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"Fox News journalist Chris Wallace on Monday evening defended President Bush against criticism by Hollywood filmmaker Ron Howard that the president has abused his office in a way similar to President Richard Nixon..."

I knew 'Opie" was a naive little kid, but I thought Andy was the wise one! Say it ain't so, Andy?? From the Yahoo! Newsroom, October 23, 2008Celebs go to great lengths for Obama excerpt: Luckily for Obama, some celebrities are taking extreme measures to show their support for him. It's no surprise to see celebrities lining up for the Democratic ticket, but these stars are going above and beyond the normal call of duty. First up, we have director Ron Howard resurrecting not one, but two, classic roles that he admits he'd rather leave behind: Opie Taylor from...

“Ron Howard wants to talk about the election. So does Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler.”

Ron Howard wants to talk about the election. So does Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler.

In a video posted Thursday on Funnyordie.com, the actor-turned-director reprises his role on "The Andy Griffith Show" as a way to rally support for Barack Obama. While speaking into the camera, Howard has his beard shaved, dons a youthful red wig and puts on the kind of outfit he would have only worn as Opie Taylor in the `60s.

Ron Howard, the director of the film version of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, reports that Vatican officials made it difficult to complete work on a 'prequel,' Angels and Demons, discouraging cooperation by churches and public officials in Rome. A Vatican spokesman does not deny the charge. "Usually we read the script," says Father Marco Fibbi, "but in this case it wasn't necessary. Just the name Dan Brown was enough."

CNN, following in the footsteps of ABCNews.com’s overblown take on the subject, couldn’t help but to insert snotty language into its report on the Catholic Diocese of Rome’s denial to the filming of the movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s "Angels and Demons." CNN international correspondent Jennifer Eccleston, closing her report on Thursday’s "American Morning," labeled the Church’s refusal, based on "The Da Vinci Code" book and movie’s bashing of the Catholic faith, "a big problem in Rome, where some sins are just too grave to be forgiven -- even if they're for art's sake." "Sins" that are "just too grave...

A movie adaptation of Dan Brown’s book, Angels and Demons, is now in production; it is the prequel to the film, “The Da Vinci Code.” There are reports today that the Vatican has banned those associated with “Angels and Demons” from shooting in Catholic churches in Rome or in the Vatican itself. This is important because there are scenes in the movie that are supposed to take place in the Vatican and in two churches in Rome. “Angels and Demons” stars Tom Hanks in his role as Robert Langdon, the symbologist. This time he is trying to unravel a plot...

The History of a Nationwide Protest Against The Da Vinci CodeSumming it up: Rallies Take Sony to Task for The Da Vinci CodeA Time for Action—The Da Vinci Code RejectedFor all the Stories Telling the History of this Campaign, Click here  Where We Protested:Click the map below for a state-by-state look at the protest effort See the Protest Pictures   Click here for Photo Gallery Read the Blog of the CampaignClick The Da Vinci Code banner below for a two-week day-by-day account of the campaign's most intense days. Da Vinci Code Chronicle: Get the Arguments Against The Da Vinci...

Dan Brown’s bestseller fiction novel, The Da Vinci Code, suggests Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife, the mother of Jesus’ offspring, the real Holy Grail and the person meant to lead the church. The book conjectures that just about everything taught about Christ today is a lie, and the truth has been secretly kept from the world because the Bible Gospels promoting the deity of Christ were written in antiquity to hide and cover up the truth. The story casts sinister and wicked shadows on the Roman Catholic Church by implying it murdered to keep the secret about Jesus concealed. Ron...

One reason for The Da Vinci Code’s success it that the Catholic Church has made itself a vulnerable target over the last few years, according to Patrick Madrid. Mr. Madrid, who will speak in Toledo on Wednesday night, is an apologist whose role is to defend and explain Catholicism. He said in an interview this week that the church is still reeling from the “two black eyes” it suffered starting in 2002. “First there was the priest scandal, and then the inept handling by bishops. I think the Catholic Church has gotten itself into such a mess, such a public...

