Best Gospel Albums of 2004

Last year, major and independent labels released more than 100 gospel albums, and I had the enviable challenge of trying to keep up with them all. And not just the sheer volume, but a growing stylistic diversity. Choosing the year’s best was no small task.

In making my picks, I carefully considered two questions: What precisely makes a good gospel album? And if a friend were to borrow, then lose a CD from my 2004 collection, for which ones would I be willing to lay aside my belief in nonviolent conflict resolution to backhand said friend?

Some of my choices may surprise you. While several of these are record-setting albums by high-visibility artists, others are from artists with a quieter presence in the industry. There’s very little overlap with the recent Stellar Awards, and a couple of these are also on our Favorite Worship Albums of 2004.

Listed in alphabetical order by artist’s last name:

Streaming Picks

On demand and Amazon Instant Video this week are Philomena (our review) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (our review). The Bible, the 2013 miniseries by the History Channel, is newly available on Netflix. For the kids, try Holes on Netflix, based on the novel by Louis Sachar, starring a very young Shia LaBeouf.

Critics Roundup

Mad Men Season 7 premiered just over a week ago, and two episodes have aired. After the premiere episode aired, critics began recapping, writing about the episode's plot and themes. (Don't click through unless you're willing to have plot points spoiled!) Matt Zoller Seitz for Vulture says, "Don is damaged goods. He's pre-AA Freddy Rumsen, plus genius, with Rock Hudson good looks." Sam Adams for Indiewire writes, " . . . as the character who moves between [time] zones–and who has his strangest, most soul-searching moment while in the effectively timeless space of an airplane in flight–Don is a man out of time, belonging nowhere." Alissa Wilkinson, our chief film critic, writes for Christ & Pop Culture, that Don "is dying of thirst. He's just not sure what he's thirsty for anymore." As Wilkinson concludes, "Whatever this is the 'start' of, we'd better be paying attention."

Fargo, an adaptation of the Coens' 1996 film, premiered this past Tuesday on FX. Billy Bob Thornton plays Lorne Malvo, whom Ben Travers for Indiewire calls Heath Ledger's Joker "without the makeup and the scars." The miniseries is 10 episodes long, and producer and writer Noah Hawley takes advantage of the flexibility of television (as opposed to film) "to lure in viewers with the lovingly quirky world of small town Minnesota lifestyles before knocking them upside the head with the unwanted darkness of a world outside the white picket fences." Hawley goes on to say that the miniseries presents "two superficially opposite lifestyles without being condescending to either" and lets "the stories unfold as they actually happened."

Movie News

The official list of films competing at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival came out last week. Among the directors are Jean-Luc Godard, Bennett Miller, Tommy Lee Jones. Variety reports that this year 15 female directors will also be represented. The Dissolve critics say the most anticipated films are The Captive, with Ryan Reynolds, Lost River, directed by Ryan Gosling, and few more. The festival will run from May 14 to May 25.

Heather Cate is a spring intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King's College in New York City.

Natalie Grant

One of the best things about the praise-and-worship movement is that it’s got people who might not attend each others’ churches singing each others’ music. This has happened occasionally before—think the late Rich Mullins’ “Awesome God” or the genre-jumping music of Andrae Crouch. But albums like this, which feature praise-and-worship songs like “Agnus Dei” and “Shout to the Lord” restyled with gospel flair, reframe the term “movement music.” This time around, the movement pushes God’s people beyond the work of legal and social justice to the “heart work” of reconciliation, free of bland platitudes about colorblindness. And this album, which includes friends like Vandross-voiced Darwin Hobbs and John Elefante, is an excellent soundtrack.

Click here for the original review

Israel has announced that it will send call-up papers for military service in the nation's army to all Arab Christians in the country.

The move, which escalates an ongoing debate, marks the first time that Israel has solicited volunteers for its military among its Arab Christian population. Until now, the military has conscripted mainly Israeli Jews and some members of the country's minority Druze population. Palestinians living in Israel are referred to as Israeli Arabs.

