Today's Specials: Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Howl's Moving Castle; Christian-defamation; pirated DVD reviews
Today's specials:
- My Reel News at CT Movies focuses on the end of the Disney boycott, but there are a lot of other news links as well.
- Peter Chattaway takes a look at Mr. and Mrs Smith AND Howl's Moving Castle.
- Some folks who are fed up with "Christian-defamation" in Hollywood are teaming up with Ted Baehr to try and stop it. When Christians are criticized in Hollywood films, what do you think our primary response should be? To turn defensive and protest? Just curious. (Personally, I find that a lot of the criticism leveled at Christians at the movies is actually criticism we've earned, and would do well to keep in mind as we consider our response. Wouldn't it be wise to focus our efforts on cultivating behavior that makes such criticism irrelevant and clearly ridiculous? How about helping people to see that criticism of Christian behavior is not necessarily criticism of Christ? And how about making some films of our own that portray people of faith as flawed, but the faith itself as blameless?)
- McSweeney's has a whole new idea: "Reviews of DVDs that may or may not be pirated but were definitely bought on the streets in Shanghai for about a dollar."
For Those Who Are Still Telling Me That Bono Isn't a Christian...
Recently I spoke in church about the "ministry" of U2 through their music and through their involvement in aid for Africa. Afterward, I heard from someone arguing the same thing I've heard for decades... that Bono may use a lot of religious references, but he's really just a rock star who's sold out for the love of money.
Frankly, I'm not very interested in arguments about the state of Bono's soul. That's not my business. But I *am* excited that the biggest rock star in the world uses his moments in the spotlight to draw our attention to someone else. At the Super Bowl halftime show a few years ago... perhaps the highest honor that the media has to offer a celebrity... what did Bono do? He quoted from Psalm 116, giving the glory for that moment to God.
Here's an excerpt from Bono in Conversation, the new book of interviews with U2's front man by Michka Assayas.Read more
Indiana Jones, Part 4: Can they? Should they?
They like it! They really like it!
ComingSoon.net reports that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have both finally agreed upon a new script for a fourth Indiana Jones film... one written by Jeff Nathanson.
And that leaves fans with one super-sized question....
HOW DO WE STOP THEM?
Nathanson wrote the sentimental, uneven, largely forgettable film The Terminal. Oh, yeah... he also wrote Speed 2: Cruise Control and Rush Hour 2. The one genuine feather in his cap is Catch Me If You Can, which was delightful and spirited, but still a far cry from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This script had better be a giant leap forward.
"Should I...? Or shouldn't I?"
Personally, I think the idea stinks. The Indy trilogy is a hit and miss affair as it is... It started spectacularly strong with Raiders, slumped into unpleasantly dark and indulgently violent territory with Temple of Doom, and then sprang back up with Last Crusade, a Looney Toons version that was fun but far less compelling than Raiders.
And with George Lucas's idea of an "acceptable script" these days, the fact that he's approved one at last... especially one by the guy who wrote Speed 2... well, let's just say we shouldn't get our hopes up.
Furthermore, if the script is about Indy as an old man, then I can only assume the film will deal with his approach to the final frontier... the great mystery of death. And with Lucas's strange mishmash of ideas about the afterlife, mixed with Spielberg's sentimentality, it'll be a pleasant surprise if the film ends up meaning anything at all.
Notice I haven't brought up Harrison Ford's track record as an actor in recent years. (Trying to suppress any memories of Hollywood Homicide.)
But hey, if making Match Point in London has given Woody Allen the kind of inspiration he's been lacking for decades (and according to reports from Cannes, this is exactly the case), perhaps placing our fedora-wearing hero in a new context will be the thing that can steer these three great talents back to their strengths. I'm sure we have years to wait and to wonder. In the meantime, I hope Lucas will be more interested in collaboration... and in script revisions... this time around than he was with the Star Wars prequels.
Get ready for the Criterion DVD of "Au Hasard Balthazar"
Robert Bresson's haunting, soulful masterpiece is coming...
Have you advance-ordered your copy? I have. This was the best film I saw on the big screen last year, and I've thought about it more than any other film since.Read more
The gladiator returns to the coliseum...
Paul Giamatti stars in "Gladiator 2: Cinderella Man"
I haven't seen Cinderella Man yet, but man, the hype around this movie is building, and the momentum it's gaining looks likely to guarantee it a spot as an Oscar favorite.
Think about it: It's the Oscar-winning team of the vastly overrated A Beautiful Mind--Russell Crowe and Ron Howard, together again. But THIS time, Crowe is reprising his role as the Gladiator:
- a thoughtful family man working hard for a living during tough times
- forced to deal in violence in order to hold on to what he loves
- the burden of a nation on his shoulders as he steps into the coliseum
- faced with overcoming impossible odds and dealing with foes whose evil deeds ensure that they deserve the sensationalized violence we'll see delivered
- and all of this in front of an astonished crowd.
