Religion in film: characters, themes, resources

Posted on March 3, 2008 at 8:00 am

Beliefnet’s Kris Rasmussen has a list of 10 positive Christian characters in recent films. I was pleased to see Amy Adams’ performance in Junebug included, though for me the most spiritually touching moment in the movie was when Alessandro Nivola, as her character’s highly secular brother-in-law surprises his new wife by getting up at a church dinner to sing a hymn. The list is an excellent one, including historical characters like Sophie Scholl and James J. Braddock and fictional characters like Spider-Man‘s Aunt May.

An online film festival called “One Nation, Many Voices” announced the winners of its competition for authentic, non-stereotyped portrayal of Muslim-American characters.

Adherents.com has an excellent spiritual guide to movies that includes the religious affiliations of the most influential film-makers and critics’ lists of the best Catholic and Jewish movies.

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Spiritual films

Penelope

Posted on February 29, 2008 at 9:27 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic elements, some innuendo and language.
Profanity:	Mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense emotional confrontations, some mild violence
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	February 29, 2008

This off-beat and uneven fairy tale has something in common with its heroine — an uncertain incongruity. That heroine is Penelope (Christina Ricci), an educated, wealthy young woman with a loving heart and the nose of a pig. More of a snout, actually. While it is actually kind of cute, Penelope’s prospective suitors are so horrified by it that one after the other they leap out of her mansion through the window, wanting to get away so fast they do not have time to take the stairs and leave by the door.
The pig nose is the result of a generation-spanning curse. Knowing that the curse can be broken if Penelope is loved and accepted by her equal, her parents (Richard E. Grant and Catherine O’Hara) keep her hidden away and parade dozens of suitable suitors in front of Penelope’s two-way mirror. If they can just keep her indoors until the curse is broken, they think she can have a normal life.
But being kept inside like a hothouse flower (the production design includes bell jars and a terrarium) is not normal. And so, as all captive princesses in fairy tales must, she runs away. And as all romantic comedy leading ladies must, she meets a prince with a secret (James McAvoy).

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Song of Bernadette

Posted on February 27, 2008 at 1:06 pm

The anniversary of the shrine at Lourdes is a good reminder of the lovely performance of Jennifer Jones in “Song of Bernadette,” the story of the young girl who saw “a beautiful lady” and became Saint Bernadette Soubirous.

Beowulf

Posted on February 26, 2008 at 6:00 am

One of the oldest surviving stories is retold through one of the most modern of technologies in a thrilling 3-D adventure from director Robert Zemeckis.

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3D Action/Adventure Animation

Charlie Bartlett

Posted on February 21, 2008 at 6:00 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language, drug content and brief nudity.
Profanity:	Very strong language used by teenagers and adults
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and alcohol abuse, drug use and abuse of prescription drugs, smoking all by both teenagers and adults
Violence/ Scariness:	Gun, fistfights, bullies
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	February 22, 2008

charlie%20bartlett.jpg Charlie Bartlett (Anton Yelchin) has been kicked out of so many posh prep schools that the only thing left to try is the local public school. At first, he shows up wearing his prep school blazer and carrying an attaché case, but he soon learns — around the time that a Mohawk-haired bully gives him a swirly — that this is not the way to fit in. And it only takes him a little bit longer to discover that he has what it takes to become truly popular: the willingness to listen to kids and the access to a wide range of prescription psychotropic drugs.
Charlie’s popularity is a concern to the harried principal (Robert Downey, Jr.), especially after Charlie attracts the attention of the principal’s daughter (Kat Dennings). And Charlie has some issues of his own to resolve. He will not speak to his father and feels responsible for his mother (Hope Davis), whose devotion to him is is lost in a mist of pharmaceuticals and alcohol.

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Comedy Drama Movies -- format