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David Zucker’s An American Carol finished at number nine at the box-office in its first weekend of release – somewhat disappointing, I must admit (considering I saw it twice) – but fortunately ahead of Bill Maher’s anti-religion film “Religulous.” The movie took in $3.81 million in sales, just ahead of Maher’s masterwork, which snagged $3.5 million. The film “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” finished in the top spot, pulling in $29 million. Read the story here. As many weekend filmgoers have already expressed – far more eloquently than I could hope to - “An American Carol” wasn’t the funniest film ever made....

Other than the awful Blue Collar comedy crew, you don't see a whole lot of humor come from the political right. The tasteless, wrongheaded but consistently entertaining "An American Carol" is David Zucker's effort to show the satire sword can swing both ways. Never mind that the movie is about as politically relevant as Zucker's "Airplane!" Taking a reverse Colbert approach, Zucker attacks Michael Moore by exaggerating his political stances and exposing logical fallacies. Lead Kevin P. Farley, as rotund, ballcap-wearing documentarian Michael Malone, is a major reason the slipshod film is as entertaining as it is. The unheralded brother...

This time, conservatives in Tinseltown have collaborated to communicate their ideas, but they’re doing it in jocular way. The movie has a cast that includes veteran stars Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, James Woods, Dennis Hopper, Robert Davi, and Leslie Nielsen. With this kind of lineup, you’d expect some great performances. And there are, under the master comedy direction of Zucker. The plot loosely follows Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with Kevin Farley playing the character of Michael Malone, a modern-day Scrooge who wants to abolish the July Fourth holiday. Paris Hilton, who happens to be a Sen. Barack Obama supporter,...

This weekend, a deeply divided America will have another round of new films to choose from at the theaters. One is Religulous, a comic documentary in which Bill Maher, America's best-known agnostic humorist, presents a vision of the destructive forces of organized religion, a vision no less apocalyptic than the end-times scenarios promulgated by some of his targets. Then there's An American Carol, which its maker, Airplane! and Naked Gun alum David Zucker, describes as "the opposite of the Bill Maher movie." Mr. Zucker's proudly conservative comedy isn't primarily about religion. It reworks the Charles Dickens Christmas Carol scenario so...

http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/ Movie coming to theaters this weekend. This is a follow on to Facing the Giants. Very moving trailer.

Just under 4 years ago, I started this blog after meeting several devout Christendom College students after a Sunday Traditional Latin Mass at St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church in Washington, DC. The previous month, I had traveled to England and visited several Catholic sites, including the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and had seen Catholic art in the National Gallery in London. I was inspired, by the events of that time and by those students, to blog about Catholic subjects, especially Catholic art, feast days, and devotions; and also, write about Traditional Latin Masses in the Washington,...

Bill Maher's Anti-Religion Movie “Religion is detrimental to the progress of society.” That’s my favorite quote from Bill Maher’s often brilliant, but often unfocused “documentary,” called “Religulous.” It opens in early October right after its debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The articulate, quick-witted comedian sets out in this film — which was supposed to have been released last Easter — to prove that line is true. Directed by Larry Charles, the man who put "Borat" together so skillfully, "Religulous" is blatant about Maher’s feelings: religion is bad. All religions are bad. They are ruining everything. If you go for...

It looks hilarous, all FREEPERS should attend and bring family and friends.

Coming this December 12. Keanu Reeves takes over the Klaatu role from Michael Rennie. Extended clip (this may get pulled)IMDbOfficial movie siteWikipedia article

A young filmmaker risks everything, including his life to tell his brothers' story. Often humorous, sometimes lethal, this embedding with four combat units in Iraq, gives him insight into his two soldier brothers, his family, and ultimately into his own character. Brothers At War Coming Soon To A Theater Near You http://brothersatwarmovie.com http://ie.youtube.com/BrothersAtWar

My favorite movie lines quotes, quips, profound, truisms. I'll start with the dark and work toward the light. A FreeRanging thread, please add your inputs. Okay to link youtube and music links.

