An Anglo-Irish Convert in "the City"

Nuns in Hollywood

2006-08-29T08:15:00.000-04:00

New York Times
August 29, 2006

Video: Battling Evils of Hollywood With Prayer

In the second installment of his American Album series, Charlie LeDuff visits a convent located just two blocks away from Hollywood Boulevard.
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The award-winning film "Cinque Minuti" makes Jesus' sacrificial love crystal clear

2006-04-14T13:49:00.000-04:00

On this day, Good Friday, we remember our Lord's passion and crucifixion, that He gave His life for us, as a sacrificial Lamb. He gave His life for us out of His deep love for us, even while we were DEAD in sin. As the gospel of John so eloquently says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 [RSV]).

From Sabaoth Films comes this excellent Christian film, "5 Minutes," produced to very high standards by Deborah E. Brown and winner of the 168 Hour Film Project. The film won 2006 Awards in several categories--Best Film, Best International Film, Best Scriptural Integration-Writer, and Best Screenplay-Writer.

Along with its high production standards, the writing and the integration of scripture into the film are brilliant. The screenwriter, Sergio Masqueroni, is obviously well versed in Christian apologetics and is a masterful writer. Much of the force and emotional impact of this media message for the gospel is due to its poignant screenplay. Kudos to Mr. Masqueroni.

In Italian the film's title is "Cinque Minuti" and it can be watched online in Italian with English subtitles. In this film the immediacy and personal nature of Jesus' self-sacrificial love, expressed for each one of us, is made abundantly clear.

God's blessings to you all on this Good Friday.

Today's post can also be viewed on the Pope Benedict XVI Blog.

As to making Christian films, we can learn much from nonbelievers

2006-03-03T19:55:00.000-05:00

WHY DO HEATHENS MAKE THE BEST CHRISTIAN FILMS?

Most films that successfully incorporate Christian themes are made by non-Christians. Thom Parham explains why in this essay from the new book, 'Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture.'

By Thom Parham

[Editor's Note: To read GodSpy's interview with Barbara Nicolosi, co-editor of Behind the Screen, click here.]

Places in the Heart is a film about Edna Spalding (Sally Field), a young woman who tries to save her farm from foreclosure after her husband dies. During the course of the film, Edna assembles a surrogate family around her, consisting of Moze, a black sharecropper (Danny Glover); Mr. Will, a blind boarder (John Malkovich); and her precocious children, Frank and Possum (Yankon Hatten and Gennie James). Near the end of the movie, the Klu Klux Klan runs Moze out of town. In the final scene, the townspeople gather at church, where a stirring rendition of "Blessed Assurance" is followed by a reading of 1 Corinthians 13:1-8:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and all knowledge but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and have not love, it profit me nothing. Love is patient, kind. Love is not jealous or boastful. Love never ends.

The choir then sings "I Come to the Garden Alone" as the communion elements are passed. Philandering husband (Ed Harris) is the first to partake, followed by his forgiving wife (Lindsay Crouse) and their daughter. The camera pans across various congregants, including an evil banker (Lane Smith) who tried to foreclose on Edna's farm, and band members from a previous night's shindig. Then, oddly, the camera continues to pan, revealing a couple who died trying to escape from a tornado, some of the Klansmen, and Moze. Panning past Mr. Will, Possum, Frank, and Edna, the camera finally rests on Edna's late husband, Royce (Ray Baker), and Wylie (DeVoreaux White), the black youth who accidentally shot him and was in turn lynched.

At this point, we realize there's much more going on in Places in the Heart than what's on the surface. The film is a metaphor for the kingdom of God, and the final scene tells us that God's grace is available to all who accept it—white or black, young or old, good or evil, living or dead.

Secular filmmakers tend to observe life more objectively than Christians. They see the world the way it really is, warts and all.
Writer/director Robert Benton is not an evangelical Christian. Yet, his film incorporates "Christian themes" with more subtlety, artistry, and depth than the majority of films being made by professed Christians. It is not the only one. In fact, most films that successfully incorporate religious themes are made by nonreligious people.

Here are some of the better films with Christian messages or themes from the past few decades:

Chariots of Fire (1981)
Tender Mercies (1983)
Places in the Heart (1984)
Hoosiers (1986)
The Mission (1986)
Grand Canyon (1992)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Dead Man Walking (1996)
The Apostle (1998)
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
The Iron Giant (1999)
Magnolia (2000)
Signs (2002)
Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie (2002)
About Schmidt (2002)
Changing Lanes (2002)
In America (2002)
Bruce Almighty (2003)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)

All of these films were critically acclaimed and/or box office hits. But with the exception of Jonah, Bruce Almighty, and The Passion, none were made by Christian filmmakers. Christians, however, did make these films:

Gospa (1995)
Entertaining Angels (1996)
The Omega Code (1999)
The Joyriders (1999)
Left Behind.. The Movie (2000)
Carman: The Champion (2001)
Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001)
Mercy Streets (2001)
To End All Wars (2001)
Hometown Legend (2002)
Joshua (2002)
Left Behind II:' Tribulation Force (2002)
Luther (2003)
Finding Home (2003)
Therese (2004)

'If you want to send a message, try Western Union,' said Frank Capra, a Christian who made hugely popular mainstream films.
Overall, these films are unwatchable. There are only a handful of good scenes among them. None had success with critics or at the box office. (What does it say about Christian filmmakers that one of their best-received movies features computer-generated vegetables who sing and dance?)

If Christians want to make successful films that incorporate their worldview, why not learn from those who are already doing it-non-Christians. So let's ask: why are the best Christian films being made by secular filmmakers?
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Christian organizations call Comedy Central to pull Denis Leary's anti-Christmas TV Special

2005-12-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

Dennis Leary TV Special Lacks Laughs, Exemplifies Media's Blatant Anti-Christian Bias

National Pro-Life Action Center joins Catholic League Call for Comedy Central to Pull Future Airings of Malicious Performance

To: National Desk

Contact: Joe Giganti, 703-928-9695, Joe@VeritasMediaGroup.com

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /Christian Wire Service/ -- The National Pro-Life Action Center (NPLAC)--the uncompromising voice of pro-life America on Capitol Hill--is outraged by Comedy Central's airing of and planned repeat showings of the patently offensive, Dennis Leary's "Merry F#%$in' Christmas." "With the airing of this so-called comedy show, another front has been opened on the war against the Christian faith and its holy observances," said Paul Chaim Schenck, director of NPLAC.

Among the more offensive comments in Leary's show is when he offers that the Christmas holiday is built on ". . . a bunch of bullsh**t," because he believes the real reason the Virgin Mary became pregnant with Jesus was because someone ". . . banged the hell out of his mom."
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Catholic League
November 29, 2005

DENIS LEARY’S SICK IDEA OF HUMOR

Tonight, Comedy Central will air a special by Denis Leary, “Merry F#%$in’ Christmas” (it first aired two nights ago and is scheduled to air again on Dec. 17). The show consists of several skits, a cartoon and musical performances.

There is a skit about lesbian nuns, and a song by “Our Lady of Perpetual Suffering Church Choir” about a hooker. But by far the most offensive part of the show is the monologue by Denis Leary on the origins of Christmas. Here is part of what he says:

“Merry Christmas. Tonight we celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus, whose mom, Mary, just happens to be a virgin—even after she apparently gave birth to Jesus. At least that is what the Catholic Church would have you believe.
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Mel Gibson to tackle mini-series on Holocaust

2005-12-08T19:03:00.000-05:00

NewsMax.com
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005 9:30 p.m. EST

Mel Gibson Plans TV Miniseries on Holocaust

You can say this about Mel Gibson: He isn't afraid to tackle sensitive topics.

The actor, who defied the odds with the blockbuster success of his film "The Passion of the Christ," is turning his attention to the Holocaust.

According to the New York Times, Gibson's television production company is developing a four-hour nonfiction miniseries for ABC based on the life of Flory A. Van Beek, a Dutch Jew whose gentile neighbors hid her from the Nazis but who lost several relatives in concentration camps.
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Mel Gibson planning Holocaust miniseries

Thursday, December 8, 2005; Posted: 9:48 a.m. EST (14:48 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Mel Gibson is stirring passions again with his latest project -- a nonfiction TV movie set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.