THE DA VINCI CODE - BLASPHEMY HITS THE BIG SCREEN By Don Feder Posted May 19, 2006 The Da Vinci Code -- which opened today -- might be subtitled "Religion for Morons" or "Gnosticism Meets The New Age." It's fantasy posing as reality. The Sony Pictures film is blasphemous, defames the Catholic Church, and promotes neo-pagan Goddess worship. I find it offensive, and I'm not even a Christian. Director Ron Howard (who specializes in visual candy) assures us that Opie's opus will be true to the novel - a pretentious, overwritten piece of trash that makes Bridget Jones's Diary look...

OK, people, the early reviews could have been a little better, so Dan stepped in to do some rewrites, and he and I have come up with some minor tweaks.

A leading Catholic activist is telling Christians their worries, building for months, over yesterday's release of "The Da Vinci Code," have been wasted on an "inane," "slumbering," "anti-climatic" movie that "fails to persuade" and flounders more on its poor quality than its anti-Catholic theology. Bill Donohue "This was one of the most inane films I have ever seen," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, after viewing the movie on opening day. "It takes forever to get going, and even when it finally does, it fails to sustain the momentum," he said. "Indeed,...

MOVIEGOERS in Manila may have to go to neighboring cities to watch “The Da Vinci Code” after the city council yesterday passed a resolution prohibiting the showing of the controversial movie. The resolution said the movie, which was based on US author Dan Brown’s explosive novel, “is undoubtedly offensive and contrary to established religious beliefs which cannot take precedence over the right of the persons involved in the film to freedom of expression.” The resolution, which was passed just hours before cinemas in Manila and other parts of the metropolis began showing the movie, cited a provision in the Revised...

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Most critics panned "The Da Vinci Code" on Wednesday ahead of the world premiere of the year's most eagerly awaited movie. Kicking off the annual Cannes film festival, Ron Howard's adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller was described variously as "grim," "unwieldy" and "plodding," though one reviewer bucked the trend and said "You'll Louvre It!" The cool reception was temporarily forgotten at a glitzy opening ceremony, where screen legend Sidney Poitier and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai joined Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks and the normally publicity-shy Brown on the red carpet. Even before its general...

While promoters of "The Da Vinci Code" have tried to downplay the film's challenge to Christianity, actor Ian McKellen took a shot at the Bible in an interview with the "Today" show, saying Scripture should carry a disclaimer that it is "fiction." McKellen, who played Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" triology, was responding to a question from host Matt Lauer about the requests by some Christian groups to insert a "fiction" disclaimer at the beginning of the controversial film, which suggests Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife and that the divinity of Jesus was an invention...

Apparently, the reviews of Tom Hanks latest movie have been less than kind. Maybe his new look is behind it all...

by Mark Finkelstein May 17, 2006 If the Da Vinci Code was already feeding the flames of controversy with its challenge to the basic tenets of Christianity, actor Ian McKellen managed to throw a refinery tank's worth of gasoline on the fire on this morning's Today show, asserting that the Bible should carry a disclaimer saying that it is "fiction." Matt Lauer, on his second day "On The Road With The Code," was in Cannes for the film festival, where the Code will have its debut. It has already been screened to some critics, who have given it decidedly mixed...

“The Da Vinci Code” has undermined faith in the Roman Catholic Church and badly damaged its credibility, a survey of British readers revealed Tuesday as tensions over — and hype for — the forthcoming film reached a fever pitch. As its stars off headed to walk the red carpet at Cannes, where the film was set to debut Wednesday before a worldwide release Friday, at least two countries limited the film's release. The British survey, released by a group of prominent Catholics, revealed that readers of Dan Brown's blockbuster novel are twice as likely to believe Jesus Christ fathered children...

by Mark Finkelstein May 16, 2006 Let's be clear: the Da Vinci Code portrays Christianity as a fraud and the Roman Catholic Church as a murderous conspiracy. As Archbishop Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican doctrinal office which was headed by Pope Benedict until his election last year recently stated, if "such lies and errors had been directed at the Koran or the Holocaust they would have justly provoked a world uprising." Yet the Today show has decided to offer the movie, scheduled for release this week, untold millions in free advertising by devoting hours of, um,...

"Catholics Are Victims of an Offense" ROME, MAY 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The press office of the Opus Dei Prelature sent this statement to ZENIT on Friday in response to comments by the director of the soon-to-be-released film "The Da Vinci Code." * * * On Thursday the Italian press published interviews with Ron Howard, director of "The Da Vinci Code" film. In statements attributed to him, Howard said that "to deny the right to see the film is a fascist act," and also "to tell someone not to go see the film is an act of militancy and militancy generates...

