2010 Articles |
 Mark Joseph Journeys with Narnia to the Big Screen
Christian Cinema.com
Mark Joseph is a multi-media producer who has worked steadily in the world of media as a record and film producer, talk show host, columnist, author and media strategist. Out of curiosity, he recently wrote the book The Lion, the Professor and the Movies: Narnia's Journey to the Big Screen to explore what C.S. Lewis believed and how he viewed his own series.
"I wrote it as a commentator and not as a film person," Mark said recently. "I decided to go back and see what he thought about film in general, and I became more and more curious about the journey that the books traveled on their path to becoming movies."
Mark was fascinated to discover that Lewis had watched Snow White and had definite opinions about it pro and con. "I was also amazed to learn that really bad versions of Narnia were averted by Doug Gresham (Lewis's stepson and guardian of the Narnia materials) over the years, especially in the '90s. My favorite was the one that was rumored to have had Narnia set in Southern California, with cheeseburgers replacing Turkish Delight and Janet Jackson playing Susan." |
 Fear, Temptation, and the Narrow Passage in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Marc T. Newman, Ph.D
MovieMinistry.com
Breathtakingly beautiful, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is another in a series of thought-provoking adaptations of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. For book purists, there will always be the shock of seeing changes to a beloved storyline (for me, the second viewing is always better than the first because I can now watch the film on its own merits).
But none of the films have shied away from confronting important moral and spiritual issues present in the books. |
 All is Well With Narnia
by Greg Wright - Guest contributor
Christian Cinema.com
Q: What do you get when you put seventy pushy journalists in one room for twenty minutes, all of them trying to get a handful of juicy quotes out of a half dozen movie stars?
A: Chaos and misunderstanding. Without the ability to follow up with clarifying queries, meaning can easily be misconstrued.
It's funny, though: so often, this is a studio's means of choice for getting the word out about their film. It's often unavoidable, of course, particularly when key talent is reticent about taking questions in less controlled circumstances.
So we journalists play the hand we’re dealt... and then have to do the harder work of writing what amounts to an opinion piece rather than an interview write-up.
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 Harry Potter vs. the Kingdom of Narnia
Phil Boatwright - Baptist Press
I've been fair in my critiques of the Harry Potter film series, calling one "A masterpiece of technical craftsmanship and a brilliant example of rudimentary storytelling." So, if I say to you that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I is the most tedious time-taker I've watched this year, understand my reaction is not solely based on a Christian-bound prejudice against the world of magic, black or otherwise.
Surely, I reasoned in my review, because this latest episode is laden with sluggish pacing, a lack of comprehensible narrative drive, and a cast that has grown less charismatic as they've matured, I think Episode 7, Part 1 would test even the most zealous of Harry zealots. |
Director Michael Apted Talks About The Dawn Treader
Christian Cinema.com
British director Michael Apted’s 48 years of film credits include directing some of the biggest names in movies in the last few years: Hugh Grant, Richard Pryor, Jodie Foster, Gene Hackman, Sigourney Weaver, Tommy Lee Jones, and William Hurt to name a few. He’s directed domestic dramas (Enough, with Jennifer Lopez), war dramas (Enigma, with Dougray Scott), documentaries (Inspirations), legal dramas (Class Action, with Gene Hackman), and action flicks (The World Is Not Enough with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond).
His latest film? The Dawn Treader from the Chronicles of Narnia series.
Five years ago, Apted directed the epic Amazing Grace, based on the life of William Wilberforce, which brought him into contact with Walden Media, who is producing the Chronicles of Narnia series. Because he already had experience working in an established franchise, the thought of joining the Chronicles of Narnia series was not intimidating to him. “This Narnia franchise is in some ways easier because the stories are more different,” Apted said in a recent interview. “We never were in Narnia on this film; Narnia is the boat, The Dawn Treader. So it wasn’t like there was a lot that I inherited. |
C. S. Lewis Bible to be Released
The first Bible pairing Lewis' spiritual writings with corresponding Bible passages
By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
The C.S. Lewis Bible is slated to be released in Oct. 2010.
A news release from the publishers said the Lewis Bible offers one of the most respected Christian thinkers as a companion to a reader's reflection and study of scripture.
The news release said Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century, and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University. That was a position he held until his retirement. |
 Inception is Possibly Best Film of New Century
by Scott Nehring,
Christian Cinema.Com
Warning: Contains Possible Spoilers
Christopher Nolan (The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Memento) has established himself as the best director of his generation with this film. Then again, his generation includes directors like Brett Ratner, Ben Stiller and Ben Affleck, so he probably shouldn't start gripping his lapels too tightly.
Inception is a great movie. It is a masterful work. This is one of the most fully realized and complicated movies ever made. When I drag out the word "complicated", I mean Nolan tackles a plot with so many moving, interwoven layers that it is a technical marvel his movie is even comprehensible. The fact that one can walk away from the film with a clear understanding of what happened is worthy of an Oscar at the least.
