Websites offer the most efficient way to find movie information
and reviews. The list below includes both general websites where you can
find information on literally thousands of movies, as well as websites that
offer reviews from a Christian perspective. Of those with a Christian orientation,
some are mainly interested in offering warnings about aspects of a movie
that viewers might find offensive, others seek to draw moralistic analogies
between the Bible and movies, and still others focus on bringing theological
insight to bear on the interpretation of movies. My hope is that these sites
will contribute to serious reflection on the intersection of film and faith.
Although you can find hundreds of websites on movies, this list of suggestions
includes many of the sites that I have found most helpful. Your suggestions
will be gratefully accepted.
Finding Movie Reviews
Internet Movie Database Search.
An excerpt from this site: “The IMDb is the ultimate movie reference source
and covers everything you could ever possibly want to know about movies.
It’s fully hyperlinked both within the database and to thousands of external
sites and is updated continuously ... It currently covers over 170,479 titles
with over 2,462,516 filmography entries and is expanding continuously.”
Metacritic.“Metacritic compiles reviews from respected critics and publications
for film, video/dvd, music and games.”
Filmwell. A daily updated blog
interested in cinema off the beaten track, criticism at the margins of the great
conversation, and how art points the way to (as Henry Miller says) “life more
abundant.”
god is not elsewhere,
by Gareth Higgins, author of How Movies Helped Save My Soul: Finding
Spiritual Fingerprints in Culturally Significant Films (Relevant Books,
2003). See also the archive
of Gareth Higgins’s previous blogs.
Pop Theology. Poptheology
examines the intersection of pop culture and theology, religion, and
spirituality.
Rose Pacatte’s Movie Blog. Sister Rose is coauthor,
with Peter Malone, of Lights, Camera . . . Faith! A Movie Lover’s Guide
to Scripture. Her archive of about 475 reviews and postings (since 2003)
is at http://rosepacatte.blogspot.com/.
Soul Food Movies
by Ron Reed (founding artistic director of Vancouver’s Pacific Theatre)
Vic & Walter Thiessen: On
Movies. These two brothers like to think about movies and other cultural
offerings with some occasional theological and psychological nuances.
Catholic News Service.
Offers a list of the latest movie reviews as well as an alphabetical list
of the latest 100 movies reviewed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Office of Film and Broadcasting.
Charles Henderson’s
Reviews at Godweb. Reviews on this Web site spring from a “lively
faith in which the passions of the heart are brought into harmony with the
life of the mind. We prefer to praise films that speak to the point of intersection
between the mind and the spirit.” Excellent reviews.
Christian
Spotlight on the Movies. Offers movie reviews from a conservative
evangelical perspective. Also, provides a “rating” for each film (e.g.,
a “1” is very offensive, while a “5” describes a movie containing nothing
offensive). Contains interesting comments on its bulletin board.
Cinema in Focus. “It
is our desire for the reader to explore with us each week the values portrayed
in contemporary films, to be drawn into discussions about the deeper experiences
of life.” Denny Wayman is pastor of the Free Methodist Church in Santa Barbara,
CA (MDiv, Asbury; DMin, Fuller). Hal Conklin is the President of the California
Center for Civic Renewal.
CrossWalk.com From
the mission statement: “For many of us, faith is too often something we
think or feel while life is something we do. Finding practical, everyday
ways to integrate faith into life is the stuff of lessons and sermons for
thousands of years past, and it seems to be an increasingly difficult mission
in today’s fast-paced, chaotic world.”
CultureWatch. Created
by radio show host Dick Staub, this site is dedicated to the interpretation
of faith at the intersection of popular culture. Each review includes a
statement of the central theme, plot summary, summary of “beliefs” reflected
in the movie, discussion questions, and provocative quotes.
Damaris CultureWatch.
“Exploring the Message Behind the Media.” A UK based organization dedicated
to Christian reflection on film, television, music, books, and art. Go directly
to the
Film
Page, with its excellent articles and discussion guides.
Decent Films. “A site
of film appreciation, information and criticism informed by Christian faith.”
Steven D. Greydanus, the creator of the site, is a publishing film critic
with degrees in media arts and religious studies.
The Dove Foundation’s Home Page.
The site includes brief reviews of current movies. Each review includes
a paragraph on “Christian worldview,” along with evaluation and warnings
regarding sexuality, language, violence, drugs, nudity and occultism. Identifies
movies that have received the Dove seal of approval.
The Fish: A Christian Look @ Pop
Culture ... “offers the latest pop culture news and entertainment
reviews from a Christian perspective. Read reviews of movies, DVDs, television,
books, video games, and music that will help you apply a Christian worldview to
pop culture. We believe that Christians should be active in supporting the arts
and storytelling in popular culture.”
Hollywood Jesus. Pop Culture
from a Spiritual Point of View. Webmaster David Bruce is a pastor
who says: “I love to go to church and film festivals. For me they are both
spiritual experiences. I believe that our search for God and life’s meaning
is reflected in Hollywood films and in our culture. Our reviews are visual
and look beyond the surface to the deeper emotional, spiritual, and biblical
connections.”
Imaginarium.
Articles and Reviews from the Cornerstone Festival.
INTERFILM NORTH AMERICA. An international network that brings together interested
individuals and institutions concerned with film and theology, and church
and cinema. For the European site,
click here. Interfilm participates, with
SIGNIS (the World Catholic Association for Communication), in the Ecumenical
Juries at about twenty-two international film festivals. The juries give
awards to films for their artistic quality; for depicting human attitudes
or expressions of the Gospel, and for sensitizing viewers to spiritual and
social questions and values. Find listings of Ecumenical Prize winners
by clicking on the Festivals link on the European site, and the Awards
link on the North American site.
