Fuller Theological Seminary: Where God and the Arts Meet

THE DAILY AMERICA
By Chandra Johnson, Deseret News

CALIFORNIA---In 1956, a teenage Richard Muow committed a major violation against his Evangelical faith: He snuck off to a movie theater to see John Huston’s “Moby Dick.” As the president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, in the early 1990s, Muow continued to see a chasm dividing the faith world and Hollywood with the release of films like 1988’s “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Through continued collaboration with industry professionals, Muow spearheaded Fuller’s Theology and the Arts program, which looks to link entertainment and ministry and is now in its 14th year. [link]

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Movie: John Michael McDonagh Carves His Own Niche With ‘Calvary’

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Cara Buckley

Brendan Gleeson as a beleaguered Irish priest

HOLLYWOOD---John Michael McDonagh is no altar boy, at least not anymore. But when he was 11, this future screenwriter and director could be found most Sundays carrying processional crosses and ringing Sanctus bells while his little brother, Martin, now a playwright and filmmaker, sang in the choir. Now 47, John Michael McDonagh is revisiting Catholicism in force with his new film, “Calvary,” the second installment in what he has taken to calling his “glorified suicide trilogy.” Opening Friday, the film stars Brendan Gleeson as a beleaguered Irish priest who receives a death threat from a local man who was raped in childhood by another clergyman. [link]

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Movie Review: In ‘Lucy,’ Scarlett Johansson Transforms Into a Superwoman

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Manohla Dargis

“Lucy” Review: What did Ref Souto think?

HOLLYWOOD---Thank goodness (or the goddess) for male directors who dig strong female characters. Mr. Besson’s particular kink for fatal female beauties receives an entertaining workout in his latest film, “Lucy,” in which he again introduces a young woman who undergoes a remarkable metamorphosis that leads to convulsions of extreme violence and an increasingly frenzied visual style that lay waste to both men and any semblance of story sense. He may be a hack, but he’s also a reliable entertainer, even when he’s recycling other directors’ ideas (a pinch of David Fincher here, a dash of Christopher Nolan there), or giddily engaging in slaughter and racist stereotypes. [link]

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Movie Review: Making the Spiritually Skeptical Believe, and the Blind Worms See

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By A.O. Scott

HOLLYWOOD---The eyes are windows to the soul. That fuzzy bit of wisdom is repeated several times, with both reverence and skepticism, in “I Origins,” Mike Cahill’s new film. Whatever that may mean, there’s no doubt that eyes are also the portals through which movies, good and bad, enter our consciousness. Considered strictly as a visual experience, this one, which might be described as a faith-based emo-science romance-thriller, is often quite beguiling. [link]

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Movie Review: Zach Braff Directs and Stars in ‘Wish I Was Here’

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Stephen Holden

From left, Pierce Gagnon, Zach Braff and Joey King in "Wish I Was Here." Credit Focus Features

HOLLYWOOD---Until you partly surrender to its underlying good will and sincerity, watching “Wish I Was Here” is like observing an experiment in a cinematic test kitchen. “Wish I Was Here,” which studies the turmoil of a middle-class Los Angeles family. The family under the film’s lens is the Blooms: a Jewish clan whose stern but caring patriarch, Gabe (Mandy Patinkin), a retired microbiologist, is dying of lung cancer. Gabe isn’t a lead role, but Mr. Patinkin’s moving, understated portrayal of a thorny older man facing the end makes him the film’s emotional center of gravity. He is especially impressive when his voice begins to waver and rise in pitch, and you feel the character’s deeply submerged emotion. [link]

“Wish I Was Here” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for language and some sexual content 

In April 2013, raised over $2 million in financing for “Wish I Was Here”

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Movie Review: ‘Honour,’ a Thriller About British Muslims

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jeannette Catsoulis

Aiysha Hart in "Honour," a feature written and directed by Shan Khan. Credit Neil Davidson/108 Media

