In what is Hallmark Hall of Fame's 231st presentation, "Pictures of Hollis Woods" is sure to inspire.
The movie, which is based on the Newberry Honor award-winning book of the same name, tells the story of a young girl, Hollis Woods, who has been in foster care most of her life. After leaving a family under mysterious circumstances, she is placed with a retired art teacher Josie, who has a fading memory. Being a talented artist herself, Hollis begins drawing pictures of her life story.
The film stars the wonderful veteran actress Sissy Spacek, as Josie, and the amazing Jodelle Ferland--who at 13-years-old, already has an incredible resume under her belt.
You can check out the movie this Sunday, December 2nd at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
Siblings putting their father in a nursing home may hardly seem like the stuff of great movies, but thanks to a couple of amazing performances and a large dose of humor mixed into its drama, "The Savages" is touching, funny, and engaging.
Those great performances come from two of my favorite actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, playing brother and sister (their last name is Savage, hence the movie title), two immature, self-absorbed adults long estranged from their mean SOB of a father. And he was the better of their parents, having raised them, however abusively, after their mother walked out on the family. Hoffman's Jon is a professor of drama plugging away in Buffalo, N.Y., on his scholarly treatment of Brecht, his Polish girlfriend facing deportation while he insists he's not ready for marriage. Linney's Wendy is a struggling New York playwright who temps as her day job and is sleeping with her married neighbor.
Then the phone rings, and the siblings must come face to face with a reality so many of today's Boomers are facing: Their father needs full-time care. He's suffering from Parkinson's disease and the dementia that comes with it. And so the children become the parents, however reluctantly at first. As they process this news and assess the situation, they cycle through the familiar emotions--grief, fear, self-pity, and guilt. Unsure of what to do, how much responsibility they must take for a father who was not much of a father, and they argue with one another frequently about the best course of action.
Philip Pullman and 'The Golden Compass' movie, opening Dec. 7, are sparking sharp emotions from both friends and foes of his fantasy trilogy. To many Christians, the story is an anti-religious fable aimed at instilling atheism in children, while the book's many dedicated fans see a rich epic filled with spiritually meaningful themes.
But whether you love him or loathe him, we invite you to sound off on Pullman and the movie by joining this online group in the Beliefnet community. Join now to learn more about the movie and discuss your feelings about 'The Golden Compass.' Click here to join.
Congratulations to our friends at Religion News Service for launching a new religion news blog to suplement their superb news-wire offerings. Idol Chatter is particularly happy to see a healthy dose of pop-culture commentary on the blog, with entries on Philip Seymour Hoffman and, of course, "The Golden Compass." Check it out here.
This summer marked the opening season of the Israel Baseball League. It opened to some controversy, because the sport's pretty American; in Israel, they play "football", of course, and some basketball. But baseball? Could the society support a new sport that was largely unfamiliar? Well, depending on who you ask, the season was either a success or a little bit more like a hung jury.
But what's been disappointing is definitely the aftermath. Because even though Israel is a relatively small country, one baseball league isn't enough, apparently, as the NY Jewish Week reports and as Yoda once said, "There is another."
I am somehow reminded of a scene in Monty Python's "Life of Brian" when members of the People's Front of Judea are mistaken for the Judean People's Front. And the Popular Front. And everyone's offended because no one wants to be mistaken for a member of the club they're not affiliated with. View the clip (some "adult language," but nothing you don't hear regularly on FX these days):
To read a Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy book is to tease your intellect with the idea that all the literal religious history and dogma you have learned, believed and followed may be...well, how do I say this politely...does “a...
When I ask Laura Linney if getting the green light for a movie set extensively in nursing homes was easy, she leans forward and lets out a loud, disbelieving “God no!” She’s meeting with journalists at the Ritz Carlton hotel...
The phrase "cult of celebrity" didn't come out of nowhere. It's not uncommon for people to worship celebrities they way they worship deities. One such celebrity is megastar actor Harrison Ford, who has starred in films like "American Graffiti," "Air...
Ah, the holidays, time for family feasts, parties, and rock-radio countdowns of the greatest songs of all time. At Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, classic-rock stations traditionally turn to these listener-driven stunts (“You picked 'em, we’re playing ‘em") to salvage...
While adults on TV seem to be romancing each other with nary a kiss, high schoolers on the other hand, are hopping into bed left and right on the CW's new smash hit "Gossip Girl." Oh, and doing burlesque night...
There has been speculation in the last year or two that Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, have become involved with Scientology via his friendship with Tom Cruise. Smith denied those rumors last year, saying that his deceased grandmother,...