Lady Magdalene's to Screen at the 2008 Cinema City International Film Festival OPENPRESS) September 19, 2008 -- Jesulu Productions' new suspense-comedy feature film, Lady Magdalene's, has been selected as one of only five narrative-features, out of over 3,000 submissions, to be a finalist that will screen Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 4:45 PM, at the 2008 Cinema City International Film Festival, to be held September 29th to October 1st, 2008, at the AMC Universal City Walk, adjacent to Universal Studios. Admission to all Cinema City International Film Festival screenings, including the screening of Lady Magdalene's, is free. Lady Magdalene's will...

This story takes the audience to the most stirring and heartwarming scenes in America. History, adventure and spectacular scenery are the backdrop. Opportunity, personal responsibility, and the free enterprise system is the platform in which America's success is molded. We are a nation that owes much to many. This is an American story told through the magic of magnificent music performed by top performers, breathtaking photography, thrilling aerial scenes, and some of the most touching human moments ever presented on the giant screen. Cast: Marie Antoinette, Michelle Ashman, Jonathan Banks, Jon Jon Briones, Kimberlin Brown

The American Idol candidate September 10, 2008 By Roger Ebert I think I might be able to explain some of Sara Palin's appeal. She's the "American Idol" candidate. Consider. What defines an "American Idol" finalist? They're good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they're darned near the real thing. There's a reason "American Idol" gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could almost be me up there on that show! My feeling is, I don't want to be up there. I want a vice president...

This Thursday marks the 7-year anniversary of the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks against our great nation and our citizens. As our nation pays tribute to those who lost their lives, and those in our Armed Services who fight to protect us from future attacks by Islamic jihadists, I wanted to alert you to an important event that is taking place on 9/11/08 that will help ensure Americans never forget that tragic day, and the events that led up to the terrorist attacks on our nation. There will be a special one-time only FREE showing of the movie, Obsession: Radical Islam's...

Ringer Deej found this article on EW.Com: It’s now official: The Lord of the Rings screenwriting team of Peter Jackson (pictured), Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens will join The Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro to pen the screenplay for the two planned Hobbit movies. Sources tell EW.com that the scribes’ deals are all complete and they will commence writing shortly. (With shooting scheduled to begin in Fall 2009 in New Zealand, the quartet better get busy!) The Hobbit will center on Frodo’s uncle, Bilbo Baggins, and his initial discovery of the immensely-powerful ring. New Line and MGM plan to release...

A movie has just been finished based on the true story reported by WND of a woman trapped in the bathroom of an abortion clinic who watched helplessly as her baby, who was born alive, died. The film, "22weeks," made by a young, Puerto Rican filmmaker, Ángel Manuel Soto Vázquez, will soon be released in private screenings in select cities as it ramps up for hopeful showings at the Toronto and Cannes Film Festivals. The film, with promotional pages on MySpace and Facebook, describes the movie on its homepage as follows: A young woman is locked in the bathroom of...

'Swing Vote' Kelsey Grammer and Kevin Costner have been sued over their new film Swing Vote, reports TMZ. Screenwriter Bradley Blakeman filed suit in New York yesterday claiming that the movie was based on his script Go November, which he allegedly sent to Grammer "in confidence" in spring 2006.

Defiance stars Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell and Liev Schreiber as three Jewish brothers who flee Nazi-occupied Poland and build a makeshift village alongside Russian resistance fighters.

Dark satire in which the token black man on the executive board of an advertising firm is accidentally put in charge. Renaming the business "Truth and Soul, Inc.", he replaces the tight regime of monied white ad men with his militant brothers. Soon afterwards, however, the power that comes with its position takes its toll on Putney...

Vivendi Entertainment has picked up North American rights to David Zucker's new comedy "An American Carol" and will release it in the fall. Pic tracks a cynical, anti-American filmmaker who sets out on a crusade to abolish the July Fourth holiday. He is visited by three ghosts who try to show him the true meaning of America. Directed, produced and written by Zucker, known as one of the masterminds of the "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun" franchises, the pic is also produced by Mpower's Stephen McEveety and John Shepherd. The cast includes Kevin Farley ("Monk") as the filmmaker, plus Kelsey Grammer,...

