'Superman' Highlights U.S. Educational Needs

And Christians can help meet those needs, says Teach for America's Nicole Baker Fulgham

by Nicole Baker Fulgham

Guest blogger Nicole Baker Fulgham is vice president of faith community relations at Teach for America. CT featured Fulgham in a profile earlier this year.

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Waiting for Superman, the new documentary by Davis Guggenheim, opened in select theaters last week to rave reviews (including CT’s), and expands to more cities in the weeks ahead. The film opened amid much anticipation from the education reform community and is already getting lots of buzz. (Despite opening in just four theaters, the film earned an astounding $34,758 per theater, far above the nation’s top two films, Wall Street 2 and Legend of the Guardians, which earned $5,333 and $4,507 per theater, respectively.)

Waiting for Superman follows five families desperately seeking a quality education for their kids. The neighborhood schools simply aren’t measuring up, so the families apply to a handful of successful public charter schools as alternatives for their children. A highly competitive lottery decides who is admitted—and who goes back to the neighborhood school. One charter school, for example, received 767 applications for just 35 spots.

As a native Detroiter fortunate to attend a high-performing public magnet school, and who went on to teach in urban public schools, I found these scenarios hitting close to home. The reality is that by the time children in poor communities enter the fourth grade, they’re already three grade levels behind their peers in wealthier communities. Of children from these communities who do graduate, they perform, on average, at an 8th grade level. Waiting for Superman confronts these tragic realities.

For those who hope the movie offers a simple solution to this complex problem, prepare to be disappointed. The issues surrounding our nation’s struggling schools are deep-rooted and complicated—and there is no silver bullet to fix them. Change will take a lot of hard work from a broad constituency—including parents, teachers, community and faith-based leaders, teachers’ unions, the business community and policymakers.

But the film illustrates that we actually do know what success looks like when we do the hard work. Across the country, schools featured in the documentary, such as the KIPP Academies and the Harlem Children’s Zone, offer exciting proof points that every child—regardless of where they’re born or the extra challenges they may face—is capable of achieving success on an absolute scale.

In our work at Teach For America, the national corps of young leaders who teach in urban and rural public schools around the country, we see examples of possibility every day in our teachers’ classrooms. Research shows that teachers are the single-most important factor for a child’s academic success. The key is learning from and replicating effective teaching and overall success of high-performing public schools.

As people of faith, we live out the biblical principles of equity and service by getting involved to advance solutions. Students in low-income communities need tutors, policy advocates, and classroom resources. The producers of Waiting for Superman created a website to help churches take action: WeAreNotWaiting.com

The U.S. has the resources, talent, and collective potential to drive real solutions on behalf of our kids. Waiting for Superman illustrates that the millions of children caught in the cycle of struggling schools deserve better. So what are we waiting for? As people of faith, it’s time to take action.

Here's One Fall Tour I Don't Want to Miss

Author Donald Miller teams up with Webb, McCracken, and Robbie Seay Band

by Mark Moring

Every now and then, a tour lineup comes through town that lands in that Do Not Miss This category. The upcoming "Love Tells the Story Tour" is one such event.

Featuring bestselling author Donald Miller and acclaimed musicians Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, and the Robbie Seay band, the tour will hit just ten cities in early November for what's being billed as "a rare night of music, art, and storytelling." (A couple of years ago, Webb and McCracken participated in a similar Art/Music/Justice tour.)

"I don't know if I've been more excited about a tour than I am about hitting the road with Derek, Sandra, and Robbie," says Miller. "It's going to be a creative night of storytelling through both speaking and music."

Miller's organization, The Mentoring Project, is sponsoring the tour. TMP is responding to the American crisis of fatherlessness by inspiring and equipping faith communities to mentor fatherless boys ages 7-14.

Biblical Art that Isn't Biblical. Or Is it?

NY's Museum of Biblical Art features exhibit that only hints at Scripture . . . but it's there

by Alissa Wilkinson

New York’s Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) is about to do something daring: exhibit art with a less-than-obvious connection to the Bible.

“The Wanderer,” which opens Friday and runs through December 23, features a series of landscapes by Enrique Martínez Celaya, a Miami-based painter who does not profess Christian faith, but is heavily influenced by the Bible-saturated western literary tradition – including Tolstoy, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard. (Pictured here: "The Ray of Light," 2008, oil & wax.)

The exhibit’s guest curator is Daniel Siedell, author of God in the Gallery and assistant professor of art history at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.

So, why is a museum of biblical art featuring art that isn’t explicitly biblical? Director Ena Heller, in her foreword to the exhibition catalog, explains that MOBIA hopes to “stretch the definition” of “biblical art” – to challenge “the accepted notion of biblical as narrative or liturgical, as well as anti-modern,” and that Martinez Celaya’s paintings include “indirect quotes” to Scripture as they are influenced by writers who, in turn, were influenced by the Bible.

Siedell, who also directs special projects at Martinez Celaya’s studio, Whale & Star, believes that great art and the Bible are inextricably linked – and that an exhibit such as this one can help Christians discover work that participates in an artistic tradition that takes the Bible seriously, even in an indirect way. “The biblical narratives remain viable as a means to understand the best contemporary art,” he says. “The best art, like the best literature, whether contemporary or traditional, seems to reflect in some way on these narratives, reinvesting them with meaning and significance.”

