Idol Chatter: June 2008 Archives

Watch the trailer for the new animated movie, "Wall-e" about the last robot on Earth whose job it is to clean up all the trash humans have left behind. The film hits theaters today.

Parvez Sharma, an Indian-American documentary filmmaker, is gay and Muslim. Sharma's feature length documentary, "A Jihad for Love," which opened in New York last month, is a brave and a powerful film exploring how some Muslim gay men and lesbian women around the world reconcile their sexuality and faith despite threats of persecution. It is playing in limited release at various U.S. cities. Sharma spoke to Idol Chatter about his own commitment to Islam and how he resolves his faith with his sexuality

How is your film a response to the post-9/11 world?

[9/11] was a huge calamity for all brown people, regardless of religion. But I realized that we were not going to allow Al Qaeda to control the discussion about Islam in this country. I had to come out as a Muslim. At the same time I felt that I had to start a dialogue about my being gay and a Muslim.

In anticipation of tomorrow's "The Love Guru" movie release, the wise and funny main character, Guru Pitka--the "second best guru in India"--has been responding to your burning questions about life and love in the Beliefnet Community. We created a gallery with some of the best questions and answers. Check it out here.

This post contains some spoilers.

Fool me once, shame on you (I'm talking to you, Ang Lee), fool me twice... well; luckily that wasn't the case. "The Incredible Hulk" asks moviegoers to forgive 2003's "Hulk" and step into the Marvel universe with a clean slate. I did, and was pleasantly surprised.

We meet Dr. David "Bruce" Banner, played by Edward Norton, in a Brazilian bottling plant-- no, there's nothing suspicious about an over-qualified gringo working manual labor with a Portuguese vocabulary spanning 10-20 words, right?--after he's been dubbed a "weapon" and "property" of the U.S. Military. Banner selects this hideout location, which has no real military, so that he can work on a cure for that pesky gamma poisoning.

This is an evolved Hulk--a man of the millennium. Rather than trying to treat his symptoms: rage and destructive behavior which trigger green growth spurts--he practices meditation and breathing exercises to control his blood pressure so the "gamma guy" doesn't make an appearance. But, if The Hulk didn't make a few memorable appearances, there would have been mutiny in theatres across the world. Fans of the green guy didn't buy $55.4 million in movie tickets this weekend to watch the small-framed, sheepish Norton learn to channel his inner beast impulses into chanting mantras and yoga poses.

People have been predicting the end of the world since, well, the beginning of it. For some, the Last Days are the ultimate righting of the scales, for some, the dark at the end of the tunnel, and for some, simply a "mulligan" on the current state of affairs. My new book "Apocalypse How" encourages you to view the world to come as a blank slate, a chance to reinvent yourself, a boundless period of opportunity without the inconvenience of "schedules" and "crowds." But before you can get properly psyched for the Big Day, it helps to know some of the ways the world's faiths have predicted it might shake out.

Christianity - According to certain Protestant denominations, the end will begin with the righteous being "raptured"— directly lifted out of their clothes, jobs, cars, etc. to Heaven. There, they will have ringside seats (the ultimate Skybox) to watch everyone left behind undergo 1,000 years of tribulation, the reign of Antichrist, and eventually, the return of Jesus for the ultimate grudge match. SPOILER ALERT: Jesus wins.

Judaism – The exiles will be ingathered to Israel, the dead resurrected, and all humanity will live in a redeemed world. For sinners, not so much a concept of Hell as an eternal sense of guilt.

The epic basketball showdown has almost arrived. Televisions and sports bars around the country will all be tuned into the NBA Finals for the classic match up of the Boston Celtics versus the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams have experienced...