Exodus: Starting the Long, Weird Walk of Faith

Last updated on: December 14, 2014 at 2:53 pm By Paul Asay

I’ve already written some about Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings. My Plugged In review—the first installment, if you will—is here, and it concentrates more on the movie’s content stuff and negatives, including its 11-year-old boy/God. Then, over at FaithStreet.com, I dug a little deeper into Scott’s problematic deity … including what might be one of its biggest, most disturbing issues: The God we see on screen isn’t that much different from the God we read about in Exodus—one who feels... Read more

Guardians of the Galaxy: Grateful for Groot

Last updated on: December 9, 2014 at 6:58 pm By Paul Asay

Yesterday, the same day When the Game Stands Tall was released on video, another movie trundled out onto DVD as well. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Guardians of the Galaxy was one of my favorite movies of the summer, and (if its $332 million in North American ticket sales can be believed) a lot of other folks seemed to enjoy it, too. The characters were great, from the smart and smarmy Peter “Star-Lord” Quill to the snide and cynical Rocket... Read more

When the Game Stands Tall Comes to Video, Saves Christmas (Or, at Least, Christian Moviemaking)

Last updated on: December 7, 2014 at 12:03 pm By Paul Asay

Oh, Kirk Cameron. Word has it that America’s best-known Christian actor (that is, the actor best known for his Christian movies) tried to rally the faithful to support his movie, Saving Christmas, on the web site Rotten Tomatoes. Sure, the movie bombed with critics. But Cameron called upon his fans to rebuke those pharisaical reviewers by giving the movie a thumbs-up. And for a while, according to Cameron, it worked: Saving Christmas had a 94-percent “freshness” rating by users—quite the... Read more

Now, Here’s a Movie I’d Like to See …

Last updated on: December 5, 2014 at 7:59 am By Paul Asay

December is a crazy month for all of us, what with Christmas and all. But for movie critics, it’s particularly nuts. It’s awards season after all, when studios stick their best Oscar hopefuls under the tree in the hopes that they’ll unwrap an Oscar or two in a few months. Moreover, Christmas is thought to be one of the best times of year to build a blockbuster: Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings franchises built castles made of money... Read more

Exodus: Gods and Kids

Last updated on: December 2, 2014 at 10:22 pm By Paul Asay

I haven’t seen Exodus: Gods and Kings yet. I’m going to see it tonight, actually, and you can see my full review at Plugged In the day the film officially releases (Dec. 12). I still hope that I’ll have some good things to say about it. But I have to admit, I’m a little worried. Much of the early buzz doesn’t center on Christian Bale’s turn as Moses or the plague of locusts, but director Ridley Scott’s decision to cast... Read more

An Earnest Appreciation of P.D. James

Last updated on: November 28, 2014 at 12:57 pm By Paul Asay

English writer P.D. James died yesterday at the age of 94. She told the BBC as late as last year that she was working on a new book. “I think while I am alive, I shall write,” she said. “There will be a time to stop writing but that will probably be when I come to a stop, too.” James published 19 novels (and a handful of non-fiction works) and is mostly known as a mystery writer—a grittier, more literary... Read more

Films to be Thankful For

Last updated on: November 25, 2014 at 10:49 pm By Paul Asay

When you think about it, Thanksgiving is a very Hollywood-friendly holiday. The whole Thanksgiving story is like a screenplay for your typical inspirational blockbuster: A group of plucky outcasts hop on a ship and deal with incredible odds and impossible hardships to follow their dreams. It’s like a cross between The Goonies and Guardians of the Galaxy, maybe. Only with dowdier clothes and a lot more prayer. So perhaps it’s fitting that tomorrow, we mute the football game and put... Read more

Mockingjay – Part 1: Panem, Circuses and Christ

Last updated on: November 23, 2014 at 10:21 pm By Paul Asay

The Capitol of Panem may look all sleek and modern. But when you really examine the place, it looks an awful lot like ancient Rome. Maybe you knew that already. It’s not any great secret. Suzanne Collins has said that she had Rome in mind when she wrote The Hunger Games, and the whole series is littered with names that come from Roman history and mythology (including Cinna, Portia, Castor, Pollux, Flavia, etc., etc.). Panem’s economy resembles that of Rome,... Read more

Batman Doc Swings Onto Video

Last updated on: November 19, 2014 at 10:16 am By Paul Asay

A bevy of movies were released on video yesterday: 22 Jump Street, Into the Storm, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and others. But I wanted to draw your attention to a film you might not see at your local big-box store: The documentary Legends of the Knight. Why should you care? Well, let me give you three. 1. I’m in it. And if that’s not reason to watch, I don’t know what is. 2. It’s all about Batman.... Read more

The Science and Spirituality of Interstellar

Last updated on: November 16, 2014 at 10:49 pm By Paul Asay

First, let’s talk about the organ. It’s inescapable in Interstellar. At the movie’s most critical moments, the theater will shake with a massive, filling-bursting organ chord that sounds like Bach just dropped an ACME anvil on his favorite instrument. The chord is huge—so big that it’s causing a bit of a media buzz, too. It’s a fascinating use of sound by Director Christopher Nolan and Composer Hans Zimmer—at once a cacophony and an intricate, sprawling harmony of meaning, cascading over... Read more

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