Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.

Last weekend was a big one for faith-based films — both of which received a lot of attention from this blog.  Here are the results: 

For Greater Glory, the epic story of a fight for religious liberty in 1920’s-era Mexico, pulled in an impressive $1.8 million on only 757 screens. That was good enough to crack the box office top ten — if barely. The movie (starring Andy Garcia) came in #10 overall but was #5 in terms of per-screen averages.

I gave the film a strong recommendation for adults, while noting that viewers should be aware that the violence of one scene in particular (involving a martyred boy) is difficult to watch.  A complete list of theaters showing the film this weekend  – and links for advance ticket purchases online through Fandango, MovieFone and MovieTickets.com – are available at the film’s official website.

Besides your humble blogger, the movie has also caught the attention of Rush Limbaugh. Here’s what he had to say about the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z1LgY83nIDM

Much further down on the list (at #42) was the skateboarding-themed Hardflip which I also liked.  While 42nd place may not sound like a hit, it’s fair to note that the movie showed on only 22 theater screens. It also had a per-screen average of $2,267 which is actually fairly respectable and within spitting distance of Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator (#4) which, of course, received far more mainstream media publicity.

Like For Greater Glory, Hardflip has the support of Movie to Movement, Jason Jones’ organization set up to help audiences support positive, faith-based movies.

For the record, last week’s top-three box office films were Snow White and the Huntsman, Men in Black 3 and The Avengers. The latter film, BTW,  which now (in only its 5th week) is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, is remarkably pro faith.

Consider the dialogue, particularly between Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) character and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) as the pair confront their evil opposition:

Romanoff: They’re basically gods.

Rogers: Ma’am, there’s only one God, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY9DnBNJFTI

To checkout last weekend’s complete box-office results click here.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11