Idol Chatter

A young mother gives birth to a miracle child destined to save humanity but then must flee with her child to safety or be killed. No, I am not describing the plot of “The Nativity Story,” but the plot of the futuristic thriller “Children of Men.” Director Alfonso Cuaron (“The Prisoner of Azkaban“) takes the…

I liked “The Good Shepherd” and enjoyed Ellen Leventry’s Idol Chatter review of it, with one main point of disagreement. Where she saw it as perhaps an incomplete movie about the CIA, I thought it was a thorough–if not ingenious–look at the career path that cost many of our fathers (and grandfathers) the life they…

The world has seen its share of cheesy teacher-transforms-students movies (“Dangerous Minds” starring Michelle Pfeiffer is a classic example). But the “Stand and Deliver” examples of the genre–those that not only inspire but are also well-told, well-acted stories–are a rare breed. “Freedom Writers,” thankfully, is of the “Stand and Deliver” variety. Based on a true…

If you need a “Studio 60” fix while waiting for new episodes of the dramedy to return next week, I highly recommend you check out the new interview with director/producer Tommy Schlamme in the Christian satire magazine “The Wittenburg Door.” The magazine (which is forbidden in most Christian bookstores in part because of its habit…

A clip from a new documentary about the Lost Boys of Sudan, some of whom came to America:

Read any number of reviews of “The Good Shepherd,” Robert De Niro’s fascinating look at the birth of the Central Intelligence Agency through the eyes of a character loosely based on former counter-intelligence head James Jesus Angleton, and you will recognize variations on a theme: the corruption and eventual erosion of the soul. In the…

Last fall, researcher George Barna–the Gallup of the Christian scene–found that Denzel Washington is better known and better loved than any living American religious figure. Lately, it seems as if Washington is running up the score. Denzel got a faith bump this fall, as Zondervan Publishing debuted the first (New Testament) installment of “The Bible…

With the success of the film adaptation of the musical “Chicago,” and to a lesser degree, “Rent,” Hollywood looks to the world of Broadway one more time for a hit–this time with the Motown celebration “Dreamgirls.” Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, and “American Idol” contender Jennifer Hudson shimmy, shake, strut, and sing their way through the 1960s…

Hard to say whether the Catholic-born Kabbalah convert Madonna celebrates Christmas. Last year, she reportedly prepped for the Yule by having four 72-pint firkins of ale delivered to her Wiltshire home: a good sign that Father Christmas was expected at the Ritchie-Ciccone residence. On the other hand, the British tabloids report that Yohane Banda, father…

One more follow-up to CNN’s “Most Controversial Celebrities of 2006“: Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears not only provided non-stop fun and follies on which a starving (or bored) cultural audience feasted, but something else far more newsworthy–and perhaps dangerous–was going on as well. It has probably been true every year and…

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