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Harry Potter, Transformers, and GI Joe may have dominated theaters this summer, but a number of interesting indie films have cropped up recently on DVD. Over at Past the Popcorn, Greg Wright interviews a trio of indie Christian filmmakers who have produced noteworthy films of late.

Each of the three filmmakers takes a very different approach to the art; it’s fascinating to read their thoughts on the various challenges inherent in creating art as a Christian. Should a Christian film be family-friendly? What additional pressures come into being when your art is being funded and supported by a church? Do moviegoers have misplaced expectations about Christian films? All good questions, and if you’ve ever grappled with the intersection of faith and art, it’s a conversation worth following.

Did you watch the Watchmen earlier this year? The much-discussed film version of Alan Moore’s graphic novel came out on DVD recently. As is the case with many new releases, the filmmakers took advantage of the DVD format to release a longer “director’s cut” version of the film. Over at Past the Popcorn, film critic Greg Wright reviews the Watchmen director’s cut.

We haven’t given a shout-out to Past the Popcorn recently, but they continue to host solid discussions of movies and the people who make them. Their extensive interview with the screenwriter of Knowing digs into the spiritual symbolism in that Alex Proyas film; and they keep a close critical eye on new DVD releases as well.

A report that 170 Christian leaders and pastors recently viewed the Jesus Film in their mother tongue is already a noteworthy event, but what makes this story even better is that this was the first time any of those leaders had ever seen any movie in their own language. Read Clark Farley’s story about his recent missions trip to Nicaragua on the Jesus Film blog:

“… Back in January, at the very last minute, we contacted you about getting a copy of the “JESUS” film in the Miskito language. We were headed to the [Mosquito Coast] on the east coast of Nicaragua with a group of physicians and dentists and helpers to put on medical clinics and evangelical activities. … it was an unbelievable blessing to the native Indian population of Nicaragua. We held a pastors’ seminar for four days in Puerto Cabezas. We invited 100 pastors, and 170 showed up. Some traveled for over two days down the Rio Coco. Two came all the way from Honduras. These pastors were starved for some training. But the “JESUS” film in their native language was, by far, the hit of the conference. These men and women had never seen ANY movie in their native tongue. They watched the “JESUS” film with their mouths open. They did not move till it was over. We selected a pastor who had traveled the farthest, and we gave him a copy of the film and a Sony portable DVD player so he could take the film back to his village in the jungle. I just want to thank you for all you do. You are truly a wonderful blessing to this world.”

You can watch the film in the Miskito language, or watch it in the language of your choice here.

(HT: Mission Network News)

Christianity Today’s added a new blog to their growing blog community! The new Christianity Today Movies blog is authored by CT editor Mark Moring and film blogger Peter Chattaway (of FilmChatBlog, one of the staples of my daily blog reading), and seems an excellent companion to the film discussions that CT has hosted over the years.

If you haven’t checked in at CT lately, they’ve been expanding their blog presence quite a bit over the last several months. In addition to their established Out of Ur blog, they added a Politics blog last year to cover the 2008 election cycle (among other things) and more recently a Christian History blog. They’ve got some solid Christian writers driving the blogs—well worth adding to your list of daily reads.

Next month is the 2009 Academy Awards ceremony, when the best films and performances of 2008 will be chosen and honored. While the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does the actual voting, that hasn’t stopped every film geek and blogger in the world from weighing in with their opinions. Here are a few Christian film critics with some interesting thoughts on the nominated films. How do their opinions match with your own?

• First, what films have been nominated? Hollywood Jesus helpfully lists all of the nominations. Elsewhere on the HJ site, critics Tim Berroth and Darrel Manson share their picks for the best films of 2008.
• Jeff Walls and Greg Wright from the Past the Popcorn crew weigh in with their own lists as well.
• Film critic Peter Chattaway’s thoughts on the Academy’s list of nominees.
• Jeffrey Overstreet of Looking Closer doesn’t think much of this year’s nominations, and proposes something different for Oscar night.

Enjoy the Oscars tonight (or not), and browse around these critics’ websites to see what else they’ve got to say about faith and film.

Image by flickr user Anne Siegel.

Note: this post originally mis-stated the date of the Oscars ceremony. The correct date is February 22.

Your best bet for family entertainment on DVD this week is a collection of Big Idea’s new made-for-TV episodes of 3-2-1 Penguins! The collection is titled Save the Planets! and features three of the most recent episodes aired on NBC and Qubo. Says Greg Wright, “If you’re a fan… have no fear. If anything, the pace is quicker, the jokes come faster, and the laughs follow right behind. Honestly, this is some of the funniest stuff I’ve seen on DVD in a long, long time.”

Also new on DVD this week:

• The Genius Club
• Reprise
• The Promotion
• Then She Found Me
• Married Life
• Outsourced
• Hidden Secrets

Visit the DVD releases page at Past the Popcorn for details on these and other titles.

Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

Hollywood must know what its doing. We have a long holiday weekend coming up, which would sure seem like a good bet for boffo boxoffice; but ticket sales are as low right now as they’ve been all summer. So maybe it makes sense that the studios haven’t given us anything to get excited about this weekend.

(more…)

If you hear the name “Gil Cates” and think it sounds familiar, it’s probably because Gil Cates, Sr. has produced the Academy Awards umpteen times over the last couple of decades. He was also the dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television from 1990 to 1997, and is the Artistic Director of UCLA’s Geffen Playhouse. He’s the uncle of actress Phoebe Cates… and he’s the father of director Gil Cates, Jr.

Cates, Jr. has been producing and directing his own films for nearly a decade now, and his latest film—Deal, set in the world of high-stakes televised poker and co-starring Hollywood legends Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning—was just released on DVD this week after a disappointing limited release in theaters earlier this year.

Past the Popcorn Managing Editor Greg Wright talks with Cates about studios, critics, and the “narcotic” effect of filmmaking.

Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

The gloves appear to be off as the studios dump the last of their summer fare on us at the tail end of August.

The lone bright spot in wide release is, somewhat surprisingly, an adult-oriented Hitchcockian thriller starring Woody Harrelson. Jeff Walls calls Transsiberian “a terrific thriller. Anderson and co-screenwriter Will Conroy kept me on my toes and I was never quite sure where the film was taking me next. The snow-covered, barren landscape is photographed beautifully, reminding me a bit of Fargo“—as does the rating. Even the best film this week is rated R. (more…)

Each week, Past the Popcorn offers a thorough look at the latest round of films opening on big screens.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, says Mike Smith, is the rare beast: a sequel that improves on the original. The secret? More mature actors, he says… and a director that really gets the material. “Call me sexist,” Smith writes, “but Sanaa Hamni gets the chicks. Sorry, Mr. Kwapis—you’re a guy (like me), which pretty much prevents us from really ‘getting’ the psyche of the target audience convincingly. The original enjoyed some success, but I expect the sequel will outdo the first—it is simply the better film.”

Meanwhile, three of this week’s releases begin with the letter B. (more…)