Proud. Drunken. Womanizing.

Those words all fit him quite well. He might even claim them. He’s also quite competitive.

And that competitive side of him always tends to peek its head up at the wrong time. Especially when Caligula is around, and he’s had too many cups of wine. Yes, it’s definitely unwise for a Roman soldier to purposely ruffle the feathers of Emperor Tiberius’ regent.

But Caligula is such a vile, self-indulgent man that he makes Marcellus look like a saint.

So Marcellus can’t keep himself from goading and prodding the man when he pompously parades into the slave trade. And soon after … Marcellous finds himself punitively posted to some barren outpost out in the desert. A dust bowl called Judaea.

The only good aspect of the whole affair is the fact that Marcellus reconnected with an old friend back at that Roman auction. Well, perhaps she’s more than a friend. Could he say that he once loved the pretty Diana? Perhaps. Perhaps.

In any case, Diana said she would talk to Tiberius on his behalf about Marcellus’ situation. All Marcellus needs to do is hold on for a while, and he’ll be transferred back to civilization before he knows it. And he’ll be returning to Diana. Yes, that prospect is sounding sweeter by the day.

So, Marcellus spends his time sweating and drinking. And waiting. When he’s finally called before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, the man looks very disturbed. Not at Marcellus, but at the fact that he can’t seem to get his hands clean.

There is this magician in the city who’s been giving the governor fits. The Jews—well, many of them—call this bewildering person a “king.” And all Pilate wants is to see the man called Jesus done away with. So, he tells Marcellus to simply crucify this criminal. Then he can be gone, and Marcellus can leave this terrible place.

Marcellus has never killed anyone in this manner, but a few extra cups of wine will surely get him through.

The rest is a blur. Blood on his hands. Dying men breathing their last. Gambling with the Centurion guards.

But there’s something strange about this man they call Jesus. He bleeds and hangs on the cross, to be sure, but it’s as if He calls the time of his death. “Father, forgive them,” the man cries out as Marcellus gazes up at him. “For they know not what they do.” And then He dies.

Marcellus feels the shift before he sees it. The day slides out of gear, the sky grows black. The clouds swell. The people standing around quiver, look up and cry. And then the rains begin to fall.

Marcellus grabs this Jesus’ cast-off robe—for he had won it rolling dice—but when he puts it over his shoulders it burns, it scalds. Is the robe cursed? Or is it something else? Is the pain he feels outside him, or in?

On the way back to Capri, Marcellus falls ill and thrashes in nightmares. And when he reports his story to the superstitious old emperor, Tiberius, the ruler and his soothsayers quickly see what must be happening. Marcellus’ agonies are surely a curse, caused by the foul dead magician and his robe.

Marcellus must return to the parched land of Judaea and find that accursed robe. That is his foresight, his destiny. That will be his salvation, they declare.

And in a way … they’re absolutely right.

The post The Robe appeared first on Plugged In.

Perhaps it was inevitable. Because after generations of people are born and grow up in space colonies, it doesn’t seem fair that the blue planet with which they have no immediate connection gets to be in charge of how they live. That’s why some of the stronger colonies rebelled against the Earth Federation, calling themselves the Principality of Zeon and sparking a devastating year-long war. And as both sides gear up in giant robotic mobile suits armed with both guns and blades, billions of people perish.

If you’ve seen the original Mobile Suit Gundam movie, you know what happens next: a Zeon reconnaissance team begins attacking a Federation colony, while a teenage mechanic Amuro Ray climbs into the Federation’s newly prototyped RX-78 Gundam and saves the colony. His decision, ultimately, would help Earth win the war against Zeon, too.

Except, what if someone else got to it first?

That someone is Char Aznable, a soldier in that Zeon recon team and (in the original timeline) a major antagonist for Amuro. And after using the mobile suit to achieve victory, Char recognizes that these Gundam models are powerful. And, after reverse engineering the stolen tech, Zeon wins the war.

