{"id":165,"date":"2011-02-03T16:12:42","date_gmt":"2011-02-03T16:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/of-gods-and-men-coming.html"},"modified":"2011-02-03T16:12:42","modified_gmt":"2011-02-03T16:12:42","slug":"of-gods-and-men-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/of-gods-and-men-coming.html","title":{"rendered":"Christian Super Bowl ad sacked; French film tells story of heroic Catholic monks; The controversial play “The Last Supper” opens in Wisconsin; The PTC ups its war on MTV’s “Skins”; Paramount to release low-budget exorcism movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/b> <\/b>Fox passes on Christian Super Bowl ad.<\/a><\/b> The spot, from the Fixed Point Foundation<\/a>, nudges viewers to checkout a website called lookup316.com<\/a>. The 316 refers to John 3:16 which reads “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”<\/i>
It would be funny if the game actually ended up with a score of 3 to 16. Boring, but funny.<\/p>\n

Of Gods and Men<\/i> coming to America<\/b>. The internationally-honored French film chronicling an extraordinary story of Catholic faith and martyrdom makes its U.S. debut on February 25 with a wider release to follow. View Clip.<\/a>
Written and directed by Xavier Beauvois, the film is loosely based on the kidnapping and murders of seven monks living in a monastery in Tibhirine, Algeria in 1996. While an Islamic fundamentalist group reportedly claimed responsibility for the crimes, the true identities of the killers remains a mystery.
Background: As the Algerian Civil War<\/a> raged in the 1990’s, tensions hit a boiling point following the massacre of a group of foreign workers. The monks, members of the Trappist Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O),<\/span> refused military protection while also choosing to continue their work despite the growing threat of violence.
Of Gods and Men<\/i> dramatizes their willingness to suffer martyrdom to remain faithful to the message peace in a dangerous land. John Anderson of the National Catholic Weekly has hailed the film as “one of the more profoundly spiritual films of this or any year.”<\/i>
The movie, which stars Lambert Wilson and Michael Londsdale, topped the French box office<\/a> when it was released last fall.
So, despite the tone of some of the movies coming out of Sundance<\/a>, there are still some movies being produced that portray traditional faith and religion (even Catholicism!) in a positive light. Of course, you may sometimes have to look outside the U.S. to find them.

\nReligion takes center stage in controversial play.<\/a> <\/b>Apparently intended as a comedy, 
<\/b>The Last Supper<\/i>, playing in Madison, Wisconsin, is about liberal college students who invite conservative guests to dinner and then kill them. The production’s director says its not about glorifying violence by either side. “By the end of the day,”<\/i> says Doug Holtz, “everyone turns such a corner and you realize how devastating it really is to go down that path.”  <\/i>Maybe the play has its heart in the right place. I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. But, to me, the plot is rather unappetizing. <\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

The Parents Television Council wants state AGs to go after MTV’s Skins<\/i>.<\/a><\/b> After first calling on the Feds to investigate whether the controversial show on grounds that it allegedly violates child porn laws, the PTC is taking its battle to the state level. <\/a>
 
Paramount hopes low-budget exorcism thriller becomes next <\/a><\/b>Paranormal Activity.<\/a>
<\/b><\/i>The theory apparently being that nothing succeeds like excess.. <\/b>
<\/i> <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. 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