Unless there was a screening for The Hills Have Eyes II — a sequel to last year’s remake of the 1977 original, but not, I hear, a remake of the original 1985 sequel (got that?) — and nobody told me. Read more

Many movies have been made about Jesus and his followers over the years. But I can think of only one Hollywood film that was based on one of his parables … and that film is Richard Thorpe’s The Prodigal (1955), which starred Edmund Purdom as a young Hebrew named Micah and Lana Turner as Samarra, a character described by Turner herself as “the high priestess of Astarte, goddess of the flesh.” I have never actually seen this film, nor has... Read more

CanWest News Service — in a story that appears in the Financial Post, the Vancouver Sun, and probably elsewhere too — picks up on the news that Stephen Frears is in talks to direct The Burial: A controversial U.S. court case that led to one of Canada’s most spectacular corporate collapses of the 1990s is headed for the big screen. The Oscar-nominated director of The Queen is reportedly set to give David-and-Goliath treatment to the story of how a Mississippi... Read more

The Nativity Story came out on DVD today — just in time for the Feast of the Annunciation, which is this coming Sunday — but prospective buyers might want to wait a little longer. CT Movies editor Mark Moring posted an interview with director Catherine Hardwicke and producer Wyck Godfrey today — and along the way, he mentions that New Line Cinema plans “to release a two-disc special edition just before Christmas.” Why am I not surprised? I guess it... Read more

Time for another batch — some new, some catching up. 1. Variety reports that Screen Gems is talking to Stephen Frears, of The Queen fame, about directing The Burial: Story concerns Willie Gary, who was one of 11 children in a family of migrant workers. He became a multimillionaire attorney, fighting for the working man against huge corporations. Pic will focus on a $500 million settlement he won for the owner of a small chain of funeral homes in Mississippi... 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. The Number 23 — CDN $4,758,128 — N.AM $33,917,402 — 14.0%Zodiac — CDN $3,140,790 — N.AM $29,137,557 — 10.8%300 — CDN $13,411,553 — N.AM $129,165,656 — 10.4%Premonition — CDN $1,674,856 — N.AM $17,558,689 — 9.5%Bridge to Terabithia — CDN $7,148,609 — N.AM $74,967,513 — 9.5%Music and Lyrics — CDN $4,215,880... Read more

The Hollywood Reporter said on Friday that Cate Blanchett has signed on to star in Indiana Jones IV, but her publicist seemed to cast some doubt on this when she told the Associated Press yesterday that Blanchett is only “in negotiations”. At any rate, the question everyone is asking now is: What role would she play? Most people, it seems, have assumed that she will play the love interest, but — given all those rumours about Shia LaBeouf playing Indy’s... Read more

This blog had its second birthday on Friday, and I almost forgot to make note of that here. I was more punctual last year. Read more

Many thanks to Lionsgate for sending me a review copy of the brand new “special edition” of The Miracle Maker (2000). The new DVD isn’t all that different from the disc that Artisan put out a few years ago, but it does have a few nifty extras. Chief among these is the audio commentary with co-director Derek Hayes and one of the producers. They have some fun stories to tell about the cultural differences and problems in translation that they... Read more

Eight years ago, around the time American Pie and the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair came out, I wrote an article on the subject of Christian actors doing nude scenes and/or love scenes. I wanted very badly to find a local actor who was both Christian and willing to discuss the subject, and in the end I found one — but ever since, I have kept my eyes open for other actors who might fit the bill. And so... Read more