Aladdin Flies to No. 1
It’s not as if Disney needs a magic lamp. It owns the year’s top two movies already. It’s filling its theme parks. And forget needing to impress the princess: Disney’s roster boasts more princesses per square foot than all the royal residences of Great Britain. Still, the Mouse House got another wish come true this […]
Entertainment, Media and Mental Health: Psychoanalysis on the Screen
This is the second part of a three-part series examining the connection between our entertainment/media culture and mental health, the latter of which is a growing problem for America’s youth. Last week, Kristin Smith discussed how celebrities are increasingly open about their own struggles with anxiety and depression, giving their fans permission to do the […]
Culture Clips: Tune In, Turn On and Drop Out
Yes, the fate of Westeros has been decided (at least on HBO). Fans know that Game of Thrones’ famed Iron Throne was [spoiler warning] claimed, technically, by no one: The dragon Drogon immolated the world’s most uncomfortable chair. But according to some, the throne might not the only thing that was torched Sunday night. Some […]
John Wick Ends Endgame’s No. 1 Run
It took an R-rated action hero and a full month of attrition to knock Avengers: Endgame out of the box office’s catbird seat. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum left nothing to chance, though. John Wick unleashed more than just its signature brand of brutally choreographed action sequences on Endgame. It did more than charm […]
Culture Clips: The Dumb Side Effects of Smartphones
You have a smartphone, right? Well, put it down. Right now. (Unless, of course, you’re reading this on your phone. In which case, finish reading, send us money and then put it down.) Because—news flash—our phones can mess with our real-world lives and relationships something awful. I know, I know. We’ve said this sort of […]
‘I Did It Funny for Funny.’ A Conversation With the Late Tim Conway
Tim Conway could make you weep in the very best of ways. The comedian, who died today at the age of 85, did it all the time on The Carol Burnett Show, where Conway rose to fame. His knack for improvisation, deadpan delivery and comic timing made his castmates, especially Harvey Korman, laugh until they […]
Endgame Escapes Detective Pikachu
Detective Pikachu came to catch ‘em all—all of us moviegoers, that is. But let’s face it: No matter how cute the little electric rascal might be, and no matter how many volts it packs in that strange little tail of his, Pikachu ultimately fainted before the might of Avengers: Endgame. For the third-straight week, Endgame […]
Culture Clips: Goodbye Hello
Goodbyes are hard. We’ve had to say a bunch of them lately, from Boyz in the Hood director John Singleton, who died late last month, to 7-foot-3 Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in most of Star Wars films and died last Thursday. Christians mourned the passing of Rachel Held Evans, an influential evangelical author whose […]
Endgame Still Unstoppable
Endgame, smash. Forget Thanos. The real titan in theaters is Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame. The movie made hulkish amounts of money again this weekend, turning its competitors green with envy. Just how big is Endgame? Consider this: Disney’s latest and (some say) greatest superhero flick lost nearly 60% of its weekend-over-weekend audience, and it still banked […]
Can a TV Show Kill? It’s a Complicated Question.
Underneath the reviews, the blog posts, the vodcasts and Twitter missives, Plugged In is built on one basic premise: Media matters. The entertainment we consume—the stories we watch and read and listen to and play—impact us deeply, and on levels we might not fully realize. Obviously, the relationship between entertainment and its real-world impact is […]