But a prominent Arab Christian engaged in reconciliation work believes many in his community see the development as "intimidation" by their government.


"The way people see it here is intimidation. You receive a letter from the army and they would like you to volunteer for the army—it's intimidation," said Salim Munayer, executive director of Jerusalem-based reconciliation ministry Musalaha.

Some people, especially in the Galilee area, see it as an attempt by the Israeli government "to divide Muslims and Christians," Munayer told CT.

"They believe the Israeli government wants to separate the Christian community from its Palestinian identity. That's how leaders in the north of the country see it," he said.

Although Israel says military service will remain voluntary for its estimated 130,000 Christian Arabs, as it is for more than 1.3 million Muslim Arabs, only Christians will receive the official call-up papers.

But Israel Army radio reported that commanders hope that the sending of call-up papers will help increase volunteers from around 100 Christian enlistees per year at present to 1,000.

An Arab lawmaker, Bassel Ghattas, of the communist Hadash party has urged Christians receiving the call-up papers to return them or "publicly burn them because the next step could be compulsory military or community service."

But Munayer dismissed the comment saying that in order to have compulsory army service it would have to be applied on the entire the Arab population, including Muslims.

The prominent evangelical leader did however say that Israel's Arab Christian community was vulnerable and such moves make it feel insecure.

Meanwhile, a few Christian Arabs, notably Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from the northern city of Nazareth, welcomed the move, saying it opens up opportunities for youth.

Earlier this year, Israel's parliament passed a controversial bill granting legal distinction between the country's Muslim and Christian Arabs for the first time, recognizing Christians as a separate minority. Many Arab Christians said they do not want such distinctions.

The legislation also envisions boosting employment representation for Christian Arabs in Israel's government by adding an Israeli Christian Arab to the panel of the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunity.

At the time, the chairman of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, Munther Na'um predicted that Arab Christians will largely disregard the unprecedented special minority representation granted them by Israel's legislature.

CT previously reported on whether Israeli Christians and Jews can be brothers in arms.

Hamas, PLO Reconcile?

In other major developments in the Middle East, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, widely branded as a terrorist organization, today announced that the two had resolved their differences after a seven-year split.

Hamas has had control of the Gaza Strip, while the PA has governed areas of the West Bank. The two groups said they expect to form a single government to be followed by elections before the end of 2014.

US and Israeli leaders were critical of the announcement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, "Whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace." A U.S. State Department spokesperson said this move could "seriously complicate" efforts to keep peace negotiations on track.

The U.S. has said the clock will run out on the current negotiations on April 29, but some leaders have been seeking a way to keep the talks going past that date.

Israel Houghton and New Breed

Houghton and New Breed are clearly from the “go big or stay home” school of ministry, as evidenced by their multicultural vision for worship, their combination of musical influences, and, oh yeah, the title of this album, which I saw as a gutsy declaration that would be either a roaring success or a head-in-hands, why-did-y’all-call-it-that? failure. No worries, though. I was so impressed, I passed it along to other colleagues here at Christian Music Today, who promptly added it to our “Favorite Worship Albums of 2004” list. It’s also garnered Stellar Awards for Houghton for Male Vocalist of the Year and CD of the Year. In short: Slammin’ band. Eclectic styles. Versatile vocalists. Rapid changes. Powerful lyrics. Skillful leadership. I recommend.Click here for the original review

Israel has announced that it will send call-up papers for military service in the nation's army to all Arab Christians in the country.

The move, which escalates an ongoing debate, marks the first time that Israel has solicited volunteers for its military among its Arab Christian population. Until now, the military has conscripted mainly Israeli Jews and some members of the country's minority Druze population. Palestinians living in Israel are referred to as Israeli Arabs.

But a prominent Arab Christian engaged in reconciliation work believes many in his community see the development as "intimidation" by their government.


