Posts in Review
‘The Old Stories: Moses’ Offers Up A Biblical Epic With An Artificial Soul

(REVIEW) While the show’s theological justification is surprisingly in line with the pope’s new AI principles, the execution proves that — as always — the devil is in the details.  

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Theology Thin As A Communion Wafer: Why ‘Speed Demon’ Is Horror Deconstruction Slop

A low-budget movie, cheesy horror that is literally just “The Exorcist” meets “Speed” and whose theology is as thin as a communion wafer. In theory, this can be an opportunity for an actually really fun campy horror experience. Unfortunately, it’s far more interested in stale religious deconstruction than it is in classic scares.

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‘Is God Is’ Wants Catharsis Through Violence, Replacing Forgiveness With Vengeance

(REVIEW) “Is God Is” follows twin sisters on a quest to kill their father, who disfigured them as children. Unfortunately, the movie does more than simply offer fictional frontier-style justice to typically underrepresented audiences. It goes so far as to renounce the virtue of forgiveness altogether.

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‘Cast Aside The Clouds’ Shines A Light On Iran And The Bahá’í Faith

(REVIEW) A “Romeo and Juliet” style love story, “Cast Aside The Clouds” that protests how religious intolerance — such as the kind regularly levied against the Baháʼí people in Iran — threatens love by targeting innocent people for oppression.

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Beyond David Bowie’s Fame: A Unique Search For God

(REVIEW) A new biography explores David Bowie’s spiritual life beneath his flamboyant personas, especially Ziggy Stardust. Drawing on interviews and songs, it portrays a restless seeker shaped by diverse religious influences, whose music reflected an ongoing quest to understand God, faith and existence beyond organized religion.

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What ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Hits and Misses About Catholic Teaching

(REVIEW) Murdock is a real believing Catholic. It’s something the series takes seriously. This is particularly easy to see in the attention to detail toward Catholic teaching.  

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Where Is God In Suffering? New Book By Yale Professors Explores The Big Questions.

In the book “Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian,” two friends engage in a conversation about God as they approach the twilight of their lives. It’s an easy-to-follow real-life discussion about suffering, God and how to cope when times get hard.

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‘Say Your Prayers’: Hulk Hogan And The Price Of Becoming A Myth

(REVIEW) “Hulk Hogan: Real American” succeeds not because it answers questions, but because it refuses to. It presents Hogan as a deeply contradictory figure: A man who inspired millions while struggling to live up to his own ideals, a public hero whose private life was often marked by pain and failure and a Christian who spent much of his life in and out of the ring.

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‘Trust Me: The False Prophet’ Tracks A Cult Leader’s Power And Control

(REVIEW) Netflix’s new four-part docuseries “Trust Me: The False Prophet” gives viewers never-before-seen access to the inner workings of a high-control religion and cult. It’s a fascinating true story of danger, moral conviction, sacrifice, redemption and justice. Cult psychology expert and former mainstream Mormon, Christine Marie and her filmmaker husband, Tolga Katas, move to the area to support the FLDS community and document their lives.

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‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Imposes Christian Ideas On Ancient Egyptian Mythology

(REVIEW) The film is an example of how Hollywood uses Christian metaphysical assumptions when dealing with non-Christian faiths — all while denying Christianity and promoting these same pre-Christian religions. “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” has nothing remotely to do with Egyptian mythology. But that doesn’t mean it has nothing to say about our modern relationship with faith.

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In Rare Sistine Chapel Concert, MacMillan’s ‘Angels Unawares’ Creates A Soundscape Of Grace

(REVIEW) This concert marked the first world premiere in the Sistine Chapel. Yet, what lingered most was not the sense of history being made, but the work itself: A meditation on divine presence. In a space accustomed to silence rather than sound, “Angels Unawares” felt less like an interruption and more like a natural extension of the place.

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Did C.S. Lewis Ignore Women? 2 New ‘Screwtape’ Retellings Ask The Question.

(REVIEW) In the last eighteen months, two Christian publishers have released books reimagining C.S. Lewis’s classic ‘The Screwtape Letters’ as concerning the temptation not of a man, but of a woman. The authors are at their best when they take the Lewisian approach, considering women not just as females, but as humans.

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Easter In Disguise: Rediscovering The Meaning Behind Lenten Traditions

(REVIEW) Easter traditions like hot cross buns and chocolate eggs are widely enjoyed, but their deeper Christian meaning is often overlooked. Sister Liz Dodd’s book “Easter in Disguise” urges a return to the festival’s spiritual roots, encouraging reflection on justice, peace and radical discipleship during Lent and Holy Week.

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‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Trades In Faith For Politics To The Series’ Detriment

Very few superheroes wear their faith on their sleeves like Daredevil. But the Season 2 opener for Disney+ series “Daredevil: Born Again” has pulled back on those elements. If that reflects the rest of the season, it will be to the show’s detriment.

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‘The Faithful: Women Of The Bible’ More True To Modern Ideals Than Biblical Texts

When “The Faithful: Women of the Bible” trusts the Bible’s voice, it does a great job of giving voice to the women that it portrays. Unfortunately, far too often, the filmmakers shout their own voices too loud for you to hear the real women they claim to be elevating.

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Iranians Rebelled In 1979: What About In 2026?

Before the war broke out, knowledgeable observers agreed that a vast majority of long-suffering Iranians despised the ruling theocracy’s incompetence and oppression. So a revolution now might seem as likely as in 1979, when such widespread revulsion brought down one dictator, only to be replaced by another one.

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Despite Bad Religion, ‘The Gates’ Is Surprisingly Thoughtful Regarding Abuse

The movie has all the beats you want: Likeable characters, a clear villain, good pacing, decent scares and a clear social fear it’s tapping into. It also has the typical horror contrivances where characters have to be extremely obtuse or be insanely unlucky to keep them from getting out of the situation almost immediately. 

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A Fiercely Independent Artist Found Catholicism — And Her Art Is ‘Quietly Intense’

(REVIEW) Marking the 150th anniversary of Gwen John’s birth, the exhibition “Gwen John: Strange Beauties” explores how her conversion to Catholicism shaped her art. Featuring paintings and rarely seen works on paper, it reveals how faith, solitude and subtle repetition informed the Welsh artist’s quietly modern and deeply contemplative practice.

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‘I Can Only Imagine 2’: One Of The Best Faith-Based Films Ever Made

(REVIEW) When it came out, the film was a watershed moment for the faith-based film industry. It was the highest-grossing independent film of 2018. This showed that faith-based films could succeed in the mainstream commercially and critically. Not only did this create more investment in faith-based projects, but also shaped future films.

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