Culture
‘Moon Knight:’ Marvel comic book tackles mental illness
NEW YORK (CNS) -- One of the best comics to have been published in the last few years was a 2011 reboot of "Moon Knight," created in the 1970s. A new version suffers a dropoff in the quality of writing and art.
Poetry collection shows beauty, fragmentation of everyday life
Honest, touching, sometimes startling, the poems in this collection reveal the divine spark alive and well in the diversity of human experience.
Movie review: ‘Transcendence’
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Despite its lofty title, the muddled sci-fi drama "Transcendence" (Warner Bros.) sinks rather than rises.
Books present correlations between St. Francis and his papal namesake
The mountain of books written on St. Francis of Assisi testify to the enduring attraction of this saint, usually regarded as the most perfect follower of Jesus. Why two more such biographies?
Smart, restrained ‘Oculus’ is mirror image of most horror films
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Brains trump bloodshed in "Oculus" (Relativity), a generally enjoyable horror exercise acceptable for most mature moviegoers. By comparison to the innumerable fright flicks that substitute the merely repellant for the genuinely scary, this film is a lesson in restraint.
‘MLB 14: The Show’ puts video gamers into the batter’s box
While the Cadillac of sports video games is so realistic it's eerie, this year's version of the Major League Baseball game allows users to speed up the game. Instead of a game consuming hours, in the new version nine innings can be played in under 30 minutes.
Book offers excellent overview on religions’ take on today’s issues
"World Religions and Contemporary Issues" is, overall, an excellent text suitable for use in adult education classes or undergraduate studies. Brennan R. Hill, the author, is professor emeritus in theology at Xavier University and his experience in teaching shows in the format and ease of use and readability of the book.
Movie review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The big guy with the red, white and blue shield returns to save the planet in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" (Disney), a rousing follow-up to two films, 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" and 2012's "The Avengers."
In two popular comics, faith is central for one hero, missing in another
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The nuclear family and orthodoxy serve as bulwarks against a culture that's increasingly hostile to people of faith. Such is the message not of Marvel Comics' "Daredevil" -- the protagonist of which is one of the few superheroes who is identifiably Catholic -- but rather the teenage Muslim, "Miss Marvel."
Streaming TV for pre-teens: Fraught with peril or promise?
Children have a lot of choices for streaming content online -- maybe too much. A new service called Ameba can help parents sift through that daunting maze. Users easily gravitate toward YouTube because it is easy to use. But Ameba sends the stream in the other direction, tailoring it to children.