I am delighted to have five copies of Little Angels: Animals, the latest in Roma Downey’s DVD series for preschoolers, to give away to my readers.
The DVDs are designed to help teach children their ABC’s, 123’s, and also introduce them to bible stories. Roma Downey who starred in the hugely successful television show “Touched By An Angel” believes that introducing children to the Bible is one of the most important things parents can do for their children.
Families will enjoy these gentle lessons and I look forward to sharing them with five lucky winners. To enter, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Angels in the subject line and tell me how old your child or grandchild is. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only). I’ll pick a winner on June 6. Thanks and good luck!
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexuality, drug and alcohol content, and some language
Profanity:
Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:
Drinking and drugs
Violence/ Scariness:
References to tragic world situations, family stress
Diversity Issues:
A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:
April 20, 2012
Date Released to DVD:
August 6, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN:
0785263705
Donald Miller’s best-selling collection of essays, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality has become a crowd-financed and lightly fictionalized film about a Texas teenager from a sheltered Baptist community who goes to the famously free-thinking Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
Marshall Allman of “True Blood” plays Miller, whose Alice in Wonderland-style immersion in a world where everything is questioned and debated is disturbing the way jazz music is disturbing — it never resolves. In Texas, the answers were always laid out in nice straight lines. Everything resolves. Miller’s estranged father, an intellectual who listens to jazz and lives in a trailer, tells him it is time to improvise, to challenge his ideas. His father has arranged for him to be admitted to Reed. When Miller begins to suspect for the first time that not everyone practices what they preach, even at church, he decides to give it a try.
“Forget everything you think you know,” he is told when he arrives. “Sexual identity is social construct,” explains a girl who is using the urinal next to him in the men’s room. One student is handing out free bottles of water and another is handing out literature explaining why bottled water is a scourge and a fraud. Students get credit for civil disobedience. Even his most mundane beliefs are challenged: no one in Oregon carries an umbrella when it rains. Why separate yourself from the elements?
The script by Miller, director Steve Taylor, and co-producer Ben Pearson, smooths out the story (the real Miller did not arrive at Reed until he was 30 and he audited some classes but did not enroll). They wisely avoid the easy and obvious “fish out of water” confrontations. Refreshingly, Miller and his classmate heretics are from the beginning almost always very tolerant of each other’s ways of approaching the world. Indeed, while Miller is warned that the other students may not accept his faith, the most intolerant behavior comes from Miller when he feels betrayed in a very personal way by his church (the film’s only disappointing departure from the real story for the sake of narrative tidiness).
This is a very strong movie in its own terms, a thoughtful, smart, sensitive coming-of-age story. Reedies will enjoy familiar sights from Powell’s bookstore (the site of a debate about the existence of God) to the scroungers’ table in the cafeteria. Most important is that just as Miller’s book explores an expansive, golden-rule-based version of Christianity, the film itself takes sincere, faith-based story-telling out of the narrow confines of what is currently classified as “Christian entertainment.” The real divide is not between believers and non-believers but between those who believe that questioning and tolerance bring them closer to God and those who prefer constant reinforcement of what they think they already know. The vocabulary of faith should not be the exclusive property of one small subset of believers, and it is heartening to watch a movie that makes that point with such grace.
A lamb with the courage of a lion named Judah and his friends from a Bethlehem stable go on a journey in the week before the Crucifixion in this animated film with the voices of Ernest Borgnine and Bruce Marchiano. It is the Easter story as seen through the eyes of a lovable pig (Horace), a faint-hearted horse (Monty), a pedantic rat (Slink), a rambling rooster (Drake), a motherly cow (Esmay) and a downtrodden donkey (Jack).
Judah and his friends go on an adventure that takes them past the great temple, onto the hillside of Calvary, and to the empty tomb, as their journey takes them through the biblical accounts of Palm Sunday, Jesus turning the tables in the temple, Peter’s denial and the resurrection.
I have three copies to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Judah” in the subject line and tell me your favorite sign of spring. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.) I’ll pick three winners at random on March 28. Good luck!
Have you ever wished you had taken another path? We all wonder what our lives would be like if we had made a different choice and movies like “Me Myself I,” “The Family Man,” and “Sliding Doors” feature characters who get a chance to see the road not taken. The latest film to explore this idea is “Me Again,” a funny and inspiring film about a middle-aged pastor (David A.R. White) who gets a chance to see himself in several different lives, from a wealthy businessman to a model and even a fish.
I spoke to the beautiful Ali Landry about her role as the preacher’s estranged wife and her faith as a sustaining force in her life and her relationships.
Why was this film something you wanted to do?
Me Again is a great little family film and very witty and funny and I liked the topic it tackled.
Is it important to you that your work be family-friendly?
