Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Things to Do in L.A. when your right hand is wrapped up
Jean-Luc Picard. You command your ship with an
iron fist and the children love you. Bah!!!
Humbug!! KIDS!!! >_<
Which Star Trek Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Thursday, February 23, 2006
ugh....vicodin, pj's and the olympics
that just about covers my life since monday. i had surgery on my hand - my b-day too! - and now have only left hand capsability. which jmeans no caps.
i have learned that vicodin makes me itch...and also that marlena's ex-husbands never really die, they just get played by other actors...i've also picked up a real thing for curling...but i'm hoping that'd just the drugs.
ugh...yhat was exhaudting.
bandages off next wednedsay. not much till then.
God bless -
i have learned that vicodin makes me itch...and also that marlena's ex-husbands never really die, they just get played by other actors...i've also picked up a real thing for curling...but i'm hoping that'd just the drugs.
ugh...yhat was exhaudting.
bandages off next wednedsay. not much till then.
God bless -
Saturday, February 18, 2006
See Barb in MI
[Note from Barb: My talk is from 12:50pm - 1:30pm. I am talking on the Church and the arts. Then, I'm on some kind of panel.]
Holy Trinity Apostolate presents,
A One-Day Lenten Symposium - "God Is Love"
March 4, 2006, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Sts. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church
41223 Ryan Rd.
Sterling Heights, MI, 48314
9.00 am Mass: celebrated by The Most Reverend John M. Quinn
Speakers: Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk; Fr. Francis Mary Stone, MFVA; Barbara R. Nicolosi; Fr. Pablo Straub, CSSR; Fr. Val Rykowski; Teresa Tomeo
Registration fee: $38/person, $15/student (includes lunch), no refunds; Download registration forms here.
Send check no later than 3/1/06 payable to Holy Trinity Apostolate, P.O. Box 7095, Sterling Heights, MI 48311-7095
Contacts: Pat (586) 264-3789, Shirley (313) 277-8905, Alma (248) 689-2843; info1@holytrinityapostolate.com
Holy Trinity Apostolate presents,
A One-Day Lenten Symposium - "God Is Love"
March 4, 2006, 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Sts. Cyril & Methodius Slovak Catholic Church
41223 Ryan Rd.
Sterling Heights, MI, 48314
9.00 am Mass: celebrated by The Most Reverend John M. Quinn
Speakers: Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk; Fr. Francis Mary Stone, MFVA; Barbara R. Nicolosi; Fr. Pablo Straub, CSSR; Fr. Val Rykowski; Teresa Tomeo
Registration fee: $38/person, $15/student (includes lunch), no refunds; Download registration forms here.
Send check no later than 3/1/06 payable to Holy Trinity Apostolate, P.O. Box 7095, Sterling Heights, MI 48311-7095
Contacts: Pat (586) 264-3789, Shirley (313) 277-8905, Alma (248) 689-2843; info1@holytrinityapostolate.com
Sunday, February 12, 2006
ACT ONE Screenwriting Weekend - New York City!
ACT ONE SCREENWRITING WEEKEND - NEW YORK CITY
March 31-April 1, 2006
Presented by Act One, Inc., Lamb's Theatre, and Manhattan Initiative
Act One Screenwriting Weekends are two-day workshops on writing for mainstream TV and film.
* 11 hours of instruction over two days
* Taught by Hollywood pros from the Act One faculty. (See below.)
* Covers the craft and business of writing for mainstream film and TV, as well as spiritual and ethical issues writers face
* An intensive, condensed version of the Summer Program curriculum
* Perfect for beginners and intermediates; great review for pros
Our instructors are faculty members of the prestigious Act One: Writing for Hollywood screenwriter training program. They bring the experience and know-how of Hollywood insiders and the unique perspective of Christians who work in the world's entertainment capital.
Learn how to choose the right story and why Christians often fail to tell their stories effectively. Master industry-standard script format and explore the power of TV and film to shape audience attitudes and speak powerfully to the human heart. Find out if a Hollywood career could be right for you.
WHEN:
March 31-April 1, 2006
Friday, 7:00 - 10:00 pm
Saturday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
WHERE:
Lamb's Theatre (Times Square)
130 W 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
INSTRUCTORS:
THOM PARHAM
SHERYL ANDERSON
COST:
$175
(Includes Saturday breakfast and lunch)
REGISTER: https://my.updateu.com/registration/register.asp?intOrgID=9286&intEventID=1820005&intOccID=45000206&
March 31-April 1, 2006
Presented by Act One, Inc., Lamb's Theatre, and Manhattan Initiative
Act One Screenwriting Weekends are two-day workshops on writing for mainstream TV and film.
* 11 hours of instruction over two days
* Taught by Hollywood pros from the Act One faculty. (See below.)
* Covers the craft and business of writing for mainstream film and TV, as well as spiritual and ethical issues writers face
* An intensive, condensed version of the Summer Program curriculum
* Perfect for beginners and intermediates; great review for pros
Our instructors are faculty members of the prestigious Act One: Writing for Hollywood screenwriter training program. They bring the experience and know-how of Hollywood insiders and the unique perspective of Christians who work in the world's entertainment capital.
Learn how to choose the right story and why Christians often fail to tell their stories effectively. Master industry-standard script format and explore the power of TV and film to shape audience attitudes and speak powerfully to the human heart. Find out if a Hollywood career could be right for you.
WHEN:
March 31-April 1, 2006
Friday, 7:00 - 10:00 pm
Saturday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
WHERE:
Lamb's Theatre (Times Square)
130 W 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
INSTRUCTORS:
THOM PARHAM
SHERYL ANDERSON
COST:
$175
(Includes Saturday breakfast and lunch)
REGISTER: https://my.updateu.com/registration/register.asp?intOrgID=9286&intEventID=1820005&intOccID=45000206&
"Well, if it was a cartoon, THAT would be different!"
"[There will be] no placating. "It would be ludicrous to take on this subject and then try to take the edges off. We're doing this movie because we like the book." (Director Ron Howard on whether any consideration was given to Christian sensibilities in the making of The Da Vinci Code. From MTV.com)
Saturday, February 11, 2006
MAY 19 - Every Christian Goes to the Movies!
I just read a ludicrous statement by some Christian pastor, calling for all Christians to go to see The Da Vinci Code when it opens. His statement was something to the effect of "Every Christian needs to see this film!" I beg to differ.
No. We don't need to see this film. We all know what is in it. (Especially me, as I have read the screenplay.) It is a movie which begins from the point that Jesus was a fraud. He was not only not Divine, he was less than a man, who didn't die and rise to save humanity, but rather settled down in Nazareth suburbia and fathered children. Oh yes, and the Christian Church which made up all the salvific Messiah stuff about Him is a sham association of meglomaniacal conspirators whose unifying principles are in the oppression of women.
I have, thus far, been campaigning for a kind of non-campaign as regards The Da Vinci Code. I was thinking that we should all just agree to ignore it, and put our efforts into praying for the people who hate Jesus and us, His disciples, so much that they would make this film. I was reluctant to throw any free p.r. at the project by speaking about it publically, as that is all that the studio wants here. The people promoting the movie want - with every fiber of their obscenely well-compensated beings - that we make this film an event.
The almost irresistible hook for us all is that we supposedly need to see The Da Vinci Code, so that we can then tell all the other people what is wrong with it. All these Christians are being hooked in to write and speak about the film in the name of "dialogue." "How could you criticize something that you haven't seen?" And, "Everybody is going to be talking about this film! We won't be able to talk back if we haven't seen it."
Folks, there is no dialogue here. The dialogue which might have happened involved Sony and Imagine making changes in the story, that would have reflected some kind of fidelity to history or fairness. They didn't make those changes. Basically because they wanted to bash Christians. (Quick, someone assure me that Time and Newsweek and the NY Times, et al. will NOT be running reviews or ads for The Da Vinci Code because it is such an offensive caricature of the central figure of a major world religion!) Secondly, I don't agree that "everybody" is going to see this film. I found the script somewhere between idiotic and way too cute. I didn't find it half as clever as National Treasure....and that wasn't exactly a work of cinematic genius. As 80% of America is Christian, if they don't get us in, the movie basically tanks. And most of us probably weren't going to be going -- until we were told "Every Christian must!!!" All in the name of "dialogue."
(Note from The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word 'dialogue.' I don't think you know what that word means." Dialogue is based on equal playing field. In this case, the "Jesus was a fraud" side gets a major studio film costing $150 million. Our side gets a little website and a discussion guide.)
Further, we absolutely do not need to see the film to talk about Jesus. No more than we need to see porn to talk about human sexuality. Or to read Mein Kempf to decide whether we can have an opinion about gassing Jews. Besides, it would be dignifying a really inane story. Da Vinci Code is so ridiculous in its premises, that it is giving it a false gravity to even take it seriously enough so as to argue about it. ["And tomorrow, the Christians will be offering a hermenutic of moral praxis as can be gleaned from next week's episode of WWF Smackdown. Ahem."] Yeah, let's all find a starting point for dialogue in the notion that a secret coterie of albino monks has been mythmaking about Jesus' Divinity for 2,000 years. No, you go first.
Now, Christians being coaxed into writing anti-DVC pieces on a stupid web site (like, well, this one) are meekly accepting that they are being given "a seat at the table" in some grand cultural discussion. Duped! There is no seat folks. There is no discussion. What there is, is a few p.r. folks in Hollywood taking mondo big bucks from Sony Pictures, to deliver legions of well-meaning Christians into subsidizing a movie that makes their own Savior out to be a sham.
