, health, etc. And maybe a "Political Party Echo Chamber" church, where everyone there thinks and votes like I do.
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This reminds me: we're all gonna die. www.bloomsbury.com/us/sufjan-st...
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I'm also interested in recommended films for screenings, though I think I've got a pretty good idea of what I'd like to show.
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My estimation of Hail, Caesar! has improved upon each new viewing, so perhaps revisit it!
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Yeah, Braudy and Cohen's edited collection is a classic.
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One more: there's a case to be made that Spielberg's five post-9/11 films—Minority Report, Catch Me if You Can, The Terminal, War of the Worlds, and Munich—are indirectly 'about' Bush era politics and the War on Terror.
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Oh, and Eastwood's American Sniper.
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Maybe Oliver Stone?
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Congrats! This is great news.
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Amazing. Will this be available to purchase?
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The Dardenne brothers' YOUNG MOTHERS (JEUNE MÈRES) won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes.
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I dunno, it seems like the perfect environment for this kind of cringe: two strangers in a mostly empty theater.
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It's still not clear to me whether this film is titled "Young Mothers" or "The Young Mother's Home" in English. The French title is "Jeunes mères," though an early working title was "La maison maternelle."
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Upward shot of trees, especially if there's sunlight coming through.
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I explore this sexuality/spirituality connection further in my forthcoming 33 1/3 book on Carrie & Lowell. Wish I could include this new interview in it, but such is publishing. www.bloomsbury.com/us/sufjan-st...
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Sufjan on the links between sexuality and spirituality in his music.
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No Dardenne brothers! 🤓 Otherwise, a really great list.