Oscar favorites for 2007

Yes, this years Oscar nominations are now in.

But did you know that the frontrunners for 2007 are being filmed right now? A partial list:

* It's a Wunnnnderful Life (remake of the James Stewart classic starring Nathan Lane)
* Homo On the Range (sequel to Ang Lee's brilliant, fearless tour-de-force)
* Oh Gawd, Do I Ever Hate America's Guts Out (Michael Moore documentary)
* Born Female But Wanna Be a Future Ex-Male, I Think (tender story of a genetic female who wants something more from life than being a transgendered ex-male lesbian trapped in a transvestite's body, Hilary Swank to direct)
* Gay Paris (need I say more?)
* Citizen Brad (remake of the Orson Welles classic, starring RuPaul.)
* James Bondage (S&M-friendly take on 007)
* The Hunk: A Different Kind of Superhero (sequel to Homo On the Range)

You know -- films that reflect the interests of all American filmgoers, from the dens of Manhattan to the church steps of Montana.

The awards are coming! The awards are coming!

The Catholic Blog Awards are now accepting nominations.

I know, I know, you probably need more than three regular readers to qualify, but whatever. I'm already fantasizing about red carpets, paparazzi, and nervously unfolding my acceptance speech to a emotionally moved audience.

"Thank you so much for this "Best Blog on Culture, Cinema and Catholicism By a Canadian Living In the 661 Area Code" Award.

Because, Mr. Solomon, not all politicians are whores

Here is a good example of what passes for conservative commentary in what is called Canada's "most conservative" daily newspaper, The National Post.

In other words, why on earth won't Prime Minister-elect Harper ditch his core principles for the sake of a few more city slicker votes?

Picture the reverse and imagine the uproar: "If Paul Martin (or any liberal politician) could only shed his image as a nihilistic leftist, he could win many more non-urban ridings. The best thing he could do is join in the next big March For Life."

Antidote to dhimmitude?

The big ol' AM station here in Los Angeles, KFI-640, features a morning show with a bombastic host named Bill Handel. As is his wont, he did a biting send-up recently of the Muslim Haaj pilgrimage in which hundreds of pilgrims were crushed to death by one other. As Kathy Shaidle notes, it reminds you of Lourdes and Famita, don't it?

The usual thin-skinned suspects are now demanding retractions, apologies, sufficient grovelling, etc.

KFI is not exactly rolling over and playing dead.

Ang Lee up for sainthood, ceremony TBA

Did anyone harbor a doubt that anyone but Ang Lee would win the Director's Guild Award?

I'm still trying to figure out why it's deemed to have "taken courage" to make Bareback Mounthim.

No, courage would be needed to make a less-than-laudatory movie about Islam.

Jesus loves porn stars

They register at porn industry conferences and "erotic" trade shows. They go up to porn actors, producers, and paying customers and, if they sense an open door, tell them about Jesus and his love for them. Sometimes they pray with them on the spot.

Here is an account of a recent outing to Las Vegas.

And they get converts. "They" are xxxchurch, a unique ministry to the pornography juggernaut and those addicted to its wares. Sounds like a direct response to John Paul II's call for a new spirit of courage in spreading the gospel, don't it?

I must say, the guts and zeal of these "material heretic" Protestants ought to make us Catholics blush with jealousy. We get episcopal documents written in perfect bishopese, but hear zilch from our pulpits about sexual morality.

But these young Christians, sans the Eucharist and the life sacramental, manage to get off their couches and onto the front lines.

As if to prove Pope Benedict's point....

Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press does a good job summarizing the new papal encyclical on the meaning of love and sex.

But notice the ironically placed porn ads on the right. Sex as commodity, in black and white.

BXVI's debut encyclical

Pope Benedict XVI has released his first papal encyclical, titled Deus Caritas Est (God is love).

Grab a cuppa and let a born teacher take you places.

When Christians open their big traps

I have read essays by and seen TV appearances of Dr. Al Mohler before. I'm sure the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is a sincere Christian man. Time.com called him the "reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S".

Cough cough.

His latest commentary about the casting of actor Chad Allen dual roles as missionaries in the new movie The End of the Spear is inscrutable, if not downright embarrassing.

Whence the hoopla? Are you ready? Chad Allen happens to be...not an ex-gay Evangelical, not an Exodus prayer warrior, not a conflicted Courage member but...an active homosexual.

I know. Shocking.

