You gotta hand it to Steven Spielberg: He can make a pretty fun movie when he wants to. Ready Player One is a delightful visual thrill ride—a two-hour trip on Space Mountain if you replaced all the stars and planets with nods to ‘80s pop culture. I’m a little surprised that, given how much of that pop culture director Spielberg was responsible for, he resisted the urge to throw in references to Jaws and E.T.—or, at the very least, keep... Read more
It’s nearly Easter, and when you’re in my curious line of work, that can mean just one thing (professionally speaking): It’s Christian movie season. Secular theaters are awash in spiritual fare, from Samson to Paul, Apostle of Christ, from I Can Only Imagine to, as of next week, God’s Not Dead – A Light in the Darkness. And no wonder. The success of I Can Only Imagine shocked the film industry, again showing that faith-based pictures have an audience willing... Read more
We’re in the midst of Holy Week now, a time when Christians commemorate Jesus’ final mortal days on earth. From Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his crucifixion on Good Friday to his resurrection on Easter, the week encompasses both deep solemnity and great joy. As Christians, we tend to engage with the Gospel—literally, the “good news”—and our faith more deeply during this sacred time of year. But none of us have probably engaged quite as deeply... Read more
We’re afraid of people who are different. It’s not a knock. It’s in our nature. When we meet someone who doesn’t look or sound or act like us, we hesitate. We don’t know how to engage. That’s especially true if someone has a mental challenge or disability. We want to connect, but the feeling of being faced with something other puts walls in our way. We tend to draw back, frightened. Jean Vanier, the Catholic philosopher, theologian and humanitarian, knows... Read more
No secret here: I like me some Mister Rogers. The television pioneer, who would’ve turned 90 today, has become something of a hero of mine. And I’m looking forward to watching the buzzy upcoming documentary based on his career, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. The doc’s official trailer just dropped this morning, and it points to Fred Rogers’ gentle activism: His shows on death and divorce, his ability to gracefully integrate his neighborhood in an era of racial strife, his... Read more
I love March Madness, sometimes called the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I love the buzzer beaters. The upsets. The great stories we hear about. I even love my busted bracket. You’d need a heart of iron to lament the UMBC Golden Retrievers’ historic upset of Virginia. (Unless, of course, you live in Virginia.) But this year, I think I love Sister Jean most of all. Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, to my knowledge, doesn’t play basketball. The 98-year-old nun has been pretty much... Read more
Physicist Stephen Hawking died March 14 at the age of 76. Millions grieved the passing of the brilliant scientist and bestselling author (his book A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, sold more than 10 million copies), who became perhaps the greatest scientific celebrity since Albert Einstein. His death, many noted, came on Pi Day. Just weeks earlier, the world saw the passing of another cultural titan—that of the legendary evangelist Billy Graham, who died... Read more
Madeline L’Engle once famously said, “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Disney ignores the writer’s advice in its new movie A Wrinkle in Time (based, of course, on L’Engle’s classic 1962 book). It takes L’Engle’s challenging novel and dumbs it down, pushing out elements and themes that might prove difficult or controversial or, perhaps, just not in step with... Read more
Music is order—the most mathematical of arts, crafted in wholes and half and quarters and eighths, in half-steps of A’s and B’s and C’s. It sinks and trills and floats on unseen roads of intricate pattern, a needlepoint of sound. Music is chaos—the stringed rumble of the base, the roar of the guitar, the shimmering chords of the piano, the buttermilk of the clarinet. Diverse and disparate, they twist and parry and, somehow, form into song. Jon Foreman, longtime lead... Read more
The Oscars are practically upon us, and The Shape of Water leads the pack with 13 Academy Awards nominations—including Best Actress (Sally Hawkins), Best Director (Guillermo del Toro) and Best Picture. It’s a visually stunning romantic fairy tale, one that left many a reviewer twitterpated in its scaly wake. I liked The Shape of Water. It was … fine? But I expected more. I generally love del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth was brilliant. His Hellboy movies were surprisingly great. I would’ve... Read more
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