As if it isn't enough to be badgered by paparazzi and crazed fans, now David and Victoria Beckham, Britain's celebrity royals, are reportedly being fought over by Tom Cruise and Madonna. Does Tom want the soccer phenom to star in his next movie? Nope. Does Madonna want the former Spice Girl to do a duet? Nope. According to MSNBC.com's The Scoop, Madge and Tom are waging a battle to win the super couple over to Kabbalah and Scientology, respectively.
Pictures of Posh with Cruise's fiance, Katie Holmes, have been splashed all over the celebrity gossip magazines for the past few months. But it seems that Jewish mysticism is winning out: Those same tabloids are now carrying pictures with Mrs. Beckham sporting the red string bracelet popular among Kabbalah enthusiasts.
"Perhaps Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie have the edge," Rick Ross of Cultnews.com tells Scoop, "since Ritchie after all is a Brit and his wife keeps a house in the English countryside."
Perhaps Madonna and Cruise should just get together and form a religion called Sciencabbalism. Maybe then they'd finally land America's celebrity royal, Oprah--who according to reports, has so far been able to resist the efforts of both the couch jumper and the Material Girl.
It took almost a full seven seasons of "The West Wing" for writers to finally address what I think is the most romantic storyline in this show's entire run: Will Josh and Donna EVER get together? I mean, for real this time? As "The West Wing" draws to a close for good (sniff, sniff), I am anxiously waiting to see how the relationship between these two "friends" and colleagues resolves (or doesn't).
Viewers have watched as the tension between these two characters has been building for years, with flirtation, stolen glances, sighs, clever banter, and even long hours of intense devotion at hospital bed sides. I've heard of Christian couples waiting until they reach the altar for a first kiss (but then again, they tend not to date that long beforehand) and boyfriends and girlfriends waiting a full year before they lock lips, but SEVEN years? I have always felt that Donna and Josh have taken their chastity thing a bit too far.
The answer to my question was at least partially addressed and sealed with a kiss during the episode "The Cold" when--hooray, hooray--as Donna knocked on Josh's door to deliver fantastic news about the polls for Matt Santos, and in Josh's happiness he grabbed her and finally gave her the on-screen kiss we'd all been waiting for (well some of us at least, since I know many out there are still rooting for a return of Mary-Louise Parker's women's rights character, Amy, not only to the show but a place at Josh's side.)
And (most) viewers rejoiced! The question burning my brain now is, where to from there for Josh and Donna?
Unfortunately, and in typical "West Wing" fashion, post lip-lock viewers so far have only seen Josh and Donna briefly hem and haw about the meaning of this new drama in their long-term relationship. Is their long time relationship destined to end with only a kiss and confusion? I wondered sadly, as the credits rolled after last week's episode. Yet, evidently it will not, since scenes for this Sunday's upcoming episode, "Election Day," included a glimpse of Josh and Donna in bed together.
Hooray? Personally, I think they deserve a little more romance than a one-night stand, but I'll just have to wait and see. I think I'll set my expectations high and hold out for a marriage proposal by season's end and just hope for the best (and that, as much as I love Mary Louise Parker, that pesky Amy won't return to ruin it all....).
Tangos and foxtrots are hot, hot, hot once again, thanks to shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and movies like “Mad Hot Ballroom.” And now you can take a spin around the dance floor with a new movie that celebrates life, death, and a mean quick-step. “Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School” was the big crowd pleaser last summer when I saw it at the Waterfront Film Festival, and the film is finally releasing in theaters nationwide this weekend--only 15 years after producer Randall Miller originally shot the story as a short film with the same name.
“Marilyn Hotchkiss” tells the story of Frank Keane, a recently widowed breadmaker (played by indie film favorite Robert Carlyle), who is making a delivery run one day when he comes across a terrible car accident. He stops to help the man in the wrecked car (John Goodman) but then recklessly promises the dying stranger that he will honor the man’s final wish by keeping an appointment the man had with a childhood sweetheart at a place called the Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School.
Though the childhood sweetheart never shows up, Keane is drawn to the slightly eccentric atmosphere of the school as well as the oddball characters he meets there. He begins to take dance lessons and becomes an immediate hit with the ladies there--though the other men in the class have a different take on Keane’s sudden appearance on the scene. From there, he begins a slow process of healing, as he begins to fall in love with a woman, Meredith (Marisa Tomei), he meets in class.
