The Christmas Chronicles 2, which just dropped on Netflix, reverses direction from the original … more on that later.
In a recent post, I pointed out that most of today’s Christmas movies are nearly or entirely free of any reference to Christmas…

Netflix’s ‘The Christmas Chronicles 2’ Puts Christianity in Christmas, Sort Of (SPOILERS)

How do you get Voices of Fire, with six episodes showcasing people singing God’s praises, on Netflix? Have megahit singer Pharrell Williams be one of the executive producers and make guest appearances, and have his uncle be the main character.
In my…

‘Voices of Fire’: Netflix’s Gospel-Music Docuseries Praises God Uphill and Down

A major producer of faith-based content has just announced plans to acquire a major online distributor of faith-based content, so what does this mean for the large but often underserved Christian audience?
On Nov. 12, AFFIRM Entertainment Inc., a…

Sony's AFFIRM Films and Pure Flix: A Media Match Made in Heaven?

One may wonder how an old-fashioned, sparkly, sweet, faith-filled Christmas musical like Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, premiering Sunday, Nov. 22 ever wound up on Netflix, but the answer is a petite blond powerhouse. Nobody says no to…

Netflix’s ‘Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square’: It’s Twinkly, Sweet and a Delight

Season one of HBO’s Lovecraft Country is a ton of bonkers stuffed into a 10-episode bag. By far, it’s the most wildly inventive, bizarre, confused, occasionally clunky, occasionally compelling, nutso thing I’ve seen in a long time — and at least one…

HBO’s ‘Lovecraft Country’: In the Midst of Madness, a Moment of Baptismal Grace

One of my goals in this blog is to examine how various shows and movies tackle Christianity, especially when they’re not aimed at the faith audience. Sometimes, that’s the only reason I watch something. Answering some pesky questions from the pilot…

Netflix’s ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Puts the King of Kings in Check

Who doesn’t love Christmas movies? I love Christmas movies. I’ve even written a couple. But there’s a problem. And it’s right in the image at the top of this post.
What do you see? Santa hat, holly, tree, presents … all the Christmassy goodies. Just…

Maybe More Christmas Movies Need a Little Christ

She was born Grace Kelly in on Nov. 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but a marriage in 1956 to Monaco's Prince Rainier III turned this stunning, blonde Irish-American actress into European royalty. But the star of such films as "High Noon,"…

Grace Kelly: Friend of the Faith and of Father Patrick Peyton

For Catholics, November begins -- literally on the 1st and 2nd of the month -- with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, respectively. All Saints calls to mind the vast cloud of witnesses to God's grace that the Church has officially canonized as…

Ghosts: What Are They, and Should Catholics Watch Movies About Them?

As this crazy year draws to a close, more than a few people are threatening to put the Christmas decorations up extra early and start singing Jingle Bells before the Halloween candy is eaten. TV's not usually quite in that much of a rush to start the…

TV's Christmas in November: Dolly, 'Cake Boss,' Wild Lapland and 'Rudolph'

Watching The Vow on HBO, a docuseries about the controversial organization NXIVM, it was so strange to hear names of places that I’ve heard all my life: Albany, Colonie, Latham, the Adirondacks.
I grew up just north of Albany, New York, and if I had…

HBO’s ‘The Vow’: Keith Raniere and NXIVM’s Use and Abuse of Belief

If you've exhausted your family's existing wildlife videos, PBS' Nature offers new adventures into the great outdoors by launching its 39th season on Wednesday, Oct. 21, with Pandas: Born to Be Wild, followed on Oct. 28 with Australian Bushfire…

PBS' NATURE Launches With Wild Pandas and Saving Australia's Wildlife

Nebraska-based photographer Joel Sartore wants people to love animals -- all animals. He believes that you can't love what you don't know, and one good step to knowing is seeing.
So, Sartore embarked on the National Geographic Photo Ark Project, with…

Loading Up 'The Photo Ark' on Nat Geo WILD

When he sat down to watch a screener of the documentary PRAY: THE STORY OF PATRICK PEYTON, in select theaters on Friday, Oct. 9, Father Donald Calloway, MIC, wasn’t exactly coming to the story cold.
“I came into it,” he says in a phone interview,…

‘Surfer Priest’ Father Donald Calloway on the Power of PRAY: THE STORY OF PATRICK PEYTON

This strange year, American Ninja Warrior, rather than holding tryouts in different cities and a big finale at Mount Midoriyama in Las Vegas, is staging its entire COVID-shortened season in a domed stadium in St. Louis.
But, a lot of the sport’s…

‘American Ninja Warrior’: Papal Ninja Sean Bryan Talks JPII and Coming Back from Injury (Part 2)

NBC’s American Ninja Warrior is back, and so is Sean Bryan, the Papal Ninja, who brought along a couple of holy friends for Qualifier #3, which aired Sept. 21.
This season, the reality-competition show is not traveling the country for tryouts but…

‘American Ninja Warrior’: The Papal Ninja and the Hounds of Heaven

It's hard to calculate just how much money the contemporary mainstream movie industry leaves on the table because most of its creators and producers are unwilling or unable to do films that celebrate or at least are respectful of Christian…

Christian Filmmaker Jon Erwin on 'Imagine,' 'Believe' and Returning Faith to the Movie Mainstream

Airing Wednesday, Sept. 16, on ABC, the two-hour documentary Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris goes minute-by-minute with the devasting fire at the cathedral on April 15, 2019 — the day after Palm Sunday that year — and along the way, captures the…

‘Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris’: The Naudets Document Fire, Find Faith, Wednesday on ABC

There won't be a Christopher Awards in-person ceremony this year, so some of Hollywood's biggest names will have to celebrate in their own backyards (there's a lot of that, this year).
We're most interested in the winners in the TV and film…

Dolly Parton, Mr. Rogers Among Christopher Awards TV/Film Winners

In what seems now to be a portent of things to come, on April 15, 2019, fire ravaged Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral. Then, in 2020, COVID-19 delayed efforts to restore the structure, a masterpiece of Catholic architecture and a French national…