Kris Rasmussen: June 2008 Archives

Most of us will be cooking out and watching fireworks this Fourth of July, but just in case your festivities get rained out or you're looking for something for the family to watch together, here are some of my favorite movies that celebrate our Independence Day and the quest for the American Dream.

[I am actually saving my very favorite movie about the American Dream and the immigrant experience for my DVD pick for this week, so check back later. In the meantime, feel free to start a discussion about your favorite 4th of July films in the comment box below.]

Avalon: This is a loving cinematic postcard to America as it tells the story of a man who emigrated to America on the 4th of July. It is als a sublte commentary on how family rituals and bonds have struggled and changed over the decades.

An American Tail : It's not up to the quality of a Pixar film, but who can resist this story of a lovable Russian mouse, Fievel, who moves with his family to America because they are told that "There are no cats in America and the roads are paved with cheese." Well, despite that false information, Fievel and family eventually end up loving their lives in their new home.

Bishop and popular author N.T. Wright recently stopped by "The Colbert Report" to debate the afterlife, once again proving no one does late-night religion better than Colbert. Here's how the discussion went:

I have been pretty much MIA at the cineplex this summer. There just hasn't been much that has made me feel I absolutely had to give up my beach time to go to the theater. But I am rushing to the theaters today to see a movie that holds great promise-- "WALL-E.". The story of a robot left on Earth after humans abandon the planet may not seem extraordinary, but it comes from those geniuses at Pixar and it is receiving glowing reviews for its animation and its storytelling.

Andrew Stanton, the Academy Award winning director and writer of 'Wall-e" just gave an interesting interview to Christianity Today about the spiritual and allegorical elements of the story-- like the character the robot falls for being called Eve-- while also discussing what, in his opinion makes for great, moral storytelling (it doesn't include using your characters to beat people over the head with a sermon but it does include being truthful to a value system).

James Patterson. Nora Roberts. Paulo Coelho. Stephanie Meyer. All names I would expect to find on the New York Times best-sellers list. But the current publishing buzz surrounds the number one soft-cover fiction book in the country right now-- a book with the inauspicious title of "The Shack." The book was originally a self-published effort that was distributed out of a garage that has now sold an estimated one million copies and is receiving praise from evangelical heavyweights like Eugene Peterson for it's redemptive parable-style story.

Though the Beijing Olympics are still over a month away, NBC is giving viewers plenty of opportunity to see what the U.S. athletes are made of as they broadcast both diving and gymnastics team trials last weekend. I watched the diving competition and witnessed Laura Wilkinson, a surprise gold medalist in 2000, beat girls half her age and even received perfect scores on one dive. As she secured her trip to Beijing to compete in her third Olympics, I mentally celebrated not only her victory, but her ongoing example of authentic Christian faith.

You see, it's not that I am that big of a diving enthusiast, but Laura was actually my first big interview back in 2001 for a Christian magazine when I first began working as a freelance writer. Heck, it even made the cover. And in the years since then, I have interviewed her a few more times. What has always impressed me is whether she finished first or not, she has always used platform diving as, well, a platform to share what God is doing in her life. .

As web series and other alternative outlets continue to diversify the media landscape, the Gospel Music Channel has announced that it will create original series programming for the 2008-2009 season. A sketch comedy show called "Comedy Quickies" and drama entitled...

It's easy to complain about the glut of reality TV this summer--"Celebrity Circus," "Wipe Out," "High School Musical: The Series," etc. But then I started thinking about it, and really, reality TV has actually improved--generally speaking--from where it started. Anyone...

One of the most notorious screenwriter/producers of modern movies, Joe Eszterhas, is releasing a memoir this fall in which he reveals how he went from writing tawdry hits like "Basic Instinct" and "Showgirls" to finding a relationship with God. Blogger...

It's tough to recommend a movie as bleak as "Four Months, Three Weeks, Two Days." It's certainly not fluffy, escapist summertime fare. However, the movie, which won at the Cannes Film festival last year, does what great films should do--...

Some TV dads are just buffoons, and others are sterling examples of exactly what not to do, but throughout the years, TV has idealized, even immortalized, the qualities of fatherhood. Just in time for Father's Day, I have put together...

Move over Miley Cyrus, because there's a new girl at Disney who is carving out an image as a chaste role model for teens. Selena Gomez, star of the series "Wizards of Waverly Place" has told the tabloid show "Extra"...

If you're like me and you're already burned out on CGI-laden blockbusters at the cineplex, I have the perfect movie anecdote for you— though it may be hard to find. The coming-of-age story "Son of Rambow" is in limited release...

In my quest to unearth hidden movie gems this summer season, I have stumbled across a heist movie I have heard little about. In fact, heist movies aren't really my thing, but "Flawless" out on DVD this week, is an...

One of the few reality shows that attempts to do more than humiliate or promise a career is Morgan Spurlock's ("Supersize Me") FX series "30 Days." The third season debuts tonight and continues Spurlock's premise of learning life lessons by...

The truth be told, I was never a big fan of "Sex and the City" when it was on the air—at least not until the last season— and always felt like I was so tragically un-hip for not getting what...