Movies Get Preachy. (But Should We Listen to the Sermon?)

Last updated on: February 17, 2016 at 5:45 pm By Paul Asay

Editors’ Note: This article is part of the Patheos Public Square. This month we’re asking: Has Hollywood Become Our National Conscience? Read other perspectives here. Economics is boring, and there’s really only one way to make the subject sexy: Turn it into an A-list, Oscar-nominated movie. The Big Short tackles subjects that might put even most finance majors to sleep: subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations, complicated hedge funds. But when Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in a bubble... Read more

To Kill or Not To Kill? That is the Question For Superheroes

Last updated on: February 15, 2016 at 3:45 pm By Paul Asay

Deadpool, the latest cinematic superhero movie from Marvel, opened big this weekend, banking around $135 million over three days and blasting past all sorts of box office records. But as he’d be the first to admit, the movie’s red-suited protagonist (played by Ryan Reynolds) isn’t particularly heroic. Near the end of Deadpool (obvious spoiler warning here), our titular protagonist listens to a heartfelt speech from Colossus, a hunk of chrome encouraging him not to kill the enemy staring down the... Read more

The Prejudice Against Christian Zombies

Last updated on: February 8, 2016 at 2:39 pm By Paul Asay

I was pretty disappointed with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was released this past Friday. I had reasonably high expectations going in. As an old English lit major, I love me some Jane Austen. As a card-carrying geek, I love me some zombies. I thought the movie’s source material—Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 retrofit of Austen’s novel—had its moments, and I think Lily James (who played Elizabeth Bennet) is a super-likable actress. But the movie fell flat for me. It felt,... Read more

The Quiet Faith of Peyton Manning

Last updated on: February 5, 2016 at 9:49 am By Paul Asay

This blog is about looking for God in entertainment, so it’s only right we mention here the biggest entertainment event of all: The Super Bowl. Admittedly, I doubt very much whether God cares who wins. But whoever wins, there are plenty of players who care about God. One of those players is Peyton Manning. Some Christians might be surprised at that, given their reaction when he came to town and supplanted one of the most popular players in Denver Broncos... Read more

Sundance Hit Birth of a Nation Reportedly Shows Complex Christianity

Last updated on: February 1, 2016 at 9:41 am By Paul Asay

The Birth of a Nation won the top two honors at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday evening: the U.S. Grand Jury award—previously pocketed by such critical darlings as Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter’s Bone and Whiplash—and the Audience Award. Chances are good we’ll be hearing much more about this film when the Oscars roll around next year. While I haven’t seen the movie yet, it’s reportedly steeped in Christian themes. Named after D.W. Griffith’s seminal and horrifically racist 1915... Read more

X-Files: Signs of Promise

Last updated on: January 27, 2016 at 2:41 pm By Paul Asay

Much has been written about the greatness of The X-Files—how the original series revolutionized television, laying the foundation on which much of today’s prestige TV is built. It was, also, a deeply spiritual show—probing belief, faith and the supernatural in ways really unheard of on television at the time. And when Fox announced that it was going to bring Mulder and Scully back to the small screen for a six-episode season, I was pretty excited. I was underwhelmed with the... Read more

Yes, the Oscars Are Still So White. But Let’s Not Boycott.

Last updated on: January 22, 2016 at 11:52 am By Paul Asay

If I was king of the Oscars, the competition for best actor this year would be a two-man race between Michael Fassbender and Will Smith. If I’d been in charge of handing out awards last year, I would’ve given them all to Selma. The fact that David Oyelowo wasn’t even nominated for his superlative embodiment of Martin Luther King Jr. is, honestly, a little nuts. But do those sorts of omissions qualify for a boycott? Smith (who should’ve been nominated for his... Read more

The Revenant: Looking For a Holier Ghost

Last updated on: January 20, 2016 at 11:42 am By Paul Asay

John Fitzgerald says that God is a squirrel. That’s what a buddy told him, at any rate. When his friend was cold and alone and at the edge of death, he prayed. For maybe the first time in a long time, he prayed. “He told me he found God,” says Fitz (played in The Revenant by the Oscar-nominated Tom Hardy). And he pauses for the punchline. “Turns out, he’s a squirrel. Big ol’ meaty one.” And his friend “shot and... Read more

Does 13 Hours Reach the Truth of Benghazi?

Last updated on: January 15, 2016 at 12:21 pm By Paul Asay

John “Tig” Tiegen came home mad. He was disgusted by how his fallen comrades were treated after the 13-hour “Battle of Benghazi” on Sept. 11 and 12, 2012. The partisan aftermath frustrated him, too. The politicians “hijacked” the story, he says, and he watched as this real-world struggle in the deserts of Libya became a game of political football on Capitol Hill. Few people seemed to be interested in uncovering the truth, he says. And as a Christian, that bothered... Read more

Here’s what the Oscars Have to Say About Faith

Last updated on: January 14, 2016 at 11:26 am By Paul Asay

The Oscar nominations came out this morning. And religion, believe it or not, was everywhere. OK, so it’s not like War Room made the cut. Faith-based films may be getting better, but they’re not ready to climb the stage at the Dolby Theatre just yet. But when you look at the best picture nominees, you’ll see that many of them contain religious elements. At least one front-running film is explicitly about faith—even as it illustrates how that faith can be... Read more