The paintings are a series of desolate landscapes in which God “may or may not have abandoned mankind,” says the exhibit description. These paintings’ “indirect quotes” could be read as references to biblical stories of exile and expulsion: Adam and Eve made to leave Garden of Eden, Cain sent into exile, the Exodus, Abraham in search of his new home.

Concurrent with the MOBIA exhibit, a series of four large Martinez Celaya paintings will be on view at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in upper Manhattan. Siedell hopes that visitors to the cathedral will experience the seriousness and “spiritual resonance of art that doesn’t have to make explicit reference to biblical or religious themes.” As he points out, art that claims to be serious – like Martinez Celaya’s work – faces a unique test in a place like St. John the Divine. “It’s one thing in a museum-gallery context [in which viewers often approach art expecting something cynical or ironic], but it’s another thing entirely to present ‘serious art’ in a space that is itself serious.”

The average viewer in these two settings will likely find his or her assumptions about serious art – and biblical art – challenged and expanded. As Heller points out, Martinez Celaya’s paintings “invite contemplation and going beyond the simple glance, beyond composition and subject matter . . . folding back layers of meaning, digging beyond the surface and understanding the process of discovery.”

'Blue Like Jazz' Movie: I'm Not Dead Yet!

Film based on Donald Miller's popular book could be getting another chance

by Mark Moring

Less than two weeks ago, we blogged that the Blue Like Jazz movie was all but dead, based on blog posts from author Donald Miller and director Steve Taylor that said that they just didn't have the money to make the movie.

Turns out a couple twentysomething guys in Franklin, Tenn., Jonathan Frazier and Zach Prichard, are among many who didn't want to hear that news. So Frazier and Prichard launched SaveBlueLikeJazz.com, a grassroots effort to raise $125,000 by October 25 in hopes of keeping the film alive. All funds are being raised through Kickstarter.com, an online fundraising site. If $125,000 isn't pledged by October 25, no money will exchange hands.

Frazier and Prichard write on the site that "since the book itself is so unique, why should the funding come traditionally? We submit that the funds for this movie should come from the people who the book actually impacted. It should come from the more than a million people who bought the book. It should come from the fans.

"We are just a couple of normal guys who decided to take a chance. When we heard the news about the film being halted, we thought to ourselves; “There’s got to be another way.” We dreamed big and now here we are. We know this is possible. Blue Like Jazz has reached a massive amount of people, and if it were to become a film, it would reach even more. Most importantly, we believe that this is going to be an incredible story. Think about it… investors back out, the movie's put on hold and the fans step up and say; “No, we will fund this movie.” That is a story we want to be a part of. Will you join us?"

Here's a video from the site:

Save Blue Like Jazz from Save Blue Like Jazz on Vimeo.

Does It HAVE to Be a Sing-a-Long?

'Sound of Music' returns to the big screen in October as an audience participation event

by Mark Moring

The first movie I ever saw in a theater was the Rodgers & Hammerstein masterpiece, The Sound of Music. I had just turned 6 years old, but it stuck with me -- and still does. The film has long been in my personal top 10 list.

To celebrate its 45th anniversary, the film is re-releasing to theaters for two nights only next month -- October 19 and 26. That's the good news. The bad? It's being billed as a sing-a-long event. I suppose that's fine for folks who WANT to sing along. But I want to hear the divine Julie Andrews, not the tone-deaf schlub I happen to be sitting next to in the theater that night. I don't even want to hear myself singing (because I'm a tone-deaf schlub myself). I want to hear Maria, Mother Abess and the nuns, and Liesl (confession: I was crushing on Charmian Carr as a pre-teen) and the children singing these songs. Heck, I even want to hear Christopher Plummer quasi-croak his way through "Edelweiss," which makes me tear up every single time.

Can't we have the best of both worlds -- a sing-a-long release one week, and an "art-appreciation-so-just-shut-up-already" release the next?

Katy Perry Too Racy for Elmo?

After complaints from parents, 'Sesame Street' pulls Katy Perry video from show

by Mark Moring

9/24 UPDATE: Elmo responds, "We'll definitely have another play date!"

It's not unusual for big-name celebrities to appear on Sesame Street, so when the popular show started previewing its upcoming season online this week, we saw the likes of Jude Law, Will.i.am, Colin Farrell, and others -- including pop star Katy Perry singing a kid-friendly version of her song "Hot N Cold" with Elmo.

Turns out that Perry's clothes showed a bit too much cleavage for some parents, who posted such comments as: "Couldn't she wear something that was more . . . APPROPRIATE," and "I DO NOT want my five year old lookin at [that]!" Sesame Workshop, the folks behind the show, Sesame Street, responded by deciding not to run the clip on the show after all. Actually, Perry's outfit wasn't as revealing as at first glance: she wore a flesh-colored mesh top that went all the way up to her neck.