“Marilyn Hotchkiss” might be too sweet or sentimental for some and a few of the plot points are a little implausible, but what I liked best about this movie--in addition to the phenomenal supporting performances from such unlikely actors as Donnie Wahlberg---is the way it represents the process of grieving. All of the characters in this movie are grieving the loss of something--a spouse, a reputation, a leg--and in the process of wallowing in that grief, they have become disconnected from the world around them. “Hotchkiss” celebrates the uneven, uncomfortable growth each character experiences as he or she takes a leap of faith by once again daring to accept the unconditional love of another--a risk that in Mariyln Hotchkiss' world is only slightly greater than the risk of embarrassing yourself by trying to learn that quick-step.
The category “Christian rockers whose band is not Christian”—think Scott Stapp, or P.O.D.--is getting less exclusive every day. But at least one band is willing to sue to get on it. Mute Math, a Louisiana prog-rock group, is suing Warner Brothers for labeling them a Christian band. Headed by Paul Meany, formerly of the out-Christian act Earthsuit, Mute Math played to raves at Christian festivals over the summer and opened for Mae, a Christian band, last fall. But when Warner released their EP on its Christian subsidiary, Word Records instead of one of their mainstream labels, the band balked, first putting their full album out on a label co-owned by Meany called Teleprompt, then filing suit.
Naturally, the band's move has bred resentment in the evangelical ranks that calling any entity Christian is a litigatable offense. But think of the upside: the case may yield a court-approved definition of the term “Christian band.” A Mute Math spokesperson sketched out a sort of negative definition in saying what Mute Math is not: "Mute Math is not a worship artist. They don't preach from (the) stage. They don't preach in their interviews." That’s a start. But Meany himself intimates there’s more to the distinction when he told Billboard, “I had no desire to be the Christian version of a real band."
Whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life, you have to wonder if holding those horrible posters and lingering outside clinics is the best way to protest abortion. Daniel Edwards, a sculptor based in Connecticut, has come up with a better way. Edwards has created an homage to the creative force in the shape of Britney Spears giving birth to her now 6-month-old son. Edwards found notoriety last year when he produced a sculpture of Ted Williams's surgically removed and cryogenically frozen head. The life-size resin figure, titled "Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston" depicts a pregnant, nude Britney crouched over a bear skin rug, with a look of severe concentration on her face and Sean Preston’s head emerging at the other end.
Britney fans are irate, sending the Brooklyn, N.Y., gallery where the statue goes on display next month more than 3,000 emails in less than a week. Activists on both sides of the debate are riled too: pro-choicers, of course, because they don’t like its message, but pro-lifers also complain it demeans their cause. Every individual is precious, of course, but it's true that we’ll be stunned if an abortion opponent ever asks, “What if Sean Preston Federline’s mom had an abortion?”
"This song goes out to everybody that wants to be free. Your addiction, lifestyle, or situation may be big, but God is bigger," proclaimed "American Idol" contestant Mandisa as she strutted onto the stage last night to sing the 2000 hit "Wanna Praise You" by the gospel duo Mary Mary. The song, also known as "Shackles" was described by the powerful vocalist--a leader at Living Proof Live conferences who's not shy about talking about Jesus, especially to judge Simon Cowell--as a "testimony that there's nothing too hard for God."
While her spirited performance had members of the audience, including Season 3 contestant George Huff, up in their seats, Cowell found the performance to be "a bit indulgent," noting that he "just didn't get the performance." Paula Abdul, however, judged it more than worthy, saying, "There's a new religion and 40 million people have now joined the church of Mandisa."
So, while we know Abdul's a convert, we'll have to wait and see on tonight's results show how viewers judge Mandisa's no-holds-barred testimony.
Imagine getting the family together for some nice evening TV and watching a music video showing:
• A girl pulling a string on her sweater to immediately enhance her breast size; • A girl in a tanning booth looking gross, then begging friends for attention; • A girl on a plastic surgery table awaiting breast augmentation; • A girl giving a speech as the President of the United States.
