Well-known and not-so well-known Calvinists alike will be interviewed and help explain where Calvinism came from and why it is making a sudden comeback. Lanphere will attempt to discover what circumstances led to the resurgence of Calvinism, its successes and perhaps where it’s falling short. Finally, the film will seek to point young Reformed people... Continue Reading

The film first shows Liddell, played by Joseph Fiennes, trudging into an internment camp in 1943, then flashes back to the eastern port of Tianjin and his years in the city as a teacher and missionary after his Olympic victory. After the Japanese invade, he sends his pregnant wife (Elizabeth Arends) and their two daughters... Continue Reading

Me Before You comes out tomorrow. I’ve never read the book, but my mom told me about it and I read the reviews online. It’s the story of a guy who gets in an accident, and has a spinal cord injury, and has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. A guy... Continue Reading

The film itself raises a number of significant issues – the question of dementia, the banality of evil and the requirements of justice.   If you were an Auschwitz guard who has killed many people, and then 70 years later are a doting grandad living a peaceful life with a large extended family, is it right... Continue Reading

The problem with fiction films that are said to be “some truth” based on something that isn’t even in the breathed-out Word of God is that you can’t mix light with darkness. Truth plus error still equals terror, and movie goers aren’t going to be able to unsee the imagery and the untruth about our... Continue Reading

Hinson’s new film is full of Trotter’s paintings, brought to life through the skillful addition of depth and animation, until it almost feels as if we’re walking through some of her landscapes. Experts on Trotter tell her story, and actors Michelle Dockery (of “Downton Abbey”) and John Rhys-Davies (of “The Lord of the Rings”) read... Continue Reading

Risen isn’t just thematically and historically accurate, it also succeeds as a film. Impressive cinematography captures each powerful scene…. Events unfold in front of a frantic, soaring score, adding even more depth of emotion to such stunning scenes. The pacing is spot on, between Roman questionings, the pursuit of fleeing Jews, and the contrasting peace... Continue Reading

“To be fair to Mr. Lucas, conceiving of the mystery of life in a dramatically plausible way is no small task.  The poets of old balked at it.  And yet like so many of his generation, modern technology has made the path of wonder look so easy, so mundane.  Technological advance has fostered the vain... Continue Reading

For all the drama, the artsy Grandma (rated R for language and some drug use) is emotionally arid. It seems writer-director Paul Weitz, who made his directorial debut in 1999 with the raunchy American Pie, put his energy into setting up several not-entirely-inaccurate Christian and traditional-value straw men and knocking them down. But instead of... Continue Reading

What strikes me about these and other films from Hollywood’s Golden Age are two things: First, Hollywood once made lots and lots of major films with major stars celebrating Christmas. Second, in each case, no matter how different the plot, there was always a common end-goal: marriage. From the outset, marriage is the assumed, unquestioned... Continue Reading