Now, why anyone cares about this -- in terms of the decision to cast him in the overtly Christian movie -- is beyond me. Au contraire. Why not praise it in light of some possible one-on-one witnessing to the guy?

It doesn't seem to have entered the mind of the "reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement in the U.S" that playing powerful real-life missionaries might just plant seeds of conversion in the heart of Chad Allen. Sure, based on his quotes, Mr. Allen is obviously unevangelized and uncatechised. But I would think it takes guts to walk onto a remote set every day knowing that nine out of ten lighting techs, line producers, extras and caterers think you're going to hell.

But noooo. Rev. Mohler feels called to some serious fretting over this dastardly, scandalous deed...this terrible blunder of giving him a job amid such a Pure Christian Environment [TM] . Maybe even a little boycott is in order, eh my droogies, he suggests.

For some on the Right, homosexuals can't win: They're damned if they perform in gay-friendly dramas; and they and the Christian producers who hire them for wholesome projects are damned as well. Perhaps Allen would be able to justify his participation if he was made to shout, "Unclean! Unclean!" before delivering each line, so God's holy people in the audience can see that he knows he's bad and that his very image onscreen is a scandal.

By all critical accounts, save the review by Charles Colson and the presumptuous speculation by Rev. Mohler that the film has been"critically acclaimed," The End of the Spear has been received with decidely mixed reviews, which is a nice way of saying it bites, or at least didn't quite incarnate the true story in the way it deserves.

But this isn't the point.

The point is, by pulling a Pat Robertson, Rev. Mohler hands fodder to every essentially openminded Hollywood professional who may be ripe for the message of the gospel ("Man, they really do hate gays.") Welcome to "Confirm the Stereotype!"

Mohler even admits that he's enjoyed the performances of such great actors as Ian Charleston, Sir John Guilgud, and Sir Ian MacLellan -- because he didn't know about their gay lifestyle and so wasn't distracted by it. Well, I didn't know Chad Allen was gay until Rev. Mohler told me!

More importantly, isn't acting all about acting? Isn't the very nub of the profession the ability to portray something quite other than what you are? (The casting of English actor Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in Miss Saigon comes to mind. That caused a huge ruckus in PC- New York because he wasn't Asian. No -- he was actinnnnng! Is anyone listening to me?)

In Rev. Mohler's universe, there would be no gay characters, only eeeevil gay actors and those problematic Christians who cast them in movies that try to spread the gospel.

Positively Orwellian.

Uh oh.

Stephen Harper's Conservative Party gave Paul Martin's Liberal regime the heave-ho yesterday, the first big Liberal loss in 12 years. It was a sound enough thrashing although not quite enough to garner a majority government. Hope springs eternal.

As rabid CBC fans know, this is actually very bad news. Every guest on the Michael Enright Show knows that George W. Bush fixed this election to secure Haliburton profits for his cronies. But did you also know:

* At Prime Minister Harper's swearing in, President Bush will be there in the background, smirking up a storm because he knows he's now the de facto leader of Canada.

* Mr. Harper is at press time being simultaneously fitted for jack boots and marionette string holes to be connected to the White House. He has reportedly chosen a Pinocchio-as-Mountie design theme.

* Doctors at Toronto General Hospital confirmed this morning that Mr. Harper's gonads have been removed bya physician named Dr. Karl Rove-Mengele.

* Disguised as curlers looking for a bonspiel, US troop formations have begun outside Canadian cities. Be very afraid.

* Museum statues of Mussolini and der Fuhrer are being dusted off for permanent (well, for a thousand years) display in front of Parliament.

* Henry Morgentaler has just been escorted into a safe, legal and rare torture chamber.

Oh yeah, remember that Conservative candidate, Vincent Veerasuntharam, who recently bullied a journalist and his family on the steps of a church?

He got his arse handed to him by pro-life Liberal incumbent Tom Wappel. As predicted by Seize the Dei.

Conservative brownshirt alert!

Before we wax eloquent on the glories of the Tories, let's admit that some Conservative Party candidates and their goons are not above shoving around Christian families who challenge their gutlessness.

Disgusting.

Gee, if Vincent Veerasuntharam was pro-life (and/or had a name like Jones or Smith) and he tried these brownshirt tactics on a gay activist and his buddies, do ya think it would be covered by the Canadian media?

Have a good loss, Vince. Go Steve!

Canada: choosing itself today

After Prime Minister Paul Martin got the Golden Boot Award in the form of a vote of no-confidence some months ago, the Canadian Federal Election finally goes down today. Warming up in the bullpen is Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, who's suited up, tanned (as much as a guy can be tanned in a Canadian January) and ready to take the field. Eleventh-hour poll numbers look good.

