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.

Gru and some minions smiling.

The Plugged In Show, Episode 137.5, The GentleMinion Phenomenon

What happens when thousands of teen fans of Gru dress up as “GentleMinions” and go to see Minions: The Rise of Gru together?

Read more
The Bob's Burgers Movie 2022

The Bob’s Burgers Movie

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is a little like Bob’s actual burgers: Tasty, sure. But what it’s made of might be a bit concerning.

Read more
Don't Make Me Go 2022

Don’t Make Me Go

This father-daughter road movie stops at some lovely messages. But it slams through a few roadblocks, too.

Read more
Black Bird season 1

Black Bird

Apple TV+’s prison-based drama is based on a true story. But the content might make some feel like locking the show itself up.

Read more
blog top 07-07

The Plugged In Show, Episode 137: Do Fantasy Sports Strike Out? Or Score Big? (Plus, Thor and Rise of Gru!)

Sure, fantasy sports can be fun, and that’s a win. But they can also sap away a player’s time, money and energy.

Read more
7 Christian Values movies

7 Secular Movies with Christian Values

Some Non-Christian movies can have profound Christian lessons to teach. Here are a few films that fit the bill.

Read more
A grimy young woman snarls at a man offscreen.

The Princess

For all of its apparent feminist posturing, The Princess is pure escapism—and bloody, irreverent and profane escapism at that.

Read more
westworld

Westworld

Westworld is a brutal, messy and ultimately amoral world. It asks the right questions but, by its actions, suggests that it might not care about the answers.

Read more
Ms Marvel season 1

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel—a little like the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies—feels almost as much like a coming-of-age romcom as it does a superhero story.

Read more
terminal list

The Terminal List

Chris Pratt stars in this conspiratorial thriller. But the content will leave families less than thrilled.

Read more
Family Camp movie

Family Camp

Family Camp, the first film from the Skit Guys, mostly pulls off a neat trick: being Christian … and being funny.

Read more
Rise 2022

Rise

This movie, chronicling Giannis Antetokounmpo’s rise from poverty in Greece to NBA superstardom, is as inspiring as sports flicks get.

Read more
Chloe season 1

Chloe

This taut mystery features strong acting and plenty of twists and turns. Unfortunately, it features plenty of problematic content, too.

Read more
blog top 06-23

The Plugged In Show, Episode 135: Virtual Babies and Pixar’s Lightyear

The Plugged In Team discusses a technology that may allow people to have fake, virtual children in the coming years. Then they dive into Pixar’s Lightyear.

Read more
Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi

The latest Disney+ Star Wars show offers an engaging, if not engrossing tale that keeps its lightsaber pretty clean.

Read more