Update: United 93, Blak, Survivor, Jesus Camp, ect.

Two of the 1st 9/11 Films Ever
Looking at boxofficemojo.com's sunday estimates, it looks like United 93 should come in 2nd with 11.6 million dollar weekend gross. With RV estimated at 16.4 million and Stick It right behind with 11.2 million (I'd be really disappointed if somehow Stick It jumped ahead when tomorrow's official numbers come out).

The big question has been are people ready for a movie about 9/11 yet and it appears that many people are ready. I still have not seen it, but I'm very impressed with it's 93% freshness rating on Rotton Tomatoes of the 135 critics they have so far listed. I applaude director Brian Greengrass on his success. I'm much more concerned about the quality of Oliver Stone's upcoming film World Trade Center.

10 things I've Pondered Today
Got some great feedback on this post! Especially enjoyed what I learned about the original starbucks logo (thanks Paula and James). Also thanks Augustus for your comment about what's going on at Saddleback with Rick Warren and the purpose driven country of Rwanda. (If anyone knows more I'd still be interested).

Also, Richard McElroy asked that if I tried Coca-Cola's new product Blak that I give an update. Well I tried Blak last night and well...it's kinda Blllaaaak. It's not horrible but here's how it goes...at first it taste like Coke, then it taste like Coffee, than Coke...then no aftertaste...then thirty second later you have an after taste again. There is definitly a reason it only comes in 8 oz. bottles because I certainly wouldn't want more than that.

6 Survivors Left - Survivor Predictions Update
Courtney is gone! With one of the most interesting and fun episodes in Survivor history...Terry is unstoppable and Cirie has her head in this game in amazing ways. I hope final two are Cirie and Terry because that would be an interesting match. Jeremy Baker is right, Terry is unstoppable!

And You Thought "Salute Your Shorts" Was Interesting?
Loved Andrew West recommendation's for other camp movies: "Meatballs," "Wet Hot American Summer," and "Happy Campers." I also really appreciated Destiny's mini-review in the comment section of "Jesus Camp" which she had a chance to see in New York. Definitly read her comment...it's fantastic.

I thought Destiny's comment was interesting when she said that: "I would imagine that a Christian would find this film an accurate portrayal of Christian life and of the morals that they wish to pass to their children..." I find this comment a little disturbing because I think that while this camp would probably be exactly what some psycho-intependent-fundementalist-home-schooling-right-winged-conservative-Christians might find normal, I would believe that many Christians might be disturbed that people would see this as a false norm for Christian child raising.

You Don't Need to Rent the Movie to see how Dumb it Is
Tomorrow is the day without a Latino. I'd also like to say while I thought this movie was relatively painful many people commented about their enjoyment of the film, so feel free to judge for yourself. I'd be interested to hear anyone's stories about how "A Day With Out A Latino" did or did not effect their day. Who knew immigration and issues with a Mexican border patrol issues would be a big national buzz issue.

Related Tags: United 93, World Trade Center, 9-11, Politics, Brian Greengrass, Box Office, Film, Rotton Tomatoes, Stick It, RV, Starbucks, Saddle Back, Rick Warren, Rwanda, Purpose Driven Country, Church, Missions, Coca-Cola, Blak, Coke, New Products, Survivor, Exile Island, Panama, TV, CBS, Camp, Documentaries, Christian, Fundementalism, Conservativism, Jesus Camp, A Day With Out A Latino, Border Control, Immigration, A Day With Out A Mexican

"That's weird" or What I thought When I saw Lindsay Lohan in the A Prairie Home Companion Preview

Last night when I saw "Thank You For Smoking." During the previews, I was excited to see their was a preview for "A Prairie Home Companion."

This obviously is one of the big films for 2006...how can it not be with Robert Altman directing the film (did you know that P.T. Anderson was a back-up director for the project in case Altman was unable to finish directing...I thought that was interesting).

Anyways...I didn't know too much about the film except for some of the big names, namely Lily Tomlin & Meryl Streep (people ask, will this be Streep's 14th nomination, come on she got nominated for "Music of the Heart" how could she not get nominated for this??)

But with the star studded cast (Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, John C. Reilly) I haven't heard anyone mention that Linday Lohan was in this movie...and she actually looks like she plays the role pretty convincingly.

Is Linday Lohan here to stay and is she going to be able to be in large scale "important" projects. I think she did a great job in "Mean Girls" and in "Freaky Friday." And yet, she seems like a teen star (I think her entrance on to the music scene and her MTV performances enforce that idea for me). Her next film "Just My Luck" seems like that type of film too...

But after Just My Luck and Prairie Home Companion, Linday Lohan's project look a little more serious...