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 Kick-A** and The Perfect Game: How Kids Are Portrayed in Film Says A Lot About Our Culture
by Marc T. Newman,
Movie Ministry
The 1957 Little League World Series team from Monterrey, Mexico is facing another David and Goliath story this weekend. This time it doesn’t happen on a baseball diamond, but at the box office. The Perfect Game is based on the true story of a poor Mexican Little League team’s improbable road to baseball immortality.
How will these boys fare against an 11-year-old foul-mouthed, blood-spattered vigilante named “Hit Girl” – one of the featured killers in the indie comic book-based Kick-A**? |
 Dawn Treader Poster Unveiled
by Angela Walker,
Christian Cinema.Com
Artwork for the new Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the latest film in The Chronicles of Narnia, was just unveiled [See at right]. Hinting at the film's emphasis, the main image on the poster is Aslan, voiced by the inimitable Liam Neeson.
Reepicheep (voiced by Bill Nighy) appears on this poster, and if you look very closely, you see a silhouette of the Dawn Treader itself as a reflection in Aslan's eye.
After seeing early clips of the movie at the recent Biola Media Conference, I'm excited to see the film, which will open in theaters this December.
Even with a temporary soundtrack and incomplete post-production sound editing, visual effects, etc., the film resembles The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe more closely than it does Prince Caspian, which many felt was a departure from the C.S. Lewis stories |
 Steven Curtis Chapman talks openly about the tragedy that struck his family
by Dan Wooding,
Founder of Assist News Ministries
The date of May 21st, 2008, was the worst day of Steven Curtis Chapman’s life, for it was then that Chapman's five-year-old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman, was killed in an accident.
It occurred ten days after Maria's birthday when Maria was accidentally hit by her older brother Will while he was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser pulling into the driveway of their home in Franklin, Tennessee.
Maria, the youngest in the family, was one of three daughters whom Steven and his wife Mary Beth had adopted from China, and she was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Maria died from her injuries and blood loss. |
Bruce Marchiano on His Jesus Project
by Angela Walker,
Christian Cinema.Com
Bruce Marchiano is an actor, author and international speaker best known for his portrayal of Jesus as a man of joy and passion in the film The Gospel According to Matthew. This year he released a 15th Anniversary edition of the beloved film and talked about filming the movie and people's reaction to the joyful Jesus.
Why did you decide to do a re-release after 15 years
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 Christian band rocks UK pop charts over Easter
By Peter Wooding
Special to ASSIST News Service
Following a successful Facebook campaign, fans of former Christian rock-worship band Delirious? managed to push their single History Maker into the top 10 in the UK's pop charts. The aim was simply to raise the flag for faith in Jesus and to raise money for charity.
Delirious? will donate their profits from the UK single downloads to Compassion art projects, a poverty relief initiative.
The Facebook group 'Christian music topping the UK Charts!' generated more than 50,000 members who were buying two versions of History Maker - a studio version and a live version from the band's farewell concert. |
Film School with Director John Lee Hancock of "The Blind Side"
by Angela Walker,
Christian Cinema.Com
When asked about his training and preparation to direct a major motion picture, John Lee Hancock, director of Academy Award®-nominated The Blind Side, talks about attending film school.
"I went to the Clint Eastwood film school. I spent almost every day on the set of both A Perfect World and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and learned as much as I could from the man." |
Quinton Aaron's Breakthrough Role in "The Blind Side"
by Angela Walker
Christian Cinema.Com
A few days before the release of the DVD of the Academy Award®-nominated film The Blind Side, Quinton Aaron talked about his breakthrough role in the film. The 25-year old native New Yorker's life took an amazing turn when he won the hearts of the film's casting directors.
"I've done a lot of auditions," Aaron recalled, "but I've never seen casting directors in tears. They don't show emotion. When you finish, they usually say, 'Ok, thank you, we'll be in touch.'" The day they heard Aaron read was an exception.
"My mom submitted me for the part. I was working on a short film called Mr. Brooklyn at the time. I had a supporting role in that film, so on breaks in filming, I'd study my lines for this movie. I thought, 'This is a lead role, and I can't mess this up. This is a major motion picture and it's my ticket in. I'm going to this audition and I'm going to do whatever they want.'"
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 C.H. Spurgeon: The People's Preacher
Powerful new 75 minute drama documentary just released on the Victorian era's most famous preacher
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
I have just finished viewing a powerful new 75 minute drama documentary on Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Victorian era's most famous preacher and social reformer.
Called C.H. Spurgeon: THE PEOPLE'S PREACHER, this beautifully-filmed and acted movie, brings to life the extraordinary story of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, famous Baptist preacher and social reformer in nineteenth century England.
This film, now available as a DVD, was co-produced with the UK-based Christian Television Associates (CTA), ERF in Germany, Vision Video in the USA and CWR in the UK, under the direction of Crawford Telfer. |
How Many Words Make a Christian Book?