Those are all part of Pink’s “Stupid Girls” video, which is not always what you'd call family fare but is nevertheless relevant and powerful. It's part of an emerging genre of music encouraging young girls—and everyone young at heart—to resist the cultural messages we may see around us and instead pursue a true sense of individual responsibility and choice. “Stupid Girls” is about the potential in teenage girls, which can be wasted when they conform blindly to what they see around them. A lyrical highlight:
What happened to the dreams of a girl president? She’s dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
The video stretches the boundaries of PG-13, showing bolemic girls vomiting in the restroom and several other disturbing scenes, but the only thing scarier is the reality of the events in adolescent (and adult?) culture.
Also high on the charts is Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten,” with words and images to “reach for the distance, so close you can almost taste it, release your innovations” because “no one else can speak the words on your lips.” The wonderfully encouraging message continues with:
Drench yourself in words unspoken Live your life with arms wide open Today is where your book begins The rest is still unwritten.
Her honest assessment that “we've been conditioned to not make mistakes” is followed by her declaration that “I can't live that way.” She then invites us to “feel the rain on your skin” because “no one else can feel it for you.” This is the kind of authenticity that is required for a lifelong spiritual journey and one that many young people seek.
And finally, Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” offers a realistic connection for anyone who needs a dose of realism rather than a message that ignores how hard life can be and how discouraging tomorrow can seem. Consider:
Sometimes the system goes on the blink And the whole thing turns out wrong You might not make it back and you know That you could be well oh that strong And I'm not wrong.
The music video for this song offers a nice positive ending, but the lyrics are giving comfort to tens of thousands of people whose bad day is oh-s0-real and for whom the connection to Powter overcomes the age factor which music executives said would stifle his career.
The ultimate peer pressure message for all ages is “you must change your behavior and conform to societal norms to be loved and to feel important.” I don’t remember electing media executives to be our Values Directors and therefore I celebrate those artists whose music and message invites us—and our kids—to think, feel, search, and act for themselves.
ABC’s "Boston Legal" regularly raises ethical and moral questions, and this week’s topic was polygamy. Two sharp and attractive clients babysit each other’s kids and share groceries, lawn equipment... and Ray Anderson. “We’ve done nothing wrong, there is no victim here,” said Mrs. Anderson #1. “In this chaotic world we live in, where there is no stability, we have found a way to raise a family in a cooperative and loving way,” said Mrs. Anderson #2.
Denise, the Boston Legal attorney whose own escapades have included affairs with a dying man and a pretend policeman, reminds them of this current fact: “Guys, the law on polygamy has been settled for a long time.”
Mrs. Anderson #2: “So, it’s time for a change.” Mrs. Anderson #1: “We are very commited to this.” Mr. Anderson (with a smile): “I know I am.”
As their case moves to the witness stand, the two Mrs. Andersons explain how their mutual efforts help to raise great kids, work in successful careers, sustain a happy household, and keep “their” man happy. They win over the judge, who is obviously jealous of their peace and happiness, as well as their attorney, who argues the logic of changing polygamy laws that were written during a "different economic construct"--when women didn’t work or vote.
Denise then argues (overstates?) that with current divorce rates at 43% and with 60% of men and 40% of women having extra-marital affiars, many people are practicing sexual polygamy, just not institutionalizing it. The show’s case for a new normative behavior is countered only at its end by a rather simple-minded (and suddenly old-fashion-sounding) attorney, who makes his case not along moral lines, but economic ones, citing tax-deductions and health insurance among the problematic issues were polygamy to be legalized.
The show’s relevance may seem laughable to some, but it shouldn't be, considering the advances in the homosexual agenda, which is practiced by a much smaller percentage of people than those practicing heterosexual promiscuity. What made the Boston Legal episode powerful was the comparison: Sexual “polygamy” is practiced to some degree in our current society, though not accepted socially, legally, or institutionally, which sounds a lot like how homosexuality has been practiced over the recent decades.
Boston Legal again brought a comedic flare to a current issue, turning a farcical topic into a challenge for the spiritual person who should be sure of his or her convictions and the foundations upon which they’re based.
A study published recently in the Journal for Adolescent Health concluded that media—TV, movies, music, and magazines—operate in teenagers’ lives like a “super peer,” a beyond-cool kid whom the whole class models its behavior on. And sex is what this cool kid is recommending.
