Suncoast: Coming-of-Age Dramedy With Heart—and Faith

Last updated on: February 8, 2024 at 1:40 pm By Paul Asay

I really liked Suncoast, a quirky coming-of-age dramedy hitting Hulu tomorrow. This semi-autobiographical dramedy from writer/director Laura Chinn, has some great performances and real heart behind it. And I especially liked how it dealt with two oft-entangling issues: cultural warfare and quiet faith. And it uses one of the biggest flashpoints of America’s so-called culture wars as its anchor. [Warning: The following contains some minor spoilers.] ‘Every Life is Precious’ Right off the bat, Suncoast introduces us to Doris (Nico... Read more

C.S. Lewis, Sigmund Freud Talk God in ‘Freud’s Last Session’

Last updated on: January 22, 2024 at 4:30 pm By Paul Asay

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In a quiet week at the box office, an unassuming film called Freud’s Last Session might’ve made its way to a theater near you. It’s likely not going to be a blockbuster. But just because people haven’t seen it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. For anyone interested in faith, Freud’s Last Session might be a must-see. Freud’s Last Session, based on a play that was, in turn, based on Armand Nicholi’s book The Question of God, takes us into Sigmund Freud’s... Read more

Seven Movies That Powerfully Confront Racism

Last updated on: January 15, 2024 at 2:38 pm By Paul Asay

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A decade ago, 12 Years a Slave was stirring the Oscar stew. Though the Best Picture field included some outstanding films (Including American Hustle, Gravity and The Wolf of Wall Street), most prognosticators pegged Steve McQueen’s searing historical epic as the film to beat. Sure enough, it won Oscar’s highest accolade, and took home two other Academy Awards as well—for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (for Lupita Nyong’o’s searing performance as a horrifically abused slave). It also... Read more

Watching God’s Top 10 Movies of 2023

Last updated on: December 28, 2023 at 4:07 pm By Paul Asay

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Even though we’ve got just a few more days left of 2023, it feels as though the year is ending a little too early. I need to see more movies. Oh, I’ve seen plenty of movies—more than 130, easy. And I’ve liked and appreciated many of them. But I’ve not loved very many—a wildly subjective but, for me, important criteria. And here at Watching God, most of the movies that land on my top 10 should ideally come with a... Read more

New Doc ‘The Mission’ Asks Important Questions About Calling

Last updated on: December 13, 2023 at 9:08 pm By Paul Asay

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We hear a lot about our “calling” in evangelical circles. We look in the Bible and see that it’s filled with pretty normal people who did some amazing things through God. And we assume that we, too, have parts to play in God’s overarching story. He might ask us to do something we love and feel like we were made for. Or He might ask us to do something unexpected or uncomfortable or even dangerous. But we trust that God... Read more

Five Christmas Movies from 2023 That Hint at the True Meaning of Christmas

Last updated on: December 3, 2023 at 1:09 pm By Paul Asay

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It’s been quite the year for Christmas movies. I’ve seen a sleigh full of them, and most have been—well, a bit silly. But silly movies can sometimes contain deeper thoughts. Last year’s Spirited was extraordinarily silly, and it wound up being one of my favorite movies of the year. I haven’t seen a Spirited-level contender for Christmas movies yet this year, but all the holiday movies I have seen have been pretty interesting in their own ways. So let’s unwrap... Read more

God. Family. Football: The Connection Between the Gridiron and God

Last updated on: September 8, 2023 at 2:59 pm By Paul Asay

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The most striking moment in the opening episode of God. Family. Football. isn’t a jaw-dropping play or a fight in practice. It’s a Tuesday morning Bible study, when dozens of high-school football players kneel and press their heads to the floor in prayer. “[These players] belong to You, every one of them,” Pastor Denny Duron prays over the team. Later, one of the team’s members, lineman Jacob Carpenter, says that Bible study is the team’s most important activity. “Going in... Read more

In Viaggio Shows a Globetrotting Pope At His Most Human

Last updated on: March 30, 2023 at 9:08 pm By Paul Asay

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Traveling can be stressful for most of us. The flights, the hotels, the pressures to see and do everything that we’ve come to that place to see and do. But whatever we deal with, it’s nothing compared to what the Pope must navigate. Magnolia Pictures’ In Viaggio—essentially a travelogue of Pope Francis’ decade-worth of trips around the world—shows us just how difficult, and delicate, such travel can be. Pope Francis may not need to worry about lost luggage or missing... Read more

The Mandalorian Dives Into Sacred Waters

Last updated on: March 10, 2023 at 4:32 pm By Paul Asay

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I swear on my name and the names of the ancestors… That I shall walk the Way of the Mand’alor… And the words of the Creed shall be forever forged in my heart. This is the Way. So goes the Mandalorian Creed—tenants treated by one-time bounty hunter Din Djarin as sacred. That creed (and what it represents) is more than what he believes; it’s who he is. It’s so important to him, in fact, that he’s willing to do almost... Read more

The Spiritual Creed of Creed III

Last updated on: March 2, 2023 at 10:39 pm By Paul Asay

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Ever since Rocky Balboa stepped into the ring against Apollo Creed in 1976, the Rocky/Creed movies have often held just a teensiest whiff of the Gospel (with a dollop of the old Protestant work ethic). Sure, they’re not advocates of turning the other cheek. But they do stress a lot of messages straight from Sunday school: Turn away from the idols of this world. Don’t get tied down by worldly pleasures. Don’t fixate on outward appearances (Rocky was almost always... Read more