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.

Three Wise Men is Fun, Poetic Ride Through Nativity Story

The Three Wise Men reminds us that while Rudolph and Frosty and the Grinch are just fine, Christmas is really about Jesus.

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The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special

It’s funny, sweet, super family friendly and a 12-parsec improvement over its predecessor. Not that the latter set a particularly high bar, but still.

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A grandmother, played by Glenn Close, stares with a furrowed brow.

Hillbilly Elegy

Good messages or no, Hillbilly Elegy will make it hard for some to find them.

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The Liberator

The Liberator offers an old-fashioned war story, sharing narrative DNA with Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan.

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An older woman walks with a young Black child.

The Life Ahead

This isn’t a movie for kids. But it does remind us that kids need strong hands and kind hearts in their lives.

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Voices of Fire

This Netflix reality singing competition brings a huge faith element to a genre that’s now well-established.

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A teen girl carries a bloody hook.

Freaky

Sure, it may look cute at first glance. But take a peak under the surface, and you find something dark and ugly.

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Wayne

Amazon Prime gives us this–a weirdly righteous, wildly violent rebel–without good cause.

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Young Sheldon

With Young Sheldon, producer Chuck Lorre seems to be growing up. But like his youthful protagonist, he still has a ways to go.

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NCIS: Los Angeles

CBS rolls out another anagram-friendly crime procedural, this one starring Chris O’Donnell. What’s different about this show from the original NCIS? The location. The actors. And, um, that’s about it.

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The Joy of Watching Bob Ross

It can be tricky to find something “good” on TV. As a TV reviewer, I know that all too well. Oh, we can find plenty of riveting, binge-bait shows on Netflix and Amazon and HBO, of course. Viewing television through a secular lens, you could argue that …

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Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas smile at something off camera in the movie The Secret: Dare to Dream.

The Secret: Dare to Dream

This movie’s magical logic is not just anti-Christian. It’s not just un-scientific. It’s positively insulting.

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Superstore

Walk into this Superstore, and you may walk out with something you neither wanted nor needed.

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Truth Seekers

The Truth Seekers is out there—waaay out there. And while you can certainly seek out better, cleaner shows, truth is you could do worse.

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The Good Doctor

It’s not just the doctor who’s good. The show’s pretty OK, too.

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