Free Republic

Venice (AFP) - Nobody is ever going to call Paul Schrader's "First Reformed" a feel-good movie, and the legendary screenwriter and director is fine with that. "If you are hopeful about humanity and the planet you are not paying attention," Schrader said Thursday as he presented his latest writing and directing project at the Venice film festival. The film turns around the uncheery theme of impending environmental apocalypse and the question of whether Christians could or should have done more to prevent it. "I don't see humanity outliving the century," Schrader told reporters after the drama, which stars Ethan Hawke,...

The letters have already started arriving in the mail boxes of 190 leaders of nations, rebellions and warring factions. Each one bears a South Portland postmark. The letters make a simple request: Put an end to war for one 24-hour period, from midnight to midnight on Aug. 22, 2004. No guns. No tanks. No killing. The "Just 1 Day" campaign is the idea of Kevin Malcom, a 45-year-old auto-parts clerk with a vision: A single day of peace that would show the world that it is possible, here and now. He's been called naive and unrealistic, but he says he...