The Mark

Posted on November 3, 2012 at 3:59 pm

The Mark is the first of a two-part Christian end times film starring Craig Sheffer. He plays Chad Turner, a non-believer who gets caught up in the fight of his life and of his soul as a courier of a critically important biometric chip with world-changing powers. On board an airplane with a businessman named Mr. Cooper (Eric Roberts), who will present the chip to the G20 summit, they are taken prisoner by Joseph Pike (Gary Daniels), a brutal man who has been hired by a billionaire to get the chip for him.

But Turner is not carrying the chip. It has been implanted in his arm. It is worthless unless he is alive. Pike and Cooper are utterly ruthless but both have to find a way to fight each other without crashing the plane or killing Turner. And then, somehow, some of the people on the plane just disappear, without their clothes and jewelry. Everyone else is left behind.

Turner has lost his faith in just about everything, except perhaps for a lovely flight attendant named Dao (Sonia Couling). But the brutality and corruption he sees in Cooper and Pike and the goodness he sees in Deo awaken the hero in him.

I have one copy to give away. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Mark” in the subject line and don’t forget to include your address (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner at random on November 7.

New From Veggie Tales: The League of Incredible Vegetables

Posted on October 27, 2012 at 8:00 am

The Veggie Tales folks at Big Idea Entertainment have a new DVD just in time for Halloween, to help kids who might have a hard time telling the difference between fun scary and scary scary. It’s called The League of Incredible Vegetables and it’s the first superhero-themed Veggie Tales story. Bad guy Dr. Flurry wants to freeze the town — with fear! That’s too much for just one superhero to handle, so LarryBoy, Thingamabob (Bob the Tomato), S-Cape (Mr. Lunt), Vogue (Petunia Rhubarb) and Ricochet (Junior Asparagus) have to work together and learn to understand and overcome their own fears in order to save the day. No one does silly stories with real lessons better than the Veggies. This one is a lot of fun and a good way to start some conversations about fear, faith, and cooperation. For a free craft and coloring sheet to go with the DVD, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Veggies in the subject line.

Contest: Blue Like Jazz

Posted on September 4, 2012 at 4:00 am

I am thrilled to give away a copy of one of my favorite films of the year, Blue Like Jazz. Director Steve Taylor raised the money for the film $10 at a time on Kickstarter. Fans of the inspirational book by Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, were eager to provide backing for a movie version of Miller’s story of his journey from a very strict fundamentalist upbringing to his studies at one of the most free-thinking schools in the world, Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Taylor told me about adapting a book of essays on spirituality into a movie:

I read it six years ago over Christmas and it’s not the sort of book you put down and say, “I see this movie in my head!” But it struck me as, this would make a great movie, particularly that part about that guy growing up as a suburban youth as a Southern Baptist, really conservative culture, and then ending up at Reed College. It would be hard to imagine a more opposite place. So I showed up for a reading, and they had a line wrapped around the block, and afterwards I pitched him the idea and from the beginning, told him, “Look, I think this’ll make a great movie, but I would love to end it with the confessional scene which is a really powerful scene in the book. The big change I’d like to propose is that in the book, he’s a thirty-year old writer who lives off campus and audits classes. I just think a more interesting movie story would be if you were a college student.” You know, usually authors understandably are very protective about their work and what they’ve written, and particularly if it’s memoir-ish, but he just immediately sparked to that. I think he would tell you it’s because he’s seen too many books, memoirs in particular, turned into movies where they tried to stick exactly to the book and it made for a bad movie. He recognized that it’s a different craft, and that the goal is to keep the truth but to make a compelling movie story.

The movie achieves that goal. To enter the contest, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Blue” in the subject line and tell me a book you like about spirituality or inspiration. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.) I’ll pick a winner on September 9. Good luck!

Related Tags:

Contests and Giveaways Spiritual films

Touchback

Posted on September 3, 2012 at 5:00 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic elements
Profanity:	Mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Some drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Some tense emotional confrontations
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	April 13, 2012
Date Released to DVD:	September 3, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:	B005TCL1P2

Haven’t we all wished for a chance to live that one moment over again?

Scott (Brian Presley, who also produced) has that opportunity in “Touchback,” the story of a man who wants to go back to his days as a star high school football player, before a career-ending knee injury on a game-winning goal ended his days as a player. He gets that chance to see what could have happened in this touching story reminiscent of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” But will he choose his knee over the win? Will winning the game keep him taking his success for granted and overlooking the girl who isn’t the popular cheerleader but who understands integrity and loyalty? And would she notice him if he was still the arrogant jock?

(Cue Garth Brooks’ “Unanswered Prayers.”)

Kurt Russell, Marc Blucas, Christine Lahti, and Melanie Lynskey co-star in the film, which is sure to lead to some good family conversations.

Smile of the Week: Marc Erlbaum’s Progress on “The Meaning of Life”

Posted on July 30, 2012 at 9:41 pm

I was delighted to get an update from Marc Erlbaum about what has happened since our interview about his new documentary on what people think about the meaning of life. Here’s his latest, a sweet reminder that while we sometimes focus on all that is wrong so that we can work to make it better, sometimes it is just as important to focus on what is right.

And here is an interview with a man who wants to help us see what — and who — we over look.

I’ve added my support to this wonderful project and if you want to find out more and look at additional stories about what people find meaningful, check out lifemeanswhat.com