ChristianAnswers.net Review of the Week - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Since it just came out on DVD, here is one of my favourite sites reviewing our beloved Edward and Bella...
Note however, that the review says IN THE FIRST SENTENCE that they have not seen the film?!?

"Negative - As a follower of Christ, I am not making any plans to see the movie Eclipse. Christians, before you decide to see this movie, please take a moment and ask yourself the following three questions. First, would Jesus approve of you seeing this movie? Second, can you realistically picture Jesus himself watching it in the movie theater? Lastly, does viewing the movie bring honor, praise and glory to God, the creator? If you answered no to any or all of these questions, then I think it is clear now as to what you must do.

Even though they are fictional beings, and nowhere are they mentioned in the Bible, it is clear that vampires and werewolves are not creations of God, but are creatures of the darkness. No matter how one may sugarcoat them as being moral and ethical in their views on such issues as chivalry, love, sex and marriage, a werewolf is a werewolf and a vampire is a vampire. No matter how Hollywood has tried to make them more acceptable to movie audiences, they cannot change who and what werewolves and vampires really are, namely creatures who are in bondage and not of Christ. As the old adage goes, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then you must conclude that it is in fact a duck. Edward, despite his feelings toward sex, namely that it should wait until marriage, and his own personal view of the importance of marriage, unlike Bella, Edward is bound by what he is, a vampire. He craves human blood.

It takes practically all of his will power to resist the longing that he has to attack Bella and drink her blood. Leviticus 17:10-12 states that we are forbidden to consume blood for life is in the blood and it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. As children of the light, we are commanded to not to have anything to do with the darkness.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 states that “you are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled.” Unlike some of the reviewers here, I don't think there is any justification to have the male characters in the movie, Jacob and the wolf pack, to have their shirts off during the course of the movie.

Although they explain that the reason why they have their shirts off is because of their high temperatures, I think the true purpose is more to increase the temperatures of the female movie going audience. Sex sells. It is a myth that men are the only ones who have to deal with the area of lust. Women and teenage girls also lust for the opposite sex, maybe not as openly or to as great a degree in some cases as males, but it still happens. Lust is a problem whether you are male or female.

It doesn't discriminate. As followers of Christ, we are to resist temptations of the flesh and instead follow the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, whom we received from God. We are not our own, but were bought at a price. We are to honor God with our bodies. Lusting after other people in our minds is offensive to God.

Although the following scripture focuses on males, the concept is still applicable to females. Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). The character of Bella sets the wrong example for teenage girls on what love really means. She lusts after Edward and constantly pressures him to have sex. She is even willing to give up her immortal soul just to have the opportunity to be together with him. As Christians, we are not complete by having a girlfriend or a boyfriend, a wife or a husband. We are complete in Christ. We don't need another person to be whole.

Sex is not love, but is an act of love in the proper context and that is within the institution of marriage. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 states that among other things, love is patient, is not self-seeking, does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. In conclusion, I will not be watching this movie and I encourage other Christians to do the same. Don't be tempted by this movie's flashy special effects, the physical attractiveness of the characters, the hype of the popularity of the Twilight books and the high movie theater box office numbers. Instead, honor God by filling your minds by what is good, just, pure and holy.

Watch movies that bring praise and glory to God and that will mature you in your walk with Christ.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: ½
—Les, age 39 (USA)"

'Tangled' is number 1 in the US

by Brandon Gray of Boxoffice Mojo
December 5, 2010

The post-Thanksgiving doldrums were in full effect over the weekend. Tangled climbed past Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 just as the movies' trajectories suggested, though neither held well. Hollywood generally shuns the post-Thanksgiving timeframe in regards to new releases, and it was no exception this weekend: The Warrior's Way was the sole nationwide debut and a weak one at that. Overall business was down 14 percent from the same weekend last year when The Blind Side led, and it was the least-attended post-Thanksgiving weekend since 1997.

Tangled drew an estimated $21.5 million, tumbling 56 percent from last weekend. Walt Disney Pictures last Thanksgiving princess event, Enchanted, was off 52 percent at the same point, grossing less but selling more tickets. In 12 days, though, Tangled has generated $96.5 million, which was well ahead of Enchanted's comparable $80.9 million tally, and it will soon surpass The Princess and the Frog's $104.4 million final total. Again, around 56 percent of Tangled's business was from 3D-illusion presentations.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 plummeted 66 percent to an estimated $16.7 million, falling harder and making less than Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on its post-Thanksgiving weekend. In 17 days, Deahtly Hallows Part 1 has earned $244.2 million, trailing The Twilight Saga: New Moon's $255.4 million day-17 tally and all previous Potters in terms of estimated attendance through day 17.

