Posted on November 12, 2008 at 3:32 pm
An incredible bonanza for “High School Musical” fans — Beliefnet’s Idol Chatter is giving away some special HSM3 treats. Post a comment (on Idol Chatter, not here), answering this question:
Have you ever been separated from a close friend? How do you keep your friendship alive?
The best answers will win an HSM3 prize pack including a poster, t-shirt, and temporary tattoos. Now go over there and enter!
Posted on November 3, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Steve Russo, author of Wildcats in the House: Spiritual Stuff You Can Get From High School Musical
Posted on October 29, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Idol Chatter has a great post with a list of the best movies about putting your faith in love (and cry in the process). I don’t agree with all of the choices — I find “The Other Sister” and “Stepmom” manipulative and maudlin and while I know “The Notebook” has zillions of passionate fans, it never moved me as much as I wanted it to. But I love the idea of this list and have a few movies to add:
1. “Truly, Madly, Deeply” One of the greatest films ever about love and loss with heart-wrenching performances by Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman.
2. “Brief Encounter” A woman who thinks she is perfectly content with her life finds that she is capable of a deeper love — and a more painful sense of loss — than she ever imagined. See also the underrated “Falling in Love” with Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro.
3. “Sophie’s Choice” Loving someone cannot save them. Streep and Kevin Kline. Get out your hankies.
4. “An Affair to Remember” Watch the shipboard romance and skip through the kids singing but don’t miss that final scene, when Cary Grant finds out why Deborah Kerr wasn’t waiting for him on top of the Empire State Building.
5. “Dark Victory” Bette Davis is a headstrong party girl who finds love with the doctor when it is almost too late. See also “Now Voyager,” where Davis tells the man she loves but cannot be with not to ask for the moon because they have the stars.
Posted on September 28, 2008 at 11:07 am
Professional Enfant Terrible Bill Maher has a new movie called Religulous in which he attacks religion, religious beliefs, and believers.
Beliefnet founder Steven Waldman discusses his decision to run ads for this movie on his blog. He says the movie is “funny, offensive, slippery, and more challenging than I expected.” He accepts the creation of a “Disbeliefnet” website as a compliment.
We have great confidence in the power of faith and the sincerity of believers. In the movie he casts believers as being a) against free speech b) humorless and c) idiots.
Let’s show him that he’s wrong on all counts. If you see the movie, please come here, Movie Mom, Idol Chatter, or to our forums – a hot discussion is already going on here — not only discuss it but also to speak about what faith or spirituality means in your life. Tell us how faith, or your spiritual practice, has made you a better person or your world a better place. If you hate the movie (as many of you will), prove Maher wrong.
Like Waldman, I believe that faith is not worth much unless it can withstand attacks by non-believers. And like many religious leaders, I believe that believers often fail to live up to the principles of their denominations, and appreciate those who expose hypocricy — that makes us stronger and better. I will be seeing the movie tomorrow afternoon and posting my review Thursday night. I look forward to your reactions.
Posted on September 13, 2008 at 9:48 am
There’s a terrific Idol Chatter post about the Chabad telethon with clips from John Voight, Matt LeBlanc as Joey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a lot of men dancing together. Chabad’s 2008 telethon broadcasts tomorrow, September 14.