While Gawker.TV complained that "Katy Perry's Boobs Guest Star on Sesame Street," but it's hardly the first time breasts have made an appearance on the show. In a tender -- and decided non-titillating -- scene from the 1977 show, singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte Marie actually breastfed her son, Dakota Starblanket Wolfchild, on the show while Big Bird looked over her shoulder. It was a sweet and sensitive way of explaining breastfeeding to a child.

Here's the clip:

The Power of a Hymn

Upcoming movie, 'Alone Yet Not Alone,' tells a true tale of faith and redemption

by Mark Moring

I just finished an interview with T. David Gordon, author of Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns, about the power of hymns vs. the relative mediocrity of most of today's modern worship and praise choruses. That conversation came right after a call from my friend Ken Wales, a Hollywood producer who wanted to let us know about a new film he's working on -- a film which, coincidentally, also recognizes the power of hymns.

Alone Yet Not Alone, a true story, began shooting this week in Roanoke, Virginia, with Wales and Michael Snyder as producers, George Escobar as director, and Oscar-nominated composer Bruce Broughton (Silverado) handling the music. Wales says it's a cast of talented but mostly unknown actors, except for Jenn Gotzon, who played Tricia Nixon in Frost/Nixon.

The story is set in the mid-1700s in western Pennsylvania, where European settlers and Native Americans aren't quite getting along. When natives raid one village, they kidnap two young sisters, Barbara and Regina Leininger, who are later separated. The young girls cling to the hope instilled by their family's Christian faith, especially by remembering the words to a German hymn their family often sang together, "Allein, und doch nicht ganz allein." The first stanza is translated:

Alone, yet not alone am I, Though in this solitude so drear,
I feel my Saviour always nigh.
He comes the very hour to cheer,
I am with Him, and He with me
E'en here alone I cannot be.

The hymn ends up playing an instrumental role not only in sustaining the girls during their captivity, but even in reuniting them with their mother.

Wales says the film, tentatively slated for a fall 2011 release, is "an Amazing Grace type of movie," another project he produced. He says it will be a family-friendly flick that accentuates the faith angle in the story.

Live at CT: Sean Tuohy of 'The Blind Side'

You loved the movie; hear the story behind the story in a free webinar coming soon

by Mark Moring

Sign up today for a free webinar with The Blind Side’s Sean Tuohy, as he discusses and answers questions on “Living the Giving Life” on Tuesday, September 28 at 6 p.m. Central. Tuohy is the husband and father depicted in the film. Register today to take part in this unique opportunity.

Click here to learn more about CTI's Web Campus, which offers courses and webinars to Christian leaders.

A Birds-Eye View

Owl City's theme song for 'Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole' soars

by Mark Moring

Last month, we noted that Adam Young, aka Owl City, was writing the theme song for Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, opening Friday in theaters everywhere. Young has now released a video of the song (see below) -- and it's just as catchy as his earlier tunes. Check it out and try to resist a smile:

'A Near Encounter with the Gospel'

Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore finds the deeper story in Duvall's 'Get Low'

by Mark Moring

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice-President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and preaching pastor at Highview Baptist Church, caught a screening of Get Low and was quite moved.

"Get Low is not a 'Christian movie,'" he writes. "The point of view is decidedly non-Christian, as is most of the mode of discourse. And that’s just the point. The film portrays something the Christian Scriptures insist to be true. Guilt isn’t something society foists upon us. There’s something primal, something real, in the guilty conscience . . .

"Get Low isn’t Christian, but it’s Christ-haunted. In an often animalistic culture, it reminds us that even the Gentiles know that guilt is real, and that it burns. It also reminds us that, no matter how deep the exile, where there is still a conscience there is still the God who put it there. That’s not the good news, but its a step toward acknowledging the bad. It’s not the whole truth, but it’s the truth, the (almost) gospel truth."

Asking the Beautiful Questions

'Reparando' shows Guatemalans 'embracing the pain of their past to help the next generation'

by Mark Moring

Joel Van Dyke, a missionary in Guatemala's slums and prisons, wrote a throughtful essay for CT and The Global Conversation earlier this year entitled, "Asking the Beautiful Question," exhorting believers to consider new ways to bring the gospel to people in other cultures and lands.

It's a question he often asks himself as a missionary in Guatemala, where his work with gang members has resulted in a new documentary, Reparando, now showing in limited release and available on DVD. The film's tagline almost says it all: "Embracing the pain of their past to help the next generation," The film focuses on two people, Shorty and Tita, who grew up as victims of their nation's 36 years of civil war. Shorty, a former gang member who is now a pastor, and Tita, a woman who started a school in Guatemala’s most notorious slum, have joined forces to repair their community.

The film also explores the practical applications of the "theology of the cross," while also daring to ask those new, beautiful questions that make ministry more effective.

Here's the trailer:

Reparando - Trailer - 01 from Athentikos on Vimeo.

'Thirty Three' Picks Up Where 'Passion' Left Off

Upcoming film to depict 18-month time period after Christ's crucifixion

by Mark Moring

A few years ago, Kirk Berendes had taken his children to see Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ. As the credits rolled, one of them turned to Berendes and asked, "Daddy, what happened next?"