For "social conservatives" like me, Mr. Harper is not a dream candidate, nor is his Party robustly conservative by any stretch. But the only two alternatives are a) The Liberal Party, which is robustly liberal by every stretch; and b) radical third parties such as the Christian Heritage Party, which have been (understandably) formed as a protest vote against the pro-choice/pro-gay marriage tidal wave that has washed over Canada.

Not only will thes will never win Federal elections, they steal votes from solid candidates who can. Sometimes the devil urges us to Vote Pure.

Despite the fractious, angry reaction I'll no doubt get from many Canadian pro-lifers, I support neither option.

I think the only sane approach is to work within the only Party that can actually effect change in a salient way "on the ground," as they say nowadays. While the herd of blue-suited cats led by Mr. Harper is not yet fully or uniformly converted to the sanctity of human life or the defense of natural marriage, one can still vote Conservative and sleep very well at night, thank you. Such an incremental strategy was endorsed by Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae.

The Liberals are the problem. But tiny third parties who can't get more than a sliver of the votes are the false, ultimately ineffectual solution. On this score, I recommend you pick up what David Warren lays down.

WWMKJr.D?

A thought experiment: What if the white mayor of, say, Mobile, Alabama, stood up today and announced, "God is surely mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane as a sign to those who oppose the liberation of Iraq. But he's also mad at white people for not taking care of each other. Don't worry, though, Mobile will be lily white again."

A racist loon, right?

But New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's idea of honoring Martin Luther King Day included the very same sentiments about black people in his city.

What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. Do? Why do I think he'd have reservations about promoting the "chocolatization" of any city?

Canada: where are you going and how did you get in that handbasket?

Polygamy used to be known as the Loves That Dare Not Speak Their Name.

But since everyone fools around on their spouse anyway, and "gay" "marriage" is all the rage, and swinger's clubs are now open for business with no legal consequences (merci beaucoup, Quebec), hell, why not just legalize polygamy?.

The elite Left in Canada: Adding more KY to the slippery slope so you don't have to.

There's liberal, and there's Liberal

The Liberal Party of Canada sure knows which hysterical buttons to push, and when, come federal election time. Talk about feeding into good old Bush hatred, which, as an epoxy of Canadian nationalism (sic) is second only to booing US hockey teams.

A snappy new national TV ad makes it clear that if my fellow Canadians elect Adolph Hitler Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper, this will please his father the Devil George W. Bush very much.

My brethren of the Great White North, don't elect someone who will be but a puppet for The Court of Satan, Prince of Darkness the Republican Party!

Yes, I paid attention to the Canadian media over the holidays -- radio, newspapers and television. And did you know that President Bush is an A-hole? Yes, these sources assured me he is. He fiddled while Katrina blew, he lied and people died, and he retrocaused the tsunami of 2005 because he wouldn't sign Kyoto.

He also killed those miners.

Oddly enough

What is it about the young-man-gets-molested-by-older-man template that produces such a reliable predisposition toward homosexuality in the victim? We must, I think, admit it's part of the genius of Satan to "inspire" such an ironic emotional script in the victim whereby he compensates for the incident(s) by imitating the same behavior that caused the trauma to begin with.

On a related note, the stauchly pro-homosexual Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit (whose brother is openly gay) says he was molested 60 years ago, by a priest no less.

And, no, I don't believe such events are the sole cause of SSA; and, yes, I believe there is such a thing as genetic predisposition.

Apologies to my readers

Please accept my apologies for not updating you on why I wasn't an active blogger over Christmas. Great way to lose loyal readers -- stop posting and don't say why!

We spent Christmas in Nova Scotia and had a great time, but near the end we all got sick (some kind of stomach flu) and I've been only this week -- slowly -- crawling back to life. Our office has also transitioned to a home office, so that's taken up a lot of time. My first pajama job; thank you, thank you.

I'll be more diligent in posting daily, and I appreciate your patience. Has anyone been paying attention to the Democrats Love Abortion Hearings?

Ah, the liberal lexicon used to attack conservatives: "genuinely troubling" (Kennedy); "deeply disturbing" (Schumer); "very concerned" (Leahy); "Oh. My. God." (Pelosi); "Not fabulous" (Frank); "Mr. Alito, I have just stabbed myself in the carotid" (Feinstein); "Must....stop....Gamarra...before he...eats Tokyo" (Boxer).