Idol Chatter: December 2007 Archives

There’s gold in them thar hills. Black gold, that is, for Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), an early California silver prospector-turned-oil-tycoon in “There Will Be Blood.” There’s Hollywood (statuette) gold gushing up on-screen, too, considering this film’s soul-drilling excellence.

With its operatic treatment of the themes of greed, family and religion, its stunning cinematography and production design which make the film look like it was found in a dusty museum vault and its master-class performances, this is a movie-lover’s movie through and through. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!” and with no hint of a pat love story nor quota of Hollywood hotties, this film is also just gosh-darn refreshing!

Plainview, a fledgling oilman, is tipped off that a small central California town named Little Boston has crude bubbling up to its surface. When he arrives with cute son in tow and strikes a deal for real estate there, Pandora’s box cracks at the hinges. His only obstacle? Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, the self-muted son from “Little Miss Sunshine”), Plainview’s suspicious, charismatic (in the church sense), salvation-preaching nemesis. Will either of these fallible and emotionally-stunted human beings win in a showdown between the riches below and the riches above?

As a die-hard fan of "The West Wing" who mourned its disappearance from network television, I've missed American politics as processed through the quirky and brilliant mind of Aaron Sorkin. Lucky for me, "Charlie Wilson's War" provides another shade from Sorkin's palette, one which swaps his trademark crackling dialogue for a fast-paced, charm-filled snapshot of historical American politics.

If you haven't yet witnessed the film's award-season blitzkrieg, "Charlie Wilson's War" is the true story of a relatively unknown skirt-chasing, whiskey-guzzling Texas Congressman (Tom Hanks) who organizes and spearheads the events that drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan, thereby bringing about the end of the Cold War. Though the movie's cheeseball poster looks as if it was created to repel people in droves from theaters, this film is actually a fascinating foray behind closed (political) doors to see what goes into funding a covert war that will liberate a people and save untold hundreds of thousands of Afghan lives.

The fact that this all really happened and was chronicled in the George Crile book of the same name (whose subtitle is the longest I've ever seen and simply must share: "The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times") makes this Mike Nichols-directed film all the more inspiring. Charlie Wilson is an honest, if not immature, character who effects phenomenal change in the world. If he can, why can't we?

When the subject of Iran comes up, religious extremists tend to take center stage. However, co-directors/co-writers Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud show that there is more to the Iranian culture with their animated feature “Persepolis” — in limited theatrical release on Dec. 25.

The film based on Satrapi’s eponymous autobiographical graphic novel series has already received acclaim with the likes of the jury prize from the Festival de Cannes in May and a recent Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Part of the film's intrigue is that it gives a glimpse into the political and religious diversity of Iranians. The coming of age story follows freethinking Marjane — who is raised with socialist ideals in an apparently secular Muslim family during the fall of monarchy rule, rise of the Islamic revolution and the beginnings of the war with Iraq.

Adoration for the 9-year-old Marji is easy. She’s a self-proclaimed prophet, Bruce Lee fan and Che Guevara emulator. In her dreams, Marji converses with a masculine long-white-haired God. She even has her own holy book with commandments like “no old person should have to suffer.”

But the young one ends her relationship with God, or so she thinks, when her beloved uncle is imprisoned and killed by the authorities of the Islamic Republic. She later discovers punk music in the black market, almost getting in trouble with the authorities. Marjane then finds that staying quiet about the injustice and lack of freedom around her isn’t possible.

When it comes to books, the definition of spirituality is a loose one. In compiling lists of the best of any given year, we can lean on familiar books about God, or the spiritual life, or we can cast our glance a bit further, and look for books that render the spirit tangible in unexpected fashion, or further our understanding of the place of religion in American life. In the spirit of bold exploration, then, here is one list of noteworthy books from the past year about religion and the spiritual:

1. The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer. Sofer’s debut novel, about an Iranian Jewish family caught in the pincer grip of their country’s 1979 revolution, indelibly captures the horror of everyday people caught up in History with a capital H. The Amin family finds themselves facing the unalloyed horror of the Iranian Revolution, and its concomitant outpouring of religiously fueled anger toward its Jews. Sofer’s novel is too delicate, too closely observed, to be concerned solely with politics; instead, it captures the fleeting, quicksilver shifts of mood of individuals-- an imprisoned father, an absentee son-- faced with a society gone off its moorings. The delicate ways in which each character moves toward grace, in however fleeting and halting a fashion, is the stuff of poetry.

