By James Powers “The universe is deterministic. It’s godless and neutral, and defined only by physical laws. The life we lead, with all its apparent chaos, is actually a life on tramlines.” In the first episode of FX’s new miniseries Devs, an enigmatic tech CEO gives this matter-of-fact explanation to one of his terrified employees who has just been caught …
Growing ‘Til We Die: Lessons in Virtue from ‘Star Trek: Picard’
By Sam Hendrian Editor’s Note: Some spoilers below for Season 1 of Picard DAHJ: “Have you ever been a stranger to yourself?” PICARD: “Many times.” This dialogue exchange from the first episode of Star Trek: Picard, a new sci-fi series on CBS All-Access that serves as a follow-up to the hit ‘80s/’90s TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, profoundly …
‘The Chosen’: A Fresh Take on the Life of Christ
By Matthew Sawczyn If you’ve ever been blessed to visit the Holy Land, or have spoken with someone who has, a common description is that the Gospels suddenly felt real. Seeing the dirt, the water, the sky under which Jesus walked… there is an indescribable tangibility to the Faith that hits the pilgrim. Jesus really existed (I mean, really existed); …
Netflix’s ‘Messiah’ Offers a Surprisingly Thoughtful – and Tense – Exploration of Faith
By James Powers One of the more persistent (and annoying) labels given to Jesus is that of political revolutionary. Especially lately, it’s trendy to claim that his primary purpose was to knock down tyrants and give power to the disenfranchised masses; that he was a member of the same club that includes Gandhi and Che and the barricade boys from …
Uniting the World Through Entertainment: The Imagineering Story
– By Sam Hendrian – “What we are selling is not escapism, but reassurance.” This quote from legendary Disney imagineer John Hench captures Disney’s core mission perfectly, even if the multibillion-dollar company does not always live up to it. Escapism is predominantly commerical and maybe a little psychological; reassurance is profoundly spiritual. In The Imagineering Story, a six-part documentary …
What Seinfeld Taught Us About Embracing the Humor of Everyday Life (and Transcending Selfishness)
– By Sam Hendrian – Too tired to watch a whole movie at the end of a long day, the father and son sit down to enjoy a couple half-hour reruns of Seinfeld, sharing many a hearty laugh before it is time to hit the sack. The next morning, their laughter may continue as they gleefully reference the antics of …
Fate and Free Will in Netflix’s ‘Dark’
– By James Powers – Editor’s Note: Potential Spoilers Below for Season 1 of ‘Dark’ Most of us have probably had the freaky experience, in some high school world lit class, of reading Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex. In case you don’t remember, that’s the one in which the doomed protagonist tries and fails to avoid the unsavory destiny pronounced for …
Striking Out with ‘Striking Vipers’; What ‘Black Mirror’ Gets Wrong About Relationships
– By Joe Campbell – Spoilers below for the Black Mirror episode ‘Striking Vipers’. Black Mirror has been heralded as the new Twilight Zone, so much so that when CBS debuted a modern version of The Twilight Zone, many people wondered what the point was in a world where Black Mirror already existed. Created by British writer Charlie Brooker and named …
Deadwood: A Case Study on How to Execute a Masterful Opening Scene
– By Matthew Sawczyn – On May 31st, in a mere few hours, HBO’s critically acclaimed Deadwood will revive itself for one final shootout, in its culminating feature film of the same name. One final time, we viewers will set foot on the muddy thoroughfare of that the seedy mining town, seeking our fortune with the unfortunates. Though universally praised …
The Emptiness of Success in ‘Fosse/Verdon’
– By Sam Hendrian – “You happy now?” These words are spoken by the perceptive writer Paddy Chayefsky (Norbert Leo Butz) to his troubled best friend Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) as he sits with a lap-full of awards in the backseat of a limo, and they brilliantly summarize the thematic core of FX’s biographical mini-series Fosse/Verdon. The story of legendary …