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Confessions of a Book Junkie |
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Movies About Moviemaking: ‘Burden of Dreams’ |
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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10:00 AM Friday, 11 January 2008 |
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 "But when I say this, I say this all full of admiration for the jungle. It is not that I hate it, I love it. I love it very much. But I love it against my better judgment."
-- Werner Herzog, from an interview in Burden of Dreams
So many things have to go right to make a film shoot go smoothly that it is a wonder that any do. There are just so many "moving parts" in making a film -- so many arrangements to be made, so many things to be coordinated -- that problems are inherent to the process.
Every shoot has its challenges, but there are a few that rise to the level of legend. At the top of that list must be Werner Herzog's amazing film, Fitzcarraldo, whose shoot was documented by filmmaker Les Blank in Burden of Dreams. Filmed in the Amazon basin in Peru (near the Ecuadorian border), the Fitzcarraldo shoot spanned an agonizing four years and went through two casts as everything that could go wrong, did.
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Altar Ego: Secret Identities |
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Comic Books
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Posted by Kris Bather
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08:57 AM Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
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Welcome to the first in a new regular feature - Altar Ego, so called as each article will focus on a different lesson that Christianity and comic books share. Yes, that's right. The Bible and the world of funny books often overlap. I don't mean Biblical stories in comic book form here. My aim is to go deeper in to the world of superheroes and look at what they are showing us about God. How they reflect Him, deny Him or ignore Him. With gods in capes, evolved mutants, time travel, alternate universes, constant resurrections, shocking betrayals and noble acts of heroism flying at us every week in our favourite titles there are many intriguing lessons that get left behind.
In this first discussion, I'll be looking at secret identities. It's not just the dark avengers and caped saviours that have them. We all do - we act differently around different people. We don't drink in front of this group, we keep our love for ABBA to ourselves from this group, we build up our athletic achievements when with this group. We can't please all of the people all of the time but sometimes we adopt different personaes in order to do just that. Honesty really is the best policy. It is the foundation of any thriving, joyful relationship. We must cultivate relationships based on trust and respect to maintain a healthy sense of our own identity, to develop in to the person God has created us to be, not the person we think we should be or the person we think others want us to be. Our identity is in who He says we are. We are not the lies of the world, or the taunts of abusive parents or our body shape or our mistakes. We are more than that. Much more.
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Music
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Posted by Andrew Greenhalgh
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10:00 AM Tuesday, 08 January 2008 |
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 In the mid to late nineties, Clay Crosse was Christian music's rising star. Garnering four Dove Awards and racking up a number of hit singles like "I Surrender All" and "I Will Follow Christ," the artist's star seemed to know no bounds. Yet, a personal battle with pornography and a subsequent vocal issue sidelined the artist for a time and led to a period of sincere soul-searching and marital reconciliation. While the artist's star has never quite burned as bright as before in the ccm world, Crosse has not stopped ministering. Infuze's Andrew Greenhalgh recently caught up with Clay to discuss where he's been, his new ministry endeavor, and his hopes for the future.
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America's Most Literate Cities 2007 |
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Books
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Posted by Anita K. Palmer
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01:04 PM Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
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 The good news is, you’re reading this. Yay! You’re among the most literate of our nation, and we love you for it. Now the bad news.
The fifth annual rankings for the 2007 America’s Most Literate Cities is out, and it isn’t a pretty picture. That is, unless you live in Minneapolis.
The study, issued by Central Connecticut State University, compiles data for cities larger than 250,000 in six indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, highest level of education, and Internet resources.
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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06:36 PM Friday, 04 January 2008 |
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 As your children may have been reminding you incessantly for the past few days (or vice versa!), it's finally here: the new VeggieTales movie, The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, opens in theaters nationwide on Jan. 11.
Since 1993, Mike and Phil (as Big Idea, their production company) have put out some 27 direct-to-video episodes of VeggieTales, pioneering CGI animation and capturing the imagination of children of all ages (including this 46-year-old's) with their inventive blend of value-driven storytelling, whimsical humor, and -- of course -- silly songs. Oh, the silly songs. VeggieTales took the next big step, to the big screen, in 2002 with the release of Jonah. But if Mike and Phil aren't names you automatically know, you are certainly familiar with their virtual personas: Phil is the man behind Bob the Tomato, and Mike is, of course, Larry the Cucumber.