The masses who will see this film will not be coming to the web site. They will go in to the theaters, eat handfuls of popcorn, and then come out marveling that millions of people for 2,000 years could have been so duped by a lie. They won't go to any web site. They won't be coming to any Christian forum.
I love how we Christians have moved from all agreeing that DVC is evil, to now arguing about what cultural engagement means. Ha! Fabulous! It is a plot twist worthy of Da Vinci Code (if, you know, it were a really clever book with good plot points...)
ANYWAY.... here's what I think we should do. I am hereby announcing my personal "How to Respond to Da Vinci Code Strategy." And the answer is to go to the movies on May 19, 2006. Every Christian who loves Jesus, your mission, if you will accept it is to buy movie tickets. We need to bring our kids, our church groups, our youth ministry clubs, our seniors groups - and buy tickets for the homeless for after we feed them. And we all need to go to see THIS!
Let's make this little movie the biggest release of the year. Let's have DVC positively dwarfed in the weekend box-office, because all of us dutifully marched off to register our vote for the other movie opening that weekend. It's brilliant, mais oui?
Over the Hedge! Over the Hedge! More screens for Over the Hedge!"
And let us pray for Sony Pictures.
No. We don't need to see this film. We all know what is in it. (Especially me, as I have read the screenplay.) It is a movie which begins from the point that Jesus was a fraud. He was not only not Divine, he was less than a man, who didn't die and rise to save humanity, but rather settled down in Nazareth suburbia and fathered children. Oh yes, and the Christian Church which made up all the salvific Messiah stuff about Him is a sham association of meglomaniacal conspirators whose unifying principles are in the oppression of women.
I have, thus far, been campaigning for a kind of non-campaign as regards The Da Vinci Code. I was thinking that we should all just agree to ignore it, and put our efforts into praying for the people who hate Jesus and us, His disciples, so much that they would make this film. I was reluctant to throw any free p.r. at the project by speaking about it publically, as that is all that the studio wants here. The people promoting the movie want - with every fiber of their obscenely well-compensated beings - that we make this film an event.
The almost irresistible hook for us all is that we supposedly need to see The Da Vinci Code, so that we can then tell all the other people what is wrong with it. All these Christians are being hooked in to write and speak about the film in the name of "dialogue." "How could you criticize something that you haven't seen?" And, "Everybody is going to be talking about this film! We won't be able to talk back if we haven't seen it."
Folks, there is no dialogue here. The dialogue which might have happened involved Sony and Imagine making changes in the story, that would have reflected some kind of fidelity to history or fairness. They didn't make those changes. Basically because they wanted to bash Christians. (Quick, someone assure me that Time and Newsweek and the NY Times, et al. will NOT be running reviews or ads for The Da Vinci Code because it is such an offensive caricature of the central figure of a major world religion!) Secondly, I don't agree that "everybody" is going to see this film. I found the script somewhere between idiotic and way too cute. I didn't find it half as clever as National Treasure....and that wasn't exactly a work of cinematic genius. As 80% of America is Christian, if they don't get us in, the movie basically tanks. And most of us probably weren't going to be going -- until we were told "Every Christian must!!!" All in the name of "dialogue."
(Note from The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word 'dialogue.' I don't think you know what that word means." Dialogue is based on equal playing field. In this case, the "Jesus was a fraud" side gets a major studio film costing $150 million. Our side gets a little website and a discussion guide.)
Further, we absolutely do not need to see the film to talk about Jesus. No more than we need to see porn to talk about human sexuality. Or to read Mein Kempf to decide whether we can have an opinion about gassing Jews. Besides, it would be dignifying a really inane story. Da Vinci Code is so ridiculous in its premises, that it is giving it a false gravity to even take it seriously enough so as to argue about it. ["And tomorrow, the Christians will be offering a hermenutic of moral praxis as can be gleaned from next week's episode of WWF Smackdown. Ahem."] Yeah, let's all find a starting point for dialogue in the notion that a secret coterie of albino monks has been mythmaking about Jesus' Divinity for 2,000 years. No, you go first.
Now, Christians being coaxed into writing anti-DVC pieces on a stupid web site (like, well, this one) are meekly accepting that they are being given "a seat at the table" in some grand cultural discussion. Duped! There is no seat folks. There is no discussion. What there is, is a few p.r. folks in Hollywood taking mondo big bucks from Sony Pictures, to deliver legions of well-meaning Christians into subsidizing a movie that makes their own Savior out to be a sham.
The masses who will see this film will not be coming to the web site. They will go in to the theaters, eat handfuls of popcorn, and then come out marveling that millions of people for 2,000 years could have been so duped by a lie. They won't go to any web site. They won't be coming to any Christian forum.
I love how we Christians have moved from all agreeing that DVC is evil, to now arguing about what cultural engagement means. Ha! Fabulous! It is a plot twist worthy of Da Vinci Code (if, you know, it were a really clever book with good plot points...)
ANYWAY.... here's what I think we should do. I am hereby announcing my personal "How to Respond to Da Vinci Code Strategy." And the answer is to go to the movies on May 19, 2006. Every Christian who loves Jesus, your mission, if you will accept it is to buy movie tickets. We need to bring our kids, our church groups, our youth ministry clubs, our seniors groups - and buy tickets for the homeless for after we feed them. And we all need to go to see THIS!
Let's make this little movie the biggest release of the year. Let's have DVC positively dwarfed in the weekend box-office, because all of us dutifully marched off to register our vote for the other movie opening that weekend. It's brilliant, mais oui?
Over the Hedge! Over the Hedge! More screens for Over the Hedge!"
And let us pray for Sony Pictures.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Executive Program now accepting applications !
We are very pleased to announce that the Act One | Executive Program is expanding to serve twice the number of students in 2006! And in a new partnership with
The 2005 Executive Program has been proclaimed a phenomenal success by students, faculty, and employers. Ten of the fifteen students from this inaugural year are now working in strategic positions within the industry. These faithful future-
This year, the program will run from June 10th to August 23rd. The application deadline is March 10th.
Act One’s rigorous 12-week Executive Program prepares and mentors talented
What the Executive Program offers:
* A full-time internship at a Hollywood network, studio, production company, agency, or law firm.
* Over 100 hours of classroom instruction taught by industry veterans
* Excellent access to instructors, with only 25-30 students per class
* Practical assignments reviewed by industry pros
* Access to Act One Writing for Hollywood classes running in July & August
* Networking opportunities
* Admission to the Act One alumni community
* Access to alumni events, programs, & advanced training workshops
* A strong spiritual foundation for working in the entertainment industry
Please have a look at our website for new promotional materials that include: endorsements, success stories, the 2006 brochure, proposed curriculum and faculty, as well as a downloadable application form.
“Making an impact in the
“Act One is the only program I know of where students can interact with proven
“I have been a part of programs at UCLA, USC, and numerous other industry seminars and by far, the Act One Executive Program has the greatest breadth of inspired teachers, students, and guest lecturers. The Act One Program was one of the highlights of my life.” - Todd Burns, Class of 2005
Read about the Act One | Executive Program in Details Magazine!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
See Barb Speak. See Barb in Wichita. See Barb in Detroit.
FEBRUARY 13 – Monday 7pm
Book Signing Open to public
Eighth Day Books
2838 E. Douglas
Wichita, KS 67214
316.683.9446
MARCH 4 – Saturday
Speech - "Hollywood, The Arts and the Church"
Holy Trinity Apostolate
Sterling Heights, MI
586.264.3789
Register Online: www.holytrinityapostolate.com
Book Signing Open to public
Eighth Day Books
2838 E. Douglas
Wichita, KS 67214
316.683.9446
MARCH 4 – Saturday
Speech - "Hollywood, The Arts and the Church"
Holy Trinity Apostolate
Sterling Heights, MI
586.264.3789
Register Online: www.holytrinityapostolate.com
Please help us spread the word!
HOLLYWOOD CHRISTIANS BRING SEMINARS TO NASHVILLE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- December 1, 2005 -- Act One, Inc., a nonprofit organization
that trains Christians for careers in mainstream film and television, is coming
to Nashville this summer. Act One will hold its much-lauded Writing Program at
Vanderbilt University from May 16 – June 10. The Writing Program is a four-week
intensive course on writing for TV and film, taught by Hollywood professionals.
It will also be held in Los Angeles, at the Oakwood Toluca Hills, from July 7 --
August 5.
Act One Writing Program Director Chris Riley notes: “The goal of the Act One
Writing Program is not to produce religious scripts, but rather writers whose
work is truthful, artistically excellent, and reflects a deep respect for the
audience. We’re looking for gifted writers who love movies and television,
writers who want to enter the mainstream Hollywood marketplace well-equipped to
compete with the best writers in the world, telling the most powerful and
entertaining stories in the world. Beyond that, we encourage our writers to take
their Christian faith seriously, integrating their faith with their art as they
seek a creative approach that welcomes the inspiration of the Holy Spirit into
everything they write.”
The Writing Program is more than just classes, fostering in students a respect
for the audience and an awareness of the need for entertainment that will
improve our lives and our culture. Our impressive faculty is made up of over
fifty working writers and producers, including Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of
Emily Rose), Ralph Winter (X2:X-Men United, Fantastic Four), Barbara Hall (Joan
of Arcadia), David McFadzean (Home Improvement, What Women Want), and many more.
Act One students are finding success in many levels of the entertainment
industry’s creative community, finding representation at Endeavor, CAA, and
other top agencies, and landing writing and producing jobs at DreamWorks,
Imagine, CBS, HBO, PAX, MS-NBC, and FOX, among others. Alumni David Hansen
claims “the amount of scholarship, the degree of professionalism and the keen
wisdom of the Act One Writing Program is simply an unparalleled gift to
burgeoning script writers. I can hardly believe it exists." Featured by
Newsweek, The Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, Details, and Premiere, Act One
has been hailed by industry veteran Ron Austin (Mission: Impossible) as playing
“an indispensable role in bringing young Christians into the mainstream of
Hollywood."
