August 2009 Archives

As the Emmy awards approach while the Fall season kicks into gear, AMC's "Mad Men" is at the top of both discussions. It garnered 16 Emmy nominations,
more than "Desperate Houswives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "ER" combined. And for good reason.

"Mad Men" has managed to re-create not only the fascinating business environment of 1960, the pivotal nature of that decade's history, the zealous (sometimes fanatical!) world of Madison Avenue advertising and the loquacious nature of men among each other paired with their relative ambivalence at home.

Further, it also gently dives into the curious and oft-overlooked nature of religion and spirituality that reigned in that tumultuous time. On a show where chauvinism, womanizing and fraternizing is one of the main characters, Elisabeth Moss's "Peggy" explores fairness issues for women, her family's Catholic faith and her apparent departure from it, her attempt to be included in the debauchery-laden pecking order of her business, the aggressive proselytizing of a Catholic father, her own family's fixation with her church attendance and the Priest's fixation on her prior sins.

I have long written director Tarantino off as someone who values the razzle-dazzle of moviemaking over the possibilities of transformative storytelling on the big screen. After all, I had to watch "Pulp Fiction" in film class like every other film student, but never bought into anything more than the visual "wow" factor of it all. So I was in no rush to check out his latest, "Inglourious Basterds." But after reading Movie Mom's review -which while pointing out problems with the film surprised me by still giving the movie a B+ - and then reading a very interesting editorial in Newsweek called "Inglorious Basterds:When Jews Attack," I began to have some nagging questions about this movie.

Is this movie about a small group of Jews who have a goal to torture and kill Nazis and bring their leader one hundred scalps each glorifying a relatively small footnote in history?(Examples of large scale violent Jewish resistance were not as common as recent movies, including "Defiance," might indicate.) Is such a stylized, frenetic telling of these horrific slayings diminishing the experience of many Jews during the Holocaust? And most importantly, I have been asking myself since watching the movie, should Jews be outraged by this movie?

Idol Chatter blogger Donna Freitas recently asked the question, "Is Merchandising Ruining 'Twilight'?". While she focused on how the "Twilight" actors are becoming too exposed on random merchanise such as puzzles, I'm wondering if the "Twilight" brand itself is becoming too exposed.

There are "Twilight" Barbies, werewolf shoes (though not directly "Twilight" related, one can't help but think of the series), and fantasy wedding dresses for Bella. Even Nordstrom's is carrying a line of "Twilight: New Moon"-inspired clothes that range from worn-in tees and tanks to a plaid, hooded jacket to a chunky charm necklace.

On the subject of jewelry, DailyCandy.com highlighted jewelry designer Jules Smith who has a "New Moon" collection of jewelry that includes silver and gold necklaces and bracelets with fanged jaw charms.  Styles are named "Edward's Smile," "Jacob's Nemesis," and "Bella's Good Luck Charm."  Nothing says "I love 'Twilight'" than sporting a pair of sharp teeth around your neck or wrist.

What other random "Twilight" merchandise have you seen? Do you think merchandising is getting out of hand? Or are you in the fray, submitting a patent for a fang-shaped "Twiilght" waffle iron?

This documentary, directed by Laura Waters Hinson and narrated by Mia Farrow, follows two Rwandan women who come face-to-face with the men responsible for the death of their families during the Rwandan genocide, and explores the question "Could you forgive a person who murdered your family?" The film releases October 6, 2009

Watch the trailer to "As We Forgive" here on Beliefnet.

"You complete me"

"I'm through with everything here. I want peace. I want to see if somewhere there isn't something left in life of charm and grace."

"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."

Some movie quotes stick with us long after we've left the theater or shut off the DVD player. Can you match the famous movie quote to the film it's from? Test your movie line knowledge with our Memorable Movie Quotes Quiz