Bob Dylan is, for my money, the poet of our generation, although Allen Ginsberg is a close second. And both figure in the new film “I’m Not There” about his life, his music, and most of all his protean self....
Most obvious is the overwhelming sense of awe that comes from Sigur Ros' music. "The world is charged with the grandeur of God," Gerard Manley Hopkins once wrote, and compositions like "I Gaer," are charged with that same grandeur. Starting with a modest glockenspiel melody, the song suddenly cracks open like a raging electrical storm, a billowing frenzy of guitars and drums. The band is joined on many tracks by the Icelandic string quartet Amiina, and together, the musicians build songs that can only be described with breathless hyperbole and metaphor: angels dancing, birds soaring above clouds, flyover shots of glaciers. There's such a hugeness to this music--the melodies are clearly in service of something more than entertainment or selling CDs.
Also, Sigur Ros understands how to create space for listeners to experience songs. This is true both because of the long moments of profound stillness in their music, and the openness with which their lyrics can be interpreted. While many of Birgisson's lyrics are in Icelandic, some are also in a wordless vocal style he once called "Volenska" (usually translated as "Hopelandish"). There's been a lot of unnecessary media hype about this "language," but perhaps it's close to what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote of "groans too deep for words." The lyrics to "Vaka" sound like this:
What does that mean, exactly? Nothing, or maybe everything. "You saw the light?" "He saw you low?" "You shine on us?" Or something entirely different? Combine these vocals with the band's aptitude for epic, reverent, hymn-like songs, and it seems Sigur Ros has given us a language for worship, a kind of less-spooky speaking in tongues.
"Hvarf/Heim," along with the band's last two albums, "( )" and "Takk," are utterly burn-worthy. Listen, and before long, you'll be singing along in your own language.
To grasp what I am about to say and not think I am totally bonkers, you need to first understand: I have not have a day off in, oh I don’t know, four months maybe? I mean, not a single...
If Walt Disney's latest fairytale film "Enchanted" isn't a star-making vehicle for actress/singer Amy Adams, then I don't know what is. Not only does Adams shine as Giselle, the cartoon princess turned "real life" princess in this clever, very tongue...
With “The Nativity Story” not exactly turning into a box office bonanza and the adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel about the early years of Jesus hitting some problems in production, you might think Hollywood would take a break from movies...
Chastity seems all the rage this season on most of my TV series favorites—both old and new. So much so that I wonder—what has sparked such a trend? From where does this loving-from-afar inclination stem? Are viewing audiences simply tired...
Thanksgiving Day TV was filled with marathons. The western marathons. The “Cold Case” marathon. The Alfred Hitchcock marathon. Football marathon. “Charmed” marathon. “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” marathon. While marathons may be really fun traditions, they don’t say much about...
Now a staple at karaoke bars, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" has been plaguing--oops, I meant "entertaining"--music fans for years. Forty years, actually. (Which is how long the Jews wandered, post-Egypt, in the desert before reaching the Holy Land. But...
I've been catching up recently with "Saving Grace," Holly Hunter's vehicle on TNT, in which she plays an Oklahoma City police detective who, "Joan of Arcadia"-like, gets regular visits from a messenger of God. Her communication with the Higher Power...
The plastic surgeons of McNamara/Troy have left Miami this season and are making a fresh start in Los Angeles and the move has, as plastic surgeons say, rejuvenated "Nip/Tuck." It's as if the show has gotten an injection of Restalyn...
It was my favorite movie of the summer, it will probably make my top ten list of movie favorites for the entire year, and now it is the perfect choice for a feel-good movie to rent this Thanksgiving week. Yes,...
If you’re driving this Thanksgiving weekend, buy and listen to Steven Curtis Chapman’s first new CD project in three years, “This Moment.” SCC fans will love and appreciate this new collection of material that combines a fresh themes and lyrics...
Thanksgiving weekend is a wonderful opportunity for us to be reminded of what we’re thankful for. As spiritually minded people, it’s also an important chance to reflect on who it is we’re thankful to. Then, it’s usually an awesome weekend...
When you think of the world of business, you can't help but think of Donald Trump and his show "The Apprentice," which, as the show's theme song tells you, was all about "money money money...money!" The idea was that people...
One of the reasons I am proud to be associated with Beliefnet and this blog is that the Beliefnet community recognizes and discusses issues like the ongoing Writers Strike in the context of social justice as well as spirituality. I...
Thanks to our friends at Grace Hill Media, you can celebrate the release of the new Disney movie "Enchanted" by entering to win an animated, "enchanted" picture of your child. Just click on the graphic below and follow the instructions...