Act One can only accept thirty students into each program. The application
process is very competitive, so interested writers are encouraged to begin the
process as early as possible. “The Writing Program is by far the most thorough,
most inspiring, intensive screenwriting program I've seen anywhere,” notes
screenwriter and faculty member Janet Batchler. “You can waste years of time
tiptoeing around the edges of the entertainment industry, or you can come to Act
One and learn what you need to know in four weeks.” Applications are due by
March 1.
For more information about Act One, visit our website at www.actoneprogram.com,
or contact Becca Bennett, Program Coordinator, at 323-464-0815 or
becca@actoneprogram.com. To interview Act One founder Barbara Nicolosi, contact
Pure Publicity at (818) 753-4056 or Purepublicity@aol.com.
Also in 2006, Act One will hold a training program for entertainment executives.
For details, see our website or contact Rob Kirbyson at 323-464-0815.
###
ABOUT ACT ONE
Act One is a non-profit ministry with a unique mission field: Hollywood. Since
1999, we’ve been training Christians for careers in mainstream film and
television, so that they may be "salt and light" in writers rooms, on sets, and
in studio and network offices.
In short, Act One is transforming Hollywood from within.
Act One achieves its mission through a variety of educational programs. The
Summer Writing Program is a 4-week intensive course for serious Christians who
intend to write for mainstream movies and television. The Executive Program is a
12-week course that offers promising business and law school graduates the
chance to intern with top Hollywood companies. Screenwriting Weekends are a
series of screenwriting seminars held in major cities across the country.
Act One’s all-volunteer faculty are among Hollywood’s top writers, directors,
and executives, the creative forces behind productions such as Joan of Arcadia,
X-Men, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and many more. They are the best there is
at training people of faith around the country to begin careers in Hollywood.
The media has noticed what Act One is doing. We’ve been featured in Newsweek,
Details, The Washington Post, and many other top publications, as well as on
CNN, Fox News, Extra, and A&E. We co-sponsored a conference on Capitol Hill with
Rep. Mick McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). We’ve met with White
House staff on several occasions, and the Chairman of the National Endowment for
the Arts was the keynote speaker at our 2004 summer program.
For more information, see www.actoneprogram.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- December 1, 2005 -- Act One, Inc., a nonprofit organization
that trains Christians for careers in mainstream film and television, is coming
to Nashville this summer. Act One will hold its much-lauded Writing Program at
Vanderbilt University from May 16 – June 10. The Writing Program is a four-week
intensive course on writing for TV and film, taught by Hollywood professionals.
It will also be held in Los Angeles, at the Oakwood Toluca Hills, from July 7 --
August 5.
Act One Writing Program Director Chris Riley notes: “The goal of the Act One
Writing Program is not to produce religious scripts, but rather writers whose
work is truthful, artistically excellent, and reflects a deep respect for the
audience. We’re looking for gifted writers who love movies and television,
writers who want to enter the mainstream Hollywood marketplace well-equipped to
compete with the best writers in the world, telling the most powerful and
entertaining stories in the world. Beyond that, we encourage our writers to take
their Christian faith seriously, integrating their faith with their art as they
seek a creative approach that welcomes the inspiration of the Holy Spirit into
everything they write.”
The Writing Program is more than just classes, fostering in students a respect
for the audience and an awareness of the need for entertainment that will
improve our lives and our culture. Our impressive faculty is made up of over
fifty working writers and producers, including Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of
Emily Rose), Ralph Winter (X2:X-Men United, Fantastic Four), Barbara Hall (Joan
of Arcadia), David McFadzean (Home Improvement, What Women Want), and many more.
Act One students are finding success in many levels of the entertainment
industry’s creative community, finding representation at Endeavor, CAA, and
other top agencies, and landing writing and producing jobs at DreamWorks,
Imagine, CBS, HBO, PAX, MS-NBC, and FOX, among others. Alumni David Hansen
claims “the amount of scholarship, the degree of professionalism and the keen
wisdom of the Act One Writing Program is simply an unparalleled gift to
burgeoning script writers. I can hardly believe it exists." Featured by
Newsweek, The Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly, Details, and Premiere, Act One
has been hailed by industry veteran Ron Austin (Mission: Impossible) as playing
“an indispensable role in bringing young Christians into the mainstream of
Hollywood."
Act One can only accept thirty students into each program. The application
process is very competitive, so interested writers are encouraged to begin the
process as early as possible. “The Writing Program is by far the most thorough,
most inspiring, intensive screenwriting program I've seen anywhere,” notes
screenwriter and faculty member Janet Batchler. “You can waste years of time
tiptoeing around the edges of the entertainment industry, or you can come to Act
One and learn what you need to know in four weeks.” Applications are due by
March 1.
For more information about Act One, visit our website at www.actoneprogram.com,
or contact Becca Bennett, Program Coordinator, at 323-464-0815 or
becca@actoneprogram.com. To interview Act One founder Barbara Nicolosi, contact
Pure Publicity at (818) 753-4056 or Purepublicity@aol.com.
Also in 2006, Act One will hold a training program for entertainment executives.
For details, see our website or contact Rob Kirbyson at 323-464-0815.
###
ABOUT ACT ONE
Act One is a non-profit ministry with a unique mission field: Hollywood. Since
1999, we’ve been training Christians for careers in mainstream film and
television, so that they may be "salt and light" in writers rooms, on sets, and
in studio and network offices.
In short, Act One is transforming Hollywood from within.
Act One achieves its mission through a variety of educational programs. The
Summer Writing Program is a 4-week intensive course for serious Christians who
intend to write for mainstream movies and television. The Executive Program is a
12-week course that offers promising business and law school graduates the
chance to intern with top Hollywood companies. Screenwriting Weekends are a
series of screenwriting seminars held in major cities across the country.
Act One’s all-volunteer faculty are among Hollywood’s top writers, directors,
and executives, the creative forces behind productions such as Joan of Arcadia,
X-Men, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and many more. They are the best there is
at training people of faith around the country to begin careers in Hollywood.
The media has noticed what Act One is doing. We’ve been featured in Newsweek,
Details, The Washington Post, and many other top publications, as well as on
CNN, Fox News, Extra, and A&E. We co-sponsored a conference on Capitol Hill with
Rep. Mick McIntyre (D-N.C.) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). We’ve met with White
House staff on several occasions, and the Chairman of the National Endowment for
the Arts was the keynote speaker at our 2004 summer program.
For more information, see www.actoneprogram.com.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
GOOD-BYE, HELLO, GOOD-BYE
I am just back from Sundance. And I don't even have time for therapy over that before I am off again on another trip.
I'll be in Vegas this weekend for an Act One Screenwriting Weekend. Then, while everybody else gets to watch the Superbowl, I will be flying to Nashville for a Pastor's Conference. On Tuesday I'm off to Chicago. Then, up to Appleton, WI.
Back in L.A. next Friday. Doubt I'll be blogging while I carpetbag.
Besides...I'm on a hiatus.
I'll be in Vegas this weekend for an Act One Screenwriting Weekend. Then, while everybody else gets to watch the Superbowl, I will be flying to Nashville for a Pastor's Conference. On Tuesday I'm off to Chicago. Then, up to Appleton, WI.
Back in L.A. next Friday. Doubt I'll be blogging while I carpetbag.
Besides...I'm on a hiatus.
Monday, January 30, 2006
See Barb in Chicago!
The Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Media Apostolate, presents,
Signs of Hope from Hollywood
featuring
Barbara Nicolosi, M.A.
Executive Director, Act One, Inc.
Wednesday – February, 8, 2006, 7:00pm
Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary
www. quigley.org
Topics to be covered include:
- Post-Sexual Revolution Hollywood and the search for spirituality going on in the entertainment industry
- Hollywood after The Passion of the Christ
- Thoughts on Narnia, Brokeback Mountain, Book of Daniel and The Da Vinci Code
- What to do if your college student wants to work in Hollywood!
BARBARA NICOLOSI is founder and Executive Director of ACT ONE, INC., an interdenominational training program preparing Christians for professional careers in mainstream film and television. Barbara has an MA in Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She has been a Hollywood director of development, a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a consultant on many film and television projects. She wrote The Work, a full-length feature set during the Spanish Civil War, for IMMI Pictures of Beverly Hills. Her feature screenplay Select Society is being developed by Reel Life Women Productions, Bel Air. Barbara recently co-edited the book Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture from Baker Books.
Directions: Archbishop Quigley is located just one block west of the John Hancock Building and Water Tower Place, right next to Loyola University's Water Tower Campus. Archbishop Quigley is accessible by the CTA subway train (Howard/95th Street line - "Chicago" stop), CTA bus routes, and the METRA suburban train network
RSVP to: info@actoneprogram.com
Signs of Hope from Hollywood
featuring
Barbara Nicolosi, M.A.
Executive Director, Act One, Inc.
Wednesday – February, 8, 2006, 7:00pm
Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary
www. quigley.org
Topics to be covered include:
- Post-Sexual Revolution Hollywood and the search for spirituality going on in the entertainment industry
- Hollywood after The Passion of the Christ
- Thoughts on Narnia, Brokeback Mountain, Book of Daniel and The Da Vinci Code
- What to do if your college student wants to work in Hollywood!
