[National Review Online, December 9, 2005]
Any director who attempts to bring a beloved novel to the screen can expect his fair share of slings and arrows. Just ask Peter Jackson, the hardworking genius behind the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, or any of the parade of directors who have delivered “Harry Potter” films. The latest to step up for a smackdown is Andrew Adamson, previously known for “Shrek,” as he offers his fresh and magnificent production of C.S. Lewis' novel, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”
Unlike the “Potter” directors, Adamson has not only junior readers to please
Beliefnet asked me to contribute a short biography of C S Lewis to their “Narnia package”, which just went live today. My contribution is titled “The Relucant Convert”. It looks like a great collection of articles.
Expect Narnia saturation in the next couple of weeks! I will be going to see the movie at an advance screening this afternoon with my daughter Megan. I started recording the Narnia books on tape for the Maryland Radio Reading Network for the Blind a couple of years ago (at one hour per week, it takes awhile) and expect to finish “The Last Battle” before Christmas. The books are extraordinary, and even better when you read them out loud.
[Beliefnet, November 29, 2005]
In later life, C. S. Lewis – “Jack” to friends and family – would say that it all began with a toy garden. He was seven years old when his older brother, “Warnie”, brought to their playroom a biscuit tin he had decorated with tiny twigs, moss and flowers. As Jack gazed at the miniature fairyland
[National Review Online, November 18, 2005]
Someone watching “Walk the Line,” the immensely enjoyable 20th Century Fox movie about Johnny Cash, would gather the impression that Cash had something to do with music. Yes, we see him on stage frequently, and are treated to numerous song fragments. But music isn't what the movie is about. Instead, it's chiefly about his relationships with women - a first marriage troubled by his infidelity and addiction, a descent to the depths, a long yearning for another woman, and her eventual consent.
[Kairos Journal, November 17, 2005]
In 1991, my husband I made a difficult decision to leave our denomination for theological reasons. It was, for us, a matter of integrity. Bishops were denying the Resurrection, the Virgin Birth, and other basic tenets of the faith. After twenty years in the Episcopal church, first with both of us in seminary, and then with Gary serving as a pastor, we knew it was time to look for a new church home.
What Gary discovered was the Eastern Orthodox Church. The most striking thing about this church was its determination to adhere to the faith and worship of the early Christians.
[National Review Online, November 11, 2005]
Keira Knightley has a way of squinting -- narrowing her eyes and looking simultaneously skeptical and perky - that I just can't believe they had invented in the early 19th century. This stands out solely because everything else about this production of “Pride and Prejudice” is so well-appointed, from the gently-worn blue paint on the walls to the cotton lace on the pillows. Jane Austen's 1813 novel has been brought to the big and little screens many times before, but this new version, directed by Joe Wright, can't be beat. It is charming, lively, and satisfyingly authentic.
[National Review Online, November 4, 2005]
Is the big green head of the Wizard of Oz still scary? It sure used to be. Back in the days when “The Wizard of Oz” was broadcast once each Spring, the moment when that looming lightbulb head boomed “Silence!” was the closest a seven-year-old came to numinous awe. (Though it was the witch cackling “I'll get you, my pretty,” that caused my little sister's feet to thump-thump-thump away down the hall.)
I ask because a good bit of “Chicken Little” is just as scary. Giant heads looming out of darkness and thundering “Silence!” is just one example.
[Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox, October 20, 2005]
When news came out that the first of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, ”The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,“ was being made into major motion picture, Christians were understandably delighted. We have loved these stories for a long time. They're the ”bed-time stories" of evangelical Christianity. Most of us in pastoral ministry have read these seven short novels, maybe more than once. We've shared them with our children, and found more than one sermon illustration in their pages.
[NationalReview Online, October 18, 2005]
You had me at “Spasmotica.”
Cameron Crowe, director of “Elizabethtown,” has a knack for the perfect detail. In “Elizabethtown,” one of them comes along at the start: a billion dollars' worth of high-end athletic shoes are being returned to the factory, and on each box the ultra-hip name reads “Spasmotica.” With two dots over the first “a”.
[National Review Online, October 11, 2005]
About midway through “In Her Shoes” we see Rose Feller (Toni Collette, always a delight), semi-professional dogwalker, being yanked down the streets of Philadelphia by a team of mismatched pooches. It's a good metaphor for this film, which is propelled by several different stories at once, and some are livelier than others.
That's an eye-of-the-beholder thing, of course, and there were many in the audience who were happy-teary puddles by the end of the film. A great majority of that audience segment was female, and many of them were wearing red hats. If you don't fit that category, approach with caution.