Gibson's Con Artist Productions is developing "Flory" for ABC, based on the true story of a Dutch Jew named Flory Van Beek and her non-Jewish boyfriend who sheltered her from the Nazis, The New York Times and Variety reported in Wednesday editions.
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Gibson plans Holocaust mini-series

By David M. Halbfinger
The New York Times

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2005

LOS ANGELES Mel Gibson, whose "The Passion of the Christ" was criticized by some as anti-Semitic - and whose father has said that the Holocaust did not happen - is developing a nonfiction mini-series about the Holocaust.

Gibson's television production company will base the four-hour miniseries for ABC on the self-published memoir of Flory Van Beek, a Dutch Jew whose gentile neighbors hid her from the Nazis but who lost several relatives in the concentration camps.

The project is in its early stages, so there is no guarantee that it will be completed. Gibson is not expected to act in the mini-series, nor is it certain that his name, rather than his company's, will be publicly attached to the final product, according to several people involved in developing it. But Quinn Taylor, ABC's senior vice president for movies for television, acknowledged that the attention-getting value of having Gibson attached to a Holocaust project was a factor.

"Controversy's publicity, and vice versa," Taylor said.

Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, has repeatedly denied that the Holocaust happened. Before the release of "The Passion of the Christ," Hutton Gibson said that accounts of the Holocaust were mostly "fiction" and asserted that there were more Jews in Europe after World War II than before.
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Swamp the ACLU, the Grinch who stole Christmas, with "Merry Christmas" cards

2005-12-05T00:45:00.000-05:00

With the ACLU acting like the Grinch who stole Christmas, WMCA radio host Kevin McCullough's Christmas card campaign intends to take back Christmas from these Scrooges by burying them in an avalanche of Christmas cards that express our joy at Jesus' birth.

Let's marshall our forces and overwhelm the ACLU with the love of Christ, by:

Tracking the events of the coalition at McCullough's MuscleHead Revolution blog page;

Following details of the campaign as well at McCullough's WorldNetDaily syndicated column; and,

Sending out those "Merry Christmas" cards!

See also my other posts:

"Help disarm the ACLU with Christ's love; send "Merry Christmas" cards to its national office," in the "Pope Benedict XVI Blog," my blog on the Pope and the Vatican.

"Merry Christmas, ACLU"; join WMCA radio host Kevin McCullough's Christmas card campaign," in "Come with me to Golgotha...," my blog on prayer and the inner life.

CBS miniseries on Pope John Paul II starts tonight 9 p.m. EST

2005-12-04T09:03:00.000-05:00

Miniseries on John Paul II starts tonight
DOUGLAS DURDEN
POINT OF VIEW

Dec 4, 2005

More, in the case of CBS' "Pope John Paul II," isn't necessarily better.

The miniseries, which airs tonight and Wednesday, is the second TV drama about the late pope to air within four days. The second to trace his days from aspiring young actor to religious leader. The second to emphasize his world view and Polish heart.

ABC's "Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II" has the longer title but half the length. It aired Thursday, scheduled after CBS announced the airdates for its miniseries.

Dueling TV productions are unusual but not unheard of.
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Christian ministries promote "The Chronicles of Narnia"

2005-11-17T18:39:00.000-05:00

As "The Chronicles of Narnia" is about to be screened nationwide on December 9th, several Christian ministries are promoting the movie.

An initiative from Catholic Outreach called Narnia Outreach and two from CBN. As CBN describes in a ministry e-mail:

Travel to Narnia with CBN.com. C. S. Lewis's beloved masterpiece, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is scheduled to hit theaters December 9, and we have all the behind-the-scenes stories to help you make the most of this historic film debut.

Visit CBN.com's special Narnia page for the latest news, interviews, features, book excerpts, reviews, and much more!

Plus...get acquainted with the famous author of the Chronicles of Narnia by entering CBN.com's C. S. Lewis Giveaway. Prizes include books and a documentary on the life of C. S. Lewis. The contest ends on Tuesday, November 22, at midnight (EST). Winners will be randomly drawn and posted on CBN's special Chronicles of Narnia page.

How strongly should Christian promoters back Hollywood family-friendly movies?

2005-11-17T18:06:00.000-05:00

My thoughts on the matter? Very strongly. The job of Christian promoters and publicists is to aggressively promote their product in the marketplace. How else are Christians going to effectively influence and take back an already extremely secular, post-Christian pop culture?

Is the Church Being Used by Hollywood? Catholic Group Organizes National Outreach Effort Around Disney Movie

To: National DeskContact: Christine Schicker, 404-610-8871, cschicker@maximusmg.com; Lisa Wheeler, 404-519-1987, lisaw@catholicoutreach.com, both of Maximus Media Group

ENCINITAS, Calif., Nov. 17 /Christian Wire Service/ -- A leading Catholic outreach organization is responding to criticisms that the Church is being used by Hollywood by offering resources to fuel evangelism. In the weeks before the theatrical release of CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Christian leaders have entered into a hot debate regarding how strongly Christian marketers should back Hollywood films. Spurred partly by the marketing success of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, an aggressive network of Christian promoters and publicists have banded together to turn family-friendly movies into savvy evangelization campaigns. But, some claim these efforts are too closely tied to promotional dollars.
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Blogging for God; Christians in the Blogosphere score their 1st convention

2005-11-12T20:14:00.000-05:00

The first God Blog Convention, 2005, was held at Biola University in La Mirada, California from Oct. 13-15:

Bloggers Seek to Mix Faith and the Internet

Thursday, October 13, 2005

By Greg Simmons

WASHINGTON — When Johann Gutenberg's printing press began churning out Bibles in the 15th century, the new technology helped usher in a new era of religion in Europe.

Nearly 600 years later, some think that increasingly popular Web logs — the Internet's version of personal journals, pamphleteering and issue forums all wrapped in one — combined with traditional religious beliefs could once again take people on a new, uncharted course.

In what appears to be a first of its kind, a small evangelical Christian college in Southern California on Thursday will open the God Blog Convention, a conference on Christian blogging.
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SoCal university hosts nation's first 'God blogging' conference

By Gillian Flaccus
ASSOCIATED PRESS
10:28 a.m. October 15, 2005

LA MIRADA – What would Jesus blog?

That and other pressing questions drew dozens of Christians to a Southern California university this weekend for what was billed as the first-ever national conference for "God bloggers," a growing community of online writers who exchange information and analyze current events from a Christian perspective.

The three-day conference at Biola University marked an important organizational benchmark for Christian bloggers, who have worked behind the scenes for several years to spread the Gospel and infuse politics with religion. It was the first time many of the 135 bloggers met face-to-face, and organizers took the opportunity to address sometimes controversial questions surrounding the future of the Christian blogosphere.
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Weigel's new book, "God's choice," reflects on month of JPII's death and Benedict's election

2005-11-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

In New Book George Weigel wishes to ‘recapture the remarkable spiritual intensity of April 2005’

Washington DC, Nov. 08, 2005 (CNA) - George Weigel, Catholic columnist and famous biographer of John Paul II, shared with CNA, on the papal transition, and the challenges Pope Benedict will face in the coming years, on the occasion of the release of his new book “God’s choice.” He is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Your book is written deliberately too early to provide any historical report of the current Pontificate, what is the intention of the book?

I’m trying to do several things in “God’s Choice:” to recapture the remarkable spiritual intensity of April 2005, the month of John Paul’s death and Benedict’s election; to paint a portrait of the world Church at the end of John Paul’s remarkable pontificate; to tell the story of the conclave, how its lightning-swift conclusion was reached and what that means; to offer a mini-biography of the new pope; and to suggest what might some of the great issues to which Benedict XVI will turn his hand.

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Anne Rice writes new novel about Jesus as 7-year-old called "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt"

2005-11-09T09:16:00.000-05:00

CNN.com

Anne Rice turns to Jesus
'Vampire Chronicles' author returns to faith, writes new book

Tuesday, November 8, 2005; Posted: 5:01 a.m. EST (10:01 GMT)

(AP) -- After stupendous sales for her tales of vampires, witches and lust, novelist Anne Rice has turned to Jesus -- personally and literarily.

