Do you think that the Dutch Reform version of Calvinism in MI differs from that of Calvinist New England? The New England version seemed really steeped in the you-don’t know-if-you-are-elect-so-you-better-behave-well approach to the world. Isn’t the Dutch Reform/MI version more akin to the weird prosperity gospel of…

Yes.  It’s like certain strains of Christianity have completely forgotten about the part about cultivating and keeping the garden, about being good stewards.

Yeah, the hypocrisy in terms of Christ’s teachings is staggering. I’m sure that the western Michigan strain of Dutch Reform departs from the more mainstream version, but, in general, the MI version of Calvinist doctrine is weirdly & loopily consistent—God doesn’t bother with some people because God is outside of time…

DeVos’ evilness is a particular strain of evangelical & Calvinist Christianity—Dutch Reform—that understands one’s worldly accomplishments/blessings as an indication that god blesses/has chosen them. In other words, if you are filthy rich like DeVos, it’s because god has blessed you (you are elect). If you’re poor?…

his sign above his head. Be still my beating heart.

Not even remotely like Menace II Society, but I just rewatched Ganja and Hess, and, boy, the political critique is great.

nice review—thanks!

Well, I’d agree with Boots if his point is that Sorry to Bother You has a more radical critique of white supremacy than BlacKkKlansman, but I think Lee’s films do plenty of ideological work even if his texts sometimes fray under the weight of competing ideas.

To me, the whole point of the racist cop arrest was to set up the viewer for the gutpunch of “nothing really changed.”

I am an old white person; I have never thought it okay to say the “n” word. It’s never escaped my lips and I have a hard time imagining a context when it might. I don’t say this because I’m some kind of ideal ally—I live in a white supremacist culture, and I’m sure I’ve internalized white supremacist values and need…

I want to be clear that I am not anti-union (I’m faculty at a union college), but I do believe, from what I’ve read, that the MNPLS union contract is designed so that no cop can ever be fired for extreme force, which is incredibly problematic.

One of the problems with the MNPLS FPD is that the union contract is so strong that it’s virtually impossible to fire an abusive police officer. St. Paul, which has a contract with a different police union, has far fewer problems with violently abusive police. Disbanding may be a mechanism to re-negotiate the contract…

I am old, too. My earliest protest memories involve marching with my mother for ERA in the early 1970s, then again later in the 1970s to protest Leonard Pelletier’s imprisonment.

please don’t go.

I have insomnia, which sucks (I know I’m not alone), but I’ve learned something at the start of my early day and laughed. thanks!

So, this is the third term of the cinema history sequence, which ends present day. Two weeks ago was John Sayles’ Lone Star; last week Lund & Meirelles’ City of God (Brazil); this week Bong Joon Ho’s The Host; next week is Chloe Zhao’s The Rider.

I think he bankrolled it himself and used his own artillery guns, WWI rifles, etc. to make the appropriate sounds to match the footage. He also hired lip readers to determine what the soldiers were saying in the footage, then researched what area of Britain each respective regiment was from and hired…

but it really is effective how newsreels become so much more immediate and relatable when they are digitally enhanced and colorized to look like they were shot yesterday.

Nicely done, Jerry.  And thank you for the personal invitation:)  I’ve been really busy with students/class.

Yay! for Earle Stanley.  A tiny bit of good news.