I used to dread reviewing shows from The CW. Every new program seemed like pap for the not-so-discerning adolescent, and there are only so many brooding, wavy-haired male models masquerading as actors that one 40-something critic can deal with. But in the last couple of years, something strange has been happening on The CW. The programming has gotten kinda … good. It became obvious with Jane the Virgin, one of the oddest, funniest shows on TV. I haven’t seen iZombie—the story of a... Read more
Binge watching is the bane of a harried entertainment critic. Some of you have watched all 13 episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil by now. I’ve yet to crack open the second ep. The upside: No spoilers today. The downside: I can’t offer a comprehensive take on Netflix’ ambitious new series. I can only offer a smattering of first thoughts and impressions. But for what they’re worth, here they are. This ain’t your Avengers superhero story. Daredevil is bloody. Really bloody. I... Read more
Inspired by the NCAA’s March Madness, ChristianCinema.com recently conducted its own version of bracket goodness this spring. Calling it “Christian Movie Madness,” it pitted 64 movies against each other in a winner-take-all brouhaha, with victors determined by the number of votes they got. More than 100,000 users voted, naming 2014’s God’s Not Dead as (in Christian Cinema’s words) the “Best. Movie. Ever.” Yeah, looking over the 64 movies chosen for the tourney, my bracket would’ve been busted by the first round. The Chronicles... Read more
Don Draper doesn’t just do advertising. He is advertising. Look at him. Just look. Cool. Crisp. Nattily dressed. Meticulously combed. It’s as if he stepped off the back cover of one of his own print ads. Mad Men’s prime protagonist (played ever-so-smooth by Jon Hamm) is a picture of vigorous, middle-age success. This, the picture tells us, is a man who knows the proper wine to pair with ham, who can fix a busted faucet and who will... Read more
LifeWay Christian Resources recently announced that they won’t be selling any more books dealing with “heavenly tourism.” While they sell incredibly well (Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven sold 6.5 million copies and will get its own movie this fall), they’re inherently controversial for loads of Christians, who believe such stories are just pure bunk. You don’t just up and leave heaven, they argue, and the Southern Baptist Convention went so far as to caution Christians against such books in... Read more
It’s Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion and death. It’s a strange day to call “good.” Jesus’ death was the stuff of horror movies, and the Bible doesn’t spare us the details. Unflinching, it forces us to look toward Golgotha, the place of the skull, and watch as His hands and feet are nailed to a cross. For hours, He suffers. He cries out. And then, when the world was enveloped in darkness, He dies. The Crucifixion been... Read more
I just got a box of books Friday. Not just of any book, but my new book—Burning Bush 2.0: How Pop Culture Replaced the Prophet. Abingdon Press, my publisher, won’t be officially releasing it for another few weeks, so I guess that’s one advantage of writing the thing. Early copies. I’d like to think the book is a fun, fascinating, whirlwind trip through the world of popular entertainment, offering lots of quick-hit spiritual observations on everything from The Walking Dead and The Hunger... Read more
The X-Files is coming back to the network for a six-episode run. It’ll reunite David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, and creator Chris Carter will continue to head the show. I haven’t heard when it’ll air, but production will begin this summer. “I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” Carter told Variety. The news leaves me feeling like this: Now, I’m not so much an X-Phile that I suffered through the Duchovny-scarce final seasons or wrote obsessive Mulder/Scully-themed romances,... Read more
Grace is a strange thing. I get it in concept. Christianity’s all about grace and forgiveness: Together, the words are mentioned in the New Testament about 160 times (give or take a few, depending on the translation). I think most of us know how important it is to forgive, and so we try to do it as much as we’re able. But when it comes to forgiving ourselves … that can be a lot more difficult. At least it can... Read more
Yeah, it was only a matter of time before this happened. Nothing like an Avengers/Friends intro mashup to get me pumped to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron come May. ‘Course, being an unapologetic superhero fan, it doesn’t take much. But coming on the heels of watching some of the Jesus-centric programs coming to television (A.D. on NBC and Killing Jesus on the National Geographic channel), it also reminded me that the Avengers we see here, and the apostles we read... Read more
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