Dracula Untold looks to do for Dracula what Maleficent did for its title character. What if there is more to Dracula than we thought? What if he is a hero (albeit a problematic one)? Dracula Untold suggests that he is just that – a misunderstood monster who has become what he is for love. And make no mistake, Vlad the Impaler is a monster. His childhood is tragic. He and 999 … [Read more...]
Creating Christian Media
God has created a world in which there are things that are beautiful. There are things that are good, and there are things that are right. We live in a world where some things are indeed better than others. We live in a world that is defined by objective values even if many people do not want to affirm that reality. … [Read more...]
The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner took the YA world by storm in 2009, winning the New York State Charlotte Award, the Kentucky Bluegrass Award, the Oregon Reader’s Choice Award the New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Read Award, the Missouri Truman Readers Award, the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Award , the Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award, the Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award, the Georgia Peach Book … [Read more...]
Frozen- The Eyewitness of "No Greater Love"
Before I go into any content about this movie, I want to warn the reader that there are major spoilers in this post. A thorough examination of the message behind the movie is not the intention of this post, rather I want to focus on one important detail in the movie that has value for understanding the force behind the eyewitness testimony of Jesus' disciples. If you have not … [Read more...]
The Song
The Song opens with Jed King at a crossroads. The musician son of a highly successful musician, the David King, Jed’s still playing small time gigs in local bars, and he’s ready to call it quits. Enter Rose, the lovely daughter of a Kentucky vineyard owner. Rose is recovering from a lost dream herself. Her boyfriend dumped her because she refused to sleep with him without … [Read more...]
The 5th Wave: I Am The Battlefield
“I may be the last one, but I am the one still standing. I am the one turning to face the faceless hunter in the woods on an abandoned highway. I am the one not running, not staying, but facing. Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity. And if this is humanity’s last war, then I am the battlefield.” - Yancey's favorite quote from The 5th Wave Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave … [Read more...]
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel Comics is on a roll. Guardians of the Galaxy opened with a stunning $94 million dollar weekend, breaking the previous August record for a movie opening. In spite of bewilderment within the entertainment industry leading up to its release (there was in interesting discussion about this on Rotten Tomatoes' podcast), critics and audiences have been giving it well-deserved … [Read more...]
HBO's True Detective: Touching the Darkness
"Matthew Coniglio's Georgia home held a trove of child pornography, more than 50,000 images and videos stored on laptops, external hard drives and thumb drives. Among the stash, hidden in a bedside table turned around to conceal the doors, authorities made an even more horrifying discovery: 56 8-millimeter cassette tapes they say show him raping and molesting girls. All were … [Read more...]
Culture and Biblical Literacy
Hollywood is beginning to realize that there are incredible financial benefits for making Christian movies. It isn’t rocket science. A large part of our population at least identifies as Christian, and you know that when you produce a Christian movie, churches and youth groups everywhere will be renting out movie theaters to bring everyone to the show. As a business, you have … [Read more...]
Days of Future Past: Do Our Choices Matter?
“So many battles waged over the years... and yet, none like this. Are we destined to destroy each other, or can we change each other and unite? Is the future truly set?” – Charles Xavier X-Men: Days of Future Past is a story about free will and human nature. It’s many other things as well – an excellently crafted movie, an equal rights parable, a commentary on human atrocities, … [Read more...]