Wow, these discs just keep getting cheaper and cheaper. Two years, two months and a few weeks ago, I picked up the then-new two-disc Star Trek: The Motion Picture set for about CDN$32, after tax. Since then, Paramount has been re-issuing the subsequent Star Trek films as two-disc sets packed with extras, at a pace of one every several months, and today, I picked up the two-disc Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country set for about CDN$16. First, I must... Read more
THOUSANDS of Canadian pastors and ministry leaders got a sneak preview of The Passion of the Christ last week, as Campus Crusade and several other evangelistic organizations sponsored a cross-country tour of a rough cut of Mel Gibson’s graphic and controversial film about the death of Jesus. The film was shown to an estimated 9,000 people in nine cities over six days, beginning in Halifax and ending with two screenings January 17 at Pacific Academy’s Chandos Pattison Auditorium in Surrey,... Read more
As per my 2003 Journal, videos and DVDs are in italics. Films I saw for the first time have an asterisk (*) next to them. Not counting extras and promo items. Jan 2 — 21 Grams * Jan 3 — The Statement * Jan 4 — Cold Mountain * Jan 5 — Girl with a Pearl Earring * Jan 5 — The Butterfly Effect * Jan 5 — The Last Temptation of Christ [w/ audio commentary] Jan 7 — Monster... Read more
FROM THE extra definite article in the film’s title to the digital re-colouring of actor James Caviezel’s eyes, Mel Gibson is still tweaking The Passion of the Christ, his film about the death of Jesus. The film, which was originally going to be titled The Passion, was re-named The Passion of Christ a few months ago when it turned out Miramax had already registered ‘The Passion’ for an adaptation of the Jeanette Winterson novel of that name. Gibson has since... Read more
SO MUCH for the salvation of humanity. When The Matrix first came out four and a half years ago, many Christians were intrigued and excited by the film’s many biblical allusions. The protagonist was a hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) who discovered that the entire human race was trapped within a virtual reality, and all people were living in a computer-generated dream state to hide the fact that the world had been conquered by machines that were using human beings... Read more
Artistically and financially, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (hereafter known as ST5:TFF) has long been widely regarded as the least successful film in the Star Trek franchise, at least until Star Trek: Nemesis came out last year. So of course, I approached the “collector’s edition” two-disc DVD set — which came out yesterday, 14 years and a few months after the film came out in theatres — curious to see whether the film’s low reputation would be acknowledged in... Read more
IS MEL Gibson yielding to criticism over his death-of-Christ movie The Passion? In some ways, it seems he might be. Earlier this year, Gibson told reporters Holly McClure and Raymond Arroyo in on-the-set interviews that his film made significant use of the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich, a 19th-century stigmatic nun. He even cited his seemingly accidental discovery of The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a published record of her visions, as a sign that he had... Read more
THE PASSION, Mel Gibson’s much-hyped movie about the events leading to the death of Christ, won’t be coming to theatres near us for nearly a year; Gibson plans to release it in time for Easter 2004. But the controversy over his film is already under way — and people are taking sides in the debate even though no one has yet seen the finished film. (more…) Read more
• John Killinger: God, the Devil & Harry Potter, St. Martin’s, 2002. • Connie Neal: The Gospel According to Harry Potter, Westminster John Knox, 2002. • John Granger: The Hidden Key to Harry Potter, Zossima, 2002. CHRISTIAN Harry Potter fans, unite! It has been over two years since Richard Abanes wrote Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace behind the Magick, a scathing critique of just about everything to do with J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series about an orphaned English boy... Read more
IT’S TOO early to say all that much about The Matrix Reloaded — it’s only the first half of a two-part sequel that won’t be over until the next installment comes out in November — but the film does force fans of the first movie to rethink everything they thought they knew about it. (more…) Read more
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