The family movies in general were most affected outside the warm glow of Thanksgiving: Megamind saw a 60 percent depletion, falling to sixth place after coming in third last weekend. Among other holdovers, Burlesque held a bit better than Rent at the same point, slowing 49 percent to an estimated $6.1 million for a $27 million 12-day sum. Unstoppable was off 47 percent to an estimated $6.1 million for a $68.9 million haul in 24 days, driving past the final gross of star Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott's last train thriller, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Love and Other Drugs dropped a relatively light 42 percent to an estimated $5.7 million for a $22.6 million tally in 12 days.

Few followed The Warrior's Way, which moseyed in with an estimated $3.05 million at 1,622 locations and ranked ninth. The cowboys and ninjas action movie made significantly less than such low-flying movies as Jonah Hex, Dragonball Evolution, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Punisher: War Zone, which grossed $4.3 million on the same weekend in 2008. The marketing made the picture look cartoonish and slapdash and later embraced the campiness by trying to make a catchphrase out of the line "Ninjas... Damn!" (uttered by Geoffrey Rush), which was repeated in the title cards of many of the ads.

In limited release, Black Swan produced a lot of clatter, garnering an estimated $1.4 million at 18 locations, which was a bit better than Up in the Air's start in the same slot last year.

Sad:-( Second Indian 'child sacrifice' murder claim

By Prakash Hota (AFP) – Nov 24, 2010

RAIPUR, India — Police in central India reported a second case of suspected child sacrifice on Thursday, casting a spotlight on witchcraft and occult beliefs that persist in some impoverished areas.
Police in the central state of Chhattisgarh said they had arrested 11 people including a "witchdoctor" and his wife after the body of a two-year-old boy was discovered in their house on Wednesday.
Further searches of the property in the industrial town of Bhilai, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from state capital Raipur, revealed the skeletal remains of a second victim, a six-year-old girl.
The accused man had confessed to killing both children to acquire "occult power and good fortune," police told AFP on Thursday, adding that there was a "worship room" in the home.
"The witchdoctor, his family and six other people have been arrested on suspicion of holding human sacrifices," district police chief Amit Kumar told AFP.
Parents of the two-year-old had alerted authorities after he went missing while playing on the street earlier this week.
The girl is believed to have been abducted nearby in March. Her body was found buried inside the house beneath a trident symbol.
Human sacrifices occasionally make headlines in deeply religious and superstitious India, and usually occur in poor areas where some people revere practitioners of black magic.
The victims are ritually killed by witchdoctors to please or appease gods, spirits or deities.
Unusually, the latest cases were in a city, Bhilai, which is one of the more modern and urban areas of the otherwise under-developed state of Chhattisgarh.
The heavily forested and resource-rich region is a stronghold of the rebel Maoist movement, which has successfully tapped into disaffection in local tribal groups about economic development, police brutality and corruption.
A.K. Saikia, a senior police officer who has investigated numerous cases of child sacrifices, says the methods employed by witchdoctors who target children are usually similar.
They befriend them, lure them to their houses by offering sweets or toys, and then kill them, sometimes after drugging them.
"The witchdoctors believe that the act of killing a child will make them immortal," Saikia told AFP from his state Assam, in India's far north east.
The other deadly side of witchcraft in India is when women are accused of dabbling in the dark arts and are then driven from their villages and murdered.
At least four women have been killed in the last three years in Assam on suspicion of being witches or witch doctors, Saikia said
The Science and Rationalists' Association of India, which fights against superstition in India, says women accused of being witches are sometimes stripped in public and some are gagged and burnt to death.
"Villagers believe in witchcraft often due to helplessness. Absence of medical facilities forces them to rely on quacks," said Prabir Ghosh, the association's general secretary.
In March, a married couple in rural western India were arrested for allegedly killing five young boys because a mystic told them it would help the woman conceive.
"The government has to take education to remote villages to end these inhuman acts," said Indian author Akhilesh Kumar, who wrote "Kala Insaaf" (Black Justice), a Hindi-language book on black magic.
In April, in another widely publicised case of suspected human sacrifice, a decapitated body of a factory worker was found in a temple in the eastern state of West Bengal.

Sad:-( 12 Killed in Witch hunts over Cholera in Haiti

As cholera continues to spread in Haiti, panic has sparked witch hunts in rural Haiti where 12 people accused of practicing black magic have been killed. Locals in the remote southwestern Grand Anse region of Haiti killed 12 Vodou practitioners after accusing them of making a magic powder to spread cholera. National police report that machete-wielding mobs killed the people accused of witchcraft and then burned their bodies. According to MSNBC, Vodou, a popular faith in Haiti, combines elements of African religion with Roman Catholic Christianity. Vodou includes good and evil magic. The first case of cholera in Haiti appeared six weeks ago. Almost 2,000 people have died from the disease, and more than 84,000 have been infected.