By Donald L. Hughes, Editor, www.ChristianWritingToday.com
Special to ASSIST News Service
If you think Christian books are getting thinner, you're right. But that may well just be a reflection of our times as the Internet, television and gadgets like smart phones vie for our time.
Christians are still an information hungry group, but like others we increasingly want it dished up in smaller portions. |
USA: Interns discover spiritual shift in Hollywood as Network of Prayer for Hollywood Professionals Gears Up for the National Day of Prayer
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
Two college interns began working at the Hollywood Prayer Network (HPN) in mid-January where they suddenly began to see a side of Hollywood that is very rarely seen or understood: the spiritual side.
A few weeks into working at HPN, the two interns began to periodically conduct street interviews with local Hollywood professionals about spirituality.
"What was quickly uncovered was an astounding revelation that the vast majority of industry workers are thirsting for some sort of spiritual connection," said Hollywood Prayer Network founder, Karen Covell. |
 Rebecca St. James Made "Sarah's Choice"
by Angela Walker
Christian Cinema.Com
Rebecca St. James is a musician, songwriter, author, editor, and now actress. She started writing in the second year of her ministry, and in response to advice from Cal Thomas, diversified her career, which she finds helpful to staying fresh creatively. This year, she edited the book Loved and had her first lead role in a new film from PureFlix called Sarah's Choice.
Can you talk about your role in Sarah's Choice?
Rebecca: I had a small role in To the Wall, as an Australian hitchhiker. Andrea Logan White and Stacey Keanan were both in Hidden Secrets, and are also in Sarah's Choice. |
 War and Redemption Reign at the Academy Awards
by Marc T. Newman Ph.D
MovieMinistry.com
James Cameron will have to console himself with the over $2.5 billion in worldwide box office receipts that his film, Avatar, has raked in over the past few months (and more coming in daily). When it came time to hand out the Oscars at the end of the seemingly-eternal Academy Awards ceremony, Cameron’s neo-pagan/environmental vision was trounced in all the categories that focus on storytelling – though kudos are due to his technical crew who raised the bar on visual 3-D effects. And even the technical thrill is likely to be short-lived. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland – another 3-D extravaganza – had opening weekend ticket sales that eclipsed that of Avatar’s. Still, there is something to be said for delivering first. |
Creator of Touched By An Angel Martha Williamson
by Angela Walker
Christian Cinema.Com
Martha Williamson is a storyteller. She got her start working in variety shows at a time when computers were a vision of the future and scripts were literally cut and paste (with Scotch tape) every few hours, depending on guest star changes and the creation of new jokes.
With Touched By An Angel, Martha and everyone else working in television came into the computer age. Martha took a pilot that CBS owned but didn't know what they wanted to do with it from a concept to one of the best-loved shows from series television. We talked about the release of two new DVDs (Touched By An Angel Holiday and Touched By An Angel Hope) from the Inspiration Collection and the legacy of her work.
How did you get connected with Touched By An Angel? |
"Avatar" Reveals Our Need for God
by Angela Walker
Christian Cinema.Com
Perhaps the great success of James Cameron's film Avatar is that he unwittingly emphasizes our need for God and relationship with Him.
A recent article on CNN's Entertainment website highlights an unexpected phenomenon associated with the movie Avatar: Fans who long for the alien world Pandora feel depressed and suicidal because it's unattainable. According to fans of the film, compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia. |
Ringo Starr attended an Evangelical Anglican Church in Liverpool as a child
by Dan Wooding
Founder of Assist News Ministries
Following the news that former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, has announced that at the age of nearly 70, he had “turned to God,” comes the revelation that, as a child, he attended an Evangelical Anglican church in Liverpool.
Ringo was reported to have said, during an interview at a recent event at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, that he had “found God” after taking a long and winding road to this change in his life. |
Why I’ve turned to God at nearly 70, by reformed Ringo Starr... that’s 44 years after John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus
Lennon, however, also announced in 1977 that he had become a ‘born-again’ Christian
by Dan Wooding
Founder of Assist News Ministries
Britain’s Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk) is reporting that former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr has found God at nearly 70 years of age
This was revealed in a story written by Ben Todd who said, “John Lennon caused a worldwide storm by claiming that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.
“Now, more than four decades on, it seems his former bandmate Ringo Starr has acknowledged a humbler place in the grand scheme of things. |
 The Blind Side" Sets Box Office Record for Sandra Bullock
by Angela Walker
Christian Cinema.Com
Sandra Bullock made box office history with her role in The Blind Side. The film passed the $200 million mark (its running total is now $208.5 million), which is a record for a female-led film at the United States box office.
Other films starring women have made over $200 million in the U.S., but this is the first with a sole female lead and few other recognizable stars (The Blind Side features Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates in supporting roles). It's bigger than Mamma Mia! (starring Meryl Streep), Pretty Woman (starring Julia Roberts), and even some other films with major power players or franchise histories (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, starring uber-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, brought in $186 million, and Sex and The City, based on the hit television show, had a U.S. box office of $152 million).
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