Contributor: Paul Asay

Facebook, the mammoth social networking site that seems to have its massive hands in–well, everything–is now tracking the “happiness” of its U.S. users. They call it “The United States Gross National Happiness” index, and it measures the words users …

I’ll try not to say this too loudly, but I don’t get Twitter. Maybe it’s because I’m old. Maybe it’s because I can’t sneeze in less than a thousand words, much less 140 characters. Maybe it’s because so many Twitter feeds are … well, kinda lame.

I’m still ruminating over The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais’ new comedy. I saw it last night and it was, um, not quite what I expected. Let me just say this up front: I like Gervais. I think he’s one of the funniest guys in show business. He’s also …

Imagine being able to craft a new you, complete with enhanced strength, durability and six-pack abs: You, only better. Think it sounds appealing? Think again.

Fifteen minutes? The kids in this movie get nearly two hours of fame in this sweeter reboot of the 1980 “classic.” None of them are destined to live forever, though.

Just ran across an interesting Q&A-style interview with Ken Burns, one of the United States’ best-known documentary filmmakers. He opened himself up to questions from Time magazine readers, and one of them asked what drew him to filmmaking. This is …

The Emmys were awarded last night. And, even though I review a lot of TV for Plugged In, I didn’t watch them. I felt a wee bit guilty about it for a while (a television critic really should watch a television show which doles out awards to other televi …

What do grief and death have to do with romantic comedy? Quite a lot in this case.

Matt Damon is a delusional-but-brilliant white collar criminal turned FBI mole!

I’ve always liked Gladys Knight. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe it’s because her voice is just so cool. Maybe it’s because “Midnight Train to Georgia” is so catchy. Maybe it’s because she, for some reason, has always reminded me of one of my best fri …

My review of 9, the Tim Burton-produced animated apocalypse, is now up on the main Plugged In site. The film is more haunting parable than anything else, bolstered by an important cautionary question: With all our techno-gizmos and mechanized whodats, …

The Script knows that “when a heart breaks, it don’t break even.” But is there a chance that such a broken heart might be healed?

I watched a provocative new Christian documentary the other day–Dan Merchant’s Lord Save Us From Your Followers. Clearly, with a title like that, you know this isn’t going to be your standard Fireproof-style Christian flick. No, this is a doc done in …

South African director Neill Blomkamp ushers moviegoers into a brutal, ugly world that, for all the aliens running around, feels horrifyingly familiar.

Well-known for his sometimes dark, always spiritually minded movies, Japanese anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki seems to be consciously downshifting here into a more playful mode.