The Priestly Detective: CT Entertainment

[Also: Wonder Woman's Timely Return] Also: Wonder Woman's Timely Return | [View online]( [ChristianityToday.org]( [Donate]( [Christianity Today Entertainment Newsletter]( Friday, June 09, 2017 The Priestly Detective Each week CT's critics offer suggestions for art and entertainment they found encouraging, valuable, or reflective of the good, the true, and the beautiful in God's world. Not every suggestion is suitable for everyone, and each reader is encouraged to investigate the ratings and accompanying content warnings of each suggestion. Grantchester | Television PBS's Masterpiece series Grantchester features an Anglican priest as an accidental detective. It also features deft storytelling, artfully developed characters, and a distinct if nostalgic sense of place (the English countryside not long after World War II). The series is a refreshing take on the mystery format for a couple of reasons that may be compelling for CT readers. Chiefly, Anglican vicar Sidney Chambers is sincere in his ministry but still a relatable human. A saint but also a sinner, he brings the dose of reality often missing from our representations (and our real-life expectations) of clergy. Chambers is simultaneously a pastor who loves his parish, a battle-tested veteran of the Scots Guard, a fan of whiskey and bebop jazz, and a young bachelor whose prospects are complicated by his calling. Teamed with perennially tired yet tenacious Inspector Geordie, Sidney is an asset to investigations because of his ability to connect with people. While he helps bring dark deeds to light, the young priest also brings a sympathetic ear and a voice of hope into people's lives, even the criminals'. While the series deals with some suggestive content and criminal acts, Grantchester emphasizes compassion at work hand in hand with justice, something like a kingdom echo in each installment. — [Laura Kenna]( [Seasons 1 and 2 available on [PBS.org]( and Amazon.] Jason Isbell "White Man's World" | Music Compared to pop country, Jason Isbell plants his musical inspiration in the roots of 1970s outlaw country, with the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard. And in this spirit, Isbell is unabashed in exploring musical and lyrical territory that radio-friendly Nashville country artists soaking in the dirt roads, trucks, and ball caps of bro culture rarely venture. The second single from his forthcoming The Nashville Sound, "White Man's World," captures the steel guitar twang, sliding fiddle, and gruff vocals of a bygone era of country music but with a fresh modern twist. In many ways, Isbell's self-reflexive lyrical posturing, which contends honestly with the benefits of the cultural and social capital of his whiteness, is complementary to the inverse experience of [Michael Kiwanuka's "Black Man In A White World."]( And while in the end he wonders if God is presently working in this world, he does find hope through his daughter's fiery eyes. However, his slender hope in the next generation to fully address racism lacks the greater hope that Christians pray, work, and look toward with the reconciliation of every tribe, nation, and tongue to each other through Christ's redeeming blood. Perhaps the full album will lay out that vision when it drops June 16, but for now Isbell's hope remains incomplete. — [Matthew Linder]( [Available on [Youtube](] Wonder Woman | Film "I used to want to save the world—this beautiful place. But the closer you get, the more you see the great darkness within. I learned this the hard way, a long, long time ago." With these words, Amazon warrior Diana of Themyscira gives voice to the questions more subtly raised in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: who are good heroes, and why should they fight for a sinful world that does not deserve them? While some critics disliked those first two films or saw only darkness in them, director Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman arrives to help better illuminate those stories' murkier themes. Diana (Gal Gadot) fights not for political or social movements, but on behalf of all people who cannot fight for themselves. And unlike her future Justice League allies, Diana has not been shaped by our world, but by the ancient world of pagan legends and nobility. She cannot even fathom the notions of wartime deception or killing a faceless enemy, or the presumption of one sex's superiority. Yet when Diana does confront the one tragic untruth of her own mythology, her story profoundly answers its own question about why heroes fight. Thank the God of gods that Diana finds this power and wisdom, and that both fans and critics of the other DC films can unite behind Wonder Woman and, very likely, her future adventures. — [E. Stephen Burnett]( [Available in theaters] Wakefield | Film It's been nine years since Robin Swicord's feature film directorial debut; she helmed the serviceable but