Two more articles of mine went online today. 1. In one, I interview Phillip Daniels, director of the black-church documentary Seeking Salvation, for ChristianWeek. 2. In the other, I round up another batch of reviews for the CT Movies Film Forum. This is the second of two forums (fora?) that I’ve written while Jeffrey Overstreet was on vacation, and it includes reviews of The Dukes of Hazzard, Broken Flowers, Duma, Sky High, March of the Penguins, Murderball and Stealth. Read more

Just a couple quick news links. 1. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the Toronto International Film Festival‘s recently announced line-up includes a couple of films that may be pertinent to those covering the religion beat — or those covering the Matthew Modine beat, whichever: Another slot has been reserved for Cinema Seven’s “Opa!,” the romantic comedy from British director Udayan Prasad about an American archeologist (Matthew Modine) in Greece to uncover a lost Biblical artifact that his late father had... Read more

Two months ago, I took advantage of a series at the Pacific Cinematheque and caught most of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s early films for the first time ever. While I had seen The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) several times, I had never before seen Accattone (1961), Mamma Roma (1962), Hawks and Sparrows (1966), Oedipus Rex (1967) or any of his documentaries. However, one early film that was left out of the series — and it’s a must-see for anyone... Read more

Move over, Da Vinci Code. A potentially bigger and even more controversial movie adaptation of a popular anti-Christian novel (or, rather, series of novels) could be in the works. Variety reports that New Line, the studio that hired an obscure indie director named Peter Jackson to make the Lord of the Rings films, has now turned to another obscure indie director, Anand Tucker, to direct The Golden Compass, the first installment in Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials‘ trilogy (my review).... Read more

Just a few more news links. 1. But first, I want to humbly admit that I saw The Dukes of Hazzard last night — for business and/or research purposes only, I assure you — and as one who had never seen Jessica Simpson on the big or small screen before, I have just one question. Do people actually find her attractive? Cuz she certainly didn’t seem particularly sexy to me, despite all the publicity and all the “story” elements that... 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. L’Horloge Biologique — CDN $192,822 — N.AM $192,822 — 100%The Island — CDN $4,005,151 — N.AM $30,942,000 — 12.9%Wedding Crashers — CDN $16,485,166 — N.AM $144,099,000 — 11.4%War of the Worlds — CDN $18,784,832 — N.AM $224,627,000 — 8.4%Stealth — CDN $1,926,006 — N.AM $24,458,000 — 7.9%Charlie and the Chocolate... Read more

Just a couple more news blurbs. 1. E! Online and the Hollywood Reporter both have stories up now on the upcoming Warner Brothers special-edition DVD of the original King Kong (1933) — it will be available as a basic two-disc special edition, in a collectible set with a souvenir program etc., and in a four-disc set with The Son of Kong (1933) and the original Mighty Joe Young (1949). And all of these sets will include a new two-hour documentary... Read more

Just a note to say that I’ve added a few paragraphs — which some might call self-incriminating — to my earlier post on Stealth, now that I have come across Andrew Coffin’s review of it for World magazine, and the spoiler-heavy opening paragraph therein. Read more

Rumours abound, but there doesn’t seem to be any official word yet on what the next “Walt Disney Treasures” sets might contain. But look! In the meantime, in just a few months, another 60 Warner Brothers cartoons will become available in Looney Tunes: Golden Collection Volume Three. The Amazon write-up says, “Indeed, some have never before been on home video! Disc 1 features the tall, gray and haresome one. Disc 2 lampoons Hollywood. Ham actor Porky Pig rules Disc 3.... Read more

Just a couple news updates. 1. The Globe and Mail and the Hollywood Reporter report that the Montreal World Film Festival has decided not to show Karla after all. “Half a dozen sponsors were going to pull their money,” says one source. I wonder — did any of these sponsors make their decisions with, or without, having seen the film? 2. The New York Times reports on the secrecy and controversy surrounding Ron Howard’s adaptation of The Da Vinci Code.... Read more