• Bobby - Emilio Estevez's project about the people in the hotel where Robert Kennedy was assassination.
• Chapter 27 - A Film staring Jared Leto as Mark David Chapman before the murder of John Lenin
• Billy - A movie with Aaron Ekhart about a guy mentoring a teen (presumably Lohan?)

Anyways, I wonder if Lohan is going to move into the world of "serious acting" or remain in the world of teen idol, or how this 18 year old will reinvent herself as she moves out of her teens in the next couple years?

Just My Luck comes out in theaters May 12th, 2006
A Prairie Home Companion comes out in theaters June 9, 2006 (has been shown at SXSW film festival and Berlin film festival already)
The picture above is of Meryl Streep and Linday Lohan from A Prarie Home Companion.

Related Tags: A Prairie Home Companion, Movie Preview, Linday Lohan, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Bill, Bobby, Just My Luck, Chapter 27, Robert Altman, P.T. Anderson, Teen Celebrities, MTV, Emilio Estevez, Jared Leto, Film, Award Buzz, Academy Awards

Church Shopping on King of the Hill

Hank Hill's family on King of the Hill look for a new church.



There's certainly some good and funny lines
(via)

Related Tags: church, mega church, King of the Hill, you tube, funny

And You Thought "Salute Your Shorts" Was Interesting?

In 1991 we had Nickelodeon's TV show "Salute Your Shorts" to understand the summer camp scene...but in indiewire.com tells us that in 2006 there are three documentaries out now presenting three different camp experiences:

Jesus Camp: Story of Evangelical Christians at "Kid's On Fire" summer camp at Devils Lake, North Dakota. Apparently deals a lot with a Christian camp teaching children about Christian-fundementalism, particularly in terms of political issues: homosexuality, evolution, abortion, and George Bush. Premiered this past week at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Camp Out: The story of 10 kids who are the first to attend an overnight bible camp for gay and lesbian Christian youth. The kids at this Minnesota camp apparently talk and show a good deal about the isolation that these teens feel both from the Christian community and the homosexual community. Premiered recently at the Clevlend International Film Festival, among others.

Summercamp!: This is the story of a more "traditional camp" setting (say "Salute your Shorts"). The film makers film and document the full camp experience of Swift Nature Camp in Minong, Wisconsin. While showing regular camp activities, it appears to address the regular issues kids experience as they grow up. Premiered last month at the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX.

originally discovered at the film chat blog.

Related Tags: Summer Camp, Religion, Christian Camp, Jesus, Camp Jesus, Kids on Fire, Conservative, Politics, Fundementalist, Parenting, Students, Camp Out, Gay Youth, Youth, Homosexual, Summercamp!, Documentaries, Film Festivals, Tribeca Film Festival, Clevland Internation Film Festival, SXSW, Christian Culture, Culture

Church Sign #16

It's been a while since I've posted one of these, but this is church sign #16 in the series.


If you have your own sign you would like to see posted, snap a picture of it an e-mail it to me at strangeculture@gmail.com

Related Tags: church, church marketing, church sign, humor

It's Worth Your Effort to Feed The Turtles

Two of my friends are the proud parents of two lovely turtles: Squirt and Slider.

While my friends were gone visiting a couple schools in California, they asked my wife and I to feed these two lovely turtles. (And I'm talking, go over once and feed the turtles, not a daily commitment at all...just dump the bag into the tank).

But when they came back they brought with them fortune cookies from San Fransisco that they had written messages for and had hand wrapped. (A bag had been prepared for us and for another couple friend of ours who else fed the turtles once).

Some examples of messages inside thes cookies include:

• You will soon win a lifetime of motovational posters.
• Do you have a day when you don't want to do your job. Yeah, that's like today for me. So this is all you're getting.
• You're hot
• You will move to California with your friends
• In Bed
• Turtles Love you and so do I -- Your Fortune Cookie
• You'll soon eat a hard starchy substance.

The moral of story: Good things come to those who feed the turtles! Thanks J & G for your great friendship!

Related Tags: turtles, friends, gifts, fortune cookies, California

Oceans 13 cast is Super-Sized with Pacino

I don't think I was the only person a little shocked when it was announced that Ellen Barkin was the newest member of the Ocean's 13 cast a month ago...with Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12 staring much stronger leading ladies (Julia Roberts & Catherine Zeta Jones) Barkin seemed like a little bit of a let down. (See my Ellen Barkin post here)

But who could have guess this? The amazing cast of Soderbergh's Ocean's 11 franchise just got super-sized. Al Pacino is joining the cast for this second sequel.

