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“Charlie Wilson’s War” is a movie vehicle to please liberal audiences comfortable with confronting the reality of religion’s role on the global political stage. Starring Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson, a scotch-swilling, womanizing Texas Congressman, Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring, a rich, conservative socialite, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust, the quick-talking, foul-mouthed CIA agent,…

Oy vey. Every time actors speak I find myself holding my breath and hoping that what they’ll say will resemble one of the moving, well-written speeches that they deliver during the roles they’ve taken on in their lifetime. As it turns out, those speeches are crafted by experienced people (I believe they’re called “writers,” or…

As a die-hard fan of “The West Wing” who mourned its disappearance from network television, I’ve missed American politics as processed through the quirky and brilliant mind of Aaron Sorkin. Lucky for me, “Charlie Wilson’s War” provides another shade from Sorkin’s palette, one which swaps his trademark crackling dialogue for a fast-paced, charm-filled snapshot of…

Stupid me. I saw one trailer for “PS, I Love You” starring Hilary Swank, Lisa Kudrow, and Kathy Bates, noted the release date (December 21), and thought to myself, “Ooh, yay! A romantic comedy for the holidays.” I didn’t bother to read the reviews that came out on Friday morning. I just went to the…

Two years ago I posted a list here at Idol Chatter of some of my favorite Christmas episodes of some of my favorite TV shows of years past. I’ve decided to trot out a revised version of that list. Are there any favorite holiday episodes you try to catch in reruns that you would like…

Whenever there’s a child star crisis — for example, the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy announcement– it seems to bring numerous other former child stars out of the woodwork to comment. Both People Magazine and ABC News felt it was newsworthy that Lisa Whelchel, who once played snooty Blair Warner on the cheesy 80s sitcom “The…

From an entertainment perspective, being a Jew during Christmas month is hard. While we get the “Adam Sandler Chanukah Song” for eight days over Hanukkah, during the rest of the month, the radio stations go Christmasy hardcore, with seven versions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and dueling Madonna and Marilyn for “Santa Baby.”…

When the subject of Iran comes up, religious extremists tend to take center stage. However, co-directors/co-writers Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud show that there is more to the Iranian culture with their animated feature “Persepolis” — in limited theatrical release on Dec. 25. The film based on Satrapi’s eponymous autobiographical graphic novel series has already…

For the past few days bloggerati the world over have been consumed with covering Jamie Lynn Spears’ recently announced pregnancy; this blog included. And while many muse about the Nickelodeon star not learning valuable lessons from Britney’s missteps and potentially ruining a considerable career, other news outlets, such as the New York Times, are trumpeting…

When it comes to books, the definition of spirituality is a loose one. In compiling lists of the best of any given year, we can lean on familiar books about God, or the spiritual life, or we can cast our glance a bit further, and look for books that render the spirit tangible in unexpected…
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