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.

Frog and Toad season 1

Frog and Toad

Frog and Toad are, on the surface, innocent friend in this innocent kids’ show. But parents should be aware of a bit of subtext.

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What Gordon Lightfoot Taught Me About Faith

Gordon Lightfoot died earlier this week at the age of 84. And while he was by no means perfect, he had some interesting things to say—and to sing—about faith.

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Mafia Mamma 2023 movie

Mafia Mamma

The vibe of this high-concept comedy feels almost PG-13—but its content problems are unquestionably R-rated.

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Movie Monday: Are You There Box Office? It’s Me, Mario Bros. (Again.)

For the fourth-straight weekend, The Super Mario Bros. Movie jumped the field, raced to the castle and pulled down a box-office victory.

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Firefly Lane season 2

Firefly Lane

Lifelong besties Tully and Kate met on Firefly Lane. But loyalty and nostalgia aren’t the only things you’ll see here.

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Citadel season 1

Citadel

Citadel is stylish, silly and salacious. But its amnesiac spies may well leave conscientious viewers wishing they could forget.

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The Plugged In Show, Episode 179: When Yesteryear Offends. (Plus, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.)

Why do movies we loved as kids sometimes seem too problematic to share with our own children?

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Movie Monday: Mario Bros. Movie Still Running Strong

For three-straight weeks, the animated film has been practically invincible, outracing everyone else in the field and notching win after win.

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Ghosted 2023

Ghosted

Chris Evans and Ana de Armas star in this silly, spirited and kinda fun action/romance/comedy. But some problems haunt Ghosted, too.

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The Pope's Exorcist 2023 movie

The Pope’s Exorcist

The Pope’s Exorcist fuses a silly plot with some serious problems. But beneath the blood, it offers some interesting thoughts, too.

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The Plugged In Show, Episode 178: Learning to Love Reading in a Screen-Based World. Plus Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope.

How do we as parents encourage our sons and daughters to put aside the game controller, put away the remote and read?

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The Mandalorian season 3

The Mandalorian

Disney+’s flagship show is fun, gritty and well in keeping with the rest of the franchise—but the bodycount can get pretty high.

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Movie Monday: Super Mario Bros. Movie Nails Another High Score

Mario and Luigi took the Rainbow Road all the way to No. 1 and left the competition in its multicolored dust.

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Beef season 1

Beef

Netflix’s newest show is well done, you might say. But Plugged In has a beef with some of its problems.

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The Plugged In Show, Episode 177: Thinking Through LGBT Issues in Entertainment. Plus: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

How many moms and dads are ready to talk about transgenderism with their 5-year-olds? Adam Holz talks about how to navigate these issues with your family.

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