Media

Jane Austen in California

May 21, 2013 by Beth Felker Jones

Diehards may not like Lizzie Bennet Diaries' changes to Austen. But the fun lies in considering the choices involved in cultural translation.

Miniseries midrash

Apr 29, 2013 reviewed by Jason Byassee

The hardest review to write is the B- review. And the History Channel’s five-part miniseries The Bible is neither excellent nor miserable.

Mad desires

Apr 17, 2013 by Kathryn Reklis

How can we imagine a world that counters the one that the Don Drapers helped create?

Power couple

Apr 03, 2013 by Beth Felker Jones

St. Francis and St. Clare's witness was possible only in a world full of grace. Frank and Claire Underwood's story is plausible only in a world stripped of it.

Notes from the Global Church

Port Talbot Passion

May 08, 2013 by Philip Jenkins

Recently, 20,000 residents of a Welsh industrial town participated in a play—and reaffirmed the residual power of Christian imagery in a secular society.

Hollywood's faith in religious films

Apr 10, 2013 by Gerardo Marti

The Bible miniseries finished this Easter with the grand finale of Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Overall it drew more than 30 million viewers, the History Channel’s largest-ever audience. It’s considered a triumph for “in your face” faith films. With a possible sequel (and the current batch of Bible-based films currently in production), The Bible may represent a modern resurrection of Bible-oriented cinema.

The fervent desire to place the Bible on film dates to the very beginning of the Hollywood industry.

Spies and traitors

Mar 21, 2013 by Jason Byassee

The show Homeland puts viewers in a moral vice and squeezes.

The Obama thing isn't the point

Mar 20, 2013 by Steve Thorngate

I for one am not sure the actor who plays Satan in the History Channel documentary looks all that much like President Obama. But I don't find this quote from the miniseries producer especially heartening:

Mark Burnett said the actor who played Satan, Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, "is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics –including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President."

Supernatural romance

Mar 07, 2013 by Kathryn Reklis

The act of sacrifice central to Beautiful Creatures works only because the characters' story is not entirely their own.

The Christian Century