I’m pretty sure that Bill Condon wishes he had just kept his mouth shut. Condon, director of Disney’s soon-to-be-blockbuster Beauty and the Beast, told the British magazine Attitude that one of the characters, LeFou, has a “nice, exclusively gay moment” in the film. And with those words, an otherwise innocuous PG film became a flashpoint to the still surprisingly lively culture wars weeks before its release. Some people loved the concept of a “gay moment” in a Disney flick, of... Read more
We’re in the middle of Lent right now, a time of year when many Christians try to be especially mindful of Jesus and the incredible sacrifice He made for us. Its 40-day duration is meant to remind us of Jesus’ time in the wilderness. We give things up for Lent as a form of fasting. The whole season, if we observe it, is meant to bring us closer to God. Little wonder that so many Christian filmmakers release their movies during... Read more
We can’t ignore the 800-ton gorilla in the room. Kong: Skull Island stomps into theaters today, pounding his chest, tearing apart dinosaurs and (its makers hope) thrilling a new generation of moviegoers. If we’ve learned anything since Kong first appeared 84 years ago, it’s that we just can’t get enough of the big lug. Kong made his debut in 1933 in the classic King Kong, and the gorilla’s original story has all the flavor of a Greek tragedy: This gigantic... Read more
It’s going to be quite the March at the movies. Seems like the month is slammed with the sort of high-profile popcorn munchers that we’d typically see in May or June. Logan’s already made more than $100 million in less than a week. Kong: Skull Island barrels into theaters tomorrow. (Kong? Barrels? Never mind.) Beauty and the Beast debuts March 17. By comparison, The Zookeeper’s Wife is flying a bit under the radar–a lamb to these early-month lions. But it looks... Read more
Logan’s a rough ride—raw and bloody and dark. And it’s the best superhero film since The Dark Knight. It succeeds in part because it’s not trying to be a superhero film. While Logan and Charles Xavier (Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart, both in their final turns as the characters) were once indeed superheroes, this story is worlds away from the genre’s colorful bombast. It’s a Western filled with parched land and frontier justice, or maybe a strange family drama.... Read more
If you took each hour-long episode of CNN’s Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact Forgery and distilled it to its essence, you’d be left with about a 90-second show. Take Sunday’s season premiere (airing at 9 p.m. EST and PST), “The Pilate Stone.” It’s centered on a chunk of limestone discovered in 1961 in what was the ancient city of Caesarea. It bears part of a dedication carved between 26 and 37 A.D., and includes the name “Pontius Pilatus,” or Pontius Pilate—proving... Read more
Logan tears into theaters this weekend, and I think it’ll be 2017’s first bona fide blockbuster. Critics love the thing, and Logan’s resonant Super Bowl commercial didn’t hurt interest any. But the biggest buzz surrounds Hugh Jackman, who says this’ll be his last turn as the titular character. That’s right: After nine movies and 17 years as Wolverine, Jackman’s hanging up his claws. “I don’t think he ever viewed it as ‘could be [his last appearance as Wolverine],’” Logan Director... Read more
Leave it to one little mistake to hijack all the Oscars. Hey, I get it. When something goes according to plan, it’s not news: It’s business as usual. When something goes wrong—like, switching envelopes for the biggest award of the night wrong—people are bound to talk about it. But if it hadn’t been for that strange switcheroo, you know what people would’ve been talking about? Viola Davis’ acceptance speech. For all of Oscar’s sometime unpredictability (see above), Davis’... Read more
If you go to the movies, you know what’s needed to take on an evil overlord: A flame thrower. Well, not always a flame-thrower. Sometimes it’s a light saber or a machete or a magic wand. The weapons don’t matter as much as the spirit of the thing: Heroes fight evil wherever they find it, even if—especially if—it means taking on The Man. We do love our rebels. It’s a bummer that the Bible doesn’t share that love. Take a... Read more
There’s been a lot of talk about “fake news” lately. Even real news gets called on the carpet for being biased or misleading. I half expect to see a debate soon on what two-plus-two really equals. But apparently, those sorts of run-of-the-mill controversies weren’t enough for CNN. This March, the venerable news network will focus on a subject that’s bound to raise even more hackles: historical Christianity. Here’s a look at the trailer: Finding Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery launches its second... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In