Mel Gibson arrested for drunk driving
Here's the L.A. Times report on Mel Gibson's arrest. I'm hearing that there are some ugly details to this story that are currently unconfirmed... We'll wait and see, and hope they aren't true.Read more
Colbert strikes again... this time at the morning news shows.
Don't mess with Stephen Colbert.
He's a Sunday school teacher.
He's a Catholic.
He's a Lord of the Rings expert.
And now, thanks to Good Morning America and The Today Show... he's controversial!Read more
The Vader Sessions
This YouTube video is spreading like a wildfire, so you've probably already seen it. (I discovered it through Peter Chattaway's blog.)
If not, here it is: the funniest YouTube link in, oh, at least a few weeks.Read more
What Do Paul Bettany and Nicole Kidman Have Against Christianity?
According to Cinematical, Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany have joined the cast of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass as the "villainous" Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel.
If this report is just a rumor, I'm doubtful.
If it's true, I'm baffled.
I hope it's a rumor.Read more
A Movie for All Who Love or Make Music
Wow.
[Jeffrey scrambles to re-examine the "best of the year" list for last year]
Go rent Touch the Sound tonight.
Or bump it to the top of your Netflix queue.
And if you don't have a surround-sound system, starting making plans with a friend who does.Read more
New Poems by Luci Shaw, Reviewed in Books & Culture
Luci Shaw and Margaret Smith: two good friends of mine, two marvelous poets, two folks who were incredibly generous in helping me finish my book about films.Read more
Friday specials: Frederick Buechner, Bruce Cockburn, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, "The Prestige"
My friend Julie Mullins has written a substantial article about Frederick Buechner's lastest collection, Secrets in the Dark, in the new issue of Image. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of both the book and the journal.
Secrets begins with a meditation on the story of Jacob wrestling the angel titled "The Magnificent Defeat." I read it aloud last night to Anne, and we were both deeply moved by it. Having grown up in the church, I've heard so many sermons that I find it difficult to pay attention to them anymore. But every once in a while I hear a voice that is so honest, so challenging, so eloquent, so humble, and so attentive to the spirit that I'm reminded just how powerful a sermon can be. Buechner reminds me that the best kind of preaching is the kind that offers an honest response to scripture in all of its bewildering complexity. He is brave enough to include his own questions and doubts, and that makes all the difference.
Here's a review from OregonLive.
SIMON STILL SURPRISING
Paul Simon's Surprise has been playing more often than any other 2006 record at Overstreet headquarters. It's such a bright, energetic, playful, unpredictable album, and Simon is singing as beautifully as he ever has. Here's an article about the album at S. Mississippi's Sun-Herald.
COCKBURN'S LIFE SHORT CALL NOW IS COMING
... and here's a new interview in which the artist/activist delivers more of his usual politically-charged perspective.
JOHNNY CASH'S HUNDRED HIGHWAYS
Here's a review from BlogCritics of Johnny Cash's last collection of recordings produced by Rick Rubin. And here's another, from AllMusic.com. I just picked this up, and it is indeed a beautiful thing. "On the 309" may have been the last song Cash ever wrote, and it's a memorable farewell.
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF BATMAN BEGINS
Here's an arresting new trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, David Bowie, and Rebecca Hall, and Scarlett Johansson.
Yi-Yi (A One and a Two) from Criterion
If you haven't seen Yi-Yi (A One and a Two), you're in for a treat.
It's been out on DVD before, but not like this. The full Criterion treatment has arrived, and I encourage you to check it out as soon as you can. Beautifully filmed, poetic, funny, unpredictable, with a cast of characters as large and memorable as the cast of Magnolia, it is one of those films that seems to capture all of life within its 2 1/2-hour span. This is the only Edward Yang film I've seen, but I'm eager to see more.Read more