If timing is everything, then The Nativity Story should be cruising along easy street.
The Hollywood movie about Joseph and Mary and the arrival of their son, Jesus, opened in theaters Dec. 1, tying in with the Christmas season.
Covering the other major Christian holiday, it was released Tuesday on DVD to coincide with the Easter season.
The high-quality biblical drama, which earned $45.6 million worldwide in theaters, offers a refreshingly down-to-earth look at how the Immaculate Conception could have impacted the lives of two young people more than 2,000 years ago.
Joseph, played by Oscar Isaac, and Mary, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes (star of Whale Rider), are portrayed as full of wonder and awe, but also with questions after being told by angels that they are will be parents of the Son of God.
It's not just a case of, "What will the neighbors think?" about Mary being pregnant before marriage, but these young parents wonder whether they will be able to teach anything to a boy who is God's Son?
This is a first-class Hollywood production that stays true to the Scriptures, but fills the story in with enough dialogue and extrapolation to give it a poignant touch.
Movieguide, a well-known faith-based entertainment guide, voted The Nativity Story as one of the Top 10 Family Films of 2006.
The movie also won the Epiphany Prize from the John Templeton Foundation as "the Most Inspiring Movie of 2006."
Among the other honors given to The Nativity Story are the Heartland Film Festival's "Truly Moving Picture" award; the Dove Foundation's Seal of Approval, and an endorsement from the Parents' Television Council.
Isaac, who plays Joseph, received Movieguide's Grace Award for "Most Inspiring Movie Performance of 2006."
Motive Entertainment - the firm that helped promote such films as The Passion of The Christ; Rocky Balboa, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - has set up a Web site, www.NativityResources.com, that provides downloadable Sunday school lessons and study guides based on the film.
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GOD AND NATURE: Spirituality is in the eye of the beholder, and viewers of Planet Earth, an 11-episode series starting tomorrow night on the Discovery Channel, may or may not see God's hand in the nature series.
But the documentary is being promoted in the Christian market, with a press kit saying it offers "an opportunity to reflect upon and admire God's beautiful creation of deserts, mountains, oceans, and other spectacular landscapes, and inevitably challenge viewers to see and own the obligation to care for our environment."
Protecting the environment and taking care of nature are popular topics these days, highlighted by such films such Winged Migration, March of the Penguins, and Al Gore's Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth.
While Planet Earth is not a political film, as with spirituality viewers inclined to find a political angle can do so.
A promotional DVD featuring series highlights includes some remarkable moments, such as a Great White Shark leaping out of the ocean, filmed in slow motion with an ultra-high-speed camera, to snatch a fur seal in its razor-sharp jaws.
Another memorable scene stars a Blue Bird of Paradise, on the island of New Guinea, doing a mating ritual that has to rank as one of the most bizarre ballets ever filmed. Planet Earth's cameraman spent 45 days in hiding just to capture this incredible dance, according to narrator Sigourney Weaver.
The documentary, a joint effort by Discover Channel and the BBC, was filmed in more than 200 locations over five years using the most high-tech, high-definition cameras available. Producers spent up to $2 million per episode.
Planet Earth starts with three hour-long episodes, Pole to Pole, Mountains, and Deep Ocean, from 8 to 11 p.m. tomorrow, and continues with two episodes each of the next four Sundays, starting at 8 p.m.
Whether or not you see it as a religious program, Planet Earth is a wonder to behold.
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MENTORING TO THE MASSES: The Rev. Tony Campolo, a Baptist preacher, professor, prolific author, and former spiritual adviser to President Clinton, takes mentoring to a new level with his 31st and most recent book, Letters to a Young Evangelical (Basic Books, $23).
The book contains a series of 21 letters from Mr. Campolo to two fictitious young believers, whom he calls Timothy and Junia. He said he was inspired by Paul's letters to Timothy.
The epistles are written in Mr. Campolo's straight-talking manner and explain his views on topics ranging from history of the evangelical movement to "escaping the American Babylon."
He credits Billy Graham as the person who brought respectability to evangelical Christianity, saying that his exemplary preaching, fiscal accountability, and kindly demeanor have shown that evangelicals can be reasonable, kind, nonjudgmental, and politically nonpartisan.
Mr. Campolo makes a concerted effort in his letters to draw a sharp line between evangelicalism and the Religious Right, coming up with the term "Red-Letter Christians" (as in Bibles that print Jesus' words in red ink) to describe his politically progressive minority.
Mr. Campolo, 71, seeks to pass his wisdom down to a new generation of Christians and this ingenious book shares his "mentoring" of two imagined people, Timothy and Junia, to a broad audience.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
or 419-724-6154.
First Published March 24, 2007, 9:59 a.m.