"The way people see it here is intimidation. You receive a letter from the army and they would like you to volunteer for the army—it's intimidation," said Salim Munayer, executive director of Jerusalem-based reconciliation ministry Musalaha.

Some people, especially in the Galilee area, see it as an attempt by the Israeli government "to divide Muslims and Christians," Munayer told CT.

"They believe the Israeli government wants to separate the Christian community from its Palestinian identity. That's how leaders in the north of the country see it," he said.

Although Israel says military service will remain voluntary for its estimated 130,000 Christian Arabs, as it is for more than 1.3 million Muslim Arabs, only Christians will receive the official call-up papers.

But Israel Army radio reported that commanders hope that the sending of call-up papers will help increase volunteers from around 100 Christian enlistees per year at present to 1,000.

An Arab lawmaker, Bassel Ghattas, of the communist Hadash party has urged Christians receiving the call-up papers to return them or "publicly burn them because the next step could be compulsory military or community service."

But Munayer dismissed the comment saying that in order to have compulsory army service it would have to be applied on the entire the Arab population, including Muslims.

The prominent evangelical leader did however say that Israel's Arab Christian community was vulnerable and such moves make it feel insecure.

Meanwhile, a few Christian Arabs, notably Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from the northern city of Nazareth, welcomed the move, saying it opens up opportunities for youth.

Earlier this year, Israel's parliament passed a controversial bill granting legal distinction between the country's Muslim and Christian Arabs for the first time, recognizing Christians as a separate minority. Many Arab Christians said they do not want such distinctions.

The legislation also envisions boosting employment representation for Christian Arabs in Israel's government by adding an Israeli Christian Arab to the panel of the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunity.

At the time, the chairman of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, Munther Na'um predicted that Arab Christians will largely disregard the unprecedented special minority representation granted them by Israel's legislature.

CT previously reported on whether Israeli Christians and Jews can be brothers in arms.

Hamas, PLO Reconcile?

In other major developments in the Middle East, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, widely branded as a terrorist organization, today announced that the two had resolved their differences after a seven-year split.

Hamas has had control of the Gaza Strip, while the PA has governed areas of the West Bank. The two groups said they expect to form a single government to be followed by elections before the end of 2014.

US and Israeli leaders were critical of the announcement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, "Whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace." A U.S. State Department spokesperson said this move could "seriously complicate" efforts to keep peace negotiations on track.

The U.S. has said the clock will run out on the current negotiations on April 29, but some leaders have been seeking a way to keep the talks going past that date.

Donald Lawrence & Co.

In his first album for Verity records and without his Tri-City Singers, Lawrence demonstrates why he has such a strong presence as a frontman and behind the scenes as a producer. He continues to blend emotive, spiritually-based lyrics with a patchwork of styles, with nary a misstep here. A coterie of guests from the gospel and mainstream genres join him, notably Donnie McClurkin on the title track; jazz veterans Lalah Hathaway and Ramsey Lewis on “Don’t Forget to Remember;” and hip-hop soul’s Faith Evans. The music is profoundly enjoyable and includes soul, step, funk, classical and a touch of world music.Click here for the original review

IDF

J Moss

“What we wanted to do was to come down the street of ‘This is real. This is everyday life, this is what I was feeling,'” J Moss told Christian Music Today about his PAJAM-produced album, The J Moss Project. That sense of authenticity permeates the sizzling gospel R&B project, which represents the three-man PAJAM’s original goal: An album for Moss. It features Moss’ silky-sweet voice over bass-driven, beat-heavy songs ready for the Top 40. Highlights include “I Wanna Be,” “Unto Thee” and “Livin’ 4,” a semi-autobiographical track which describes Moss’ determination “to guard my soul and my destiny and my anointing and my life—what God has for me.”Click here for the original review

Three Americans—including a Christian doctor from Chicago—were killed Thursday morning outside a Kabul hospital after an Afghan security guard shot them.


