By Michael Parnell Being old has its advantages. When Star Wars (Because it was not chapter four then) came out, I was 19 years old. I remember the experience of going to the movie at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville,…
‘Spotlight’ tells important story about the church and journalism
By Michael Parnell One of the backbones of Baptist doctrine is the concept of the separation of church and state. Historically Baptists have held that there needed to be a clear wall between the interests of the church and the…
Will the new ‘Star Wars’ tap into spiritual longing or merely entertain?
By Joe LaGuardia There is a tidal wave of excitement over the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to be released this week. Tickets for opening day are nearly sold out, people will camp…
‘Creed’ follows its mythic roots well
By Michael Parnell Because we now have movie franchises and every studio wants, not a hit movie, but a string of movies based on one hit, there is developing a mythology within the universes that these movies create. Some of…
‘Our Brand Is Crisis’ offers good acting, bad story
By Michael Parnell Movies are supposed to be about something. They should have a guiding focus, an idea about themselves. Good movies can be described in a sentence. An example: The Godfather is a movie about family. Bad movies forget…
No character transformation in ‘Steve Jobs,’ just a really unlikeable guy
By Michael Parnell The Bible makes it clear. We are all sinners. We all have come short of the glory of God. In the new bio-pic, Steve Jobs, the tagline for the movie reads, “Can a great man be a…
‘99 Homes’ asks us, What would one do to achieve the American dream?
It has been said that the American dream has to do with home ownership. Being a home owner is the goal of many of our citizens. Yet the housing crisis of 2008 changed the landscape of the dream. Set in…
‘The Martian’ is an ode to science and the will to live
The Martian, based on the novel by Andy Weir, spins a tale of how an astronaut is left for dead on the hostile red planet we know as Mars. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) must find a way to survive for…
Is the pursuit of personal greatness an acceptable pursuit in the kingdom of God?
According to the Synoptic Gospels the disciples apparently had a preoccupation with the pursuit of greatness. Such an interest would be applauded by any business executive or sports coach in our comparative and competitive society. But not by Jesus.
Balking at Hawking’s rejection of God
Although it was a temptation, I resisted titling this article “Gawking at Hawking.” June and I have, though, been ” gawking ” at Hawking some this past couple of weeks. We first watched “The Theory of Everything,” the engrossing 2014…
‘Straight Outta Compton’ reveals plight of African-American men in U.S.
All musical bio-movies seem to follow the same script. A group or an individual rises from poverty to the heights of fame. Along the way they get taken advantage of by a manager and end up casting said manager aside….
‘Fantastic Four’ delivers a plateful of stink
I wasted over an hour and half of my life. How did I do it? Sadly, I did it watching an attempt to bring one of my favorite comic book series to life on the movie screen. Fantastic Four is…