BARBARA NICOLOSI is founder and Executive Director of ACT ONE, INC., an interdenominational training program preparing Christians for professional careers in mainstream film and television. Barbara has an MA in Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She has been a Hollywood director of development, a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a consultant on many film and television projects. She wrote The Work, a full-length feature set during the Spanish Civil War, for IMMI Pictures of Beverly Hills. Her feature screenplay Select Society is being developed by Reel Life Women Productions, Bel Air. Barbara recently co-edited the book Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture from Baker Books.
Directions: Archbishop Quigley is located just one block west of the John Hancock Building and Water Tower Place, right next to Loyola University's Water Tower Campus. Archbishop Quigley is accessible by the CTA subway train (Howard/95th Street line - "Chicago" stop), CTA bus routes, and the METRA suburban train network
RSVP to: info@actoneprogram.com
Monday, January 23, 2006
What they're saying about...Act One Screenwriting Weekends
I admit it. I search regularly to find out who is writing about Act One. Someone told me once this is called ego-surfing. I call it just another way to keep from writing.
Anyway, I'm glad I was at it today because I found a really nice review of our recent Screenwriting Weekend in Fort Lauderdale. Go here to read all about how these weekends unfold, and what one writer's experience was. It means a lot that somebody with no connection to us would write such a nice endorsement.
And then, recall that the next Act One Screenwriting Weekend happens in Vegas Feb. 3-4. It will feature humble moi, and Jan "the Maven" Batchler along with our alumn weekend coordinator, writer Lauri Deason. Go here to register for Vegas.
Anyway, I'm glad I was at it today because I found a really nice review of our recent Screenwriting Weekend in Fort Lauderdale. Go here to read all about how these weekends unfold, and what one writer's experience was. It means a lot that somebody with no connection to us would write such a nice endorsement.
And then, recall that the next Act One Screenwriting Weekend happens in Vegas Feb. 3-4. It will feature humble moi, and Jan "the Maven" Batchler along with our alumn weekend coordinator, writer Lauri Deason. Go here to register for Vegas.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Calling All Act One Bloggers!
I am, as I keep telling you, on a blogging hiatus. [ahem] As I keep telling you.
However, lots of Act Oners are out there in blogdom, spreading the gospel of artistry, professionalism, substance and spirituality. I have created a set of links on the right of the Act Oners of whom I am aware who are blogging.
If you know of others, or if you are an Act Oner with a blog, do let me know so I can put up a link.
[Note the largesse that I link to Sean and Jan, even though they both blogged about how much they liked Jackson's King Kong.
We are not without tolerance....
However, lots of Act Oners are out there in blogdom, spreading the gospel of artistry, professionalism, substance and spirituality. I have created a set of links on the right of the Act Oners of whom I am aware who are blogging.
If you know of others, or if you are an Act Oner with a blog, do let me know so I can put up a link.
[Note the largesse that I link to Sean and Jan, even though they both blogged about how much they liked Jackson's King Kong.
We are not without tolerance....
More Munich
Here is an answer I posted in the comments for the Munich review I did below under the heading "Fleeting Thoughts." I want to be clear that I am endorsing the film Munich for its craft, again, in the way that John Paul II said, 'We owe secular artists appreciation for showing us what the world without God looks like." Here's my answer to Clayton's thoughtful objection...
-------------
Clayton -
I think that art - in the broadest sense - is anything made that has an element of gratuitousness to it. To be art something has to be "decoration" in the sense of not being useful for anything else -- that is, useful in itself.
Then, however, there is good art and bad art. There are two senses of this: good as technical proficiency and good as moral quality proceeding from the totality of the project - matter plus form, if you will.
Beauty is the harmoniuous arrangement of elements.
I would say that Munish is a very good film on a technical level. It uses all of its elements to work together to produce an effect - to drive into the viewer an impression. This is high art.
On the other hand, the heart of the project, as you noted, is nihilistic. Nihilism is a lie. Therefore, the theme of the project disrupts the ultimate harmony of the whole.
Hence, Munich is a well-crafted but not a beautiful film.
Does that help?
--------------------
I was talking to my friend and writing partner, Ben Fitzgerald (co-writer, The Passion of the Christ) about Munich, and he made am insightful comment, "Looking at the current state of the world, if you have Jesus in your heart, you make, The Passion of the Christ. If you do not have Jesus, you make Munich."
I quite agree.
-------------
Clayton -
I think that art - in the broadest sense - is anything made that has an element of gratuitousness to it. To be art something has to be "decoration" in the sense of not being useful for anything else -- that is, useful in itself.
Then, however, there is good art and bad art. There are two senses of this: good as technical proficiency and good as moral quality proceeding from the totality of the project - matter plus form, if you will.
Beauty is the harmoniuous arrangement of elements.
I would say that Munish is a very good film on a technical level. It uses all of its elements to work together to produce an effect - to drive into the viewer an impression. This is high art.
On the other hand, the heart of the project, as you noted, is nihilistic. Nihilism is a lie. Therefore, the theme of the project disrupts the ultimate harmony of the whole.
Hence, Munich is a well-crafted but not a beautiful film.
Does that help?
--------------------
I was talking to my friend and writing partner, Ben Fitzgerald (co-writer, The Passion of the Christ) about Munich, and he made am insightful comment, "Looking at the current state of the world, if you have Jesus in your heart, you make, The Passion of the Christ. If you do not have Jesus, you make Munich."
I quite agree.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Brokeback Molehill
Big deal.
It's kind of boring. Nothing much happens. Just a lot of horseback riding and cold cowboys supposedly bonding over cans of beans and shuffling around staring off-screen. I didn't ever get emotionally engaged. I don't even know what it was about really.
Ang Lee has done much better. The Ice Storm is a masterwork by comparison. At least in that film he created some cool visual imagery to heighten and echo the themes of the piece. In Brokeback, there doesn't seem to be a theme. It's as if the film is trying so hard to not make a statement that - what a surprise! - it ends up not saying anything at all.
Seriously, I really can't say what the film is about. Maybe something like, "Love happens when it happens and woe to you if you fall in love with someone you can't be with." Which really isn't any kind of good movie theme - not being universal -- and also being so obvious that we hardly need a movie to get us all on board with it. (A good movie theme is something that can be argued.)
In the end, I didn't feel like Brokeback was advocating homosexuality as a lifestyle. The sodomy episodes at the center of the film were rough and somewhat icky. There was definitely no attempt to make people who suffer from same-sex attraction look like better human beings than people with normal sexual appetites. Ennis and Jack come off as being shiftless, self-serving and dull-witted, without any of the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" witty superficiality. I can see why some of the homosexual sub-cultures are grumbling against the film. It suggests that both the central characters are open to same-sex attraction because their father-figures were either absent or jackasses. You can't help feeling like homosexual men don't choose to be so, but become so because of abuse or neglect.
If there was anything propagandistic about the film, it was the way in which every straight male character in the film was a total jack-ass. But again, this just goes to the idea that same-sex attraction comes from people getting dropped on their head, not from God having made them that way.
From a cinematic standpoint, there is a problem in the film that results in, well, yawns on the part of the audience. The thirty or so folks in the screening tonight were mostly yawning from about forty minutes in. i was thinking about this in the car on the way home, and it seems to me that the flaw in the film is the lack of chemistry between the two male characters. I just never felt like there was any heat between them. The film never achieved romance, and then asks the viewers to pretend that it did. It is a flaw in direction that we never felt anything between the characters. Ang Lee also had this problem in Sense and Sensibility. I remember feeling that both romances in that film felt a little icky.
Come to think of it, the romances in Ice Storm also felt icky. I guess that proves Ang Lee can't do love stories. Which makes all the fuss over this Brokeback to be nothing more than turning a little molehill of a movie into a mountain in the culture wars.
I can't really recommend the film. It isn't good enough to justify getting the images in your head of men doing their twisted enemas-as-act of love thing. I can't really pan it either. It isn't thematically coherent enough to be insidious. It is what it is. Whatever that is.
It's kind of boring. Nothing much happens. Just a lot of horseback riding and cold cowboys supposedly bonding over cans of beans and shuffling around staring off-screen. I didn't ever get emotionally engaged. I don't even know what it was about really.
Ang Lee has done much better. The Ice Storm is a masterwork by comparison. At least in that film he created some cool visual imagery to heighten and echo the themes of the piece. In Brokeback, there doesn't seem to be a theme. It's as if the film is trying so hard to not make a statement that - what a surprise! - it ends up not saying anything at all.
Seriously, I really can't say what the film is about. Maybe something like, "Love happens when it happens and woe to you if you fall in love with someone you can't be with." Which really isn't any kind of good movie theme - not being universal -- and also being so obvious that we hardly need a movie to get us all on board with it. (A good movie theme is something that can be argued.)
In the end, I didn't feel like Brokeback was advocating homosexuality as a lifestyle. The sodomy episodes at the center of the film were rough and somewhat icky. There was definitely no attempt to make people who suffer from same-sex attraction look like better human beings than people with normal sexual appetites. Ennis and Jack come off as being shiftless, self-serving and dull-witted, without any of the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" witty superficiality. I can see why some of the homosexual sub-cultures are grumbling against the film. It suggests that both the central characters are open to same-sex attraction because their father-figures were either absent or jackasses. You can't help feeling like homosexual men don't choose to be so, but become so because of abuse or neglect.
If there was anything propagandistic about the film, it was the way in which every straight male character in the film was a total jack-ass. But again, this just goes to the idea that same-sex attraction comes from people getting dropped on their head, not from God having made them that way.
