November 16, 2007 Archives

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 hopes that there will be something inspiring about it. Something wonderful! This one has all the trimmings. Colorful toys! Holiday theme! Kooky characters! Out-of-the-box thinking! Star power!

As I write this review, though, my advice to you is this: take your kids, or your nieces and nephews, or some friends’ kids if you’re babysitting, because it’s probably enjoyable at their level. But that’s about it.

‘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 terms of what we believe about faith and its role in our society. For some it’s just about shopping. And for some (I say this empathetically), it’s a lonely time.

One thing that most of can agree on, though, is that this season is truly The Most Wonderful Time of the Year when it comes to movies. From holiday flicks to Oscar contenders to star vehicles to merchandising marvels, there is just a dang lot of choices!

This week alone, there are 15 new motion picture releases around the country. “Eleven Men Out,” “Love in the Time of Cholera,” “Beowulf,” “Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium,” “Looking for Cheyenne,” “Margot at the Wedding” and “Redacted” are all out today. On Wednesday, more are on the way with “Enchanted, “ “This Christmas,” “The Mist,” “Hitman,” “August Rush,” “I'm Not There, “Christmas in Wonderland” and “Nina's Heavenly Delights.”

Add these to what’s just came out (Vince Vaughn’s “Fred Claus,” Tommy Lee Jones in “No Country For Old Men” and “Lions for Lambs” with Redford/Streep/Cruise) and you’ve really got a veritable cornucopia to choose from.

Come December, highlights will include “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Juno,” “The Golden Compass,” “Atonement,” “Grace is Gone,” “I Am Legend,” “The Kite Runner,” “Youth Without Youth,” “National Treasure II,” and then the Christmas tripleheader: "Charlie Wilson’s War" (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts), "The Bucket List" (Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson) and "The Great Debaters" (Denzel Washington and some inspiring kids!) You can get release dates and more info from places like Moviephone and Premiere and you can always learn about faith-related films at Beliefnet's weekly listing.

I encourage everyone to make time to do movies with those we love, especially if sharing the common experience helps us through a difficult time in a marriage, relationship or friendship. Whatever our faith tradition—or however our current circumstances are difficult—a good movie creates a moment to share and a conversation piece to talk about…and there’s enough choices to last throughout the holiday season!

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 Sudden Onset Nausea for any baseball fan who has occasion to think of the man who cheated his way to baseball's sexiest title, Home Run King.

Bonds is part of a motley crue of athletes busted recently for naughtily increasing their odds of winning in their respective sports. It seems every organized human athletic competition has seen a hero tarnished in recent months, including baseball, football, soccer, basketball, cycling, track and field--I'm pretty sure cricket and bass fishing fans are mourning their own fallen stars, too. As it turns out, cheaters prosper plenty, but we're doing a pretty good job of nabbing them.

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 references to how rabid people got during the holidays. We painted a lyrical picture that involved knocking people down, running through malls and rising crime rates. Yet, this was at a time when the hysteria surrounded Christmas was at a lull. More than ten years later, a zany pastor and his choir are employing the same concept but using it to encourage people to stop shopping in favor of finding the true meaning of Christmas in the Morgan Spurlock-produced documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" in a limited number of theaters starting Friday.

Rev. Billy—Billy Talen—and his choir traveled across the U.S. to spread the message of salvation via shopping abstinence through revivals on street corners, proselytizing in Wal-Marts, and exorcising cash registers at Starbucks. Though he is a faux pastor, Rev. Billy preaches his "stop-shopping" messages with as much passion as a seminary-trained pastor. Throughout the film he makes use of the histrionics used by charismatic preachers as well as spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and the laying on of hands. Yes, some may consider this blasphemy, but call me a heretic; I just couldn't pull myself away from it.