The value of a human life depends on who you ask. If we look at the value of just our raw material, we log in at around $160. But most folks agree that we’re worth more than just the sum of our parts: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a human life is worth around $9.1 million—a figure they used in asking for stronger (and costlier) environmental regulations. The Food and Drug Administration suggests $7.9 million. Insurance agencies typically... Read more
Jesus’ death and resurrection has been dramatized in countless movies—from 1927’s The King of Kings to 2014’s Son of God and scores in between. But Risen does something none of its predecessors dared do: Remind us that Christianity is predicated on a 2,000-year-old X-File. We sometimes forget that, and understandably so. Even the greatest of miracles can feel rote when we hear about them so often. To many, the Easter story is just one more accouterment of spring—to be neither... Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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