The film “The Florida Project” depicts a new reality: families who live week to week in motels, unable to afford permanent housing.
Jim McDermott
Jim McDermott writes about pop culture at jimmcdermott.substack.
Posted inArts & Culture, Dispatches
Reaching the unchurched: Paulist Productions brings good news from Hollywood
“For the Paulists part of the mission is supposed to be reaching out to the unchurched.” The best ways to do that are constantly shifting. These contemporary leaders of Paulist Productions look on that fluid landscape with optimism.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Television’s best (and worst) attempts to capture our current American moment
Given the moment we are in, you might think a lot of shows on television would be trying to talk about current events or “America” in some way. But in point of fact, there aren’t that many. And even fewer are doing it well. The most recent to enter the ring is “Here and Now,” […]
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Facebook changes may make it harder for religious groups to promote content
The Russians directed propaganda toward religious groups on Facebook; the social-media site is responding with new hurdles for ads from churches and parishes.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
“Black Mirror”: a sci-fi TV show with serious moral concerns
The best “Black Mirror” stories ground themselves in a concrete human question or struggle.
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
‘The Last Jedi’: A New Faith, Hope and Love
‘The Last Jedi’ is a film that strips away 40 years of lacquer to highlight both the inspiration and the challenge at the heart of the “Star Wars” saga.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
How homelessness, climate change and the California fires are all connected
As Pope Francis writes in “Laudato Si’,” we face “one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Journalism is officially in crisis in California with the collapse of LA Weekly
“We were expecting there to be some pain with the sale of @LAWeekly,” wrote editor-in-chief Mara Shalhoup online. “But we weren’t expecting the Red Wedding.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Noel the Ornament: The forgotten cartoon might be the Christmas story for our times
You know Dasher and Dancer, Rudolph, Prancer and Vixen…. But do you know Noel?
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
California declared itself a ‘sanctuary state’—but could that lead to more ICE raids?
Acting Director of ICE Thomas Homan has threatened that the state will face more ICE community activity as a result of its new sanctuary law.