Many thanks to my friend Zack, who shared this wonderful quote on his Facebook page today. It's a perfect concept to remember on the days when my brain gets too caught up in the mundane. "The dark dangerous forest is still there, my friends. Beyond the space of the astronauts and the astronomers, beyond the dark, tangled regions of Freudian and Jungian psychiatry, beyond the dubious psi-realms of Dr. Rhine, beyond the areas policed by the commissars and priests and motivations-research men, … [Read more...] about About the Utterly Unknown
No Words for Tree of Life
I don't remember what prompted this particular journey around the web, but I happened onto a very thoughtful article the other day about what continues to be one of my favorite films, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. You can read the article here, if you like. After finishing this reflection, I turned as I often do to Roger Ebert's website, where I found not only his four-star review, but also a similarly meditative journal entry about the film, which I wasted no time reading. Two very … [Read more...] about No Words for Tree of Life
Who Doesn’t Love A Good Magic Trick?
There's a reason I call this blog "Exploring the Magic of Movies", and I suppose it has more to do with how I watch movies than the movies themselves, at least these days. In the early days of cinema, moving pictures truly looked like some kind of wizardry, and if you saw Martin Scorsese's Hugo a couple of years ago, you might have noticed the bit where audience members watching one of the first movies got up out of their seats and ran away in terror at the shot of an oncoming train. [youtube … [Read more...] about Who Doesn’t Love A Good Magic Trick?
Pens to Lens Brings the Hollywood Vibe to Downtown Champaign
A beloved toy turned into a carrot-chomping monster. A superhero fighting a different kind of battle. A young girl on an unusual mission. A sanitized Satan battling over burgers. Miners, monkeys, dinner parties, and even a tunnel to the other side of the globe. Those were some of the cinematic treats devoured by a very enthusiastic packed house at the Art Theater last night. The unexpected part? The scripts were all written by kids. It was the gala celebration for a new and exciting program … [Read more...] about Pens to Lens Brings the Hollywood Vibe to Downtown Champaign
What’s “Great” About Gatsby?
I came to the blog today hoping to sketch out a bit of musing about an interesting Romanian film I saw last night at the Art, but on my morning meanderings I stumbled onto a friend's blog and read an absolutely fantastic review of Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Now I'll admit, I haven't seen this yet, mostly because with the last couple of Luhrmann films I saw, I had to take a couple of runs at them before I could actually sit through and enjoy them. Okay, okay, I didn't ever … [Read more...] about What’s “Great” About Gatsby?
Tuesday Teaser: A Review of My Contribution to HerStory
Happy Tuesday, everyone! I think it pretty much goes without saying that anytime I read a good review of HerStory, I get happy. There are a bunch of wonderful stories in there, and I'm in great company in terms of quality writers. But I just had to share a review I read today that not only included a brief teaser of my story, "In the Company of Spirits", but gave it a bit of limelight all to itself as well. I'm pretty sure this is the first time someone I don't know has referred to my writing … [Read more...] about Tuesday Teaser: A Review of My Contribution to HerStory