When most of us think of religious toys and games, we probably go straight to the satirical…the Looking Good for Jesus makeup kit, the Buddy Christ, or even the controversial Left Behind video game.  The authors of Toying With God:  The World of Religious Games and Dolls, Nikki Bado-Fralick and Rebecca Sachs Norris, address these [...]

Exploitation films of the ’60s and ’70s are a fascinating study.  Are they exploitative, as the genre asserts?  Are they liberating?  Both?  A recent indie film, Bitch Slap (2009) attempts to parody (s)exploitation films like Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Last woman on Earth, etc.  While its actresses might have similar dimensions to their predecessors, the [...]

From cultural, theological, and moral perspectives, the Studio Era of Hollywood is a fascinating study.  On one hand, conservative viewers might praise the absence of overtly offensive images on screen.  On the other hand, more liberal viewers might bemoan the limited worldview (white, heterosexual, and decidedly middle to upper class…mostly) that these films often set [...]

If anything, the mechanical owl in the original Clash of the Titans signaled a level of fun and playfulness.  These filmmakers weren’t taking themselves too seriously.  We can’t say the same thing about the re-make, which releases today, even though the owl makes a cameo appearance.

As would be expected, Pedro Almodovar‘s latest film, Broken Embraces, is an alluring mix of beautiful filmmaking and captivating storytelling.  The ways in which this film comment on filmmaking itself and themes of family, love, obsession, and secrecy demand repeated viewings.