I think God likes a good walk. It seems like lots of biblical characters had some revolutionary spiritual experiences while on the move: Paul on his way to Damascus, Jacob’s getaway to Haran (during which he dreamed of a stairway to heaven); Moses’ 40 years of wandering. Even Jesus spent much of his time walking around Palestine. And when I think about my own religious experiences, many of the best came while I was on my feet—walking or running or... Read more
Pixar is like the Christmas morning of movie studios, but without the inevitable disappointment. Almost every year, it seems, we unwrap our newest gift from the studio. And almost every year, Pixar gives us just what we always wanted—even if we didn’t know we wanted it. Inside Out is, so far, my favorite movie of the year. It’s a beautiful, thoughtful, emotional film that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Up and The Incredibles and not look a bit out of place.... Read more
The new trailer for The Peanuts Movie came out a couple of days ago. And while trailers can be misleading, this feels promising. It looks like Charlie Brown, Snoopy and company are getting a fresh, 3-D coat of paint while still holding true to creator Charles M. Schulz’s original vision. But if that’s true, we should feel a bit fatalistic about Charlie Brown’s determination to rebrand himself. “I’m going to change who I am and become a winner!” Charlie Brown... Read more
Game of Thrones concluded its fifth season with, as it always does, a lot of traumatic death. Characters dropped like clothes in a Miley Cyrus video, and The Atlantic called the finale a “Bleakness Binge.” I suspect that being a fan of the HBO show may feel a tiny bit like an abusive relationship: It punches you in the gut. It makes you cry. It betrays you every year. And still you come back, hoping (but not really believing) that... Read more
Summertime is vacation time. I’m on vacation right now. Maybe you are, too. Or maybe you just wish you were. Alas, most of us cannot take the whole summer off. Nor would we have the wherewithal to travel extensively even if we could. As such, we sometimes must vacation vicariously through our movies … updating our bucket lists and fantasizing about where we might go if we could. What follows is a list of some movie that make me want to travel.... Read more
It’ll be a big year for the Mouse House. Avengers: Age of Ultron is the year’s highest-grossing movie so far, having already made around $438 million domestically for its parent company, Disney. Its main competition to become the year’s biggest money-maker? Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens—also owned by Disney. Cinderella, the studio’s latest live-action re-imagining of one of its classic movies, has made nearly $200 million in its own right. Pixar, Disney’s powerhouse daughter company, is set to release... Read more
Most of us know what a Christian movie looks like: It’s a gentle kitchen-table drama. An inspirational sports story. Something involving the Amish. A Christian movie is not a sprawling, CGI-laden swashbuckler complete with swordplay and intrigue and the occasional explosion. Or at least it wasn’t before Beyond the Mask. Beyond the Mask, the brainchild of cousins Chad and Aaron Burns, rolled into theaters for a one-night only screening April 6. It was successful enough that it’ll get a more... Read more
San Andreas is exactly the movie you’d expect it to be. There are no unexpected twists or touching romances here, no obvious ruminations on human nature or profound symbolism. You get what you pay for—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson taking on a 9.6-level earthquake. The winner? The special effects, naturally. (Without ’em, the movie would’ve been pretty lame, as you can see below.) Thankfully, San Andreas does have special effects—gobs of them—and that makes for a big, dumb, kinda fun popcorn... Read more
I don’t know much about the Duggar family. I’ve never watched an episode of 17 Kids (or 18 or 19) and Counting. Last week, I wouldn’t have recognized a single Duggar. But that was last week, before we learned that Josh Duggar had sexually assaulted several young girls—some of whom were his sisters—when he was 14. TLC has pulled 19 Kids from its schedule for now, and while it has yet to officially cancel the show, advertisers are abandoning it... Read more
I finished watching Netflix’ saga Daredevil recently. And while some folks have mentioned that Netflix actually soft-pedaled Daredevil/Matt Murdock’s Catholicism a bit, the series still spent plenty of time exploring some spiritual themes. My friend J.R. Forasteros over at NorvilleRogers.com did a pretty fantastic job walking us through some of Daredevil’s spiritual themes, and as tempting as it is to plagiarize his fine work, I’ll just suggest you read it yourself. But I did want to touch on something that... Read more
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