By comparing a group of U.S. teens’ answers about what they watch, read, and listen to with their sexual activity, researchers determined that the teens got much of their input about sexual behavior from media sources. This could be a problem because, the report says, “media programming rarely depicts negative consequences from sexual behaviour, and depictions of condom and contraception use are extremely rare.”
The good news is that parents, religion, and school came in a strong second in kids’ sexual decision-making.
The editors of the design magazine I.D. have no beef with intelligent design as a concept. Their annoyance with the debate is based purely on the confusion they felt on hearing their magazine’s title so frequently out of context. Their response, however, is a thoughtful, captivating March/April issue devoted to “Design and Religion: New Forms for Faith.”
Spanning a number of faiths, stories examine material religious culture, from the architectural transformation of a Houston sports arena into Joel Osteen’s megachurch to new household technology that allows Orthodox Jews to finesse Shabbat restrictions—programmable light-switch timers are just the start of it—to art inspired by Icelandic folklore. Designers can’t resist kitsch, so Jack Chick’s evangelical shock-tracts are studied, as are Barnaby Barford’s prank Christmas ceramics. But overall the editors’ degree of seriousness and professionalism, whether they are examining a new mosque in Singapore or showcasing four architects' mockups of their dream meditation spaces, is itself an uplifting experience.
The metaphysical motif of the final “Sopranos” season rolled on last night, as a comatose Tony,shot by his Uncle Junior, chose not to “walk into the light,” even as he was driven toward it by Paulie Walnuts’s yammering at his bedside.
As revealed during last week’s episode, Tony's mind, in his coma, is replaying his life, though this version is far different than what actually happened. In his reverie, Tony, some sort of salesman, is in possession of a briefcase belonging to a Kevin Finnerty. Checking into a hotel, he is asked to present ID, and having no other ID, he uses Finnerty’s. At that point, a group of Buddhist monks accost him, demanding accountability for a bum heating system Finnerty sold their monastery.
Forward to this week’s episode, and Tony finds himself served with papers by the Crystal Monastery. Hoping to uncover the true identity of Kevin Finnerty, he seeks out the monks, who chuckle each time he tells them that he isn’t Finnerty. If you haven’t gotten it by now, Tony’s new name is a thinly veiled reference to the concept of infinity. One of the merry monks explains that, in the end, everything is one, but for now, someone needs to be responsible--for the heating system, in this case. Tony has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and therefore, isn’t sure whether or not he really isn’t Finnerty, so he heads to a Finnerty family reunion in search of more answers.
Upon reaching the Inn at the Oaks, he is greeted by a man he does not recognize, played by Steve Buscemi--who played Tony’s cousin in season five, and whom Tony had to murder. Tony starts walking toward the door, but doesn’t want to relinquish his briefcase. The man tells him that he has to, that his family is waiting for him, and that there’s no business allowed inside. Tony is hesitant to let the man have the case, though he doesn’t seem to know why, until he hears a small voice--Meadow’s voice--calling him back. Tony slowly opens his eyes to see a blurry Meadow and Carmella at his side.
Will Tony be a changed man after his near-death experience? Will he take responsibility for his actions, as the monks have asked? In his coma, did he overhear anything that he shouldn’t have?
The episode raises many questions and is full of just as many afterlife clichés--the Buddhist concepts of consciousness and existence, the idea of heading into the light (Tony keeps seeing a beacon in the distance), and the hope that we are all to be reunited with family at the end. But Tony chooses not to transcend. No matter how tempting the afterlife looks, his family still needs him.
If you’ve ever wanted to witness a crucifixion with your own eyes, well, now you can, thanks to the online computer game Roma-Victor. The multiplayer game is designed to be an authentic recreation of the British Empire in Roman times, in which players live virtual lives as slaves and citizens. However, for players who attempt to abuse the game or cheat in any way (called “ganking”), Roma-Victor has decided only one punishment is brutal enough--crucifixion.
The first crucifixion of a player was held just last week. Cynewulf--who is actually some guy from Flint, Mich.--was the first player within Roma Victor to be crucified. He was hung on a cross for a full seven days through digital reconstruction at the provincial town of Corstopitum (modern day Corbridge in Northumberland, England).
