The Thin Red Line (1998) – 2

By nc | January 9, 2018

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%. The main character here is Witt (James Caviezel), a seasoned WWII foot soldier who finds himself on the island of Guadalcanal amid “clean up” operations after…

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Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

By nc | October 31, 2017

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).  Written and directed by Steven Spielberg.  Starring Richard Dreyfuss and Francois Truffaut.  PG; 137 mins.  Rotten Tomatoes 100% (40th Anniversary Edition); Metacritic 90%. What to make of power and splendor, especially of the sort that elicits awe and a powerful devotional attraction?  There is hardly a harder question,…

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Ida (2013)

By nc | October 17, 2017

Ida (2013).  Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.  Co-written by Pawel Pawlikowski and Rebecca Lenkiewicz.   Starring Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska.  PG-13.  82 mins.  Rotten Tomatoes 96%; Metacritic 91%. A young Polish novice, Ida (Agata Trzebuchowska), a WW II orphan raised in a convent, is summoned by the Abbess with the instruction to visit an aunt she…

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The Mission (1986)

By nc | November 29, 2016

Written by Robert Bolt, Cinematography by Chris Menges, Music by Ennio Morricone, Starring Jeremy Irons, Robert De Niro, and Ray McAnally. 125 mins. Rated PG. There’s more than one way of catching Jesus, meaning the deep-core of Him, a hard task in any setting, to be very sure.  Words go only so far, especially when…

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