I was listening to audio versions of some of C.S. Lewis's essays today, and came across an interesting point. Talking about the judgment that so many of the Psalms call for, he points out that "judgment" in Hebrew, as in the Book of Judges, doesn't so much mean 'render a verdict in a court of … Continue reading A Point of Linguistics
Thoughts
Thoughts on ‘Iron Man 3’
Past entries: -Iron Man -The Incredible Hulk -Iron Man 2 -Thor -Captain America: The First Avenger -The Avengers So, it should be clear by now that I really like the MCU. Even the films that aren’t so good, I still retain a fondness for. I recognize they’re bad (e.g. Iron Man 2), but I don’t … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Iron Man 3’
Thoughts on ‘The Avengers’
Past entries: -Iron Man -The Incredible Hulk -Iron Man 2 -Thor -Captain America: The First Avenger This is the film no one ever thought we were going to get; the one that comic fans dreamed of, but never expected. We’d had lots of superhero films, but they were all self-contained, apart from a few jokes … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Avengers’
Thoughts on ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
Past entries: -Iron Man -The Incredible Hulk -Iron Man 2 -Thor Concluding the first round of solo films is Captain America: The First Avenger, which, like Thor, takes another sharp detour in style from its predecessors. In the first place, it’s a period piece, with the main action taking place during World War II, while … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
Thoughts on ‘Thor’
Past entries: -Iron Man -The Incredible Hulk -Iron Man 2 After three relatively grounded science fiction stories, Thor takes the MCU in a starkly new direction with world-hopping high-fantasy tale of gods and kings. It’s really kind of amazing that it works as well as it does. We open with a trio of scientists – … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Thor’
Talking About the Abu Dhabi Document at the Everyman
A little late on this, but the documents says that it hopes to be a long-term object of research, so I suppose this is sort of a way of that coming to pass, though I don't think the authors would like my take. In any case, I was asked to give my response to the … Continue reading Talking About the Abu Dhabi Document at the Everyman
Thoughts on ‘Iron Man 2’
Past entries: -Iron Man -The Incredible Hulk So far, the first Iron Man was an all-around excellent superhero film. The Incredible Hulk had a lot of issues, but was still a fairly strong entry. And Iron Man 2? It’s a huge flaming mess. The film picks up about a year after the first Iron Man … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Iron Man 2’
Oscar Night and I Don’t Care
Thinking of modern Hollywood, I'm reminded of Screwtape's advice to his nephew: "The way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would think it was our job to teach!" Only, of course, the devils' jobs are to befuddle; Hollywood has the much more wholesome duty of storytelling, which it's largely rejected in arrogant disgust to appoint … Continue reading Oscar Night and I Don’t Care
Thoughts on ‘The Incredible Hulk’
Past entries: -Iron Man Following the excellent Iron Man, we have The Incredible Hulk, which, in retrospect, is a bit of an odd ball in the Marvel Universe (and not just because star Edward Norton ended up being recast when the character returned for The Avengers). It has a darker, heavier tone than most of … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Incredible Hulk’
Thoughts on ‘Iron Man’
Well, with Avengers: Endgame on its way, it seems there will never be a better time to do a re-watch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (actually, if anything, I’m getting a rather late start on this, considering I have over twenty films to get through!). Just so that it’s clear where I’m coming from, I … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Iron Man’
Serpent's Den 