From a cinematic standpoint, there is a problem in the film that results in, well, yawns on the part of the audience. The thirty or so folks in the screening tonight were mostly yawning from about forty minutes in. i was thinking about this in the car on the way home, and it seems to me that the flaw in the film is the lack of chemistry between the two male characters. I just never felt like there was any heat between them. The film never achieved romance, and then asks the viewers to pretend that it did. It is a flaw in direction that we never felt anything between the characters. Ang Lee also had this problem in Sense and Sensibility. I remember feeling that both romances in that film felt a little icky.
Come to think of it, the romances in Ice Storm also felt icky. I guess that proves Ang Lee can't do love stories. Which makes all the fuss over this Brokeback to be nothing more than turning a little molehill of a movie into a mountain in the culture wars.
I can't really recommend the film. It isn't good enough to justify getting the images in your head of men doing their twisted enemas-as-act of love thing. I can't really pan it either. It isn't thematically coherent enough to be insidious. It is what it is. Whatever that is.
The Phantom Raves...
Here is a super nice review from the insightful Michael Dalton who writes movie reviews for The Phantom Tollbooth. They will be posting a review of the book in February, but Michael posted the following on Amazon...
----------------------------
He who is wise wins souls, January 19, 2006
Most Christians don't associate Hollywood with wisdom. Since wisdom can be defined as scholarly knowledge or learning, and since many in Hollywood are at the top of their craft, this may not be a fair assessment. The writers of Behind The Screen point out that when it comes to movie making, Christians can learn from Hollywood. People who work there have mastered the art of filmmaking. It requires a humble attitude for Christians to be willing to learn from those who have different values, but that's what the writers of this book advocate.
Christians tend to think of wisdom in terms of speaking and act wisely and rightly so. This book contains a wealth of practical instruction from Hollywood insiders on how Christians can be an effective influence and have a positive impact on the film industry. Christians who have been successful behind the screen serve as wise guides as they take us behind the scenes.
How did this book come about? A small group of Christian writers and producers in Hollywood formed Act One in 1999. They shared the vision that change must come from within. Protests, letter campaigns and finger-pointing were ineffective. They sought to transform the industry by being ambassadors and artists. They would devote themselves to truth and beauty, while being examples of Christ's love and truth. The 18 essays found here are written and edited by Act One faculty and staff and developed from their curriculum. They could not have assembled a finer textbook to achieve their aims.
Though essential reading for those who want to live and work in Hollywood, this book is an important contribution for all who seek a thoughtful engagement with modern culture. Those whose attitude toward TV and film is primarily hostile should read this if they want to explore a different point of view. There may be disagreement on some of the finer points, but there is a lot of useful information and background. It points toward seeing Hollywood as more of a mission field than a battleground.
Consistent throughout the varied essays is a mature, seasoned perspective-a well-thought Christian view of arts and entertainment. It's entertaining and written with warmth, and provides a refreshing alternative to the ranting that's so easy to adopt. We also get a sound basis for film criticism from a Christian perspective.
Are movies fundamentally dangerous and irreconcilable to the Christian life? James Scott Bell briefly answers the question in the delightful "In Defense of the Christian Movie Buff." The title gives away his answer.
Barbara Nicolosi discusses what elements make for a film that is truly Christian in "Toward A Christian Cinema." Some may find her thoughts surprising. Her main point is this: "Borrowing from St. Paul, Christians in entertainment don't have to be always talking about God. They should be talking about everything in a godly way." Many of the essays are variations of this thought and explore it in more detail.
Ever wonder why there are so many bad movies? That question and many more are answered in this well-written and engaging book. Put this in the category of one of the best books written for Christians on the subject of cultural engagement. In addition to film, the lessons are also relevant to writing and music, but there are many possible applications. If I were to summarize the theme from just one Scripture, it would be this: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls" (Proverbs 11:30 NASB).
----------------------------
He who is wise wins souls, January 19, 2006
Most Christians don't associate Hollywood with wisdom. Since wisdom can be defined as scholarly knowledge or learning, and since many in Hollywood are at the top of their craft, this may not be a fair assessment. The writers of Behind The Screen point out that when it comes to movie making, Christians can learn from Hollywood. People who work there have mastered the art of filmmaking. It requires a humble attitude for Christians to be willing to learn from those who have different values, but that's what the writers of this book advocate.
Christians tend to think of wisdom in terms of speaking and act wisely and rightly so. This book contains a wealth of practical instruction from Hollywood insiders on how Christians can be an effective influence and have a positive impact on the film industry. Christians who have been successful behind the screen serve as wise guides as they take us behind the scenes.
How did this book come about? A small group of Christian writers and producers in Hollywood formed Act One in 1999. They shared the vision that change must come from within. Protests, letter campaigns and finger-pointing were ineffective. They sought to transform the industry by being ambassadors and artists. They would devote themselves to truth and beauty, while being examples of Christ's love and truth. The 18 essays found here are written and edited by Act One faculty and staff and developed from their curriculum. They could not have assembled a finer textbook to achieve their aims.
Though essential reading for those who want to live and work in Hollywood, this book is an important contribution for all who seek a thoughtful engagement with modern culture. Those whose attitude toward TV and film is primarily hostile should read this if they want to explore a different point of view. There may be disagreement on some of the finer points, but there is a lot of useful information and background. It points toward seeing Hollywood as more of a mission field than a battleground.
Consistent throughout the varied essays is a mature, seasoned perspective-a well-thought Christian view of arts and entertainment. It's entertaining and written with warmth, and provides a refreshing alternative to the ranting that's so easy to adopt. We also get a sound basis for film criticism from a Christian perspective.
Are movies fundamentally dangerous and irreconcilable to the Christian life? James Scott Bell briefly answers the question in the delightful "In Defense of the Christian Movie Buff." The title gives away his answer.
Barbara Nicolosi discusses what elements make for a film that is truly Christian in "Toward A Christian Cinema." Some may find her thoughts surprising. Her main point is this: "Borrowing from St. Paul, Christians in entertainment don't have to be always talking about God. They should be talking about everything in a godly way." Many of the essays are variations of this thought and explore it in more detail.
Ever wonder why there are so many bad movies? That question and many more are answered in this well-written and engaging book. Put this in the category of one of the best books written for Christians on the subject of cultural engagement. In addition to film, the lessons are also relevant to writing and music, but there are many possible applications. If I were to summarize the theme from just one Scripture, it would be this: "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls" (Proverbs 11:30 NASB).
Fleeting Thoughts...
I'm still on hiatus, really...but wanted to pass on a few thoughts about some entertainment projects out there, as well as some upcoming events.
-----------------
Munich - Saw this finally last night. Um, wow. It seems to me that this film has to be reckoned the best of the year. (Of course, I haven't seen the "gay GWTW," yet, and I guess - in my role as sewer inspector for the Kingdom of God - I will have to...but I can't imagine anything coming near what Spielberg has done in Munich.
Munich doesn't feel like a movie. It feels more like a nightmarish warning. As I drove home, I was aware of feeling very unsafe - like some crazed person out there might veer over into my lane and smash into me. Only they would be doing it on purpose as some kind of statement - and I really don't want to die as someone else's trophy corpse. Munich left me frightened and with a feeling that the world is desperately out of control.
I don't know if this good for the world - that we should leave movie theaters feeling frightened and paranoid and like the world is out of control. But I cannot deny that making people feeling this way through a movie is a stunning achievement. Especially when you can do it to someone like me, for whom the diegetic illusion can very rarely get past my film critic barrier.
I would be interested to hear from those of you who saw the film, if you think it is morally okay to leave the audience spinning in a kind of fear and near-despair. John Paul II said once that we owe secular filmmakers much gratitude for showing us powerfully, "what the world without God looks like." Munich is a world in which all the people with power have lost faith in the power of goodness. It's a world which is reconciled to killing its way out of a deep dark hole. Again, I am reminded of JPII's definition of a Culture of Death: "When people think the solution to a human problem will be found in killing other people."
Anyway, back to the film. Talk about all the elements serving the story! Man, I couldn't believe what I was seeing sometimes. It doens't feel like entertainment - but it is mostly riveting. I can't account for that, except to say that every so often, artistic content can be so overwhelming, that an audience will be engaged regardless of whether it adheres to principles of good storytelling. (ie. the day of 9/11, we were all trained on our TV sets. Those same five shots didn't get boring.) The film is really above all of the usual ways that I would begin to critique a film - plot points, performances and character development, tone and theme. The actors didn't feel like they were acting to me. How good is that? I'm not sure how to talk about it except to say that there was no ego in this film. There was non of Spielberg's patent cutesyness, or pandering to populist thrilling techniques. It was grimly focussed filmmaking. Disturbing and definitely not for the faint of heart. (NOTA BENE: Munich is not for those who are young in body or mind. I'm not sure it is good for those who are already afraid. It's very great art - but I'm not sure who it is good for. (Damn the artist as prophet! Why do they have to do things like this?!)
I think I understand now why Steven Spielberg has been making such weirdly fluctuating choices in movies in the last several years. First you make stunning and vital statements like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Then, you throw out themeless fluff like The Terminal and Catch Me If You Can. Then, the empty spectacle of War of the Worlds. I have thought up to now that Spielberg's problem was that he hadn't suffered. Now, I think it might be that he is suffering very much. Munich could only come from a man who is very sad and frightened. Hence, his problem as a filmmaker of unparalleled power. What do you say to the world when you can say anything, and you have been harboring a vision like Munich? If you are Christian, I think you make The Passion of the Christ. If you are pagan, you wring your hands and try to decide if it is morally legitimate to throw popcorn at people who are going on their merry way, "eating and drinking and getting married and giving in marriage" the world is about to crash down around them. But then you just have to cry out and you get Munich.
Munich was the most affecting film of the year. Terrible and devastating in its message, but masterful.
