The Associated Press reports that it is too early to say what effect Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks will have on his career. Abraham H. Foxman has already called on Hollywood to ostracize Gibson, while some anonymous studio chiefs have said that the public has a short memory and will easily forgive Gibson and go to his movies, especially “if the film is perceived as worthwhile.” The article also notes that Gibson, when promoting The Passion of the Christ (2004) over... Read more
The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which is basically a condensed version of my interview with The Second Chance director Steve Taylor, as well as my mini-review of Shooting Dogs, one of several recent and upcoming films about the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Read more
Reuters has an interesting piece on the Kenyan film industry: The black sports car maneuvers through the shoppers thronging Nairobi’s River Road and stops. “Ringtone,” a Kenyan gospel singer, steps out and heads into Nduti One Stop Shop to check on sales of his latest music video. “He’s sold more than 10,000 videos in the last five months. People like watching songs of prayer,” says shop worker Vera Washira, sticking labels and price tags onto stacks of CDs and cheap... Read more
Mel Gibson was arrested in Malibu Friday morning for driving under the influence. The Los Angeles Times noted that the stretch of road where Gibson was arrested has a colourful past when it comes to this sort of thing, and that Gibson has “no previous driving-related convictions or accidents in California”; and People noted that Gibson, who joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1991 and has been very open about his past substance abuse, “ran a red light and collided with another... Read more
A week ago Friday, I interviewed Steve Taylor over the phone — and I did not realize until afterwards that our chat had taken place exactly 12 years to the day after my very first interview with him, way back when I was just a star-struck university student happy to write for no pay at all; just the joy of meeting one of my favorite songwriters and seeing my name in print was enough. Between these two interviews, I also... Read more
Just a note to say I have now posted the full unexpurgated version of my interview with The Ant Bully director John A. Davis, here. Read more
The Associated Press reports that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who turned 17 five days ago, will bare all in a London stage production of Equus that opens in March of next year: The play delves into the psyche of a boy named Alan Strang who blinds six horses with a metal spike. The production is scheduled to open next March in the West End theater district, said spokesman Peter Thompson. “It is an extraordinary play, and he’s very much... Read more
My review of The Ant Bully is now up at CT Movies, and so is my review of Scoop, the new film from Woody Allen. Of course, seeing a Woody Allen movie and an insect cartoon so close together reminds me of Antz (1998) — which for my money is easily the best film Woody Allen has made in the past decade, and which I have always preferred to its Pixar rival A Bug’s Life (1998). Click here for a... Read more
SHOOTING DOGS would make an interesting double-bill with Hotel Rwanda. Both films concern the genocide of 1994 — and the shock that those living in that country felt when the international community failed to do much more than evacuate those with white skin. But whereas the latter film was largely about Africans who survived the massacre, thanks to a cunning hotel manager who knew how to push the buttons of the social elites, the new film concerns a Catholic priest... Read more
Woo-hoo! IGN.com reports that Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974) is finally coming to DVD in November. As you can probably tell from the picture here, I already have all three seasons of the original series (1966-1969) and all ten movies (1979-2002), and I’ve been waiting for a chance to fill this gap between them. Read more
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