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July 2, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The hallmark of a person

Abe Novick: Up, up, and aliya

July 1, 2009

Rabbi Avi Shafran: The Road Taken

The Kosher Gourmet by Marialisa Calta: Get into the holiday spirit with these Star-Spangled desserts

June 30, 2009

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg: What makes a great parent?

Caroline B. Glick: Ideologue-in-Chief

June 29, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Beware of 'Caveat Emptor'

Steven Emerson: ACLU pushing for more money for Hamas

June 26, 2009

Rabbi Yoni Posnick: Learn the secret to a healthy marriage from a scriptural villain

Caroline B. Glick: Barack Obama vs. International Law

June 25, 2009

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf: The Absurd Power of Truth

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 24, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity

The Kosher Gourmet by Andrea Weigl: Summer on a stick: Making frozen treats can be easy, creative and fun

June 23, 2009

Martin M. Bodek: 'On Surnames': And so, We Begin

Caroline B. Glick: The Obama Effect

June 22, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Working for a corrupt firm

N. Richard Greenfield : Where are American Jews?

June 19, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Emotion v. intellect

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's rare opportunity

June 18, 2009

Jonathan Rosenblum: Sometimes it is more essential to define the nature of evil than good

Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkle's strip: Everything's Relative

June 17, 2009

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Language of Confusion

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Nothing pleases Dad more than a thick, juicy onion-smothered steak. Add home-Baked Potato Chips and …

June 16, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Career v. Careersism

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's losing streak and Israel

Richard Z. Chesnoff: ‘Palestinians’: Never Missing an Opportunity …

June 15, 2009

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: How Judea and Samaria can become 'Palestine'

Daniel Pipes: Where Netanyahu's speech failed

June 12, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Some big thoughts about not acting so big

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's High Commissioner

June 11, 2009

Victor Davis Hanson: Our historically challenged President

Mitch Albom: Beware the True Believers

Lewis Grossberger: What we learn from the new Hitler photos

June 10, 2009

Mort Zuckerman: What Obama and his advisors won't -- or refuse to -- grasp about Israel and the Muslim world

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky Lotsa pasta: Tips, techniques and (amazing) taste

June 9, 2009

Anne Bayefsky: Obama's stunning offense to Israel and the Jewish people

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: America's first Muslim president?

June 8, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Merchant must take responsibility for careless shopper?

Mark Steyn: A superpower that feeds on mediocrity cannot survive for long on leftovers from the past

Richard Z. Chesnoff: How do you say 'kumbaya' in Arabic?

June 5, 2009

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: In quest of spirituality

Caroline B. Glick: Obama's Arabian dreams

Charles Krauthammer: The Settlements Myth

June 4, 2009

Paul Greenberg: The War Comes to Little Rock

The Kosher Gourmet by Judy Hevrdejs: Splash it on! Tap your inner jazz musician and improvise when stirring up a vinaigrette

June 3, 2009

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Should terrible teacher be exposed?

Jonathan Rosenblum: The Israel Lobby: Missing in Action

June 2, 2009

Dennis Prager: The Speech President Obama Won't Dare Give in Egypt

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Pressure on Israel raises war risk

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Jan. 22, 2007 / 3 Shevat, 5767

What a friend we have in Hollywood

By Cal Thomas


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "Can Hollywood make friends with evangelicals?" asks Brian Lowry in a column for Variety, the show business magazine. A better question might be, "Can evangelicals make friends with Hollywood?"



After years of cursing the darkness about profanity, nudity and violence coming out of what collectively is called "Hollywood" — whether the films are produced there or elsewhere — evangelicals and others who like quality films are beginning to develop and produce their own. Two of the better ones will be released next month.


"Amazing Grace" is the account of William Wilberforce, a courageous member of the British Parliament in the latter part of the 19th century who, more than any person, was responsible for ending the English slave trade. Starring Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce and co-starring Albert Finney as the slave trader, John Newton, who converted to Christianity and subsequently wrote the hymn, "Amazing Grace," this is a film about political and moral heroism with implications for our time, offering all of the rationalizations for maintaining the slave trade, including allegations that it would wreck the British economy and the most outrageous of all, that the slaves, themselves, had allegedly not registered any opposition to the trade.


The producers resist the temptation to lecture. They simply present the historical facts and show what one person can do when he is completely dedicated to a cause that is true and right. When Parliament votes in 1807 to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire, even some of Wilberforce's fiercest opponents rise to applaud him. Wilberforce responds, "I thank God that I have lived to witness the day in which England is willing to give twenty millions sterling for the abolition of slavery." On July 26, 1833, Parliament voted to end slavery throughout the British Empire. Wilberforce died three days later.


It is especially fitting that this film is being released during Black History Month. It should resonate with the African-American community as much as with white evangelicals. There is literally something for everyone in this beautifully shot and beautifully performed film.


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The other film has the unlikely title, "The Last Sin Eater," and is based on a novel by Francine Rivers. It is co-produced and directed by Michael Landon Jr. and co-produced and co-written by Brian Bird (his writing credits include the hit CBS series "Touched by an Angel").


"The Last Sin Eater" tells the story of 10-year-old Cadi Forbes. While attending her grandmother's funeral in the Appalachian Mountains of the 1850s, she witnesses a mysterious man "absolve" her grandmother of her sins by eating bread and wine at her gravesite. Cadi decides she wants the same redemption from a deep and dark secret and she seeks out the man in order to be forgiven while she is still alive.


The film, from News Corp's Fox Faith Films, its home entertainment division, is the first of three films to be released this year by Fox Faith.


While all of the actors are perfectly cast, Cadi (Liana Liberato) is so cute and so good, you'll wish she were your daughter. "The Last Sin Eater" is based on a Welsh myth. The Welsh accents, the beautiful surroundings and the compelling story will convince you of theses villagers' faith in the myth, but what Cadi and her entire community discover as they pursue redemption, is no myth at all, but rather the truest of truth.


The key to getting more films like "Amazing Grace" and "The Last Sin Eater" produced is for people who have avoided movies to begin again to patronize movie theaters. Whatever one thinks of "Hollywood," profit can trump their mostly liberal politics, social agenda and bias against religion, except when mocking it.


Evangelicals don't have to "make friends" with Hollywood, but if they want more movies like these, they had better make tracks to the multiplex. I promise, it will be worth the journey.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Cal Thomas is the author of, among others, The Wit and Wisdom of Cal Thomas Comment by clicking here.


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