Click here to listen to the song, "Time Has Come" and to see the music chords. No matter how much you may idolize a band, it's inevitable that you skip at least one or two songs on every CD....
It was with high hopes for holiday fare and the memory of “Willy Wonka” and “ Home Alone II” that I anticipated the release of Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman in “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.” Movies like this raise our...
‘Tis the season for…Holiday Movies!! For some, Thanksgiving and Christmas are times to celebrate much that is sacred about our lives and culture. For some it’s a time that shows more than others that our culture is splitting apart in...
Barry Bonds is busted. He'll probably never own up to his guilt, and his lawyers might successfully get him off or significantly reduce whatever sentence he may receive. But he'll always be an embarrassment to baseball, and he'll forever evoke...
When I was in middle school in 1993, a friend and I made up a Christmas carol to the tune of "Jingle Bells" so that we could win movie tickets from a local radio station. Our song was rife with...
Kudos to David Letterman for paying his "Late Show" staff out of his own pocket while production on his nightly show is shut down because of the writers strike. The news comes at the same time as reports that Letterman...
Religion and the movies can be a combustible mix. It's sometimes led to protests, boycotts, even threats, and at least one tragic act of murder. Click here to see our Top 10 list of the most controversial religious movies of...
Salma Hayek is one of the most beautiful women in the world. The Mexican-born actress has showed off her famous curves in movies like "Bandidas" and "From Dusk Til Dawn". But is her fantastic figure the result of genes? Or...
"Dancing with the Stars" has had a pretty rough season. Contestant Jane Seymour's mother passed away, then Seymour came down with food poisoning. Scheduled singing guests Jennifer Lopez and Gloria Estefan had to reschedule their performances because of deaths in...
Israel is turning 60 next summer, and along with all of its beauty and religious resonance, it has also become known as a place of conflict, of heavy headlines, and unfortunately more than occasional violence. But apparently, within popular culture...
“It’s a comedic spin on the apocalypse, as it should occur in the great city of Los Angeles.” So says writer-director Richard Kelly (of "Donnie Darko" fame) about his latest film, "Southland Tales." But viewer beware! “Comedic” implies laughter and...
Yes, my DVD choices this week reveal the variety in my movie tastes as well as perhaps the scattered, unstable nature of my brain. While I laughed myself silly watching “Chalk”, I was deeply, emotionally disturbed as I watched “Pierrepoint”,...
The film "Amazing Grace"--which was released on DVD yesterday--tells the story of William Wilberforce, who led the successful effort to abolish slavery in 18th-century Britain. He was inspired by a former slave trader who wrote the widely known hymn. To...
This post is from playwright and screenwriter Keith Bunin, author of the plays "The Busy World is Hushed" and "The Credeaux Canvas." For the past week I’ve been on strike for the first time in my life. I’m a writer,...
If you love “The Office”, hate preachy teacher movies like “Dangerous Minds”, or you just need a holiday gift suggestion for your kid’s teacher this year, I have the perfect DVD for you. “Chalk’ ( I am guessing the title...
Save Christmas from the Shopocalypse! That's the mission of Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir--ending the consumerism and over-consumption they see as rampant in our holiday season. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, of "Supersize Me" fame, tells their...
As her life has unraveled before our eyes, much has been made of the mother-daughter rift between Britney Spears and her mother, Lynne. One possible reason for the rift might be found in the recent news that Lynn Spears has...
While I am glad that my fellow blogger Kris Rasmussen has offered additional commentary (and commentators) on Philip Pullman, "The Golden Compass," and the question of God and atheism in the book/movie, I'd like to respond to her implication that...
How has music changed your life and helped you connect with other people? That's a question at the heart of the new movie "August Rush," and it's one we want to hear from you about. Post your stories below or...
What was your most meaningful angel experience? In mid-October Beliefnet featured a contest asking the above question with two boxes of Angelic Messenger Cards by Meredith Young-Sowers as the prizes. We were awed by your openness, honesty, and willingness...
I was not fortunate enough to be alive during the Norman Mailer heyday of the 1960s and early 1970s, when his writing on the American scene—from electoral politics to boxing to the space program to the Vietnam war and its...
For someone who isn’t an avid short film watcher, it was somewhat surprising that the documentary “Bootyful World” and comedy “Good Luck in Her Eye” could encapsulate their respective stories with the ultimate message of female empowerment in under 30...
Check out this list of the top Latter-Day Saints in Hollywood today. 10. Derek and Julianne Hough These siblings are both pro dancers on ABC's hit show "Dancing with the Stars." Julianne debuted last year and won with her partner,...
