Posts in Entertainment
‘Light Of The World’ A Giant Leap Forward For Faith-Based Animation

(REVIEW) At times, it feels like there are two different “Light of the World” movies vying for dominance onscreen. One is a cringe Sunday school lesson with forced try-hard laughs and mini-sermons sprinkled throughout. The other is a beautifully animated character drama that shares the beauty of Jesus through relatable characters and moving imagery with genuine laugh-out-loud moments.

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On Religion: Will Leanne Morgan’s Faith Make The Cut In Netflix Sitcom?

(ANALYSIS) It’s hard to take Jell-O salad to the after-church brunch a few hours after your husband of 33 years runs off with a younger woman. But the old-fashioned church Leanne Morgan attends in her summer Netflix sitcom does have a Philippians 4:13 poster in the fellowship hall proclaiming: “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”

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‘The Sandman’ A Theology Of Dreams And Death That Might Just Put You To Sleep

(REVIEW) What’s most interesting about “The Sandman” is not the Netflix show itself — but what it says about religion and spirituality. The show has plenty to say about death and faith in ways that fit exactly in with many trends of our modern day. In this way, “The Sandman” is itself a time capsule of modern-day dreams about our life and how the world works.

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On Religion: Angel Studios Sparks Debate With Scary Faith Film

(ANALYSIS) During the rituals of prayers and stories one night, Angel Studios co-founder Jeffrey Harmon's young son asked: "Dad, what does the other side of your eyeballs look like? ... Can I pull them out and look at them?” The answer was “No.” The exchange was a reminder that kids have “wild ideas,” said Harmon in a video chat with Angel Guild members who crowdfund the studio's movies.

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‘The Blind’ Returns To Theaters In Tribute To Phil Robertson: A Gritty Look At Redemption

(REVIEW) “The Blind” deserves credit for making a Christian-friendly film that doesn’t downplay the darkness of life. If it had only been able to overcome some of the other tropes that plague the genre, the results could have been truly special. Even so, for fans of the Robertson family or those who want a classic Christian redemption story, this story about a duck-hunting clan mostly hits its target.

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The Dead End Of ‘Honey Don’t!’: A Detective Story That Forgets The Point

(REVIEW) With no meaningful character arc and no coherent theme, “Honey Don’t!” leaves viewers adrift. It’s a detective story with no one to root for and nothing to say. Instead of delivering clarity in a chaotic world, it adds to the noise. In the words of Macbeth — adapted by Ethan Coen’s brother Joel in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” — the film is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

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‘Shiny Happy People’ Has Worn Out its Welcome

(OPINION) Back in 2023, I wrote that I was “both frustrated and mesmerized” by the first season of this docuseries. “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets” was a behind-the-scenes story of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their children, the stars of the TLC hit television series “19 and Counting” and a number of spin-offs. 

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Crossroads Podcast: Where Does Colbert Go Next?

Channeling the rage on the Bluesky social-media platform, Sunny Hostin at “The View” claimed that the decision by CBS executives to cancel Stephen Colbert's “Late Show” could be the start of dangerous people "dismantling of our Constitution.” This raised questions for me, several of which were discussed during this week’s “Crossroads” podcast. For starters, who — other than President Donald Trump & Co. — were these dangerous people? Did this include millions of Americans who used to watch late-night TV and are now watching whatever they choose to watch on YouTube? 

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‘What If …’ Re-Released 15 Years Later: Why It’s Still A Great Faith-Based Film

The film, a standout in early faith-based cinema, returns for its 15th anniversary amid a revitalized genre led by hits like “The Chosen.” Directed by Dallas Jenkins and starring Kevin Sorbo, the film explores an alternate reality where a businessman sees the life he could have had by following God’s path. Strong writing and emotional depth elevate it above genre clichés.

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How Hulk Hogan’s Final Years Brought Christianity To Hulkamania

Terry Bollea — better known as Hulk Hogan — carried an oversized presence during a career that spanned nearly a half-century and included countless ripped shirts, bandannas and leg drops. His biggest splash came in December 2023, though, as Hogan and his wife, Sky, were baptized at Indian Rocks Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Largo, Fla.

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Faith And Conflict: How ‘Eddington’ Hits (And Misses) Its Pandemic-Era Satire Of America

(REVIEW) Stories help us sift through random events of our lives into something coherent. COVID was a seminal time in American life, and it’s more than right that we should tell stories about it. But without something coherent to say, those stories stop being useful ways to interpret the noise, and instead just add to it.

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Heavenly Heroes: The Surprising Revival Of Superman And Christian Faith

(ANALYSIS) Are Superman and Jesus headed for an American revival? For better or worse, people’s love of Superman and devotion to God have always been tightly fused. Whether this will lead to a long-term revival for both or just a short-term connection remains to be seen. For now, a lot more people are looking up to the heavens than were before.  

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More Parable Than Sermon: The Biblical Imagery Behind Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Season 3

(REVIEW) “Squid Game” is a series that’s no stranger when it comes to weaving religious imagery into its narrative. Season 3 culminates that thread with both subtle and striking references, particularly when it comes to Christian symbolism. The season, it turns out, is more parable than sermon.  The six episodes that form the final season are bloodier than ever.

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‘28 Years Later’ Argues A Secular Death Better Than A Christian One

(REVIEW) Zombies resemble humans without retaining anything about our distinct personalities or relationships also have a visceral ability to articulate our fear of the end. Death is an ever-present fact of life, so symbols of death, like skulls or the Grim Reaper, are natural. This is particularly true during times when religious symbols of death and what comes after (like the Christian cross) appear to be out of style.

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When Jesus Goes Prime Time: Wrestling With ‘The Chosen’

(ANALYSIS) If we agree that on-screen depictions of Jesus that add things to Scripture aren’t automatically evil, then “The Chosen” actually comes out seeming like something of a miracle. It sticks pretty darn close to Scripture when it comes to Jesus’ own words and actions, mostly developing other characters. And what it does add to Jesus’ words is within the realm of typical Christian orthodoxy. 

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More Than ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’: U2, Faith and the Fight Against Sectarianism

(REVIEW) When it comes to U2, perhaps the only thing harder to find than a nuanced opinion of them is an accurate portrayal of their faith. It was a shock to some that the Dublin-based band — who became big in the 1980s — refused to be pigeonholed as apologists for Irish nationalism. Anyone who looks at their religious makeup shouldn’t have been surprised.

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‘The Life of Chuck’ Beautifully Shows The Meaning Of Life – But With No Afterlife

(REVIEW) Benjamin Franklin famously once said, “In life, nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Death is one of those things that the religious and non-religious have in common. It forces both to contemplate how to find meaning in life. Religious people have had the advantage in this regard, as the idea of eternal life is more appealing for people than the alternative.

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‘The Ritual’ A Refreshingly Earnest (If Unoriginal) Return To The Exorcism Genre

(REVIEW) “The Ritual” is a movie you’ve seen many times before. But the story is clearly powerful enough that it is worth retelling. Hopefully, filmmakers will start figuring out how to tell these stories in new and different ways. In the meantime, we have movies like “The Ritual” and can always rewatch a classic such as “The Exorcist” again.

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The Good, The Bad And The Meshuggeneh: Jews In Hollywood’s Wild West

When you think about Jewish contributions to the world of entertainment, your mind probably immediately goes to comedies, sci-fi and musicals. But there’s another genre rich with Jewish history: Westerns. In the new book “Chai Noon: Jews and the Cinematic Wild West,” scholar Jonathan Friedmann examines Jewish figures and themes in Western film, dating back to Hollywood’s first feature-length film. “The Squaw Man,” released in 1914.

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