Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
** As mentioned before, most of these albums can be downloaded free from Noisetrade.
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Some re-reads:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Some re-reads (because some books provoke many visits)
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
On Thursday night, with two friends, an empty bladder, and with a very heightened sense of anticipation, I went to see Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. It is a phenomenal film, and at some stage (for this film requires a number of viewings) I may post some thoughts about it, and about the experience of watching it on The Regent‘s massive screen. But not now. For now, I simply want to confess, particularly for the benefit of those who are yet-to-see-but-hope-to-see the film, that this is a film that demands and rewards some preparation, and, to that end, that I was glad that I had done some reading beforehand. Here’s some of what I found most helpful:
Since, I’ve also found this piece: The Tree of Life: a son of tears. And finally, this from David Bentley Hart:
The film, in fact, is brilliant, mesmerizingly lovely, and almost alarmingly biblical. Even if one is not enchanted (as I most definitely am) by Malick’s signature cinematic mannerisms, or by the fleeting hints of his more recondite intellectual preoccupations (Heidegger? Gnosticism? Buddhism? Russian Sophiology, perhaps?), surely one ought to recognize the ingenious subtlety of the scriptural allegories around which the film is built, and of the film’s meditations on the mystery of God’s silence and eloquence, and on innocence and transgression, and on the divine glory that shines out from all things.
Or so I was thinking as I drowsed there, warming my pelt in a pool of sunlight. Then, however, it occurred to me that perhaps, after all, these critics did have a kind of point. Oh, yes, The Tree of Life is profoundly, if mysteriously, scriptural—with its images of Eden, Cain and Abel, God speaking out of the whirlwind, divine Wisdom dancing at the heart of creation, Christ the man of sorrows, and so on—but is that sufficient to make it a truly Catholic film, at least of the sort these earnest critics so obviously crave? And I realized that probably it is not: It contains no pericopes from the catechism, no triumphant affirmations of papal primacy, no satisfying deathbed conversions, no heartwarming tableaux of the happy Catholic family warm in the embrace of Mother Church, no nuns, no Bing Crosby, no Italians …
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Matthew Dickerson on food and the culture of Hobbits
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
My friend Reno Lauro spent 18 months working with Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life. Now he’s also written an exquisite review of the film:
‘In an age when the most common uses of movies include sightseeing, adventure, and entertainment, the American filmmaker Terrence Malick offers us an invitation to probe time, space, and the mysteries of human existence. Defying cinematic formulas of convention and consumption, Malick has managed to build a grand cathedral to the ineffable mysteries of the human quest for divine answers. With all the ambition of the great master builders of old, Malick creates a living edifice designed with a geometry of life and love. Hewed from blocks of living duration, mortared with light and adorned with Fibonacci’s energy, The Tree of Life is much more than simply a ‘movie,’ it is that rare event in the life of an art form that extends the possibilities of its own craft. Malick has reintroduced the dynamic possibilities of a cinema of time to American moviegoers’.
You can read the remainder of the review here.
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
I’ve decided to continue on with my habit of recording some of my stopping points – books read, music listened to, films watched, etc. – each month. Some readers seem to enjoy knowing from where I’m being fertilised, and I enjoy keeping a track of my journeys. So here’s January’s ‘stations’:
Reading:
Listening:
Watching:
Some other news
I’m anticipating that posts here at Per Crucem ad Lucem might be a little scantier over the next few weeks. I have some other writing that I need to set aside some extra time to do, and I’ll be away speaking at a number of events, including Going Further. By the way, upon my return I’ll be giving a public lecture on the Supper entitled ‘Learning to See and to Waddle with our Tongues: a view from the Table’. All are heartedly invited (both to the lecture and to the Supper!). For any who may be interested, I plan to post a copy of my talk here after the event.
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only’. – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
Best books
Theology
Biography
Ministry
History
Cooking
Poetry
Best albums
1. Officium Novum by Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble.
2. The Age of Miracles by Mary-Chapin Carpenter.
3. Foundling by David Gray.
4. Scratch My Back by Peter Gabriel.
5. Sacrificium by Cecilia Bartoli.
6. Women and Country by Jakob Dylan.
7. 100 Miles From Memphis by Sheryl Crow.
8. Great and Small by Butterflyfish.
9. Downtown Church by Patty Griffin.
10. No Better Than This by John Mellencamp.
Honorable mentions: All Delighted People by Sufjan Stevens; The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens; Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant; Go by Jónsi; April Uprising by The John Butler Trio; The Promise by Bruce Springsteen; The Astounding Eyes of Rita by Anouar Brahem; American VI: Aint No Grave by Johnny Cash; San Patricio by The Chieftains & Ry Cooder; In Person & On Stage by John Prine; How I Learned to See in the Dark by Chris Pureka.
Best films
1. How I Ended This Summer
2. Winter’s Bone
3. Abandoned
4. The Infidel
5. Shutter Island
6. Boy
Overrated films
Worst films
Best TV shows
1. An Idiot Abroad (Series 1)
2. Rev
Some Personal Highlights
jasongoroncy.com 