Island Passage

As an update on my previous post , Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and their distributor MGM's Harry Sloan are releasing a Christmas slasher movie. Apparently a very lame Christmas slasher movie. A remake of a 1970s-era slasher movie. In light of their recent exploration of creating "Christian movies," there are two arguments to I anticipate: Don't give box-office money to these guys. They deserve to go broke. Pay to see their "Christian movies." They need positive reenforcement to make good movies. I, myself, tend naturally toward argument number 2. But in this case, the Weinsteins have taken up a stick with a nail in it and beaten me to argument 1.

Here are two stories that do not bode well : First, file this under the heading "HOLLYWOOD JUST DON'T GET IT" from Comingsoon.net : The Prodigal Son Works at Ikea? Variety reports that Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment have made a deal for Prodigal Son , a romantic comedy that Gigi Levangie Grazer will write with Mimi James. Brian Grazer will produce. The story revolves around a workaholic single woman who is set up on a date by her mother. Her date, a handsome, kind and caring carpenter who works at Ikea, turns out to be Jesus Christ, who's returned for Armageddon and settled in contemporary Los Angeles. "It's a love it or hate it idea, but we're not aiming to offend," Gigi Grazer told the trade. "He won't be having sex. It'll be a disarming romantic comedy, a story of unrequited love, sort of like 'Splash.'" Yow! Is this the price we pay for the de-mythologizing of Jesus!? It may be 'way past time to re...

An electoral map that lets you pit leading Democratic contenders against a few Republican contenders. I dispute it's accuracy on several grounds (it's 'way too early for these kinds of polls to make sense), but what fun! I'll be checking back on this sight throughout the primary season.

I, for one, welcome our Democratic Overlords : WASHINGTON — Famed pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren on Wednesday defended his invitation to Sen. Barack Obama to speak at his church despite objections from some evangelicals who oppose the Democrat's support for abortion rights. Obama is one of nearly 60 speakers scheduled to address the second annual Global Summit on AIDS and the Church beginning Thursday at Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. But seriously, folks, the idea of inviting Barack Obama to speak to Conservative Evangelicals is a great one. It allows those Evangelicals to see the man and verify that he doesn't have horns or a bifurcate tail . It allows Obama to receive feedback from a conservative crowd, which is much better for us all than for him to be stuck in the Liberal echo chamber . The end result may be a contribution to the moderating effect in national politics. Speaking of Obama, a great observation on This Week with George was ...

Rich Lowry at National Review Online has a column on Barack Obama as the Anti-Hillary: ...After all this [hate for the names Clinton and Bush], who doesn’t hunger for a clean break? Thus the energy behind the possible presidential bid of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. He is the only presidential candidate from either party about whom there is a palpable excitement. And that is because everything about him says, “I’m not a Bush, I’m not a Clinton, and can we please talk about something else?” It will be manifestly good for the country if it elects a president in 2008 who doesn’t elicit yowling hatred from the other side... Hillary would have formidable assets in a 2008 race, but the timing could be against her. Maybe it’s too soon for another Clinton in presidential politics. On the Republican side, the most talented and accomplished Republican officeholder in the country, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is sitting ’08 out precisely because of the baggage that currently attaches to his last name. ...