Berendes and several business partners aim to answer that question by making a new movie, Thirty Three, The Story of Hope, with plans to shoot the film in Israel in 2011. 33 Hope LLC has signed a co-production and distribution deal with the UK's Spice Factory. The film will be based on the Edward L. Flom book of the same title, which chronicles the 18-month period following the Crucifixion, examining the Resurrection, the 40 days up to the Ascension, and what happened to the disciples and early church after that.

Berendes and Flom formed 33 Hope LLC was formed in 2008. One of the company's partners is Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in The Passion. The company estimates that the film budget will be about $25 million. Cristobal Krusen (Final Solution) has written the script and will direct.

Now Is the Time to Freak Out for Freedom

Colbert one-ups Stewart, proposing 'March to Keep Fear Alive' vs. 'Rally to Restore Sanity'

by Mark Moring

The aftershocks (well, maybe that's too strong) from Glenn Beck's recent "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington D.C. continue -- with a couple of comedy/commentators getting in on the act.

First, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart announced last night that he was going to hold a "Rally to Restore Sanity" on October 30 in D.C. Stewart said he wanted people "to spread the timeless message, 'Take it down a notch for America' A million Moderate march, where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says, 'We are here! We... are only here until six though, because we have a sitter.'"

Not to be outdone, Stephen Colbert, whose Comedy Central show airs immediately after Stewart's, called for a competing "March to Keep Fear Alive" -- also on October 30 in D.C. "Now is not the time to take it down a notch," Colbert said. "Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom."

Here's a beautiful thing: the official websites for the two events actually link to each other with a prominent button that reads, "DON'T CLICK HERE." I love it! Satire and irony are alive and well!

Watch both announcements in the videos below:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rally to Restore Sanity
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
March to Keep Fear Alive
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Sigh: No 'Blue Like Jazz' Movie After All?

For lack of funds, Don Miller's book likely won't see the big screen. At least for a while.

by Mark Moring

"The book that swept the country will not sweep theaters," author Don Miller wrote on his blog today. "It’s a sad day amongst many of my friends. After spending a year writing the screenplay, and another year trying to raise money for the movie, everything seems to be on hold indefinitely."

Miller gave three updates on the film's status:

"1. It’s really hard to raise money for movies right now. In fact, it’s worse than it’s ever been in the history of Hollywood. On one hand, that’s terrible for us, but on the other it would have been great because Blue Like Jazz would have had much less competition at the box office.

"2. Blue Like Jazz is a very hard film for church-going, evangelical Christians to get behind. The folks who invest in Christian movies were scared to death of Blue Like Jazz. While it has a PG-13 rating, there is language, drug use and a scene where the protagonists put a giant condom on a steeple. To me, it’s the only movie that takes an honest look at a Christian kid coming of age in America, a story experienced by tens of millions of students each year. But students don’t fund Christian movies, older white guys do, and they find it hard to relate to the theme.

"3. Our lead in the movie is Marshall Allman. Marshall had a stint on Prison Break before passing through Mad Men and now has a recurring role on HBO’s True Blood. Marshall goes back to work filming True Blood in December, so we’ve missed our window to shoot this fall. That means we have to wait even longer, and too much can change if we wait."

Miller jokingly added, "There is a possibility we can sell the screenplay to a studio for a huge amount of money and I can finally buy that water slide I want that goes from the balcony of my condo to the coffee shop across the street, but studios often buy screenplays and never make them, and even if they did, they’d probably turn it into a religious sex romp.

"I still hold out hope that the movie will some day be made, and that you’ll get to see it. I think you’d have liked it. Thanks for your support and interest over the past couple years."

On the film's official website, director Steve Taylor wrote that "making a feature-length movie based on a bestselling book is not a micro-budget enterprise. And there’s the rub." He also noted the poor economy, the edgy content, and that BLJ fans aren't typically "flush with cash."

Clearly disappointed, Taylor went on: "I regret ever telling Don that I could get this movie funded. He has never even hinted at his disappointment, but I have most certainly let him down.

"I’ve worked under the broad rubric of the 'entertainment industry' since college. Most of the projects I’ve worked on would be considered successful, and some have been extraordinarily so. But I’ve never had a project that had more going for it than the Blue Like Jazz movie. This has easily been the biggest professional frustration of my career.

"I don’t presume to know the mind of God in this matter. I’ve always believed that the will of God has much more to do with the state of our hearts than the path of our careers, so I don’t presume to know if it’s the Almighty, the Devil, or any of the above (or below) that don’t want this movie made . . .

"I’m a fortunate and blessed man. My life doesn’t depend on getting this movie made. I am willing to abandon this dream. But, at least for now, I continue to ask God to provide the resources to make it."

A Fantastical Lineup for This Conference

David Crowder hosting church music gig, featuring Jars of Clay, Rob Bell, Giglio, more

by Mark Moring

It's perhaps fitting that a man who released an album called Church Music would also host a conference by almost the same name.

