"Harry Potter's Story is God's Plan and Our Hope."
Two reviews by mainstream film reviewers have been published: Kenneth Turan and A.O. Scott.
Meanwhile, the rest of the reviewers seem to be following the rules that they agreed to follow before they were given the privilege of an advance screening.
(It bugs me that I have to respect the studio's instructions about when to publish my review, or face the consequences, while the big shots just publish whenever they please, and they don't even get a slap on the wrist. This embargo system doesn't make any sense.)
 
I recently spoke to a program assistant at a prominent Christian organization. They were interested in having me as a guest on their interview program to discuss Christians and movies.
When she asked if there were other subjects I wanted to discuss, I mentioned that my first fantasy novel, Auralia's Colors, is about to be released. She sounded skeptical about noting that on the air.
I said, "Well, that's up to you, but you know... with this being the summer of the last Harry Potter book, and a new Harry Potter movie... Christians are talking about fantasy again. It might be quite timely. "
She responded, "Well, we certainly wouldn't want to talk about Harry Potter on our program. Our listeners wouldn't want anything to do with that. If we did discuss it, it would only be to warn people about it."
Sigh. Are there still so many Christians determined to believe that the Harry Potter stories are some kind of occultic conspiracy to lure children into the devil's clutches?
Have the countless testimonies and interpretations about the value and meaning of these stories done nothing to persuade the skeptics to give the series a second look?
I'm probably not going to convert anybody into Harry Potter fans if they've already made up their minds. And heck, I'm not even much of a "fan." I find the stories amusing at best. But are they part of the devil's agenda?
Read "The Sacrificial Boy Wizard" at Christianity Today.
Where's Auralia Today?
More people are discovering Auralia.
Will you?
Read Chapter One and let me know what you think. Some responses will be excerpted and answered at Auralia's blog...
First Impressions of "The Trumpet Child"
"I don't want to waste your time with music you don't need," sing Karin Bergquist at the beginning of Over the Rhine's new album The Trumpet Child.
No worries, Karin.
We need this kind of glory, passion, and delight in the world.Read more
Over the Rhine's Free "Trumpet Child" Webcast
Sunday, July 8 - 8:00pm EST...
Hear The Trumpet Child in its entirety for the first time, all around the world.
Sunday July 8th at 8:00pm, gather the family around the computer and turn the lights down low, or invite some friends over, and open a bottle of wine. Heck, throw a barbecue and invite the whole neighborhood over! But whatever you do, be sure to be listening at 8pm Eastern Time (5pm Pacific) as Over the Rhine Radio goes live and introduces you to The Trumpet Child.
AND immediately following the Webcast, head over to The Orchard, Over the Rhine's fan forum, and participate in a live chat with Linford and Karin about the new record.
Technical Information
The Trumpet Child World Premiere Webcast will be in Windows Media format. Please make sure that you have downloaded the latest version of Windows Media Player before the webcast begins. To download Windows Media Player click here.
Cowboy Junkies - "At the End of Paths Taken"
Okay, it's very late, I'm immersed in writing one of the last chapters in my current fiction project.
But all I've had to drink is tea and I'm thinking fairly clearly. So I think I'm clear-headed enough to say this with some confidence:
I'm listening to the new Cowboy Junkies album, At the End of Paths Taken, and... either I'm just really starved for some good music, or this is the best album they've released since The Trinity Sessions, and a candidate for my year-end top ten list.
Since The Trinity Sessions, the Junkies have failed to really capture my attention and imagination. I love Marot Timmins' voice, and at times I love her brother's guitar work. I fell in love with them, as so many music lovers did, when they conjured that palpable, spooky, holy hush in The Trinity Sessions. That album became a legend, and in my opinion it deserved all of the respect it got. I still listen to it regularly.
But then they took on new shapes and sounds and never found anything quite as strong at that smoky Trinity Sessions magic. They've had flashes of beauty here and there, and the track they contributed to (of all things) the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack still sends chills down my spine. But no, nothing that lived up to the expectations set by that breatkthrough record.