But independence doesn’t always look pretty, as high schooler Amate Yuzuriha may tell you. She’s living in a space colony independent from both the Federation and Zeon five years after the war’s end. It’s a world where police care little for civilians and few feel like their freedom means much of anything…especially when a Zeon ship appears in overhead.

It turns out, the ship was on a secret mission, hoping to find the location of Char and his Gundam. Both vanished at the close of the war following a strange explosion—before the Gundam suddenly reappeared near the colony and began attacking the Zeon ship. Moments later, colony police, who have donned mobile suits, engaged, too.

Zeon quickly deployed its newest Gundam model, codenamed GQuuuuuuX, in defense … but it wasn’t long before its inexperienced pilot came crashing down into the colony, bringing the battle directly onto Amate’s head. She had been busy learning how to pilot a mobile suit to engage in illegal-but-lucrative underground mech combat fights.

And, like Amuro Ray, Amate acted in desperation, jumping into the GQuuuuuuX pilot seat to escape from the battle. And though she’s likewise inexperienced, she suddenly feels a connection to the robot, one that allows her to control the mech with her willpower alone.

And it’s a connection that just may change her life for good.

The post Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX: Beginning appeared first on Plugged In.

Hey, lots of kids are like that, right? But in Ne Zha’s case, the results can be … bad.

See, Ne Zha is a demon, and not just any run-of-the-mill, dime-a-dozen Chinese demon, either. He’s part and product of the Demon Orb, and as such he’s incredibly powerful and destructive. Why, if left to his own demonic nature, he just might be so destructive as to threaten heaven and earth themselves. So the orb was slated for destruction by the Supreme Lord, Yuanshi Tianzun. And what the Supreme Lord says, the Supreme Lord does.

But through a series of adventures and surprising relationships (as chronicled in 2019’s Ne Zha), Ne Zha saved his parents and his hometown of Chentang Pass. And thanks to help from his enemy-turned-friend, Ao Bing (a reincarnation of something called the Spirit Pearl and the son of a very important dragon), Ne Zha even staved off the Supreme Lord’s destructive curse. The only downside? He and Ao Bing lost their corporeal bodies. Bummer.

But as Ne Zha 2 opens, good news! Master Taiyi Zhenren uses (and exhausts) his sacred lotus to regenerate both Ne Zha and Ao Bing.

Bad news. Chentang Pass is soon under threat again: Ao Guang, Ao Bing’s very important dragon father, believes his son died in the last movie, so he unleashes a few other dragon rulers from their lava-y locale, which are ushered into the fray by the demonic Shen Gongbao. Before Ne Zha and Ao Bing can truly get their bodies back, they must defend the town—and Ao Bing’s corporeal form is quickly destroyed. (Naturally, Ao Guang feels just terrible about this strange turn of events.)

But more good news! Ao Bing’s spirit doesn’t need to dissipate forever! Taiyi says that Ne Zha can host the spirit of Ao Bing for seven days. During that time, if Ne Zha can pass three trials and become one of the immortals, he can claim a potion that will restore the sacred lotus and, thus, give Ao Bing another shot at having a real-life body again.

But more bad news. Demons aren’t allowed to perform these trials. In fact, the trials are all about fighting demons—something that gods and immortals love to do. And if anyone detects Ne Zha’s true nature during these trials—inescapable if he fights as Ne Zha—he’ll certainly get booted out of heaven.

The only solution: Ao Bing’s spirit must take over Ne Zha’s body during these critical trials. And he can only do that if Ne Zha knocks himself out somehow.

Follow all that?

Well, in truth, we learn all of that within, like, the first 15 minutes of the movie, and then things get much more confusing. But in short, Ne Zha—the spirit of Ao Bing in tow—and Taiyi mount a flying pig and fly to heaven to embark on a series of spectacular adventures. And perhaps they’ll right a few long-festering wrongs along the way, too.

The post Ne Zha 2 appeared first on Plugged In.

But for Lauren, high school graduation only serves as a reminder of the day her foster parent left her to sleep on the street.