Pacino will be playing the part of Willie Banks, a Las Vegas hotel/casino owner. Digital Spy predicts this is where the George Clooney's gang will attempt their robbery.

Wow, pretty impressive. The picture above is from the movie Sea of Love, a 1989 film staring Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino (this is the film were Barkin got her 1st big break...could Oceans 13 bring her new notoriety?).

Related Tags: Oceans 13, Oceans 11, Danny Ocean, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, Sea of Love, Casting News, Upcoming Movie, ocean's 13

Community: What Does Film Have To Say?

Despite our passionate desire for independence I think we also have a strong desire to be interconnected with others. I recently rewatched the movie Grand Canyon (the 1991 film about race and violence, that some have compared to Academy Award winning film Crash).

Grand Canyon, like Crash, is one of many films that deals with multiple characters who you would think otherwise wouldn't interact with one another but end up being uniquely connected through certain situations and relationships. (For example, Robert Altman's Short Cuts and P.T. Anderson's Magnolia).

And it doesn't have to just be the bizarre relationships that draw us together. There are some really great films that don't just deal with our "it's a small-world" web of relationships. Favorite films of mine like The Station Agent, In America, and Pieces of April all demonstrate our desperate need for others in our life. Yet the in order for us to have genuine relationships with others we need to give a little bit of ourselves.

I love how in Grand Canyon, Mack (Kevin Kline) revisits tow-truck driver Simon (Danny Glover) over breakfast, and in turn Kline's character begisn to draw on his personal connections to help Simon's extended family and enrich his personal life.

I think this is a great relationship because I think this is the type of influence we long to have in the lives of others. And yet I don't think we want to have to go to much effort. Or maybe we're willing to go to the effort but we're pulled in lots of different ways so we never do anything.

But I think the biggest problem is that when we are forced to interact with others who are different from us we get uncomfortable and shy away, and it's only when we are forced to interact in meaningful ways with strangers will a process of that nature even begin. It's when Katie Holmes over breaks in Pieces of April that she meets many of her neighbors and forges relationships with them. And it's not until a horrible accident occurs that Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton are able to experience any sort of redemption in Crash.

I think it's clear in cinema that community serves a valuable function, but it also takes a lot of effort. (Think of how much effort it took for Joe to begin to be a part of Finbar and Olivia's life in The Station Agent).

But there is joy and support and comfort in those relationships. The most beautiful picture of community to me is the way that the love of two little Irish girls in Jim Sheridan's In America begin a transformative process in the life of a dying artists and their own family.

Related Tags: Community, Film, Movies, Relationships, Crash, Grand Canyon, Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Independence, Short Cuts, Magnolia, The Station Agent, In America, Pieces of April, Strangers, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Katie Holmes, Life Transformation, Culture, Isolation, Interdependence

Media Review (Submissions Always Accepted)

Strange Culture fans:
Look forward to a future review of the album "I Wish We All Could Win" by the Afters soon (with the hit single "Beautiful Love").

I have been contacted by their promotions company and am being sent a CD to review. You can hear their music on the Afters Media Player.

It's pretty exciting since I was contacted to do this review, and wanted to make it known that I would be more than willing to consider reviewing other artists and media. If you are interested e-mail me a strangeculture@gmail.com.

I have discussed the Afters once on this site here:
Strange Culture: Meet The Afters, Watch the Wave

Related Tags: The Afters, Marketing, Music Promotion, Media Promotion, I wish We All Could Win, Music, Reviews, Submissions

Paradise Lost Greenlighted

Paradise Lost: John Milton's epic poem from 1667 has shaped and created much of the Western perceptions about Satan, God and the fall of man.

Now it's been greenlighted for a $100 million film adaptation directed by Scott Derrickson (director of "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"). (See here).

I wish they wouldn't make this film because of the complexities associated with the fact that the Paradise Lost crew will make decisions that will largely effect how people view and picture this spiritual events and issues, further establishing a non-cannonical interpreted cliff notes to the biblical story.

I am also very curious who they would cast in this film for the gutsy and interesting part of Satan. Satan's role is a strange one as he the central charcter, the protagonist. Satan is the one trying to overcome his own fears. This is a character that has complexity and intrigue...while God's character is rather flat in comparison (God is not neccesarily boring, just not in crisis the way that Satan is).

I kind of picture the part going to Christopher Walken. But what about Willem Dafoe, Colm Feore, Peter Sarsgaard, Johnny Depp, or Tim Robbins.

Related Tags: Paradise Lost, John Milton, Satan, God, The Fall of Man, Scott Derrickson, Casting, Adaptation, Epic, Poetry, Adam and Eve, Lucifer, Religion, Film

MASS Ensemble

Tonight was my second time in my life I have been lucky enough to experience one of the coolest most unique musical groups I have ever seen. The musical group's name is MASS Ensemble. And tonight, like in the past, I have seen and experienced the group at the Main Street Arts Festival in Fort Worth, Texas.

