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Religious Music & Entertainment

2014-11-16T22:49:15-06:00

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 Science and Spirituality of Interstellar

Last updated on: November 16, 2014 at 10:49 pm By Paul Asay

First, let’s talk about the organ. It’s inescapable in Interstellar. At the movie’s most critical moments, the theater will shake with a massive, filling-bursting organ chord that sounds like Bach just dropped an ACME anvil on his favorite instrument. The chord is huge—so big that it’s causing a bit of a media buzz, too. It’s a fascinating use of sound by Director Christopher Nolan and Composer Hans Zimmer—at once a cacophony and an intricate, sprawling harmony of meaning, cascading over... Read more

2014-11-14T08:26:22-06:00

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.

The Little Mermaid: Like the Garden of Eden, Only Wetter

Last updated on: November 14, 2014 at 8:26 am By Paul Asay

The Little Mermaid opened in theaters 25 years ago Monday (Nov. 17). It proved to be a pretty significant day in the annals of animated filmdom, marking not just the beginning of Disney’s fabled renaissance (Beauty and the Best, Aladdin and The Lion King followed hot on the Mermaid’s scaly heels) but also an unrivaled run of animated excellence across the industry. Mermaid’s artistic and commercial success helped lead to Toy Story and How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me... Read more

2014-11-12T15:03:50-06:00

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.

Seeing God (In Bill Murray’s Banana Peels)

Last updated on: November 12, 2014 at 3:03 pm By Paul Asay

I’m not exactly sure when Bill Murray went from being wackily eccentric to a national treasure. But he’s there now. Everyone loves Bill Murray. I love him. You love him. Your grandma probably loves him. Heck, your grandma’s probably met him, given Murray’s propensity to photobomb weddings and sing karaoke with complete strangers. He’s so beloved that Ford could probably sell Pintos again if they hired him as a pitchman. In a feature in Rolling Stone (“Being Bill Murray” by... Read more

2014-11-09T22:11:43-06:00

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.

Spiritual Space: Finding Faith in the Sci-Fi Stars

Last updated on: November 9, 2014 at 10:11 pm By Paul Asay

There is something in the stars that stirs us. We see the infinite space crease and fold and stretch and twist, the sky both so empty and so full. We see its inky depth set with legions of light, and it turns our minds to higher thoughts—who we are and why we’re here and what’s out there—and if something in all that space might care for us. Even nonbelievers can feel a hint of the transcendent when stargazing. It’s in... Read more

2014-11-07T11:03:41-06:00

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.

Christian Bale and Acting in Good Faith

Last updated on: November 7, 2014 at 11:03 am By Paul Asay

Christian Bale, who plays Moses in the upcoming Ridley Scott epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, doesn’t seem to like his character very much. He recently told a group of reporters, “I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life.” Bale’s comments generated concern from some sectors of the Christian community. Faith Driven Consumer, pairing Bale’s comments with some remarks made by Scott on crafting a more... Read more

Exodus: Gods and Kings

faith

2014-11-04T20:31:50-06:00

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.

Maleficent: Horns, Wings and a Fractured Fairy

Last updated on: November 4, 2014 at 8:31 pm By Paul Asay

According to Augustine and a whole lot of subsequent theologians, evil isn’t really a “thing.” Only God can create things, and God didn’t create evil. It’s real enough, of course—but instead of a thing unto itself, it’s a corruption of something good that God made. In Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is about as evil as evil comes. She even calls herself the “Mistress of all Evil,” so there’s no mistaking where she stands. And as I’ve said elsewhere, I kinda liked... Read more

2014-11-02T22:43:53-06:00

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.

Begin Again: Born Again

Last updated on: November 2, 2014 at 10:43 pm By Paul Asay

With only Jake Gyllenhaal’s disturbing Nightcrawler new in theaters this past weekend, I want to revisit Begin Again, a little indie flick just released on video Oct. 28. Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo, opened in theaters June 27, the same day that Transformers 4 plowed into multiplexes with all the subtlety we’ve come to expect from the series. While Transformers thundered to a $138 million weekend, Begin Again earned just a little over $500,000. And yet, this rare R-rated (mostly... Read more

2014-10-30T20:16:18-06:00

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 Exorcist and Frightening Faith

Last updated on: October 30, 2014 at 8:16 pm By Paul Asay

It’s Halloween and, given the date, it’s only fair that I offer y’all a scary-movie post today. So let me humbly offer this: A take on The Exorcist—considered one of the scariest movies ever—originally published on my personal blog last year. In honor of its 40th anniversary, The Exorcist was recently re-released on Blu-ray, complete with a director’s cut and a special little book that has who-knows-what sorts of horrors in it. Grace Hill Media—an organization that helps market largely secular... Read more

2014-10-30T20:05:21-06:00

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.

Entertaining Churches, Preachy Movies

Last updated on: October 30, 2014 at 8:05 pm By Paul Asay

I had breakfast with an old friend of mine yesterday morning. He’d done some work for The Song, a Christian movie that got reasonably good reviews and was largely ignored at the box office. My friend drew my attention to the Twitter account of Richard Ramsey (@RichieRamsey), the writer and director behind The Song—and one tweet in particular. “Evangelicals,” Ramsey wrote. “We choose churches that entertain us and movies that preach to us.” I am now a Richard Ramsey fan. I... Read more

2014-10-27T21:06:49-06:00

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.

St. Vincent: Not Much of a Saint, But Getting Better

Last updated on: October 27, 2014 at 9:06 pm By Paul Asay

“It is what it is.” We hear that a lot in the indie movie St. Vincent—much to the frustration of our titular hero (Bill Murray). The bank uses those words when he’s turned down for a loan. He hears it again when his beloved wife, stricken with dementia, is going to be turned out of her care center. “It is what it is,” he’s told. But while that may be true of Vincent’s money woes, it’s not true of people. Not... Read more

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