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.

Masters of the Air

While Masters of the Air certainly comes with plenty of cautions, the miniseries isn’t just about blood. It’s about heart.

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PIMA Kids

Plugged In Movie Awards: Best Movies for Kids (2024)

It’s time for the Plugged In Movie Awards! This week, our nominees for Best Movie for Kids.

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The Plugged In Movie Awards: 2025

Here is where you can find all information related to the 2024 Plugged In Movie Awards. Tune in to our podcast March 7!

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Chicago Med season 9

Chicago Med

Chicago Med may not be quite as salacious as Grey’s Anatomy or Private Practice. But this ER can still be a pretty messy place.

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Oscar Nominations: A Teensy Weensy Bit Better Than Normal?

The Oscar nominations were unveiled this morning. And for the most part, they avoided any big surprises. 

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Wish 2023

Wish

Though filled with references to Disney’s past triumphs, Wish itself comes with unexpected problems and a lack of inspiration.

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Movie Monday: ‘Mean Girls’ Earns Another Nice Win

We’re still more than a week away from Groundhog Day, campers. But the box office’s top five still looks as familiar as a cold morning at a Punxsutawney bed and breakfast.

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In a World of Noise, Silence Sometimes Speaks Loudest

Lately, we’ve been seeing a few bits of entertainment try to pull us in without shouting, or even saying, a word.

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The Plugged In Show, Episode 217: ‘Mean Girls’ Yesterday and Today: How Bullying is Changing. Plus, ‘Echo’

LISTEN TO THE PLUGGED IN SHOW, EPISODE 217 I suspect that, even back in the stone age, mean girls were already a thing. Maybe it began when Ugga, the girl whose family just moved into the cave next door, tries to sit down at the local slab of rock to e …

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True Detective season 4

True Detective

HBO dives into the murky waters of 20th-century pulp crime fiction, then emerges dripping with as much darkness and dread as anything on television.

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Movie Tuesday: ‘Mean Girls’ Burns Competition

Mean Girls, a musical remake of the 2004 classic comedy, proved to be the weekend’s most popular film.

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The Boys in the Boat 2023

The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat offers us an inspirational story that, outside a few issues, glides across the cinematic waters with nary a ripple.

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An animated Black music teacher stands before his class in Soul.

Soul

Soul strives to help us remember that life itself is a blessing, even when it doesn’t go as we planned.

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The Plugged In Show, Episode 216: How Movies Challenge Our Indifference. Plus, Sigmund Freud Meets C.S. Lewis

This time of year, our cinematic eye moves from blockbusters to smaller, more thoughtful films. We’re going to talk about a couple of them.

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Echo season 1

Echo

True to this show’s name, Echo seems to be merely an echo of better MCU stories—faint and muddled despite all the blood.

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