Idol Chatter

Planting one on the forehead of mama’s darling used to be the surest route to public office. These days, it may be playing with a talk-show’s house band. Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appeared on Leno last night, and though his explanation of his flat consumption tax might have put half the late-night audience to sleep,…

“Gossip Girl” is back! I can’t say I’m sorry that the first of my TV series addictions to return in the new year is this particular guilty, guilty, guilty new pleasure of mine. And after all the syrupy, happy endings during the Thanskgiving and Christmas episodes, the darker mood of last night’s installment was a…

Now that it’s 2008, we can finally say that new episodes of “Lost” are imminent. And by “imminent,” we mean the end of the month. If you’re a fan, you were likely shocked (in a good way) by the season finale (which aired in May, about an eon ago) and by the revelation that, in…

There is an interesting article over at Salon about how in 2007 the toxic relationship between the media, celebrities, and the average consumer has hit new levels of lunacy. Well, I certainly can’t argue with that. And while some of my fellow Beliefnet writers have already posted their thoughts on what some stars could do…

This has been a surprisingly good year for movies and I am thrilled to say that it was difficult to limit my list of favorite movies to ten. (Last year I had a difficult time even finding ten to make my list!) In fact, there are a couple of movies that would probably have made…

While I have never understood the fascination with continuing to remake the bizarre story of demonic barber Sweeney Todd, I have to admit that when I saw the dazzling, completely innovative spectacle of the Tony winning Broadway revival of ‘Sweeney Todd” in 2005, it had a powerful impact on me as a Christian writer and…

When the Chicago Daily Herald recently asked random celebs’ “Which person, living or dead, would you most like to spend the day with?” the no. 1 answer was “Jesus,” though, frankly, the Good Lord has spent time in better company than the crop of B-listers who answered the Herald’s phone call.

There’s gold in them thar hills. Black gold, that is, for Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), an early California silver prospector-turned-oil-tycoon in “There Will Be Blood.” There’s Hollywood (statuette) gold gushing up on-screen, too, considering this film’s soul-drilling excellence. With its operatic treatment of the themes of greed, family and religion, its stunning cinematography and production…

Christmas has so powerfully shaped Western culture that it has created yuletide rituals even among non-Christians. Jews, for instance, avail themselves of the only entertainments open on Christmas Day in most parts: eating Chinese food and going to the movies. Now, thanks to Brandon Walker, a music teacher at a Jewish community center in Baltimore,…

Watch an exclusive clip from the movie “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and then read below to find out how to enter to win prizes related to this critically acclaimed new film: Click to Watch What is your new year’s resolution? Aiming to live a better life? Or maybe just to lay off the…

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