Dr. Jerry Umanos
The attack occurred at the CURE International Hospital, a Christian hospital specializing in pediatrics and women's health. The victims included a father and son who were visiting the hospital, as well as Jerry Umanos, a pediatrician who worked at the hospital. Two other people were injured in the shooting.

"He always had a desire to be the hands and feet of Christ," said Jane Schuitema, Umanos' wife. "He was always a light for Christ, and he had a love and commitment that he expressed for the Afghan people because of that love for Christ."

According to a statement from Dale Brantner, CEO of CURE International (full text below):


The shooter was not an employee of CURE International, but rather a member of the Afghan police detail assigned to protect the hospital. The assailant shot himself after the attack and was taken into surgery by Jerry's colleagues at the hospital before being transferred out of our facility into the custody of the government of Afghanistan. We don't know yet the motivation of the assailant and are still working very closely with the Afghan authorities to learn all the details surrounding this tragic incident.






Umanos worked for Chicago's Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC) for 16 years before moving to Afghanistan with his wife, reports the Chicago Tribune. According to his biography on LCHC's website, Umanos worked at the only two training programs for Afghan doctors in the country.

According to a fall 2012 LCHC newsletter:


But in 2005, [Umanos] and his wife, Jan, felt called to move to Afghanistan. Today, Dr. Umanos works in Kabul at a community health center and at a children's hospital, which are the only two training programs for Afghan doctors in the country.

…

This past summer, Dr. Umanos returned to practice at LCHC which he still considers to be his US home. He will travel back to Afghanistan later in October. Dr. Umanos says he is so grateful to LCHC, because it has provided an incredible training ground for his work overseas.







The newsletter also notes that "over 30 LCHC staff has traveled to Kabul to assist in teaching physician residents, midwives, and community health workers."

CNN interviewed several colleagues about Umanos's motivation and work.

LCHC is part of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and a 20-year-old offshoot of Lawndale Community Church, a church well-known for its community outreach efforts. LCHC announced in a press release this afternoon that its clinic is "grieving right now, and our hearts are broken."

This is not the first time that a Christian aid worker has been killed in Afghanistan, No. 5 on the World Watch List for persecution of Christians. CT reported the murders of Tom Little and nine other aid workers in Afghanistan after the Taliban claimed they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity." Little's wife, Libby Little, shared her story and also wrote an essay for CT on how Christian agencies were sometimes too quick to evacuate dangerous situations.

The New York Times offers more details into the murders, saying the attack "underscored the growing frustration with the Western presence here a decade after the war began."

The U.S. embassy in Kabul "condemns the deplorable act of violence," stating:


Those killed in the attack were humanitarian workers dedicated to improving the lives of Afghans by providing a full range of medical services including reconstructive surgery to children with physical disabilities and pre- and post-natal care for mothers. This act of terror has deprived the citizens of Afghanistan of valuable medical expertise.






CURE International Hospital of Kabul is "one of the leading medical facilities in Afghanistan," according to its website. The organization serves between 2,000 and 3,600 patients per month and specializes in training national surgeons as well as working with women's health programs and children's cleft lip and cleft palate patients. CURE International works in 29 countries worldwide so that patients can "experience the life-changing message of God's love for them."

Here is the full statement from CURE:


It is with deep sadness that I write today, mourning the loss of three lives that were taken by force at the CURE International Hospital compound in Kabul, Afghanistan.

One of these men, Dr. Jerry Umanos, had faithfully served the Afghan people as a pediatrician at the hospital for more than seven years, caring for the most vulnerable members of society — children and premature infants — and helping them survive the harsh realities of childbirth in Afghanistan. We may never know the number of future doctors, teachers, or law enforcement officers who were given the chance to live full and healthy lives because of the work of the CURE International Hospital staff and the service and sacrifice of Jerry and his family.