Kerry Fraser-Robinson, the CEO of the game’s publisher, said in a statement on the Roma-Victor website that while crucifixion in present-day society carries with it religious overtones, game-makers added crucifixion as a punishment simply as a way to make the game historically accurate. The game is currently in the final stages of testing and will officially launch on July 1, after which thousands of players will be able to live out their own virtual lives in ancient Britain. However, Roma-Victor has--so far, anyway --decided not to add to its arsenal of tricks either virtual penance or virtual forgiveness for virtual sins. Too bad. That might make for a truly fresh addition to the world of gaming.
Easily the best media moment for the Mormon Church in the past year is “New York Doll,” a documentary about the last days of rock bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane. The movie, released theatrically last fall and on DVD April 6th, shows that it’s possible to be a Latter-day Saint while maintaining legendary cult status, reuniting with your old band, and finding redemption.
Kane was a founding member of the New York Dolls, a group that was for the punk/New Wave revolution what, say, Buddy Holly was to rock ‘n roll’s first generation: a bolt-from-the-blue talent that changed everything, then vanished. The film finds Kane living in Los Angeles in 2004, 30 years after the band dissolved, thanks to drug-related deaths, heroine and Kane’s own alcoholism. After hitting bottom—he jumped out a window after seeing former bandmate David Johanson in the movie “Scrooged”—Kane discovered Mormonism, which he credits with saving his life. We meet Killer’s co-workers at the Family History Center at L.A.’s LDS Temple, as well as his former and current bishops and other assorted Mormons—all apparently reasonable, faithful people who accept Kane’s history and support him when the call comes from London for a reunion with the two other remaining living Dolls.
Greg Whitely, the director of “New York Doll” met Kane at church, and the film appealingly recreates his slow-dawning realization that Kane, a gawky, seemingly naïve specimen, is the object of awe and respect among some of rock’s top names. What makes “New York Doll” a serious spiritual film is Kane’s (and his co-religionists’) appreciation for the Dolls’ reunion as a sacred moment. The concert's critical and musical success pales for Kane next to the chance to restore his relationship with Johanson, whom he’d turned into a symbol of his own failure and lost glamour, and whose attention and love he still seeks out as a supplicant.
Kane’s renewal doesn’t return him to a pure state, but gives him his life back with his scars intact. We see that he sees it, and through the rasping, impish Johanson’s goading about his conversion, Kane exhibits a dignity that his old pal’s stardom can’t tarnish. Kane unexpectedly died less than a month after returning from London, from leukemia, and this film is the perfect epitaph to a life badly lived, but fully realized.
The creators of "South Park" promised a war against Scientology, and they made good on their pledge last night, with the opening episode of the always-irreverent series' 10th season.
The brouhaha started when, as you probably know, Isaac Hayes, the voice of “Chef,” quit “South Park” when they mocked his religion, Scientology, in an episode about Tom Cruise. Show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone questioned Hayes’ motives, since the show has skewered Christianity, Judaism, and practically every other form of worship that exists. Parker and Stone then released a press statement with their declaration of war: “So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" (You can read more about the whole saga in this blog post.)
Last night's season premiere, called “The Return of Chef!”, was the next battle in that war, and Parker and Stone can declare themselves the winners this time. Parker and Stone concocted a scenario in which Chef gets kidnapped and brainwashed by a child-molesting cult called the “Super Fun Club.” Kyle, Stan, and Cartman areworried about their friend, so they take him to a psychiatrist. Even if you don’t know much about Scientology, you probably remember the uproar that surrounded Tom Cruise’s appearance on “The Today Show,” when he criticized Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants and railed against the evils of modern psychiatry.
In the end, Chef died. Well, he didn’t just die--he was impaled, shot, struck by lightning, and eaten by a bear. The show’s writers added more insult to injury with Kyle’s eulogy, in which he urged the mourners (and the audience) to remember the guy Chef was before “the fruity little club… scrambled his brain.”
But rather than focusing all their anger on Hayes, the person who actually quit the show, Parker and Stone lashed out at Scientology as a whole. This may have something to do with the rumors that Tom Cruise himself was responsible for getting reruns of the episode that mocked him yanked from Comedy Central’s lineup. Best part? The drama’s not over. This morning, as employees around the country gathered at their water coolers, Fox News’ Roger Friedman announced that Hayes had had a stroke in January and that the decision to quit must have been made by someone else. Is this a clever PR stunt? Or an ill-timed medical announcement? No one’s sure yet, so stay tuned.