Joy of Movies. “Enriching
our spiritual lives through film.”
Longpauses. A fine site
with thoughtful, critical commentary, reviews and articles.
Looking Closer at the Movies. “Movies, like any art form, can reveal
for us pieces of the truth, no matter who directed the film, who starred
in it, or what it is about. The better the film, the truer the film. All
aspects of a film can work towards this revelation.” Jeffrey Overstreet,
editor of the site.
MEDIAFILM A service of the
Catholic church in Quebec: MÉDIAFILM est une agence de presse qui regroupe
tous les services d’information en cinéma de Communication et société, un
organisme à but non lucratif créé en 1956 sous l’appellation Centre Catholique
national du cinéma, de la radio et de la télévision, et connu par la suite
sous le nom d’Office des communications sociales (OCS).
Metaphilm: “We Don’t Review
Films; We Interpret Them.” This site is creative, thoughtful, and provocative.
Ministry and Media. From the creators of
Group Magazine
and Youthministry.com: “We’ve
created this site to be a storehouse of pop culture information and programming
ideas that will help youth workers use media to relate the gospel to teenagers.
We hope to offer a range of options that allows everyone to find something
that speaks to those whom God has placed in his or her ministry.”
Movie Concordance.
From The Text This Week site. “This
project is a ’concordance’ of a kind—an attempt to gather together scenes
in movies which serve as ’comparative texts’ in relationship to Biblical/spiritual
themes and passages.” Linked to Scripture texts in the Common lectionary.
Especially helpful is the
Theme Index,
which lists over 200 theological themes and biblical motifs.
Movie Glimpse. “Our
desire at Movieglimpse is to help reconnect your heart to the greatest story
ever told. How? By revealing it to you in the movies that you love.” A small
selection of reviews by Leslie Hand.
MovieGuide. A sampling
of current reviews, along with articles that offer critique of the media.
More and fuller reviews are available to subscribers. The site is dedicated
to “redeeming the values of the media according to biblical principles.”
Reviews movies according to potentially offensive elements, and identifies
the movie’s “worldview” as: Christian, environmentalist, humanist or socialist,
homosexual, false religion, New Age or Pagan, etc.
MovieMinistry. A resource site dedicated to providing illustrations
from movies for biblical texts and theological themes. Some resources are
free; most are by subscription. Free email newsletters.
Movies
Matter. Resources for group discussions of film and faith.
Past the Popcorn.
“Reviews and essays will attempt a serious analysis of a film’s meaning,
both from the audience’s point of view and from the filmmakers’, as much
as is critically possible. Recognizing that all films still exist (in part)
as entertainment, films will also be subjectively reviewed for ‘nutritainment
value’ and audience-appropriateness.”
Peaceweb—Movies
with a Conscience. This site lists suggested “movies with a conscience”
by category (e.g. “Antiwar,” “Biography,” “Environment,” “Religion,” etc.).
The Phantom Tollbooth.
“We are an on-line magazine that publishes a wide range of album, concert
and movie reviews, interviews, features and resource links. We began in
December, 1996 and our monthly readership now numbers over five thousand.”
Planet Wisdom.
A site designed for youth that focuses on the intersection of movies and
a Christian worldview.
Plugged In Film Reviews. An on-line version of Focus on the Family’s
Plugged In magazine. Reviews offer plot summary, comments about
positive elements in the movie, spiritual content, as well as warnings regarding
sexual content, violence, language warnings, drug use, etc.
Ransom
Fellowship. See the
movies page. “Thinking
Christianly about movies and culture.” Some reviews include excellent discussion
guides.
Reel Spirituality: An Institute for Moving Pictures. Codirectors
Robert K. Johnston and Barry Taylor and others offer study guides, reviews
and essays. The Institute focuses on the “creative encounter between the
church and Hollywood . . . in discovery of common ground as story tellers,
image shapers, and culture makers.”
Books & Culture
“We need to learn what it means to think like a Christian—to think within
a specifically Christian framework—across the whole spectrum of modern learning.
Where to begin? One good place is Books & Culture.” Mark Noll,
Wheaton College.
Journal of Religion and Film
An academic journal that offers a wide array of essays and papers on religion
and the movies.
The Journal of Religion
and Popular Culture “is a web-based journal committed to the academic
exploration, analysis and interpretation, from a variety of disciplinary
perspectives, of the interrelations and interactions between religion and
religious expression and popular culture, broadly defined as the products
of contemporary mass culture.”
New York Press
Articles and reviews by Armond White, among others.
ParentsTV Movie Reviews Includes reviews by Michael Medved. The
“Clean Films” banner at the top of the page is advertising and does not
represent the intent of the reviews listed here. The
home page of ParentsTV focuses on
Television reviews.
Faith
& Film list by Daniel B. Clendenin, Ph.D., who writes, “Here
are over 110 films that provoked me to think afresh about our human
condition and what it means to believe, confess and live the Gospel
in our modern world.”
Sight and
Sound Best Films of All Time In 1952 Sight & Sound polled the
world’s leading film critics to compile a list of the best films of
all time. The magazine has repeated this poll every ten years to show
which films stand the test of time in the face of shifting critical
opinion.
Adherents.com’s Guide to
Religious Movies. This page presents “films that adherents and representatives
of various specific religious groups have recommended as being possibly
instructive about or representative of their specific faith. We have also
included films that deal with comparative religion and general religious
themes.”
