Gospel.com Blog

Are you a gamer, or the parent of a gamer, who looks at the vast array of video games on store shelves and wonders which ones are worth playing? There are countless video game reviews available around the internet, but it’s tougher to find reviews that talk about the moral aspects of popular games.

Al Menconi Ministries has a team of game reviewers who don’t just ask if a game is fun to play—they also ask if it’s a morally good way to spend your time. In April alone, they’ve reviewed nine games, including:

• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Need for Speed: Pro Street
• Lost: Via Domus

…and many more. If you’re worried about the type of moral content you or your kids will run into in the latest games, AMM’s reviews are worth checking out. Take a look at their grading criteria and browse their large archive of reviews (over 300 reviews, going back to 2002!).

It’s difficult to imagine that someone who has been in the entertainment business for nearly fifty years could possibly quality as a “discovery”—but that’s very likely how Donny Osmond will be perceived for his turn as the bigger-than-life college dad Doug in Disney’s latest G-rated release, College Road Trip.

Osmond is, of course, with his sister Marie, one of the more famous faces and voices of the Osmond family, which is just about to embark on a world “50th Anniversary” tour. He has countless hit records, both as a solo act and with his family members, he has headlined hit Broadway shows—and he has raised children. He has been happily married for 28 years.

One of the central themes of College Road Trip is the need that kids have for love and trust, a theme that had “better resonate with every parent,” says Donny Osmond, who plays one of the parents in the film. “I was watching Oprah last night, and Bill Cosby was on. It was such a great episode to wake parents up, because that’s what kids really need from their parents. It was either Bill or the guest host who said, “Parents, wake up!” When you tell your kids that they’re stupid, they’ll believe it. How can they have any respect for themselves when you don’t have any respect for them?”

Read the full interview with Donny Osmond.

posted by Greg Wright of Past the Popcorn

It might have started out as a pastime for geeks, but video gaming today rival movies and TV as one of the chief sources of entertainment in American households—in fact, if your household doesn’t have an XBox, Playstation, or Nintendo console, you’re probably in the minority. So with hundreds of game releases each year vying for attention, how can parents (and gamers) discern which ones are worth the money and time?

Al Menconi Ministries has one of the most active game-review teams of any Christian ministry on the internet. They’ve reviewed hundreds of games for the PC and every major game console from the Playstation 1 to the XBox 360. Already this month they’ve reviewed Final Fantasy XI Online, Gears of War, Heavenly Sword, Assassin’s Creed, and many others. You can browse through their review archives to find the game review you’re looking for.

What makes AMM’s game review process unique is the effort they put into rating and commenting on the moral content—positive and negative—in the games they review. Each review contains a content scoresheet; the intent is not to tell you which games you should or shouldn’t play, but to educate you about game content so that you can decide for yourself whether it’s a game you feel comfortable playing (or letting your kids play). As with their reviews of movies and other entertainment media, AMM wants to help you cultivate Biblical discernment in yourself and your family, rather than just give you a list of things to embrace or avoid.

AMM doesn’t just review games, though—they’ve got a sizable archive of articles about video games and the moral issues connected to them. Notable articles include a recent guide to family-friendly games and an explanation of the video game industry’s rating system for parents. So if you or someone in your family is a gamer, bookmark the AMM site and check it next time you see a game that looks interesting.

Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

The film release slate right after the holidays is characteristically thin. But all three movies reviews this week at Past the Popcorn are strong entries. And an interview with Big Idea founder Phil Vischer sheds some light on the new Veggie Tales movie.

(more…)

The status quo is never ‘”good enough.” And so, once a year, the staff of Hollywood Jesus gathers at Renton, Washington’s Harambee Church, for the Hollywood Jesus Annual Gathering—there to revisit HJ’s foundational goals, build bonds of fellowship, and hone skills in order to bring the best possible cultural insights to the web.

