Preface, 2005

Readers familiar only with my theological writings may be surprised to hear that for a brief time I considered an avocational career as a movie reviewer. I’ve always enjoyed movies, and I thought that some of my observations on films might be useful, at least to my students who took courses from me in modern culture. I had before me, also, the example of my colleague Harvie Conn, who reviewed movies for Christianity Today until the editors told him, “CT readers don’t go to movies.” (Evidently that has changed in the years since.)

So around 1992-93, I wrote up a number of reviews, with some introductory reflections on the medium. My main purpose was to use them in courses, but I also sent them around to publishers and to periodicals, in hope that I could perhaps moonlight somewhere as a reviewer, following Harvie. The responses were wholly negative. Publishers did not want to publish movie books, because they got out-of-date so fast. Periodical editors thought, well, that I should not give up my day job.

Hence the unmaking of a reviewer. But I have used these reviews and analytical pieces in other contexts, and the responses have not been totally negative. So I make them available now on the web. The reviews are still dated. Most are from around 1993, though I have added one or two in the years since. But with the increasing popularity of tape and DVD, there may still be interest in these particular films. More important, these reviews may be helpful to readers as they seek to evaluate more contemporary films.

I should warn you that the reviews contain “spoilers.” That is, I have reviewed the films as one reviews classic literature, with freedom to describe the ending and relate that ending to the overall interpretation. If anyone cannot bear to know the endings in advance, I urge you to see the film before reading the review.