Lauren isn’t sure where to go. She has no food or money—and none of her high school friends are willing to let her stay with them. She spends that night at a homeless encampment. As far as Lauren can see, she has no friends and no family. She is utterly alone.

But she’s not alone. Because with her at the camp are people like Jimmy, a young man with a heart for meeting the needs of everyone in the camp. There’s Harris, the elderly veteran who sells his paintings to provide for and protect the group. And we meet people like Violet and Dora: the former teaches Lauren how to adjust to her new life, while the latter provides something like motherly comfort.

Together, they care for each other, even as others would look to rob them or think of them as little more than litter that city hall needs to remove.

So while Lauren doesn’t have a roof over her head, for the first time in many, many years, she begins to feel as if she truly has a family.

The post No Address appeared first on Plugged In.

The gunshot shatters the predawn silence, but the light remains intact.

One day, Jenny’s going to hit that light. When she does, she’ll leave her grandparents’ farm in Wisconsin and chase her dreams, likely humming a Joni Mitchell song as she goes. Until then, she’s stuck milking cows and mucking stalls.

See, things aren’t great between Jenny and her grandfather, Buck. She wants to follow in her late mother’s footsteps, traveling to the big city to become a musician. He’s afraid she’ll do just that and lose her innocence in the process. They can’t seem to agree on much. In a way, the only thing keeping them connected is the farm.

But even that may be coming to an end. Buck’s farm is struggling. He’s behind on his mortgage payments, and the bank is looking to collect.

Though Jenny doesn’t want to stay on the farm, she doesn’t want her granddad to lose it, either. She thinks her music could provide a way to make ends meet. A famous musician, Billy Reed, is in town—maybe if Jenny can get him a demo of her music, he’ll pass it along to his manager …

Buck’s not interested in that plan. “There’s right and wrong ways to make money,” he chides. But the right ways haven’t been making enough to keep the farm afloat.

Enter Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Well, not literally. The manager of the bank offers Buck, a fervent Packers fan, a glib wager: If Green Bay goes all the way and wins the Super Bowl, Buck will get another year to pay back what he owes on the mortgage. If they don’t, they’ll have to pay their mortgage in full … immediately.

Not exactly a fair bet, given that the Packers haven’t made the playoffs in more than a decade. Hey, if you’re looking for a friendly wager, don’t go in against a bank. But Buck and Jenny don’t have the luxury of choosing. The bet is the best chance they’ve got. If Jenny and Buck are to save the farm—and, perhaps, mend their relationship—Green Bay will have to live up to its moniker of “Titletown.”

The post Green and Gold appeared first on Plugged In.

She was literally tortured, torn open, murdered and then resurrected. She saw loved ones gruesomely mangled and eaten. She lopped off the head of a fiend: a white-painted harlequin with rotten licorice teeth. And in the end, she was locked up and drugged as she “recovered” from that psyche-pureeing ordeal.

So it’s no mystery that Sienna is still struggling emotionally as she leaves the psychiatric hospital to make her way to her aunt Jess’ home. Their house is decorated for the holidays. It’s warm and welcoming, the air is filled with Christmas songs. But still, Sienna is on edge.

The twentysomething young woman is seeing strange bloody visions, feeling all-too-familiar fears. Even her love-filled reconnection with her niece, Gabby, can’t dispel Sienna’s premonitions of dread. She knows that the killer clown is dead. She saw his decapitated body, the pooled blood and gore.

But … still.

The thing is, Sienna’s seemingly irrational anxiety isn’t unfounded. Because when a hellish killer and his demon-possessed helper face death, it’s never a permanent thing.

Even without a head, Art the Clown reanimated five years ago. And with dark spiritual assistance, it regained its toothy, mad-eyed noggin and its full murderous strength.

Then … it waited.  

Now Art and the demon entity formerly known as Victoria Heyes have been nudged once more into celebrating the Christmas holidays in their own way. And their twinkle-light-lit slaughterhouse mayhem will yield twisted and debased holiday “joy.”

Sienna Shaw’s Christmas will definitely not be a silent night.

The post Terrifier 3 appeared first on Plugged In.

