Resident Theologian
About the Blog
My latest: del Toro’s Frankenstein, in CT
A link to my latest piece, a review for CT of Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein for Netflix.
My latest: a review of Tara Isabella Burton
A link to my latest publication, a review in Commonweal of Tara Isabella’s latest book Self-Made.
Young Christians (not) reading, 2
Further reflections on young Christians today and their reading habits (or rather, lack thereof).
Jimmy’s change
So far as I can tell—but I haven’t been trawling Twitter for contrarian takes—Alan Jacobs’ negative reaction to the Better Call Saul finale (spoilers herein, obviously) is the exception to the rule. The people I read loved it. Friends and family who watch it loved it. I loved it. But it’s useful to read a take against the grain. Is Alan right?
Pseudo-Scorsese
It’s come to my attention that there are discrepancies in the filmography of American director Martin Scorsese. To be precise, certain films attributed to him evidently qualify as pseudirectoria (pseudokinemagraphia? pseudeikonzon?)—that is, instances of unnamed others claiming his name as director of a cinematic artifact, although the evidence suggests otherwise.
Art tonnage
This weekend I watched Steven Soderbergh’s latest film No Sudden Move (available on HBO Max). It’s a modest period heist film, of a piece with Soderbergh’s proclivity to leaven his Major Releases with minor genre exercises. I always enjoy those exercises, and I enjoyed this one, too. It’s restrained, formally inventive, clever, and draws lovely performances out of actors old and new. I especially appreciated seeing Don Cheadle in fine form.