On Friday, I believe, a caller to Rush's show suggested some parallels between the current Batman movie and the President, and Rush added a couple of his own. I saw the movie yesterday and viewed it with those observations in the back of my mind. I went to the movie for recreation not as an analyst, so what I have to say here may not be complete and subject to some corrections. I don't think there are any real spoiler's here either; unless the reader has never seen a batman comic or movie. Rush, suggested that the Batman spotlight in...

A 23-year-old father was booked into jail under suspicion of second-degree child abuse after leaving his son in his car while he watched the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight." David Farnham of Salt Lake City left his 2-year-old son inside his car in the parking lot of the Century 16 Theaters at 125 E. 3300 South on Saturday night. An onlooker walking by the car at 1:22 a.m. on Sunday saw the baby inside the vehicle crying and sweating profusely, said detective Gary Keller with the South Salt Lake City Police Department. Farnham rolled the windows up in the...

Movie trailer and ad. Citizens United Productions has a new movie coming out aiming straight at the Messiah. Looks like the right may not stay home this fall after all.

A young filmmaker risks everything, including his life to tell his brothers' story. Often humorous, sometimes lethal, this embedding with four combat units in Iraq, gives him insight into his two soldier brothers, his family, and ultimately into his own character.

BOGOTA, COLUMBIA - THE daring rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages will be made into a movie by a Colombian director, a Hollywood production company and RCN-TV, the television channel said on Sunday. 'They still have to choose a language for the script ... (and) whether the film will be shot in Colombia or France,' an RCN News said in a report. It said the film will be directed by Colombia's Simon Brand and produced 'jointly by a Hollywood production company and under RCN-Cine supervision.' The report did not say when the shooting might start. A former presidential...

There’s some idea out there in the world that Will Smith "owns" the July 4 holiday weekend in terms of box office. I guess this is because of "Independence Day," one of my favorite movies, and "Men in Black," also quite good, released, respectively, in 1996 and 1997 on that weekend. Alas, all good hype must come to an end. "Hancock," with which Sony is hoping to have a merry July 4, 2008, may not duplicate Smith’s previous successes. It is one of the worst family holiday weekend releases of recent memory — and jaw-droppingly so. And that’s hard to...

Can anyone that has seen this movie comment on it. I had an acquaintance recommend it.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: There's a little story here in Madison, Wisconsin. It's by somebody named Michael James Moore: "Why Do Men Hate 'Sex and the City'?" Dawn, have you been to see Sex and the City? Never watched the show, she has no intention of going to see the movie. It did gangbusters out there in its opening weekend. I don't know if Dr. De Cock was in the audience, but it did something like $55 million and chick flicks do not do that well. Most people don't see them. Chicks do. But this attracted all kinds of chicks. This...

“Swing Vote” revolves around a low-life trailer park drunk (Costner) who, by virtue of his young daughter's idealism, becomes responsible for deciding the fate of a closely tied presidential election. Both the incumbent Republican commander-in-chief (Kelsey Grammer) and the milquetoast liberal Democrat challenger (Dennis Hopper) descend on his small town and vie for his vote by shamelessly courting him, even going so far as to change their strongly-held beliefs to align themselves with what they mistakenly believe are his views. A small crowd at an advance screening on the Disney studio lot in Burbank, California this week laughed loudest when...

John Cusack's Imaginary War Profiteers By Steven Zak FrontPageMagazine.com | 6/6/2008 From the safety of his stateside home, actor John Cusack has produced, co-written and stars in a movie, "War, Inc.," deriding firms like Blackwater, whose employees, at great personal risk, provide a service to their country in time of war. Since they make money, he brands them "war profiteers" who deserve to be treated as criminals. In an interview in the Los Angeles Times, Cusack assails corporations that profit during war. "Corporations have privatized the war to the point where the war itself is the cost-plus business," he rants....