Her innovative new novel "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt" (Knopf) depicts Jesus as a 7-year-old lad, speaking in his own words as the holy family moves from Egyptian exile to Nazareth.

"What did it feel like to be God and man as a child?" Rice asked herself. Oddly, the question carries an echo of her first supernatural thriller three decades ago, which explored a vampire's first-person perspective.

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4-hour A&E mini-series on Lourdes is in production

2005-11-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

New York Post

LOURDES TO HEAL CABLE TV MISERY

November 7, 2005 -- IT'S a miracle!

A four-hour miniseries on Lourdes — the French shrine-town famous for its mysterious ability to cure disease and infirmity— is about to go into production.

A&E, the cable channel, is underwriting the project.

"Lourdes" will follow the true story of a terminally ill surgeon who is healed after taking the waters at Lourdes. The doctor returns later to investigate the miraculous power of the site.

The series' producer, Paul Lussier, who also did ABC's "Blackout," has been granted access to the Lourdes archives.

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6 experts are available for comment on C.S. Lewis' "world of Narnia," in wake of new film

2005-11-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

Author-Experts on C.S. Lewis -- the Renowned Creator of The Chronicles of Narnia -- Available for Comment on Latest Disney Film

To: National Desk

Contact: Christine Valentine-Owsik of Valentine Communications for Ignatius Press, 215-230-8095, valencom@aol.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7 /Christian Wire Service/ -- To help audiences understand C.S. Lewis, the celebrated 20th-century author behind Disney's upcoming "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" movie – Ignatius Press offers six top author-experts on the author and his writings. These articulate, entertaining, and renowned authors and scholars know C.S. Lewis and his fascinating world of Narnia inside and out.

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Hollywood reaches out to Christians

2005-11-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

Hollywood Finds Religion
New Movies Reach Out to Christian Audiences

HOLLYWOOD, California, NOV. 5, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Hollywood has found a new audience: Christians. Dec. 9 will see the premiere of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," based on the C.S. Lewis book of the same title.

The market for religious-oriented media always existed. But the success of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" made a lot of people in Hollywood sit up and take note of the commercial opportunities they had been disdaining.

Plans to make a film, or a series of films, based on the Narnia series had languished in Hollywood for over a decade, the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper reported Sept. 8. Disney gave the green light to the project one week after "The Passion" opened in February 2004.

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"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to open Dec. 9

2005-11-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

The Stepson, the Billionaire and the Walt Disney Co.

By LORNE MANLY
Published: November 6, 2005

AT the beginning of 2001, Perry Moore embarked on a forbidding quest. Mr. Moore, an executive with an untested movie company called Walden Media, dispatched an impassioned letter to the chief executive of the C. S. Lewis Company, seeking movie rights to the much-loved "Chronicles of Narnia" fantasy novels.

He vowed that Walden would be able to accomplish what one of the most prolific and successful producing teams in Hollywood - Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall of "Jurassic Park" fame - had already failed to do: turn "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the first book published in the series, into a movie. Over the previous seven years, in a time before "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" had shown the profit potential in family-friendly sorcery epics, every major studio in town had turned down the project, some even twice.

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Vatican to organize congress about Catholic television

2005-10-27T09:26:00.000-04:00

Vatican Organizing a Congress on Catholic TV
To Promote Collaboration and Intercommunication

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 25, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See is organizing an international congress geared toward those working in the field of Catholic television.

Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, confirmed the news today.

The U.S. prelate said the event will have "much more to do than study the history of the Church's involvement in television, which -- unfortunately -- has been all too limited." No dates have been set for the event.

The congress, he added, will have to answer several questions.

"First, it would help all of us to know about one another -- to exchange our experiences and also to see if we can exchange our productions," the prelate said.

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Can films be cursed; are there Hollywood hexes?

2005-10-26T06:08:00.000-04:00

Sunday Herald

Curse Of The Omen ... and other Hollywood Hexes

From The Omen to The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby there are tales of fatal accidents, devil worship, doomed planes and car crashes … Barry Didcock looks at some of the most cursed films of all time and finds a Poltergeist-style gumbo of death, disaster and hard-to-explain events. Is this a trail of satanic hexes, or do we just want to believe?

late night, an empty road, a car. A man and a woman speed towards a head-on collision which will kill one of them and burn an unforgettable image into the mind of the other.

It sounds like the pitch for a movie but, while film is at the heart of it, this story is very real indeed. The place is Holland, the year 1976, the date August 13 – a Friday, as bad luck would have it. The man is designer John Richardson, currently working on Richard Attenborough’s second world war epic, A Bridge Too Far, but most recently employed as special effects consultant on supernatural chiller The Omen. The woman is Liz Moore, his assistant. In a few moments she’ll be dead, cut in half when the car’s front wheel slices through the chassis and into the passenger seat. Richardson will survive to tell the tale – and quite a story it is too.

Less than a year earlier, he had masterminded the parade of gruesome deaths which had made The Omen a box office smash, among them the decapitation of a photographer played by David Warner. And, like everyone else who had worked on the film – including stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick – he was well aware of the whispers and rumours which had surrounded its filming. There had been talk of a hex, a curse, a hoodoo.

Did he believe it? Not then, perhaps. But as he came to in the minutes after the crash, he saw something that must have chilled him to the bone: his passenger, dead from injuries which bore an uncanny resemblance to the ones he had prepared for Warner. And a road sign marking the distance to an otherwise insignificant Dutch town. It read: Ommen, 66.6 km.

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"Preventing Abuse Conference" to be held on Nov. 9 in L.A.; focuses on human trafficking

2005-10-25T09:56:00.000-04:00

Media Availability on Human Trafficking and Child Abduction; Group Commends Lifetime Miniseries and Announces Preventing Abuse Conference

To: National Desk

Contact: Tony Nassif, president and founder of the Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation, 818-848-7522, tnassif@cedarsfoundation.com

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25, /Christian Wire Service/ -- Tony Nassif, president and founder of the Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation, commends Lifetime Television network for producing and broadcast a miniseries entitled HUMAN TRAFFICKING bringing light on a devastating evil.

Human trafficking (modern day slavery) is the third largest money maker next to gun running and drugs. It is modern day slavery, selling women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. Human trafficking of women and children happens right here in America! Human trafficking even threatens our national security.

On Wednesday, November 9, 2005 (8:45 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.) Tony Nassif, president of the Cedars Cultural and Educational Foundation will host THE PREVENTING ABUSE CONFERENCE on human trafficking and child abduction at The Westin/Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, CA. Registration is available by email at conference@cedarsfoundation.com.

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2nd annual "National Media Prayer Breakfast" to be held in L.A. on Nov 4

2005-10-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

PRAYER BREAKFAST FOR HOLLYWOOD'S ELITE IN L.A. ON NOV 4TH
2nd Annual “National Media Prayer Breakfast” Mobilizes Spiritual Support for Hollywood

Anne P. Sharp
Sharp Concepts
Phone/Fax: (818) 994-2309
Mobile: (818) 720-3825
Email: anne@annesharp.com
Web: www.annesharp.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEHOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- On November 4th, Hollywood celebrities, top producers, directors and executives will be joined by people from across the nation at the 2nd Annual “National Media Prayer Breakfast,” to mobilize spiritual support for the 700 most powerful media professionals in the world.

The words “prayer” and “Hollywood” are not often seen in the same sentence, but prayer for Hollywood’s leaders will definitely be on the minds of attendees of the 2nd Annual National Media Prayer Breakfast in Los Angeles, California in a few weeks. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend, joining celebrities, top producers, directors and decision-makers to pray for the 700 most powerful and influential media professionals in the world.

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Old books and movies: created in a culture that was permeated with a Christian worldview

2005-10-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Catholic News Agency
Columns

GOOD BOOKS
By Joseph E. Rendini

Old Books, Old Movies

Rather than a book, I am going to discuss some old feature films in this column. Most of these films are based upon novels or short stories so, while it is a stretch, I can just barely classify them as literature. Some of them are available on DVD; virtually all of them are shown from time-to-time on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel. They are all worth watching.