This time, though, Paul Giamatti, who has TWICE had sensational performances overlooked for Oscar nominations, will finally get that nomination. But it'll be for the wrong movie. He'll get it this time because he's agreed to be part of a big glossy Hollywood movie where he's playing a handsome hero's sidekick. The Academy would much rather praise him for appearing in a big crowdpleaser than for doing stronger, more complicated work in something independent and less popular (American Splendor, Sideways.) And with THAT out of the way, you can bet that Giamatti won't win a Best Actor Oscar anytime soon. His integrity, and his lack of celebrity ego, seems to disqualify him from being recognized in the ranks of Sean Penn and Russell Crowe, where he belongs.
At his blog, Peter Chattaway comes close to damning the film with faint praise.
...my wife and I saw the film not too long ago and we both liked it, but overall I find it as disposably entertaining as most of Howard's films; indeed, much of it has already faded from my memory.
...
One thing that does kinda got on my nerves, actually, is the way pretty much all of the boxers Crowe meets in the ring are basically unsympathetic characters, to one degree or another. Everybody wants Crowe to win ... the film has to make sure that we really, really won't mind that he beats these people up.
Meanwhile, Chattaway also notes a report at The Revealer, where they've discovered that the film is being heavily promoted to the Christian audiences. It'll be interesting to see what makes this film a hot choice specifically for the Christian market.
I want to like this film. I really really do. I want to see a Ron Howard film that makes me think I don't have to approach his work anymore with that sense that I'm about to waste two hours of my life on crowdpleasing, challenge-free, predictable entertainment. But this smells like a movie designed by a committee, a product carefully calculated to win big box office and Academy Awards.
In less than a week, I'll let you know how it all turns out.
Happy Birthday, Bruce Cockburn!
Here's a recommendation for your home stereo, your iPod, or your car stereo today: Bruce Cockburn.
Looking Closer salutes one of the most prolific, influential songwriters alive today... on this, today, his 60th birthday .Read more
The Lion, the Witch, and the Musical Merchandising
Somewhere, the real Aslan is feeling betrayed.
There are going to be FOUR soundtrack albums for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Not two. Not three. But four.
(Five is right out.)
Can you say "overkill"? If they keep this up, my enthusiasm for this project will sour very quickly. (Thanks to PTC for the alert.)
One album will be the real soundtrack.
One will be a collection of fun stuff... you know, for kids.
One will be a collection of songs by pop and rock artists.
And since they're not really legitimate pop and rock artists, but they don't want to be left out, there will be an album of songs by Christian pop and rock artists. (That way, you see, young people will be able to buy an album of rock and roll and AVOID the evangelizing, while Christian young people can buy the Christian album and feel good about the idea that this movie is spreading the gospel. Moreover, this helps Christian young people continue to believe there is a line between what is 'secular' and what is 'sacred'... which is utter crap.)
I'd like to recommend twelve more soundtrack albums, while we're at it:
12. Celine Dion's Optional Songs for the End Credits of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
11. Narnia Jazz, featuring Kenny G.
10. Carman's The Champion II: Aslan Vs. the White Witch
9. Aslan's Big Hair Heavy Metal Collection
8. Narnia Serious Jazz, featuring little-known artists that know what jazz really is.
7. Christopher O'Riley Plays the Narnia Soundtrack on the Piano
6. American Idol contestants perform the songs from the rock-and-roll Narnia album
5. The best of the Narnia fast-food tie-in jingles
4. Leonard Nimoy's "The Ballad of Mr. Tumnus" (Hey, he DID record "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"!)
3. John Debney's The Passion of Aslan (featuring uncredited borrowings from Peter Gabriel's Passion)
2. John Williams's I Was the Obvious Choice to Score The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
and...
1. Michael Jackson in Narnia: Songs for Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve... especially Sons of Adam
Shocker! Christian Group Ends Disney Boycott!
from IMDB news, with a few of my own revisions:
The Rev. Tim Wildmon announced Tuesday that his American Family Assn. has decided to end its nine-year-old boycott of the Walt Disney Co.
Disney employees searching for the "End of Boycott" party were surprised to discover that the most of their coworkers were unaware that their had even been a boycott, and certainly didn't know that one had ended.
Wildmon indicated that he was not calling off the boycott because of any fundamental changes in Disney's policies, but because "there are so many other issues we need to move on to and deal with that are taking our time and energy."
Of course, there is speculation that the boycott was ended because boycotters finally realized they were missing out on some of the best family entertainment ever to reach the big screen (like the Toy Story films, the decidedly pro-family--and quietly pro-life--Finding Nemo, and the aggressively pro-family The Incredibles). Not to mention the fact that if they didn't end the boycott, they'd miss out on a little film called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!
In a statement on the group's website, Wildmon added, "If you're going to call for a boycott of a company -- if something has become that serious -- you need to have all your resources behind it." Industry analysts had said that the boycott had had absolutely no impact on Disney's earnings.
As a matter of fact, all it really did was take away from opportunities to support Disney when they do something worthwhile, and ensure that numerous children miss out on some of their generations' most delightful media events.
In memory of Ismail Merchant ("A Room with a View")
Ismail Merchant of the famous Merchant/Ivory films (A Room with a View, Howards End, The Remains of the Day) is dead at 68.Read more