At the End of Paths Taken is an unexpectedly engaging work, with rich, resonant sounds and confident songwriting, played with such grace that it makes me think they've lived with these songs for a while. It's a consistently interesting, surprisingly powerful program. Its one of those collection that has that... that thing. That touch of inspiration, that sense that God showed up and gave them a push.
These days, as I strive and strive to meet deadlines, I have very little time for review-writing. So I'll just have to point you to people who are writing great, insightful reviews.
Here's a PopMatters review that I find myself agreeing with, although I may end up favoring a rating of "8" rather than "7." I need to spend some time with the lyrics (the last track's rather heavy-handed and ends things on a rather dispiriting note), but the sound's got me all wrapped up.
And here's Thom Jurek's review. Thom's one of my favorite music critics, and I find myself agreeing with a lot of his words as well.
Give it a spin. I'm going to be playing it all weekend.
(Caution: There are some lyrics here that require me to say, "This album's not for kids.")
Specials: Rata-trouble? Remembering Yang.
Jeff Berryman the power of a rat in the kitchen
Sean Gaffney points out three serious problems with Ratatouille. Who can argue with such scathing criticism?
Okay, enough kidding around. Carissa Turner Smith really does have a problem with Ratatouille, even though she enjoyed it.
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J. Robert Parks has posted a tribute to Edward Yang at FramingDevice.org.
Regarding "Transformers"...
 
CrimsonLine over at artsandfaith.com writes:
I saw it with some friends last night, and as an adult, channeling my inner eight-year-old, I liked it. Great robot action, cool military stuff, and some funny bits. About halfway through it stopped making sense, and a lot of the dialogue in the second half was incredibly clunky. But the bulk of it was big, loud, and fun. For me, as an adult.
But I watched it also through the lens of my five-year-old son, who LOVES Transformers, and is dying to see this movie. We've downloaded hundreds of pictures, seen every trailer, and he has many of the toys, having just had a birthday. And I came home sad that I can't show him the movie, even fast-forwarding through bits, because there are just too many bits, and they pervade the film. From the constant use of the "s-word" to the non-stop horndog jokes, about masturbation, virginity, and sex in general, the loving shots of Megan Fox's cleavage, and the way Michael Bay moves his camera around her midriff like she's a shiny object that he wants us to long for, this film is wall-to-wall stuff I don't want my son seeing. It was heartbreaking this morning when he asked me, "Is the Transformers Movie good for little boys, daddy?" No, son. It's probably not even good for me.
It's a pity. There's a lot of fun stuff in there, and I like the message that there is no victory without sacrifice (even though it's a message that is just a repeated line of dialogue rather than a deeply-embedded theme). But this movie's view of women is not one that I want my son to imbibe.
Reprinted with permission.
Nevertheless, the Christian pop-culture magazine Infuze loves it.
Donata Wenders: How I came to Christ.
I read this today, and it made a good day much, much better.
God bless Donata Wenders.
Superfast Reader Reads "Darkly"
Reading is Annie's superpower, and she's focused those powers on Through a Screen Darkly.
Marilynne Robinson reviews Annie Dillard's latest
Marilynne Robinson, author of Gilead and Housekeeping, reviews The Maytrees:
Annie Dillard's books are like comets, like celestial events that remind us that the reality we inhabit is itself a celestial event, the business of eons and galaxies, however persistently we mistake its local manifestations for mere dust, mere sea, mere self, mere thought. The beauty and obsession of her work are always the integration of being, at the grandest scales of our knowledge of it, with the intimate and momentary sense of life lived.
"The Maytrees" is about wonder — in the terms of this novel, life's one truth. It is wonder indeed that is invoked here, vast and elusive and inexhaustible and intimate and timeless. There is a resolute this-worldliness that startles the reader again and again with recognition. How much we overlook! What a world this is, after all, and how profound on its own terms.