Sunday, December 28, 2014

Replay of Religious Films Episode

The December 28th edition of Sounds of Cinema featured a replay of the special episode on religious films originally broadcast earlier this year. The first half of the program included music from a variety of religion-related movies including The Ten Commandments and Jesus Christ Superstar. The second half of the show featured an interview with Thomas Lindlof, author of Hollywood Under Siege: Martin Scorsese, the Religious Right, and the Culture Wars, a book about the making of The Last Temptation of Christ.
 
You can find a blog post recounting the films discussed on the show (as well some other titles) here.

Here is the full interview with Thomas Lindlof:

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Film Reviews: December 7, 2014

Here is a summary of films reviewed on today's show:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is a promising penultimate addition to the Hunger Games film series. It’s difficult to judge a movie like this because it is just half the story but the film is well made, it breaks from the mold of the previous instalments, and it mixes action adventure thrills with perceptive political content.

Filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev has made a challenging and unsettling film with Happy Valley. But as upsetting at the film may be it is also critical viewing. This documentary transcends interests in sports or higher education; it’s a complex portrait of a community confronted with horrors from within its most esteemed institution and struggling to reconcile that horror with its own identity. 

Horrible Bosses 2 is a lousy sequel to a mediocre movie. There is nothing to this film except a lazy walkthrough of call backs to the first picture.

Life of Crime will be of interest to fans of Elmore Leonard’s literary works and it’s a fine crime film that mixes noir and black comedy. The story isn’t especially surprising but the film does have interesting characters and an impressive performance by Jennifer Aniston. 

You can find the full text of each review in the Sounds of Cinema review archive.