DISNEY: CAN THEY POSSIBLY GET ASLAN? The folks at Disney are probably almost ready to assume psotures of prayer that the upcoming Narnia films will put the Mousehouse back on the map as THE top source of family entertainment. Cut out of the ultra successful Harry Potter and LOTR franchises, and having blown its relationship to the amazing Pixar studios, Disney really really really understands what it means to be the studio where “it is always winter but never Christmas.”... Read more

PASSION REDUX The big news in Hollywood this week ISN’T the Republican convention. There’s a little DVD release this week that is making everybody uncomfortable again. Basically because it looks to be shattering records, just like it did in theaters back in February. The Passion of the Christ DVD started selling on Tuesday morning, and, by lunch, had sold 2.5 million copies. The figures will just keep going up, in the next few weeks. You can almost hear the studio... Read more

SEE BARBARA HALL…AND ME. The Christian Hollywood network, Inter-Mission, is having an evening with Barbara Hall (Emmy Nominated Creator and Exec Producer, Joan of Arcadia) later this month. They called and asked me to be the interviewer, as, well, the lesser of two Barbaras. At first I hesitated, because, having been Barb’s RCIA instructor, we have a different kind of relationship. We talk about God, not show biz. But Barbara said, “Sure, sounds fun,” so I’ll be doing the questioning... Read more

JUST A LITTLE BIT OF GRIEF For no discernible reason, my little cat, Tibby, went into seizures yesterday. It was awful. The poor cat has had a hell of a summer, back and forth to two different vets several time, but they just couldn’t fix him. We brought him to the vet again last night but there was nothing they could really do. He was in so much pain he couldn’t really move, in between the seizures. So, I had... Read more

THE GOOD THING ABOUT JET-LAG… …is that it means that you can be wide awake at 4am, answering forty emails and catching up on your blogging. Ordinarily, I waste the hours between 4am and 6am, you know, sleeping. Rats. Back in L.A. after eight days in Spain and Southern France. We were also obliged by an overbooked Air France flight to spend an extra day enjoying cold French hospitality in a two-star hotel (read: ridiculously slow Internet access and room... Read more

I’M BACK I got stuck in Newark on my way to Spain. But, lucky for you all, I found a table in the food court near an outlet, and ended up using the time to post reviews of several movies that I have seen in the last few weeks – mostly free on airplanes, thank God. None of them have been worth the price of admission….but, lest I crush all suspense… IT TAKES A STORY….$#@!! IT! I. Let the bad... Read more

OH YEAH, BEFORE I GO… …I wanted to mention a few of the talks far and wide that I have coming up this Fall. Most of these will be open to the general public, but I might be willing to add a talk at your church, school or “two people over a piece of chicken” group to get the most out of my mileage. Here’s some preliminary dates and cities: October 10-12, New Orleans, LA November 4-6, Dallas, TX November... Read more

THE GRUELING VICISSITUDES OF THE SCREENWRITING LIFE… …will see me in Spain again this week. There I’ll be, patiently trudging around doing site research in Madrid, Avila, Barcelona, the Pyrenees and Lourdes, eating tapas, drinking fine, fruity wines and trying not to feel sorry for myself. Sigh. Heh heh heh. This week, it’s good to be in the movie business. However, I have a feeling blogging will be el lighto. Wouldn’t want to miss a medieval Church or two for... Read more

PART I – PATRON OF THE ARTS I am writing a three-part series for the National Catholic Register on the Church as Patron of the Arts. Part One is on the Arts and the Liturgy. Part Two is on Beauty and the Church. The third part will be on The Arts and Priestly Formation. The series grew out of the talk I gave at the Mundelein Seminarians Formation Conference. It was too much work to just get one talk out... Read more

SOMETIMES I HATE IT WHEN I’M RIGHT A few weeks ago, I posted about the Spanish Civil War as a historical proto-type of contemporary American society. My observation was that modern societies that become highly polarized between faith and secularism, generally end up in religious persecution. The progession moves from anti-religious rhetoric to “legal” oppression of the Church. [drumroll, please] And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere it is! SB 1234, Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s (D-L.A.) expansion of California’s “hate crimes” laws, passed another hurdle last... Read more