Posts in Film & TV
'The Chosen' Sets a New Gold Standard for Depictions of Jesus

(REVIEW) The first season of eight in the biggest crowdfunded media project of all time sticks to Biblical accounts of the life and character of Jesus while imagining how he may have spent his leisure time, prayed about his struggles and changed lives. The show’s makers have just allowed free streaming until Mar. 30 to help people quarantined by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

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How 'I Still Believe' Overcomes One of Christian Films' Biggest Problems

(REVIEW) I Still Believe is a beautiful and necessary Christian love story that corrects some of the problems of other Christian films. Still, the movie suffers from the same weaknesses that plague the secular young adult romance genre.

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‘I am Patrick’ shatters myths to highlight the true ministry of Ireland’s beloved saint

(REVIEW) Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated with beer and parades, often neglecting the true meaning of the day. For Ireland and its largely Catholic population, Patrick is their patron saint. He is a man many people think they know. This new docudrama tries to get to the true story of a man who converted an entire country to Christianity.

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Ben Affleck's New Film Introduces Religion To The Conversation on Addiction

Ben Affleck’s new film, The Way Back, takes a classic trope and exploits the old cliche for a slightly new take on an old tale: the film focuses less on the redemption of the team and more on the redemption of the coach.

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'Accept the Call' shows Somali father wrestling with his American son's radicalization

The 2019 documentary, now airing on PBS, follows a Somali father’s quest to understand why his American-born son tried to join ISIS in Syria.

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'Holy Silence' tries to get into the mind of Pope Pius XII during World War II

(REVIEW) Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the film Holy Silence focuses on the pontificate of Pius XII and whether the pope did enough to help Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II.

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HBO's 'The New Pope' serves up plenty of sin, but no substance

(REVIEW) There is a Hollywood fascination with all that’s morbid about religion. It has traditionally had a profane approach when it comes to the Catholic church. That it loves to dramatize reality into what can sometimes be an ugly trope, this is exactly what we get with HBO’s new TV mini-series.

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(Who is Alex Trebek?) Game show host with cancer touts prayer, but faith story is complicated

(OPINION) “Weekend Plug-In” is a column by veteran religion writer Bobby Ross Jr. Look every Friday for analysis, insights and top headlines from the world of faith. This week: Longtime “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek has touted the value of prayer in his cancer fight, but details about his specific faith are complicated.

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New film explores how trauma of anti-semitism drives ongoing conflict

Afterward is a Jewish woman’s personal quest to understand Holocaust perpetrators and her own position in trauma’s legacy in her native Israel.

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'The Two Popes' is a film in need of a reality check

(REVIEW) What happens when you get a pope and a cardinal together? In real life, you’d get some interesting discussion. In the movie “The Two Popes,” you get lots of made-up conversation cloaked as a behind-the-scenes look at the current state of the Catholic church.

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Graham Kerr to have a movie made about his life as a Christian and climate change activist

The 85-year-old celebrity chef is releasing a documentary about his life in the spring that includes his conversion to Christianity after a car accident and his changed lifestyle of simple food, living on less and leaving a smaller carbon footprint.

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New TV series 'Evil' grapples with mysteries of faith and science

(TV REVIEW) The new detective show on CBS follows a science-minded psychologist and a Catholic priest-in-training who consider both the human and supernatural possibilities behind crimes.

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Maradona documentary packs plenty of Catholic imagery to go with its soccer

(FILM REVIEW) A new documentary illustrates the magnitude with which the Argentine-born star impacted the game throughout the 1980s and how soccer’s biggest deity went from heaven to a dramatic fall from grace.

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'Hail Satan' film portrays satanists as trolls fighting Christian privilege

(FILM REVIEW) These satanists may not constitute their own religion, but they want religious freedom laws to protect every faith equally and use the devil to push their message.

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