Culture
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.
Movie review: Cesar Chavez
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Moviegoers of a certain age will remember the movement to boycott grapes -- an effort to draw attention to the plight of agricultural workers, and exert economic pressure on their employers, that lasted throughout the latter half of the 1960s.
‘Noah’ bobs along until crashing on the rocks of family drama
The film of the titular hero, portrayed as an ultr-environmentalist, begins as a straightforward recounting of the biblical story of the flood but veers off into a grim, scripturally unfounded drama about a family dispute.
If you like to eat, you’ll devour these books
Two slim paperbacks overflow with stick-to-the-ribs food for thought about the sacredness of the family dinner table. In one, an Italian-American woman recalls the comforting food of her childhood. In the second, a Baltimore priest with culinary chops writes about the cosmic food fight of good vs. evil.
How broken is ‘Sabotage’? Let us number the offenses
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle mixes some suspense with gory murder, torture, vengeance, greed, foul language and gratuitous sex. The result? One mortally wounded and morally unanchored action movie.
Review: The Lego Movie Videogame
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The philosophical point of the "The Lego Movie" is turned on its plastic head in the film's console counterpart. This is a good thing, even if it does make "The Lego Movie Videogame" (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) a bit predictable.
Movie review: Muppets Most Wanted
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Viewers of almost any age will find themselves well rewarded for tracking down "Muppets Most Wanted" (Disney).
‘Divergent’ doesn’t diverge too far from ‘Hunger Games’
NEW YORK (CNS) -- In another movie about a post-apocalyptic future -- is there any other kind these days? -- teenagers will have to topple totalitarianism, wreak havoc, fall in love. And get a tattoo.