The group is indescribable as most of the instruments that they play are unique to MASS. They are most famous for their large Earth Harp with unique wire strings that can be stretched many many yards...unfortunatly tonight they didn't have the Earth harp (which I had seen last time I saw them), but tonight they did have the boat harp which was 25 feet long. This string instruments they play are performed on with resin covered gloves. Also tonight they had the drum orb which is a huge round metal structure with multiple drum heads and the aquaguitar, an instrument that incorporates three unique guitars into one.

Check out their website massensemble.com to see and hear really interesting video and sounds of this very eclectic musical group.

Related Tags: MASS Ensemble, Music, Live Performance, Entertainment, Drum Orb, Avant Garde, Unique, earth harp, Fort Worth, Main Street Arts Festival

6 Survivors Left - Survivor Predictions Update

On February 1st I predicted who I thought would be the final 4 on survivor 12 panama: exile island even before the season started...

I predicted that the final four would be Aras, Bruce, Bobby and Sally...and two weeks in a row I have lost two of my predicted final four...Sally who toughed it out much longer than you could have thought...and then tonight Bruce had to be sent off the island for severe bowel and intestinal blockage...yikes! (Not quite as dramatic as when Michael Skupin fell into the fire in Survivor II: The Australian Outback).

So now only Aras of my initial predictions is left...so I am going to have to go with Aras as my prideful hope for a winner.

I also said in my Februrary 1st predictions that: "I don't think Shane, Terry or Cirie have a chance." Well now with only 6 contenders left all three of these people are in and I think we can all see that Terry and Cirie certainly have a chance...my foolishness.

My prideful side's cheering for Aras, but the rest of me is cheering for Terry and Cirie.

In lieu of Shane Powers and his psychoness...my wife discovered these three links today:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0694615/
http://myspace.com/145369
http://www.shanepowers.com/

Enjoy if you care.

Related Tags: Survivor, CBS, Survivor 12, Panama, Exile Island, Shane Powers, Reality TV, Television

10 things I've Pondered Today

Would Spider-Man have any skills if he were fighting evil in the desert or on the moon?

Is Senator Wayne Allard (Colorado) really as bad of a senator as Time says in it's most recent issue?

Why do I think of Harry Potter every time I see a picture of Senator Olympia J. Snowe (Maine)? (pictured right from Time).

Why did Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes name their baby Suri? Were they thinking at all about how Suri Cruise sounded? (Not only does it sounds stupid but it sounds like Syracuse to me...Moses and Apple are much better names).

With record high heat and rolling blackouts in Fort Worth is it wrong for me to think of Enron?

Where did the Starbucks logo come from?

Why would anyone honestly want to buy underwear they could put their iPod in? (available at Freshpair.com for $22)

Does the movie "There Will Be Blood" directed by P.T. Anderson have any chance of being an Academy Award winner as Will Gray predicts on his blog?

I remember a Time article my wife told me about where Rick Warren was trying to make Rwanda a purpose driven country...how that's going?

I wonder what Coca-Cola's new coffee flavored beverage Blak taste like? I still haven't tried it.

Related Tags: Spider-Man, Comic Books, Wayne Allard, Senator, Colorado, Maine, Olympia Snowe, Harry Potter, Time Magazine, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Suri Cruise, Baby Names, Funny Names, Texas, Heat, Enron, Starbucks, Logo, Underwear, iPod, iPod Underwear, There Will Be Blood, P.T. Anderson, Rick Warren, Rwanda, Missions, Coca-Cola, Blak, Beverage, Coffee

Why Malaysia Loves Strange Culture

I have wondered why I get so many searches from Malaysia of people looking up Monica Pang on my blog...so I decided to check Monica Pang's name on Google News.

(I had blogged about Monica Pang, first runner up of the Miss America pagent asking if she'd be my friend on facebook, she accepted, while Jennifer Berry, the winner did not, that popular post were I request her friendship can be found here while the post after she accepted is here)

Well apparently, Monica Pang visited Malaysia as I discovered on google news because that is were her grandparents live.

Allow me to cut and past the first paragraph of an article from Malaysia Star about her visit...see if you can find anything interesting.

Grandparents Pang Hong Cheng, 90, and Yap Shit Moy, 86, have to wait a little
longer to see their celebrity granddaughter Monica Pang, the reigning Miss
Georgia.

Related Tags: Monica Pang, Malaysia, Miss America, Georgia, Funny Names, Humor