Did somebody say “Passion Effect”? A recent CNN piece claims the greatest boon of Mel’s “The Passion of the Christ” fell not to Christian filmmakers but to two Christian P.R. firms that help Hollywood navigate church basements to market their movies to the faithful. For its recent release "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," CNN explains, Disney hired California-based Motive Marketing, which "designed and maintained an extensive 'faith and family outreach' marketing effort, while Grace Hill Media handled the movie's grassroots publicity.”
Most Christian media endeavors are treated as suspect—when they are not subliminally trying to convert the public, they are moneychangers in the Temple. And the article has Paul Lauer, president of Motive Marketing, defending the idea of doing p.r. for Jesus: “The company's goal isn't about marketing movies as much as providing congregations with tools to further their goals.” Motive, he points out, provided study guides for church groups and teachers for both “Narnia” and Mel’s “Passion.”
Don’t discount the importance of these firms, however. Not only are Lauer and the folks at Grace Hill relentless and sharp (Lauer was behind the masterly marketing of “The Passion”), Christian P.R. is crucial to the rise of Christian-oriented entertainment. Hollywood execs have long realized that the evangelical market is out there; but until they can reach it and move it, they aren’t likely to cater to it. As Motive and Grace Hill prove their worth, the suits will be more comfortable green-lighting faith-based films, creating the long-awaited "Passion Effect."
In "National Lampoon’s European Vacation," Rusty Griswold discovers, much to his dismay, that every English television station airs the exact same show on cheese-making. So, when I saw that my local PBS station was airing a documentary called “The Cheese Nun,” I was both intrigued and hesitant. What Sister Wendy is to art, Sister Noella is to cheese. A Benedictine nun in Bethlehem, Conn., this former Sarah Lawrence student has been dubbed the “celebrated champion of France's famous raw-milk cheeses” by the New York Times, which also notes that she has “achieved near rock-star status among cheesemakers and cheese-lovers."
A cloistered nun--and in-house cheesemaker--at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Sister Noella earned a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Connecticut after the abbey sent several sisters out into the world in order to learn new techniques to help with their farming and food production routines. She soon earned a Fulbright Scholarship and traveled around France for a year, visiting with traditional cheesemakers. Not only did she learn techniques passed down from generations, but she also studied the microbes and fungi from the historical cheese caves that give les fromages their distinctive tastes.
Due to modern methods of mass production, traditional cheese making is a dying art, and these microbes may be lost to modernity--though not if Sister Noella can help it. This is one nun on a distinctively different crusade.
The documentary, originally aired in 2004, is fascinating for a number of reasons: The microbiology of cheese, as it turns out, is extremely engaging, as is the French tradition of cheese-making. But most delightful is Sister Noelle herself, whose enthusiasm is absolutely contagious. And while she enjoys a cloistered lifestyle, much like her cheeses as they age, she does get out to accept numerous honors, including the French Food Spirit Award.
Well, not the Methodist Church, but the "Inside Man" star is said to have bought an apartment in a historic Methodist church near Washington Square Park in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. A realty company is converting it into a luxury condiminium project called the Novare. I’m assuming it was not the developer’s classy tagline for the place—“Come to Be Reborn”—but the 23 foot ceilings that attracted Denzel.
Even a jaded Gothamite wouldn’t be stripped of his Balducci’s shopping card for finding the conversion of a house of worship into exclusive condos a little tacky. New York Episcopalians still shudder when they pass the former Church of the Holy Communion at Sixth Avenue and West 20th Street, which was sold with the understanding the landmark building would be a drug rehabilitation center; shortly after it became the Limelight disco, which was reknowned for being, well, the opposite of a drug rehabilitation center.
The checkered past of Denzel's new residence—formally the Washington Park Methodist Church from its founding in 1860 until last year—cranks up the irony further: During the upheavals of the 1960s, the "Peace Church" served as a meeting and performance hall for Vietnam War protesters, folk singers and social action groups, including the Black Panthers.
