A decade ago, I read Paul Young?s novel The Shack, and became intrigued by what I might ask God if I were face-to-face with the Almighty Creator of the Universe. If we’re honest with ourselves, seeing loved ones suffer and die is often the greatest challenge to our faith. For Young, the story revolved around…
Benedict Cumberbatch is everywhere, and I don’t even mind. Sometimes Khan and sometimes Sherlock Holmes, occasionally historic and periodically period piece, Cumberbatch now arrives as the latest name actor to populate the Marvel Universe. As mangled Dr. Stephen Strange, Cumberbatch shines with an American accent, action figure moves, and a magnetic, sardonic sense of vicious…
Hacksaw Ridge?is the extraordinary story of an ordinary man named Desmond Doss. Not gifted with exceptional physical powers, or benefitting from a stellar education, Doss enlisted in the Army during World War II as a conscientious objector, challenging the way that his fellow soldiers saw patriotism, bravery, and honor. Directed by Mel Gibson, Doss’ real-life…
In the complicated adaptation of Ben Fountain’s novel?Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,?Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) returns to the United States a hero, having dragged his sergeant, Shroom (Vin Diesel), out of a firefight. But?his unit is incorrectly labeled “Bravo Squad” by the press seeking a war hero, and they return home to be celebrated at…
The case, Loving v. Virginia, is considered one of the landmark civil rights cases of the 1960s. This is not the story of the battle to overturn an unjust law?that is merely a side issue in the story. This is the story of the two people whose name is the referent of the case.
Is there anything that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson can’t do? The former University of Miami Hurricane, the ex-WWE superstar, the hot commodity of?Fast & Furious, the comedic talent of?Central Intelligence… Johnson delivers as HBO’s headliner in?Ballers as Stephen Strasmore, sports agent. Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights,?Patriots Day,?Deepwater Horizon), the show highlights the realities,…
In the majority of Lee Child’s?Jack Reacher?novels, our hero is not very complicated, traveling unencumbered with only the clothes on his back and a source of income he draws from to buy a toothbrush and the occasional meal. But in the second Tom Cruise-led story cast onto the big screen, we see Reacher’s complexity thanks…
The second feature-length motion picture by Walt Disney,?Pinnochio?followed the success of?Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?three years after the parable of purity and goodness enchanted us. Here, ?Disney adapted Carlo Collidi’s tale about a wooden creation who longs to be a real boy but must overcome his laziness, lying, and general misbehaving to achieve his…
Dan Brown’s novel,?The DaVinci Code,?became a worldwide phenomenon, quickly followed by 2006’s cinematic version directed by Ron Howard; three years later, the two teamed up again to translate Brown’s first novel in the Robert Langdon series,?Angels & Demons, into a cinematic sequel. Nearly a decade later, they have crafted an Italian panic room, with?the Harvard…
Bryan Bertino wrote and directed?The Strangers, and now reunites with Scott Speedman to deliver?The Monster, a close-up on the relationship between a mother and her estranged daughter trapped in a dark wood. Alcoholic Kathy (Zoe Kazan) is taking her daughter Lizzy (Ella Ballentine) to her ex-husband’s for his custodial visit, with the intent to leave…
