With great respect for Nicole Kidman, who gave the best performance I saw on the big screen tonight.
- - - -
We come to this place for magic.
We come to AMC theaters to laugh, to cry, to care.
Because we need that, all of us.
That indescribable feeling we get when the lights begin to dim and we suddenly realize that AMC staff have downloaded this German-language film about the Holocaust and attached the wrong subtitle package. And…
Any who prioritize the behavioral law of a religion above the Love at the heart of it are bound to expose themselves as flagrant hypocrites and infidels, violators of the very laws they force on others.
It's true here in the context of Islam.
It's true in the context of Christianity too. Whenever you decide that faith is about a code of lifestyle standards instead of about unconditional love, you have replaced true faith with just another system of oppression…
Posting this just to say that I'm counting down my twelve favorite films of 2024 during the Oscar broadcast tonight over at Give Me Some Light.
Also, live-posting the Oscars at Bluesky.
Imagine the horror — living among churchgoers who routinely hear about the Gospel, sing about God's mercies, celebrate the generosity shown to the pregnant and desperate Mary at Christmas... and yet knowing that these very same Christian people have hardened their hearts toward the poor and desperate, too scared of risking their safety and privilege to reach out and love their neighbors.
That's what this movie is about, anyway. That's the living nightmare for Bill Furlong.
Wonder why this film resonates…
16 THINGS ABOUT GOSFORD PARK
1. Still my favorite Altman film.
2. Still head and shoulders above the entirety of Downton Abbey.
3. Still the most virtuosic choreography of a large ensemble cast I've ever seen.
4. I miss Clive Owen.
5. That scene with Tom Hollander eating jam in the cellar. That scene.
6. I believe that when he goes home from work, Richard E. Grant dresses and behaves just like this.
7. All of the moments with Claudie…
I remember when this was a very popular movie among evangelical Christians — the idea being that it is sinful to compromise your devotion to God by supporting a corrupt leader who thinks that the law doesn't apply to him, and to shrug off his womanizing ways in order to gain political advantage. I guess that makes me old, that I can remember those days.
- - - - -
If you like my Letterboxd notes, check out Give Me Some…
Jeffrey Overstreet liked Hal’s review of Die Hard With a Vengeance
Jeffrey Overstreet liked Adam Kempenaar’s review of Columbus
Jeffrey Overstreet reviewed and liked His Three Daughters on Sunday Mar 2, 2025
Jeffrey Overstreet liked trey 🍂’s review of Rebel Ridge
Jeffrey Overstreet liked Joel Mayward’s review of Nickel Boys
