Unpop Culture

I have found a unique way to meditate on gospel truths. It’s engaging, affecting, and—dare I say it?—even entertaining. What I am referring to is Scripturally-informed rap music. Yes, you heard me right. Ol’ Capper is now a hip-hopper. Just call me Capdog. Granted, I’m no rap connoisseur. I’ve never really liked rap music, except maybe one or two songs from one particular artist whose name I will not divulge (although it sounds like a kind of candy.) Things started changing when I was exposed to Christian rap artist Curtis Allen, a.k.a. Voice. His music piqued my interest in “Reformed rap.” Well, a couple weeks ago a friend from church introduced me to an album by rapper Timothy Brindle, entitled Killing Sin . What John Owen did for literature, Brindle has done for hip-hop. The CD is absolutely amazing. In fact, it may be my favorite Christian album EVER! No, I am not exaggerating. With all due respect to Voice, Brindle’s work is far superior. Killing Sin is marked by slick production

“Whoever would be wise should read the Proverbs; whoever would be holy should read the Psalms.” (Richard Steele) Psalm 86:8-13 (which I am currently trying to memorize) basks in how the glory of God trumps the superficial glory of all lesser things. Verses 8-10 explain it like this: Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Imagine a soldier who treats his enemies better than his allies. He continually seeks to build relationships with those who are out to destroy the army to which he belongs. You would think the enemy would appreciate his traitorous acts and treat him like a prince as further incentive for his allegiance. You would also think this traitor’s commanding officer would have him executed the moment he finds out what is going on. That’s not how it works in the spirit

I’ve been told that my movie rating system needs an explanation. So, here it is… My number rating system is pretty straightforward. A rating of 1 (or sometimes 0) means “horrible” and 10 means “a masterpiece.” What’s not as clear is that there are usually two areas in which I give a number rating. First is the Artistic Merit rating. This number represents a consideration of the film as a work of art. It reflects the cumulative effect of all aspects of a film: scriptwriting, acting, production design, cinematography, musical score, and so on. If I believe it is a well made film, it will receive a high Artistic Merit rating. The second rating is the Personal Marks score. (Yes, my two ratings are initialed AM and PM. Ain’t I clever?) This represents how much I liked the film, regardless of its artistic merit. Sometimes I may enjoy a movie that isn’t the greatest piece of filmmaking (or vice versa) and I like to make a distinction between the two. “Fun to watch” doesn’t always equal “good

Hi, this is Cap the Filmmaker. I’ve been following the progress of the movie Thr3e ever since the project was greenlighted by Namesake Entertainment . The film is based on the Ted Dekker novel of the same name. You can check out the trailer here . The following is the official plot synopsis : “When a young seminary student is targeted by a psychopathic killer, he joins forces with a criminal psychologist whose brother was murdered by the same madman. Together they must unravel the killer's riddles and catch him before he strikes again, but the closer they get, the more twisted the path becomes. This heart-pounding thriller will keep you guessing up until the final shocking scene!” Though the film doesn’t open until Friday, I was privileged enough to receive an advanced-copy DVD (yes, legally). The first thing that stood out to me was the exceptional cinematography and desaturated colors. This looks like a slick Hollywood product, not a cheap, cutesy Christian film. Furthermore