Douglas Howe: July 2007 Archives

I tuned into the encore of F/X's "Damages" premiere last night, hoping for a new slice of great material at the crossroads of faith and culture. I love law shows, and in this one Glenn Close plays Patricia Hewes, founder of the powerful Hewes & Associates litigation firm. Rose Byrne ("28 Weeks Later," "The Dead Girl") plays Ellen Parsons, an ambitious young attorney recruited to the firm (and its competitor) amidst some curiously coincidental circumstances regarding her family and friends.

Other characters were introduced in the pilot--just enough to create some intrigue for the next show (which airs tonight on F/X at 10). Ted Danson’s Arthur Frobisher is the villain (or at least the opponent) who has made a fortune at the expense of his employees. "Damages" is an ongoing serial a la "24," which is a good thing because there wasn't much that was pretty about the first show.

Those who follow Chris Rice will notice he’s growing up in a lot of ways, at least if his newest album, "What a Heart is Beating For" is any indication. It’s mellow, jazzy, reflective, and indicative of, well, the kind of mid-life stuff that mid-lifers face. He is faith-based and family-friendly--but the music is not evangelistic in any way and delightfully free of religious buzzwords of any kind.

Chris Rice has been called "A Christian James Taylor," and while he has nothing close to Taylor's guitar saavy and riffs, his album certainly has the gentle authenticity and breezy feel that can sneak into your heart and spirit. Missing are the cutesy and attention-getting "Clumsy," "Cartoons" and "Smellin' Coffee" of his earlier years, although "Lemonade" comes close as a playful-but-almost-out-of-place track on this summer release of music to which you can vegetate.

You can't walk into Starbucks without being aware that Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full" has been out for awhile, and we figured it was time for Idol Chatter to weigh in on it.

The reviews have been mixed. From Entertainment Weekly's "his zestiest music in eons" to the New York Times' "more homespun sound than most of his recent albums," there have been plenty of positive comments. Billboard called it "satisfying" and the L.A. Times concluded that "its high points outpace the lows."

When I was growing up, my mom taught me there were three things not to talk about in public: religion, sex and politics. Don’t worry, this post won’t be about sex! But Republican Mitt Romney’s candidacy is igniting conversations about religion and politics all over the country, and that conversation is either spilling over into our pop culture--or our pop culture is driving it.

The latest example is a new documentary being filmed and produced about the history (as well as the challenges) of the first Mormon candidate who ran for president of the United States. If you believe the producers of "A Mormon President," there are sub-currents of anti-Mormon feelings in the U.S. that need to be uncovered, and their expose of Joseph Smith's 1844 presidential run is the tool that will accomplish the task.

The documentary's producer, Adam Christing, states that "those who
want to understand Romney's challenge today must first understand Joseph Smith." I don't think I could disagree more.

The lead feature going out to America Online’s millions of subscribers this weekend named the Top Twenty Protest Songs of All-Time, from spinner.com’s "The Hit List."

I thought it was a decent start, but the list lacked some that are my favorites just for the music, and others that are my favorites for the message in the lyrics. Spinner's list included Bob Marley railing against oppression in "Get Up, Stand Up," from 1973, "Minority" from Green Day in 2000, Public Emeny's "Fight the Power," and Bob Dylan's "Maggie’s Farm" from 1965, in which he established his independence even from the folk movement which begat his popularity.

I agree with Spinner’s naming of Marvin Gaye's manifesto against social injustice (1971's "What’s Goin’ On?") as top of the list, and the high placing of Edwin Starr's "War," though most of us today are more familiar with Bruce Springsteen’s version. But there were notable exceptions.

Was Daniel Radcliffe doing some heavy marketing or a sublime giveaway of the next book’s ending in his recent interview for Entertainment Weekly? After answering some nice questions from Steve Daly about his personal and physical growth, his fame, and...

Baseball's All-Star Game was televised in prime time again last night, and it continues to endure as an underrated, understated institution that stands as the finest and brightest of all of the major sports’ all-star games. Why is that? A...

"Live Earth: Ratings Blockbuster" it was not, but "Live Earth: Concerts for a Climate in Crisis" still drew a record web-audience and drew decent enough television ratings to raise some bucks and hopefully generate increased awareness for the cause....

The antics of Paris Hilton are such a big story these days that even the non-reporting of her news has become newsworthy. I don’t know what she did that originally made her worthy of stardom, but she certainly has become...

Singer Mary Donnelly Haskell has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the pre-inaugural gala for President George W. Bush, and aboard the presidential yacht, Sequoia. The president certainly likes her music. And if you’re a fan of hymns...

The "Jesus Freaks" have grown up, as has their audience, a dynamic captured nicely in the new release entitled "dcTalk: Greatest Hits." Since Christian songs often linger in terms of airplay, it actually takes a compilation CD such as this...

"Live Free or Die Hard" is really fun. It’s got action, cast, plot (though sometimes implausible), humor and, well, just more and more action. But what really makes the movie is the authenticity and likeability of Bruce Willis's John McClane,...