The Wrestling of Gods and Monsters: Myth and Morality in Lucha Underground
Lucha Underground is less about sweat, muscles, and tights than about mythic storytelling—archetypal tales of heroes and villains, loss and redemption.
All This Excitement: A Series Retrospective of Dirty Harry
Harry’s rough-around-the-edges compassion emerges over the course of these films: sometimes, to protect the sheep, the shepherd must get down and dirty with the wolves.
Emotional Complexity and Henry Bromell’s Panic
With the increasing prevalence of depression and concern for mental health nationwide, Panic is primed for rediscovery.
Tragedy and Triumph in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi
Dooku’s story reminds us that seemingly innocuous moral compromises can lead to an unfortunate and tragic end.
Of Monsters and Men: Classic Horror DNA in Marvel’s Werewolf by Night
In the age of the “gritty” anti-hero, rare is the genre story that begins with the assumption that evil is real and must be dealt with.
Predator Turns 35: A Look Back at Sci-Fi’s Most Subversive Creature Feature
The franchise offers a strange meditation on modern conceptions of masculinity, and how those have evolved in the past thirty-five years.
Finding Treasure in a Broken Land: America’s Best Songwriter, Thirty Years On
An antidote to both hopeless secularism and blind, unreflective faith, Mark Heard’s songs grab listeners by the lapels and shake them awake.
Liturgy of the Tomb Raider
I can’t think of a single other video game with the moxie to demand that players learn the stations of the cross to raid a tomb.
If Jesus Were a Robot: Android Rebellion, Religious Belief, and the Messiah in Detroit: Become Human
In Detroit: Become Human the choice of messiahship is turned over to the player.
Fugitive Lights: The Renaissance of a Cold War Phenomenon in the 21st Century
Whatever makes me search declassified FBI documents about UFO phenomena is the same thing that keeps me searching the pages of Scripture.
Superman Subverted: How Superman & Lois Reinvents the Man of Steel
Superman & Lois is interested in giving us a Superman who has gone through the ups and downs of human experience
Skyfall and Spectre: The Bonds of Family
It took Sam Mendes making Skyfall and Spectre to give us a Bond to whom we could all relate.
Star Trek: Discovery’s Christopher Pike: An Old-Fashioned Hero for Our Cynical Times
In Star Trek: Discovery, Captain Pike shows an unswerving commitment to goodness and willing sacrifice that isn’t just refreshing, it’s downright inspirational.