HOLLYWOOD---Folding social realism into a woman-in-peril thriller, “Honour” confronts the problem of so-called honor killings among British Muslims with brash economy and first-feature zeal. There’s nothing amateurish, however, about Shan Khan’s writing and directing, unless you count a weakness for melodrama and a pacing more suited to entertainment than to enlightenment. To that end, the actors work hard to sell a story that never slows to ponder moral gray areas or explain the religious or cultural underpinnings of the heinous behavior on display. [link]

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Movie Review: With the End of Days Near, a Sect Is Torn

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jeanette Catsoulis

Chris Nelson, as a prophet's hand-picked successor to a small religious sect. Credit Cinema Purgatorio

HOLLYWOOD---“As It Is in Heaven” opens quietly yet with unmistakable joy as the camera tracks a white-robed young woman through gracious rooms and lush gardens to the banks of a sparkling river. Joining the other members of her small religious sect, she watches their prophet (John Lina) baptize a new recruit (Chris Nelson) and give him the name David. Shot in just 17 days with the help of students and equipment at Asbury University, a Christian school in Kentucky, this low-budget debut by Joshua Overbay cooks a surprising amount of tension from the barest minimum of ingredients. Examining the rewards and consequences of faith with empathy and without judgment, Mr. Overbay (who wrote the story with his wife, Ginny Lee Overbay) maintains tight control of the sect’s darkening mood and waning strength. [link]

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Movie Review: Planet of the Apes is a Jaw-Dropping Summer Epic

INDYSTAR 
By Roger More, McClatchy-Tribune News

Matt Reeves narrates a sequence from “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” featuring Jason Clarke

HOLLYWOOD---"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is an action-packed epic, a moving sci-fi allegory rendered in broad, lush strokes by latest states of the computer animator's art. "Dawn" illustrates the accelerating pace of improvements to CGI---with performances build around motion-capture-suited actors Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbel among others---in sequences so dazzling your jaw will drop.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Animal cruelty.

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Movie Review: In ‘Nothing Bad Can Happen,’ a Young Believer at Risk

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jeannette Catsoulis

Julius Feldmeier, center, in “Nothing Bad Can Happen,” written and directed by Katrin Gebbe.

HOLLYWOOD---Don’t believe the title: “Nothing Bad Can Happen” is a veritable smorgasbord of bad, at least for Tore (Julius Feldmeier), the newest member of a punk-rock Christian commune in Hamburg, Germany. A lightning rod for hurt who believes his epileptic seizures are visits from the Holy Spirit, Tore glows with the kind of unshakable faith that can make those around him feel wanting. Horrifically unpleasant (and, according to the publicity notes, “inspired by atrocious true events”), this first feature by Katrin Gebbe takes stamina to watch. Pitting good against evil with striking intelligence and a near-operatic commitment to extreme suffering, Ms. Gebbe neither mocks nor celebrates Tore’s love for his God. Neither does she give any hint that it’s reciprocated. [link]

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First Look: Christian Bale as Moses in Ridley Scott's 'Exodus'

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
By Sara Vilkomerson

Ramses (left) and Moses (right) begin our story as close allies, having grown up together almost like brothers. 

HOLLYWOOD---Thou Shall Not Attempt to Outdo Charlton Heston. Okay, so that’s not an official Hollywood commandment, but the prospect of taking on the role of Moses in Ridley Scott’s "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (in theaters Dec. 12) did give Christian Bale pause. “Charlton Heston does Charlton Heston better than anyone,” says Bale. “But the biblical account of Moses is extraordinary, and there was lots of room for us to go to places that [Heston’s movie] The Ten Commandments never dreamed of going.” A pivotal figure in the Old Testament, Moses was a prophet who fought against Pharaoh Ramses to free 600,000 slaves, whom he then led through the desert to escape from Egypt and its 10 deadly plagues. [link]

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Movie Review: In ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2,’ War and Peace and Beasties

