I love great fantasy/adventure tales, especially ones in which ordinary people in ordinary places find an escape, or rather a hidden entrance, into another world where anything is possible. In the Harry Potter stories – my personal favorite – children run through a brick wall in London’s...

  Call me spoiled, but for a Pixar film, “Cars 2″ falls a little short, if only because the bar has been set insanely high by the quality of recent masterpieces such as “Toy Story 3″ and “Up”.  Any comparison of “Cars 2″ with other recent Pixar...

The last explicitly Christian film I saw was 12 years ago. (I do not count The Passion of the Christ.) I was working in a small medical supply sales office, along with a few other Christians. One Friday, they invited me to The Omega Code‘s opening. We have to show Hollywood we support Christian...

Jesus was dipped by John in the Chattahoochee. That’s how Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch Gospels share the story of Jesus’ baptism. I wish I knew Alan Jackson. I would’ve asked him to come over to church and read Scripture.  Imagine – Alan Jackson, who sings about the Chattahoochee,...

I should confess, right at the beginning, I am probably incapable of reviewing anything related to the Chronicles of Narnia in anything resembling a completely objective manner. Lewis’s Narnia books were some of the first books that I can remember reading, and I can’t remember a time in my childhood...

I was in Colorado, and watched with a friend there when Aron Ralston appeared on David Letterman in 2003, after cutting off his right arm, which had become pinned, as the saying goes, “between a rock and hard place.”  He’d broken the bone, severed his own arm, rappelled down a 65′...

Caution: Spoilers Ahead. Lot’s of spoilers. There is only one rule for watching a Coen Brothers movie:  ”Watch their movies knowing that there is nothing wrong with a Coen Brothers film, not ever. There are only viewers struggling to catch up with their vision.” I nearly forgot that...

Great art points us to something bigger than ourselves, even to God. For me, the Toy Story trilogy is such art, as the movies beautifully illustrate timeless Christian themes. These movies can be used by any spiritual director, homilist, youth group leader, parent, or teacher. They are relevant to anyone...

Just in case it isn’t obvious, this is a personal reflection written in January, 2010, when the New Orleans Saints were entering the playoffs on their way to becoming Super Bowl Champions. Number 8. January 8, to be exact. It’s Elvis’s birthday. Number 8. Archie Manning wore the number...

(Editor’s Note: Last month, the movie Avatar was re-released in a three disc extended cut edition on Blu-Ray and DVD. The new package, which includes three different versions of the movie, 45 minutes of deleted scenes, an alternate beginning, and a “making of” documentary, is being...