I remember when I was in Australia last year that somebody explained to me the local euphemism in which something very nice is called a “dinky di.” Well, let’s just say the new movie Australia by director Baz Luhrmann needs a whole new euphemism, maybe, “dinky doo-doo”? It is a spectacular mess. That is, it is lots of spectacle but all strung together in a very messy way. so much of the movie comes across like a travelogue, only of... Read more

We have a major star who is interested in playing Herod the Great in the movie I co-wrote “Mary, Mother of the Christ. Said star has asked for a little beefing up of the role of Herod in the movie, and came up with the intriguing idea of having the terrible king show up at the scene of the slaughter of the innocents, and then make a speech to one of the dead babies. Needless to say, it is rather... Read more

Okay, back to what’s REALLY important…. The IMDB page for the much anticipated last ten episodes of the great Battlestar Galactica (2003) (all bow) is listing a “freaking me out!” casting addition. If you don’t want a potentially mind-blowing spoiler of who just might be the Final Cylon, then, by all means, don’t click here. Now, I own that I had thought of this a while back, but dismissed it as being dumb from a story/character standpoint. And the words... Read more

I’m in the Phoenix airport and the Wi-Fi here is uneven (- which I find disconcertingly cheeky. Don’t they know that Obama has been elected and has ushered in a new era of complete transformation of hope and change?!), but I wanted to send a heads-up for the haunting and eerily relevant movie now in theaters, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. The film is being distributed by Miramax and was co-produced by BBC Films. It is worthy of your... Read more

I have been seeing a few movies lately, but there really hasn’t been anything that has really been worth taking a lot of time to review. Still, for those of you who want to know, here are quick “Barb giving the thumbs down” to some things that are in theaters right now… Appaloosa Directed by Ed Harris and starring Jeremy Irons, Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Rene Zellwegger. Strengths: Ed Harris in cowboy clothes riding horses and acting alpha-male-ish. Priceless.... Read more

This past May, I had the honor of participating in a four day conference in Austin, TX that had the title Transforming Culture. It was organized by the awe-inspiring David Taylor and featured wonderful thinkers as keynote speakers like Jeremy Begbie, Eugene Peterson, and Andy Crouch…all of which had me singing the Sesame Street song when I saw my name on the program beside theirs, “One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t... Read more

I’m really tired here and I can’t take long as I am meeting dear friend and erstwhile Los Angeles expat Karen Hall for Mass and brunch. But what an amazing two days we just had! It’s hard not to think that we participated in something monumental in the Story Conference. Ten brains – all very sharp and passionate about the question. And everybody really showed up in the sense of being prepared, witty, entertaining, and deeply thoughtful. Peter Kreeft told... Read more

I’m doing a lot of Flannery reading in preparation for our Story Conference next week. Some of the lines in Habit of Being are so good they make me want to call my older sister and just say them to her. It makes me happy to read her. I thought I’d share some of these lines as I find them. (Flannery O’Connor, from a letter to Ben Griffith, 4 May, 1955) “You will observe that I admire my own work... Read more

It looks lovely.  So, lovely, you almost forgive the fact that this is a one note tragedy about a lovely, and intelligent young woman who is crushed under the injustice and occasional brutality of unbridled patriarchy.    But the costumes are grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  And if it doesn’t win best costume than whomever spent two years designing and sewing the hundreds of gorgeous dresses and hats on display here will probably jump off the top of the Paramount arches. It wasn’t a... Read more

[NB FROM BARB: A friend sent me this and asked me to post it. I don’t personallyhave any experience with this group but it sounds great to me.] Subject: Artists on Call: A Diaspora of Hope Greetings. At the risk of clogging your email, I wanted to ask for yourhelp in reaching artists, educators, social workers and even medicalpersonnel with an exciting project that is developing at BuildaBridge. I am writing you because of your support for BuildaBridge’s mission ofbringing... Read more