Incredibles 2 Box Office Is Incredible Too
Disney is a little bit like Tom Brady: The iconic New England Patriots quarterback may have an off game every now and then, but you’d better watch out the next time he takes the field. Likewise, the Mouse House suffered a rare whiff with Solo: A Star Wars Story, an expensive film that reportedly won’t […]
When Celebrities Take Their Own Lives
The suicide rate in the United States has increased dramatically in around the last two decades: 28% from 1999 to 2016, according to a just-released report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming 45,000 lives in 2016. Suicide […]
Presenting Plugged In’s Family Movie Nights Discussion Guide
My kids got out of school yesterday. They’re thrilled! Mom and Dad? We’re, um … thrilled? Summer is obviously a fantastic season for families to spend more time together. But sometimes, if we’re honest as parents, we can run low on activity ideas. So we have one for you: Our Summer 2018 Family Movie Nights […]
Show Dogs Controversy Hits the Mainstream
Controversy surrounding the kids’ movie Show Dogs ratcheted up another notch today. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has issued a statement on scenes involving a talking dog having its genitals touched during a dog show, scenes that they’re concerned may promote sexual abuse of children. The NCOSE’s statement reads: “The movie Show Dogs sends […]
Culture Clips: Are You Getting up for the Royal Wedding?
I pride myself on knowing what’s happening in the world and culture. But I had a funny exchange with my wife last week. We were watching TV when an add came on for an upcoming special titled something like, Meghan Markle: An American Princess. “She’s American?!” I asked, somewhat startled. I’d missed that little factoid. […]
Culture Clips: Siri, Who’s the Smartest Digital Assistant?
These days, digital assistants such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s, erm, Assistant can deliver answers, directions, pizza and tons of other stuff just by asking. So USA Today set out to find out which of these virtual answer bots was the most accurate. The short answer probably shouldn’t come as a surprise: “We […]
Culture Clips: It’s a Crazy World … So Eat Dinner as a Family
You don’t have to look further than your news feed to find plenty of disheartening news. And we’ll deal with some of that shortly. But before our weekly deep-dive into the overlapping realms of entertainment, popular culture and what’s happening with kids today, I thought we’d begin with an encouraging reminder from Homeword’s Jim Burns: […]
Maturity Matters
Common sense would tell us that people’s personal maturity will influence their careers, their lives and their relationships, regardless of how talented they are. Alas, common sense isn’t as common these days as perhaps it once was. For decades now—stretching back at least as far as political scandals in the ’80s and ’90s, and maybe […]
Culture Clips: This Email Will Self-Destruct …
“This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.” Mission Impossible fans will, of course, recognize that iconic line from the original 1960s and ’70s TV series. (And, of course, the franchise’s amped-up Tom Cruise reboot since then.) We don’t use tape much anymore, obviously, but Google seems to have something similar in mind with its latest […]
Culture Clips: The Rock Is Dead, Rap Reigns Edition
Rock is dead. Rap reigns. So say music charts, YouTube views, Spotify play lists and Washington Post contributor Marc Weingarten. His opinion piece yesterday, “Sorry, rock fans. Hip-hop is the only genre that matters right now,” unpacks the significance of rapper Kendrick Lamar winning this year’s Pulitzer Prize for music. Though rock fans may be […]