Idol Chatter

Don’t mistake “Eagle vs. Shark” for your average love story. This “romantic comedy turned on its head” by New Zealand director Taiko Waititi was one of the most talked-about premieres at Sundance. I heard at a previous screening someone called it “the best movie ever made.” When I arrived at the line early, the waiting…

I finally saw “The Aristocrats” this weekend, and will refrain from adding–at this late date–to the reams of commentary on this documentary about the telling and retelling of a single, legendary, vile joke by professional comedians. In a completely unrelated aside, however, Robin Williams did offer this gem, which may be old news for lots…

Last week my husband returned from Seattle on Delta Airlines, and told me he had some “Idol Chatter blog-worthy” news: As they crossed the country at 35,000 feet, they were treated to quite the interesting version of the Golden Globe-winning “The Queen.” All the references to “God” were bleeped out, he explained in shock. And…

For the most part, there isn’t always a lot of grace shown at “Grey’s Anatomy’s” Seattle Grace Hospital. The show dabbles with the “diseases” of the human condition, those murky, dirty, selfish gray areas of torrid love affairs, ruthless competitiveness, the keeping of dark secrets, and cutting the LVAD wire keeping your boyfriend alive so…

Many year’s ago, a relative of mine joked that she may have to induce the birth of her third child since the expected due date was the same as the Super Bowl and she wanted her husband to be there for the birth. Luckily, said child arrived naturally three days before the big game, and…

I may not be a comic book junkie, nor have I been swept up–at least in any lasting way–into the graphic novel craze that has hit the bookshelves of late, but I couldn’t pass by “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi’s vivid (literally) graphic memoir of growing up in Tehran during the Islamic revolution. I was captivated by…

Philip Yancey, author of “Where Is God When It Hurts?”, once said that if the church was more present in this world and attending to its pain, people would be asking the question that is the title of his book with much less frequency. Love God. Love your neighbor. Both the Old and New Testaments…

Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi’s HBO documentary “Friends of God,” which premieres tonight, promises a behind-the-scenes look at the “broad tent” that is evangelicalism in this country, but instead, the film simply follows the same unimaginative formula of other documentaries, like “Jesus Camp.” The formula goes like this: After stating that you are going to provide a…

NBC’s fantastic new show “Heroes” finally returned this week after a too-long holiday hiatus, premiering with the episode “Godsend” and leaving viewers with some interesting ideas to ponder: Are the heroes’ special powers gifts from God? At least one of the heroes thinks so. D. L. Hawkins–right-hand man of Claire’s (the cheerleader) father, whose power…

What is a Sundance Film? This was one of the writing prompts for an article review I wrote for a class in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival. I said it was simply the absence of a studio backed film – independent, sans Hollywood. This could be a wide range in styles carrying an even…

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