When I saw the title of the film "On a Clear Day," my first impulse was to complete the old phrase--"you can see forever." But this movie isn't about seeing forever; it's a small, intimate look at ordinary people who deal with forces much larger than themselves. Frank (Peter Mullan) is a lifelong factory worker who has recently lost his job, he’s estranged from his adult son, and he’s listless in his marriage to wife Joan (Brenda Blethyn). So, to combat his boredom and depression in forced retirement, he comes up with the idea of swimming the English Channel.
Immediately, I’m thinking of other British working-class-triumph films like “Billy Elliot” and “The Full Monty.” Sure enough, once the movie starts, the other staples of this genre begin to appear. There’s the motley cast of friends, including the lifelong best buddy, the out-of-place foreigner (here, a Chinese shopowner who rarely speaks but is secretly wise), and the young ne’er-do-well who just wants to fit in (“Lord of the Rings” alum Billy Boyd). There’s the wife who keeps a secret from her husband, although it’s a pretty tame one--she’s taking classes to get her license as a city bus driver. In true spiritual fashion, she has to take the test three times before passing.
Whether you’re watching Frank go through a grueling training process or watching as he tries in vain to have a conversation with his son (a stay-at-home-dad who thinks his father is ashamed of him), you’re always hoping he succeeds. Peter Mullan wisely doesn’t play Frank like a hero. Frank makes mistakes and often mistreats the people around him. His goal of swimming the Channel is also a way for other characters to make life changes of their own, whether it’s rekindling a marriage or standing up to discrimination.
“On a Clear Day” is a feel-good movie and isn’t the least bit embarrassed about it. Gaby Dellal’s direction is straightforward up until the very end of the film when she lets symbolism go a little bit too far. The most agonizing plot detail--that Frank and Joan had another son who drowned as a child--is never given the proper emotional levity. It’s used as a hamfisted device to explain first Frank’s motivation for swimming and second his disconnection from surviving son Rob.
“On a Clear Day” is at its cinematic and spiritual best as a film about rebirth. The role of water in the story is multifold. The denouement of Frank and Rob’s argument with each other comes when Rob jumps into a pool with all his clothes on. Frank’s redemption is also found in water--the cold, black water of the Channel--as his family stands on the French shore hoping he makes it across. There are some beautiful shots of Frank alone in the water, his arms and legs moving in time. It’s a shame the film can’t just let Frank swim in peace, because the story would be much more powerful if he could.
A critic for Canada’s National Post examines the new field of Seinfeld Studies, as it is represented in “Seinfeld, Master of Its Domain,” a recently published collection of academic writings on the cultural significance of the long-running sitcom. Among the theses included: “Seinfeld, Situation Comedy, and the Encounter with Nothingness,” “Seinfeld is a Jewish Sitcom, Isn't It: Ethnicity and Assimilation on 1990s American Television,” and, inevitably, “Jane Austen, Meet Jerry Seinfeld.” Another essay, “Male Anxiety and the Buddy System in Seinfeld” might as well be titled “Jerry Seinfeld, Meet Jerry Falwell,” as it exposes the latent homosexuality in Seinfeld and George Costanza’s relationship: a nonsexual crush that the author, Joanna L. Di Mattia, Monash University, identifies as “homosociality.”
It’s the National Post’s writer, Richard Fulford, who comes up with the question relating Seinfeld and religion: Are the Seinfeld Four in heaven or hell? The case for heaven: “World crises never intrude, politics is barely mentioned, no one worries about food or lodging, sex is available (if sometimes complicated), and money seldom arises as a serious problem.” On the other hand: “In the Seinfeldian world a great deal happens but almost none of it much matters. In all these ways it closely resembles high school. That answers the theological question. They're living in hell.”
Who says there's no "Passion" effect, no rush to mimic Mel Gibson's phenomenal success? Details magazine reports in its April cover story featuring Vin Diesel--whose recent filmography includes "The Chronicles of Riddick" and "The Pacifier"--that he is preparing to star as "one of the baddest conquerors in all history: Hannibal, the elephant-riding Alps-crosser." And, oh yeah, he's doing the film in Punic.
So, the sword-and-sandals epic isn't exactly the type of "religious revival" media speculated about after "The Passion of the Christ," but Diesel certainly is making like Mel and joining the dead language club. "It is nutty!" Diesel explained to queries from Detail's Kevin Gray. “But I don’t have a choice. I got to do it right."
Let's hope it's more "Boiler Room" right, than "xXx" right.
