Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.
Ark of triumph? Darren Aronofsky’s Noah movie will finally set sail at the box office on March 28th. While the movie is proving a hard sell for some believers who suspect it will take unacceptable liberties with the actual Bible story (in favor of ultra-PC environmentalism), John Snowden (unrelated to Edward) says they should actually embrace the film. The Biblical scholar who consulted on the film says the film actually sticks closer to the Good Book’s account of event than many seem to imagine. In fact, elsewhere on Beliefnet, he offers ten reasons why the faithful should embrace the film.
I’m not a Bible scholar and have not yet seen the film, so what the heck do I know? One thing that does seem clear, however, is that Aronofsky’s crew put a lot of work and care has gone into the construction of that boat.
Good Lenten habits. We’re in the midst of the very first National Catholic Sisters Week and what better present for the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles could there be than to have their third album, Lent at Ephesus, continue to hold steady at the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Classical Traditional Music Chart for the third consecutive week? What’s more, Angels at Ephesus, the sisters’ second album, is still thriving on the Billboard charts — earning the No. 2 spot on the magazine’s Classical Traditional Music Chart, the No. 8 spot on the Contemporary Christian Chart and the No. 10 spot on the Christian Gospel Chart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPgVRZeEvYNational Catholic Sisters Week, which launched March 8 at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minn., as part of Women’s History Month, recognizes sisters nationwide who have served faithfully as part of American history.
Christmas plans. Finally, production has begun this week outside of Vancouver, Canada on Christmas Tree Farm, an UP Original Movie starring Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, Mean Girls) as a daughter who returns home to save her family’s generations-old Christmas tree farm. The film is being executive produced by Front Street Pictures’ Harvey Kahn (UP’s Far From Home). David Winning (UP’s The Town That Came A-Courtin’) directs the film from a script by Michael J. Murray (The Wishing Tree, Michael Jordan: An American Hero). Christmas Tree Farm will premiere on UP in December 2014.
Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11