I remarked to an editor of mine yesterday that it was kind of nice to see that The Lake House, which opened today, was rated PG. Lately, it seems like almost every movie has enough violence or sexual innuendo to rate a PG-13 or occasionally even an R. And a lot of kids’ movies are just edgy enough to get the PG rating. But you don’t often see PG-rated movies for grown-ups. Of the 23 weekends so far this year,... Read more

My review of The Lake House is now up at CT Movies. Read more

The Superman hype among evangelicals continues. Newsweek, GetReligion.org, The Daily News Journal in Tennessee, and possibly others have been covering this angle, and most of them quote Stephen Skelton, author of The Gospel According to the World’s Greatest Superhero. The latest example of this silliness is this piece from Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox at Pastors.com. Here is a typical quote: Comparing the potential to how churches used The Da Vinci Code in evangelistic efforts, Skelton said the upcoming Superman movie... Read more

The Associated Press just ran an item on the religious overtones of the Superman movies, in anticipation of Superman Returns: The premise of the new Superman movie alone has fueled speculation that it’s wearing its biblical comparisons on its long, tight sleeve. Superman, in the film, returns to Earth after a long absence, a narrative that’s been likened to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Meanwhile, news reports that “Passion of the Christ” star James Caviezel was originally in the running for... Read more

Terry Mattingly recently noted — in a column that was picked up here, here and probably elsewhere as well — that the movie Facing the Giants has been rated PG for “thematic elements”, which in this case appears to be a euphemism for the evangelistic content. Some people seem to be upset by this news, but there is actually nothing new about this. As Mattingly himself notes: “Facing the Giants” cost $100,000 and resembles a fusion of the Book of... Read more

Peter O’Toole played King Henry II twice, first in Becket (1964), opposite Richard Burton as the title character, and then in The Lion in Winter (1968), opposite Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine — and he was nominated for an Oscar both times. I saw the latter film many years ago, and I have never seen the former film — but I am thinking that I should make time for it soon, after reading this Hollywood Reporter story (via Reuters):... Read more

Back when The Passion of the Christ came out a couple of years ago, there was talk in some quarters about the film’s supposedly global appeal — and some of that talk was a bit exaggerated, considering the film earned only 39.4% of its revenues overseas, definitely at the low end for modern blockbusters. Of 2004’s top 25 movies, only The Bourne Supremacy was even marginally less reliant for its ranking on overseas revenues, at 38.9%. Catholic blogger and screenwriter... 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 Da Vinci Code — CDN $22,962,189 — N.AM $189,028,000 — 12.1%Mission: Impossible III — CDN $13,623,028 — N.AM $127,509,000 — 10.7%RV — CDN $5,788,916 — N.AM $65,011,000 — 8.9%Poseidon — CDN $4,618,805 — N.AM $54,935,000 — 8.4%The Break-Up — CDN $6,056,984 — N.AM $74,095,000 — 8.2%X-Men: The Last Stand... Read more

It’s been a few days since my last post, and there isn’t much to say on the news front right now — apart from the fact that Cars, despite playing on more screens than any Pixar movie ever, is the first Pixar cartoon to have a smaller opening weekend in wide release than the Pixar cartoon that immediately preceded it (and indeed, depending on the final numbers that are due tomorrow, the film may turn out to have Pixar’s smallest... Read more