STARRING: Jack Black as the dimwitted, confused and chunky Scott McClellan. SCOTT: "I'm not trying to sell a book. I'm trying to tell the truth this time. Pretty much. Just like I always have. Before I had to lie. This time it's all true, though."Bruce Willis as the unflappable and devastatingly adept White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. ARI: "Arafat is the MLK of the palestinian peace movement? Don't make me come down there, Helen. I'd kill you with my bare hands, but I don't want to disrespect the elderly."Kurt Russell as the honorable, dedicated, deeply loyal President George W....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5GkzCroinY Link for movie trailer to "Towelhead".

"No. 1 Sex And The City truly shocked Hollywood pros by opening with a hanging-from-the-chandeliers $26.9 million from 3,285 theaters. The big question now is whether this staggering wanna-see among women for the HBO Films/New Line/Warner Bros female froth sustains through Saturday and Sunday showings so the weekend total can soar past $70M and maybe even $75M."

Broadcast TV finally conveyed “Sex and the City” episodes to a wider public, albeit with a bit of editing here and there. The HBO breakout chick-flickette series gathered garlands and huzzahs, and a few brickbats, thru S&C’s long run on cable. It quickly saturated the post-HBO syndicated broadcast market, and fell short of many assessments by conservative voices. Much more mainstream than you’d have guessed, and far more than I’d guessed until the saturation distribution reached my eyes and ears. And analytical synapses. Now comes a summer release of the awaited feature film, with Big and Carrie rumored to wed....

-- Woman says SATC inspired her to have sex at 14 -- ABC News.com is currently highlighting a Sex and the City- inspired story about a woman who says the HBO series inspired her to start having sex when she was 14. Will the networks news shows pick up the story or will it remain an "internet only" feature, not likely to be seen by a broad audience? The question is worth asking because ABC's Good Morning America was one of the first network morning news shows to salivate over last week's London opening of Sex and the City: The...

VETERAN model Lauren Hutton has attacked Sex And The City's portrayal of promiscuous women and blamed "gay writers" for creating the stereotype that single women are "sluts". While Hutton admitted she had not seen an episode of the hit US TV series, she went on to claim it promoted the untrue myth that it's natural for women to be sexually promiscuous. "It's written by guys, who happen to be gay, who are sluts. That's what I think. Let's face it most men are sluts. "That's what testosterone is supposed to do. As a hunter, if you stayed alive after 30,...

How That 'Sex' Show Loosened Women's Purse Strings By VICKI HYMAN   Sioban Feliciano helps Lauren Moretti try on Christian Louboutin shoes at CoCo Pari in Red Bank, N.J. The shop didn't stock shoes until customers asked for styles seen on the TV hit 'Sex and the City.' (Photo by Mark Dye)     Red Bank, NJ -- Late in the big-screen version of "Sex and the City," the gang is enjoying a round of fruity pink Cosmopolitans, prompting one of them to wonder, "Why did we stop drinking these?" Retorts Carrie: "Because everyone else started."From the cocktail craze to...

In “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan”, Mr. Sandler plays an Israeli assassin who flees to the United States to become a hairdresser. Trailers for the film promise plenty of broad farce, physical comedy and at least one lewd dance routine. What the ad campaign for “Zohan” does not emphasize is that the film also attempts to satirize the continuing tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and provide humorous commentary on one of the least funny topics of modern times with a comedian who is not exactly known for incisive political wit. If you’re already wondering what gives the...

Hal Moore is a real American Hero. Unfortunately I can not post it here. Please check USA Today's editorial section for the story.

He has battled against Nazi villains, a Beduin swordsman and a pit of poisonous snakes. Now Indiana Jones can add the Communist Party of St Petersburg to his list of adversaries. Party leaders accused the actors Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett yesterday of promoting crude, anti-Soviet propaganda in their new film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. They have urged Russian moviegoers to boycott the film and told Ford, 65, not to visit the country. The swashbuckling archaeologist’s fourth adventure is set in the Cold War in 1957. It pits Indiana Jones against a sinister KGB agent,...

