Christians in the Movies A Century of Saints and Sinners [Paperback]

Dr. Dans provides a thoughtful and informed perspective on the fascinating intersection of faith and film, using some surprising insights and examples to explode the discouraging old idea that movies and religion must always convey opposing messages.Dans's critical judgments are generally reliable or provocative. . . . Students researching depictions of Christians and Christian concerns and people selecting Christian-themed films for churches and other institutions will find valuable information here.Dans, a Catholic, has published a second book, Christians in the Movies, a similarly impressive inquiry into the cinematic portrayal of Christianity and Christians. Like his first book, Christians in the Movies is both a highly readable and informative work of film commentary and a discussion of changing social attitudes. . . . Dans not only documents changing images of faith, he sketches the larger social context of films from The Passion of Joan of Arc and Angels With Dirty Faces to Dogma and The Magdalene Sisters. . . . Even when Dans' opinions diverge from the reader's, his views are always engaging and thought-provoking, and the reader's views will benefit from interacting with Dans'. For serious Christian movie buffs, Christians in the Movies is a must-have.Dans is a physician and professor by trade, and a man of good film taste by a lifetime of cultivation. The longtime writer of a movie column for the Pharos journal and author of Doctors in the Movies: Boil the Water and Just Say Aah, Dans is a true cinephile. Approximately 200 titles are covered in this volume, from the silent era right up to 2008's Doubt. Each entry features a plot summary and brief commentary from Dans on how a film fares in its treatment of Christianity. We hear a fair amount of grumbling about Hollywood's ridicule of organized religion, especially Christianity, but Dans also enjoys highlighting films that handle the faith with sympathy or ingenuity, from mid-century Bible spectaculars to lã'