Film essays

Robin Williams – In Motion

Baby Driver | Introversion Done Right

Okja | Understanding the (Im)Morality of Animal Consumption

The Tree of Life | Crafting an Existential Masterpiece

Vancouver Never Plays Itself

Mother (2009) – The Telephoto Profile Shot

F for Fake (1973) – How to Structure a Video Essay

Knight of Cups | Our Eternal Quest for Meaning – Kierkegaard’s Existentialism

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Overcoming Maladaptive Daydreaming

The Philosophy of Sense8 | Emotion and Connection

The Lover Within | How Moonlight Relates to ALL Men

Gladiator | Turning Spectacle into a Meaningful Story

The Fantasy of Ultimate Purpose – How Our Entertainment Reveals Our Deepest Desire

Stoicism in The Shawshank Redemption – Meditations I.

In Search of the Distinctively Human | The Philosophy of Blade Runner 2049

Not Just About Superheroes – The Hidden Metaphor In Glass

Memories of Murder (2003) – Ensemble Staging

First Man – A Sobering Look at Human Greatness

Anatomy of the Dreamlike Romance – Call Me By Your Name vs. Before Sunrise

Lynne Ramsay – The Poetry of Details

The Silence of the Lambs – Who Wins the Scene?

The Philosophy of The Fountain – Escaping Our Mental Prisons

Exploring Consciousness in Film: The Cognitive Revolution

The Philosophy of Mr. Nobody – How To Make Meaningful Choices

Hollywood Scores & Soundtracks: What Do They Sound Like? Do They Sound Like Things?? Let’s Find Out!

Snowpiercer – Left or Right

The Essence of Faith – What Signs Was Really About

The Revenant – An Odyssey Through America’s Purgatory

Hostiles and Wind River – America’s Unresolved Grief

Transcending Heidegger – The Cinema Of Terrence Malick

How Does an Editor Think and Feel?

Martin Scorsese – The Art of Silence

Your Name – What Makes Us Happy?

Chernobyl – How The World Became A Risk Society

Venturing into Sacred Space | Archetype of the Magician

Joel & Ethan Coen – Shot | Reverse Shot

Edgar Wright – How to Do Visual Comedy

In Praise of Chairs

Prometheus & Covenant | Building a Mythos of Savage Creation

David Fincher – And the Other Way is Wrong

Creating The Ultimate Post-9/11 Allegory: The Dark Knight on Risk and Terror

A Brief Look at Texting and the Internet in Film

The Real Implications Of Ex Machina’s Turing Test

The Bad Sleep Well (1960) – The Geometry of a Scene

Drive (2011) – The Quadrant System

Artificial Truths For Real Happiness – Werner Herzog’s Family Romance, LLC

Get Out | White Fragility as a Movie Trope

The Philosophy of Cloud Atlas | How Beauty Will Save the World

Everyday Virtue | Paterson & David Foster Wallace

Wolf Children (2012) – The Lateral Tracking Shot

The Perilous Journey of a Truly Beautiful Soul – Hacksaw Ridge

The Before Trilogy | Portraying a Real Relationship

Unraveling Death Stranding’s Existentialist Themes | Complete Review

Contagion – Anatomy of a Global Pandemic

The Spielberg Oner

How Stories Can Save Us – The Philosophy of The Fall

The Office – How Michael Scott Makes a Sale

After Life – An Answer to Nihilism

Sunshine – A Visceral Experience of Life, Death and Meaning

The New World | The Lost Art of Grief

Your Life is Not a Hero’s Journey

The Absurdist Philosophy Of Synecdoche, New York

Heroism and Moral Victory – The Lord of the Rings (part 1)

The Ultimate Antidote for Cynicism: It’s a Wonderful Life

Satoshi Kon – Editing Space & Time

A Mythology of Hope – The Lord of the Rings (part 2)

The Unexplored Depths of Spider-Man 3 – Facing the Dragon of Grandiosity

Dunkirk re-edited as a Silent Film – The Power of Visual Storytelling

Chuck Jones – The Evolution of an Artist

Arrival | Facing the Fear of Existence

Praying Through Cinema – Understanding Andrei Tarkovsky

Beowulf – Adapting the Oldest Story in English Literature