No one needs to be reminded that today’s Hollywood movies lack Christian content. But there was a time not so long ago when the Christian worldview so permeated American society that it even popped up in the movies. And not merely in overtly Christian religious films, such as The King of Kings (1927), The Song of Bernadette (1944), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952), The Ten Commandments (1956) or Ben-Hur (1959). The Christian understanding of life and death, love and marriage, sin, forgiveness and redemption peeked through some purely secular films, from the memorable to the relatively obscure and now forgotten. So, rather than moan about what today’s popular films fail to do, let us learn from what yesterday’s succeeded in doing, sometimes unconsciously or even despite themselves, in the hope that what has happened before can, God-willing, happen again.

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Lifetime TV movie "Human Trafficking" is "accurate portrayal of sex slavery" say experts

2005-10-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Representative Chris Smith Gives House of Representatives Speech Announcing Lifetime TV Movie on 'Human Trafficking'

To: National Desk

Contact: Brad Dayspring for the office of Congressman Chris Smith, 202-225-3765

WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /Christian Wire Service/ -- The following text is of remarks by Representative Chris Smith to the House of Representatives announcing a Lifetime TV movie on human trafficking:

[Begin Congressional Record Statement]

ANNOUNCING PREMIER OF "HUMAN TRAFFICKING" ON LIFETIME TV NETWORK --

"Do you think it is possible when you have lost your humanity to ever find it again?"

So asks Helena, a fictitious but all too real human trafficking victim from Prague after describing how she was raped and abused to ICE law enforcement agent Kate Morozov, played brilliantly by Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino in Lifetime TV Network's mini series Human Trafficking, to be aired next week.

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Are we redeeming media?: Study shows PG-13 movies of today resemble R-rated of 1992

2005-10-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

Tuesday October 11, 2005

PG-13 Movies of Today Resemble R-Rated of 1992: Study

CAMBRIDGE, Mass, October 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Harvard study has concluded that the sexual content of modern movies has become far more explicit than even 13 years ago – to the degree that a movie rated PG-13 today would have garnered an R-rating in 1992.

The researchers concluded that “the MPAA [Motion Picture Association of America] applied less stringency in its age-based ratings over time for the period of 1992-2003.” In other words, as time went on, a PG rating became more and more meaningless, and was no guarantee that the film was free of the graphic sexual imagery that parents would not normally be comfortable allowing a 13-year-old to watch.

In the same period since 1992, a similar study found that G-rated movies had become eleven times more profitable than their R-rated counterparts. Since 1968, 60 percent of all movies made have been given an R-rating, whereas only 3 of the top 25 movies of all time were R-rated movies, according to a four-year study conducted by the Dove Foundation. The Dove Foundation awards a blue and white Dove Seal to any movie or video that is rated “family-friendly” by its film review board.

A separate study examining the top 200 movies of all time revealed that the consequences of so-called casual sex as depicted in movies, such as unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, was never portrayed in the movies.

See the BBC coverage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4294476.stm

tv

Soon-to-be released courtroom thriller "A Distant Thunder" exposes partial birth abortion

2005-10-12T14:55:00.000-04:00

Tuesday October 11, 2005

Hollywood Created Film Exposes Partial Birth Abortion Via Courtroom Thriller

LOS ANGELES, October 11, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A soon-to-be released motion picture about the partial birth abortion debate is already attracting comment says its creator. A Distant Thunder is an independent 35-minute film created by Jonathan Flora, a writer and director who works for Disney.

“A Distant Thunder… is a supernatural, courtroom thriller that ... is generating awareness and dialogue about a topic surrounded by a great deal of misinformation and controversy,” said Flores.

In an online interview, Flora said, “This project is not the norm for Hollywood. It has a very specific viewpoint and it goes against the current flow of what we hear Hollywood saying...I’m amazed at how many people have no idea what partial birth abortion is.”

more...

Keep it clean!---FCC adds Web site to field complaints about indecent TV and radio

2005-10-10T18:09:00.000-04:00

FCC adds Web site to field complaints

The Associated Press
Oct 8, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications Commission has started a Web site, www.fcc.gov/eb/oip, to make it easier for people to file complaints about indecent programming on television and radio.

Penny Nance, a special adviser in the agency's office of strategic planning, said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wanted to clear up confusion for consumers about how to file a complaint. With the new site, Nance said, "the American public can let their voices be heard with the click of a mouse."

The site explains that a recording or word-for-word transcript of the program is not necessary to file a complaint -- something Nance says too many consumers were confused about.

Under FCC rules and federal law, radio stations and over-the-air television channels cannot air obscene material at any time, and they cannot air indecent material between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The rules do not apply to cable or satellite programs.

Two TV biopics of Pope John Paul II in the works

2005-09-28T17:28:00.000-04:00

The New York Times

Two Visions of the Man Who Would Become Pope

By ALAN RIDING
Published: September 28, 2005

ROME - Pope John Paul II's enduring charisma found unlikely expression here one recent afternoon. At the end of a day's filming of a new television movie about his life, Italian and Latin American extras rushed to be photographed beside the gray-haired man in papal gowns. That he happened to be Jon Voight seemed secondary. For the extras, this was as close as they would ever get to John Paul.

Mr. Voight, who at 66 persuasively evokes the older John Paul, is growing used to such reactions. After he spoke a few words about "the dignity of man" in Spanish while re-enacting John Paul's first visit to Mexico, the extras burst into spontaneous applause. And on the previous day, when the 1981 attempt on the pope's life was filmed, some of the extras burst into tears at the sight of the "wounded" pontiff.

For the movie's producers, all this is reassuring. It means that, even after the media extravaganza that accompanied John Paul's protracted death and monumental funeral, even after the pomp and ceremony of the election and installation of Benedict XVI as his successor, there may well be an audience for one more biopic retelling the story of the first Polish pontiff.

But how about two?

As it happens, two American television networks - ABC and CBS - had the same idea about the same time. Both movies are planned for this season, although no broadcast dates have yet been announced. ABC's "Have No Fear: The Life of John Paul II" will run two hours; CBS's mini-series version, with Mr. Voight, has the working title of "Pope John Paul II" and will run four hours over two evenings.

more...

Kairos Prize: first-time screenwriters' contest; seeks uplifting scripts acknowledging God

2005-09-22T18:50:00.000-04:00

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA Visit our web site at: http://www.assistnews.net/ -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Thursday, September 22, 2005

A WORD TO THE WISE: A NEW $50,000 SCRIPT CONTEST SEEKS ENTRIES BY FIRST-TIME WRITERS OF RELIGIOUS FILMS ACKNOWLEDGING GOD
A Unique Opportunity to Break into the Big Time; Winners Guaranteed Access to Top Hollywood Executives at March Awards Show

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LOS ANGELES, CA (ANS) -- First-time screenwriters with a compelling religious message will have a chance to break into the big time and get their scripts noticed by top Hollywood executives in the First Bi-Annual John Templeton Foundation Kairos Prize for Spiritually Uplifting Screenplays, as announced today by the Templeton Foundation and the Christian Film & Television Commission™.

Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the "right or opportune moment". And for many up-and-coming script writers, this will be the “right” and “opportune” moment to make a difference in Hollywood with their new and fresh story-telling skills.

more...

Christian pop singer Amy Grant to air on NBC

2005-09-19T19:45:00.000-04:00

Newsmax.com

Saturday, Sept. 17, 2005 1:56 p.m. EDT

NBC to Air Christian Show

An upcoming TV series featuring Christian pop singer Amy Grant will make its debut next Friday, and NBC is pulling out all the stops to promote it.

In "Three Wishes," Amy Grant will visit a different town every week, where, in a gesture of Christian charity, she will seek to fulfill the wishes of needy families and community groups, according to the New York Times.

The show, which Amy Grant describes as "faith in action," is being heavily promoted by NBC, which, the Times reports, has sent more than 7,000 DVDs of the show's first episode to ministers and other clergy members, along with a recorded message to their congregants from Amy Grant.

more...

"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" explores questions about evil and the nature of God

2005-09-15T13:49:00.000-04:00

In this excellent review, John Zmirak praises "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" for not giving (or even attempting to give) pat answers to such age-old questions as "What is the nature of God and the nature of evil?" In answering such questions, he applauds the film for presenting in a fair and even-handed way, "forensically the clash between contemporary scientific humanism and spiritual warfare." High praise indeed. Not many films can successfully or entertainingly even broach such topics let alone present them, as he says, "impartially, with men of each tradition speaking cogently and persuasively for their points of view--including the priest."

