Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n
1. <\/strong>For Greater Glory<\/em><\/strong><\/a>: Epic and timely.\nSynopsis: <\/strong>In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 <\/strong>Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia), a retired general who had previously fought on the side of the revolution that brought the anti-Catholic President Plutarco Elias Calles to power, is recruited by the resistance leadership to head up the military opposition. Though an agnostic himself, the faith of his wife Tulita (Eva Longoria), as well his general conviction for freedom, compels him to take up their cause. Starring Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, Mauricio Kuri, Oscar Isaac, Rub\u00e9n Blades, Bruce Greenwood, Catalina Sandino Marino, Santiago Cabrera, Eduardo Ver\u00e1stegui, Bruce McGill and Adrian Alonso.\u00a0 Directed by Dean Wright. Written by Michael Love. (Opens: Today, June 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong>Though shot on locating in Mexico, <em>For Greater Glory<\/em> is an all-star epic war saga in the grand Hollywood tradition. The historic drama, a sort of Mexican <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Braveheart\">Braveheart<\/a>,\u00a0 tells of the story of the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cristero_War\">Cristero War<\/a> (1926-1929), a conflict <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/05\/eduardo-verastegui-talks-about-his-role-in-for-greater-glory-and-in-life.html\">few Mexicans<\/a> — let alone Americans —\u00a0 are aware ever happened. Without getting into why that may be, it seems remarkably ironic that the film is released less than two weeks after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2012\/05\/21\/catholic-organizations-across-country-file-suit-against-contraception-mandate\/\" target=\"_blank\">43 Catholic institutions filed lawsuits<\/a> against the U.S.\u00a0 federal government’s push to require them to include contraceptives in their employee healthcare packages, an effort the Catholic organizations contend infringes on their religious beliefs. The Mexican government, of course, was actually banning the celebration of the Mass and wasn’t above violent — and even murderous — intimidation. But, still, the issue of government intrusion on religion continues to have resonance.<\/p>\n<p>The story definitely deserves to be told and, for the most part, it’s told well here. Andy Garcia delivers captivating performance as the agnostic rebel leader Gorostieta Velarde, whose non-faith is challenged by the commitment of his troops. The best performance (Oscar-worthy really), however, probably is given by\u00a0 Mauricio Kuri as Jos\u00e9 <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jos%C3%A9_S%C3%A1nchez_del_R%C3%ADo\">Luis S\u00e1nchez del Rio<\/a>, the teen boy who first befriends a priest (Peter O’Toole) who is ultimately murdered at the hands of the government and, after joining the resistance, befriends General Velarde.\u00a0 The scene in which the boy suffers martyrdom for refusing to renounce his faith is brutal and gut-wrenching. I’m told it was actually restrained — considering what was actually done to the boy. Suffice it to say, the scene goes a long way in earning the movie its R rating. Personally, I think it may have been wise to suggest more and show less here.\u00a0 For instance, more cutaways to General Velarde’s efforts to find and reach the boy in time to save him may have added a heightened sense of suspense while still effectively conveying\u00a0Luis powerful faith and ultimate sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>As a whole though,<strong> <\/strong>the film is a riveting reminder that religious liberty is, indeed, a value worth cherishing. <em><strong>For<\/strong> <\/em><strong><em>Greater Glory<\/em> is strongly recommended for adults<\/strong> but you should be aware of the violence of that particular scene before making your movie-going choice.<\/p>\n<p>Luis S\u00e1nchez del Rio, it should be noted, was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005.<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1907639\/\"><em>Hardflip<\/em><\/a>: Edgy youth drama with a positive spin.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Synopsis: <\/strong>Randy Wayne stars as Caleb Jones, a young competitive skateboarder life is thrown off kilter by an emotionally-and-financially struggling mother (Rosanna Arquette) whose health suddenly fails. John Schneider plays his father, who left them both years earlier to engage in a successful pursuit of earthly success.\u00a0 Directed by Johnny Remo. Written by Johnny Remo and Daniel Blackman.<strong> (Opens: Today, June 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"HARDFLIP The Movie\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gYxNF29TiyA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong>Between his successful TV series Smallville and his recent part in the surprise box-office success<em> October Baby<\/em>,\u00a0 John Schneider may just be America’s favorite adoptive dad. In <em>Hardflip<\/em>, he’s playing a father again — this time a biological father who, unlike his previous dad roles, hasn’t always been there for his kid. In fact, he hasn’t been there at all for teenager Caleb Jones (Randy Wayne), the angry young competitive skateboarder whose story unfolds in a film that manages the balance of edginess and heart with all the agility, in an artistic sense, of a competitive skateboarder. Schneider and Wayne are extraordinarily believable as the estranged father and son at the core of the story — with both a remarkable resemblance and performances that ring true.