Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

“The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”

Just what are the adventures of Maggie? And why is she doing a rain dance? If you’re sure you really want to know, read on …

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Just Sit Right Back and You’ll Hear a Tale …

Emmy nominations were released this morning. AMC’s Mad Men again led the way with 19 nominations, including Best Drama. The show is angling for its fourth win in the category in as many years, but will face challenges from three shows on premium cable …

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Red River Blue

Blake Shelton has both the voice and the vibe to be one of the biggest country stars in history. But for us, at least, his honeypot full of new tunes is as bitter as it is sweet.

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Movie Monday: Transformers Still the Boss

The mighty machine that is Transformers: Dark of the Moon, rumbled, bumbled and stumbled its way to another box office victory, crushing Horrible Bosses and a wayward Zookeeper along the way like so much aluminum foil. The Michael Bay (at right) boomfe …

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Bangkok Dangerous

Professional killer Nicolas Cage is one job away from settling down with his fat 401(k) when he starts making mistakes—like developing a conscience.

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Casey’s Crucible

Unless you’ve been visiting the moon of Titan for the last few days, you probably know by now that Casey Anthony, accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, was exonerated by a jury of her peers Tuesday. Lots of observers found the verdict sho …

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Movie Monday: Dark of the Box Office

You can’t keep a good machine down. Transformers: Dark of the Moon flew down to earth and claimed everything it saw for its own clanky empire. The numbers are a little confusing, what with the film opening last Tuesday and with a Fourth of July holiday …

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The Sad Case of Amy Winehouse

I wonder whether 2010 will be known as “the age of the celebrity meltdown.” Singer Amy Winehouse is the latest star to fall—though, in truth, she’s had so many problems lately she didn’t have far to tumble. Ever since she stormed the Grammys in 2008, s …

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Monte Carlo

Selana Gomez’s second big-screen outing may not technically be a Disney film. But it sure feels like one.

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What’s the Best Animated Movie Ever?

I’m a sucker for lists. I’m a big fan of animated movies. So when Time came out with a list of its Top 25 animated movies, I was as happy as if someone had given me a year-long membership to the Bacon Club. So many movies! So many opinions with which t …

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Movie Monday: Cars 2

So what if it suffered a couple of critical dings? So what if reviewers thought Pixar’s newest animated vehicle didn’t hum quite as smoothly as it ought? When Cars 2 raced into movie theaters Friday, it ran just fine. Cars 2 took a $68 million checkere …

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Bad Teacher

Cameron Diaz teaches all the wrong lessons in this crass cinematic class. The results earn a big, fat F.

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Yosemite Slam

Plugged In recently published a story of mine called “Around the World in 80 Clicks,” which examined the amazing (and kinda scary) ability we have to go practically anywhere we want to via the Internet. I started by telling readers I was taking a “nayc …

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Movie Monday: Green Lantern

Green Lantern’s mighty ring of power can do many wondrous things. But it couldn’t generate much excitement at the ol’ movieplex this weekend. Oh sure, Ryan Reynolds’ alter-ego Hal Jordan flew to the top of the box office, zapping his way to a very gree …

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Mr. Bean’s Holiday

The many funny faces of Mr. Bean loom large as the British comic known around the world for his wordless weirdness offers families a rare, G-rated, live-action comedy.

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