I knew Jerry personally and can testify to the excellence with which he served and trained Afghan doctors and nurses in the highest quality medical practices. My heart is deeply grieved for his wife and family, as well as the families of the other men killed, who were not employees of CURE International but guests of our hospital. One other guest also sustained a non-life threatening injury.

The shooter was not an employee of CURE International, but rather a member of the Afghan police detail assigned to protect the hospital. The assailant shot himself after the attack and was taken into surgery by Jerry's colleagues at the hospital before being transferred out of our facility into the custody of the government of Afghanistan. We don't know yet the motivation of the assailant and are still working very closely with the Afghan authorities to learn all the details surrounding this tragic incident.

I want to emphasize that CURE International remains committed to loving and serving the people of Afghanistan. We are also deeply committed to protecting the health and welfare of our patients and staff. This is the first fatal incident at our facilities in Afghanistan since coming to the country in 2002, and today's tragedy reinforces our need for vigilance.

Since 1996, CURE International has been serving children and families in desperate need of surgical care with the highest quality medical techniques, restoring bodies that were broken and bearing witness to the transformation of lives and families throughout the world. We do this not because it is what Jesus would do, but because it is what He did; and so we cannot help but see these needs, know that there is a cure, and meet hurting people where they are. That is what Jerry did and that is what we are called to do for children and families around the world.

Please pray with the 1,600 CURE employees worldwide that God would comfort the families of these victims as well as all those affected by this tragedy and give them a peace that truly defies human understanding.

New Direction

Minutes after they received the 2005 Stellar Award for Choir of the Year, brothers Jeral and Percy Gray were asked what makes a good youth choir. “Young people,” Jeral quipped, then added, “Let them be themselves and just give them some guidance—instead of trying to make them catch up with [an older sound].” That philosophy is evident in Rain, which features the Chicago-based group of 16-to-24-year-olds in an album that’s fresh, energetic, and surprisingly traditional. The variety of sounds includes “I’m in Love With Jesus,” a beautiful praise-and-worship chorus; the neo-traditional “I’m Gonna Wave My Hands,” and the easy-jazz inflected title track (with amazing lead by Angel Swain, 17 at the time of recording).Click here for the original review

Courtesy of the Lawndale Christian Health Center

Smokie Norful

I don’t mind saying that I think Norful’s sophomore album surpasses his first, I Need You Now. The difference? It’s got a more traditional flair that showcases his churchified roots. (Still, Norful doesn’t mind copping to some mainstream influences; he opens the album with the Earth Wind & Fire-influenced “Power.”) Especially gripping are the soaring “God Is Able” (an apt followup to “I Need You Now”), the testimonial, blues-gospel “I Know the Lord Will Make a Way,” and “Continuous Grace,” featuring Norful’s mentor, Vanessa Bell Armstrong.Click here for the original review

Three Americans—including a Christian doctor from Chicago—were killed Thursday morning outside a Kabul hospital after an Afghan security guard shot them.


Dr. Jerry Umanos
The attack occurred at the CURE International Hospital, a Christian hospital specializing in pediatrics and women's health. The victims included a father and son who were visiting the hospital, as well as Jerry Umanos, a pediatrician who worked at the hospital. Two other people were injured in the shooting.

"He always had a desire to be the hands and feet of Christ," said Jane Schuitema, Umanos' wife. "He was always a light for Christ, and he had a love and commitment that he expressed for the Afghan people because of that love for Christ."

According to a statement from Dale Brantner, CEO of CURE International (full text below):



The shooter was not an employee of CURE International, but rather a member of the Afghan police detail assigned to protect the hospital. The assailant shot himself after the attack and was taken into surgery by Jerry's colleagues at the hospital before being transferred out of our facility into the custody of the government of Afghanistan. We don't know yet the motivation of the assailant and are still working very closely with the Afghan authorities to learn all the details surrounding this tragic incident.




Umanos worked for Chicago's Lawndale Christian Health Center (LCHC) for 16 years before moving to Afghanistan with his wife, reports the Chicago Tribune. According to his biography on LCHC's website, Umanos worked at the only two training programs for Afghan doctors in the country.

