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Articles by Wesley Lantz
Review – Deadpool & Wolverine - Geeks Under Grace
It is fascinating to think that the test footage for Deadpool leaked a decade ago. Summer 2014 was at the peak of the superhero genre, with Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Winter Soldier fresh in theaters. And then out of nowhere, test footage for a Deadpool leaked on YouTube and became extremely popular. It wasn’t long after that the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool film got off the ground, releasing in theaters two years later to intense popularity.
Review – The Bikeriders - Geeks Under Grace
Few films have drawn such hype as The Bikeriders, the long-awaited adaptation of Danny Lyon’s 1968 book of the same name, which tells a fictional story based on the real-life Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The movie had a lot going for it, including a lead performance by breakout Elvis star Austin Butler, a remarkable trailer, and a great premise that calls to mind great true crime films like Goodfellas.
Review – The Story of the Family - Geeks Under Grace
Is there any forgotten writer who has seen a greater rediscovery than G.K. Chesterton? He has become a fascinating figure in modern life as a Christian apologist and political philosopher. He’s known as the “Apostle of Common Sense,” and his books have returned to prominence in the past two decades as a result of breaking out into the wider Christian intellectual ecosystem, as one of the 20th century’s most joyful and sensible thinkers.
Review – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Geeks Under Grace
It is hard to imagine that it’s been nearly a decade since Mad Max: Fury Road hit cinemas. The cinematic surprise of the decade was released as a late-career passion project from the legendary director of Happy Feet and Babe: Pig in the City and somehow became the most critically acclaimed action movie since The Matrix. It had its critics and naysayers, but the movie has survived the claims that say it’s overrated and continues to be a wonderful gem of perfectly executed action.
Review – Wildcat - Geeks Under Grace
Last September, actor and filmmaker Ethan Hawke appeared on a podcast with Catholic evangelist Bishop Barron. The occasion came just as his newest film was set to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, which received mixed reviews. The discussion was about Hawke’s fascination with the life and literature of the Catholic novelist Flannery O’Connor, and how he’d come to be hired by his daughter Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) to direct her in a film about the life of her favorite writer.
Review – Civil War - Geeks Under Grace
Alex Garland is one of my favorite filmmakers, and I’m proud to say I had the opportunity to meet him briefly in college. It wasn’t a long conversation, as I was just a boom operator at the time. Back in 2015, I was asked to record an interview with student filmmakers when I was still attending Tribeca Flashpoint College as part of Garland’s media tour for Ex Machina. I installed a lav microphone on him, briefly spoke with him, and went our separate ways.
Review - Ferrari
The great Michael Mann is back! The acclaimed 80-year-old director of Heat, The Insider, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans, Ali, Miami Vice, Collateral, and Public Enemies has resurfaced from a near-decade exile in director’s jail with his first film since 2015’s forgotten thriller Blackhat.
Review - Freud's Last Session - Geeks Under Grace
Sometimes a movie comes out and I can only assume it was made for me specifically. This might sound like a strange presupposition, but sometimes it’s the best conclusion when a movie fits so perfectly to your tastes. As an amateur expert on CS Lewis adaptations — both on stage and in print — I cannot help but get excited with a low-budget CS Lewis film sneaking into theaters.
The Best and Worst Films of 2023
“Disappointing” is a strong word to use to describe cinema in 2023. It certainly was an interesting year. It marked the decline of several tentpole franchises, including the behemoth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Disney as a company took many financial hits as it faced criticism from multiple angles, while the writer’s and actor’s strike put Hollywood into a slumber. Yet there were also a few breakthroughs.
Review – The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) - Geeks Under Grace
On August 7, 2023, legendary filmmaker William Friedkin passed away in his California home at the age of eighty-seven. The one-time director of famous films like The French Connection, The Exorcist, Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A., Bug, and Killer Joe left this world a major mark on the filmmaking medium, both as an artist producing his own works and as a student of the form helping to preserve it and sing its praises.
Review – Past Lives - Geeks Under Grace
Released in theaters back in June and then on home media just over a month ago, Past Lives is a recent A24 film that I did the disserve of missing while in theaters. It fell by the wayside for me, despite rumors of extremely positive reviews coming out of circles I trust, and I only just had the chance to watch it killing time on a long flight from Las Vegas to Chicago.
Interview — Douglas Kaine McKelvey, Creator Of Every Moment Holy - Geeks Under Grace
The arts have seen a growing importance among Christians in the past decade. As the culture shifts ever further from Christianity, large sections of the faith have begun to realize just how important art is in speaking to the issues of modernity. Tremendous efforts are currently being made to regain ground by fostering quality art — shying away from historic efforts like Bibleman and God’s NOT Dead in favor of art that can impress secular and religious viewers alike.
Support Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act on climate … - South Bend Tribune
The Canadian wildfires this summer reached all the way down into the states, though not with their flames. We all remember the ominous haze outside our doors, and if you’ve got asthma, you felt it. It got to the point that my wife needed an N-95 mask just to walk outside our front door. The effects of climate change used to feel far removed, but as we continue to invest in fossil fuels, we’re getting a taste of what communities around the world have felt for decades.
Interview — Lance Davis, Creator of the Anglican Office Book - Geeks Under Grace
It can be said that two major movements are happening in the Protestant world at this time as mainline denominations continue to deteriorate — a rapid expansion of Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism across the world, and a small but growing group of traditionalists coming together to revive traditional liturgies and rites.
Review - The Biblical Trinity
American Christianity has a Trinity problem — too many people do not know what it is. According to the 2022 State of Theology study, 38% of American Evangelicals agree with the statement “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God,” meaning nearly two-fifths qualify as Arian heretics. Another study found 22% disagreed with the statement, “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God,” with 62.5% failing to properly describe the historic understanding.