Crowder's Fantastical Church Music Conference, slated for Sept. 30-October 2 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, will feature a guest lineup of who's who -- including musicians Jars of Clay, Israel Houghton, Hillsong London, Derek Webb, and speakers Louie Giglio, Rob Bell, Francis Chan, and more. (For a complete lineup, click here.)

"Crafting and choosing the songs the church sings is a critical and crucial work of discernment," Crowder said. Organizers expect lively discussions as the event features workshops with titles like, "The Functional Limits of Creativity," "From Sunday to Sunday: A New Old Vision for Worship," and "Electronic Programming."

See Crowder introduce the conference in this cheesy but fun video:

Calvin College: No P***ographers Allowed!

Christian school cancels New Pornographers concert because of the band's name

by Mark Moring

Saying that "the irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many," Calvin College officials have canceled an upcoming concert by The New Pornographers.

A school statement released Monday noted that "the band makes good, thoughtful music, and we invited them here based on their artistic merit. However, after weeks of discussion and consideration, the irony of the band's name was impossible to explain to many. The band's name, to some, is mistakenly associated with pornography. Consequently, Calvin, to some, was mistakenly associated with pornography. Neither the college nor the band endorses pornography."

On the surface, the decision seems to go against the grain of the mission of Calvin's Student Activities Office, which schedules concerts. The SAO aims to "change the conversation about popular culture" and "seeks to help students engage with popular culture and to discern the positive and negative messages contained within. We attempt to perform this critical Christian service by equipping our students with the tools and experiences necessary to begin discerning culture." That includes bringing in guest lecturers and musicians of all stripes -- Christian and non-Christian.

Ken Heffner, Calvin's director of student activities, said the decision to cancel The New Pornographers was solely over the band's name, and not its spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof) or the message of its music. Heffner wouldn't comment on who made the final decision to cancel the show. When asked if alumni pressure had anything to do with the decision, he wouldn't comment.

Heffner told CT that the decision was made last week, but wasn't announced until Monday so the school could relay the news to the band before going public with the announcement. Heffner said the band "didn't agree" with the decision, but there was "no anger" and "they were pretty understanding." He also said that the band agreed not to "say anything disparaging" about Calvin as a result of this situation.

Heffner said that he didn't believe that the SAO's mission has been compromised, and that school officials reiterated their support of the SAO. "The college is committed to this work," he told CT. "Their message is to continue on with what we do. I don't feel that our hands have been tied at all."

Indeed, the SAO has 16 shows planned for this fall, including Over the Rhine, Blitzen Trapper, Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken, The Weepies, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Colour Revolt, and Van Dyke Parks.

On its website, the SAO noted that "we will continue to do our best to feature artists who will challenge, delight and inspire our audiences, artists whom we discern, from our Reformed perspective, are getting something right. At Calvin, students and the general public experience the work of international touring artists in the context of Christian examination and evaluation. Concerts are, and will continue to be, part of a carefully crafted context that encourages serious critical engagement of popular culture."

'Amish Grace' Releases to DVD

Lifetime TV's record breaker depicts Amish forgiveness in wake of 2006 shootings

by Mark Moring

More than 4 million viewers tuned in to the Lifetime TV channel on Palm Sunday to watch Amish Grace, setting a number of viewing records for the network. The film, which chronicled the tragic 2006 school shootings -- and the deaths of five young Amish girls -- in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, releases to DVD today.

The movie, starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley in the lead role, shows how the Amish community struggled in the aftermath of the tragedy -- how their faith sustained them, and how they forgave the killer and his family. But for some, forgiveness didn't come easily; it shows some honest wrestling with the concept, as we noted in our blog review when it first released.

But how honest? Two New York papers argued about that: The Daily News said the film "gets to the heart of faith," while The Post said it "gets fiction treatment." The Kansas City Star went so far as to say that the film "gets everything wrong."

And yet there's no denying the power and redemption of the true story that really happened in Nickel Mines four years ago -- the power of faith and forgiveness. Perhaps the film gets some of the details wrong, but that powerful truth, and the amazing love and grace behind it, is world-changing.

'The Way' Puts 'Christian' Films to Shame

Emilio Estevez directs his dad, Martin Sheen, in a film about grief, love, faith, community

by Kenneth R. Morefield

(Editor's note: Ken Morefield is at the Toronto International Film Festival. This post originally appeared at his 1More Film Blog.)

I became acquainted with grief at a very young age. As a result, for significant periods of my childhood and even into young adulthood, I felt I knew something my peers didn’t. Now in middle age, I understand intellectually that more of my peers have had what is a very common life experience, but because of the experience of formative years, I’m still always surprised when the representation of grief in art–particularly art from those who are not yet in their twilight years–rings true.

There’s not a whole lot about Emilio Estevez’s The Way that doesn’t ring true. Given the fact that the film tackles some of life’s deepest emotions and largest themes–grief, love, faith, community–that’s quite a compliment.

Martin Sheen plays Tom Avery, an American ophthalmologist who receives word that his son has been killed while walking the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage trail in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain sometimes referred to as The Way of Saint James. Perhaps impulsively or perhaps in desperation, Tom decides to walk the pilgrims’ trail himself, to finish the journey his son began.