Yes. There are a lot of things I consider when I look at a project, but the most important is the takeaway for the audience. Does it inspire them to take action? What is the message behind it?
What is the takeaway for this film?
They say it several times in the film — happiness is a choice and before you start looking outside the place you are in, think about the blessings that you do have in your life. My husband and I talk about it all the time. We don’t understand how a marriage can survive without having God in it. All you have to do is reach out and He will answer. He is there for you.
What do you and your husband do to keep God present in your marriage?
We go to church of course. We have a Bible study we go to — that’s where we met. We surround ourselves with like-minded friends. And we like to do business where everyone is on the same page. My husband knows that his producing partners will hold him accountable and have his back in every situation.
Tell me a little about your faith journey.
I grew up Catholic and I was practicing to a certain extent but I was not walking the walk. I was going through my life with blinders on. I am very clear on the changing moment. Before I met my husband I was in a relationship for six years. There was infidelity and it really caused me to re-evaluate and change my entire life. That was the moment I began seeking out God and needed Him to help me put one foot in front of the other.
Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
I didn’t have a favorite verse at the time when I was seeking God but I would pray before opening the Bible and ask a question and the passage I would read would give me a wave of peace and I always thought, “My questions were answered.”
How do you balance your home and work life?
That is the big question. Every day I try to figure it out. I go into every day with the intention of being the best I can be for my husband, for my children, for my work, for my friends. But I try to give myself a break. As a mom there’s the overwhelming guilt you always have about not doing enough but the next day is a new day and I will start fresh and try again.
Do you, like the character in the movie, sometimes wish you could see what your life would be if you took another path?
I don’t even go there. I honestly feel like in that situation I told you about I heard God’s voice more clearly than I ever had in my life. That’s where I was seeking Him out the most. Even with the choices I’ve made since then I’ve felt I was swimming against the tide and out on my own. I had a lot of pushback from my agents and managers when I gave them limitations on what I would and would not do. But it gave me strength and I know I am doing exactly what I need to be doing in my life. Any time I see a glimmer of “what if” or “I wish,” it’s about switching the gears in your mind. I know I am where I am supposed to be and I’ve never been so happy and content. That’s the difference in having the Lord in your life. It keeps you in check.
Is it difficult to be a person of faith in show business?
Absolutely! I have to say no to a lot of projects. Thank goodness my husband and I are on the exact same page and he encourages me. I was working working working for ten years with no breaks. As soon as I took a stand, everything stopped and that was shocking. But he encouraged me to take on my own projects and and I am working very hard and very excited and happy.
Tell me about your newest television project.
It’s called “Hollywood Girls Night.” It was originally “Hollywood Moms Night.” Alison Sweeney and I started it about 18 months ago. We would invite our friends, other girls in the business and celebrity moms once a month, pot luck at each others’ homes, to be a support system for each other. On television you see women so many times tearing each other apart. One of my friends is actually on one of those shows and they pull her into meetings and say, “There’s not enough drama, you need to confront each other!” We wanted to do something where we just showed up for each other, a support system both professionally and in our home lives. People really responded to that and said they wanted to start their own groups. So we decided to create a television show, and it premieres on March 5. And I have another project called Spokesmoms, where every mom is a spokesmom, giving moms that really strong voice about the products they love.
“Do not just a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes,” we are told, and that is the message of this understated film about a gifted pitcher who is on the autism spectrum and the minor league team coach who learns as much from him as he teaches. Dean Cain plays Murph, badly in need of a new pitcher when he gets into an accident near a farm in a remote area with no cell coverage so has to ask for help to call for a tow. He sees the farmer’s son Mickey (Luke Schroder), a sheltered young man who likes to throw apples for his pig and can throw them very fast and very hard. Mickey is on the autism spectrum and his parents have kept him on the farm all his life.
Murph wants to take Mickey to the team. Mickey’s mother supports the idea but his father does not think Mickey can function away from home. Murph promises he will take care of Mickey, and his parents allow him to try to join the team. There are a number of adjustment problems but most of the teammates are supportive. The other pitcher, though, is jealous, and as Mickey continues to do well, he is determined to stop him.
Director William Dear likes to use baseball as a backdrop for family-friendly stories with a spiritual foundation (“Angels in the Outfield,” “The Perfect Game”). There are no surprises in this one but its humility, sincerity, and decency make it watchable.
I am delighted to have five copies of Little Angels: Animals
has become a crowd-financed and lightly fictionalized film about a Texas teenager from a sheltered Baptist community who goes to the famously free-thinking 
,” a funny and inspiring film about a middle-aged pastor (David A.R. White) who gets a chance to see himself in several different lives, from a wealthy businessman to a model and even a fish.