~ by Travis and Laura Stewart ~JJ Heller, an independent artist who writes and performs with her husband Dave, experienced a dramatic increase in exposure this past year when their song "Your Hands" was used by dancer Diana Drexler on the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance?" and suddenly found their music at the top of the singer/songwriter charts on iTunes. Along with my daughter 12 year-old daughter Laura, I had the chance to interview JJ for our viaRenovo artist ...

Finally 2010 • Scholastic Press Written by Wendy Mass ~ Book review by Laura Stewart Meet Rory Swenson. In a few hours, her life will finally begin. Rory will be twelve. The day she has been waiting for her whole life. She will be able to get a cell phone, shave her legs, get an IM name, and more. While she begins to check many things on her list of things she can do when she’s twelve, a new movie is being shot at her school. As many of her friends do too, she ...

Gentlemen Broncos 2009 • Rated PG-13 Directed by Jared Hess Review by Ron Reed New Yorker's Richard Brody is rare among film critics in finding things to praise about GENTLEMEN BRONCOS, the third film from Mormon film maker Jared Hess (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, NACHO LIBRE). One of the most audacious American movies of 2009, Jared Hess’s “Gentlemen Broncos” (on DVD from Fox) — a loopy comedy that blends frumpy down-market vulgarity with excremental humor and ...

~ Travis Stewart ~ Recently I was reading this article in Christianity Today and resonated with the words of the author J. R. Daniel Kirk, associate professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary: In the spring of my senior year in college, I was deeply immersed in the rhythms of Christian life. I was a leader in InterVarsity, participated regularly in a Bible study with other seminary-bound friends, set my Sundays aside for worship and rest, and read more ...

From the time the Harry Potter books first crossed the pond from England there has been both praise and disparagement of the books. Most of the criticism came from Christian voices raising concerns about the glorification of magic and the dangers of the occult. Now that the final book has been around for some time and before we see the arrival of the final two movies (the last book is being split into two films because of the density of content as well as Hollywood squeezing every last dime it can from the franchise) we can take a step back and think a little more critically about these ...

Craig Detweiler walks us through the 10 films nominated for Best Picture from 2009 and explores how they are built upon the foundations of drama—characters, stakes, and story arcs — and how you may catch a glimpse of Eden. CHARACTERS: The most memorable films revolve around fascinating characters. The Hurt Locker rises above all other movies about Iraq because of its focus on the soldiers. It takes us inside the experience of an Army bomb squad, especially Staff Sergeant William James. We walk a nail-biting mile in his shoes. How haunting to be drawn into the volatile battlefield of ...