movies
We’ve signed up for tata-sky here in India. A little cricket here, a movie over there – that kind of thing. So far with Hollywood movies there seems to be some censoring with scenes cut out. But I do not know enough questionable movies well enough to be able to tell quite yet. Certainly every…
READ MOREWhat a disappointment! The best thing about the movie was the company I kept in watching it. Spotting Christ-figures in movies is one of my favourite past-times – and so, yes, I enjoyed all the Jesus allusions. But it was all a bit obvious and silly, wasn’t it? It took me back to The Matrix.…
READ MOREIt has been awhile since a movie has grabbed my theological imagination quite like Ruby Sparks. A sleepy midnight viewing on an airplane was quickly followed by a visit to United Video and a more engaged viewing on terra firma. One synopsis of the movie goes like this: “Calvin is a genius novelist who begins…
READ MOREOver Christmas I spent time getting to know Aung San Suu Kyi. I started with Justin Wintle’s book, Perfect Hostage, picked up at the bookshop in the departure area of Phnom Penh airport. Given the recent developments in the story, it is a bit dated (2007). However I found it valuable to begin my pilgrimage with…
READ MOREI used to teach a course on movies which I called Windows and Mirrors. The idea being that movies can open up the critical area of worldview by providing a window on the world – and often an uncomfortable mirror for ourselves as well. One of my favourite exercises was to play with the same…
READ MORENow that I no longer teach a course on movies, my movie-watching has diminished greatly – and often just on planes through sleepy eyes (although I do limit myself to one per flight in order to ensure that I get some reading done!). But not in the last ten days. There have been three movies…
READ MOREI have recently seen the new Bollywood hit movie, The Three Idiots. Plot, characters, humour, scenery – as well as a window into what ‘doing life’ in India involves. It is the total package. I loved it (despite a dubious bit here and there!). But the director does two things which every movie director seems…
READ MOREI went to see Sherlock Holmes (the movie, not the person). Yet another dark movie. Not only is so much of it filmed at night, or in the shadows, or with the lights out – but creative energy is poured far more into portraying evil than good. There has been a string of movies like…
READ MOREThis week my daughter Bethany introduced me to a website which reviews movies with an eye on children. It is called kids-in-mind. While it does not appear to be explicitly Christian, I am sure it has a huge following among more conservative Christians. The site reviews movies according to three criteria: (a) Sex/Nudity; (b) Violence/Gore;…
READ MOREAfter twice standing in queues watching ‘sold-out’ signs go up in front of me, I finally was able to see Slumdog Millionaire last night. I loved it. The last time I soaked like this in a movie experience was probably Amazing Grace. I soaked in the realism in its depiction of India.From Amitabh-fever (which has…
READ MOREAbout Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.