Whether you are a fan of the French original, the 1990s animated version, or the Dan Stevens/Emma Watson live-action remake,?Beauty & the Beast?has a narrative that reminds us of the cost of inhospitality. As the story begins, we find a cold-hearted prince refusing sanctuary to an old beggar woman (or so he thinks) as she…
Batman is dark, brooding, and super… “angst-y” in Chris McKay’s directorial debut?The LEGO Batman Movie. But this?is?a movie about talking LEGOs and wickedly satirical superheroes, so while the lessons about fatherhood, responsibility, and community may be flying fast and furious, there are still plenty of lighter moments in between. Your premise: The Joker (Zack Galifianakis)…
Usually, when it comes to a film’s protagonist, we consider the person who exhibits the most growth, or at least demonstrates the most action on behalf of the individual or others. Since 2003,?Finding Nemo?has been lauded for its artful tale of the titular little fish, netting box office splash, critical accolades, and the top spot…
All I could remember about?Bambi was that his mother died. And that Thumper came along. Beyond that, there were no childhood memories to conjure when considering the importance of the little fawn in the pantheon of Walt Disney’s creations. But on the release of the seventy-fifth anniversary of this famous deer, I revisited the story…
A Cure for Wellness?is a classic case of misdirection. Justin Haythe has the screenwriting credits on?Snitch, The Lone Ranger,?and?Revolutionary Road, none of which would have prepared me for the strange, twisted, and critical take revealed in the darkest of parables,?A Cure for Wellness.?While families have come to know Gore Verbinski for his team-ups with Johnny…
Englishman Stuart Hazeldine has a host of screenplays and directorial work to his resume, but it took the second coming of?The Shack?to get his name onto the marquees in the States. When he first read the novel, the writer/director/producer was aware of a plan to make a low-budget Christian film version of the story, but…
Ten years ago, when I first read Wm. Paul Young’s novel?The Shack, I was drawn in by the murder mystery: young Mack Phillips loses his daughter to a serial killer. Who killed little Missy? I wondered as I read. Suddenly, I found myself in the middle of a theological conversation about God’s grace, judgment, forgiveness,…
In the fifteen years I’ve spent writing about media online, only three things have earned me digital (and real-life) tongue-lashings. My proposal that?Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice?is better than?Captain America: Civil War. My belief that?The Shack?explains spiritual truths in a real and powerful way. My admiration for the sometimes bespectacled Rob Bell, former pastor,…
The Godfather?is forty-five years old. Let that soak in for a minute. Now, Paramount Pictures has re-released?The Godfather?trilogy on Blu-ray for fans who want to collect them in high definition. But Francis Ford Coppola’s film has defined mob movies since then, and even occasionally influenced the mob (apparently). For everyone else, the admiration for the…
The Department of Justice sends an up-and-coming lawyer, Preston Terry (Selma, Race), and a seasoned investigator, Ashe Akino (Sanaa Lathan, The Best Man?series,?Love & Basketball), to investigate the shooting of a white college student by an African American sheriff’s deputy?in a small, North Carolina town. But their investigation is a tangled web of lies and…
