BOOK COLLECTOR

If you had a vague but unverified sense that Scientology was a bit odd, unhinged, or unearthly; just wait till you hear about “Operating Thetans” (OTs), the intergalactic dictator Xenu and how the Earth is a slave planet for humans who were brought here billions of years ago while cryogenically frozen, dropped into volcanoes, and blown up with hydrogen bombs. And don’t even ask about O-T-T-R-Zero & “exteriorization” during auditing! I might be getting some of my “ theology ” wrong here but then again, that’s why you’ll want to see Alex Gibney’s newest documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief . Based off Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright’s newest non-fiction, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief , Gibney’s adaptation seems determined to include as much of the book’s content as possible, which, makes for a superbly in-depth, re-watchable experience (not unlike his other first-rate documentaries: Enron , Mea Maxima Cul...

The Overnighters  by Jesse Moss Special Jury Prize --Sundance; 102 minutes Follow Director Jesse Moss with his handheld camera into the provincial town of Williston, North Dakota --population: roughly 20,000; only an hour drive from the Canadian border where winter-nights can drop 20 degrees below freezing. Enter the small, unassuming Concordia Lutheran Church --one of at least five in the state. Meet Pastor Jay Reinke--a plucky middle-aged husband & father with questionable prudence and an undeniable bounty of spiritual generosity toward the downtrodden. Or, at least toward most of them. In broad strokes, The Overnighters tells the story of one religious man’s attempt to serve the housing needs of homeless migrant workers in his small town. In many ways, Moss’s documentary tells a simple story that evenhandedly pits Pastor Reinke and his Overnighters project against the disgruntled congregation, his irritated neighbors, the city council, and at least one intrepid local...