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The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
On second viewing, the Pixar movie Up, appealing enough in its first viewing, definitely got better. The things that annoyed me, didn’t; what I thought were flaws, weren’t.
Such as: The fast-paced first ten minutes were my favorite part of the movie the first time around; probably still. But on first viewing, I found myself disappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time with Ellie. An energetic pushy tomboy, she was far more appealing than the “small mailman” that accompanies Carl on his old-age adventures. But within the first segment, she had met Carl, married him, suffered a miscarriage, grew old, and died. I had only started to get to know her. I felt cheated.
Now I see that’s what the filmmakers wanted. Without that emotional opening sequence, we’d have a hard time sympathizing with Carl’s nostalgia and disappointment. Given the opening ten minutes, we don’t just see Carl sighing over the unfinished adventure scrapbook; we sigh right along with him. We miss Ellie as much as Carl does. The movie makes the viewer feel nostalgic, until we realize that we, like Carl, need to shed the Bunyanesque burden of the past (the house that Carl comically pulls around by the garden hose) and get on with the next thing.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 12:31 pm
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