Obviously, such a role calls for an actor of immense talent, both to convey the depth and layers of feeling of a parent mourning his child and to eschew the more melodramatic histrionics that would cause such material to become overly and overtly sentimental. Sheen, one of our national acting treasures, is perfect for such a part, bringing it gravity but also dignity. I love that in introducing a movie about fathers and sons, rituals and traditions, Estevez chose to describe Sheen by borrowing from another famous director, John Huston, talking about his own father. “He never tried to sell you something.” The film needs that kind of iconic confidence at its center, because for long periods Tom, in his grief, goes inside himself, and the film must have the confidence to let him, to allow us to be one of the community with him, each broken in his or her own way, each striving for understanding, light, and hope.

Do you want to know one thing that is true about grief? Movies tend to think that what we remember and treasure in our hearts are the big gestures people make to acknowledge the hugeness of our loss. But that’s not the case. What stays with you are scores of small kindnesses from people that remind you that life is worth living, that in our sadness, our emptiness, and our poverty, most people can be very, very decent. “To be kind,” George MacDonald once wrote, “neither hurts nor compromises.” It may be the only thing that doesn’t.

Estevez talked rather self-effacingly at the Toronto International Film Festival of not directing his father, of surrounding himself with talented people and “getting out of the way.” He did direct, Sheen insisted. It’s easy enough to see how both descriptions are true. In a post-Cahiers film world, we take certain theories of auteurship for granted. Our picture of the director is of someone who, Hitchcock-like, plans and controls every detail of the film in his head. Estevez spoke of making a film about community by making a community, using natural light, shooting in Super 16 and making technical choices appropriate to the thematic content of the film. These are directorial decisions that shape the film and were appropriate, but the creation of a community of like-minded people pursuing a goal should not be underestimated. The care and compassion these people have for each other reaches beyond performance and says something about the material’s and location’s ability to affect actors and not just vice-versa. I wish he hadn’t used the device of having the father occasionally “see” his dead son, but–as one viewer stressed to me–that (hearing/seeing those who are absent) is an experience, hinted at by other characters in the film which is not uncommon to those who are grieving.

In circles in which I sometimes converse, there have been, for as long as I can remember, discussions about Christians in the art, about how to get more films that are faith friendly and about the corrosive moral effects of “Hollywood” or the “Hollywood culture.” Every now and then, though, I’ll run across a song like Leonard Cohen’s “If It Be Your Will” or a film like The Way, that not only puts “Christian” films to shame but that makes me exasperated at the whole notion of “Christian” as an identity politics genre. If you want more great Christian art, go find great artists and support them in their desire to speak, write, and represent the truth. Hollywood is made up of people–many of whom, it turns out, are more complex, interesting, and thoughtful than we might guess based on nothing more than a quick glimpse of their IMDB filmography.

One audience member at the Toronto Film Festival who had done this pilgrimage himself spoke glowingly of how the film’s latter scenes captured perfectly the experience of arriving in Santiago de Compostela. The Way is the first non-documentary film granted permission to film inside the church, and the scenes of the pilgrims arriving, how each responds to the rituals, to each other, and to the dawning realizations that they are neither the first nor the last to walk the path they’ve walked or bear the burdens they’ve borne, is as deeply moving and passionately spiritual a moment as you are likely to get in commercial, narrative film. You know what would be a little miracle that would make me happy? If Christians who wanted to “send Hollywood a message” with their pocketbooks would eschew boycotting the next “R” rated slezefest that gets them all tied up in knots and try the reverse for once. Pick up the phone and call your favorite studio and say, “I’ve got $10 and I really want to see this movie.”

Hey, it’s worth a try. Turns out The Way–here’s the kicker–doesn’t yet have a major distribution deal.

The Way is funny, sad, somber, and, above all, true. It is life-affirming in most of the best senses of the phrase. It’s easily one of my favorite films of the year thus far. If you get an opportunity to see it, seize it. You won’t be sorry. It you don’t, that’s okay, too, just so long as you promise not to complain that there’s nothing but sex and explosions at the multiplex these days.

(Photo by David Alexanian, Copyright 2010).

Aretha Wants Halle Berry to Play Her in Biopic

The Queen of Soul knows who she wants, but will Berry take the part?

by Mark Moring

Aretha Franklin announced recently that she wants Halle Berry to play a young Aretha in a planned biopic on the life of the Queen of Soul.

Franklin said she'd soon be reviewing the script for the film, to be based on her autobiography, Aretha: From These Roots, a best-seller a decade ago.

The 68-year-old Franklin also wants Denzel Washington to play her father, the late C.L. Franklin, a prominent Baptist minister and civil rights leader in Detroit. And she wants Terrence Howard as Motown star Smokey Robinson.

Thumbs Up! Ebert Launches New Review Show

'Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies' to run weekly starting in January

by Mark Moring

Legendary film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times is reviving his weekly half-hour TV show, At the Movies, it was announced on Friday.

"This is the rebirth of a dream," Ebert wrote. The show will return to its original roots on PBS, prompting Ebert to write, "I believe that by returning to its public roots, our new show will win better and more consistent time slots in more markets. American television is swamped by mindless gossip about celebrities, and I'm happy this show will continue to tell viewers honestly if the critics think a new movie is worth seeing."