\u00a0 Rosanna Arquette brings poignant vulnerability to the role of Bethany, Caleb’s mom and the woman Jack (John Schneider) left behind in pursuit of greener pastures as an architect\/businessman.\u00a0 As John told me in a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/\">recent interview<\/a>, Jack “chased his dream and he caught it.” Of course, he caught it at the cost of building a life with a woman he truly loved and foundation of a relationship with his son.<\/p>\n<p>Without giving away too much of the plot, Caleb and Jack are thrust together when a sudden medical crisis puts Bethany in a coma. What follows is a rocky road on the journey toward forgiveness. <strong><em>Hardflip<\/em> is worth the ride and is recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 1. For Greater Glory: Epic and timely. Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,1085,15,24,29,31,1],"tags":[35,2919,1730,2915,2918,2916,2539,2920,2842,2910,1770,2794,2786,259,2923,2922,2912,2913,2542,2911,9045,2787,2791,2914,2917,2921],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-forgiveness","category-history","category-movies","category-sports","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-adrian-alonso","tag-braveheart","tag-bruce-greenwood","tag-bruce-mcgill","tag-catalina-sandino-marino","tag-cristero-war","tag-directed-by-dean-wright","tag-eduardo-verastegui","tag-enrique-gorostieta-velarde-andy-garcia","tag-eva-longoria","tag-for-greater-glory","tag-hardflip","tag-john-schneider","tag-johnny-remo-and-daniel-blackman","tag-luis-sanchez-del-rio","tag-mauricio-kuri","tag-oscar-isaac","tag-peter-otoole","tag-plutarco-elias-calles","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-randy-wayne","tag-rosanna-arquette","tag-ruben-blades","tag-santiago-cabrera","tag-written-by-michael-love"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Movie Reviews: "For Greater Glory" and "Hardflip"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie Reviews: "For Greater Glory" and "Hardflip"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 1. For Greater Glory: Epic and timely. Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media & Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media & Culture","article_published_time":"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","name":"Movie Reviews: \"For Greater Glory\" and \"Hardflip\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movie Reviews: “For Greater Glory” and “Hardflip”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media & Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2333,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions\/2333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong>Though shot on locating in Mexico, <em>For Greater Glory<\/em> is an all-star epic war saga in the grand Hollywood tradition. The historic drama, a sort of Mexican <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Braveheart\">Braveheart<\/a>,\u00a0 tells of the story of the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cristero_War\">Cristero War<\/a> (1926-1929), a conflict <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/05\/eduardo-verastegui-talks-about-his-role-in-for-greater-glory-and-in-life.html\">few Mexicans<\/a> — let alone Americans —\u00a0 are aware ever happened. Without getting into why that may be, it seems remarkably ironic that the film is released less than two weeks after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2012\/05\/21\/catholic-organizations-across-country-file-suit-against-contraception-mandate\/\" target=\"_blank\">43 Catholic institutions filed lawsuits<\/a> against the U.S.\u00a0 federal government’s push to require them to include contraceptives in their employee healthcare packages, an effort the Catholic organizations contend infringes on their religious beliefs. The Mexican government, of course, was actually banning the celebration of the Mass and wasn’t above violent — and even murderous — intimidation. But, still, the issue of government intrusion on religion continues to have resonance.<\/p>\n<p>The story definitely deserves to be told and, for the most part, it’s told well here. Andy Garcia delivers captivating performance as the agnostic rebel leader Gorostieta Velarde, whose non-faith is challenged by the commitment of his troops. The best performance (Oscar-worthy really), however, probably is given by\u00a0 Mauricio Kuri as Jos\u00e9 <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jos%C3%A9_S%C3%A1nchez_del_R%C3%ADo\">Luis S\u00e1nchez del Rio<\/a>, the teen boy who first befriends a priest (Peter O’Toole) who is ultimately murdered at the hands of the government and, after joining the resistance, befriends General Velarde.\u00a0 The scene in which the boy suffers martyrdom for refusing to renounce his faith is brutal and gut-wrenching. I’m told it was actually restrained — considering what was actually done to the boy. Suffice it to say, the scene goes a long way in earning the movie its R rating. Personally, I think it may have been wise to suggest more and show less here.\u00a0 For instance, more cutaways to General Velarde’s efforts to find and reach the boy in time to save him may have added a heightened sense of suspense while still effectively conveying\u00a0Luis powerful faith and ultimate sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>As a whole though,<strong> <\/strong>the film is a riveting reminder that religious liberty is, indeed, a value worth cherishing. <em><strong>For<\/strong> <\/em><strong><em>Greater Glory<\/em> is strongly recommended for adults<\/strong> but you should be aware of the violence of that particular scene before making your movie-going choice.