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By STEPHEN HOLDEN

HOLLYWOOD---War and peace. Humans and animals. Contemplation of our bestial versus our spiritual sides. These may be too much heavy baggage to attach to a corporate product like “How to Train Your Dragon 2.” But such matters are there for you to ponder in this sequel to the 2010 blockbuster that recertified DreamWorks Animation, after a fallow period, as a major player in Hollywood’s cartoon sweepstakes. And pop mythology nowadays has a way of seeping into the culture and sending far-reaching undercurrents. [link]

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‘Deliver Us From Evil’ Movie Is Based on Book By Policeman-Demonologist

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Michael Wilson

“Deliver Us From Evil,” based on a former policeman’s book, opens July 2.
Credit Earl Wilson for The New York Times

NEW YORK---The worried woman described the bizarre goings-on at her home in the Bronx, which she suspected was haunted, to the police officer standing before her. “Let me explain your problem,” the officer, Ralph Sarchie, replied. “Your home has been invaded by a demonic spirit, which is causing the phenomena you’ve described. Mr. Sarchie wrote a book, “Beware the Night,” with a co-author, Lisa Collier Cool, about encounters like the one above in the Bronx. It was published in 2001 by St. Martin’s Press to little fanfare, and he retired in 2004. But 10 years later, a horror film based on the book, “Deliver Us From Evil,” is set to open July 2, and the countless posters advertising it all over New York announce its source material in bold red letters: “Inspired by the Actual Accounts of an N.Y.P.D. Sergeant.” [link]

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German Film "Stations of the Cross" Explores Religious Extremism And Value of Faith

LIST FILM
By Paul Gallagher

Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg)

This deliberate, meaty, provocative drama brilliantly uses the structure and form of religious art to deconstruct the damaging effects of religious indoctrination. Through 14 sections, each consisting of just one take, shot from a fixed camera position (with two significant exceptions), director Dietrich Brüggemann charts several significant days in the life of Maria, a teenage member of the Priestly Society of St. Paul, a strict Vatican II-denying branch of Catholicism. Each section takes the title of one of the Stations of the Cross – the 14 markers of Jesus’ Passion as defined by Catholic tradition – making Maria an explicit parallel to Christ; a parallel that becomes more poignant and devastating as the film develops. Yet while heavily critiquing the destructive power of heavy-handed religious structures, the film also asks searching questions about the value of Christian faith, and the potentially miraculous power of sacrifice. [link]

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Zimbabwe: Family Values in Christian Movies

THE HERALD | ALL AFRICA 
By Stanley Mushava

ZIMBABWE---The secular assault is threatening the family institution on every front. Rotten fibre is closing in on family values through the arts and other keynote social engines. The solution is plain. Christians must toughen up, upgrade their strategies, buckle down and fight the secular agenda, argument for argument, text for text, medium for medium. Fortunately, a growing section of Christian artists are waking up to this reality and responding in kind, lately through overtly Bible-oriented movies. "Monumental," "Courageous," "Time Changer," "Genius," "Gone Back Home," "Woman Thou Art Loosed" and "Fireproof" are among the swelling inventory of movies for the family cabinet. Hopefully, Zimbabwe will also develop a viable Christian film industry, especially with new gospel channels coming aboard. [link]

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Movie Review: "Edge of Tomorrow" Killed in Action by Aliens, Over and Over Again

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Manhola Dargis

Emily Blunt as Rita Vrataski The Angel Of Verdun in "Edge Of Tomorrow Review"

HOLLYWOOD---Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. A man wakes up and quickly realizes that he’s repeating yesterday, down to the last meal, salutation and conversation. He’s trapped in a kind of time loop. He can’t escape, but, he realizes, he can change. That may not make sense, given the logic of the space-time continuum, but it works just fine in fiction because, well, it’s fiction. To put it another way, “There are no paradoxes in time travel, there can’t be.” Or so says a character in Robert A. Heinlein’s 1964 novel, “Farnham’s Freehold,” about space, time and the apocalypse. Eventually, Mr. Liman’s eccentricities and the morbidly funny neo-screwball vibe that he establishes are swamped by generic pyrotechnics and noise. That’s predictable, given the high studio stakes and the industry’s faith in spectacles of destruction, but it doesn’t obliterate the movie’s pleasures. [link]

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Movie Review: Angelina Jolie Stars in ‘Maleficent,’ From Disney

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Manohla Dargis

A scene from “Maleficent,” featuring Angelina Jolie.

