It began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, followed three years later by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: the first two films of a trilogy based on the successful Planet of the Apes film series of the ’60s and ’70s. The original classic, from 1968, starred Charlton Heston as an astronaut who ends up on a planet where apes are the dominant species and where humans, who can’t talk, are treated like animals. We eventually learn that the astronaut has returned to a future Earth. The new trilogy provides its own explanations for how […]

Strangers in their own land By Daniel Friesen Since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, instability has been the governing force in the lives of many Syrians. While local and international powers have compounded the civil war with their own interests and sectarian conflicts have sprung up around the fray, Syria’s people continue to be threatened by mortar attacks, missile strikes, chemical weapons, and violence from the so-called Islamic State. Media coverage often centers on U.S. coalition forces and defeating terrorism, but we must not forget the ever-increasing humanitarian crisis. Syrian civilians in great number have been caught […]

Growing peace in the Philippines—with coffee! By Joji Pantoja People from Mindanao, Philippines, have been yearning for peace. Peacebuilders Community started working with people who have been in conflict for almost 30 years. Conflict disrupts any development in the country; conflict has caused the people of Mindanao to experience death, displacement, and starvation. As Peacebuilders Community slowly became involved in the dialogue, it was clear all groups shared one commonality: a love of coffee. So coffee became the vehicle for the peace message Peacebulders wanted to promote. “Coffee for Peace” was born in 2007. The goal was to promote high-quality […]

Cinematic takes on World War II seem more popular than ever. Recent films have traced events from the Holocaust (Ida, Denial, The Zookeepers Wife), demonstrated the devastating results of the cruelty of Soviet soldiers (The Innocents), portrayed heroes (Hacksaw Ridge, the upcoming Darkest Night about Churchill), or focused on events (Pegasus Bridge). Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk takes us into one extended moment where the will of the English (and French) is pitted against the formidable power of the German military. Surrender or annihilation of the 400,000 British and French troops surrounded by German forces seem like the only possible outcomes. They […]

Another Way for week of August 4, 2017 How Coloring Can Help You Unwind Breathe in. Breathe out. Relax. For most of an hour, you could have heard a crayon drop on the thick carpet of the large seminar room at the Orlando County Convention Center, smack in the middle of one of the major entertainment centers of the entire United States: Orlando, Fla. About 80 women and teen girls spent almost an hour silently coloring some coloring sheets that I had passed out at the beginning of the “seminar.” There were a few quiet words among women at some […]

God as advocate by Esther Epp-Tiessen @ MCC Ottawa Office Our MCC Ottawa Office has been engaged in advocacy since it was founded in 1975, but we still occasionally are asked why we are involved in speaking to government as a church-based relief, development and peacebuilding agency.  After all, the question often goes, doesn’t scripture admonish us to simply feed the hungry, clothe the naked or give water to those who thirst? We as staff have developed a response to this question.  We have many reasons for justifying the work we are mandated to do, not the least of which […]

If there is a movie genre that could use an extreme makeover these days, it’s the romantic comedy. Sure, the formula of strangers meet, strangers fall in love, strangers grow apart, and strangers get back together is a tried-and-true one. Throw in a few one-liners, a couple of gags, and a happy ending, and you have a mediocre, albeit watchable, date night at home. Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V. Gordon co-wrote this new rom-com, based on the eventful true story of their relationship. Thankfully, The Big Sick just elevated the genre. Pakistani-born comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife […]

“Beloved, let us love one another” Julian Brubaker, Domestic policy intern, MCC Washington Office In a small room on June 27 at the National Press Club building in Washington, D.C., stood parents who were forced to bury a child. In each case, the perpetrator was an undocumented immigrant. These parents were gathered to launch a new organization, Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC). During his campaign, now-President Trump highlighted their stories to imply that all immigrants are a threat to public safety, arguing for more restrictive immigration laws and increased deportations. Rather than finding effective solutions to reduce […]

Spider-Man: Homecoming Review by Michelle Sinclair How many times can you sit through a reboot of the same superhero story and still be entertained, even moved? I had thought I was at my limit for Spider-Man movies, but after a little taste of Tom Holland’s joyous teenage web crawler in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, I knew I’d want to see what he could do in his own movie. In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Holland—and the filmmakers around him–don’t disappoint. Peter Parker wants to stop big crimes and be a part of the Avengers so badly and yet Robert Downey Jr’s Tony […]

With the advent of made-for-cable TV in the late 1990s, the quality of television took a huge leap forward, sometimes even reaching the level of top-quality filmmaking (very rare for network TV). This has made it not only possible but necessary for critics to take television seriously as an art form potentially equal to the best films. I have begun reviewing TV shows as a result. Indeed, Rectify is so unusual in its pacing and in the sublime quality of its writing (especially the dialogue) and acting that it sometimes feels like a new art form. This review is aimed […]