Chris Knight of the National Post notes that three of the top six movies at the North American box office last weekend happened to revolve around pregnant women (and a pregnant ogre). In Shrek the Third, the pregnancy represents a reasonably happy addition (or set of additions) to a reasonably happy marriage. But in Waitress, the marriage is a distinctly unhappy one, and in Knocked Up, there is no marriage at all — in fact, beyond the original one-night stand,... Read more
That story about Mike Figgis “shooting a pilot”? Didn’t happen. Read more
It might seem like old news now, but my review of Spider-Man 3 is now up at ChristianWeek; a slightly longer version is in the current issue of BC Christian News, which is not yet online. Read more
Josh Hurst is taking a break from his Reel News column for CT Movies this week, so I contributed this week’s item, which synthesizes various stories I’ve linked to here before regarding films made in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. Read more
Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. Away from Her — CDN $711,944 — N.AM $3,253,000 — 21.9%Georgia Rule — CDN $2,310,000 — N.AM $18,109,000 — 12.8%Fracture — CDN $4,800,000 — N.AM $38,052,000 — 12.6%Spider-Man 3 — CDN $31,910,000 — N.AM $318,264,000 — 10.0%28 Weeks Later — CDN $2,620,000 — N.AM $26,577,000 — 9.9%Shrek the Third —... Read more
After India and the United States, can you name the country with the third-largest film industry in the world? The answer is Nigeria, where up to 1,200 low-budget straight-to-video movies are produced every year — many of which have Christian themes or are produced by churches. Despite its prodigious output, no Nigerian film had been released theatrically in its native country since 1979 — but Variety reported last week that that changed recently thanks to a film called The Amazing... Read more
Seven years ago, I attended a press conference with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had made a point of coming back to Vancouver to promote The 6th Day (2000; my review) in the city where this, his latest sci-fi action movie, had been shot. Someone asked him how he felt about “runaway productions” — i.e. Hollywood films that are shot outside of California, usually for budgetary reasons — and Arnold, in his smooth-talking way, pooh-poohed the people who made such a huge... Read more
As Legendary Pictures continues to develop its adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost — which depicts the creation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden — another studio is asking itself, “Hmmm, what if Adam and Eve were to walk among us today?” Reports Variety: Disney has made a preemptive six-figure purchase of “All About Adam,” a spec script by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons. Scott Rudin will produce the project. Spec... Read more
The Associated Press reports: Pope Benedict . . . also approved martyrdom Friday for 188 Japanese who were decapitated, burned at the stake or scalded to death in volcanic hot springs in the early 1700s. Among them was a Jesuit priest, Peter Kibe, a convert to Christianity whose work as a missionary was opposed by authorities. He and the other Japanese died for refusing to renounce their faith. . . . Being declared a martyr, which means the men died... Read more
Okay, why have I never heard of this before. I was searching for info on something else tonight when I stumbled across Das Jesus Video (2002), a German mini-series that was released in North America last year under the title Ancient Relic. Apparently it is based on a novel by Andreas Eschbach about “An archaeologist [who] discovers an ancient skeleton and items that indicate it may have been a time traveler who visited Palestine and recorded images of Christ.” And... Read more
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