Denis & Margie Haack continue to write at Critique-Letters
Movie Comment: Lost Sparrow (2009)
Chris Billing is an unassuming man, a journalist and documentarian who cares enough for the truth that he is willing to pursue it even…
When the gospel is not the gospel (II)
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped from slavery and went on to advocate for the equality of all human beings. Sadly, while Douglass was leaning against…
Movie comment: Gomorra (2008)
Italian director Matteo Garrone takes us into the lives of a series of people, some involved in the brutal mob Camorra that rules the…
Oatmeal Pancakes (with spleen)
With the L’Abri conference coming up this weekend, am prepping for workshop “Cast Iron Rises Again.” I was reminded last night of…
Film comment: Avatar (2009)
Ross Douthat, an Op-ed columnist for the New York Times and film reviewer for National Review, saw Avatar, James Cameron’s latest movie epic and…
Movie comment: The Visitor (2007)
Tom McCarthy has written and directed two films so far, and both are gems. His earlier one is The Station Agent (2003). They are…
Glorious ruins (2)
Not too far outside Rochester, in clear view as we drive past on the highway, is a commercial diary enterprise. It produces a prodigious…
Listening to the blues with Lucille
When I grow up, I hope I’m like BB King. Not in being a blues musician (which would be a hopeless dream), but in…
Glorious ruin (1)
Going from the gently rolling farmland of southern Minnesota to the rugged mountains of Colorado is always a feast for the soul. In both,…
Among the dead, or the asphalt
Russell Moore makes an interesting observation in Touchstone (September 2008; p. 16-18). He notes that though in the past churches used to have graveyards…