Tonight (Monday, July 6) on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior,” veterans and active-duty military compete on a new iteration of the reality-competition show’s challenging obstacle courses, against the backdrop of the USS Iowa museum ship at the Port of Los Angeles. On June 6, I spent a long night at the finals of the military tryout, braving the cold (which is 65 degrees here in L.A.) to stick it out well past midnight to see the first competitor actually finish the... Read more
If Jesus was walking the Earth today, would He have an app? I don’t know about that, but I’d be pretty surprised if He didn’t have a Website. Although it’s not on the radar of a lot of Christians, the world of tech is wide open. Imagine if one of us had invented Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or Pinterest (and we’re crazy if we’re not making use of these things), or founded Microsoft or Apple. If you’re serious about... Read more
NBC has opted out of a second season of “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” but that doesn’t mean the story of the founding of our Church will be off TV forever. “A.D.” was the highly anticipated followup to producer/spouses Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s blockbuster 2013 History miniseries “The Bible,” but it never measured up to that project’s ratings. Despite a promising beginning, over the 12 episodes, it averaged about 6.5M viewers and a 1.0 rating in the vital Adults 18-49... Read more
If you’re a parent who can’t bear the thought of paying for tickets, popcorn and parking — along with trying to keep wiggly little ones in theater seats for almost an hour and a half — just to see a family film, streaming service Google Play has your back. Yesterday, July 1, and until July 28, an HD version of the computer-animated, Bible-based film “All Creatures Big and Small” is available to stream for free, if you just click here. (I’m... Read more
That didn’t take long. The Miss USA Pageant, sponsored the Miss Universe Organization, co-owned by business mogul and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, was booted off both Spanish-language network Univision and its sister company, NBC, in the wake of Trump’s un-PC remarks about the criminal element present among illegal immigrants crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico. NBC also said it wouldn’t air the related Miss Universe pageant, and cut ties in general with Trump, host and executive producer of... Read more
Last Thursday, July 25, Variety co-sponsored (with PR firm Rogers & Cowan) a day-long meeting at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, called Purpose: The Family Entertainment & Faith-Based Summit. Click here to see part one of my interview with one of the organizers, Variety managing editor Kirstin Wilder, a Christian from Nebraska and longtime magazine staffer. (In the interests of full disclosure, I freelance for the venerable trade publication, founded in 1905, which covers the business of show in Hollywood... Read more
Airing on NBC and Esquire, “American Ninja Warrior” sends competitors through grueling obstacle courses on the way to the ultimate course in Las Vegas — which no man nor woman has yet been able to conquer. For three California nights recently — two at Venice Beach, and one in front of the USS Iowa in Long Beach — I watched dozens of hopefuls tackle two different versions of the “ANW” course, under the watchful eyes of hosts Matt Iseman (below;... Read more
When the movie version of the — let’s not be kind about it — “mommy porn” book “50 Shades of Grey” came out, the press junket was an unmitigated disaster. The gossip site Defamer enjoyed it immensely, and so did I, in a post for CatholicVote called “50 Shades of Schadenfreude.” Here’s a bit from Defamer: Let’s undertake a thought experiment. Imagine that—rather than paper and ink—each of those books were composed of: a look of unabashed contempt; a single embittered... Read more
Grace comes via surprising channels. Apparently chastened pop star Justin Bieber has just released a new video, a collaboration with producers Skrillex and Diplo. Frames of Bieber were posted as photo stills at the Seventh Letter Gallery in Los Angeles, and fans and attendees at an event were invited to paint and draw over them. From a story at The Verge: There are phone numbers, Twitter handles, and “I love you Justin”s to be found in its untold thousands of... Read more
Twenty-year-old Renee Shumay, administrator of YouTube’s New Catholic Generation, has a message for us. She doesn’t speak a word, but she speaks volumes … Image: YouTube screenshot Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home at CatholicVote and like my Facebook page. Read more
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