-------------
I saw a documentary on Sunday called What the West Needs to Know About Islam. Probably, it was a one-two-knockout combination to see this film right before Munich. Whatever. God willed it so. The doc has too much talking heads, and too much content, and several moments that are repetitive, and almost zero production design, but still packs a potent experience. I came away confirmed in my suspicion that Islam is an evil religion that is based on fear of women. It tells men that they can assimiliate the "greatness of Allah" - and subsequently Allah's above-reproachness no matter what. Islam validates the barbarian in man, that the love of woman usually keeps in check. It's a bad thing. It is certainly not a peaceful religion, despite the constant drumbeat to the contrary that comes from our politicos and cultural elites. Ask the wives of Islam how peaceful their life is? Islamic "peace" is built on domineering the hell out of women and infidels.
And the really bad news is, it seems like Islam is on an inexorable path to all out war with Western Judeo-Christian civilization. It's coming. Just ask Europe. The film makes the point that, in past centuries, the Cross of Christendom was a rallying point to stop the Islamic advance. The battles of Lepanto and Vienna were won as much by prayer and a common creed as by armies. Now that we have pretty much lost our Christian values, around what will the West rally to stop the complete Islamicism of the West? Will Fr. Richard McBrien and his cheering squad lead us to the ramparts? Will America magazine spur us on to the cross? Will Joel Osteen's "Good Life Now" keep us praising through torture and death? "When the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith left on earth?" Hmmmmm....
Anyway, back to the coming global jihad, I think the only hope for us may be alternate fuel sources to stop the flood of cash that is fueling the heart of Islam, or else that communist China will stamp it out...and perhaps much of Christendom too. Communism does offer a creed around which an opposition could be mounted as we have seen.
Anyway, if you want one more reason not to sleep very well at night, do try and catch What the West Needs to Know About Islam if it comes to a theater near you. And, oh, you should probably skip the popcorn for this one.
----------
I saw a three hour play Sunday based on Doestoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. It is running at the Ford Theater here in L.A. It was an ambitious thing for even a great playwright to attempt, and the writer in this case was not great. In the end, I came away thinking that, if, as Dostoevsky asserts, "Without immortality, all things are permissible," then, so to, without a cultural climate of religious faith, all great literature is incomprehensible. The audience of L.A. theater-goers watched with scrunched up, non-comprehension while Alyosha, Ivan, Dimitri and Fyodor flailed around on stage gushing about passion and faith and innocence and shame. It was the same way in which an orgiated Roman crowd might be distracted by the fears of a lost child. Ultimately irrelevant.
But, I have to say in desperation, that I don't think it was Dostoevsky who failed. The playwright and company were as much part of the problem. They didn't get what they were doing either. So, the play, in its three hours of flailing and bombast, left out the scene of "the Grand Inquisitor." Can you imagine trying to flesh out Ivan's problem without that sequence? No, it becomes a social justice problem for him, instead of a crisis of faith. Men have died for God and faith and worms have eaten them, but not for AIDS Walk L.A.
The play also turned Alyosha into a kind of manic sheep who screamed under pressure. He was the most ineffectual of all the characters. No "Hurrah for Karamazov!" here. It had to be this way in today's trendy Los Angeles theater community. How could the man of faith be anything but irrelevant and kind of pathetic?
Since I saw the play, I can't stop thinking that as we get further and further from a climate of faith, we will lose the ability to understand the relics of our cultural heritage. Are we going to have to start all over again?
-----------------
Munich - Saw this finally last night. Um, wow. It seems to me that this film has to be reckoned the best of the year. (Of course, I haven't seen the "gay GWTW," yet, and I guess - in my role as sewer inspector for the Kingdom of God - I will have to...but I can't imagine anything coming near what Spielberg has done in Munich.
Munich doesn't feel like a movie. It feels more like a nightmarish warning. As I drove home, I was aware of feeling very unsafe - like some crazed person out there might veer over into my lane and smash into me. Only they would be doing it on purpose as some kind of statement - and I really don't want to die as someone else's trophy corpse. Munich left me frightened and with a feeling that the world is desperately out of control.
I don't know if this good for the world - that we should leave movie theaters feeling frightened and paranoid and like the world is out of control. But I cannot deny that making people feeling this way through a movie is a stunning achievement. Especially when you can do it to someone like me, for whom the diegetic illusion can very rarely get past my film critic barrier.
I would be interested to hear from those of you who saw the film, if you think it is morally okay to leave the audience spinning in a kind of fear and near-despair. John Paul II said once that we owe secular filmmakers much gratitude for showing us powerfully, "what the world without God looks like." Munich is a world in which all the people with power have lost faith in the power of goodness. It's a world which is reconciled to killing its way out of a deep dark hole. Again, I am reminded of JPII's definition of a Culture of Death: "When people think the solution to a human problem will be found in killing other people."
Anyway, back to the film. Talk about all the elements serving the story! Man, I couldn't believe what I was seeing sometimes. It doens't feel like entertainment - but it is mostly riveting. I can't account for that, except to say that every so often, artistic content can be so overwhelming, that an audience will be engaged regardless of whether it adheres to principles of good storytelling. (ie. the day of 9/11, we were all trained on our TV sets. Those same five shots didn't get boring.) The film is really above all of the usual ways that I would begin to critique a film - plot points, performances and character development, tone and theme. The actors didn't feel like they were acting to me. How good is that? I'm not sure how to talk about it except to say that there was no ego in this film. There was non of Spielberg's patent cutesyness, or pandering to populist thrilling techniques. It was grimly focussed filmmaking. Disturbing and definitely not for the faint of heart. (NOTA BENE: Munich is not for those who are young in body or mind. I'm not sure it is good for those who are already afraid. It's very great art - but I'm not sure who it is good for. (Damn the artist as prophet! Why do they have to do things like this?!)
I think I understand now why Steven Spielberg has been making such weirdly fluctuating choices in movies in the last several years. First you make stunning and vital statements like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Then, you throw out themeless fluff like The Terminal and Catch Me If You Can. Then, the empty spectacle of War of the Worlds. I have thought up to now that Spielberg's problem was that he hadn't suffered. Now, I think it might be that he is suffering very much. Munich could only come from a man who is very sad and frightened. Hence, his problem as a filmmaker of unparalleled power. What do you say to the world when you can say anything, and you have been harboring a vision like Munich? If you are Christian, I think you make The Passion of the Christ. If you are pagan, you wring your hands and try to decide if it is morally legitimate to throw popcorn at people who are going on their merry way, "eating and drinking and getting married and giving in marriage" the world is about to crash down around them. But then you just have to cry out and you get Munich.
Munich was the most affecting film of the year. Terrible and devastating in its message, but masterful.
-------------
I saw a documentary on Sunday called What the West Needs to Know About Islam. Probably, it was a one-two-knockout combination to see this film right before Munich. Whatever. God willed it so. The doc has too much talking heads, and too much content, and several moments that are repetitive, and almost zero production design, but still packs a potent experience. I came away confirmed in my suspicion that Islam is an evil religion that is based on fear of women. It tells men that they can assimiliate the "greatness of Allah" - and subsequently Allah's above-reproachness no matter what. Islam validates the barbarian in man, that the love of woman usually keeps in check. It's a bad thing. It is certainly not a peaceful religion, despite the constant drumbeat to the contrary that comes from our politicos and cultural elites. Ask the wives of Islam how peaceful their life is? Islamic "peace" is built on domineering the hell out of women and infidels.
And the really bad news is, it seems like Islam is on an inexorable path to all out war with Western Judeo-Christian civilization. It's coming. Just ask Europe. The film makes the point that, in past centuries, the Cross of Christendom was a rallying point to stop the Islamic advance. The battles of Lepanto and Vienna were won as much by prayer and a common creed as by armies. Now that we have pretty much lost our Christian values, around what will the West rally to stop the complete Islamicism of the West? Will Fr. Richard McBrien and his cheering squad lead us to the ramparts? Will America magazine spur us on to the cross? Will Joel Osteen's "Good Life Now" keep us praising through torture and death? "When the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith left on earth?" Hmmmmm....
Anyway, back to the coming global jihad, I think the only hope for us may be alternate fuel sources to stop the flood of cash that is fueling the heart of Islam, or else that communist China will stamp it out...and perhaps much of Christendom too. Communism does offer a creed around which an opposition could be mounted as we have seen.
Anyway, if you want one more reason not to sleep very well at night, do try and catch What the West Needs to Know About Islam if it comes to a theater near you. And, oh, you should probably skip the popcorn for this one.
----------
I saw a three hour play Sunday based on Doestoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. It is running at the Ford Theater here in L.A. It was an ambitious thing for even a great playwright to attempt, and the writer in this case was not great. In the end, I came away thinking that, if, as Dostoevsky asserts, "Without immortality, all things are permissible," then, so to, without a cultural climate of religious faith, all great literature is incomprehensible. The audience of L.A. theater-goers watched with scrunched up, non-comprehension while Alyosha, Ivan, Dimitri and Fyodor flailed around on stage gushing about passion and faith and innocence and shame. It was the same way in which an orgiated Roman crowd might be distracted by the fears of a lost child. Ultimately irrelevant.
But, I have to say in desperation, that I don't think it was Dostoevsky who failed. The playwright and company were as much part of the problem. They didn't get what they were doing either. So, the play, in its three hours of flailing and bombast, left out the scene of "the Grand Inquisitor." Can you imagine trying to flesh out Ivan's problem without that sequence? No, it becomes a social justice problem for him, instead of a crisis of faith. Men have died for God and faith and worms have eaten them, but not for AIDS Walk L.A.
