And the Moral of the Story Is … Ummm …
I’m in the middle of reviewing the ABC show Scandal—a strange little drama that’s a little hard to box inside a recognizable genre (look for the full review tomorrow). It’s part episodic procedural, part serialized mystery. It’s got a little West Wing going on, without the idealism. It’s a little Law & Orderish, too (though […]
Movie Monday: The Avengers
Well, we knew it was gonna be big. But this big? The Avengers, Marvel’s supersized superhero flick, didn’t just win the weekend box-office crown. It didn’t just make history. It pounded the record books like the Hulk tossed around poor little Loki. The Avengers‘ opening weekend is so big, in fact, that we’re not even […]
Getting to the Very Art of the Matter
For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about seeing problematic or challenging movies. Not so much about how to decide whether you see them, but rather how to process them when you see them. Last week, I told you about some of the tools we use to handle the films we see—everything from praying […]
Movie Monday: Thinking Men Hornswaggle Pirates
It was supposed to be a busy weekend at the multiplex. With the spring movie season winding down and The Avengers just around the corner (May 4), four new films rushed to theaters this weekend to beat the summertime rush. None were expected to be Hunger Games-like smashes, of course. But all hoped to be […]
How Come They Get to Watch Bad Movies and I Don’t?
Shortly after we started this series of blog posts on how to engage with problematic films, I came across a comment from Josh, one of our readers, essentially calling us out in the best possible way. Here’s what he wrote: The thing that get’s me in this particular post is the idea of movies being […]
Movie Monday: Think Like a Man
Katniss had a good run. After four weeks as box office champ, The Hunger Games was finally toppled by a couple of films about—well, couples. Think Like a Man featured four of ’em, in fact (plus a tag-along divorced guy)—perhaps figuring the only way to knock off the longtime champ was through sheer numbers. The […]
Sorting Out the Good, the Bad and the Excellent
Whenever Christians start arguing about entertainment—why they see or don’t see certain things, Philippians 4:8 is sure to pop up before the conversation gets too old. It goes like this: “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think […]
Dick Clark: 1929-2012
“Dick Clark died today” I said last night as my family put dinner together. “Who?” my daughter-in-law asked. Who? Who’s Dick Clark?! That was what I wanted to say, a little taken aback at the idea that anyone, anywhere would not know who Dick Clark is. Why, he’s— he’s— famous! His career spanned 50 years! […]
Movie Monday: Nyuh-nyuh-nyuh! Hunger Games Wins Again
From the very beginning, we knew The Hunger Games would be tough to take down in the box office arena. It scored the equivalent of an 11 in the hype-centric prelims, scoring magazine cover after cover and inflaming fans with a Twilight level of anticipation. And sure enough, every comer has looked like an overmatched […]
Don’t Watch. But If You Do …
The Bible never comes right out and says what to do with movies. Moses didn’t bring back a commandment that said, “Thou shalt not watch any R-rated film (unless thine film be titled Passion of the Christ).” Jesus never explicitly spoke about Hollywood. We know the Bible has as much to say to modern-day believers […]
