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RECOMMENDED READING ON MOVIES AND RELIGIOUS THEMES
Baugh, Lloyd, Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ-figures
in Film, Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, Mo, 1997
A thesis-based study of the Jesus movies and
some selected Christ-figure movies; defines what Christ-figure
means; extensive and thorough, if somewhat controversial in
interpretation.
Blake, Richard A., After Image: The Indelible
Catholic Imagination of Six American
Filmmakers, Loyola Press, Chicago, 2000.
An exploration of imagination and its religious
dimension in the movies of six Catholic-educated
directors: Capra, Coppolla, De Palma, Ford, Hitchcock, Scorsese.
Eilers, Franz-Joseph, Church and Social Communication,
Basic Documents,
Logos Publications Inc., Manila, 1993.
The texts of 9 Vatican documents from 1936 to
1992, with the addresses for World Communications Day and quotations
on communication from other official documents. Eilers provides
introductions and some structure outlines of the documents.
Fraser, Peter, Images of the Passion: The Sacramental
Mode in Film, Praeger Publishers, Westport, Ct, 1998.
Selected movies are examined to illustrate how
they implicitly dramatize aspects of the Gospel and the sufferings
of Jesus.
Fraser, Peter and Neal, Vernon Edward, ReViewing
the Movies: A Christian Response to Contemporary Film, Crossway
Books, Wheaton, Illinois.
An application of the theory in Fraser's Images
of the Passion to contemporary popular cinema in a wide-ranging
survey.
Jewett, Robert, Saint Paul at the Movies,
Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1993.
A New Testament scholar writes an enlightening
book about the Greco-Roman world of Paul. A movie enthusiast,
Jewett has chosen ten popular movies to illustrate the virtues
that Paul holds up to the Roman Empire.
Jewett, Robert, Saint Paul Returns to the Movies,
William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999.
A sequel which is as good as, perhaps better than,
the original.
John Paul II, Giovanni Paolo II e il Cinema,
Tutti i discorsi, Ente dello Spettacolo, Roma, 2000.
A collection of 8 speeches by the Pope on cinema.
Texts in Italian and in English with commentary articles on
the church and cinema.
Johnston, Robert K., Reel Spirituality: Theology
and Film in Dialogue, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
2000.
A theologian from Fuller Theological Seminary
who loves cinema asks basic questions about the religious dimension
of movies, opening up the spirituality implicit in so many mainstream
movies. It has a wide range of film references.
Mahony, Roger M., Film Makers, Film Viewers,
Their Challenges and Opportunities, Pauline Books and Media,
Boston, 1992.
The text of Cardinal Mahony's pastoral letter
to the diocese of Los Angeles, his synthesis of a contemporary
Catholic approach to cinema.
Malone, Peter, Movie Christs and Antichrists,
Crossroads, New York, 1990. (Originally, Parish Ministry, Sydney,
1988)
A study of movies and meanings, focussing on
the Jesus-movies (the Jesus-figures) and the movies of characters
who resemble Jesus (Christ-figures); also chapters on movies
and antichrist symbols.
Malone, Peter, On Screen, Manila, Daughters
of St Paul, 2001.
An introduction to the study of movies and meanings.
Marsh, Clive and Ortiz, Gaye, eds, Explorations
in Theology and Film, Blackwell, Oxford, 1997.
A collection of theological essays exploring
specific contemporary popular movies like The Terminator,
Groundhog Day, The Piano, Edward Scissorhands.
May, John R, New Image of Religious Film,
Sheed and Ward, Kansas City, Mo, 1997.
A collection of theological essays which examine
theoretical aspects of religion, society and cinema.
McNulty, Edward, Films and Faith: Forty Discussion
Guides, Viaticum Press, Topeka, Kansas, 1999.
As the title indicates, discussion material
for forty films. They are designed for the non-expert in cinema
and provide detailed information about each film as well as
some theological background. There are extensive questions for
reflection.
McNulty, Edward, Praying the Movies: Daily Meditations
from Classic Films, Geneva Press, Louisville, KY 2001
A collection of thirty-one devotions that connect
movies and the spiritual life of moviegoers.
Romanowski, William D., Pop Culture Wars, Religion
and the Role of Entertainment in American Life, InterVarsity
Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 1996.
A wide-ranging study of entertainment, including
cinema, noting the hostile US religious tradition as well as
the movements to find the religious values in media and entertainment.
Short, Robert, The Gospel from Outer Space, The
Religious Implications of E.T., Star Wars, Superman, Close Encounters
of the Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Harper and Row,
San Francisco, 1983.
The author of The Gospel according to Peanuts
and The Parables of Peanuts offers the text of a multimedia
presentation of Gospel parallels in popular science fiction
and fantasy movies.
Stern, Richard C and Jefford, Clayton N and Debona,
Guerric, Savior on the Silver Screen, Paulist Press, Mahwah,
NJ, 1999.
The authors have run courses on the principal
Jesus movies from Cecil B De Mille to Jesus of Montreal. This
is the expanded course with a thorough rationale for studying
these movies.
Stone, Bryan P., Faith and Film, Theological
Themes at the Cinema, Chalice Press, St Louis, 2000.
The framework for examining a range of generally
well-known movies is The Apostle's Creed, enabling the author
to highlight religious themes in movies in a context of faith
and the exploration of faith.
Vaux, Sara Anson, Finding Meaning at the Movies,
Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1999.
The author wants to encourage study groups in
schools, universities, parishes by taking a range of popular
movies and showing how they can be fruitfully discussed.
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