In anticipation of next weekend's big event, Infuzemag.com spent a few minutes chatting with Lar -- er, Mike Nawrocki, the director of Pirates and one of the demented geniuses behind the VeggieTales.
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Memorable Moments: Superman's Return |
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Comic Books
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Posted by Kris Bather
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10:00 AM Wednesday, 02 January 2008 |
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 My love of comics runs deep. More creative and unpredictable than the majority of what Hollywood churns out, they are able to give us epics that only millions of dollars of SFX can create on celluloid. They are able to take us on a journey with our favourite characters and leave us wanting more. Of course, like any artform, comics don't always get it right, and us readers can sometimes be an unforgiving bunch. But we are also a sentimental and nostalgic bunch. With that in mind, I want to bring you some of my favourite comic moments over my reading life. Some are, "That was so awesome!" moments, some are "I can't believe that just happened!" moments and some are moments of joy, contemplation or grief. These are the scenes and lines of dialogue that I fondly recall years later, and mention when I'm talking with my fellow fans. I hope these recollections draw you to a forgotten classic, or a desire to ask yourself what your favourite comic book moments may be.
First up is a fitting one as it concerns a watershed moment in his life and the comic book industry as a whole.
1. The Return Of Superman
No, I'm not alluding to the disappointing Bryan Singer film. Rather, the moment of triumph that had us all punching the air and shouting, "Yes, he's back!" (or was it just me?)
Before we get into the details, let's explore the history of what led up to it.
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Music
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Posted by Andrew Greenhalgh
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10:30 AM Tuesday, 01 January 2008 |
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 It's been a busy year in music, one that's seen our pop stars shave their heads and lose their cool, our rock stars offer up their albums at a price of your choosing, and more. But through that craziness, there have been some great albums that have burst forth and made our ears happy. Now it's time to highlight the best of those albums here with selections from our writing staff. One of the beautiful aspects of being involved with Infuze is encountering a diversity of people with unique opinions and tastes. These lists will hopefully help you to get to know our writers a bit more as well as highlight some music that maybe slipped through the cracks this year. Enjoy!
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Illuminated's Matt Bronleewe |
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Books
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Posted by Vicki McCollum
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02:00 PM Saturday, 29 December 2007 |
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 Illuminated by Matt Bronleewe combines human failings, street-smarts, and old-fashioned sleuthing in a mad dash to find the Templar Knights’ lost treasure. The clues are hidden in rare Gutenberg Bibles, and only one man, August Adams, a rare-book hunter, can decipher them. But the lives of his family are at stake if he fails. Bronleewe plots an intriguing, international suspense that’s just plain fun to read. He graciously consented to an interview about his novel and future books in the works with Thomas Nelson Publishers. Illuminated released in August, is already in its third printing!
Vicki: Talk about the premise of Illuminated.
Bronleewe: It started with two ideas. The first idea was very simple: I wanted to write a book about a book. The second idea was slightly more complicated: the book I wanted to focus on was the rarest book in the world – the Gutenberg Bible. They say if the Gutenberg were auctioned today it would fetch over $100 million dollars. That’s quite a book! As I dug into the real history behind the Gutenberg Bible, I knew I had no choice but to write a modern-day thriller around it.
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Staff Picks: Our Favorite Movies and DVDs of 2007 |
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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01:59 PM Friday, 28 December 2007 |
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 We're on the verge of concluding another year of blockbusters and indie favorites, of searing dramas and delightful comedies ... and plenty of less-stellar efforts, too. Infuzemag.com's staff took part of December to reflect back on a year of movie watching and pick their favorites for 2007, both as theatrical releases and as DVDs.
Of course, part of the challenge of putting together a list like this is the necessary limitation of time. None of us are paid critics; we see movies in our spare time. We see all we can, but we certainly don't see anything, nor could we if we wanted to. So consider this a "best of what we saw," rather than a definitive list. (And please do add your own picks on our message board -- you'll find a link to discuss this at the bottom of this article. I know I'd love to read what you found worthy, and why!)
So, without further adieu ... Here are a few of our favorites for 2007!
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Features 
For the record, let it be known that Saint Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics does not sit on my bookshelf in vain. Someday I’m going to read it. Someday, my time spent at the secondhand shop will be rewarded. Saint Thomas is going to set me straight about the purpose of man and the order of the universe, all for a bargain-basement price.