WHAT HAPPENED TO EMILY?

'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' is a well-crafted, creepy film that explores profound questions about the nature of God. Does He exist? Do you really want to know?

By John Zmirak

Looking for a feel-good movie this weekend? Something for grown-ups that addresses the everyday crises and disappointments of life, but ends with a warm, suffusing sense that all is well, and every problem, if honestly faced by a genuinely good-looking protagonist, can be solved within 120 minutes? Then this is not the movie for you. Go see Wedding Crashers instead.

The film raises and addresses profound questions about the nature of evil but doesn’t pretend to answer them. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the kind of movie that disturbs while it entertains. The film depicts (employing poetic license) the by six demons and was approved for exorcism by her local diocese. The was protracted, horrific, and futile. She died of malnutrition, and the priest in charge was prosecuted for criminal neglect.

The film is a courtroom drama centered on the trial, suffused with flashbacks to apparently , and profoundly disturbing events. The protagonist is the priest's lawyer (played by the ever-brilliant Laura Linney), a cynical agnostic driven by ambition, hired by a shame-faced diocese to hush the whole thing up. But the priest (portrayed by the compelling Tom Wilkinson), refuses to cop a plea—insisting that he must take the stand and "tell Emily Rose's story. That's what she wanted." The prosecutor, a dour Protestant (played with silk and steel rectitude by Campbell Scott), brings an army of expert witnesses to try to prove that Emily had a diagnosed, treatable psychiatric condition—""—which the priest culpably ignored in favor of exorcism. Thus the film presents forensically the clash between contemporary scientific humanism and . The contest is presented impartially, with men of each tradition speaking cogently and persuasively for their points of view—including the priest. As the director said, "It really was one of my goals to present a Catholic priest as a character with dignity and respect. I think Catholics and priests are such easy fodder for stereotype and vilification. I wanted to create character you couldn't help but respect for his passion and integrity."

more...

Spiritual discernment is increasing necessity as TV shows deal more with supernatural themes

2005-09-12T13:52:00.000-04:00

Raiders News Service

Prof: TV Shows May Tune Our Beliefs in Supernatural

Newswise — Americans' interest in the supernatural is only natural, but a Purdue University mass media expert says television programs - including some in this fall's lineup - may influence what people believe about the paranormal.

"This is a great form of entertainment, but it can be harmful when people are unable to sort out what is real and what isn't," says Glenn Sparks, professor of communication who studies the effects supernatural television shows have on the way people believe and accept the supernatural. "For example, watching these shows could encourage people who can least afford it to start spending money on psychics.

"Also, teenagers' belief systems are still forming, so they are more susceptible to being influenced by these shows. Parents should talk to their children about what they are watching, and the networks should consider posting disclaimers about the reality of the shows."

more...

Act One: helping Christian screenwriters master the craft

2005-09-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 29, 2005

The World on Act One

Here is yet another two-piece article on Act One, and specifically the book we have coming out. This one is from the Christian magazine World. Some new quotes in there from the usual collection of Christian Hollywood suspects: Karen Covell, Ralph Winter, Scott Derrickson, Leo Partible, etc.

Here's the snip in the first part with me in it...

But why would a Christian want to work in the film industry? The people WORLD talked to and the contributors to Behind the Screen exhibit particular talents that they see as gifts of God. They see their work as a Christian vocation.

That Christians are needed in Hollywood should be self-evident. The media world is at the heart of contemporary culture, shaping the imagination and the moral sensibilities not only of America but the whole world.

But in Hollywood overnight success is the exception, not the rule. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ set box-office records yet came about, as Ms. Nicolosi points out, after 30 years of experience in the movie industry for Mr. Gibson, a decade after winning an Oscar for Braveheart, 15 years after his conversion, and after 10 years of creative struggle. "There will be no other Passions," she said, "without other Mel Gibsons to bring them along."

This is why Act One is dedicated to helping Christians first master the craft. Ms. Nicolosi calls for more "happy, well-catechized believers in the entertainment industry." But she emphasized that "Christians in entertainment don't have to be always talking about God. They should be talking about everything in a godly way."

The second half of the article can be found here.

Hollywood: you can't lose with family friendly films

2005-09-03T18:04:00.000-04:00

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126

August 29, 2005

FAMILY FILMS DOMINATE INTERNATIONAL BOX OFFICE; HOLLYWOOD SURPRISED, BUT MOVIEGUIDE® IS NOT

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) (ANS) -- Hollywood executives are scratching their heads, Daily Variety reported on 08/02/05.

A pair of slow-rolling family movies, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and MADAGASCAR, have been beating out lackluster action movies at the international box office, which, along with DVD sales, has become one of the few economic bright spots for Hollywood in the past two years.

Studio execs may be surprised but Ted Baehr, the entertainment maven at MOVIEGUIDE®, the family guide to movies, is not.

more...

How will Hollywood be redeemed? -- one prayer at a time

2005-08-29T07:52:00.000-04:00

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126

Sunday, August 28, 2005

MORE MINISTRIES GATHER TO PRAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

Ted Baehr

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) (ANS) -- Year after year, more ministries realize the strategic importance of the entertainment industry, and they make the wise spiritual decision to pray for Hollywood and the mass media of entertainment. The Hollywood Prayer Network and several other important ministries exist just to pray for the entertainment industry. Yearly convocations and gala events are being held to prayerfully support those who work in the mass media of entertainment. As a result, Hollywood is changing, as every major movie studio is in the midst of producing movies and entertainment with strong Christian content.

However, there is still a far distance to go to redeem the mass media of entertainment. This summer has seen the release of some truly horrible movies in terms of both quality and content, including THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, WEDDING CRASHERS, and LAND OF THE DEAD.

Therefore, it was a great joy recently to join with two dozen ministries from across the country, and some as far away as Israel and Jordan, who came to the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. for three days to pray for the Hollywood entertainment industry.

more...

TV series on life of parish priests, "Feed My Sheep," to air on Boston Catholic Television

2005-08-27T00:28:00.000-04:00

New TV series features life of parish priests

Boston, Aug. 26, 2005 (CNA) - A new television series about the joys and challenges of the priesthood, based on the experience of 12 Boston-area priests, is set to launch the fall line-up on Boston Catholic Television (BCTV) next month.

"Feed My Sheep" features priests at different stages in their ministry. Some are recently ordained, others are long-time priests, still others are nearing retirement. Some priests will share their experience ministering in the city, while others will reflect on their suburban parish experience.

The program includes the question-and-answer format. BCTV's director, Fr. Robert Reed, asked the priests 12 questions on the station’s “Daily Mass” chapel set.

"Feed My Sheep" will run from Sept. 6 through February. It will air weekly on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., Thursdays at 6 p.m., Fridays at 11:30 a.m., Saturdays at 9 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m.

JPII and Benedict XVI gave thumbs up to 'popedocumentary,' "The Man Who Became Pope"

2005-08-26T09:21:00.000-04:00

A hat tip to St. Peter's Helpers for today's post:

Against the Grain

Thursday, August 25, 2005

The Man Who Became Pope

Posted by Christopher at 11:45 PM

I was going to blog about this yesterday but I see Vivificat already beat me to it. =) This past weekend I saw "A Man Who Became Pope", a dramatization of the early life of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II, and I heartily recommend it. If it's any incentive, the film was previewed by both Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II himself in a private viewing, receiving great approval:

"A Man Who Became Pope" was warmly received when screened at the Vatican's Paul VI hall on May 19. "The film presents scenes and episodes that, in their severity, awaken in the viewers an instinctive 'turning away' in horror and stimulates them to consider the abyss of iniquity that can be hidden in the human soul," said Pope Benedict XVI. "At the same time, calling to the fore such aberrations revives in every right-minded person the duty to do what he or she can so that such inhuman barbarism never happens again...I...express living gratitude to those who wanted to offer me. . . . the opportunity to view this moving film."

Vatican press spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Pope John Paul II had seen the film in its entirety in a private viewing before his death and was "very impressed" with the portrayal and "appreciated the many scenes" from that period in his life.