The play also turned Alyosha into a kind of manic sheep who screamed under pressure. He was the most ineffectual of all the characters. No "Hurrah for Karamazov!" here. It had to be this way in today's trendy Los Angeles theater community. How could the man of faith be anything but irrelevant and kind of pathetic?
Since I saw the play, I can't stop thinking that as we get further and further from a climate of faith, we will lose the ability to understand the relics of our cultural heritage. Are we going to have to start all over again?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Making Better Music
Just passing on an email message I received...
-------------
What teens and young adults hear on the radio and see on television has an incredible capacity to mold their worldview, a power which the media relentlessly abuses in propagating secularism and moral relativism, even perversion. The result has been the forging of one of the world’s largest and most needy unchurched youth mission fields, and it is right here in Massachusetts.
One year ago, at the urging of some friends at Boston’s WEZE, I began spending my own limited resources and time starting a grassroots effort among churches with the goal of providing wholesome, godly music radio for Massachusetts’ younger generation. Since then, providence and prayer have confirmed that God’s hand is upon this project. Very shortly, our weekly music program anticipates being boosted to 50 thousand watts as WNSH AM 1570 prepares to become the most powerful radio station on Boston’s North Shore.
Now is the time for Christians to claim Massachusetts’ FM airwaves for Christ. God has used His faithful in America to plant popular FM Christian music stations in virtually every other United States market, from Hawaii to Maine and from Florida to Alaska. Within the past three years, a brand new low-power FM Christian music station has sprung up in Worcester, Mass., and in December 2006 another low-power station is set to go on-air in Methuen, Mass..
We at the Boston FM Project, a non-profit ministry, believe that God has plans to reach Massachusetts with the Gospel through a new, full-power hit Christian music radio station. Boston, the culture war’s ground zero, lacks the type of Christian programming that appeals to the younger generation. Our vision is to provide teenagers and college-age adults with Christ-centered music that ministers to the believer’s soul and appeals powerfully to the lost, not through proselytization but through a hit music style consistent with modern trends.
You are invited to a free “Come Together” conference on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at Calvary Christian Church, 47 Grove Street, Lynnfield, MA 01940. We want to unite all of God’s faithful, as He uses us to create an FM Christian music station in Boston. We shall prayerfully present what is involved and how you can help. Please R.S.V.P. to 781-572-1118 by the end of February.
It’s time to conquer the last major Christian music frontier. God will do a mighty work here through us that will impact history forever. Please join with your Christian brothers and sisters across New England and the nation in reaching one of the world’s greatest mission fields, right here in America. I hope you have had a blessed Christmas and that I shall see you at the conference.
Sincerely,
Peter Vadala
President, the Boston FM Project
www.bostonfm.org
Christians coming together to conquer the last Christian music frontier
-------------
What teens and young adults hear on the radio and see on television has an incredible capacity to mold their worldview, a power which the media relentlessly abuses in propagating secularism and moral relativism, even perversion. The result has been the forging of one of the world’s largest and most needy unchurched youth mission fields, and it is right here in Massachusetts.
One year ago, at the urging of some friends at Boston’s WEZE, I began spending my own limited resources and time starting a grassroots effort among churches with the goal of providing wholesome, godly music radio for Massachusetts’ younger generation. Since then, providence and prayer have confirmed that God’s hand is upon this project. Very shortly, our weekly music program anticipates being boosted to 50 thousand watts as WNSH AM 1570 prepares to become the most powerful radio station on Boston’s North Shore.
Now is the time for Christians to claim Massachusetts’ FM airwaves for Christ. God has used His faithful in America to plant popular FM Christian music stations in virtually every other United States market, from Hawaii to Maine and from Florida to Alaska. Within the past three years, a brand new low-power FM Christian music station has sprung up in Worcester, Mass., and in December 2006 another low-power station is set to go on-air in Methuen, Mass..
We at the Boston FM Project, a non-profit ministry, believe that God has plans to reach Massachusetts with the Gospel through a new, full-power hit Christian music radio station. Boston, the culture war’s ground zero, lacks the type of Christian programming that appeals to the younger generation. Our vision is to provide teenagers and college-age adults with Christ-centered music that ministers to the believer’s soul and appeals powerfully to the lost, not through proselytization but through a hit music style consistent with modern trends.
You are invited to a free “Come Together” conference on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at Calvary Christian Church, 47 Grove Street, Lynnfield, MA 01940. We want to unite all of God’s faithful, as He uses us to create an FM Christian music station in Boston. We shall prayerfully present what is involved and how you can help. Please R.S.V.P. to 781-572-1118 by the end of February.
It’s time to conquer the last major Christian music frontier. God will do a mighty work here through us that will impact history forever. Please join with your Christian brothers and sisters across New England and the nation in reaching one of the world’s greatest mission fields, right here in America. I hope you have had a blessed Christmas and that I shall see you at the conference.
Sincerely,
Peter Vadala
President, the Boston FM Project
www.bostonfm.org
Christians coming together to conquer the last Christian music frontier
Monday, January 16, 2006
A Hollywood Theologian?
One of the things I do lately - while waiting for Clare S. to make time for being my writing partner again (sigh...) - is create course syllabi. On Monday nights I teach catechesis for Hollywood converts and updaters at Family Theater Productions (which is owned and operated by Holy Cross Family Ministries, the life project of Ven. Fr. Patrick Peyton.) On Tuesday mornings I teach theology for the Los Angeles Film Study Center, which is a semester in Hollywood program sponsored by the Consortium of Christian Colleges and Universities (I hope I am getting that name right....it's the kind of thing I always get wrong.) On Wednesday afternoons, I teach Advanced Screenwriting at Azusa Pacific University.
I am particualrly excited about the LAFSC course, as I have never formally taught theology before. As some of you will recall, for about five months, I was a docortal candidate in theology at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. Then, I realized that I am not the stuff which could ever be happy in the standard academic theological circles (Somebody ask, "Is there any other kind?" Answer: Oh yeah. It's called real life, baby....You either know what I mean or not.)
Anyway, my interest in the LAFSC program, has been to craft a course in theology that would actually be of some use to the 60 undergrad - mostly Comm studies majors - who are being forced to have to take it. The whole course is built around a series of inquiries which begin with the phrase, "Why does God care about...?" So, we have classes that attempt to lay out some kind of answer to questions like,
- Why does God care about art?
- Why does God care about beauty? (What makes art beautiful?)
- Why does God care about entertainment? (What makes entertainment beautiful?)
- Why does God care about movies? (What makes a movie beautiful?)
- Why does God care about stories? (What makes a story beautiful?)
- Why does God care about theatrical and visual storytelling?
- Why does God care about Christians working in a dangerous place (like Hollywood)?
- Why does God care about shame? (Why is shame good for the movies?)
- Why does God care about artists?
I only have an hour to talk about each of these over the next 10 weeks or so. Each deserves about ten weeks of reflection. But hopefully, we can give some of our young aspiring filmmakers - and certainly consumers of lots of entertainment in the future - some real lines to cling to in the storms. Shouldn't that be what theology does?
Anyway, here is the basic syllabus. If anyone thinks I am leaving something out, do comment.
____________
THEOLOGY FOR HOLLYWOOD
Instructor: Barbara R. Nicolosi, M.A.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will provide students with basic theological and philosophical underpinnings for their lives as entertainment artists and professionals, or as consumers of art and entertainment. Discussions, screenings and readings will seek to place the student’s work of entertainment creation in the context of the Christian mandate to serve and spread the Gospel to the whole world. We will consider creativity as a particularly manifestation of the universal priestly and prophetic mission of the People of God. We will consider the nature of beauty specifically in screen productions, and also the spiritual and theological goods that a beautiful movie brings which make it’s production of note to the church. We will look at the theological and spiritual ends of story and drama in general, and screen storytelling in particular. Finally, we will lay a foundation for a moral theology of the arts and consider the spiritual challenges of living as an apostle in the entertainment arena.
