MOVIE: Minari (2020)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Minari Year: 2020 Rating: PG-13 Length: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours One has to wonder if last year's Best Picture, Parasite (2019), helped pave the way for Minari (2020). While both are quite different films, the acceptance of South Korean cinema has been a long time coming. However, one thing both films share is their sense of foreshadowing. The subtle phrasings and actions of the characters seem inconsequential at first but evolve into hard-hitting plot points as the movie progresses. These story beats hit hard even with a relatively simple plot and left me emotionally devastated with each twist and turn. Set in 1980s America, Minari speaks into the evolution (or, some would say, death) of the American Dream. The belief that anyone from anywhere can come to this land of opportunity and make a living doing what they want to do is the strongest in the immigrants who came here hoping to capitalize on the United States' freedom. But, unfortunately, it's not as easy...
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BOOK: Kaleidoscope (2018)

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Kaleidoscope: Keeping the church from becoming a museum Year: 2018 Author: Kurt Trempert Length: 226 pages ***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM THE AUTHOR*** In Kaleidoscope: Keeping the church from becoming a museum, Kurt Trempert uses the metaphor of the kaleidoscope to examine what an incarnational church looks like when compared to some of the stagnancies arising in the modern American church. This book addresses many issues and criticisms the church faces in the contemporary era. They're covered in a way that shows not only what’s perhaps behind these shortcomings, but what can potentially be done to fix them. Of course, this then begs the question, who is this book’s audience? Is it for those who run their local church, or the congregation of said churches? Content-wise, I didn’t have many issues with what was presented here. Most of my qualms had to do with the formatting, including right-align text, the font, and lack of indents. Since it was consistent throughout, I eventually got over it. I would...
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BOOK: Rumors of Another World (2003)

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Rumors of Another World Year: 2003 Author: Philip Yancey Length: 272 pages Having been a Christian for some time, I was familiar with the name Philip Yancey. I knew he often wrote books about Christianity and how those of us in the faith should examine some of the more challenging topics of our belief. When I picked up Rumors of Another World from a friend, I was expecting an examination of the afterlife promised us in God's Word. Part of me was planning to use this book as a bit of research for my own fictional writing, or at least to give me ideas on how to incorporate a heavenly realm into it. In the end, this book was not what I expected. It has been a long time since I've read any Yancey, but I don't think this is his strongest work. My primary issue with it is that it tries to speak to too many audiences. If it either focused on trying to convince...
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BOOK: The Null Prophecy (2017)

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The Null Prophecy Year: 2017 Author: Michael Guillen Length: 424 pages ***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY*** As far as “end of the world” books go, this one is a new take on the apocalypse genre. From my knowledge of space weather and its effects on our world, I can say that aspects of this book are entirely plausible. That being said, I have minimal knowledge of the quantum vacuum, so I have merely chalked the plot points surrounding it to magical hand-waving to get the story to go where it needs to. While I would have enjoyed an apocalyptic story that didn’t blame humans for their own destruction, The Null Prophecy only met me half-way. What often comes across as “preachy,” the occasional mentions of green energy doing more harm than good do bring up an interesting point: in our race to solve the fossil fuel crisis, have we considered all the consequences of these newer energy-producing methods? When it comes to advancing the technological...
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