It’s a curious thing: casting a dynamic performer to play a larger-than-life personality. Even if the portrayal is supposed to be unflattering, it can still create a powerful lure. Such is the case with Oscar winner Cate Blanchett playing conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly in the hit FX drama Mrs. America (rated TV-MA for language).

The show, which currently ranks as one of Rotten Tomatoes’ most popular, follows the rise of the Equal Rights Amendment and its eventual defeat, thanks to Schlafly and her army of homemakers. 

If The Chosen is anything to go by, writer/director Dallas Jenkins seems to have inherited the ability of his father, novelist Jerry B. Jenkins, to hook an audience. I’ve seen dozens of Biblical adaptations over the years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I felt I could give one an unqualified recommendation—not just for its spiritual value, but its entertainment value as well. 

An indie production that owes its existence to crowdfunding, The Chosen impresses on both counts. 

Earlier this week in an interview with Fox News about the coronavirus, Franklin Graham said, “I don’t think God planned for this to happen. It’s because of the sin that’s in the world, Judge. Man has turned his back on God. We have sinned against Him, and we need to ask for God’s forgiveness. And that’s what Easter is all about.”

If there’s one thing that frustrates me in this time when we could all use some good storytelling, it’s how little of what some call “binge-worthy” is edifying to the mind or soul. 

Yes, I’m looking at you Tiger King.   

Stories of petty, wretched people going to war over, what: Who’s less of a hypocrite as they feed their egos by collecting big cats as trophies? Cackling over what’s essentially a long-form Jerry Springer show with a true-crime narrative superimposed?

Of all the at-home entertainment now available for cooped-up kids, Christian parents will welcome none as much as Revelation Media’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. The full-length movie is available for free at watchpilgrims.com. 

Though faithful to John Bunyan’s 17th-century tale, the film makes a few concessions to modern tastes. It gives Apollyon’s designs to enslave humankind a gothic backstory and mines humor out of sometimes-clueless Christian’s interactions with characters.

While the world closed for the coronavirus, Universal Pictures announced it would make several movies that had only recently appeared in theaters available for streaming. Two of those films are horror schlock that are the last thing anyone needs in these times of homebound, high anxiety. 

The third, however, will give eyes starved for beauty and hearts starved for society something to savor. 

Beer, parades, the wearing o’ the green. After Nicholas, no one commonly called a saint has had more celebration and legend grow up around him than “Ireland’s apostle,” Patrick. Yet unlike jolly old Sinterklaas, Patrick left an autobiographical record that offers a fascinating glimpse into not only his own life but also the spread of Christianity after the fall of the Roman Empire.