The Commodification of Gomer in Hosea (2019)
“I can’t go up there. But you can love me down here.” —Cate Hosea, a new film by filmmaker Ryan Daniel Dobson, is a creative and gritty take on the book of Hosea that manages to capture the honest and…
Worth Owning: Movies you won’t regret purchasing and keeping forever
Everyone loves lists. No one knows why, but it’s a proven fact. Just ask BuzzFeed or any other internet listicle juggernaut and you’ll see that it’s a weirdly pervasive phenomenon. I love my lists, and I love my films. So,…
"Crisis Point" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E09
After episode 8 overdosed on fan nostalgia for The Undiscovered Country, “Crisis Point” makes it clear that there’s a competition for the episode with the most fun fan callbacks; and the prize isn’t even close to being awarded yet. Thankfully,…
“Take, Eat”— Redeeming Consumption in The Platform
The Platform is the English title of Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s 2019 Spanish science fiction-horror film, El Hoyo. Its original title poses “the hole” or “the pit” as the film’s controlling image, whereas the version American audiences have recently become exposed to…
Star Trek isn’t political. It’s theological.
Call anybody you want. They can’t do anything to me, not anymore, and nor can any of you. I am a human being, damn it! […] You can pulp a story but you cannot destroy an idea. Don’t you understand?…
"Veritas" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E08
“Guys, this is basically a resort compared to what the Klingons do to you.” —Beckett Mariner Ok, but…it’s pretty much exactly what the Klingons do to you. This is the fanservice-iest episode of the season, by far. Mostly for The…
"Much Ado About Boimler" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E07
I’ve always loved Star Trek’s penchant for forcing characters together who don’t really interact much in a usual story; you see Sisko & Kira scenes and O’Brien and Bashir scenes all the time, but every once in a while the…
Darmok and Jalad in the Upper Room
A recurring theme in some of the strongest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation is the pursuit of understanding. You could almost say that this theme is a core value of the Star Trek universe as a whole. For…
Terraforming the Human Soul
Through Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry envisioned a future Earth with no war, disease, or division, a place of peace and human unity. It is an ideal that closely reflects the culmination of the Christian gospel, only without the Christian gospel.…
"Terminal Provocations" – Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E06
First of all, I felt personally attacked by this episode’s cold open. Just because I listen to Star Trek warp engine sounds while I work sometimes and can definitely tell the difference between the Enterprise-D’s and Voyager’s ambient warp core…