"Da Vinci Code” director Ron Howard has said there would be no disclaimer in the film labeling it as a work of fiction – and Catholic League President Bill Donohue is deeply disturbed by Howard’s stance. "The book which the film is based on begins with three ‘facts,’ all of which are malicious lies, yet Ron Howard says no disclaimer is needed because ‘this is a work of fiction,’” Donahue said in a statement. "He is disingenuous.” As Donahue points out, the following got a disclaimer in a fictionalized TV show or film: Asians: "Year of the Dragon” Blacks: "Birth...

The Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard has rejected demands by Opus Dei to attach a disclaimer to his would-be blockbuster labeling the film as a work of fiction, spurring a rebuke from the religious sect. "It's not theology. It's not history. To start off with a disclaimer...Spy thrillers don't start off with disclaimers," Howard told the Los Angeles Times in Sunday's edition. ... "It's very controversial," Howard said. "What Dan Brown did with the novel, we didn't back away from in making the movie. I think what a lot of people have discovered--a lot of theologians--is this is a...

Introduction There is little doubt that the Da Vinci Code has hit a cultural nerve. It has been on the best seller list in the USA for two years, it also has hit equal heights in various countries overseas. Sales estimates run at forty-three million, while reader estimates reach as high as one hundred million. And a major movie by Ron Howard with Tom Hanks in a lead role is on the way in May. The novel's combination of mystery, history, conspiracy and the use of romantic locations and figures have made it a popular piece of fiction. Its plot...

This is satire. If you have a problem with satire, STOP READING NOW. If you have a problem with literacy, i.e. you can't read, I'd tell you to STOP READING NOW but I doubt you'd understand me. ============================ Dear Theological Duo: As both a big Jesus fan and Tom Hanks fan, I can?t decide whether to see The Da Vinci Code or not. Can you give me a good theological argument for boycotting this film? --- Jim Wainscott, Tempe, AZMaurice: I hear you, Jimbo. You can hardly go wrong with a Tom Hanks movie, even when it's questioning the validity...

Oscar winning director and star of ‘Happy Days’ Ron Howard is to make a film set in a warring Iraq. According to the BBC, Howard is planning to direct the new film ‘Last Man Home’ about a soldier lost in Iraq. The film will kick off days before the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003 while the soldier in question was lost in the first Gulf War in 1990. Sam Mendes recent film ‘Jarhead’ was also set against a back drop of the first Gulf War.

Washington DC, Mar. 10, 2006 (CNA) - In an attempt to clear up any confusion about Jesus and Christianity that might emerge with the theatre release of The Da Vinci Code, the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign has made available key resources with accurate information about Jesus and the Church.The documentary “Jesus Decoded” presents authentic Catholic teaching about Jesus Christ. It will be available to NBC-TV stations for broadcast starting the third weekend of May. The film, produced by NewGroup Media, offers a solid Catholic response to “Da Vinci Code believers,” concentrating especially on the first three centuries of the...

ENCINITAS, Calif., Mar. 9 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Da Vinci Outreach, a national initiative to expose the anti-Catholic lies in the upcoming movie The Da Vinci Code, is joining the request made by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights for director Ron Howard to clearly state that his film is a work of fiction. This week, the Catholic League ran an ad in the New York Times (http://www.catholicleague.org/linked%20docs/Da_Vinci_ad.htm) calling on Ron Howard to have the decency to do what Dan Brown, author of the novel, did not do: declare up front and in no uncertain terms that the...

Filmmaker Ron Howard says that the upcoming movie based on Dan Brown's mega-hit novel "The Da Vinci Code" will not soften the story's more controversial elements. There will be "no placating," he tells Newsweek in its annual "Who's Next" double issue, which names the up-and-comers in politics, business, science, sports and the arts that will make headlines in 2006. "It would be ludicrous to take on this subject and then try to take the edges off. We're doing this movie because we like the book," he says. Since "The Da Vinci Code" was published in 2003, the book has become...