TEXTS:
1) Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on God, Faith and Culture, edited by Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara R. Nicolosi
Handouts from the following works (partial list):
1) Playwriting, by Louis B. Catron
2) essay "Theology and Film," by Jocelyn Mitchell
3) Art and the Beauty of God,, by Richard Harries
4) The Mind of the Maker,, by Dorothy Sayers
5) Letter to Artists, by John Paul II
6) Only the Lover Sings,, by Josef Pieper
7) "A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O’Connor
8) essay "Christian Art", by Jacques Maritain
9) The Christian Imagination
SCREENINGS:
1) Babette’s Feast
2) Crimes and Misdemeanors
3) 8 1/2, (Fellini)
4) Miller’s Crossing
5) In the Bedroom
6) The Decalogue, Episodes 5 and 6
7) Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
8) Adaptation
9) In America
COURSE SCHEDULE:
1) January 17, 2006 - WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Writing a Personal Credo – Hollywood is hard. For a Christian, the sacrifices required to achieve success are not worth the mere money and influence the industry has to give. Sustaining power can be found in a vocational commitment to a Hollywood career which comes from an awareness of the particular contribution each student might bring to the mix. What is it you have to say, that you must say to find peace?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handout from The Elements of Playwriting
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: 8 1/2
2) January 24, 2006 - “JUST A MOVIE”? A Theology of Entertainment – What are the spiritual goods that come through entertainment? Drama as catharsis. What can entertainment reveal to us about ourselves and God? Developmental needs in entertainment and spiritual/moral growth.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: 1) from Behind the Screen: Ch 3: “The Hollywood
Divide,” by Ron Austin; 2) Handout from Only the Lover Sings, by Josef Pieper
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Touch of Evil
3) January 31, 2006 - TO DECORATE AND PRAISE A Theology of Creativity and Beauty – Creativity as the expression of Divine love and the defining attribute of humans in creation. Movies as our decorations of the world of our time. What is beauty and what do human beings get from the beautiful? What is it that makes a movie beautiful?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handouts from Art and the Beauty of God
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Babette’s Feast
4) February 7, 2006 – Outside Speaker
5) February 14, 2006 – OUtside Speaker
6) February 21, 2006 - SPEAKING IN PARABLES: A Theology of Story – The kind of theological/spiritual/moral knowledge that stories convey. The difference between a story and a book of theology. The need for stories to be “better than real”; the need for completion; the need for “kharma”;
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 13, “What Kind of Stories Should We Tell?,” by Linda Seger and Ch. “What Would Jesus Write?,” by Sheryl Anderson
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: The Decalogue, Episode 5 and 6
7) February 28, 2006 - WHAT MOVIES ADD TO STORYTELLING: Haunting Moments in Cinema – Creating moments in a movie that will leave the viewer wrestling with the truth. The power of paradox, especially visual paradox.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handout from Mystery and Manners
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Miller’s Crossing
8) March 7, 2006 - WORLDVIEW IN MOVIES: A Theology of Theme
Themes vs. story – what kind of projects should Christians make? What would be defining themes for us as storytellers? The power in movies as where you start, not where you end.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 4, “Why do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films?,” by Thom Parham; handout from Art and Scholasticism
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Crimes and Misdemeanors
9) SHAME AND SACREDNESS: Towards an Ethics of Entertainment –
Looking for ethical guidelines in entertainment in the new theology of the body. Coarsening human culture or refining it? How can we use violence and sex in entertainment? The power in entertainment and the responsible use of that power. (deceit, distortion, manipulation, propaganda). Is it ethical to not do good when we can?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: handout “Three Faces of Evil”; handout, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: In America
10) THE CHURCH ON THE SIDELINES: Cinema Criticism in the Church –
Considering the various prejudices and predispositions that are “out there” in the Church as regards cinema and Hollywood. Considering some of the work being done in theology and culture.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: 1) “Theology and Film,” by Jocelyn Mitchell; 2) from Behind the Screen: Ch. 14: “A Filmmakers Progress,” by Scott Derrickson and Ch. 10: “Towards a Christian Cinema,” by Barbara Nicolosi
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: In The Bedroom
11) HOLINESS IN HOLLYWOOD: A Spirituality for the Entertainment Industry - The priestly/sacrificial role of the Christian as artist. What comes with the territory and how to transform potential spiritual stumbling blocks into stepping stones. The demands of isolation, insufficiency and rejection, collaboration, instability, success.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 9, “A Hollywood Survival Guide,” by Ralph Winter; Handout from Letter to Artists, John Paul II
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Adaptation
I am particualrly excited about the LAFSC course, as I have never formally taught theology before. As some of you will recall, for about five months, I was a docortal candidate in theology at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. Then, I realized that I am not the stuff which could ever be happy in the standard academic theological circles (Somebody ask, "Is there any other kind?" Answer: Oh yeah. It's called real life, baby....You either know what I mean or not.)
Anyway, my interest in the LAFSC program, has been to craft a course in theology that would actually be of some use to the 60 undergrad - mostly Comm studies majors - who are being forced to have to take it. The whole course is built around a series of inquiries which begin with the phrase, "Why does God care about...?" So, we have classes that attempt to lay out some kind of answer to questions like,
- Why does God care about art?
- Why does God care about beauty? (What makes art beautiful?)
- Why does God care about entertainment? (What makes entertainment beautiful?)
- Why does God care about movies? (What makes a movie beautiful?)
- Why does God care about stories? (What makes a story beautiful?)
- Why does God care about theatrical and visual storytelling?
- Why does God care about Christians working in a dangerous place (like Hollywood)?
- Why does God care about shame? (Why is shame good for the movies?)
- Why does God care about artists?
I only have an hour to talk about each of these over the next 10 weeks or so. Each deserves about ten weeks of reflection. But hopefully, we can give some of our young aspiring filmmakers - and certainly consumers of lots of entertainment in the future - some real lines to cling to in the storms. Shouldn't that be what theology does?
Anyway, here is the basic syllabus. If anyone thinks I am leaving something out, do comment.
____________
THEOLOGY FOR HOLLYWOOD
Instructor: Barbara R. Nicolosi, M.A.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will provide students with basic theological and philosophical underpinnings for their lives as entertainment artists and professionals, or as consumers of art and entertainment. Discussions, screenings and readings will seek to place the student’s work of entertainment creation in the context of the Christian mandate to serve and spread the Gospel to the whole world. We will consider creativity as a particularly manifestation of the universal priestly and prophetic mission of the People of God. We will consider the nature of beauty specifically in screen productions, and also the spiritual and theological goods that a beautiful movie brings which make it’s production of note to the church. We will look at the theological and spiritual ends of story and drama in general, and screen storytelling in particular. Finally, we will lay a foundation for a moral theology of the arts and consider the spiritual challenges of living as an apostle in the entertainment arena.
TEXTS:
1) Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on God, Faith and Culture, edited by Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara R. Nicolosi
Handouts from the following works (partial list):
1) Playwriting, by Louis B. Catron
2) essay "Theology and Film," by Jocelyn Mitchell
3) Art and the Beauty of God,, by Richard Harries
4) The Mind of the Maker,, by Dorothy Sayers
5) Letter to Artists, by John Paul II
6) Only the Lover Sings,, by Josef Pieper
7) "A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O’Connor
8) essay "Christian Art", by Jacques Maritain
9) The Christian Imagination
SCREENINGS:
1) Babette’s Feast
2) Crimes and Misdemeanors
3) 8 1/2, (Fellini)
4) Miller’s Crossing
5) In the Bedroom
6) The Decalogue, Episodes 5 and 6
7) Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
8) Adaptation
9) In America
COURSE SCHEDULE:
1) January 17, 2006 - WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Writing a Personal Credo – Hollywood is hard. For a Christian, the sacrifices required to achieve success are not worth the mere money and influence the industry has to give. Sustaining power can be found in a vocational commitment to a Hollywood career which comes from an awareness of the particular contribution each student might bring to the mix. What is it you have to say, that you must say to find peace?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handout from The Elements of Playwriting
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: 8 1/2
2) January 24, 2006 - “JUST A MOVIE”? A Theology of Entertainment – What are the spiritual goods that come through entertainment? Drama as catharsis. What can entertainment reveal to us about ourselves and God? Developmental needs in entertainment and spiritual/moral growth.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: 1) from Behind the Screen: Ch 3: “The Hollywood
Divide,” by Ron Austin; 2) Handout from Only the Lover Sings, by Josef Pieper
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Touch of Evil
3) January 31, 2006 - TO DECORATE AND PRAISE A Theology of Creativity and Beauty – Creativity as the expression of Divine love and the defining attribute of humans in creation. Movies as our decorations of the world of our time. What is beauty and what do human beings get from the beautiful? What is it that makes a movie beautiful?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handouts from Art and the Beauty of God
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Babette’s Feast
4) February 7, 2006 – Outside Speaker
5) February 14, 2006 – OUtside Speaker
6) February 21, 2006 - SPEAKING IN PARABLES: A Theology of Story – The kind of theological/spiritual/moral knowledge that stories convey. The difference between a story and a book of theology. The need for stories to be “better than real”; the need for completion; the need for “kharma”;
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 13, “What Kind of Stories Should We Tell?,” by Linda Seger and Ch. “What Would Jesus Write?,” by Sheryl Anderson
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: The Decalogue, Episode 5 and 6
7) February 28, 2006 - WHAT MOVIES ADD TO STORYTELLING: Haunting Moments in Cinema – Creating moments in a movie that will leave the viewer wrestling with the truth. The power of paradox, especially visual paradox.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: Handout from Mystery and Manners
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Miller’s Crossing
8) March 7, 2006 - WORLDVIEW IN MOVIES: A Theology of Theme
Themes vs. story – what kind of projects should Christians make? What would be defining themes for us as storytellers? The power in movies as where you start, not where you end.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 4, “Why do Heathens Make the Best Christian Films?,” by Thom Parham; handout from Art and Scholasticism
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Crimes and Misdemeanors
9) SHAME AND SACREDNESS: Towards an Ethics of Entertainment –
Looking for ethical guidelines in entertainment in the new theology of the body. Coarsening human culture or refining it? How can we use violence and sex in entertainment? The power in entertainment and the responsible use of that power. (deceit, distortion, manipulation, propaganda). Is it ethical to not do good when we can?
TO READ IN ADVANCE: handout “Three Faces of Evil”; handout, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: In America
10) THE CHURCH ON THE SIDELINES: Cinema Criticism in the Church –
Considering the various prejudices and predispositions that are “out there” in the Church as regards cinema and Hollywood. Considering some of the work being done in theology and culture.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: 1) “Theology and Film,” by Jocelyn Mitchell; 2) from Behind the Screen: Ch. 14: “A Filmmakers Progress,” by Scott Derrickson and Ch. 10: “Towards a Christian Cinema,” by Barbara Nicolosi
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: In The Bedroom
11) HOLINESS IN HOLLYWOOD: A Spirituality for the Entertainment Industry - The priestly/sacrificial role of the Christian as artist. What comes with the territory and how to transform potential spiritual stumbling blocks into stepping stones. The demands of isolation, insufficiency and rejection, collaboration, instability, success.
TO READ IN ADVANCE: from Behind the Screen: Ch. 9, “A Hollywood Survival Guide,” by Ralph Winter; Handout from Letter to Artists, John Paul II
TO SCREEN IN ADVANCE: Adaptation
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