Ebert himself will not co-host the show; throat cancer in recent years has robbed him of his voice. But he will act as co-producer and use a computer voice to appear on every episode with segments titled Roger's Office devoted to classic, overlooked and new films. The show will be co-hosted by Christy Lemire, film critic of The Associated Press, and Elvis Mitchell of National Public Radio.

Watch a brief video about the new show here:

Reagan Biopic to Come in 2011

$30 million film will explore former President's spiritual roots, says producer

by Mark Moring

It's surprising that there hasn't yet been a biopic of Ronald Reagan, one of the most-loved Presidents in U.S. history. But that's about to change, thanks in much part to a pair of Christian producers in Hollywood.

Ralph Winter (X-Men and Fantastic Four movies) and Mark Joseph are co-producing the film, simply titled Reagan. An actor has not yet been chose to play the part, but speculation has already begun here.

Joseph, who worked on Ray, Holes, and The Passion of The Christ, says that much of the tone and script will be based on two Reagan biographies by historian Paul Kengor, God and Ronald Reagan and The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Triumph Over Communism.

Joseph tells CT that "it'd be impossible not to" focus on Reagan's spirituality, given the source material of those two books. "You can't understand Reagan if you don't understand where he came from. . . . Kengor went to the church Reagen grew up in and asked to see the sermons he would have heard as a child. They were in the basement, and previous Reagan biographers hadn't exactly kicked down the door to read them.

"Those sermons, a book he read as a child called That Printer of Udell's, and the influence of his mother Nelle set him on a course for, as he might have said, a rendezvous with destiny. It would be impossible to understand Reagan without understanding his spiritual roots.

"At the same time, we balance that with Kengor's other book, The Crusader, which is about foreign policy intrigue and the nuts and bolts of how Reagan accomplished what he did. Taken together, the two books address both the spiritual and the temporal."

Jonas McCord wrote the script despite not being a gung-ho Reagan fan. "I was of the opinion that at best he was a bad actor and at worst a clown," McCord told The Hollywood Reporter. But after doing his research, McCord saw the possibilities.

Joseph defended his choice of writers: "Jonas wasn't a rah-rah Republican. But over time he came to understand what a consequential man and president Ronald Reagan was. He came to the material open minded. And when I sent him to Reagan's old haunts in Dixon, Illinois, and Eureka College he discovered a deeper appreciation for the man. But I'm not afraid to have people involved who may not be dyed-in-the-wool fans but nonetheless appreciate the man and his contributions. But ultimately it's my job to make sure the film stays true to who he was and lives up to the expectations filmgoers will have."

McCord told The Hollywood Reporter that Reagan's childhood was like "a surreal Norman Rockwell painting with his alcoholic Catholic father, devout Christian mother, Catholic brother and ever-changing boarders the family took in."

Joseph says he was drawn to the project because Reagan "lived a fascinating life and he looms large over the American landscape in ways that we don't even think about. He was also an enigmatic person. His official biographer called him 'inscrutable.' All of which makes for a great movie. There are very few stories that have near 100 percent name recognition and this is one of those special American stories.

"He was much more than a President to a lot of people like me. He was one of the only public figures who didn't let my generation down. I came from a generation of the anti-hero: Nixon had Watergate, Carter had malaise. Religious leaders like Swaggart and Bakker couldn't live up to what they professed. But Reagan never wavered."

The only thing close to a Reagan biopic so far was a 2003 TV miniseries, The Reagans. That less-than-reverent project, starring James Brolin as the President (pictured at left), was supposed to air on CBS, but a controversy over alleged left-wing bias erupted, and it was shifted to Showtime instead, and seen by only 1.2 million people, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Only in Hollywood could you make an insulting, condescending movie about a much-loved historical figure," Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter. "Hire an actor who loathed the man. Watch it flop and then somehow conclude that Americans don't want to see a movie about him. I watched Americans line up and wait for 10 hours for the simple privilege of passing by his closed casket. They loved this man."

Brolin disagreed with Joseph's assessment of the miniseries, and says he admired Reagan: "He's literally our best icon in recent years. He represented America quite well. There were some clandestine things going down, but for the most part I think he was a good president."

Baylor Football Adopts David Crowder Song

Bears to take field to Crowder's 'Rise Up' at every home game this season

by Mark Moring

Baylor University alum David Crowder loves his Bears -- so much that he wrote something of a fight song, "Rise Up," for his alma mater's football team, which will take the field to the playing of the song at every home game this season.

Crowder had seen some of the team's commercials over the summer, which had the theme of "rise up." He went to sleep one night, and woke up the next day with the song in his head.

"I don't want to talk about Manifest Destiny," he told Baylor, "but I woke up the next morning and I'm sort of in a dream state with this song in its entirety. Later in the day I remember I had a song in my head when I woke up, and I started talking to a guy I work with. I said I feel like I had a dream, something about Baylor football, and I started reciting lyrics to it. About halfway through, I go, 'This is a good song. I gotta go, I gotta record it quick before it disappears.' So that day I recorded it and sent it to some folks in the athletic department, and they got pretty excited. I was already excited, so we went ahead and polished it up."