What kind of Crack is this guy smoking???

Ordinary Girl: Madonna's new boyfriend says she 'just a woman like all the others'

By Peter Allen
Last updated at 10:49 PM on 2nd December 2010 - Daily Mail

Madonna's new boyfriend has spoken for the first time about his love for the pop queen - describing her as 'just a woman like all the others'.
In a highly revealing interview, 24-year-old Brahim Zaibat said the passionate affair had made him suspicious of old friends, and caused him to change his mobile number.
But, despite the masses of unwanted attention, the French break dancer said he believed he had a future with the 52-year-old superstar.

Lifting the lid: Brahim Zaibat has spoken out about his relationship with Madonna for the first time in a revealing interview, pictured here in October

Asked about their first meeting in New York, Brahim said: 'It all started on September 22nd at the launch of Madonna's new ready-to-wear clothing range.
'My mate Norman, who danced for her and who became her personal trainer, asked me to dance at the evening. I performed a solo to Material Girl. Then I met Madonna on the sidelines, and she just thanked me for my show.
'It wasn't like meeting a monster! She's just a woman like all the others. She's an extraordinary artist and world famous, of course, but a woman above all.
'You know she wasn't the first well known female singer I'd met. I was delighted to meet her but not stressed out.'
Brahim said his first words to Madonna were 'Hi, how are you?', adding cheekily: 'I'm not saying things have gone very fast since then, but things have happened in order.'

Cougar: Madonna, pictured here last month in Mexico City

Eyebrows were immediately raised about the relationship, because of the age gap, and because Brahim is a devout Muslim, while Madonna is a follower of Kabbalah, a variation of Judaism.
Asked if he was a fan of Madonna as a child, Brahim said: 'It wasn't the kind of sound I had on my I-pod but I knew her tracks. I've since pretty much listened to all she's done.
'She's put lots of breakdance and hip hop in her last tracks and she's passionate about dance. Her dream as a child was to become a dancer. That's another thing we have in common.'
Asked why the pair had gone public about their love, Brahim said: 'It wasn't her deliberate decision and it wasn't mine. We were in a club and we were seen dancing together.
'It was because it was Madonna that the affair took on massive proportions. Nothing was calculated by us. We had a nice night together without thinking that there might be paparazzi there.'
Asked what had changed in his life, Madonna said: 'Deep down, not much really. I've stayed the same. It's others who have changed.
'People I haven't seen for seven years have suddenly remembered that I exist. It's become unmanageable. So I've changed my mobile number.
'Apart from that, what's being said about me in France is driving me mad. It doesn't interest me at all. Journalists can say what they want. What's not acceptable, though, is for them to touch my family.'
Speaking to journalists from France's Grazia magazine, Brahim said: 'Colleagues of yours have come to my house to take photographs of my mother and get information from her.'
Brahim, who still officially lives in a council flat in Lyon, eastern France, said he resented being portrayed as a poor boy from a rough estate made good.
Brahim also blasted claims made by his mother, Patricia Vidal, 44, that the family was surprised that his girlfriend was a full eight years older than her.
Brahim said: 'To make things clear. Lots of stories are going around about me and some are completely false. Those about my supposed edgy past in the suburbs, for example. All the claims of my mother, completely invented.
'Now I want to speak for myself, I hope so that people can discover a little bit about who I really am.
'I had a normal childhood. We were four children, and because my mother brought us up on her own I took on the role of a substitute father.
'Apart from this, I enjoyed exactly the same childhood as any other kid from my social class. At around 13 or 14, dance became an obsession for me, and I quickly reached a high standard, thanks to my flexibility which was exceptional.
'Then I formed the Pockemon Crew and, in 2003, I became champion of the world. It all happened very quickly.

Former fling: Madonna was previously dating Brazilian model Jesus Luz

'In Japan people stop me in the street, because they've seen my show. But in France, outside the world of hip-hop, no-one has heard of me. It's only since the rumours of my relationship with Madonna started that I exist in the media.'
Asked if Madonna was upset by all the publicity, Brahim said: 'No, they're not subjects which concern her. That said, I'm learning a great deal about how she manages her own affairs. I'm an apprentice!'
Last month Mrs Vidal said: 'Madonna was already a big star when I was a schoolgirl, let alone when Brahim was growing up. The whole situation is very strange indeed - surreal even.'
Zaibat's English is far from fluent while Madonna does not speak a word of French.
And, like Zaibat, Mrs Vidal did not know much like Madonna's music very much.
Most importantly, she said he was a devout Muslim who prays to Allah a number of times a day and shuns alcohol and cigarettes.
Those religious views contrast sharply with the hedonistic lifestyle personified by Madonna.
Miss Vidal - whose Algerian husband left her and their four children when Zaibat was still a young boy - explained: 'This is certainly not the kind of thing Brahim was brought up to involve himself with.'
Before Zaibat, Madonna dated another 24-year-old - Brazilian Jesus Luz.
Zaibat is aware of the relative financial security Luz gained from his relationship with Madonna, propelling himself from an impoverished wannabe to a £20,000-a-night DJ and Dolce & Gabbana model.
However he has told friends and family he has no interest in exploiting his relationship with the star.
He says his ultimate aim in life is to help children from similar underprivileged backgrounds. 'I just want to get on with my life - for everything to be normal,' he said.
The full interview with Brahim is in France's Grazia magazine, which comes out today.