According to a fall 2012 LCHC newsletter:



But in 2005, [Umanos] and his wife, Jan, felt called to move to Afghanistan. Today, Dr. Umanos works in Kabul at a community health center and at a children's hospital, which are the only two training programs for Afghan doctors in the country.
…


This past summer, Dr. Umanos returned to practice at LCHC which he still considers to be his US home. He will travel back to Afghanistan later in October. Dr. Umanos says he is so grateful to LCHC, because it has provided an incredible training ground for his work overseas.




The newsletter also notes that "over 30 LCHC staff has traveled to Kabul to assist in teaching physician residents, midwives, and community health workers."

CNN interviewed several colleagues about Umanos's motivation and work.

LCHC is part of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and a 20-year-old offshoot of Lawndale Community Church, a church well-known for its community outreach efforts. LCHC announced in a press release this afternoon that its clinic is "grieving right now, and our hearts are broken."

This is not the first time that a Christian aid worker has been killed in Afghanistan, No. 5 on the World Watch List for persecution of Christians. CT reported the murders of Tom Little and nine other aid workers in Afghanistan after the Taliban claimed they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity." Little's wife, Libby Little, shared her story and also wrote an essay for CT on how Christian agencies were sometimes too quick to evacuate dangerous situations.

The New York Times offers more details into the murders, saying the attack "underscored the growing frustration with the Western presence here a decade after the war began."

The U.S. embassy in Kabul "condemns the deplorable act of violence," stating:



Those killed in the attack were humanitarian workers dedicated to improving the lives of Afghans by providing a full range of medical services including reconstructive surgery to children with physical disabilities and pre- and post-natal care for mothers. This act of terror has deprived the citizens of Afghanistan of valuable medical expertise.




CURE International Hospital of Kabul is "one of the leading medical facilities in Afghanistan," according to its website. The organization serves between 2,000 and 3,600 patients per month and specializes in training national surgeons as well as working with women's health programs and children's cleft lip and cleft palate patients. CURE International works in 29 countries worldwide so that patients can "experience the life-changing message of God's love for them."

Here is the full statement from CURE:



It is with deep sadness that I write today, mourning the loss of three lives that were taken by force at the CURE International Hospital compound in Kabul, Afghanistan.


One of these men, Dr. Jerry Umanos, had faithfully served the Afghan people as a pediatrician at the hospital for more than seven years, caring for the most vulnerable members of society — children and premature infants — and helping them survive the harsh realities of childbirth in Afghanistan. We may never know the number of future doctors, teachers, or law enforcement officers who were given the chance to live full and healthy lives because of the work of the CURE International Hospital staff and the service and sacrifice of Jerry and his family.


I knew Jerry personally and can testify to the excellence with which he served and trained Afghan doctors and nurses in the highest quality medical practices. My heart is deeply grieved for his wife and family, as well as the families of the other men killed, who were not employees of CURE International but guests of our hospital. One other guest also sustained a non-life threatening injury.


The shooter was not an employee of CURE International, but rather a member of the Afghan police detail assigned to protect the hospital. The assailant shot himself after the attack and was taken into surgery by Jerry's colleagues at the hospital before being transferred out of our facility into the custody of the government of Afghanistan. We don't know yet the motivation of the assailant and are still working very closely with the Afghan authorities to learn all the details surrounding this tragic incident.


I want to emphasize that CURE International remains committed to loving and serving the people of Afghanistan. We are also deeply committed to protecting the health and welfare of our patients and staff. This is the first fatal incident at our facilities in Afghanistan since coming to the country in 2002, and today's tragedy reinforces our need for vigilance.


