urbanmennonite.com

There are others but these are the ones that popped to mind.

Igby Goes Down: A modern Holden Caufield.  Young urban angst in all its heartbreaking glory.
Mysterious Skin: The beginning of what will be a lifelong adoration of Joseph Gorden-Levitt.
Quinceanera: Small and pointed but also full of love and hope and possibility.
Junebug: You can’t go home [...]

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The Olympics opening ceremony has me thinking about Asian cinema.  I’ve seen almost none — no horror, almost no anime, nothing obscure, nothing that isn’t Chinese or Japanese — but with those limitations here’s my favorites.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Unrequited love.  Check.  Kick-ass women. Check.  Beautiful people. Check. Heartbreaking ending.  Check.
In the Mood For Love.  [...]

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I watched 300 last night. Normally for a movie like this there is tons to talk about, like how amazing the cinematography was or how much better if would have been to watch it without dialogue or how maybe it’s an apologist’s take on our current administration’s war (with the Queen serving as the [...]

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Gone Baby Gone was a movie I should have seen last year.  This is how far behind I am in my movie watching and Netflix queue that I am only now watching movies I should have been seeing in preparation for the Oscars 9 months ago.  Oh well.
Gone Baby Gone is the most Catholic film [...]

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By this time Monday, every woman and New-York gay in America will have seen the movie Sex and The City. Seriously. This thing is going to make a bazillion dollars. It’s insane! And I’m going to see it too.
Because I am a tool to corporate America and its commercialized onscreen romances.
But I already [...]

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I have resisted mightly, strenuously even, from commenting or linking to or in any way acknowledging the article that every navel-gazing blog and meta-media commentator has been buzzing about for the last week. But I can’t resist anymore. it’s been Chinese water torture … drip, drip, drip … for seven days. [...]

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It’s not that The Mennonite is a particular must read of mine. Sure it’s useful as a church publication goes and there’s been the occasional interesting article. Plus, they do run poetry on occasion and some of it can be pretty decent. But all-in-all, it’s pretty mainstream, nothing too out there, nothing [...]

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My embarrassment is helped along by amateur movie music videos on YouTube.  Somehow, these movies look even cheesier when cut to sappy music.

The Cutting Edge: my most guilty pleasure ever!  Finger-painting?  Toe pick!  It’s all good, folks.  Except they made a sequel and then another.  Which are just bad.
Never Been Kissed: Drew Barrymore is cute.  [...]

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Breakfast Club: just pure awesomeness. Maybe the best teen movie ever. Ever. The gold standard by which all teen movies should be judged.
Footloose: Although this is a super, super-close second.
Sixteen Candles: way, way better than Pretty in Pink. Jake Ryan … the most perfect movie man ever (do you know he’s now [...]

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Here we are at last. Despite the strike, the last-minute scramble for plane tickets, designer duds, and the whitest, most depressing slate of movies in a long time, the Oscars are really here.
I’m taking a cue from the big guys and liveblogging the Oscars (mostly to see if I can do it but also [...]

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