Contributor: Paul Asay

It’s not just the Force awakening in Episode VII. It’s the franchise’s charm. And maybe its life lessons, too.

While the surface story is pretty straightforward, there glides underneath (like the white whale itself) a spiritually tinged parable.

The movie’s name really says it all. Sure, it’s a big movie. An important movie, perhaps. But it left me feeling seriously shorted.

Mother Teresa’s story is strong enough to inspire us, no matter how it’s presented. And so The Letters challenges each of us.

A messy experience, any way you want to slice it.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is no more a nice movie than Katniss is a nice person. But it is a courageous movie, just as Katniss is courageous. And it cares about a cause, just as she does.

America cinema has long raised its glass to the gangster. Maybe it’s time for a different vintage.

The Night Before could have been called The Nightmare Before had Tim Burton not already made off with the name.

When a love story doesn’t know what real love is, how can we trust it with anything else?

The fact that all 33 miners made it out of the mine is something of a miracle. And this movie doesn’t try to deny that God was a part of it.

Spectre’s conspicuous turn to the past also gives us a new opportunity to notice how Bond has changed over the years.

By the time the credits roll, Our Brand Is Crisis feels a lot like a badly run political campaign itself: crass, grimy and not sure of its own message.

This franchise is at least as problematic as its gore-encrusted cousins—perhaps more so—because of the message it so reliably puts forth.

Room can be crass and crude and incredibly uncomfortable to see. Room is also a thing of beauty—as inspiring a movie and, frankly, as Christian a story as I’ve encountered in some time.

Movies are a lot like people, too. Great ones are not always good ones. Steve Jobs, rated R as it is, serves as an example of that.