Idol Chatter

In this exclusive clip from the new military movie “Stop-Loss,” opening March 28, Iraqi war hero, Sgt. Brandon King, played by Ryan Phillippe, comes back home after his tour of duty to a townwide celebration in his honor. Watch the clip below. embedVideo(1460774171,1460867924);

Their music is ancient, their lifestyle medieval, but a group of Cistercian monks from Holy Cross Monastery near Vienna secured a recording contract with Universal Music using the latest craze on the Internet: YouTube. Their video audition came in response to an advertisement London-based Universal placed looking for new groups to feature in their line…

Eckhart Tolle may be Oprah’s new spiritual guru of choice–inspired by his long time bestselling self-help favorite The Power of Now, but this weekend in the article “The Wisdom of the Ages, For Now Anyway,” New York Times reporter Jesse McKinley wonders how much audiences–and Oprah herself–really know about this man whose spiritual-you-can-change-your-life with positive…

As rocker Lenny Kravitz is about to begin an international tour to promote his first studio album (“It’s Time for a Love Revolution”) in four years, he has also been promoting something very un-rock ‘n roll like–celibacy. But the man who became famous for his flings with hot actresses and songs like “Justify My Love”…

Is committing adultery in the name of true love spiritually justifiable or morally (and biblically) wrong? Like my fellow blogger, Esther Kustanowitz, I gave the Monday night show “New Amsterdam” a chance (Thanks, writer’s strike!) and was taken away by the cast, the storylines, and the flashbacks (the strength of the show). But (yes, there’s…

In this weekend’s New York Times Sunday Magazine, reporter Virginia Heffernan covers what she calls “God’s Workout” and its followers, otherwise known as CrossFit. “The superfit walk among us,” Heffernan writes. “They saunter or strut, depending on whether they’re showcasing their magnificent agility or their oxlike strength. They ignore the chatter in the health media…

When I received a press release yesterday stating that Sir Richard Branson, of the Virgin mega-brands and various hot air balloon adventures, had joined SciFi Channel’s “Visions for Tomorrow” advisory board, my curiosity was piqued. Not only do I think that Branson is one of the coolest philanthropists around, but I had never even heard…

Brenda and her “going to acting school in England.” Brandon and his sideburns/journalism career. Token Jew Andrea (pronounced “Ahndrea”) who bused over from another zip code so she could have a better education. The characters were ours, and the issues they faced were also ours, even if they had cooler clothes, a fabu beach house,…

Paul Scofield’s passing today shows the depth of Britain’s classical acting squad: he’s perhaps one of the top actors of the 20th century, with enough gravitas, impeccable diction and nuance to rank with Sirs Gielgud, Olivier, or Richardson. Yet he has none of their household recognition—unless you’re a faith-conscious person, in which case Scofield is…

Britain’s tightly-knit theater and film community has had a tough few days, with the deaths of actor Paul Scofield and film director and screenwriter Anthony Minghella in the same week. Scofield, who had suffered from leukemia and was 86, represented the passing of an august and much-garlanded generation. Minghella’s departure left a legacy that was…

More from Beliefnet and our partners