Husband, father, Christ follower, journalist, recovering film critic.
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My Neighbor Totoro 1988
First time viewing with all three boys. They laughed and cheered throughout, though rarely due to Totoro or the cat bus. They were mostly entranced by the two girls, who act just like real children act. Their behavior in every scene is wonderfully recognizable. Hard to think of a film that captures children so evocatively.
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Mary Poppins 1964
A children’s movie with a college-level vocabulary, an inscrutable narrative structure, and subplots involving women’s suffrage, the British banking system, and chimney sweeps. I loved it when I was a kid, and had forgotten how peculiar it is. My boys were delighted, and laughed frequently. It really is full of magic and wonder, and the chemistry between Andrews and Van Dyke is amazing.
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Chariots of Fire 1981
Makes a compelling case for:
- Christian conscience and peculiarly
- Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy
- Putting the Kingdom before kings
- Sports movies in general
- Synthesizers -
Speed Racer 2008
Has there ever been a movie that took such joy in artifice? That presented us with such hollow characters, such cartoony action, such a cumbersome plot, and such staggering overload of bright colors— and somehow made us not only absorbed but invested? You think the visuals are all flash until you realize the brilliant efficiency of the editing, and the rich detail in every frame. And you want to write off the characters as cardboard cutouts until you realize how…