Since 1996, CURE International has been serving children and families in desperate need of surgical care with the highest quality medical techniques, restoring bodies that were broken and bearing witness to the transformation of lives and families throughout the world. We do this not because it is what Jesus would do, but because it is what He did; and so we cannot help but see these needs, know that there is a cure, and meet hurting people where they are. That is what Jerry did and that is what we are called to do for children and families around the world.


Please pray with the 1,600 CURE employees worldwide that God would comfort the families of these victims as well as all those affected by this tragedy and give them a peace that truly defies human understanding.

Joe Pace

It’s easy to understand the host of spiritual, social and congregational reasons behind the growth of the praise-and-worship movement in even the most traditional of African-American churches. But how can music ministers integrate these songs into their churches in ways that encourage congregational singing, instead of the passive, “watch the Praise-ettes” kind of setup? Pace offers a viable example in Sunday Morning Service, which merges traditional and non-traditional elements with simple choruses and a traditional order of service in a way that is eminently singable. The enhanced CD includes chord charts for two songs and a projection-ready video for “High and Lifted Up.”Click here for the original review

CURE International

Kierra “KiKi” Sheard

Sheard is easily one of the freshest, most interesting voices in gospel—and that would be true even if people didn’t use words like “legacy” and “dynasty” when describing her work (she’s a limb of the youngest branch of the Clark/Moss family tree). That’s a lot of pressure for someone who’s still in high school, but Sheard handles it well. Who knew she could pull off Detroit-style quartet music like in “Done Did It,” hip-hop R&B like “You Don’t Know” and praise ballads like “Praise Offering”? She even co-wrote a couple of songs on the album, and kept it in the family with producers J Moss and her younger brother, J. Drew. It doesn’t take the gift of prophecy to see a bright future ahead.Click here for the original review

Streaming Picks

The English Patient, the critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning romantic drama about a World War II nurse and her patient, is available on Netflix this week. For a more light-hearted romance, Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (starring Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant) is also available to stream. The classic pick of the week is Audrey Hepburn's Funny Face, free to stream on Amazon Prime. Also free on Amazon Prime is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, perfect for family night (but beware of the Child Catcher!).

Critics Roundup

The Other Woman, starring Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Upton, is "an attempt to revive the talky, sexless sex comedies of a bygone era," complete with a revenge plot and "wish fulfillment, punishment, and bawdy innuendo" (The AV Club's review). Mann delivers the biggest performance but the film can't quite handle her emotional energy. The Dissolve says, "Everyone generation gets the battle-of-the-sexes female-buddy revenge comedy it deserves . . . The current generation must have done something terrible to merit a revenge comedy this dire."

Brick Mansions is a remake of District B13 that may not be worth your time, except for its "silly pile-up of exaggerated action clichés." But The AV Club says it's the "cartoony illogic" of it all that makes it pretty fun. The Dissolve, however, says the film does not live up to its opening. A.O. Scott for the New York Times says director Camille Delamarre is not an "action virtuoso, but his visual style, heavily indebted to the Grand Theft Auto video games, is appropriately rough and kinetic." It may be not be original or brilliant, but it could provide some crazy, hectic fun.

Locke gets the best reviews from the critics this week. A "man-in-a-can" film, Tom Hardy is the only actor that appears on screen, and the entire story takes place in his car, on the highway. He talks on the phone and speeds down the freeway, leaving the audience wondering what is waiting for him at the end of the road. The Dissolve says Locke, in almost real time, "confronts his greatest mistake, a reckoning that will jeopardize his personal and professional lives and force him to grapple with the hereditary baggage that has always been waiting for him in the review mirror." Manohla Dargis for the New York Times says, "Moment by moment, with a twitch, a shudder, a look, it's Mr. Hardy who movingly draws you in, turning a stranger's face into a life."

Movie News

It's official: HBO and BBC are adapting J.K. Rowling's most recent novel, The Casual Vacancy, into a TV miniseries. Read the news release here.

Yet another live-action Peter Pan is in the works, this time with Hugh Jackman and Amanda Seyfried. Read more here.

