Understand the shared story in which we all play a part. Connect human creativity with the impulse of our Creator. Explore the relationship between images and imaging God. Do you like movies? Are you a cinephile? Do your friends consult YOU instead of IMDB? Were you raised on television? Spend hours talking cinema? This book is definitely for you. If you're a casual consumer who thinks Hollywood exists simply for diversion, this book may change your life. ""I am a Junior film and Television student... your interpretations of the films have helped formed the kind of filmmaker I am becoming, and also the way I experience films."" Humans crave narrative and usually don't stop to question why. Are we perhaps created to consume story, to create story, because we're image bearers of a Master Storyteller? In this book, movies meet God at the multiplex as the author challenges readers to redefine entertainment, understand the story they're in, and experience a new integrated level of spirituality and entertainment. ""You actually look at the film aspects and see how the artist's worldview really comes through."" What can we learn about God from Doctor Who and Han Solo? What are people like Jon Stewart and even Michael Bay helping us understand about story, good and bad? Peppered with movie quotes and metaphors, journey through the incredible changes film and storytelling have had on 21st century culture. Instead of an overly-academic offering on film and faith, Cinemagogue weaves a narrative from the author's own pop culture saturated life to the Greatest Story Ever Told, from Superman to Citizen Kane, Bertrand Russell to John Frame, Kurt Vonnegut to the apostle Paul, from our favorite narrative to our shared meganarrative. .".".I grew up on television in the 80s and relate to the context you grew up in.... I thank God for you and your ability to glorify him in everything, no matter what."" Classic notions of story structure, "monomyth" and universally shared themes in both popular and classic tales are examined in light of ancient scripture. From there, readers can see the genesis of creativity and worldview distortions from which conversation can bring us back to the future. After a dirty dozen examples of popular film in chapter five (with questions for discussion) the book tackles common objections with genre and content: horror movies, foul language, violence, sexuality, magic and more... and how many traditional objections are overshadowed by incredible opportunities for those brave enough to overcome fear and wade into the culture stream, secure in their faith. ""Your talk was one of the final confirmations of our move to Los Angeles to re-engage the film business by getting upstream in culture and trying to influence from the top down. Worked as an assistant on a TV series for a year, and now I'm working at a digital marketing agency that does a ton of film/TV work, as well as writing/producing my own projects."" The book ends with a call and commission to those who consider themselves spiritual and religious to get their heads out of the sand, to start realizing and utilizing the power of narrative. .".".really convicted me in both the movie and gaming arena to analyze what I am watching/playing and why. I had almost zero discernment before stumbling onto your series..."" A requested resource by movie-goers, movie-makers, pastors and teachers, Cinemagogue is an extension of a website and podcast, providing a "how-to" for those who want to experience the transforming power inherent in all story. ""Listening to your podcasts... opened my eyes to examine what I watch even closer."" Take your entertainment seriously while simultaneously having more fun with it than ever before. Learn how to watch to glorify, to be edified, and possibly to evangelize. Even better, create to

This book investigates a Jewish orientation to film culture in interwar Britain. It explores how pleasure, politics and communal solidarity intermingled in the cinemas of Jewish neighbourhoods, and how film was seen as a vessel through which Jewish communal concerns might be carried to a wider public. Addressing an array of related topics, this volume examines the lived expressive cultures of cinemas in Jewish areas and the ethnically specific films consumed within these sites; the reception of film stars as representations of a Jewish social body; and how an antisemitic canard that understood the cinema as a Jewish monopoly complicated its use as a base for anti-fascist activity. In shedding light on an unexplored aspect of British film reception and exhibition, Toffell provides a unique insight into the making of the modern city by migrant communities. The title will be of use to anyone interested in Britain’s interwar leisure landscape, the Jewish presence in modernity, and a cinema studies sensitised to the everyday experience of audiences.

Do you watch movies with your eyes open? You buy your tickets and concessions, and you walk into the theater. Celluloid images flash at twenty-four frames per second, and the hypnotic sequence of moving pictures coaxes you to suspend disbelief and be entertained by the implausible. Unfortunately, many often suspend their beliefs as well, succumbing to subtle lessons in how to behave, think and even perceive reality. Do you find yourself hoping that a sister will succeed in seducing her sibling's husband, that a thief will get away with his crime, that a serial killer will escape judgment? Do you, too, laugh at the bumbling priest and seethe at the intolerant and abusive evangelist? Do you embrace worldviews that infect your faith and then wonder, after your head is clear, whether your faith can survive the infection? In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of his popular book, Brian Godawa guides you through the place of redemption in film, the tricks screenwriters use to communicate their messages, and the mental and spiritual discipline required for watching movies. Hollywood Worldviews helps you enter a dialogue with Hollywood that leads to a happier ending, one that keeps you aware of your culture and awake to your faith.

“I like the surprise of the curtain going up, revealing what’s behind it.” –John Schlesinger The British director John Schlesinger was one of the cinema’s most dynamic and influential artists. Now, in Conversations with John Schlesinger, acclaimed writer Ian Buruma, Schlesinger’s nephew, reveals the director’s private world in a series of in-depth interviews conducted in the later years of the director’s life. Here they discuss the impact of Schlesinger’s personal life on his art. As his films so readily demonstrate, Schlesinger is a wonderful storyteller, and he serves up fascinating and provocative recollections of growing up in a Jewish family during World War II, his sexual coming-of-age as a gay man in conformist 1950s England, his emergence as an artist in the “Swinging 60s,” and the roller-coaster ride of his career as one of the most prominent Hollywood directors of his time. Schlesinger also discusses his artistic philosophy and approach to filmmaking, recounting stories from the sets of his masterpieces, including Midnight Cowboy; Sunday, Bloody Sunday; Marathon Man; and The Day of the Locust. He shares what it was like to direct such stars as Dustin Hoffman, John Voight, Sean Penn, Madonna, and Julie Christie (whom Schlesinger is credited with discovering) and offers his thoughts on the fickle nature of fame and success in Hollywood. Packed with wit and keen insight into the artistic mind, Conversations with John Schlesinger is not just the candid story of a dynamic and eventful life but the true measure of an extraordinary person.

From comic books to summer blockbusters, all people enjoy art in some form or another. However, few of us can effectively explain why certain books, movies, and songs resonate so profoundly within us. In Echoes of Eden, Jerram Barrs helps us identify the significance of artistic expression as it reflects the extraordinary creativity and unmatched beauty of the Creator God. Additionally, Barrs provides the key elements for evaluating and defining great art: (1) The glory of the original creation; (2) The tragedy of the curse of sin; (3) The hope of final redemption and renewal. These three qualifiers are then put to the test as Barrs investigates five of the world's most influential authors who serve as ideal case studies in the exploration of the foundations and significance of great art.

The book provides a comprehensive history of the third-largest Jewish community in Britain and fills an acknowledged gap in both Jewish and urban historiography. Bringing together the latest research and building on earlier local studies, the book provides an analysis of the special features which shaped the community in Leeds. Organised in three sections, Context, Chronology and Contours, the book demonstrates how Jews have influenced the city and how the city has influenced the community. A small community was transformed by the late Victorian influx of poor migrants from the Russian Empire and within two generations had become successfully integrated into the city’s social and economic structure. More than a dozen authors contribute to this definitive history and the editor provides both an introductory and concluding overview which brings the story up to the present day. The book will be of interest to both historians and general readers.