Joseph Holmes

New York

Freelance Film Critic at Religion Unplugged

Writer | Film Critic | Book Reviewer New York Times, Relevant, Christianity Today, Forbes, EWTN, World Magazine, The Dispatch, and Religion Unplugged

Articles

Is Faith On the Rise in America? Sociologist Unpacks Trends in New Book

5 days ago | julieroys.com | Joseph Holmes |Julie Roys

(Analysis) People have a lot of opinions about religion — whether they’re religious or not — because religion affects everyone’s life in one way or another. Unfortunately, many of these opinions are based more on folk wisdom than solid data. For example, some believe the rise of the “nones” (those who don’t identify with a particular religious group) means people are becoming more secular — it’s more complicated than that.
Belief, Belonging And Practice: Burge’s New Book Maps Religion In Modern America

1 week ago | religionunplugged.com | Joseph Holmes

(REVIEW) People have a lot of opinions about religion — whether they're religious or not — because religion affects everyone’s life in one way or another. Unfortunately, many of these opinions are based more on folk wisdom than solid data. For example, some believe the rise of the “nones” (those who don’t identify with a particular religious group) means people are becoming more secular — it’s more complicated than that.
‘The Last Rodeo’ Perfects Angel Studios’ Faith-Based Formula

1 week ago | religionunplugged.com | Joseph Holmes

(REVIEW) Angel Studios has had some big highs and lows over the past few years. It launched the global phenomenon “The Chosen” and released the surprise mega-hit “Sound of Freedom”. But it also keeps getting hit with controversies (like accusations of violating agreements with filmmakers, which lead “The Chosen” to part ways with the company) and has had difficulty recreating the financial success of its bigger hits with its other projects.
‘Bad Shabbos’ A Funny Movie That Covers Familiar Territory For Jewish Comedies

1 week ago | religionunplugged.com | Joseph Holmes

(REVIEW) Religious representation in film is, obviously, not at all equal. While faith-based movies constitute a big industry nowadays, it’s notable that when we’re talking about such movies, the vast majority are focused primarily on one faith: Christianity. Despite this, many filmmakers of different religious backgrounds have made films discussing their faith, though the style of such movies is often very different. Take representations of Jewish faith in films.
Fountain of Youth

2 weeks ago | wng.org | Joseph Holmes

There are substance directors, and there are style directors. Substance directors, like Steven Spielberg, don’t have an instantly recognizable filmmaking signature but fit their style to each project based on what the story needs. (Indiana Jones isn’t at all like Schindler’s List, and neither is like West Side Story.) Others, like Michael Bay, are style directors. The individual movies he makes can be pretty shallow on their merits, but his signature style is so bonkers that you don’t care.
‘The Damned’ Delivers A Surprisingly Haunting Meditation On Faith And War

3 weeks ago | religionunplugged.com | Joseph Holmes

Warning: This review contains spoilers. (REVIEW) There’s something dehumanizing about modern war movies that puzzles me. It’s not that war itself is dehumanizing — that’s hardly news. What’s striking is how recent war films — from “Dunkirk” to “All Quiet on the Western Front” to “Warfare”— tend to create emotional distance between the audience and the protagonists. In such films, we barely get to know the characters, making it hard to connect with them on a human level.
‘The Damned’ Delivers A Surprisingly Haunting Meditation On Faith And War

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Joseph Holmes

Now Foo Fighters Fire Josh Freese, Drummer Is ‘Shocked and Disappointed’ Foo Fighters have effectively cut ties with Josh Freese, the superstar drummer they enlisted to join the band following the death of Taylor … 2 hours ago 10 most disturbing sex scenes in cinema history A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) After releasing his masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick adapted Anthony Burgess’ dystopian … 2 hours ago Chrissy Teigen Reveals She’s No Longer Sober Amid Journey...
Greta Gerwig’s Aslan And The Coming Faith-Based ‘Gender Culture War’

3 weeks ago | religionunplugged.com | Joseph Holmes

(ANALYSIS) The internet broke with the announcement that the highly-anticipated Greta Gerwig-directed Netflix adaptation of "“The Chronicles of Narnia” was eyeing Meryl Streep for the role of Aslan. Many Christians were up in arms. Aslan is, in the beloved C.S. Lewis book series, a representation of God. particularly in relation to Jesus. Gender-swapping his character not only smacks of unfaithfulness to the source material but, in this case, sacrilege.
Friendship and the Cringe of Connection

4 weeks ago | aaronrenn.com | Joseph Holmes

This film review is a guest contribution from Joseph Holmes. I’m always happy when movies try to tackle issues that are part of the cultural zeitgeist. Movies have a special power to take issues that feel abstract and make them real by making them about characters we care about. That’s one reason I was excited when I saw the trailer for the new film Friendship, which looked like it was directly tackling the much-discussed modern “male loneliness epidemic”.
Nonnas

4 weeks ago | wng.org | Joseph Holmes

Rated PG • Netflix Nonnas tells the true-life story of Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn), who, after the loss of his mother, risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with a group of local grandmothers (nonnas) as the chefs. In the end, this dream helps Joe, the nonnas, and the town come together in ways they didn’t expect. The film hits most of the notes you’d want from a film like this. It’s sweet, it’s inspirational, it makes you cry, and it gives you warm fuzzies.