A disproportionately brief tour of my gaps in literary knowledge and taste

I have good news and better news. The good news is that if you click the following link — yes, this one right here — you’ll be taken to a witty rumination on literary taste and knowledge. The better news is that it’s written by Dan Swensen, who has apparently started a brand spanking new site called Surly Muse that looks like it will be updated with some regularity. And the peasants rejoice! At the end of his post, Dan asks some direct questions that are probably intended to provoke comments and discussion on his own site. (Unfortunately, what he’s going to get from me is a lousy pingback.) He challenges us thusly:

So tell me, reader. What are your genre gaps? Any trashy series that you unabashedly love? Any classics you unreservedly hate? I’d like to know.

Some thoughts on truth and fraudulence in Christian cinema

Two excellent articles considering an important question — Why do Christian movies suck? — have appeared recently.  The first was written by Salon critic Andrew O’Hehir, while the response was posted on SixSeeds.tv by Timothy Dalrymple.  As with just about everything else in my blog, this is a topic I’d planned to cover at some point, and others beat me to it, so now’s as good a time as any to say my piece.  I need to emphasize before going further that I greatly enjoyed both articles, and there is much I agree with in both.  The wit and insight on display suggests that O’Hehir and Dalrymple would be prime candidates for a televised roundtable.  (Make it happen, people!)  I don’t feel like recapitulating each article, so before you read further, please read both articles so we can bite right into the meat.