What more could a kid wish for?

Well … maybe a new Dragon Duels deck. That’s priority number one on his Christmas wish list. But it has to be the right deck—and Ollie is worried he may have asked for the wrong one. That would be terrible! He could be stuck playing the game with lady wizards. Trevor would never let him hear the end of it.

So, Ollie does a little pre-Christmas reconnaissance, finding the hidden stash of presents in his parents’ closet and confirming that they bought him the right deck of cards.

Phew. Crisis averted.

But that’s when he hears his parents, Oskar and Noreen, come into the room. He stays hidden, hoping to avoid getting in trouble for snooping. (I get it. My parents always told me that they’d return any presents I uncovered prior to Christmas morning.)

It works. His parents have no idea he’s there. So, they talk about something they have been keeping a secret from Ollie. Something they’re going to wait to tell him after Christmas. But it’s not about presents.

They’re getting a divorce.

Ollie is gobsmacked. All the sudden, his perfect little life is about to be torn asunder. He’ll have to move, splitting time between his parents. Who knows how often he’ll get to see Trevor. Worst of all, he may have to talk to—gulp!—“Dodo the Divorce Clown.”

With this distressing information and only a handful of days until Christmas, Ollie has a new priority on his wish list: to make sure his parents stay together. And he’s going to do whatever he can to make sure it comes true.

It’s a daunting task. Ollie will need help. So, he recruits a crack team consisting of Trevor (of course), romance-enthusiast Katie (who’s totally not Ollie’s girlfriend, you guys) and a talking Christmas tree (yes, really) to save his parents’ marriage.

The post Awesomest Christmas Ever appeared first on Plugged In.

You see, the four Indian villages that comprise the region have a storied past. They’re a civilization that put its trust primarily in weapons, and its descendants come from a long line of elite pirate warriors. These warriors were so effective at raiding passing British ships that the local waters were often stained red with blood—the source of the Red Sea villages’ name.

But when India gained independence, these warriors no longer had a reason to fight. Instead, they’ve been reduced to smuggling contraband from passing cargo ships to make a living.

They’re led by Devara, the strongest of them all, who’s simply happy that the smuggling operation allows him to provide for the needy people in the Red Sea villages. But that was before Devara realized what it was they were smuggling illegal weapons into the hands of wicked men.

So Devara has now demanded that the rest of the warriors give up their ways and become fishermen. But his command doesn’t sit well with the rest of the warriors, who increasingly grow frustrated with him.

And in a civilization where weapons are everything, that’s a recipe for another Red Sea event.

The post Devara: Part 1 appeared first on Plugged In.

Some, however, aren’t immediately convinced.

“They’re signing like they’re drunk,” one person says.

Wait … signing?

Yes, you read that right.

The disciples are communicating the Gospel in sign language. And that’s because Jesus hopes to convey the good news to the Deaf community in a way that’s easily accessible to them. Audiences will see a telling of the four Gospel accounts onscreen, entirely in American Sign Language.

We’ll watch as the film’s Jesus begins His ministry, teaching without a word from His mouth—and the same goes for the rest of the cast, too.

The post Jesus: A Deaf Missions Film appeared first on Plugged In.

Taking the spotlight in this feature film, however, is Sandy Cheeks, a scientist squirrel observing, studying and living the Bikini Bottom life. Originally from Texas, Sandy left the Cheeks family circus to pursue her passion. And she’s made some great friends at the bottom of the sea while she’s at it.

All seems to be well until …

… a giant construction claw scoops up the city of Bikini Bottom and most of its inhabitants leaving Sandy and SpongeBob stranded just outside of the wreckage. As for poor, scooped-up Bikini bottom? Well, it seems like the underwater town has been transported to … Texas.

To save Bikini Bottom, that’s where SpongeBob and Sandy must go, too. And it turns out that Sandy’s own research company has been taken over by an evil new CEO named Sue Nahmee. Now, only Sandy and SpongeBob can save Bikini Bottom and their friends from certain doom.

The post Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie appeared first on Plugged In.