From the Associate Press:Updated: 6:56 p.m. ET May 16, 2006 CANNES, France – “The Da Vinci Code” drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world’s toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival. The year’s most anticipated movie, “The Da Vinci Code” was a generally faithful adaptation of Dan Brown’s monster best seller, spinning a murder thriller that stems from a cover-up of secrets about Christianity’s roots. While... Read more

“Catholics Are Victims of an Offense” ROME, MAY 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The press office of the Opus Dei Prelature sent this statement to ZENIT on Friday in response to comments by the director of the soon-to-be-released film “The Da Vinci Code.” * * * On Thursday the Italian press published interviews with Ron Howard, director of “The Da Vinci Code” film. In statements attributed to him, Howard said that “to deny the right to see the film is a fascist... Read more

From my mailbag… Dear Barbara, I am 48 years old, a cradle Catholic, Secular Franciscan and Parish Secretary. I watched your interview on EWTN today and was so grateful to see and hear someone of your intelligence defending our Faith. God bless you! I have a problem. I believe with my whole heart and soul what you said. I loved your manner and sense of humor, but mostly I loved your knowledge and the way you were able to get... Read more

I am working like a crazy person on this script rewrite lately. If I had the money, I’d pay a psychoanalyst to tell me the longterm psychological harm that might come from spending two weeks lurching between a romantic comedy about Italians in West Virginia and the Catholic Church’s plot to turn a real honest to God goddess into a cup. Somebody sent me a funny parody of DVC today in which there is a murder in the Louvre, and... Read more

Here is enjoyment for anyone with a keen sense of irony. Here is a piece that I wrote several years ago about video gaming addiction. Well, somehow, some gamer looked up from 78 continuous hours of killing leather-clad vampire prostitutes in Bloody Vengeance: Apocalypse IV and stumbled over my piece. With thumbs twitching, he whipped off to me a wonderful sub-textual argument in favor of all parents consigning video games to a ritual burning. All errors in argument and style... Read more

Speaking about Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks said today, “If you are going to take any sort of movie at face value, particularly a huge-budget motion picture like this, you’d be making a very big mistake.” Oh wait. No, he said that about The Da Vinci Code. I’m sorry. My bad. Read more

Cool. The Orthodox Church has officially come out with a statement slamming The Da Vinci Code. The Church’s Holy Synod has produced a pamphlet which will be distributed at all Orthodox churches this Sunday. They write… “The work attacks and undermines in a treacherous manner religious knowledge…The author (American Dan Brown) wants to damage faith in the church and in Christ, as perfect God and perfect man…Quite apart from the fact that the book attacks Christ, it also attacks the... Read more

[NOTE FROM BARB: Chances are there will be a lot of extra traffic on this site in the next week or so. So, I wanted to re-post Eric Metaxas’ briliiant slam-dunk of The Da Vinci Code for any non-regular visitors who may have missed it the first time around. Eric is a New York writer and speaker. He kindly gave me permission to reprint this essay here.] —————– Screwtape on The DaVinci Code by Eric Metaxas My dear Wormwood, I... Read more

Which makes this weird and funny…. You’re New Jersey! You don’t just live in the suburbs, you define the culture of allSurburbia. You drive everywhere you go, love to eat at diners, and pretend to have agarden. While everyone knows that your house was built on a toxic waste dump, you doyour best to hide this information and keep referring to those mythical gardens.Driving on a road without paying for it was a revolutionary experience you once hadthat you still... Read more

Meanwhile, back to real life… I am working on a script project that is set in West Virginia. It’s a comedy. I have done a lot of research, but am still looking for funny or weird or interesting things about West Virginians. Short anecdotes about any quirky regional traits would be most welcome. You know, I need the stuff that doesn’t get put in history books. I love this kind of detail in a movie, and I think it serves... Read more