Captain Marvel is … just fine. It’s fun. It’s entertaining. It’s got a very likable cat, and Ben Mendelsohn kills it as the shape-shifting Skrull leader Talos. But as I said in my Plugged In review, the movie feels too small for its hyper-charged superhero. When you introduce a character as powerful as Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, you’ve got to make her feel vulnerable somehow: Give her a most-ferocious bad guy, for instance, or show the character in moments of... Read more
“Movies have gotten so bad!” People sometimes tell me. “The sex! The violence! The swearing!” And in a lot of respects, they’ve got a point. The Hays Code (which essentially required that all films be fit for “general audiences”) is long gone. Putting problematic content is often incentivized in our crowded entertainment culture, too: Pushing out the “bloodiest” or “sexiest” or “most shocking” flick in a given genre is a way to stand out from the crowd. Little wonder so... Read more
Morgan Freeman knows more about God than most of us. It’s not just that the Oscar-winning actor has literally played God a couple of times (in both Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty), or that his voice sounds like it comes straight from Mount Olympus. Since 2016, Freeman’s been the host of one of National Geographic’s most interesting, most provocative shows: The Story of God with Morgan Freeman. Its third season begins this Tuesday, March 5, on the National Geographic channel.... Read more
In the wake of Green Book’s Oscar success, just got word of a movie focusing on an even unlikelier friendship. The Best of Enemies, scheduled to be released April 5, is the story of how civil rights activist Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson) and KKK leader C.P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell) met, fought, and eventually become friends, creating an unlikely alliance to deal with a local desegregation issue. Here’s an early behind-the-scenes look at the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oX4YSjd1q4&feature=youtu.be “The same God that... Read more
Green Book was not 2018’s Best Picture. Not by a mile. Roma deserved the Oscar’s biggest honor. BlacKkKlansman and The Favourite were more creative and daring. Black Panther might’ve been a popcorn superhero flick, but one that was at once meticulous and regal, important and fun. Even if the Academy was interested in selecting the sort of film that the Academy stereotypically selects, A Star is Born was, aesthetically, the better choice. But if Green Book’s Best Picture Oscar did... Read more
The new trailer for The Curse of La Llorona dropped yesterday. It doesn’t seem like the horror movie’s trying to break new ground, but it does look pretty creepy. I know this puts me out of line with lots of Christians, but I’ve always appreciated a good horror flick–not gross, bloody, slasher/torture horror, but atmospheric, unsettling supernatural horror. Even though scares are inherently predicated on unpredictability, creaking doors and hidden stairways and things that go bump in the night... Read more
Bricksburg has seen better days. When The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part opens, the happy little LEGO city of Bricksburg has gotten a Mad Max makeover: The once laid-back Surfer Dave now calls himself Chainsaw Dave. LEGO people walk around with scowls painted on their yellow faces. Even the plastic cats look like grizzled survivors of the Thunderdome. Only Emmet, the perpetually optimistic Master Builder, seems undaunted by his dystopian surroundings. And Lucy, his gothy special best friend, thinks... Read more
The History Channel is no stranger to biblical programming. Six years ago, the network aired The Bible, which became an unexpected ratings sensation. Now it’s returning to the Good Book with an eight-part series called Jesus: His Life. It’ll run for four weeks beginning March 25. Here’s the trailer, which was released today. Now, if you’re anything like me, you might be thinking to yourself, “What? Another show about Jesus? The book was better, anyway.” But this show does have... Read more
Oscar nominees were announced last week, and like always, they featured plenty of surprises, snubs and head-scratchers. Bradley Cooper wasn’t nominated for Best Director. Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for Best Picture, despite critics collectively giving the flick a resounding “meh.” And what’s up with Vice, anyway? But maybe the year’s biggest Oscars snub wasn’t an actor or director or even a movie. It’s faith. Sure, some Oscar nominees had a spiritual undercurrent to them, and a few even made a... Read more
Ultimately Glass, M. Night Shyamalan’s newest twisty adventure, didn’t work that well for me, at least as a movie. To get to its finale, Shyamalan lost sight of some of the story’s characters, under-developing some and underserving others. Watchable? Sure, if you know some of the backstory. But it’s not one of Shyamalan’s best. But if the movie itself disappointed, it does drill down into a concept critical and deeply spiritual: The idea of belief. The real crux of Glass—and... Read more
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