Time for another small batch! 1. Serenity fans, prepare to weep — the film was only #9 at the box office yesterday, the first day of its second weekend. Last weekend it was #2, largely on the strength of its fan base (as is typical for sci-fi TV spin-offs, it actually made less money on its first Saturday than it did the day before, whereas all the other movies in wide release made more). But this weekend, now that the... Read more

Interesting comment from Sturla Gunnarsson, director of Beowulf & Grendel (which screens tonight and Tuesday afternoon as part of the Vancouver film festival), in today’s Vancouver Sun: Gunnarrsson says he’s more nervous about the screening than he was during the shoot. A tall, Nordic, rugged man who gives off waves of calmness despite his case of opening night jitters, Gunnarsson said he drew nothing but creative energy from the harsh landscape. “I felt so profoundly alive, I began to understand... Read more

My review of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is now up at CT Movies. Read more

Piglet, Porky Pig, Miss Piggy and other characters — as well as porcine objects such as piggy banks and novelty pig calendars — are apparently unwelcome these days in corners of Great Britain. In response to a complaint from a Muslim that such animals are “unclean”, the Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has banned all such “pig-related” items, including a tissue box featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet, from its offices. I first heard about this via Mark Steyn’s column in the Daily... Read more

The first section of BC Christian News I turn to every month is the letters page, and I sometimes grumble that people seem to never read my stuff, because they never write letters of complaint. But at last, my cries for attention have been answered: two letters appear in the newest issue objecting to my review of the new Harry Potter book a couple months ago. Granted, they don’t make any particularly challenging point; they merely reiterate the false claim... Read more

I haven’t seen Elizabethtown yet, but I cannot help but note the interesting language used in a recent press release sent out by a firm that markets films to the Christian media: Logline: A love letter to the resilience of the life force, “Elizabethtown” is the story of an unexpected romance that develops against the backdrop of a Kentucky patriarch’s hilariously elaborate memorial. It’s a heartfelt journey that proves amazing things can happen when you least expect them. “The resilience... Read more

Between getting sick, attending a wedding, and taking care of a few emergency assignments, this year’s film festival has gotten off to a slow start for me. And the first few films I’ve caught have been somewhat mainstream — if not multiplex material, then at least the sort of thing that is almost guaranteed to hit the art houses. But yesterday I caught something really unique: the Canadian premiere of James Benning’s 13 Lakes (2004). The movie is over two... Read more

Time for another round-up. 1. The Hollywood Reporter says Mexican director Luis Mandoki has been hired to make a family film called The Winged Boy: “The story centers on a young boy in a contemporary Irish village who begins to grow wings and then starts to fly.” The script will be written by former Kula Shaker frontman Crispian Mills and based on an unpublished story by his grandmother Mary Hayley Bell, widow of the late great Sir John Mills. Could... 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. A History of Violence — CDN $1,231,284 — N.AM $8,871,781 — 13.9%An Unfinished Life — CDN $998,567 — N.AM $7,485,496 — 13.3%Into the Blue — CDN $893,984 — N.AM $7,057,854 — 12.7%Lord of War — CDN $2,579,491 — N.AM $21,642,637 — 11.9%The 40-Year-Old Virgin — CDN $11,909,216 — N.AM $101,405,778... Read more

My review of the new Oliver Twist is now up at CT Movies. Read more