<\/p>\n<p>Luis S\u00e1nchez del Rio, it should be noted, was declared a martyr and beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on November 20, 2005.<\/p>\n<p>2. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1907639\/\"><em>Hardflip<\/em><\/a>: Edgy youth drama with a positive spin.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Synopsis: <\/strong>Randy Wayne stars as Caleb Jones, a young competitive skateboarder life is thrown off kilter by an emotionally-and-financially struggling mother (Rosanna Arquette) whose health suddenly fails. John Schneider plays his father, who left them both years earlier to engage in a successful pursuit of earthly success.\u00a0 Directed by Johnny Remo. Written by Johnny Remo and Daniel Blackman.<strong> (Opens: Today, June 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"HARDFLIP The Movie\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gYxNF29TiyA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong>Between his successful TV series Smallville and his recent part in the surprise box-office success<em> October Baby<\/em>,\u00a0 John Schneider may just be America’s favorite adoptive dad. In <em>Hardflip<\/em>, he’s playing a father again — this time a biological father who, unlike his previous dad roles, hasn’t always been there for his kid. In fact, he hasn’t been there at all for teenager Caleb Jones (Randy Wayne), the angry young competitive skateboarder whose story unfolds in a film that manages the balance of edginess and heart with all the agility, in an artistic sense, of a competitive skateboarder. Schneider and Wayne are extraordinarily believable as the estranged father and son at the core of the story — with both a remarkable resemblance and performances that ring true.\u00a0 Rosanna Arquette brings poignant vulnerability to the role of Bethany, Caleb’s mom and the woman Jack (John Schneider) left behind in pursuit of greener pastures as an architect\/businessman.\u00a0 As John told me in a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithmediaandculture\/\">recent interview<\/a>, Jack “chased his dream and he caught it.” Of course, he caught it at the cost of building a life with a woman he truly loved and foundation of a relationship with his son.<\/p>\n<p>Without giving away too much of the plot, Caleb and Jack are thrust together when a sudden medical crisis puts Bethany in a coma. What follows is a rocky road on the journey toward forgiveness. <strong><em>Hardflip<\/em> is worth the ride and is recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 1. For Greater Glory: Epic and timely. Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,1085,15,24,29,31,1],"tags":[35,2919,1730,2915,2918,2916,2539,2920,2842,2910,1770,2794,2786,259,2923,2922,2912,2913,2542,2911,9045,2787,2791,2914,2917,2921],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-forgiveness","category-history","category-movies","category-sports","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-adrian-alonso","tag-braveheart","tag-bruce-greenwood","tag-bruce-mcgill","tag-catalina-sandino-marino","tag-cristero-war","tag-directed-by-dean-wright","tag-eduardo-verastegui","tag-enrique-gorostieta-velarde-andy-garcia","tag-eva-longoria","tag-for-greater-glory","tag-hardflip","tag-john-schneider","tag-johnny-remo-and-daniel-blackman","tag-luis-sanchez-del-rio","tag-mauricio-kuri","tag-oscar-isaac","tag-peter-otoole","tag-plutarco-elias-calles","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-randy-wayne","tag-rosanna-arquette","tag-ruben-blades","tag-santiago-cabrera","tag-written-by-michael-love"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Movie Reviews: "For Greater Glory" and "Hardflip"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie Reviews: "For Greater Glory" and "Hardflip"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 1. For Greater Glory: Epic and timely. Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media & Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Movie Reviews: \"For Greater Glory\" and \"Hardflip\"","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Movie Reviews: \"For Greater Glory\" and \"Hardflip\"","og_description":"Here are today’s dispatches from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. 1. For Greater Glory: Epic and timely. Synopsis: In the late 1920’s, a ragtag group of Mexicans take up resist their government’s crackdown on religious liberty — a crackdown, in this instance, directed at the Catholic Church. \u00a0 Enrique Gorostieta Velarde (Andy Garcia),…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media & Culture","article_published_time":"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html","name":"Movie Reviews: \"For Greater Glory\" and \"Hardflip\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-01T12:30:48+00:00","dateModified":"2012-06-01T12:32:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2012\/06\/movie-reviews-for-greater-glory-and-hardflip.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movie Reviews: “For Greater Glory” and “Hardflip”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media & Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2333,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions\/2333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}