No More Kids For Brangelina…For Now!

Perez Hilton Filed under: Brad Pitt > Baby Blabber > Angelina Jolie

Six is enough!

Angelina Jolie recently revealed that as of now, she and Brad Pitt have no desire to expand their family with another child, because they want to make sure that the six they have already feel as though they're getting enough attention!

She explains:

"No, I think it's very important to give our children the individual attention they need now before expanding our family. You try to feel them, because at different times, different children need you, you must find the time to listen to them. Brad and I are also really lucky because between the two of us, we can spread the attention around."

Well said!

And we're sure that all of those children feel their parents love and support on a daily basis, but we can understand why they wouldn't want to compromise that with any more additions at the moment!

Smallville Spoilers - After the picture...

Smallville’s mid-season finale will air on December 10, but tonight’s episode signals the return of John Glover, who plays Lionel Luther. Cassidy Freeman spoke with Zap2it about what’s in store for Tess Mercer.
We recently learned that Tess was actually born a Luther (Lutessa Lena Luther, to be exact). Freeman was extremely excited with this development because she thinks it gives Tess much more depth than she previously had.
In the December 3 episode Tess stumbles on a box that had previously belonged to Lionel Luther. Clark is transported to an alternate universe when he activates the box - a universe where he was discovered in the cornfield by Lionel, not by the Kents. This universe’s Clark is a very different person from the one we know, as he was raised by a very vicious Lionel. In order to try and get back to his universe, Clark must pretend to be this other verson of Clark, a version that is hated by his friends and girlfriend.
But Freeman says the episode won’t take place entirely in the alternative universe:

Throughout the episode, we'll also see Clark Luthor in the Smallville we know and love. "You'll see both worlds going at the same time," Cassidy says."It was a bit of dual personality that week for all of us. But [executive producer] Kelly Souders was directing, and she'd obviously been with the idea from the inception, so she was so versed in who these alternate characters were that it made the transitions easy."

Freeman says that she really enjoyed playing against Tom Welling’s new interpretation of the alternate universe’s Clark. She was also very excited to be working with another Luthor:

"John Glover is awesome," she says enthusiastically of the returning star. "It's been a total dream of mine to work with him from the time I started the show. I've been wondering how they could bring him back in a way that would let me interact with him, and man, they did it so creatively. It was really fun. He's so talented and just brilliant to work with." She pauses. "I do still really want to work with Michael Rosenbaum, though. Just to throw that out there."

Freeman is looking to the future as Tess learns more about her family and her place in it:

"Now that she knows she's a Luthor, some major questions are answered for her. She's got this sordid past that's now explained a bit, but it's also very upsetting in a way. It's like now, any evil thoughts or evil doings aren't just circumstantial. They might be ingrained in her; they might be in her blood."
Her connection with the Lex clone she's essentially nurtured may grow deeper as well. "Internally, knowing that she's a Luthor definitely changes that connection," Freeman says."It's not just a sort of mothering instinct, it's an actual biological connection to this person."

Freeman also speculates what might happen when Clark, Lois and Oliver learn that she’s a member of a family that they don’t like:

"They'll have a choice -- if and when they find out," Freeman says coyly. "They can accept her for it and base their judgment on her actions, or they can totally not accept it and push her away. Knowing the characters, I'd imagine that Oliver will probably have a much harder time accepting it than Clark will. Clark always wants to see the good in people."

As for Tess’s interaction with other female characters, Freeman says that Lois and Tess will interact more going forward, especially with everyone working on the same team now that Clark’s secret has been revealed.
When Chloe returns in episode 12, however, she and Tess won’t be interacting at the beginning. Freeman says that she hasn’t had an opportunity to appear in any scenes yet with Allison Mack, who is busy taking care of her character’s other storylines. Will they interact during Chloe’s limited return this season? We’ll have to wait and see.
A new episode of Smallville will be airing December  at 8:00 p.m. on The CW.  You can view five sneak peeks and promo photos for this episode.