Those watching the film with prior knowledge of JPII's life will enjoy certain scenes (his tutoring a student in the phenomenology of Max Scheler, for example, or his reunion with his lifelong Jewish friend Jerzy Kluger, who would play an instrumental part in the Vatican's recognition of Israel). But even those for whom this is an introduction to JPII will find the plot compelling and the acting exceptional (I did not realize it until Pedro pointed it out, but one of the actors played Pontius Pilate in Gibson's Passion of the Christ).

more...

By popular demand, "A Man Who Became Pope," airs again Aug. 27 on Hallmark Channel

2005-08-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

TV movie on Pope John Paul II to air again this weekend

New York, Aug. 24, 2005 (CNA) - By popular demand, the heroic, true story of Pope John Paul II returns to television. The four-hour movie, “A Man Who Became Pope,” will air again on the Hallmark Channel Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. (ET).

The Aug. 15th U.S. premiere of the film set a weeknight audience record for the cable channel.

Filmed on location in Krakow, Poland, and in the Vatican City, the film features an international cast, including Piotr Adamczyk as Karol Wojtyla and Raul Bova as Fr. Tomasz Zaleski, Karol’s close childhood friend and a martyr to the Nazis.

more...

And, now for a little ironic twist. In 2004 during the making of the film, Pope John Paul II, a former actor, actually met and blessed the Polish actor chosen to play him:

Pope blesses actor who plays role of Karol Wojtyla in new movie

Vatican City, Nov. 16, 2004 (CNA) - Expressing his surprise upon learning of the making of a movie about his life, Pope John Paul II left the Polish actor who plays his part in the film speechless on meeting with him. The movie, entitled "Karol Wojtyla: the story of a man who became Pope," is set to be screened on Italian television early next year.

"When I learned that the Pope was going to receive me I became very emotional," said Piotr Adamczyk in an interview with the Italian magazine Sorrisi e Canzoni. "But at the same time I was very nervous because I didn’t know what to say to him."

Adamczyk said that while playing the role of the Pope he had "so many things to ask him, but when his secretary had presented me to the Holy Father, for the first time ever, I forgot my lines."

more...

Back from unexpected hospitalization; hope to resume writing of daily posts

2005-08-20T21:46:00.000-04:00

Thankfully, I'm back to writing frequent posts to this, my Christian media and screenwriting blog, and daily posts to my labor of love, the Pope Benedict XVI Blog.

Unexpectedly, on July 27, I went to see my doctor and was incapacitated in her office. She called in an EMT and I was brought by ambulance to the ER. I was just released from the hospital. Hopefully, no other such episodes will occur again.

There's nothing like a health crisis to make one appreciate the simple blessings of life.

God bless everyone!

Regardless of box office slump, Hollywood remains disconnected from moral values

2005-07-26T13:53:00.000-04:00

USA Today
Editorial/Opinion

Posted 7/25/2005 10:02 PM

Hollywood's disconnect

By Michael Medved

The standard entertainment industry reaction to Hollywood's box office slump reveals the same shallow, materialistic mindset that helped create the problem in the first place. The left-leaning thinking that dominates the movie business follows a common liberal instinct to deny the spiritual dimension to every problem, thereby profoundly compounding the difficulties.

Tinseltown's recent setbacks suggest a crisis of major proportions, with a May USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll showing 48% of adults going to movies less often than in 2000. For 19 consecutive weeks, motion picture releases earned less (despite higher ticket prices) than the year before. Projected ticket sales for all of 2005 indicate a disastrous drop of at least 8% — at a time of population growth and a generally robust economy.

USA TODAY ran a headline, "Where have all the moviegoers gone?" under which insiders discussed their desperate attempts to rebuild the shattered audience: "The lures include providing high-tech eye candy through 3-D digital projection and IMAX versions of movies. ... Stadium seating, which improves views, is just now becoming standard. Other theaters are opting for screenings that serve alcohol to patrons 21 and older."

More balance needed

Revealingly, none of the studio honchos talked about reconnecting with the public by adjusting the values conveyed by feature films, and replacing the industry's shrill liberal posturing with a more balanced ideological perspective.

more...

Mel Gibson's new film "Apocalypto" in the works

2005-07-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

WorldNetDaily
MEDIA MATTERS

Gibson's next film: 'Apocalypto'
Another self-financed effort allows creative control

Posted: July 23, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Following the monumental success of his self-financed "Passion of the Christ," Mel Gibson has a new film in the works titled "Apocalypto."

It's not a religious film, according to Daily Variety sources, but is set in an ancient civilization some 3,000 years ago.

more...

Details on John Paul II miniseries, "A Man Who Became Pope"

2005-07-22T14:57:00.000-04:00

Wednesday July 20, 2005

Nipawin Journal — New movie about life of Pope John Paul II debuts

Courtesy of Religion News Services

Before he became Pope, Karol Wojtyla’s life was a vigorous search for love and freedom.

His transformational journey led him to the theatre, to profound experiences of love, friendship and loyalty, to scholarship, to the Catholic priesthood.

And finally, it led him to Rome and the Chair of St. Peter. Karol’s heroic, true story, based on Gian Franco Svidercoschi’s book, Stories of Karol: The Unknown Life of John Paul II , comes to television in “A Man Who Became Pope,” a four-hour movie event presented by Faith & Values Media, premiering on Hallmark Channel Monday, August 15 (8/7 c).

Filmed on location in Krakow, Poland and Vatican City, the film features an international cast including Piotr Adamczyk as Karol Wojtyla; Malgorzata Bela as Hania, the woman Karol cared deeply for; Matt Craven as Nazi General Hans Frank; and Raul Bova as Father Tomasz Zaleski, Karol’s close childhood friend and a martyr to the Nazis. Giacomo Battiato directed the film and it was produced by Pietro Valsecchi.

more...

After blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," Hollywood tries to appeal to Christian market

2005-07-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

NewsMax.com

Thursday, July 21, 2005 9:40 a.m. EDT

Hollywood Finds Jesus

Following the tremendous success of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" - which took in $370 million at the domestic box office - mainstream Hollywood is adjusting to what it perceives to be a rising religiosity in America.

Directors, studio executives and marketing experts have been seeking to entice an audience that made its power felt with "Passion," according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.

"Mel Gibson did us a service," said Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist with Focus on the Family, an evangelical group.

"The Hollywood elites' eyes widened big time. They said, 'I thought the church was dead. Is it possible that we don't know what's happening in state after state.' And the answer is a resounding yes."

There are an estimated 30 million evangelical and fundamentalist Christians in the U.S., and Hollywood -- mired in a prolonged slump at the box office -- is making a concerted effort to mollify and attract that audience.

more...

VGF Film Contest to award $500 first prize for short film based on Jesus' parables

2005-07-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

As Vision Gate Film expresses in its mission statement, it "is dedicated to helping Christians everywhere create quality entertainment that will reach beyond the doors of the church. VGF is a hub for Christian talent to learn about, create and display entertainment for other believers as well as pique the interest of non-believers. VGF will do everything in its power to provide the tools, techniques and talents needed to use the media in a way that will influence people to want to know more about Jesus Christ.

As part of that mission it is presently holding its VGF Film Contest:

You've dreamed about it. You've talked about it. Now it's time for...

LIGHTS... CAMERAS... ACTION!!
We want to challenge you to create a masterpiece of storytelling, in three minutes or less, based on the parables of Jesus. He spoke in parables to His followers in order to communicate to the masses and illustrate truth. We're calling all filmmakers to do the same!

First prize is $ 500 cash!!
Use the parables of Jesus Christ (click here for a complete list) as a loose outline for your short film, in any genre, in any setting. Be creative, and have a blast doing it! This is your chance to hone your craft, win some money, and... you never know who might one day view your film, or the impact it might have!

Check out the contest information, and submit your film between July 20 and October 20, 2005.

This is your chance, Vision Gaters: change minds, change hearts... go make a movie!

John Paul II miniseries, "A Man Who Became Pope" to air August 15 on Hallmark Channel

2005-07-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Ignatius Insight Scoop

Friday, July 15, 2005

Hallmark airing "A Man Who Became Pope" in August

Hallmark Channel has paid $3 million for the rights to air the Italian-made, English-language miniseries “A Man Who Became Pope,” beginning August 15.

