I liked Avatar the first time I saw it. . . when it was “Dances with Wolves.” Kevin Costner’s name didn’t appear in the closing credits of “Avatar,” but it should have. The plot was nearly identical to the 1990 Costner flick. Pretty much, “Avatar” is “Dances with Wolves” plus some amazing special effects, a little post-Bush-era leftism, and a heavy dose of pantheistic creation-worship. I put-off reading any reviews of the film until after seeing it myself, but now I can recommend some to you that are worth your time: John Podhoretz, Russell Moore, Ross Douthat, Peter Suderman, and Rod Dreher. If you like the spectacle of innovative, grandiose…
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Russell Moore’s Review of “The Princess and the Frog”
Check out Russell Moore’s review of the new Disney film “The Princess and the Frog.” It’s really good. He lists five things he likes about the movie and four things that he really hates. Here’s my favorite part: ‘Disney is embarrassed (and rightly so) now by the racial stereotypes present in at least one of their earlier movies. No one now would market crude ethnic caricatures in an animated film, and that’s a good thing. Why then is it okay to use the most derogatory and cardboard stereotypes of rural working southern people? The cajuns in the bayou are presented as characters from “Deliverance.” ‘Wendell Berry rightly warned us against…
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Rudolph Airs Tonight
How many of you can remember the days when the Abominable Snowman was one of the scariest things going? The stop-motion classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” airs tonight on CBS at 8pm ET. When I was growing up, this was must-see TV every year. FYI.
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Free Christmas Music at Amazon.com
Amazon.com is giving away “25 Days of Free” Christmas music. Every day in December until Christmas, they are giving away a new Christmas mp3. Artists include Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns, Tori Amos, and many others. Amazon.com is also selling 99 mp3’s of classical Christian music for only $5. It’s called “X5 Free Classical Sampler – Classical Christmas,” and this one is worth your time to check out as well.
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Free X-mas Music from iTunes
iTunes has 20 Christmas songs available for free download. It’s an eclectic mix including Amy Grant, Weezer, Sarah McLachlan, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, and Stephen Colbert. To download from the iTunes store, click here.
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“Twilight†Is a Mormon Love Story?
I just read a fascinating article in Touchstone magazine about the meaning of the Twilight vampire series. In his article “Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden,” John Granger argues that the Twilight story is actually a metaphor for Mormonism. “Twilight is essentially an allegory of one gentile seeker’s coming to the fullness of Latter-day Saint faith and life.” If this sounds far-fetched to you, then you need to read the article. Granger bears out his thesis by connecting the events and characters of the Twilight books to the history and theology of Mormonism. Given that author Stephenie Meyer is an observant Mormon, Granger makes an interesting case. The reader…
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Kardashian’s Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Dilemma
Kourtney Kardashian is probably best-known for her role on an E! network reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” I have never seen the show, and I know next to nothing about Kardashian personally. But today an article about her on the People magazine website caught this pro-lifer’s attention. In short, the article describes Kardashian’s inner turmoil about her recent unplanned pregnancy and deliberations about abortion. Here’s what she decided in her own words:
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Les Paul (1915-2009)
The Associated Press reports that Les Paul has passed away: “Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock ‘n’ roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94. . . “Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time. His invention paved the way for modern rock ‘n’ roll and became the standard instrument for legends like Pete Townshend and Jimmy…
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John Hughes (1950-2009)
John Hughes died suddenly yesterday of a heart attack. Hughes was a filmmaker whose heyday was in the 1980’s. His credits include “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Home Alone,” and many more. I don’t know anything about John Hughes personally. All I know are his movies because they were quintessential expressions of popular culture in the 1980’s. I wouldn’t say that his movies defined a generation so much as they reflected it. And that was his genius. Somehow this guy made movies that rang true with young people. Ben Stein (who had a famous bit part in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) said this about Hughes:
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My David Letterman Story
Last week, my wife and I were in New York City for a trip that was both business and pleasure. I had a professional meeting to attend in the city, so we came a few days early before my work began to see the Big Apple together for our anniversary. We got into town on a Thursday morning, and one of the first things I did was to ask the hotel concierge how to get David Letterman tickets. I am not so much a huge fan of Letterman anymore. In fact, I don’t even watch his show. But I used to be a faithful viewer back in the 80’s, and…