The Tribeca Film Festival started last weekend—here is Indiewire's list of recent category winners. For more news, go to their festival page.

Heather Cate is a spring intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King's College in New York City.

Various Artists

Depending on your age and frame of reference, the term “old school gospel” could refer to artists like contemporary greats BeBe and CeCe Winans, or pioneers like Andrae Crouch, James Cleveland or Mahalia Jackson. But albums like Sacred Roots (and the Grammy-nominated, six-CD boxed set Goodbye Babylon) settle the matter once and for all. These tracks were recorded long before anyone was calling this music “gospel”—or talking about this school or that. Don’t worry, though: Class is definitely in session. The album features recordings from 1902-1954, including a recording by the Fisk University Jubilee Quartet and other “Jubilee” groups that followed, several a capella songs and raised hymns, and a number of songs that are still sung in congregations today. Here are the post-slavery, pre-Civil Rights roots of what became gospel music.Click here for the original review

Streaming Picks

The English Patient, the critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning romantic drama about a World War II nurse and her patient, is available on Netflix this week. For a more light-hearted romance, Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (starring Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant) is also available to stream. The classic pick of the week is Audrey Hepburn's Funny Face, free to stream on Amazon Prime. Also free on Amazon Prime is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, perfect for family night (but beware of the Child Catcher!).

Critics Roundup

The Other Woman, starring Leslie Mann, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Upton, is "an attempt to revive the talky, sexless sex comedies of a bygone era," complete with a revenge plot and "wish fulfillment, punishment, and bawdy innuendo" (The AV Club's review). Mann delivers the biggest performance but the film can't quite handle her emotional energy. The Dissolve says, "Everyone generation gets the battle-of-the-sexes female-buddy revenge comedy it deserves . . . The current generation must have done something terrible to merit a revenge comedy this dire."

Brick Mansions is a remake of District B13 that may not be worth your time, except for its "silly pile-up of exaggerated action clichés." But The AV Club says it's the "cartoony illogic" of it all that makes it pretty fun. The Dissolve, however, says the film does not live up to its opening. A.O. Scott for the New York Times says director Camille Delamarre is not an "action virtuoso, but his visual style, heavily indebted to the Grand Theft Auto video games, is appropriately rough and kinetic." It may be not be original or brilliant, but it could provide some crazy, hectic fun.

Locke gets the best reviews from the critics this week. A "man-in-a-can" film, Tom Hardy is the only actor that appears on screen, and the entire story takes place in his car, on the highway. He talks on the phone and speeds down the freeway, leaving the audience wondering what is waiting for him at the end of the road. The Dissolve says Locke, in almost real time, "confronts his greatest mistake, a reckoning that will jeopardize his personal and professional lives and force him to grapple with the hereditary baggage that has always been waiting for him in the review mirror." Manohla Dargis for the New York Times says, "Moment by moment, with a twitch, a shudder, a look, it's Mr. Hardy who movingly draws you in, turning a stranger's face into a life."

Movie News

It's official: HBO and BBC are adapting J.K. Rowling's most recent novel, The Casual Vacancy, into a TV miniseries. Read the news release here.

Yet another live-action Peter Pan is in the works, this time with Hugh Jackman and Amanda Seyfried. Read more here.

The Tribeca Film Festival started last weekend—here is Indiewire's list of recent category winners. For more news, go to their festival page.

Heather Cate is a spring intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King's College in New York City.

Benita Washington

Exactly 10 seconds into the first track of this Gospel Dream winner’s album, it’s clear that the listener is going to have a great time. Washington knows how to give a song “just enough”—enough sweetness, enough throaty growl, enough rasp, enough presence—without overwhelming it. She’s also a positive example of a previously-unspoken rule: Don’t cover a gospel favorite, unless you are prepared to take it to a higher level or in a different direction. For proof, check out her courageous handling of favorites “When The Battle Is Over” and “When the Saints Go to Worship.”Click here for the original review

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