The Strangely Pro-Life Message in Alita: Battle Angel
Alita: Battle Angel thundered into theaters Wednesday. Like lots of PG-13 action flicks, it’s kinda good, kinda bad and kinda ugly. (Of course, you can read my review for more detail.) But oddly, one of the movie’s most powerful messages came in its first 10 minutes or so. The world of Alita (based on a […]
And the Best Homemade Grammy Award Goes To …
A whopping 84 Grammys were awarded this year (though not all were obviously doled out during Sunday night’s Grammy Award telecast). Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, took home three of them, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Lady Gaga picked up a couple, too. Country star Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour took […]
LEGO Movie 2’s Not-So-Awesome Debut
You’d think that The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part would be a blockbuster. After all, LEGOs are all about blocks, right? But while The LEGO Movie 2 did cruise to a win this weekend, it’s leaning toward more of a bust. The newest LEGO flick earned an estimated $34.4 million, which easily outdistanced its […]
Culture Clips: Wake Up, the Super Bowl’s Over
A football game of some import was played on Sunday, and lots of us watched it. But not as many as usual. According to Sports Illustrated, about 98.2 million folks tuned in to CBS’ broadcast of the Super Bowl. That’s a whole bunch of people to be sure, but it’s actually the smallest audience the […]
Super Bowl Ads Reveal a Brave, New, Digital World
“I watch the Super Bowl for the ads,” some say. And this year, those folks might’ve been some of the few who actually enjoyed it. (Why yes, I was rooting for the Rams. Why do you ask?) While football fans were treated to a 13-3 victory by the New England Patriots, commercial fans were treated […]
Glass Still Not Cracking
Maybe it’s only appropriate that Glass finished victorious for a third-straight weekend. Windows are made of the stuff, after all, and Glass showed once again that it knows how to … win dough. Not that it won that much in the grand scheme of things on this quiet Super Bowl weekend at the multiplex. The […]
Plugged In Movie Awards: Best Christian Movie
It’s the last day to unveil our nominations, and we’ve saved the most spiritual for last. Christian movies are getting better with each passing year, and this year’s crop of nominees suggests the variety we’re seeing from them—from historical epics to modern dramas to the story of a bestselling song. As always, chime in with […]
Plugged In Movie Awards: Best Movies for Adults
I gotta be honest: This might be my favorite category, in part because it triggers such robust discussions inside our little team. How do we weigh a film’s adult content against its inspiring messages? Does a beautifully made movie with just a pretty-good point outclass a just-pretty-good film with an outstanding moral behind it? These […]
Plugged In Movie Awards: Best Movies for Teens
We’re in our second day of unveiling nominees for our world-renowned, mightily coveted Plugged In Movie Awards. And in this installment, we turn our attention to movies suitable for teens. This doesn’t mean that they’re solely for teens, of course. Many adults don’t mind watching superheroes do their thing. By default, this tends to be […]
Plugged In Movie Awards: Best Movies for Kids
Oscars, schmoscars. For more than 90 years, the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences has handed out awards for what it considers to be the “best” movies of the year. But as we all know, what Hollywood thinks of as great doesn’t necessarily coincide with what we love, like or even think is appropriate. […]