Russell Crowe--who has long played heroic figures on the big screen while being portrayed off screen as nothing more than an angry brute--has told Men’s Journal magazine that he hopes to be baptized in the near future. The actor, who...
Just as I reluctantly entered the fray over "The Da Vinci Code" movie debate, I am not interested in giving more free ink to the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s "The Golden Compass." I am not going to call for...
You’ve probably seen the trailers for the upcoming “Hitman,” due for release in theatres on November 21. Timothy Olyphant stars as Agent 47, a genetically engineered assassin, direct from the successful “Hitman” video game series. What caught my attention was...
A month before its theatrical release, "The Golden Compass"--the movie from the first book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy--is sparking controversy because of what many Christians see as its message of atheism. Here on Idol Chatter, blogger Donna...
Modern documentaries usually rely on politics or social issues for cinematic inspiration, which is why “Into Great Silence” is such a surprising accomplishment. The movie has little dialogue and no significant action – unless you consider singing Gregorian chants significant...
In writing up a comment to a previous challenge by my colleague Michael Kress that IC readers tell us about our favorite on-screen angels, I started thinking about Clarence, from "It's a Wonderful Life," and ended up with my favorite...
“Gotraskhalana, is a term in Sanskrit poetics for calling a loved one by a wrong name, and means literally, ‘stumbling on the name.’ It’s a familiar occurrence in the Restoration-like fables of marital life and love affairs collected by the...
The AP broke news today that musician Rosanne Cash will be undergoing brain surgery. Rosanne, daughter of Johnny Cash and stepdaughter of June Carter Cash, is a great singer and songwriter in her own right and has spent the past...
On this election day in many parts of the country—and with the presidential primaries on the horizon (and the front page), here's my list of the Top Ten Election movies (that I’ve actually seen). I've evaluated them primarily on the...
It's been beautiful. It's been a welcome change. It's been a bit hokey at times. But all-in-all, NBC's weeklong commitment to raising awareness of Global Climate Change has been in informative and inspiring addition to this week's programming, highlighted by...
The idea of the likes of "Grey's Anatomy" writer Shonda Rhimes on the picket line because of her measly $5 million salary may be laughable--can't wait to see Tom Hanks out there protesting his $25 million/film--but the Hollywood writer's strike...
Two weeks ago Christians across the United States were abuzz about accusations that British author Philip Pullman allegedly is selling "atheism for kids" (or so says Bill Donohue of the Catholic League) through his multi-award winning, fantasy trilogy "His Dark...
Interesting post by Rod Dreher over at Crunchy Con about the new movie "Bella," which is being heavily marketed to Christians. The movie is about a woman who becomes pregnant by accident and is planning to have an abortion until...
According to court papers released on Thursday, here is what Britney Spears does with her $737K monthly income (with some editorializing by yours truly): $49,267 on mortgages for two homes. Shouldn't her payments be lower? $16,000 on clothes: All this...
Philip Roth's newest novel, "Exit Ghost" is the ninth--and, it seems, last--to feature Roth's favorite character and alter-ego, the famous American-Jewish novelist Nathan Zuckerman. We'd first encountered Zuckerman nearly 30 years ago in 1979's "The Ghost Writer," a novel that,...
Kudos to NBC for next week's Green Week, seven days of green-themed programs. No, they're not pre-empting our cherished shows for news and documentary reporting on the environment--they're weaving this theme into everything on the NBC schedule. That means you...
Click Here to Listen to "Radio Nowhere" from "Magic" Doug Howe has already spread the good news of the new Bruce Springsteen album in this space, joining a chorus of hand-clapping reviewers since "Magic" debuted this fall. (A.O. Scott...
Don Cheadle, so amazing in "Hotel Rwanda," returns to Africa for his latest movie. This one is a documentary about a subject as serious as the Rwanda genocide, but more immediate and pressing, since it is happening today, now. Watch...
Angels are everywhere these days, at least on TV and in movies. So, of course, we had to do a Top 10 of our favorite on-screen angels from the past 15 years. Check out our picks here, and use the...
In what is Hallmark Hall of Fame's 231st presentation, "Pictures of Hollis Woods" is sure to inspire. 
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Siblings putting their father in a nursing home may hardly seem like the stuff of great movies, but thanks to a couple of amazing performances and a large dose of humor mixed into its drama, "The Savages" is touching, funny, and engaging.
Philip Pullman and 'The Golden Compass' movie, opening Dec. 7, are sparking sharp emotions from both friends and foes of his fantasy trilogy. To many Christians, the story is an anti-religious fable aimed at instilling atheism in children, while the book's many dedicated fans see a rich epic filled with spiritually meaningful themes.