Not all coming of age stories are created equal. In recent years, a lot of this material has often fallen into the category of either the shallow and silly, or the overly smutty (yeah, I’m looking at you, Netflix…). Even the artistically good and morally okay-ish films in this vein from recent years, like the… Continue reading Her Name Was Jo: A Hope-Filled Coming of Age Indie from a Catholic Filmmaker
Most of us probably agree that there are at least a few religious movies out there that are well-done from an artistic-quality standpoint (The Passion of the Christ comes to mind). And then a lot of us also feel that there’s a lot of religious content out there that is of very low quality. Some people… Continue reading The Chosen Sets a New Bar for Religious TV
NBC’s new musical dramedy “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” premiered recently. I was pretty interested in this one after seeing the teaser, as it looked like a quirky-funny chick-flick type show. It stars Jane Levy, who played the teenage main character in ABC’s “Suburgatory” a few years back. And it has the guy who played the love… Continue reading Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: A Little Hokey, but Not Bad
I heard a lot of conflicting things about the Mark Wahlberg comedy Instant Family back when it was in theaters – ranging from “It’s a fantastic movie with a great message!” to “Meh, nothing special.” I’d heard particularly that its premise of a couple becoming foster parents was super pro–life and well-done for the cause of adoption… Continue reading Instant Family is a Mostly-Positive Look at Family Life and Adoption
I was disposed to like NBC’s new sitcom Perfect Harmony before I saw it, because I read this favorable piece on it. Containing elements of rural life, Christians, and comedy, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun and eagerly checked it out. But whenever there’s a mainstream show or movie featuring Christians, you never really know if… Continue reading NBC’s Perfect Harmony is Mostly Good Clean Fun
Most of the other Catholic parents that I’m acquainted with allow their little kids to occasionally watch harmless cartoons. Things like Paw Patrol (which seems to be the go-to favorite of pretty much every small child in the country) or Micky Mouse Clubhouse might not be educational or enlightening, but they’re mighty entertaining for kids and otherwise pretty neutral. … Continue reading Totally Toddlers – The Alphabet: Phonics, Faith, and Fun
I was really interested in watching the Mindy Kaling/Emma Thompson comedy Late Night, when I discovered that it’s now on Amazon Prime. It’s a comedy, and it’s about TV comedy writers, so I thought for sure I would love it. Well, I didn’t. For a while into this movie, I thought I liked it at least.… Continue reading Amazon Movie Late Night: Bleck
I find that I’ve come to be pretty cynical when it comes to the quality of most new hour-long shows of the crime drama variety that air on the networks. Most of the time, I find that the characters are cardboard and they deliver some of the most bla, or even silly-sounding, dialogue possible. I… Continue reading ABC’s New Crime Drama Stumptown is Not Bad
The huge lack of quality entertainment the whole family can watch together became really apparent to me once my oldest kid was around two. I quickly realized that, if I wasn’t watching something animated, there is very little out there that I could watch with him in the room that wouldn’t be teaching him a… Continue reading Netflix Series Lost in Space is an Exceptionally Well-Done Family Show
I was five years old when the first Toy Story movie came out. It wasn’t the absolute favorite movie of my five-year-old self by any means, but I definitely liked it. My favorite part of it was always the mini-love story of Woody and his girlfriend Bo Peep. Five-year-old me really wanted to hear more about… Continue reading Toy Story 4: Pixar Has Done It Again
