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I'm sure very few people have heard of this film. There seemed to be very little marketing behind it, which is truly a shame. I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem.

Based on the book of the same name by W. William Winokur (who also wrote the script), The Perfect Game recounts the true story of a scrappy group of boys in Monterrey, Mexico, who end up competing in the 1957 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Padre Esteban (Cheech Marin), the local Catholic priest, mentors the boys, fuels their baseball dreams, and guides their faith in God. Cesar Faz (Clifton Collins Jr.) coaches the new team, but struggles to overcome his failed attempt as a baseball prospect in America due to racism. Other supporting characters include Maria (Patricia Manterola), the coach's love interest, and Frankie (Emilie de Ravin from ABC's Lost), a sassy newspaper reporter who documents the boys' journey.

A young boy with a tragic diagnosis. A mailman who has lost his way. A powerful message of Christ's love and forgiveness. Sounds like the perfect Christian movie, right? Sadly, no. As much as I wanted to like this film, I just couldn't. Now before you call me the Tin Man (no heart) and say that I kick puppies for fun, just hear me out.

Letters to God is about an 8-year-old boy named Tyler (played by Tanner Maguire) who writes letters to God during his battle with cancer. These letters impact the boy's family, which includes his mother (Robin Lively), grandmother (Maree Cheatham), and older brother (Michael Bolten), and the life of a spiritually broken mailman (played very well by Jeffrey S. Johnson). Other cast members include Ralph Waite, L. Derek Leonidoff, and Bailee Madison.

I have two big problems with the movie. My first problem is that there really is no story. A boy with cancer is not a story. That's a character. A boy with cancer writing letters to God is not a story. That's a gimmick. Some will disagree with me because this film is based on a true story, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have enough elements for an engaging movie.

Here's an idea for Lent that will do more good than giving up desserts: Read a book about contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. It's not a penance, though it can hurt. And seeing how much of the rest of the world lives sure does put a lot of our minor irritations, and even major problems, in perspective.

Perhaps you've seen snippets from the new film Legion and wondered to yourself what it's all about. You've seen the biblical imagery and the special effects sequences featuring the multitude of soaring angels. All very intriguing. But when the trailer for a "religious" movie also shows an old lady snarling and crawling up the wall like a demonized creature, you know something's not quite right. Believe it or not, that little old lady is possessed by an angel. That's right -- an angel sent by God.

Welcome to the apocalyptic world of writer/director Scott Charles Stewart, where a hodge-podge of distorted biblical elements and twisted truths is the order of the day. Legion is definitely not your father's biblical epic.
 
The basic premise of the entire movie is summed up in one eloquent phrase: "God is tired of all the BS." Stewart found this statement to be so profound that it was mentioned not once, but twice. Because God is giving up on the human race, everyone must go. Nobody is worth saving this time around.

In order to carry out the extermination, God sends His angels to do His bidding, much like the Wicked Witch of the West uses her flying monkeys. These "dogs of heaven," as they are called (yes, they wear collars), are able to possess people like demons and terrorize others. One would think God could find a more efficient method of world destruction, but I guess this film confuses His mysterious ways for silly ones.

Despite negative reviews, The Book of Eli is not as bad as the buzz. Some of the criticism seems directly related to the film's Christian themes, and understandably so. If someone does not understand or accept the significance of the Bible as the inspired Word of God, then he or she will find the premise of the movie to be rather absurd. And it doesn't help that this is one more entry in a recent string of post-apocalyptic films.

Blamed for the nuclear holocaust which took place 30 years prior, every known copy of the Bible has been destroyed, or so it is believed. Unknown to many, one copy still remains, and Eli (Denzel Washington) must protect it from the likes of Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a greedy mob boss who wishes to corrupt its power and authority in order to manipulate the weak and desperate.

Christianity Today's Movies & TV Blog brought this one to our attention. Though you have to take any "Greatest of All Time" list with a grain of salt, there are some interesting choices on this one. As CT notes, you expect Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. But this list from the website FilmSnobbery.com also features choices like Monty Python's Life of Brian and (even more head-scratchingly) The Blues Brothers. (We dig the music, and that scene in the church with James Brown was fun, but does that alone make The Blues Brothers a religious film?)

If you haven't heard about James Cameron's Avatar by now, you must be living in some virtual world far removed from this planet. For better or worse, it has been one of the most hyped movies of the year. And the hype might actually be justified. The film transports viewers into another world, but it brings up very important questions about our own in the process.

As one of Hollywood's most buzz-worthy directors (Titanic, Aliens, the original Terminator films), Cameron understands that fantasy is a great vehicle to showcase reality and all of its harsh truths. His latest science-fiction epic is practically a mirror to the history of humankind's greed and its destructive results.

Sunday's Los Angeles Times featured an interesting story about the controversy in the black community regarding the film Precious. The article explores how the film's blunt and brutal vision of urban life in America has inspired both praise for its honesty and criticism for what many feel is a slanted portrayal of African American pathology and dysfunction. What really caught our attention, however, was the writer's mention of C. Jeffrey Wright's recent commentary on this very topic at UrbanFaith.com. The writer refers to UrbanFaith as a "conservative Christian site." We're not necessarily comfortable with the "conservative" tag, but we're certainly grateful for the press.    

Like a lot of people this past weekend, I caught a late-night showing of Paranormal Activity, the new horror film that cost a lowly $15,000 to make but has grossed more than $62 million at the box office so far. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where the audience screamed so much.

Instead of relying on pop-out parts, loud music, and gore, this film relies on eerie, quiet scenes that make viewers fidget in their seats. There were several moments that I felt the adrenaline pumping in my veins! I've read reports about grown men crying in theaters and people not being able to sleep for a week after seeing it, and the hype is legit.