A NewsWire.com press release states:

A Man Who Became Pope” was warmly received when screened at the Vatican’s Paul VI hall on May 19. “The film presents scenes and episodes that, in their severity, awaken in the viewers an instinctive ‘turning away’ in horror and stimulates them to consider the abyss of iniquity that can be hidden in the human soul,” said Pope Benedict XVI. “At the same time, calling to the fore such aberrations revives in every right-minded person the duty to do what he or she can so that such inhuman barbarism never happens again…I…express living gratitude to those who wanted to offer me…the opportunity to view this moving film.”

Vatican press spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Pope John Paul II had seen the film in its entirety in a private viewing before his death and was “very impressed” with the portrayal and “appreciated the many scenes” from that period in his life.

Here is an English (Canadian) website for "A Man Who Became Pope." And here is the programming schedule for the movie.

Posted by Carl Olson on Friday, July 15, 2005 at 11:11 PM Permalink

If aliens invaded Hollywood: Weighing in on Spielberg's, "War of the Worlds"

2005-07-10T15:05:00.000-04:00

Hollywood! Always the same tired and shameless agenda. Spielberg, a man of his milieu, doesn't rise above it.

For Debra Saunders this movie actually could have been the answer to Spielberg's question, "What would happen if aliens invaded Hollywood?":

RealClearPolitics.com

July 10, 2005

Spielberg's Anti-War 'War of the Worlds'

By Debra Saunders

If there is a theme to Steven Spielberg's new alien-invasion movie, "War of the Worlds," it is not that the human spirit has the courage that justifies human survival. Or that American know-how and grit can defeat invaders, even when the situation seems impossible. No, it is more like: If aliens invade, don't fight back. Run.

No need for self-defense. Mother Nature will take care of the non- indigenous occupiers.

While set in the Northeast, Spielberg's alien war seems very much like what would happen if aliens invaded Hollywood. There would be no praying, no talk of God, no homeowners defending their homes, no posses defending their communities, no 90210 teens enlisting to defend their country.

more...

While for screenwriter and founder of Act One, Barbara Nicolosi, as expressed in a July 1 post from her blog "Church of the Masses," the movie boiled down to a myriad of unanswered questions at the first roll of the screen credits:

My first War of the Worlds inspired question had to do with the audience size itself....

** "On the second day the latest Speilberg blockbuster opens, in the theater smack in the middle of Universal Studios citywalk which is over-run with tourists, why are there only five other people in this five hundred seat theater? Hmmmmm," thought I, "poor Tom and Stephen."

The rest of my questions started flowing with the credits....

** "Why open the movie with a few frames that give away the ending? Are people that stupid not to notice? is it good for a director to think people might be that stupid?" (Why not do it more cleverly - like open on someone sneezing?)
** "Why does Ray's son hate him? Cause I, as an audience member would like to know before I decide to make Ray my hero."

** "Why are we spot-lighting this guy Ray, anyway? Except for being way too handsome, he seems to have lots of nothing as a screen character." (A suspicion borne out by the rest of the film. Note from Aristotle and Flannery: Good characters are BETTER THAN REAL people. They have to be AT LEAST as good as real people, but to be entertaining, they need to be smarter, cleverer, ingeniuser, deeper, intriguinger, resourcefuller, better-er....By the end of the film, I had to conclude that Ray hasn't survived because of his skill and brains, but just because he's lucky. Just try and build an action figure empire on THAT foundation...)

** "Why, in fifty thousand years, haven't we ever accidentally unearthed and of the thousands of tripod machines that are as big as Seattle's space needle?" (You think some oil driller somewhere would have accidentally hit titanium once or twice?)

more...

CBS miniseries on Pope John Paul II targeted to air in the fall

2005-07-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

The Seattle Times

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

TV briefs: Holm to portray pope in fall CBS miniseries

Sir Ian Holm, who played Bilbo Baggins in the big-screen "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will portray Pope John Paul II in CBS's forthcoming four-hour miniseries about the late pontiff.

"Pope John Paul II" (tentative title) will follow Karol Wojtyla from his high-school days in Poland through his death in April. The '81 assassination attempt will be included.

Holm will play Wojtyla beginning with his election to the papacy in 1978. No casting yet for the younger pope-to-be.

The miniseries, to be shot in Italy and Poland, is targeted to air in November. Historians at the Vatican were consulted on the script and the producers have been granted access to St. Peter's Square.

"Passion of the Christ" soundtrack extended into symphony; world premiere in Rome

2005-07-05T14:02:00.000-04:00

John Debney on a Soundtrack-Turned-Symphony

ROME, JULY 4, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The composer of the soundtrack for film "The Passion of the Christ" has extended his original work into a symphony.

John Debney will conduct a world premiere of the symphony in Rome this Wednesday. He arrived here Friday for rehearsals. Beforehand, he gave ZENIT more insight into his work.

Q: Could you please give us a glimpse of what we're expecting here in Rome? Is there a difference between the symphony and the soundtrack?

Debney: Yes. Certainly, this whole idea started when I was composing music for the film with Mel Gibson and I thought it would be a nice idea to write a major new work that would be based upon some of the themes I had produced for the film, but with some additional thematic material.

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Freedom is never free: Whatever happened to signers of the Declaration of Independence?

2005-07-04T15:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks be to God that we live in a free nation. Those patriots who died to make us free and who signed the Declaration of Independence knew, at first hand, that freedom is never free.

From the Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel comes this July 4th reminder:

What happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned; two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
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Hollywood Left insists on subversive media text and subtext

2005-07-04T09:57:00.000-04:00

From Moonbat Central comes reference to two recent articles:

NBC Anchor Brian Williams Equates Founding Fathers with Terrorists

Posted by Michael Calderon @ Friday 1 July 2005, 8:16 am

Michelle Malkin has posted a story about how NBC’s Brian Williams and several of his broadcast support staff equated our Revolutionary Founders with modern-day terrorists. It was not a slip of the old tongue. In addition to stating on his newscast last night that our Founding Fathers were "certainly revolutionaries and might have been called terrorists by the British crown," Williams posted similar remarks on his blog.

Mr. Williams’ effort to mimick the moral equivalency arguments so fashionable among tenured radicals in university Peace Studies departments is both disappointing and idiotic.

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and

Posted by Richard Poe @ Friday 1 July 2005, 4:49 pm

Hollywood is floundering. The major film studios won’t admit it yet, but Hollywood filmmakers’ lemming-like attraction to anti-Western and anti-American themes is driving Tinseltown to bankruptcy. US audiences today simply refuse to spend their money to see enemy propaganda.

In Thursday’s FrontPage, Debbie Schlussel exposed the antiwar message of Steven Spielberg’s new film, War of the Worlds, in a broadside titled "Close Encounters of the Leftist Kind."

We have previously explored on this blog the subversive subtexts of such films as Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Kingdom of Heaven" (see Melanie Phillips’ "The Moral Exhaustion of the West"), and even Steven Spielberg’s "Saving Private Ryan."

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Assessing the NYTimes view of Conservative filmmakers in Hollywood

2005-07-03T09:34:00.000-04:00

Ignatius Insight weighs in on a recent article in the NYTimes, previously noted in my post of June 30, that attempted to assess the impact of conservatives in Hollywood:

Ignatius Insight

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

"Action!" — The steady growth of Christian filmmakers in Hollywood

A NYTimes piece, "On the Right Side of the Theater Aisle," describes (in somewhat breathless, "ohmygoshwhataretheydoing?!" tones) the growing influence of political, social, and religious conservatives in Hollywood:

More recently, these familiar faces have been bolstered by new players from both inside and outside the system, many intent on using the documentary form to promote their conservative message. One, Stephen McEveety, 50, who struck gold as a producer of "The Passion of the Christ," recently left Mr. Gibson's Icon Productions to start his own film company. According to two people who have worked with him and who spoke anonymously to protect their industry relationships, Mr. McEveety, who declined to be interviewed, controls a $100 million fund devoted to making and promoting family-oriented movies. (Mr. McEveety did note in an e-mail message that his criterion for making films is whether "my kids would be able to see them," not politics.) He is collaborating with Mr. Bannon, 51, on two new Catholic-themed documentaries, one on cloning, and another on Pope Benedict XVI, which is budgeted at about $1 million.

