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I ought to know not to judge a flick by its trailer. It’s the cheap pick-up line, the carnival barker, the radio hit that makes you think the whole album is pop schlock. And so, when I saw the trailer for “In Her Shoes,” starring Toni Collette, Shirley McLaine and Cameron Diaz–a daffy, bouncy Diaz,…

The one movie I have been anxiously waiting to see all summer long is the limited-release romantic drama-posing-as-a-musical, “Once.” Critics have been heaping praise on it, and now I can understand why. What seems like a very simple, formulaic tale–boy meets girl, boy and girl can’t be together because they are from different worlds, boy…

There are two kinds of reality shows: One where the contestants have to have some kind of talent or skill (“Top Chef,” “Project Runway,” “American Idol”), and one where participants are just chosen based on looks or personality (“The Real World,” “America’s Next Top Model”). CBS’s “Big Brother” is obviously in the latter category. This…

Here at Beliefnet, everyone loves angels. We even have an entire section of the site devoted to them. I think angels are great and all, but as with anything, sometimes you just want to get away from the stuff that you work with all day long. I’m sure at the end of the day bakers…

This may be a banner summer for Hollywood at the box office, but a movie milestone of a different kind was reached last month for the evangelical association Campus Crusade, International. Their cinematic adaptation of the Gospel of Luke, titled “The Jesus Project,” has now been translated into 1,000 languages–and that makes it the most…

Christian rock insiders have found a lot to criticize about the second volume of Third Day’s retrospective, “Chronology”—it omits some of the southern rockers’ hits in favor of covers and to some, comes off more adult contemporary that Christian Skynard. But in many ways Volume Two perfectly sums up this group that takes its rock,…

Sometimes I leave a movie theater and feel an overwhelming desire to write an actor, actress, or even the writer a love letter of sorts. It doesn’t happen often–I’m not one who cares much for celebrity. But I felt this after seeing “Waitress” earlier this summer: I wanted to thank Keri Russell for playing the…

Remember a few weeks ago when I was waxing poetic about how art is supposed to provoke, as well as inspire? Well, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the 60-year-old mother of all other fringe theater festivals, is providing plenty of provocation in the guise of “Jihad: The Musical.” The story of a young Afghan who aims…

Mark Oppenheimer, writing in The Washington Post, suggests Germany’s ban on Scientologists (including Tom Cruise) is an overreaction, and one we’re all a little guilty of. He says it’s Scientology’s similarities to mainstream religion that embarrasses us, not it’s strangeness. Oppenheimer points out that, on inspection, Scientology’s practices are no weirder than more common faith.…

Ever since I heard Common‘s “Retrospect for Life,” a track off his 1997 release “One Day It’ll All Make Sense,” where he ruminates on the mistakes he made as a premature father, I fell in love. I loved his ability to bring introspective thought to music that was all about gang-banging. He was an envelope-pusher,…
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