Is the new movie Venom silly? Yep. Dumb? Sure. No one’s going to walk into Sony’s new superhero movie expecting a thoughtful study on, I dunno, environmental nihilism. It’s a weird mashup of The Exorcist and 48 Hours abducted by its own CGI. But hey, even light, silly, dumb movies can have something to say. And Venom has something to say about science—particularly science divorced from a higher morality. Moviemakers have long been suspicious of science and technology unfettered by... Read more
It’s barely October, but the movie awards season seems already in full swing. Oscarbait films are beginning to hit theaters, and one of the biggest just landed like a white-hot asteroid: A Star is Born. The core story is almost as old as the Hollywood hills. Janet Gaynor and Fredric March first brought life this tragic tale in 1937, followed by the more famous remakes of 1954 (Judy Garland and James Mason) and 1976 (Barbra Streisand and Kris Kritofferson). But... Read more
A new trailer for Disney’s upcoming fantasy film, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, just rolled out, and boy, does it look … odd. But in a good way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M76mBY1mIs I admit, I’m looking forward to this one. I’m not sure if Disney’s Nutcracker has much to do, plot-wise, at least, with Tchaikovsky’s ballet (or the E.T.A. Hoffman story that inspired him). The title’s “Four Realms” addendum suggests that maybe the Mouse House is toying with creating a holiday franchise... Read more
It used to be that, when real life got a little too real, folks would head to the movies for a little escape. Hollywood was in its heyday during the Great Depression. Clark Gable smoldered, Shirley Temple twinkled and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced and danced and danced. The Cold War featured Doris Day, sprawling epics and Alfred Hitchcock in his prime. The tense 1980s were filled with Arnold Schwarzenegger action flicks and John Hughes movies. You might think,... Read more
We’re just ankle-deep into the new fall television season, but already I’m struck by one thing: TV’s found religion. In a way, it’s had it for a few years now. Some of the medium’s most acclaimed shows, from Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale to FX’s (recently concluded) The Americans to even HBO’s Game of Thrones have delved deeply into what and how faith can shape us, both individually and collectively. Others, like HBO’s The Leftovers or NBC’s The Good Place, are... Read more
Gina Rodriguez is just the coolest. She’s one of those actresses who seems to make everything she’s in better. She anchors the delightfully funny Jane the Virgin. She’s tough and haunted in one of the year’s best sci-fi films, Annihilation. Now she’s lending her talents to the animated film Smallfoot, out in theaters this weekend, and she’s giving us–that’s right, we, the readers of Patheos–a special gift: An exclusive clip that showcases the movie’s zany comedy. And you know what? Given the... Read more
White Boy Rick features two scenes that stick with me. The first: Rick Wershe Sr. (played by Matthew McConaughey) picks up his infant granddaughter for the first time—cradling her in his arms, reminiscing about how he used to hold his son, Rick Jr., the very same way. The second: Father and son sneak into a drug den, looking for Rick Sr.’s daughter, Dawn (Bel Powley). They find her, stoned, nearly incoherent. Rick Sr. picks Dawn up, and she begins wailing,... Read more
Say what you will about Nicolas Cage. But when he takes a role, he’s all in. Some call him an incredibly committed actor. Some call him an actor who looks, in some of his roles, as if he should be committed. I’ve seen him in great movies. I’ve seen him in terrible movies, I’ve even seen him in terrible Christian movies. But this just might be Cage at his undiluted, unhinged best in what I think might be the year’s... Read more
I’m a sucker for old-fashioned horror stories. I even love all the clichés—the misty graveyards, the dank subterranean chambers, the creaking floors, all of it. And that’s one of the reasons I appreciate Warner Bros.’ Conjuring movies. The Nun, the fifth film in Warner Bros.’ Conjuring Universe, is admittedly a weaker entrant. The Conjuring was a minor haunted house masterpiece—an R-rated frightfest that really could’ve been PG-13 had it not been so dang scary. The Nun is darker, sillier and... Read more
I watched The Nun last night. Very gothic, pretty scary and quite interesting from a spiritual point of view. I’ll spill a lot more thoughts on the flick tomorrow. But in the meantime, Grace Hill was kind enough to offer this faith-tinged featurette from the movie’s creators. Click … if you dare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfdSEFvFPig&feature=youtu.be Oh, and feel free to read my interview with Nun screenwriter Gary Dauberman, too, which I wrote shortly before the release of another movie he penned, Annabelle:... Read more
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