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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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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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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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Television
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Posted by Paul Rose Jr
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03:27 PM Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
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 While he may not look as old as some major Hollywood Executives, Phil Cooke has been at the forefront of the media industry for years. Whether working on his own or partnering with other entertainment industry greats or one of the many schools and programs he teaches for, Phil has no problem expressing himself on the state of media in the world, the Christian's place in that world and how to properly effect change. He is a television and film director and producer with numerous feature length videos, documentaries and commercials to his credit, including the recent Thou Shalt Laugh videos. He is also the author of three books, the most recent of which, Branding Faith, he expects to redefine how Christians take hold of the power of the media in the today's world.
Paul Rose, Jr: Well, let’s start by paying the bills. How did you get involved with directing Thou Shalt Laugh 2?
Phil Cooke: Jonathan
Bock at Grace Hill Media and I talked about doing the original Thou Shalt Laugh stand up comedy DVD
special a couple of years ago. And we
realized there was a huge need for - not necessarily a Christian comedy video - but a comedy video that anyone in the
family could enjoy. We didn’t want church
humor that only Christians would relate to, we wanted stuff that everyone would
find funny. So we started by auditioning
about 100 comedians to find seven that were really, really funny. And so we did the first show, with Jon
producing and me directing and our production company, Cooke Pictures, did the
production work, crewed it and did all the shooting for it. It was hugely successful – I’ve been told
it’s the biggest selling Christian comedy video of all time. And so we decided to come back and do the
deuce. And this time, we decided to
throw our lot in together and become owners of the project. So we teamed up, Grace Hill Media, Cooke Pictures, are joint producers of
the project, along with Hunt Lowry’s company, Roserock Films, it’s all shot on
high definition video – it looks really nice.
And the second one seems to be doing well too, and hopefully we’ll be on
television at some point in the future.
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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08:18 AM Friday, 21 December 2007 |
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At 17, Denzel Whitaker has a whole lot on his immediate horizon, but one thing in particular will launch him into the spotlight in less than a week: His starring turn in Denzel Washington's new film, The Great Debaters, which opens Christmas Day nationwide. The inspiring film is based on the true story of the Wiley College debate team, a small Texas school's squad that arose from humble surroundings in the Jim Crow South during the 1930s to take on the nation's finest university debate teams -- and beat them. In the film, Denzel Whitaker plays a real American hero, James Farmer, Jr., as a 14-year-old prodigy and college student. (Farmer would build on his early academic successes to co-found the Congress of Racial Equality and inspire and lead the Freedom Rides that were instrumental in launching the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.)
The Great Debaters stars Oscar winner Denzel Washington as Wiley College's fiery debate coach, Prof. Melvin B. Tolson, and Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker as Dr. James Farmer, Sr., the president of Wiley College and father of Denzel Whitaker's character (no relation). The film also stars Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, and Jermaine Williams as Whitaker's debate-team colleagues. Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions produced the film, which has already been nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Drama category. The film has also been honored with the Stanley Kramer Award, which the Producers Guild of America gives annually to the film that best deals with provocative social issues, and with a Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review.
Infuzemag.com spoke with the very busy Denzel Whitaker about working with two legends with whom he happens to share his name (purely coincidence!), the challenges of performing in such an emotionally powerful film, and his plans for what will be a very bright future.
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Music
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Posted by Andrew Greenhalgh
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10:00 AM Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
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 Kevin Max has never been an easy person to pigeonhole. Called "rebel" by some and "visionary" by others, the artist has avoided easy definition through a stellar career with dcTalk an on into a solo career. With the release of his newest album The Blood, a collection and reimagining of influential gospel songs from years past and present, Max sat down with Infuze's Andrew Greenhalgh to discuss the media's misconceptions, the heart behind his new record, and his hopes for change within the music industry.
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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09:41 PM Friday, 14 December 2007 |
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 David A.R. White ( Mercy Streets, The Moment After) is a busy writer, actor, and producer who has joined forces with his fellow leadership team colleagues at Pure Flix Entertainment to launch Outreach Cinema, a new venture that will put faith-based feature films (and everything needed to promote them) in the hands of churches to use as a community outreach tool. White serves as a member of the leadership team of Outreach Cinema.
The first film arrives Dec. 31 of this year: The Wager stars music legend Randy Travis, Nancy Stafford (Judging Amy, Matlock), Jude Ciccolella (24), Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers), and Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) in a dramatic adaptation of Job's story, told in a modern-day Hollywood setting.
Infuzemag.com recently spoke to David about The Wager, Outreach Cinema, and the challenges of creating theatrical-quality films with a strong core of faith.
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Music
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Posted by Andrew Greenhalgh
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10:00 AM Tuesday, 11 December 2007 |
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 It's been an interesting ride thus far for worship leader Jeff Johnson. Once a cog in the machinery of corporate America, the young man felt himself led to something bigger. That something eventually led him to a national platform as his talent led him a good distance on American Idol, providing tons of exposure and a stellar showcase for the artist's vocals. While Idol fame was fleeting, Johnson has carried on with his worship ministry. With the release of his latest album, Glorious Day, earlier this year, Infuze's Andrew Greenhalgh recently sat down with Johnson to inevitably discuss that Idol experience along with his thoughts on the current state of worship music.
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Deadfall's Robert Liparulo |
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Books
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Posted by Vicki McCollum
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10:53 AM Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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 Infuze's Vicki McCollum recently spoke with author Robert Liparulo about his latest book, Deadfall. They also discussed his upcoming book and film projects.
Vicki McCollum: I enjoyed every minute of Deadfall. It’s an excellent thriller. You’ve said Deadfall’s suspense comes from the question “Will these guys survive?” Describe Deadfall’s premise. How did you develop the idea?
Robert Liparulo: All of my books explore the quality of
character: who are you when no one is looking? I believe true character
comes out in extreme circumstances. You can say you’d stop a mugging or
stand up for what’s right, but would you really do it when the rubber
meets the road, when you’re there and you can be hurt or even killed
doing what you said you would? I wanted to take a look at a group of
friends, all pretty good guys, and put them in a situation where their
convictions are tested. Do they have heroic hearts? Or are they really
cowards? I also wanted to make to realize that even when life’s been
rough on them, they still had something to fight for. I wanted
them to see their problems through different eyes, through eyes that
had not only seen good times—making their current troubles appear
awful—but had also seen their own possible demise, making the problems
that had beat them down seem insignificant. I wanted to them to view
their troubles in a grander perspective, which we all should do.
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Movies/DVD
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Posted by Samuel Gaines
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12:01 PM Friday, 07 December 2007 |
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 Thomas Purifoy, Jr., is the writer and director behind Modern Parables: Living in the Kingdom of God, an innovative series of short films that illustrate the parables of Jesus Christ in a series of modern settings. The films are part of a teaching curriculum of the same name and are available through the website www.modernparable.com, but they stand on their own as films, too. One of the films, Samaritan, recently won the "Best Narrative" award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.
Infuzemag.com talked to Thomas about this first volume of Modern Parables, what drives him as a filmmaker, and where his production company, Compass Cinema, will go from here.
Tell me about your background, and how you got started as a filmmaker.
I was involved in -- I'm from Arkansas -- I was involved in Bill Clinton's Governor's School, back when he was governor. It was a six-week summer school for unusual kids from around the state. I took the class on film and literature. I had never considered film as a source of critical study, and we watched classic films -- Citizen Kane, and many others. When I got back home, I rented film after film and watched great films all summer long, three or four per day.
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