“Would you like a drink?” What might you say to the man who killed your three children? What could you imagine him saying in reply? The second of two films on our list about grieving parents, Blake Robbins’s The Sublime and Beautiful takes a premise Read More …
The festering of grief and the frightening ways such grief manifests itself is at the heart of The Babadook, director Jennifer Kent’s horror film about the relationship between a mother and her son. Amelia (Essie Davis) has never really accepted her husband’s death, which occurred Read More …
The Lego Movie took critics and audiences by surprise not only by elevating itself beyond a massive commercial but by the thematic depths it plumbed and its ability to blend humor with serious strands of thought through the centuries. The film navigates the nuances of Read More …
Noah is the filmic mashup between a Narnia-esque fantasy, a Shakespearean family drama, and a gritty biblical morality tale, all rolled into an epic cinematic experience. This is not your Sunday-school Noah, with happy flannel-graph animals gathered on a boat beneath a rainbow. Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky Read More …
“Ideals are peaceful. History is violent,” explains one soldier in Fury, which shows the intense collaboration required among soldiers during combat, as well as the physical and psychological toll war takes on those who fight it. Principles give way to rationalizations amid repeated kill-or-be-killed engagements, Read More …
In 2012, readers at the Arts & Faith website voted on their Top 25 (Spiritually Significant) Road Films. The list and appreciations were originally published at Image Journal (which owned the A&F site at the time). To read an appreciation of one of the films, Read More …
An Academy Award winner for Best Picture, this stars Gene Kelly as Jerry Mulligan, a struggling Yankee artist living in the title city. Jerry agrees to allow his work to be promoted by society woman Milo Roberts (Nina Foch), who clearly has an interest in more Read More …
Sometimes a film makes our Arts and Faith top 25 not because of its spiritual depth and profundity but rather because of its artistic wonder. When that artistic wonder comes in the rare form of perfect musical comedy as it does with The Court Jester, the wonder is Read More …
Akira Kurosawa’s entire body of work—from 1943’s brash debut Sanshiro Sugata to 1993’s valedictory Madadayo—challenges viewers to awaken to their responsibility to use their talents unselfishly in a desperate world. 1965’s Red Beard is no exception. Set in feudal Japan, it opens with callow Doctor Read More …
From writer and director Chloé Zhao, adapted from a book written by Jessica Bruder, Nomadland shows us real, honest stories about people simply being people. Depicted with candidness are the highs and lows, the pain and peace, and the turmoil and tranquility of everyday life. We see Read More …