[Also: The Art of Fashion in Project Runway]
Also: The Art of Fashion in Project Runway | [View online](
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[Christianity Today Entertainment Newsletter](
Friday, August 25, 2017
What would a Crucifixion album sound like?
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 ratings and content warnings for each suggestion.
Have suggestions of your own? Let us know. Maybe we'll pass them on. rclark@christianitytoday.com.
—Richard Clark, Online Managing Editor
The Crucifixion of Jesus, Fernando Ortega | Album
Christmas albums are everywhere; it's likely your favorite artist has even done one. Easter albums are a little harder to find, but in a way, all records containing a kernel of gospel truth point to the Resurrection. Scarcest of all? Crucifixion albums—entire works devoted to the death of Jesus. It's understandable that we'd rather focus on Christ's birth and new life. But a torturous death on a cross? Leave it to Fernando Ortega to pull it off wonderfully, beautifully, contemplatively. The Crucifixion of Jesus, Ortega's first release in six years, includes 11 songs, suited well for meditation and introspection, and six readings, from Scripture and from liturgy. A worship leader at Hope Evangelical Free Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ortega builds up to and around the events of Good Friday in a sensitive, worshipful manner, taking the listener from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha. Highlights include several duets with Audrey Assad. And the CD's liner notes include seven masterpiece paintings inspired by Holy Week, including Léon Bonnat's "The Crucifixion" (1874), which serves as the artwork for the album cover. Don't do next Easter season without it. — Mark Moring
[Available at [FernandoOrtega.com](]
Project Runway |Television Show
Now in its 16th season, Project Runway remains the most consistently interesting and entertaining reality television competition show. The reasons for the show's enduring success are many. Fashion is inherently visual, so it plays well on television. Judges Nina Garcia and Zac Posen are able to articulate professional analyses in terms that non-specialists can understand. (I do miss Michael Kors, though.) Co-host Tim Gunn provides a weekly masterclass in how to be a supportive mentor and teacher without pandering. Yes, the show can be more than a bit self-congratulatory—during the season premiere the judges complimented themselves at least three times for the decision to use models of various body shapes. Yes, the 90-minute format is too bloated. And, yes, there is plenty of the manufactured interpersonal conflict that is the staple of "reality" television. But over a decade and a half, the show has helped transform at least one straight white male with zero interest in fashion into someone who now celebrates and appreciates the nearly infinite ways that clothes can help us express ourselves and celebrate the diverse styles and cultures encounter nearly every day.
— [Kenneth R. Morefield](
[Available to watch on Lifetime and Hulu]
Wandering These Haunts, The Bruised Hearts Revue | Album
Imagine a man who's down on his luck. One night in Seattle, he staggers into a bar to try and drown his blues. The band is a little bit Mellencamp, a little bit Springsteen, and they've been there. They've felt the hurt, faced the ugliness. Their songs are blunt and broken and little bit f-bombed, so there's no doubting that their bruises still hurt. But then, something changes—they make the man look up! They appeal to the Almighty! And they inspire him to sing along: "Praise the Lord / I saw the light!" He may not realize the resemblance between this music and the Scriptures' mood-swinging psalms, but his heart is filled with hope and hallelujahs. That's what Wandering These Haunts sounds like to me: an Americana gospel for an R-rated reality. The Bruised Hearts Revue is good medicine.
— [Jeffrey Overstreet](
[Available on [Bandcamp](.]
[In the 'DuckTales' Reboot, Family Remains Scrooge's Riskiest Adventure](
As the new Disney series reminds us, 'Family is nothing but trouble.' That's exactly what makes it valuable.
Geoffrey Reiter
['House of Cards' Keeps Scraping the Bottom of Evil's Barrel](
After five seasons, it's high time the Underwoods' crimes come home to roost.
Cameron McAllister
[Why Christians Should Avoid Watching Rape Scenes](
What if there's a hidden human cost to our entertainment?
Katelyn Beaty
['They Call Us Monsters' Offers a More Compassionate Brand of Juvenile Justice](
Ben Lear's directorial debut humanizes the debate about adult prison sentences for juvenile offenders.
Johnathan Kana
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