At last Saturday's opener, the 42,821 fans in attendance heard the song, and the Bears rose up and whipped Sam Houston State, 34-3.

The song is now available for listening and downloading.

Musician's Song to Benefit Gulf Relief

New Orleans born Freedove's "The One" to help those struggling after oil spill

by Mark Moring

Freedove, born in New Orleans and now living in New York, recently released a single, "The One," with proceeds to benefit Gulf relief efforts after the summer oil spill.

"It's a message of hope for the world," she told CT in an e-mail. "All proceeds from sales will go to Gulf relief efforts. I am hoping that more people will learn about the song and help the cause. It truly is a labor of love for my hometown."

The single can be heard on her MySpace page.

Do Yourself a Favor: Check out This Movie

'That Evening Sun,' one of the year's hidden gems, releases to DVD

by Mark Moring

Early this year, I heard about a film called That Evening Sun that looked intriguing. Starring Hal Holbrook, it was a Flannery O'Connor-esque Southern folk tale that was helmed by a director I'd never heard of: Scott Teems. When I heard that Teems was a Christian, I was even more interested in the film.

So I checked it out -- and suffice it to say it's one of 2010's hidden gems, certainly one of the best indie films I've seen this year. Holbrook is terrific as an old man who flees the confined life of a nursing home and tries to recover his old farmhouse -- only to learn it's already been sold. Bad blood and feuding ensues, but so do grace and redemption. It all adds up to a winner.

I had an interesting conversation with Teems about the film, about working with Holbrook, and about what makes for a "Christian" movie (and just as importantly, what doesn't). Anyway, good stuff.

That Evening Sun releases on DVD and Blu-Ray today, and is worth checking out.

Here's the trailer:

'This Jesus Thing Is a Bunch of Malarkey'

And God is like a really bad girlfriend, say the characters on FX comedy 'Louie'

by Mark Moring

Tuesday night's episode of the FX comedy Louie, featuring standup comic Louis C.K. in the title role, ventured into blasphemous territory. The episode, simpled titled "God," featured Louie saying that "if there really is a God, he's an ***hole," and that God is like a "sh*tty girlfriend." In a flashback to his boyhood days in Catholic school, Louie asks his mother about Jesus and his death on the cross. Louie's mom responds that Jesus was "a really, really nice guy who lived a long time ago and told everyone to love each other," but of his death and resurrection, she says, "The whole thing is a bunch of malarkey."

Catholic League president Bill Donohue didn't like it one bit: "It was painful. But was it anti-Catholic? Sure. That was the point of it. . . . If this show had any value whatsoever, it showed with stunning accuracy exactly how Hollywood sees Christianity."

See a brief clip of young Louie asking his mother about Jesus here:

Another Church Gets in on the Moviemaking Act

Mariners Church to release 'I Am' to 3,000-plus churches in October

by Mark Moring

In any given week, only the biggest of the big blockbusters release to more than 3,000 movie screens across the U.S., but a new film from Mariners Church in Irvine, California, hopes to hit that number -- and more -- when it releases I Am on October 10.

According to the film's official website, the movie "offers an insight into the true nature of our God, and fights the damaging stereotypes of His character through a gritty, non-linear drama with a plot weaving around average people violating the Ten Commandments -- one by one. We see that these commandments were not edicts from a jealous God, but a love letter to humanity -- a warning to those who don't understand the massive consequences of even the smallest sins upon ourselves and the world around us."

Mariners is offering the film for free screenings to churches on October 10 before releasing it on DVD through 20th Century Fox at a later date. Mariners says the film is meant to "start a conversation. It's a movie that doesn't do the talking, but instead tries to compel others to want to talk after they've seen it. What better place to HOST conversations about God than at church?"

Learn more about the film at their Facebook site, and see the trailer below:

Bollywood Jesus

India's film industry to tackle the life of Christ. Yes, there will be singing. But no dancing.

by Mark Moring

Cecil B. Demille, Martin Scorsese, and Mel Gibson have all made movies about the life of Christ. Now Bollywood is getting in on the act.

The as-yet untitled biopic -- claimed by studio Aditya Productions as a first for the Indian film industry -- is expected to start filming soon, with versions planned in four Indian languages. Pawan Kalyan will play the lead role in the Telugu and Malayalam language versions, with an announcement expected soon on the stars of the English and Hindi adaptations.

The $30 million, 195-minute epic, to be shot in India and Israel, will release in late 2011. It will include seven songs, but no dancing -- a typical element of many Bollywood movies.

Producer Konda Krishnam Raju, speaking in Jerusalem, said, “This is the first time in the 79-year history of the Bollywood film industry that a film on Jesus Christ is being made. Our dream is finally coming true.”

Director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao said, "We are enriched, enthralled and thrilled. We are getting the necessary inspiration." He added that he hoped the film's central message would be heard by Israelis and Palestinians: "Wherever there is conflict, pain, war, we would like to take the message of peace and love."

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