A Real Hope Instead of a Virtual One
The movie Ready Player One imagines a near-future so bad that everyone living in it regularly escapes into a totally immersive virtual reality experience known as OASIS. Obviously, that word implies relief, parching one’s thirst in a dry land. But over the course of the film, young hero Wade Watts makes a startling discovery: The […]
A Conversation with Phoenix Wilder Director Richard Boddington
How often have you heard someone say, “They just don’t make movies like they used to?” Sure, many of today’s films feature nonstop action and mind-boggling special effects. And there’s a place for that. But even popcorn flicks supposedly aimed at families these days often come freighted with unwanted content. Profanity and innuendo can make […]
Why ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ is Worth Your Time
Full disclosure: I haven’t seen Paul, Apostle of Christ yet. What I have done is read Plugged In reviewer Paul Asay’s excellent review of the latest Christian movie to hit the theaters. And based on that review—and a couple of other reasons I’m going to unpack here—I think it’s a film that would be worth […]
Culture Clips: Social Pressure
Facebook has been one of the darlings of the new millennium, presiding over an ever-expanding online empire made up of some two billion souls. But the last week has proven a disastrous one for the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg, as details continue to emerge of how British data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica may have […]
American Idol Goes Back to the Future
American Idol is back. On a new network (ABC), and sporting three new celebrity judges (Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan). That’s a quick summary of what’s changed. What hasn’t changed? Well, almost everything else. After a two-year hiatus, ABC’s reloaded version of Idol is almost exactly the same reality singing competition it was […]
Culture Clips: Finally, Something We Can All Agree On
In a culture sometimes infatuated with transgressing norms, it’s hard to do something that’s so far out of bounds, morally speaking, that virtually everyone condemns it. But this season’s finale for The Bachelor earlier this week may have accomplished that rare feat. Here’s what happened and why people are so mad about it: This season’s […]
Saying Goodbye to the Plugged In App
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like change. I don’t adopt new tech quickly. (We just got rid of our fossil CRT TV recently, for instance, and I still buy CDs and DVDs.) And I absolutely hate it when my favorite websites are redesigned; invariably, the design is worse. (Or, at least it […]
Mourning the Olympics’ End
My family is in mourning. Or withdrawal. Or maybe both: After 17 days of nonstop coverage, the 2018 Winter Olympics have come to a close. To look at the headlines, we might be one of the few families grieving the completion of this quadrennial competition. Variety reports that this year’s games in Pyeongchang were the […]
Culture Clips: Remembering Billy
A giant has passed. Billy Graham, the evangelist who travelled the world inviting millions to follow Jesus Christ, has died at the age of 99. Christianity Today, the magazine that Graham himself founded, invited prominent evangelicals to weigh in on Graham’s momentous cultural influence, both among evangelicals and in the broader culture. CT‘s Marshall Shelley […]
R.I.P. CDs
I bought a CD last night. (Rock guitar instrumentalist Joe Satriani’s latest release, if you must know. But I digress already.) I bought it because even though I listen to tons of music digitally (streaming, and in my 15-year-old iTunes library), I just like having a real, physical copy of my music. It’s tactile. Reliable. […]