As soon as Tom Hanks wraps up shooting on his role in The Da Vinci Code, he will play "as real-life (and rather controversial) Texas congressman Charlie Wilson in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing). It's based on the true story of a womanising politician who ran one of the largest-ever CIA operations. "Hanks will play a congressman whose penchant for booze and women earned him the nickname Good Time Charlie. He watched his political career almost go down the drain in the early 1980s when he was caught in a hot tub tryst with two...

In Hollywood, as the old adage goes, bad books often make great movies. In fact, the pulpier the fiction, the better the final result (think "The Bourne Identity" or "The Bridgesof Madison County"), because then the movie adapters feel no qualms about making significant improvements. So it'll be fascinating to see how closely the team behind the 1995 smash "Apollo 13" - star Tom Hanks, director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer - will hew to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," which started production in Paris on Wednesday. The phenomenally popular novel has remained on the U.S. best-seller list for...

1. Russell Crowe Triumphs in "Cinderella Man" In "Cinderella Man" (opening Friday, June 3rd), Russell Crowe once again proves that old-fashioned masculinity does not have to be completely absent from the movies. Directed by Ron Howard, "Cinderella Man" tells the uplifting, real-life story of Jim Braddock, the Depression-era boxer who rose from poverty and the soup lines to become heavyweight champion of the world. The movie has excellent moral values, and Russell Crowe (Jim Braddock), Renee Zellweger (his wife Mae Braddock), and Paul Giamatti (his manager Joe Gould) all do a fine job portraying the 30s-era characters with conviction and...

Happy Days

Tom Hanks has been pegged to play the lead role in Sony's upcoming film "The Da Vinci Code," the adaptation of author Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, Newsweek has learned. Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the duo who helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy "Splash" and rehired him 11 years later for "Apollo 13," cast Hanks as the globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon, a decision based partially on the cerebral (riddle-solving, code-cracking) nature of the action in "Da Vinci," Newsweek reports in its Nov. 22 issue (on newsstands Monday, Nov. 15). "Tom is an exciting actor to...

In the fall of 2001 when the dust and ash from the World Trade Center were still in the air, Jim Whitaker, a documentary filmmaker, decided to photograph everything happening at ground zero. By the spring of 2002 three cameras were pointed at the pit, each taking one shot every five minutes, round the clock. Months later, three more cameras were added. That was the beginning of Project Rebirth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a historical record of the rebuilding. Today www.projectrebirth.org, a Web site produced with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and AOL , opens for public viewing....

<p>There were lots of wistful moments when CBS celebrated its 75th anniversary recently, but none more nostalgic than when Andy Griffith came on stage.</p> <p>"The Andy Griffith Show" has been showing in continuous reruns since it first appeared 43 years ago.</p>

As reported by Fox News, director Ron Howard is backing out of filming a new movie about the Alamo, clearly one of the seminal moments in American history and the settling of the west. According to reporter Roger Friedman, Disney balked at being involved in a project that would garner anything above a PG rating--effectively informing Howard that they wanted to tone down the violence--a problem given that the story of the Alamo is an inherantly violent one of military siege in which the Americans were greatly outnumbered and were eventually massacred by their attackers. "I wanted to do a...

NEW YORK (Variety) - Director Ron Howard will not lead the charge on "The Alamo," because Disney is taking too long to get the prestige project into production. Howard, off his Oscar win for "A Beautiful Mind," has begun concentrating on other film projects for his followup. However he and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer may well continue as producers of the period Western. The studio has already begun seeking a new director in hopes of keeping a late-year start date in place, as well as a cast that was to include Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke. Howard never...

March 25, 2002 | After the reality check of Sept. 11 and its sobering aftermath, many people looked at the glitterati of Hollywood and said, "Can you explain why the f*** any of us ever thought YOU were so important?" Well, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to have mulled this question over, and this year it gave us the We're Justifying Our Existence Oscars. I never questioned the Oscars before, but this year just the fact of them made me uneasy. Year round, we as a nation are already supposed to live vicariously through this rather...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Directors Guild of America handed former child TV star Ron Howard its award for best film director of 2001 for the psychological drama quot;A Beautiful Mindquot; as the countdown to Hollywood's highest film honors, the Oscars (news - web sites), continued here on Saturday. With two weeks to go ahead of the Oscars, which will be given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (news - web sites) on March 24, Howard nabbed the best director award from the directors guild, which establishes him as the front-runner to nab the Oscar for...