Archive for May, 2009

Sound and Fury

May 28, 2009 No Comments by

Things have been a bit lax around here with comprehensive exams highjacking all my time and energy.  With the written component of those behind me, there should be more frequent updates to Pop Theology.  Look for some more contributions form Richard Lindsay as well who is no longer teaching Pop Goes Religion.  For now, I’ll [...]

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The (Super)Human Power of Forgiveness…and a New Website

May 26, 2009 No Comments by

A new interreligious website recently launched called Patheos.  It’s a much needed concept that offers different religious perspectives on pressing issues.  It has a host of lenses through which to compare different religious responses to both new and age old questions.  For this week’s edition on the meaning of existence, I was asked to write [...]

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Star Trek: A Pop Theology Conversation

May 12, 2009 2 Comments by

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past week or so, you’ve heard about the wild popularity of the new Star Trek film.  I’m not going to go in any great detail here about the film:  it’s a reboot that provides the origins of Spock, Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew, [...]

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Is This Real Life…

May 07, 2009 No Comments

I have to admit, I loved Jean-Claude Van Damme films when I was a kid.  Although I haven’t seen one in a while, I imagine that I still would.  My motto:  “There’s nothing better than a great movie than a bad one.”  I mean, have you seen Street Fighter?  In his latest film, Van Damme [...]

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Sleep Tight

May 04, 2009 No Comments

I really enjoy a good revenge thriller, which is what attracted me to Akira Kurosawa‘s The Bad Sleep Well.  While its plot of revenge is timeless, its tale of corporate corruption has become vogue once again.

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Speaking Truth to Power

May 04, 2009 No Comments

With the increased political and economic crises plaguing our country, how will filmmakers respond?  Will we have an over-indulgence of diversions or will we have films that speak truth to power, challenging the structures that cause or contribute to the crises that plague our communities?  The recent release, State of Play has characters who speak [...]

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Dwight Schrute is Flipping Pancakes…

May 03, 2009 1 Comment

Actually, Rainn Wilson has started up an interesting website called Soul Pancake that wants to “make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again.”  The site encourages users to “Chew on Life’s Big Questions,” the ones that “gnaw at our innards.”  My seminary professors referred to those as 3 a.m. questions…those that either kept you [...]

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Don’t Believe the (Negative) Hype

May 03, 2009 1 Comment

Earlier last week, Rotten Tomatoes had X-Men Origins:  Wolverine rated 100%.  It has since plummeted to a 38% rating (15% on the top critics meter).  Such a critical plummet can signal one of two things, a really bad film or misguided expectations on the part of too many critics.  Having watched the film over the [...]

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