forgettable Jane Austen Book Club. That's not quite as long as the 14-year gap between Patty Jenkins's Monster and Wonder Woman, but it's long enough to serve as an anecdotal reminder of just how hard it is for Hollywood's women to get work. Swicord's writing credits include Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha, Matilda, and Practical Magic. She was also nominated for a writing Oscar for her work on David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. While her early work focused on female-driven stories and characters, Wakefield explores the male psyche—with rich results. Bryan Cranston plays the title character, Howard Wakefield. After returning home one night, he retreats to the attic of a carriage house rather than renew a fight with his wife; when his family mistakenly thinks he has disappeared, Howard starts living in the attic, observing his family, and taking stock of his own life. Wakefield is more or less a cross between It's a Wonderful Life, Into the Wild, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. It shouldn't work as well as it does, in part because Howard is not nearly as likable as George Bailey. Yet the film seems at least peripherally aware that what he does to his family is unconscionable, so the pathos comes from the bitter irony of the cost of his new found self-awareness. Women can direct stories about men that are nuanced and interesting. Here's hoping that we don't have to wait another decade before Swicord's or Jenkins's next project. — [Kenneth R. Morefield]( [Available on Theaters] Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story | Film Harold Michelson was a storyboard artist in the 1950s who went on to become an Oscar-nominated production designer in the 1970s. His wife, Lillian, ran one of the most sought-after research libraries in Hollywood. Between them, they worked on hundreds of classic movies—but a lot of their work went uncredited. This film seeks to correct that error by noting how some of the art form's most iconic images, such as the parting of the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments, were actually conceived by Harold at the storyboard stage (and not by the films' directors or cinematographers), while Lillian contributed to the look and feel of movies as different from one another as Scarface and Fiddler on the Roof. The film has interviews with Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola, Danny De Vito and others, and a lot of great anecdotes about David Lynch, Tom Waits, Alfred Hitchcock, and so on. At one point Lillian recalls how she, a Trekkie, had to persuade Harold, who didn't like science fiction, to work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture—a gig that got him his first Oscar nomination. But the most pleasant surprise is the story of Harold and Lillian themselves, whose relationship survived many challenges in an industry that doesn't always foster long-term commitment. Among other things, one of their sons was autistic in an era when autism was not very well understood, and mothers, in particular, were judged for their children's condition. A must-see for movie-history buffs, and an emotionally affecting film in its own right. — Peter T. Chattaway [Available in [select theatres]( over the next few months] [Why We Need Wonder Woman]( Even when it falters, the new female-led film brings freshness to the superhero flick. Alicia Cohn [The Silver Lining on the Zombie Apocalypse]( In his upcoming book, a university professor explores the horror—and the hope—of pop culture's favorite disaster scenario. Greg Garrett [In 'Alien: Covenant,' the March of Progress Ends in Death]( Ridley Scott's sci-fi franchise is as gruesome as ever—but this time, the horror feels disturbingly human. Matthew Loftus ['The Most Hated Woman in America' Remembers a Culture War Without Heroes]( Netflix's Madalyn Murray O'Hair biopic explores the divisive legacy of one of the country's most influential atheists. Kaitlyn Schiess Follow Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Google+]( [RSS]( [Subscribe to this newsletter]( IN THE MAGAZINE [Current Issue]( [Cambodians Usher in a Miraculous Moment for Christianity]( [How Christians See Muslims]( [Flying Solo in a Family-Centered Church]( [View Full Issue]( [Subscribe Now]( More from Christianity Today [In Christ Alone: Bernie Sanders Attacks Wheaton Grad's Stance on Salvation]( Trump appointee hearing turns into a religious test for office. [A Guide to Spiritually Survive the Evil of Terrorism]( Reading the Book of Psalms can help us address the horror and trauma of today's headlines. [Middle-Aged Women Face a Crisis of Discipleship]( Are churches missing out on discipling those in midlife? Related CT Newsletters [The Galli Report]( Weekly must-reads from the editor of CT. [Sign Up Now]( [CT Connection]( The official newsletter of the global media ministry. 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