Superman (1978) – 1
Superman (1978). Directed by Richard Donner. Written by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, and Tom Mankiewicz. Music by John Williams. Starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, and Marlon Brando. PG, 143 min. It’s there in plain sight from the start, at least for those with…
Superman (1978) – 2
Superman (1978). Directed by Richard Donner. Written by Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, Robert Benton, and Tom Mankiewicz. Music by John Williams. Starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, and Marlon Brando. PG, 143 min. Just when and where we least expect a significant something or Other is…
A Man Called Ove (2015) – 1
Written and Directed by Hannes Holm (based on novel by Fredrik Bachman). Starring Rolf Lassgård, Filip Berg, Bahar Paris, and Ida Engvoll. 116 minutes. Rated PG-13. Ove is an ornery, rather embittered old so-and-so, or so it seems. Recently widowed, he lives alone in a small Swedish condo complex over which, as its one-time association…
The Thin Red Line (1998) – 5
The Thin Red Line (1998). Written and directed Terrence Malick. Starring James Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and Elias Koteas. 170 mins; rated R. Metacritic: 78%; Rotten Tomatoes: 79%. Films have not historically done much with death. By this, I mean real actual dying. In general movies have greatly prettified the usually stark and often…
Heaven (2002)
Directed by Tom Tykwer. Written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krysztof Piesiewicz. Music by Arvo Pärt. Starring Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, and Remo Girone. 97 mins. Rated R. For all of their importance in living, there are very few confession sequences in films, at least good ones. The best known, perhaps, is implicit. George Bailey in…
Wonder Woman (2017)
Wonder Woman (2017). Directed by Patty Jenkins. Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Robin Wright. 141 mins. Rated PG-13. Wonder Who? The wonder of Wonder Woman is that, indeed, the film is a wonder, the best commix-inspired flick since the original Superman all the way back in 1978, some four decades later and countless…
Dark Knight (2008) & More
The Dark Knight (2008). Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Aaron Eckhart. 152 minutes. Rated PG-13. Evil. We don’t hear much about it these days, at least from pulpits. Unless, of course, it is some sort of sexual something. The rest, like greed or idolatry, not so much as a peep. …
The Color of Paradise (1999)
Written and directed by Majid Majidi. Starring Hossein Mahjoub, Mohsen Ramezani, and Salmeh Feyzi. 90 mins. Rated PG. In several remarkable sequences, in utterly gorgeous landscapes of mountains and meadows, streams and sun, a blind boy exults as if he were Adam new-born in the Garden (where all is “pleasant to see” Gen.). Ten-year old…
Grand Canyon (1991) – 1
Grand Canyon (1991). Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Co-written by Meg Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan. Starring Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, and Mary Louise Parker. Rated R; 134 minutes. Grand Canyon (1991) is one of those films that every clergy and parishioner, and everyone else too, for that matter, ought to…
Grand Canyon (1991) – 2
Grand Canyon (1991). Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Co-written by Meg Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan. Starring Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Steve Martin, Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, and Mary Louise Parker. Rated R; 134 minutes. So when do we know it’s the real “real thing”? If we can know that for sure, that is. That, to be…
Search Results: roy+anker