Better yet, the event is also open to readers, pastors, and writers from other publications! On tap for this year’s workshops—December 29 through 31—are writer and critic Jeffrey Overstreet, recently honored at the City of Angels Film Festival; Peter T. Chattaway, film critic for CT Movies and Books and Culture; Mike Gunn, Harambee pastor and co-founder of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church; James Harleman, Mars Hill pastor; author, animation scholar and educator Ken Priebe; Hollywood Jesus founder David Bruce; HJ Managing Editors Greg and Jenn Wright; and HJ Channel Editors Melinda Ledman and Maurice Broaddus.

That’s an impressive lineup of Christians on the cutting edge of faith and culture. If that sounds like something you’d like to participate in, you can read more about the Gathering and get registration info over at Hollywood Jesus.

Hollywood Jesus is a site devoted to pop culture from a spiritual point of view. Every week, they offer reviews and analysis of the latest movies, books, comics, and other pop culture artifacts.

You can keep up with their regular updates at HJ Live!. But in case you missed it, here’s a rundown of some of the new items at HJ this week:

(more…)

Each Friday, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

A double-whammy in one week: the DVD release of Amazing Grace, and the theatrical release of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. What will these guys pull off next? Kathy Bledsoe calls Magorium—a G-rated family-pleaser—a “beautifully written, multi-layered masterpiece.” From the acting of Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, and a solid supporting cast to the production design, everything hums. Plus, says Kathy, the film is “refreshingly full of quality material to discuss with children.”

The other major release this week is Beowulf, the much-anticipated motion-capture-animation action film from Robert Zemeckis. But Mike Brunk finds it very uneven. “Sometimes it wants to be taken seriously; sometimes it seems to aspire to be little more than a cartoon,” he says. Still, if you’re looking for a big dragon battle, Beowulf scores there. But be aware that the PG-13 rating is serious—maybe even on the light side given animated nudity.

In other releases, Greg Wright has a hard time living with Love in the Time of Cholera; Mike Brunk finds Southland Tales intriguing but tedious; and Jeff Walls finds Alison Eastwood’s directing debut a trial.

Each Friday, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

This week, the strongest new releases are serious, adult-oriented examinations of evil in the world—and these aren’t horror films, either. They’re dramas and documentaries.

Read on for a roundup of this week’s movie reviews. (more…)

If you’re a parent, the prospect of determining which games your kids can and can’t play is a daunting one. Fortunately, ministries like Al Menconi Ministries are here to help you out: Menconi’s team has been reviewing games for years with an eye toward their moral content and acceptability. Recent reviews have explored Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Star Trek Legacy, Super Paper Mario, and others.

In addition to the reviews, there are a number of good articles for parents about how to discern which games are acceptable for your kids: see for instance the Computer & Video Game Buying Guide, which gives practical advice for making wise game purchasing decisions. Whether you’re a gamer looking for some help in buying acceptable games, or an overwhelmed parent wondering whether or not to puchase a certain game for your kids, stop by the AMM site for help.

It’s Friday–so it’s time for another film roundup from Past the Popcorn:

Two weeks running, and no certifiable dogs. What a stroke of luck for this time of year!

The most universally appealing release this week is Mira Nair’s fish-learning-about-water story, The Namesake. Based on the book of the same title, it’s about the culture clash of Indian immigrants and the familial struggles that result. Greg Wright calls it “a virtual masterpiece, one that might, hopefully, establish a new mode for coming-of-age stories,” in an era when “young adults are not truly achieving independence until deep into their twenties.”

Right behind that, Kathy Bledsoe wishes that she had been able to see Premonition at least two or three times before having to write her very positive review. She says the film was “made to showcase” Sandra Bullock’s dramatic talents.

For those interested in the harsher side of life, Jenn wright recommends The Dead Girl, a seamy look at what happens to the people who are left behind when a runaway-turned-hooker falls victim to a serial killer. She says “the subject matter isn’t one for the Glee Club,” but “the story itself is utterly absorbing.” Go in fully warned.

And that goes the same for I Think I Love My Wife, which for Greg Wright invokes phrases like, “I Think I Hate This Movie.” So there’s your clinker, even though he says technically it doesn’t stink.

Also check out Greg Wright’s extensive interview with James Scurlock, director of last week’s release, Maxed Out.