Today, at one past midnight, I have seen the latest Indiana Jones movie. Like many among you, I presume, I was a fan of that American raider travelling all over the world to look for treasures. A BIG warning : the latest Indy is absolutely AWFUL. This is the worst thing you can imagine. Actors are nuts, there are so many special effects even when Spielberg said he wouldn't use them, the screeplay is ridiculous. This is a nightmare, and I really encourage fans to boycott it. This is a shame, far away from the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Even...

Walt Disney sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" had no problem reigning over Friday's box office, grossing $19.3 million as it opened in 3,929 theaters. "Caspian's" opening day haul came in slightly lower than industry expectations and behind first Narnia installment, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which pulled in $23 million on its first day and $65.6 million for its final three-day in December 2005. Both pics are co-productions with Walden Media.

HOLLYWOOD seems to have concluded that war movies don't sell. But "Prince Caspian" seems likely to prove the opposite. "Caspian," the new Narnia film from Walden Media based on the CS Lewis classic, is expected to do quite well. The secret: It's not anti-war. Flicks like "Stop-Loss," "Lions for Lambs," "In the Valley of Elah" and "Rendition" have bombed because they're painfully anti-war - and the heavy-handed ideology makes for artistic as well as commercial failure. "Caspian" is a fantasy, of course - but also a war story. Indeed, it's the tale of a just war: Prince Caspian's fight to...

Confirmed reports of the movie Bella so far saving at least 15 mothers and their babies from abortion has spurred its producers to recently launch their bella 10 campaign. The campaign is an unusual, grassroots targeted promotion strategy designed to give individual fans of the movie lots of practical advice and tools to convince 10 people to order a Bella DVD who would in turn convince 10 others to do the same. The campaign asks the rhetorical question, "Can a movie really save a child's life?" to emphasize that by promoting or even giving away purchased copies of the movie...

Army Spc. Shannon Morgan looked around and realized she had been left behind by the Marine squad she was accompanying through a mean Iraqi neighborhood. Alone and surrounded by a hostile crowd, all Morgan had to depend on were her wits and an automatic rifle capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. At that time, Morgan was a Lioness, a female U.S. soldier who goes on missions in Iraq to help diffuse situations involving local women. Her only ally that day was another Lioness on a rooftop who saw Morgan’s predicament and yelled to alert her to the danger....

I know Bobby DeLaughter got removed from the bench, and there was some stuff about him and Trent Lott being connected, but I can't find his political party affiliation. I know he ran for judge once and lost, but he got appointed later on (by a republican) but he was also appointed judge by a democrat. Does anyone know, is his party republican or democrat, and is he a liberal or conservative? Also, when he ran for judge the first time, on whose party line did he run? FWIW, he was play by alex baldwin in the movie "ghosts of...

Stein turns the tables on Darwinists By Chris Weinkopf, Editorial Page Editor THERE'S a great piece of viral satire working its way around the Internet, an ad for Ben Stein's new movie, "Expelled." It's a music video featuring animated representations of prominent atheists rapping about their intellectual superiority over the majority of mankind that still has doubts about Darwinism as an all-purpose, infallible explanation for everything. The video is funny, but nowhere near as funny as some of the crusading atheists' responses to it. At the Web site of celebrity God-hater Richard Dawkins, both host and acolytes spent more than...

Just noticed that 'Wire in the Blood' returns to BBCA tonight, Sun, at 8 pn EDT and encored at `11 pm EDT. Checked next Sun, also appears to be a new episode, so perhaps it's a whole season, aired on Sun nights, instead of the old Mon sched.

Astronomers have captured the first footage of a solar "tsunami" hurtling through the Sun's atmosphere at over a million kilometres per hour. The event was captured by Nasa's twin Stereo spacecraft designed to make 3D images of our parent star. Naturally, this type of tsunami does not involve water; instead, it is a wave of pressure that travels across the Sun very fast. Details were reported at the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast. In a solar tsunami, a huge explosion near the Sun, such as a coronal mass ejection or flare, causes a pressure pulse to propagate outwards in...