It’s been an uprooted year for the editors of PopTheology.com, as Ryan and his wife Amy traveled the world for ten months and Richard moved to be with his partner Fred in southern Louisiana. Some films that would have been available in multiple theaters in the coastal cultural center of the Bay Area flitted through [...]

I’ve been spending some of this holiday season catching up on films I missed during our world tour this past year, largely raiding local Redbox outlets for the latest DVD releases. By far, my greatest “find” yet has been ParaNorman. In these fearfully irrational times in which we find ourselves, this animated fairy tale is [...]

With the cast that This Is 40 boasts, there were few films that I was as excited about seeing this holiday season. Paul Rudd, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Segel, Albert Brooks, and Charlyne Yi (I’m leaving out Leslie Mann intentionally)…what could go wrong?! Well…pretty much everything. Unfortunately, This is 40 will most likely end up being [...]

In another case of better-late-than-never, I finally got to see Argo last weekend during our stay in Paris. I was aware of all the hype but still enjoyed the film immensely. It also fits right into some of my on-going work on film, (non)violence, forgiveness and reconciliation.

I tried to go see The Master yesterday afternoon. As it’s been out here in London for a couple of weeks, I was the only person in the theater. Unfortunately, just before the film started, an employee came and told me that the projector was broken. I had the option to see any film that [...]

There are movies that, intentionally or not, slip by you. There’s just too many. You’re too busy. Others demand repeated viewings. You don’t particularly love the lead actor. Parts of all of these explain my tardiness in seeing The Others (2001), a “horror” film that should go down as a contemporary classic in the vein [...]

Peacemaker Dan Terry followed the way of Jesus into hostile, neglected territory of back country Afghanistan. In the process, he fashioned friendships and networks that have the potential to re-shape a nation…unless war-mongerers and religious fanatics (on both sides of the divide) have their way. Jonathan Larson’s Making Friends Among the Taliban: A Peacemaker’s Journey [...]

If you’re looking to celebrate Halloween with a good book, then look no further than the new release, The Undead and Theology, a collection of essays edited by Kim Paffenroth and John Morehead. Again, this is a bit of a shameless plug, in a way, because I have a chapter in it on The Walking [...]

We’re having a little fun here at Pop Theology as Halloween rolls around. This time of year, we celebrate all things monstrous and horrific, and while evil comes in all shapes and sizes, many of us also know that it often comes dressed in religious garb. Below are a few of our favorite religious baddies, [...]

The search for new old, classic horror/thriller films has already paid off this week. After a so-so experience with Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People, the freaky meter jumped up a notch with The Innocents, a film I can’t believe I haven’t seen until now. Definitely check this one out.