2) Foreskin’s Lament, by Shalom Auslander. A book not for the faint of heart, or those unwilling to see the ugly side of religious belief exposed. Auslander was raised in an ultra-Orthodox community outside New York, and his memoir unflinchingly documents the absurdities and hypocrisies of the clannish world he was once part of. Critics concentrated on his disputes with God, and his fears of the angry deity of the Old Testament striking down his loved ones, but the most affecting, and most disturbing, aspect of Foreskin’s Lament is Auslander coolly offering up details from the dark underbelly of Orthodox Jewish education and family life. Auslander is angry, but not too angry to have brought an overflowing box of documentation to his court case: Auslander v. God. Not everyone may agree with Auslander’s conclusions, or his choices, but he makes a compelling argument against organized religion.

Some celebrities had a memorable 2007, but "memorable" isn't always synonymous with "good." This year, Dena Ross and Lilit Marcus have rounded up a dozen famous folks who need to get their act together in 2008, and helpfully suggested some resolutions for them.

Amy Winehouse
This year hasn't been too great for Winehouse. Sure, she achieved much success with her 2006 album, "Back to Black"—particularly with the aptly titled single, "Rehab," but her personal life has been spiraling out of control. Her eating disorder, drug and alcohol additions, and unhealthy relationship with fellow junkie/soulmate/currently jailed husband Blake Fielder-Civil was regular tabloid fodder. She was recently was photographed wandering around in the middle of the night with only a bra and jeans on, causing her mother to make a public plea for her to come home and clean up her act. And, surprise, surprise, she was just arrested for "perverting justice" in connection with her husband's charge, a bribery plot.

Suggested Resolution: Please say "Yes, yes, yes" to rehab so that your amazing talent doesn't go to waste (a la Janis Joplin), then dump your enabler hubby to ensure your sobriety.

Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears
What hasn't happened to Britney this year? She dumped husband Kevin Federline, was in and out of rehab, got photographed multiple times sans underwear, became estranged from her mom, fired her manager and publicist, and lost custody of her two sons. Then, little sister Jamie Lynn shocked everyone (including, apparently, her own mom) by announcing her pregnancy in OK! magazine. Jamie Lynn is just 16, and her boyfriend is 19.

Suggested Resolution: Britney, buy some underwear—we know you can afford it. Lose Paris Hilton's phone number. Hire a driver. And maybe take a year off from Hollywood. Jamie Lynn, you should probably start interviewing nannies now. Or at least look into raising your kid far away from your messed-up family if you want him or her to have a chance at a normal life.

Paris Hilton
America's favorite celebutante and the "star" of the soon-to-be-released "The Hottie and the Nottie" was the most notable celebrity this year to serve time in jail. Although the heiress was originally sentenced to 45 days in the slammer, a Los Angeles County Sheriff took the law into his own hands and released her early, "reassigning" her to house arrest. The judge was peeved and hours later, made her go back to jail to finish her sentence. Paris threw a tantrum--while advocates of justice cheered. She has since promised that she will devote her life to charitable causes and has a trip to Rwanda planned for 2008 (she was actually supposed to go this year, but I'm sure there was an important party she needed to attend). In the meantime, she has taken up pole dancing.

Suggested Resolution: Get off the pole and start doing more localized—less publicized—charity work. Help out at a soup kitchen, or take some of the money you would have spent on a shopping trip and buy some toys for the sick children at your local hospital. Oh, and you know you don't have to go to every party you're invited to, right? Chill out.

Billed as “an African-American take on the classic and beloved Christmas family film,” I am naturally inclined to support this genre of film because I think it’s important for African-American kids and families to have the option of seeing themselves...

“Grace is Gone” is built on a simple premise: Grace Phillips, a soldier, wife and mother of two, is killed in the war in Iraq. Her husband, Stanley Phillips, played by John Cusack, is left to break the terrible news...

As a longtime fan and creator of comic books, I’m sad to say that 2007 was an uneven year for the medium. Comics have enjoyed a rising profile in Hollywood and among critics, but this seems to have provided...

We posted this piece a couple of weeks ago, and your responses have been amazing! We've chosen our 10 best and put together a gallery that you can see here--including the top entry, which won a free iPod for Beliefnet...

Here at Idol Chatter, and throughout the media, there has been a lot of discussion about the Catholic League's call for Christians to boycott "The Golden Compass" and the accusation by BIll Donohue, the Catholic League's president, that the story...

Guest blogger Tony Watkins is the author of "Dark Materials: Shedding Light on Philip Pullman's Trilogy 'His Dark Materials.'" This is the first of several blog posts he will be contributing to Idol Chatter about the controversy over the Dec....