HOLLYWOOD---Angelina Jolie makes a fabulous monster. As the title character in “Maleficent” — a divertingly different rethink of an awfully old story — she breezes through the movie, part superstar, part superfreak. She wears them like a crown in this live-action postscript to the visually stunning 1959 Disney animated musical “Sleeping Beauty.” This time, the focus isn’t on the beautiful, blond Aurora, who falls into a deep, bewitched sleep after pricking her finger on a spindle, but rather on the sinister scene stealer who cursed her in a fit of pique and a puff of acid-green smoke. “Maleficent” tells a new kind of story about how we live now, not once upon another time. And it does so by suggesting, among other things, that budding girls and older women are not natural foes, even if that’s what fairy tales, Hollywood and the world like to tell us. [link]

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Movie Review: ‘Belle’ Centers On a Biracial Aristocrat in the 18th Century

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Manhola Dargis

HOLLYWOOD---Melodramatic and grounded in history, “Belle” is enough of an old-fashioned entertainment that it could have been made in classic Hollywood. She’s based on Dido Elizabeth Belle (1761-1804), the daughter of an African woman, Maria Bell, who was probably enslaved and maybe captured off a ship by Sir John. Written by Misan Sagay, “Belle” tracks its heroine’s dawning awareness of both her own social, political and legal position and that of the black slaves who, initially, exist for her only as abstractions. The movie plays with the historical record for dramatic effect, as is often the case when the past is disinterred for entertainment, and its realism at times groans under the weight of too many passionate speeches. Yet the weave of the personal and the political finally proves as irresistible as it is moving, partly because it has been drawn from extraordinary life. [link]

Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray (by an unknown artist, formerly attributed to Zoffany)

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A&O Meetup on May 10 in Indianapolis: "Trembling Before G-D"

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS 
By TAHLIB

INDIANA---The 2014 Premiere of the Indianapolis Jewish Film Festival introduces nine different films examining facets of Jewish life not often explored. The Festival introduces humor with the “The Band’s Visit” (Link to description page) and “A Matter of Size” (Link); but also reveals the sensitivities of gay people in Hasidic community in “Trembling Before G-D.”


Event: "Trembling Before Go-d" " film and panel discussion
Location: Christian Theological Seminary, 100 W. 42nd Street, Indianapolis
When: Saturday, May 10, 2014, 12:00 p.m.
Who: A&O Collectors
Cost: You pay-as-you go ($10)
RSVP: Tahlib(at)AlphaOmegaArts.org
Sponsorship: Give to cultural programming

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From Noah to Moses, Why the Renewed Interest in Bible Films? 80 Million Tickets

FINANCIAL TIMES
By Randy Bagoda

Charlton Heston as Moses in Cecil B de Mille’s ‘The Ten Commandments’ (1956)

HOLLYWOOD---There hasn’t been this much Hollywood interest in biblical material since the last midcentury, when movies such as Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur, Solomon and Sheba, The Big Fisherman (all released in 1959), and King of Kings (1961) came out to popular and critical success, establishing what we now expect from Bible movies: that they be outsized spectacles of event and feeling, frequently melodramatic, and occasionally lurid, but usually respectful of their source material. Market opportunism is clearly one of the factors informing Hollywood’s latest come-to-Jesus moment. There are 80 million conservative evangelical Christians in the US alone. [link]

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