Maybe I’ve just seen one too many comic book movies. Or maybe, at 41, I slipped over the perimeter in which “heroes in tights” can still trip my trigger. Or maybe, FOX’s new fantastical budget comic book project is just a mediocre movie despite its cool CGI and high level production values. I suppose if I could make myself give the movie’s problems a bit of thought, I would say that there was too much backstory and plot points awkwardly... Read more

Emily Dickinson wrote once, “I have read but little lately. Experience has overshadowed prose.” That’s how I feel about blogging lately. We just started our second summer program today. We have 34 writers with us for the next four weeks. We still have our 15 executives in training with us until August 24th. And even if I DIDN’T have 48 young people who have a claim on my attention, I’m also consulting on a feature script and about to sign... Read more

My sister Val is singing in Madame Butterfly in Charlottesville, VA. I couldn’t find the cast list anywhere on the official site, but she’s been posting ‘I’m bored in Virginia’ messages on the family yahoo group, so I know she’s really there. Bored in VA? Go be a patron of the Nicolos– I mean, of the arts! Read more

#444 “…are we that wait, sufficient worth…?” It feels a shame to be Alive —When Men so brave are dead — One envies the Distinguished Dust —Permitted — such a Head — The Stone that tells – defending Whom – This Spartan put awayWhat little of Him we possessed. In Pawn for Liberty — The price is great — Sublimely paid —Do we deserve — a Thing That lives (like Dollars) must be piled before we may obtain — [it?... Read more

Friend and fellow critic, Jeffrey Overstreet, has the full-text of his piece on Ralph Winter up on his blog over at Looking Closer. Here’s a snip of Craig Detweiler and me chiming in our testimonies… Craig Detweiler, who writes and teaches about faith and film from his vantage point on the edge of Hollywood, says Winter reached this level of accomplishment and influence “by being good.” Okay, he’s good, but what sets him apart? Detweiler explains: “If you go to... Read more

Cool guy, and big-budget movie Executive Producer, Ralph Winter is featured in an interview this week on Christianity Today online. Ralph has nice words for Act One in the piece, as follows… Q: When you talk about the need for Christians in Hollywood, are you talking about screenwriters, primarily? Winter: In writing and directing, we just don’t have the material. We don’t have the talent. It takes time to develop and cultivate material and get it out there. Some of... Read more

My first War of the Worlds inspired question had to do with the audience size itself…. ** “On the second day the latest Speilberg blockbuster opens, in the theater smack in the middle of Universal Studios citywalk which is over-run with tourists, why are there only five other people in this five hundred seat theater? Hmmmmm,” thought I, “poor Tom and Stephen.” The rest of my questions started flowing with the credits…. ** “Why open the movie with a few... Read more

You scored as Roman Catholic. You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Roman Catholic 100% Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Neo orthodox 79% Classical Liberal 50% Emergent/Postmodern 46% Charismatic/Pentecostal 32% Fundamentalist 29% Reformed... Read more

Click here to read a recent interview I did with Infuze Magazine on-line. A lot of it is my same old schtick (boy am I getting sick of hearing myself say some of these things!), but some of it has a slightly different spin. There are some nice shots of our students at last year’s writing program. You have to register on the site, but I’m, you know, worth it. Here’s a snip I liked… Q. Why do you do... Read more

Yesterday, I attended the annual Humanitas Prize luncheon at the Hilton by Universal Studios. I value Humanitas for its intelligence in making virtue and responsibility in screenwriting a financially rewarding decision for Hollywood writers and producers. The Prize was originated thirty-something years ago by, my former boss and now deceased, Fr. Elwood “Bud” Kieser. The banquet is always a well-produced affair, where one can rub shoulders with both idealistic passionate writers and jaded veterans from the creative side of the... Read more