Blowing up a national landmark to make a statement about terrorism. Unleashing a dangerous virus for political gain. No, I am not describing the latest news headlines. It's the plot of “V for Vendetta,” the latest blockbuster action flick from the makers of the “Matrix” trilogy.
In the film, based on a graphic novel of the same name, “V” (played by Hugo Weaving) is an anti-hero living underground in a futuristic and totalitarian Great Britain. He has spent years plotting an elaborate plan of revenge against everyone who was once involved in a horrible scientific experiment in a prison camp where he was tortured. His plans take a detour, however, when a young woman, Evey (Natalie Portman), comes to his aid and he must return the favor. “V” begins to care for Evey, and she soon becomes inextricably involved in his crusade to rally the fearful masses from complacency to revolution against the military regime under which they live.
“Vendetta” wants to be an important movie about ideas--political, moral, and spiritual--and it certainly starts out that way. In the first 15 minutes, we are inundated with numerous not-so-subtle references to 9/11, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, and the potential legacy of the current Bush administration. The movie is also quick to take on religion, as spiritual books such as the Koran are banned in this Orwellian society. And while the government slogan, seen everywhere in the film, states, “Strength in Unity. Unity in Faith,” the slogan is not referring to faith in God but blind faith in a corrupt government. Even “V” himself doesn’t have much use for God, as he explains early on in the story: “Unlike God, I don’t leave things to chance.” (For more on the theory that this is a deliberately and completely an anti-Christian film, click here.)
And while all of the spectacular special effects and endless allegorical allusions to contemporary society pulled me in at first, by the film’s end “Vendetta” was an unsatisfying look at courage, justice, hate, and love. For the audience to care about "V" as a heroic figure, we need to see good in him that we do not see in the enemies he is fighting--but we don't. "V" is as much of a monster as the people he destroys. There is no virtue in his vengeance and no interest in his own redemption.
During its two hours of murder and mayhem, "Vendetta" didn't attempt to answer any of the significant questions it raised about life in a truly godless society, and it also didn't give those questions the serious reflection they deserved.
Dover, Penn.--the town made famous last year because of a court decision to overturn a school board requirement to teach intelligent design in the classroom--is about to get the Hollywood treatment. Variety reports that Paramount Studios is developing a film version of the trial, which will focus on the way the court’s decision divided the community. Ronald Harwood, the screewriter for the project, has said that he is using "Inherit the Wind," the well-known play about the Scopes monkey trial, as his moral touchstone for the project.
Before he was the 40-year-old virgin, Steve Carell had a hilarious cameo role as the competition news anchor to Jim Carey's Bruce in "Bruce Almighty." Now, Universal Pictures plans to release a Summer 2007 follow-up called "Evan Almighty," with Carell as its central character.
"Evan Almighty" will see the return of Morgan Freeman playing the part of God, who informs Evan (Carell)--an anchorman-turned-politician--that a flood is coming so he must build an Ark in the style of Noah.
In my opinion, Carell's few minutes on screen during "Bruce Almighty" completely stole Jim Carrey's thunder. That, together with Carell's recent successes in "Anchorman" and "Virgin," makes me think that "Evan Almighty" will be a Summer '07 must-see.
The April issue of GQ, the magazine for dudes with elegantly mussed hair, baits us with the cover line, “The New Christian Sex Craze.” This continues a series of articles on conservative Christians, most of which have peddled fringey crackpots as just average Christian Joes. The sex craze in question, however, turns out to be the chastity movement, which writer Walter Kirn discovers with a visit to the L.A.-based Christian college Biola University and an interview with Stephen Arterburn, co-author of the Christian man’s no-sex guide “Every Young Man’s Battle.”
Kirn, who admits that he grew up a sexually repressed Mormon, confesses a lot of admiration for both the boys of Biola—who use scotch tape and paper to hide Jennifer Aniston’s curves on magazine covers and talk dirty to one another to quell urges—and for Arterburn. He’s astonished at how chastity has become a form of rebellion, in which sex is ardently hoped for but delayed: “The new abstinence is not anti-sex but pro-sex, and that’s it’s ingenious selling point,” he writes.
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Blowing up a national landmark to make a statement about terrorism. Unleashing a dangerous virus for political gain. No, I am not describing the latest news headlines. It's the plot of