Richard here. PopTheology.com benefits from the fruits of my dissertation labor. Not everything could have fit into the final draft. So here’s some background on one of the great silent epics, Fred Niblo’s 1925 film, Ben-Hur.
As a fan of (post)apocalyptic narratives, I’m surprised it took me so long to find out about and read Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer. This story, while drawing from other apocalyptic scenarios, has certainly helped shape some of the more popular disaster films of the past few decades like Deep Impact and Armageddon, [...]
If you’re reading this, then you probably contributed to The Hunger Games‘ wild success at the box office this past weekend. Not only has it obviously gotten support from fans of the books, but it’s not surprisingly contributing to the on-going discussion about violence in popular culture, even as some observers are noting the ways [...]
Unless you’re just a raging bibliophile, I imagine it’s almost impossible to complete The Hunger Games trilogy and not want to see it on the big screen…at least a little. Being in Paris certainly has its privileges…one of which was the early release of the first The Hunger Games film in theaters here (the 21st [...]
Richard here with my first post-dissertation post. GCB is the warped new soap/comedy on ABC, following Desperate Housewives on Sunday nights, and it’s more about hurt and memory than religion and hypocrisy.
A rather simple definition of myth is either an explanation of being (how and why the world and its inhabitants came to be) or the celebration or story of a hero. It’s a broad definition, but inclusive. In the graphic novel, A Flight of Angels, Rebecca Guay has posed a scenario, the mysterious fall of [...]
It’s a good thing for American filmmakers nominated for Best Picture this year that the award can only go to American films. If nominations were opened up globally, they all would have surely fallen behind the Best Foreign Film winner, A Separation. This Iranian film is both a beautiful work of art and an important [...]
If, like me, you believe that the Dude abides, then you’ll immediately recognize the quote from which I drew the title of this post. Walter’s (John Goodman) assertion to Donny (Steve Buscemi) in The Big Lebowski is one of the funniest uses of/send ups of nihilism in pop culture. A comedic ingredient in the Coen [...]
My good friend Andrew Daugherty, Minister of Faith Formation at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC, shares his sermon from the first Sunday of Lent last weekend. It’s a beautiful message that is uplifting, encouraging, and an important reminder of who we are and how we might move through this season of Lent. Please [...]