The piece quotes Barbara Nicolosi, well-known in the world of St. Blogs for her "Church of the Masses" blog. She is described by the NYTimes as a "Catholic activist." Nicolosi is, understandably, less than thrilled by the description and provides a humorous (but telling) account of her conversation with the NYT reporter about the description.

13th Annual Faith & Values MovieGuide Awards Gala to broadcast July 2-4

2005-07-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Inspiring entertainment that conveys faith and morals that increase love and understanding of God will be honored in the 13th Annual MovieGuide Awards held this weekend. Among contenders for its highest honor, the Epiphany Award, will be Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

ASSIST News Service (ANS)

Thursday, June 30, 2005

FAMILYNET TO TELECAST 13TH ANNUAL MOVIEGUIDE® FAITH & AWARDS GALA THIS WEEKEND

By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- FamilyNet will telecast the 13th Annual MOVIEGUIDE® Faith & Values Awards Gala to 80 million potential viewers on various broadcast stations, cable outlets and satellites at 10 p.m. ET Saturday July 2 and 2 a.m. ET Monday July 4 (visit “Where to Tune” at www.familynet.com for details on channels).

The satellite telecasts on FamilyNet are available on two C-band transponders on Intelsat Americas 13 (121° W): Transponder 6 (OlympuSat Pod I) or Transponder 20 (OlympuSat Pod II); Vertical polarization.Viewers should also check their local broadcast and cable listings for the above networks and times.

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Christian filmmakers and producers on crusade to take back the culture

2005-06-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

NYTimes.com

On the Right Side of the Theater Aisle

By JAMES ULMER
Published: June 26, 2005

LOS ANGELES

THE film producer Stephen K. Bannon isn't just on a crusade. He's on a roll.

"Look at Feb. 25, 2004 - a watershed week for the Hollywood right," he said in his Santa Monica office while scribbling a circle around the word "Lord" on his whiteboard. "On Ash Wednesday, 'The Passion of the Christ' is released theatrically, and on Sunday, 'Lord of the Rings' - a great Christian allegory - wins 11 Academy Awards. So here you have Sodom and Gomorrah bowing to the great Christian God, and did you guys notice? No, because 99 per cent of the content in the media's sewage pipes is the culture of death, not life."

He next circled the word "Evil," part of the title of a 2004 political documentary for which he was director, co-author and co-producer. "If the last election showed one thing, it's that culture drives politics. I want to take the form that is now owned by the left - the documentary - and use it to help drive an overall political agenda that supports the culture of life."

Though heavier than most on messianic zeal, Mr. Bannon - Roman Catholic filmmaker, conservative-film financier, Washington networker and Hollywood deal-chaser - is emblematic of a new wave in Hollywood, a group that intends to clean those media pipes with pictures that promote godliness, Pax Americana and its own view of family values. Some of these filmmakers, armed with camcorders and Web sites, are pushing overtly political projects in the blogosphere and at conservative festivals, including last year's Liberty Film Festival in West Hollywood, at which Mr. Bannon's "In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed" won an award.

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John Debney battled demonic forces while writing score for "The Passion of the Christ"

2005-06-15T10:47:00.000-04:00

It's often a given that when we as people of faith try to take back territory from the enemy and reclaim it for the Lord, Satanic attack will be the result. We must clothe ourselves with God's protection by putting on the "full armor of God." Satan is trying to deflect us from our God-given tasks. In spite of everything, our duty is to forge ahead. Never mind what Satan throws at us! In the realm of the spirit, we as Christians need to fight courageously as battle-hardened warriors--as Paul did in Ephesians 6:10-20 (RSV):

6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 6:12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 6:13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 6:15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 6:16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 6:18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 6:19 and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

While composing the musical score for "The Passion of the Christ," John Debney attests to just such a demonic attack.

Assist news.net

Sunday, February 27, 2005

A PASSION FOR MUSIC…A BATTLE WITH SATAN

Despite not winning the Oscar for Best Original Score, John Debney, can be proud of his extraordinary achievement in writing the musical score for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST despite the spiritual battles that he went through

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- John Debney is used to writing movie scores for comedies like ELF, LIAR, LIAR and BRUCE ALMIGHTY, and on Sunday, February 27, and he came close to winning the Oscar at the 77th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood for his most serious work -- composing the original score for Mel Gibson’s powerful movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, which he admits was the most difficult assignment of his life. The winner was Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for FINDING NEVERLAND.

In an interview last year, Debney told ANS how composing this extraordinary score turned out to be a battle between good and evil that he had never experienced before in some 20 years in Hollywood.

"I don’t think I will ever be given the opportunity to write again for a movie as powerful as this one," he said during the media interview in Beverly Hills, California, just before the release of the film. "I was stretched every which way but loose. I was stretched by Mel Gibson. I was stretched by the Guy Upstairs and also I was stretched by the guy downstairs. What it did was completely strengthen my faith and I have realized something very interesting. I had never before subscribed to the idea that maybe Satan is a real person, but I can attest that he was in my room a lot and I know that he hit everyone on this production."

Debney said that the battle he felt with Satan as he wrote the music became "really personal between us." He went on to say, "I had all these computers and synthesizers in my studio and the hard drives would go down and the digital picture that lives on the computer with the music would just freeze on his [Satan’s] face. Then the volume would go to ten and it would happen all the time."

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Day 2: Continue rewriting Scene 1; overview opening impact, or lack thereof, of first scene

2005-05-27T13:51:00.000-04:00

Michael Corleone in "The Godfather"

Questions to answer today concerning Scene 1:

Am I setting the stage for the action to come?
Am I introducing the main character properly?
Is this opening scene dynamic? Does it have impact?

In other words, "Does the scene set up the action with a bang or with a whimper?"

And talking about "Bang" versus "Whimper..." In "The Godfather" Michael Corleone, frosty with Italian sang-froid, comments chillingly to Tom Hagen and Rocco about the killing of Hyman Roth. Either in the written word or in the spoken word, life has taught him one thing with certainty:

"If anything in this life is certain; if history has taught us anything, it's that you can kill anyone."

Thankfully, in my vision of the world: good may become bloodied but remains unbowed.

And, in the end, even if by the skin of its teeth, it defeats evil.

Day 1: Review and rewrite Scene 1 of screenplay that I haven't looked at for 6 months

2005-05-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

As a fledgling screenwriter who is learning on the fly, my 2 tasks today are to:

Set aside 1 hour, at minimum, to write and make sure that I DO IT!

Review and elaborate on Scene 1:

Try to see a continuum in the plot action and envision the plot as a whole.
Ask the question: "Is this scene cohesive"?
And, "Does this scene seamlessly connect to the next"?

So, at the end of my 1 hour of labor what do I have? What is my purpose today?

At the end of the day my purpose is... to paraphrase the paisani, "to do just enough to wet my beak."

...Or in the more fully articulated version in "The Godfather," as Fanucci says to Vito in Italian:

"Young man, I hear you and your friends are stealing goods. But you don't even send a dress to my house. No respect! You know I've got three daughters. This is my neighborhood. You and your friends should show me some respect. You should let me wet my beak a little. I hear you and your friends cleared $600 each. Give me $200 each, for your own protection. And I'll forget the insult. You young punks have to learn to respect a man like me! Otherwise the cops will come to your house. And your family will be ruined.

Of course, if I'm wrong about how much you stole, I'll take a little less. And by less, I only mean -- a hundred bucks less. Now don't refuse me. Understand, paisan?

Understand, paisan?... Tell your friends I don't want a lot. Just enough to wet my beak.

Don't be afraid to tell them!"

Now, as for my fledgling effort today, all I can say at the end of it is, "Airborne!"

Screenwriting is an excellent way to evangelize and do mission

2005-05-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

One of my goals is to actually develop a polished and entertaining screenplay and get it out into the world... to complete my half-finished screenplay and submit it to a contest by the end of the year.

The trick is to write a screenplay that has a spiritually redemptive message without becoming pedantic and heavy handed.