Faith & Family January-March 2008

NEWS

Janette Oke spreads the ‘Love’
Author Janette Oke was born during the depression years to a Canadian prairie farmer and his wife. She met her husband while attending Bible college, and they went on to raise four children while pastoring churches in Canada and the U.S. Oke’s first novel, Love Comes Softly, a story about pioneer life with spiritual themes, was published by Bethany House in 1979. Full story

A look beyond the Bible Belt
As Hollywood takes on the challenge of marketing more films to the faith-based audience, film producers, distributors and retailers can benefit from knowing the approximate size and geographic location of this promising market. Full story

Catholic stores find real-life inspiration
Estimated at slightly less than 70 million people, Catholics comprise the largest single religious denomination in the U.S., totaling nearly 25% of the population. (Protestants, which include a variety of denominations, represents approximately one-half the American citizenry.) Full story

REVIEWS

The Game Plan
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the MVP of this formulaic family flick about superstar football quarterback Joe Kingman (Johnson) and 8-year-old Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis), who shows up one day and announces that she is the daughter Joe never knew he had from a years-ago romance. Full story

The Temple Mount is Mine
Many from the religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity believe that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is where life began and will end. Full story

Swingset Mamas: Sing, Dance and Swing
Conceived in 1999 when childhood friends Lizzie Swan and Marlowe Bachmann both became mothers and shared with each other songs they wrote for their newborns, The Swingset Mamas here offer a 15-song collection of tunes geared for toddlers to second graders. Full story

The Naked Brothers Band: Season 1
The “Naked Brothers” are the two child actor-musician sons of Thirtysomething’s Polly Draper, who masterminded this hit Nickelodeon series (the band’s odd name is an in-family joke; not literal). Full story

NEW RELEASES

CHRISTIAN THEMES

First Run
The Power of Forgiveness (street Feb. 19, prebook Jan. 15; DVD $24.95) tells how the act of forgiveness may lead to personal and spiritual transformation.

Genius
Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits (street Feb. 26, prebook Jan. 15; DVD $19.95) is a motivational power hour inspired by the message of visionary Bishop T.D. Jakes, geared toward individuals in the second half of their life.

Lightyear/Warner
Color of the Cross 2: Resurrection is the sequel to Color of the Cross, in which director Jean Claude LaMarre starred as Jesus. Street March 11, prebook Feb. 5; DVD $19.97

Lionsgate
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (street Feb. 12, prebook Jan. 16; DVD $29.95), Perry’s fourth feature, a $55 million box-office-grossing PG-13 film, is about the challenge of maintaining a solid loving relationship in modern times.

Maverick
Arriving Feb. 12, the PG-13 Pastor Jones: Samuel and Delia (prebook Jan. 11; DVD $16.98) is about a pastor who discovers the true meaning of faith, prayer and forgiveness.

MGM/Fox
For film collectors and enthusiasts, Solomon and Sheba (street March 25, prebook Feb. 27; DVD $19.98) is the biblical epic that explores the evils of flesh and pagan worship.

Monarch
When Joey challenges his family’s Roman Catholic faith with his newfound revelations from a born-again friend, chaos ensues as they all search for a miracle of their own in the PG-13 romantic comedy Jesus, Mary & Joey (street March 4, prebook Feb. 11; DVD $22.95).

Questar
Amazing Grace: Reader’s Digest Collector’s Treasury contains Amazing Grace: Hymns That Changed the World (DVD), 22 Treasured Hymns (CD) and The Stories Behind the World’s Most Beloved Hymns (12-page book). Street March 18, prebook Feb. 19; DVD $39.99

Sony
Arriving Jan. 1, September Dawn (prebook now; DVD $26.96) stars Jon Voight and Terence Stamp in an R-rated film based on the true story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the brutal murder of 120 Mormons as their wagon train passed through Utah.

Starlight
A woman with a troubled past who through gained strength through her faith is joined by musicians to share their love of music and Jesus Christ in The Cup: Sarah Kelly. In The Cup: John Cox, Cox and his band entertain and share their beliefs through their musical talent. Both street Feb. 26, prebook Jan. 15; DVD $9.99 each

NON-RELIGIOUS FAMILY FARE

BBC/Warner
Charlie and Lola Vol. 7: This is Actually My Party (street Feb. 5, prebook Jan. 1; DVD $14.98) is the newest installment of this creative preschool series based on the children’s books.

New Line/Warner
In the PG-rated Martian Child (street Feb. 12, prebook Jan. 8; DVD $28.98), John Cusack stars as a lonely science-fiction writer who adopts a boy who claims to be from Mars.

Porchlight
The Little Playdates series helps kids learn by example about kindness, sharing and how to develop new friendships with the two new releases Little Adventurers and Critter Friends. Both street Feb. 26, prebook Jan. 23; DVD $14.98 each

Screen Media/Universal
Forced to raise a boy on his own and cope with his wife’s schizophrenia, a father and his son learn what it is to be truly a family in the PG-13 Canvas (street Jan. 29, prebook Jan. 8; DVD $27.98), starring Marcia Gay Harden

Shout/Vivendi Visual
Beginning in 1954, Father Knows Best: Season One (street April 1, prebook March 4; DVD $34.99) launched a long-running TV sitcom that stood as the representation of mid-century family values.

S’more/Image
Make Room for Daddy: Season 6 (street Jan. 22, prebook now; five-disc set $39.98) is the latest release in the series that was a reflection of Danny Thomas’ life as an entertainer and the problems created by absences from his children.

Warner
Arriving in time for Valentine’s Day, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition (street Jan. 15, prebook now; DVD $19.98) focuses on the Peanuts gang’s preparations for the upcoming holiday.

—Compiled by Barbara Wexler

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