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Religious Music & Entertainment

2015-09-02T07:55:10-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ben Hur, 1925: When Christian Movies Were Just … Movies

Last updated on: September 2, 2015 at 7:55 am By Paul Asay

A few days ago, a reporter interviewed me about the Christian movie industry—whether there should be a Christian movie genre at all and whether Christian movies will ever go mainstream. I told her, essentially, yes and no. Yes, there should be a Christian movie genre because that’s what the market demands: There are certain Christians who love Christian movies, and a few who won’t see anything but. The fact that War Room—a movie explicitly about prayer—finished second this weekend at... Read more

2015-08-28T12:09:09-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Attention Hollywood: Here’s What Moviegoers Actually Want to See

Last updated on: August 28, 2015 at 12:09 pm By Paul Asay

It’s been a great year for women in movies. Check out the year’s 15 top-grossing films, and you’ll see that a majority of them—from Inside Out to to Pitch Perfect 2 to Mad Max: Fury Road—feature strong women in leading roles. Time, Forbes and io9 have all noted what a great year it’s been for girl power, and all I can say is, it’s about time. How Hollywood ever got the idea that blockbusters have to be anchored by men... Read more

2015-08-26T21:33:49-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Peek at the Christian Movie Woodlawn

Last updated on: August 26, 2015 at 9:33 pm By Paul Asay

If there’s anything the Tim Tebow phenomenon has taught us, we Christians love our Christian football players–so much so that we’re quite forgiving of their readily apparent shortcomings. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise me that there are so many Christian football movies out there. Some, like Tebow, have some weaknesses in their game. But that doesn’t necessarily stop ’em from pulling out a win in the closing minutes. I reviewed two such movies–23 Blast and When the Game Stands Tall–just last... Read more

2015-08-24T19:00:22-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

American Ultra: Monkeying Around With Free Will

Last updated on: August 24, 2015 at 7:00 pm By Paul Asay

You can count the things that American Ultra’s Mike Howell loves on three fingers: his girlfriend (Phoebe), his drugs (marijuana, mostly), and Apollo Ape. Sorta like Athena, Apollo Ape sprang from Mike’s fertile, somewhat stoned mind. Every spare minute he’s got (and he’s got plenty), Mike (Jesse Eisenberg) draws his prime primate and sketches out Apollo’s madcap adventures—on a spare napkin, in a notebook, on the wall. You could argue that Apollo’s life is more fulfilling than Mike’s own. Well,... Read more

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2015-08-19T13:38:41-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Remembering Robin (Part Two)

Last updated on: August 19, 2015 at 1:38 pm By Paul Asay

To mark the sad anniversary of Robin Williams’ death, Esther O’Reilly posted last week the first three of her top five performances by the much-missed actor and comedian. Now she’s back with her top two selections. Both surprised me a little—and they might surprise you, too, as she alludes to in her introduction. But it makes me want to watch both again. *** To reward all you patient readers for bearing with my ramblings, I’ve put in a link at... Read more

2015-08-19T13:25:23-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Poignant Wisdom of Stephen Colbert

Last updated on: August 19, 2015 at 1:25 pm By Paul Asay

GQ features former-fake-conservative-blowhard-turned-Late-Show-host Stephen Colbert in its newest issue. And Joel Lovell’s cover story, “The Late, Great Stephen Colbert,” might be one of the best things I’ve read all year. (But be warned: Colbert’s language can get a bit salty.) I’ve always known that Colbert could be funny. I’ve suspected he’s kinda brilliant. I knew he was a Christian—sometimes becoming an unlikely defender of the faith. I never thought he might impact my own. But I think he did. Colbert... Read more

2015-08-14T15:51:02-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ricki and the Flash Shows Us What Courage Really Looks Like

Last updated on: August 14, 2015 at 3:51 pm By Paul Asay

There’s courage aplenty on the summer’s movie screens: Hey, there’s Ethan Hunt hopping on the side of a plane! Owen’s battling dinosaurs! Oooh, Scott Lang’s bravely shrinking for the sake of all humanity! Heroes are everywhere—risking their all for everything. And that’s great. Worthy, even. But truth is, sometimes it’s easier to die for something than to live for it. In Ricki and the Flash, the titular character (played by Meryl Streep) is an aging rocker, lost somewhere between a... Read more

2015-08-12T20:21:37-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Remembering Robin (Part One)

Last updated on: August 12, 2015 at 8:21 pm By Paul Asay

A year ago yesterday, we learned that Robin Williams was dead. I remember where I was when I heard–like I think we all remember when we learned about 9/11 or, for those of us a bit older, when the Challenger space shuttle exploded. I was with my son, heading off to play one of our rare rounds of golf. The poor lad had never watched a single episode of Mork and Mindy, and I tried to explain to him how... Read more

2015-08-10T12:38:56-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Fantastic Four: Proof That Not Every Superhero Needs a Dark Reboot

Last updated on: August 10, 2015 at 12:38 pm By Paul Asay

Reed Richards feels really, really bad for what he did to Ben Grimm. He tells Grimm over and over that he’ll figure out a way to change him back from the (very angry) mountain of rock he’s become. Grimm knows it’s hopeless, though. “You can’t fix this,” he says. “Nobody can.” “You were my best friend,” Reed says. “Look at me!” Grimm says. “I’m not your friend. You turned me into something else.” The same could be said of Fantastic... Read more

2015-08-05T21:53:07-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The 33: A Miner Miracle

Last updated on: August 5, 2015 at 9:53 pm By Paul Asay

Five years ago today (Aug. 5), 33 Chilean miners were trapped nearly a half a mile underground. For 69 days, they survived in those dark tunnels. And while they were eventually rescued through the efforts of hundreds, perhaps thousands of experts topside, the miners believe their true savior was God. “You have to have faith,” miner Jorge Galleguillos told CNN. “You can never lose your faith. Faith is nourishment … Faith is life.” CNN recounted the story of the Chilean... Read more

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