Review – BlackBerry - Geeks Under Grace
One of the year’s most anticipated film festival releases has finally arrived on home streaming, and it is as good as people are saying, even though it is following in the footsteps of other films and stories. Content Guide Violence/Scary Images: None. Language/Crude Humor: Heavy language throughout the film. Characters cruelly address each other with severe profanity. Drug/Alcohol References: Characters casually drink alcohol. Sexual Content: Nothing sexual is depicted on screen.
Review — Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith - Geeks Under Grace
In December 2017, The New York Times published a curious story about a top-secret U.S. government UFO research program funded by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that has been investigating the subject of unexplained aerial phenomena for over a decade. On June 5, the same journalists broke another story, claiming that a whistleblower has proof that the U.S. government is lying to Congress about possessing alien aircraft.
Review - The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The idea of a Super Mario Bros. movie has long been the rumored talk of Hollywood since the strange live-action Mario Brothers movie was released in 1993. Nintendo was briefly rumored to be developing an animated movie in 2014 alongside Amy Pascal and Avi Arad at Sony Pictures, but that project didn’t come to fruition. Then in 2018, production of an animated adaptation began in earnest at Universal Pictures, coinciding with the plans to open a Super Mario Bros.
Review – John Wick: Chapter 4 - Geeks Under Grace
After a four-year wait and multiple delays related to schedule conflicts and the pandemic, the John Wick franchise is finally back with its fourth film. In the nearly eight and a half years since John Wick premiered in late 2014, the scrappy first film has grown into Hollywood royalty with cameos from almost every great action star and character actor in contemporary cinema. Now it all leads up to this, with director Chad Stahelski bringing the story arc of his four films to a momentary close.
Interview - The Fabelman's Most Iconic Scene and Gary Rushton's Lionel Trains - Geeks Under Grace
If there were any major theme that came out of last weekend’s Academy Awards, it is the theme of gratitude. It was a very good night for hard-working people whose careers have been somewhat marginalized or forgotten until quite recently, and actors like Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan took to the stage shedding streams of tears in thankfulness for the recognition and love their recent films have brought them, after decades of being out of the spotlight.
Classic Review — The Consolation of Philosophy (523AD) - Geeks Under Grace
There is an age-old question that has haunted and confused millennia of Christians since far beyond when the church father Tertullian asked “What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?” And that is the question of syncretism. It is a very real and meaningful thing to ask what philosophy has to do with religion and if they can even be combined in the first place. Early Christians struggled with the question.
Review – The Fabelmans - Geeks Under Grace
Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors who ever lived. Since his debut with Duel (1971), he has directed thirty-two films and many of them are masterpieces of storytelling, like Schindler’s List and The Color Purple. He is also one of the greatest blockbuster directors of all time, but following his adaptation of Ready Player One he’s mostly moved away from action movies.
Retro Review – Luther (2003) - Geeks Under Grace
On the liturgical calendar celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans, tomorrow is All Saints Day. The day before though is All Hallow’s Eve or the Vigil of All Saints Day—which has traditionally been understood as a Catholic holiday. Halloween also shares a day with another major day in the history of Christianity—Reformation Day.
Review – Medieval - Geeks Under Grace
Last year was a big year for medievalism on film with major films like The Green Knight, The Last Duel, and Benedetta hitting theaters in short order. That was followed in early 2022 with the release of The Northman being one of the year’s highlights. As my dear colleague Ethan McQuire argues, this proliferation speaks to a fascination with medievalism in modernity, that modernity is seeking out something in the old to fulfill itself.
Review – The Gray Man - Geeks Under Grace
The Russo Brothers have built a strange career for themselves. The one-time co-creators of TV shows like Arrested Development and Community went on to direct four of the most popular and successful Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptations and became the most financially successful directors of all time.
Review - Nope - Geeks Under Grace
Writer and director Jordan Peele is back! Following his incredible career-defining work on Get Out (2017) and Us (2019), he’s finally emerged from the COVID pandemic with his third major project, not counting his not terribly great TV reboot of The Twilight Zone.
Retro Review – Gods and Generals - Geeks Under Grace
This weekend celebrates America’s Independence Day, which marks 246 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on Monday. With that, I wanted to celebrate the yearly tradition of celebrating the history of our nation (usually by blowing up a small part of it) with a double feature. Last year I discussed the somewhat forgotten musical 1776.
Review – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - Geeks Under Grace
It’s become all too easy to dismiss Marvel movies in the past few years; Avengers: Endgame served as a good stepping off point for many exhausted fans, anti-consumerist malaise has started to compound in some corners of the internet, the Martin Scorsese controversy made “Marvel Movies” into a dismissive slur for a certain kind of shallow blockbuster that was undeserving of attention, and the overall quality of Phase 4 films has been iffy.
Review – Benedetta - Geeks Under Grace
There’s a curious trend happening at the margins of the film industry in the past year. Between David Lowry’s The Green Knight, Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, and now Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta, there has been a strange set of anti-medieval films released in theatres. I couldn’t begin to tell you why directors as diverse as Ridley Scott and Paul Verhoeven independently decided to satirize the middle ages but the timing has been fascinating.
Retro Review: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Distributor: Paramount Pictures Director: Robert Wise Writers: Harold Livingston, Alan Dean Foster (story), Gene Roddenberry (created by) Composer: Jerry Goldsmith Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi With the premiere of Star Trek: Picard this week, now is a great time to dust off the old DVDs and relive our favorite moments in...
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