Category Archives: Movies

The Gospel According to Gupta

Posted on October 23, 2012 by hessd

The question that has been on my mind for the last several weeks is this: “What do we mean when we say that a story is true?”  Is it just an old-fashioned way of saying that it is accurate?  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies, Movies, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Groundhog Day

Posted on June 25, 2012 by hessd

Phil Connors has this problem.  Every year, as Groundhog Day draws near, he feels the bile piling up in his stomach.  Every year, it is the same. You go to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and watch a bunch of bozos haul an … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Paying Attention | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

What deciding to love can do

Posted on June 13, 2012 by hessd

In 2001, Director Ron Howard made a movie about the perilous career of John Nash, who won the 1994 Nobel Prize for economics.  Nash’s life, as portrayed by the movie, is pretty dark and I have heard that his actual … Continue reading →

Posted in Love and Marriage, Movies | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Posted on May 20, 2012 by hessd

Bette and I saw this movie last night with a friend who had served in the Peace Corps in India.  We enjoyed his comments a good deal, but even without his additional insights into Indian life, it would have been a movie … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | 2 Comments

The Hunger Games

Posted on May 1, 2012 by hessd

I finally saw The Hunger Games.  I had to wait until the initial furor passed so Bette and I could get adjacent seats.  I have read all three books of the series—of which I thought the first was by far … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Paying Attention, Political Psychology, Politics | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Beane Soup 3

Posted on April 19, 2012 by hessd

I’ve been looking at the movie, Moneyball, as a movie about changing the way you think.  I was first attracted to this notion by looking at the scouts, who were entirely unwilling to change the way they thought about baseball. … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Beane Soup 2: Peter denies him thrice

Posted on February 11, 2012 by hessd

In this series, I am pulling together little fragments of the movie, Moneyball, to form themes that I noticed and liked.  Or maybe I just invented them.  This one has to do with Peter Brand.  Peter is supposed to be … Continue reading →

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Beane Soup 1: Billy’s Goal

Posted on January 31, 2012 by hessd

This is the first of series of stories that purport to be about the movie, Moneyball.  They aren’t really.  Michael Lewis made a collection of narratives out of the experiences of general manager Billy Beane of the Oakland A’s in … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Paying Attention | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

How Man Looketh

Posted on November 3, 2011 by hessd

My text today is 1 Samuel 16:7a, which, for the purposes of today’s blog, I will render as, “A man looketh on the outward appearance.”  My sense is that men who look only on the outward appearance are probably jerks, … Continue reading →

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moneyball

Posted on October 3, 2011 by hessd

It is hard to give up the old ways.  I am not going to do it casually.  You will have to give me a really good reason to change my ways and then I probably still won’t do it.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Movies, Theology, ways of knowing | 5 Comments