Category Archives: Movie Reviews

Gimme Shelter: Stop Dancing With Your Demons (Movie Review)

Based on a true story, Gimme Shelter shines a light on a grim world where the foster care system, homelessness, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy collide. Vanessa Hudgens stars as Apple, who finally flees her drug addict mother (Rosario Dawson) to reconnect … Continue reading

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Lone Survivor: Real Hospitality (Movie Review)

Operation Red Wings was an unmitigated disaster, if Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell’s (Mark Wahlberg) book, Lone Survivor, is to be believed. Sent in with three of his fellow Seals (Taylor Hitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster) to scout out a Taliban leader, … Continue reading

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12 Years A Slave: Can Art Change The World? (Movie Review)

It was a big year for films based on true stories about racial relations in the United States. In 2013, merely weeks into January, Michael B. Jordan played Oscar Grant III in Fruitvale Station, the victim of a police-related shooting … Continue reading

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Fruitvale Station: The Ghosts Of The Past (Movie Review)

On January 1, 2009, a twenty-two-year-old man named Oscar Grant III died after been shot by BART officers in Oakland, California’s Fruitvale Station, part of the public transportation system. An ex-con, an ex-gang member, and an ex-drug user, Grant appears … Continue reading

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Gimme Shelter: The Hands Of Jesus, Interview With Kathy DiFiore

Have you ever been homeless? A few weeks ago, I watched Vanessa Hudgens’ new movie, Gimme Shelter, about a young lady named Apple and her road from homeless teenager to mother to established member of the community. Her story is Ron … Continue reading

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The Butler: Two Roads Divided (Movie Review)

Over the last year, I’ve seen 42, Fruitvale Station, 12 Years A Slave, and Django Unchained. Each of them presented a time period in American history where racism and prejudice caused great pain, even death, as the country struggled through toward civil rights for everyone … Continue reading

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What Should Christians Watch?

This originally ran on HollywoodJesus.com. You can join the conversation there, or respond below if you’re so inclined. I’m interested in your responses either way! What is redeemable? What isn’t? What should we watch to better our lives and improve … Continue reading

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My “Best Of What I Saw” 2013 Version

By my count, I saw 38 films in 2013, plus over a hundred DVDs and several dozen TV shows. Of course, not all of them are created equal, and here’s my wrap up of what was actually worth catching! Best … Continue reading

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Desolation Of Smaug: The Hobbit Strikes Back (Movie Review)

For fans hoping for a quicker, more action-oriented prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug will be a welcome relief. Picking up soon after the evens of the first third of Jackson’s The Hobbit, we’re ushered into a … Continue reading

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American Hustle: Broken Dreams (Movie Review)

I’d heard American Hustle billed as a period piece Ocean’s Eleven. I didn’t find it that clever (plot twist wise) or hilarious, but David O. Russell again takes a reasonably straightforward plot (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook) and turns it into an engaging piece. … Continue reading

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