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The Vatican has banned the makers of Angels & Demons, the latest Dan Brown thriller to be filmed, from shooting scenes not only in the Vatican but in any church in Rome on the ground that it is "an offence against God" and "wounds common religious feelings". Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, head of the Vatican's Prefecture for Economic Affairs, said that the author had "turned the Gospels upside down to poison the faith. It would be unacceptable to transform churches into film sets so that his blasphemous novels can be made into mendacious films in the name of business."...

In an obvious attempt to be ignored for a while, Tom Hanks with no fanfare, news release or hoopla, late tonight put up a video on his MySpace page endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president. Had it come on, say, a Monday morning, the endorsement by the popular and widely-respected Hanks would have caused seismic shifts on those rock shelves that underlie Hollywood and promise to slide the place into the ocean someday. Thanks to The Times' dauntless Tina Daunt, The Ticket, however, is right on top of this major international political story. "BEWARE," says the headline on Hanks'...

This is a little bit humor for this Christmas. Personally, I think it's brilliant...( tip of the hat to Instapundit & Randy Barnett )...

Today: October 04, 2006 at 11:10:13 PDT DNA May Implicate Malibu Stars' Toilets By NOAKI SCHWARTZ ASSOCIATED PRESS MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Just whose waste is fouling the most star-studded stretch of the Southern California coast? Los Angeles County officials intend to find out, and if the evidence leads back to the toilets of some of Hollywood's rich and famous, the sewage could really hit the fan. "This is going to get messy," predicts Mark Pestrella, the public works official assigned to the project. Environmentalists and health officials suspect Malibu homeowners' leaky septic tanks are allowing what gets flushed down...

If Hollywood has a "DaVinci Code," Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has cracked it. Top stars such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson donated to the New York senator in recent months, generating the kind of cash usually associated with a major box office opening - or a potential presidential bid in 2008. Clinton, who doesn't face much of a challenge in her re-election, received $4,200 from "The DaVinci Code" star Hanks, the Academy Award-winning actor, and his wife, Rita Wilson. The itemized donations were made public Wednesday, with the paperwork for April through June more than 4,000...

One reason for The Da Vinci Code’s success it that the Catholic Church has made itself a vulnerable target over the last few years, according to Patrick Madrid. Mr. Madrid, who will speak in Toledo on Wednesday night, is an apologist whose role is to defend and explain Catholicism. He said in an interview this week that the church is still reeling from the “two black eyes” it suffered starting in 2002. “First there was the priest scandal, and then the inept handling by bishops. I think the Catholic Church has gotten itself into such a mess, such a public...

OK, people, the early reviews could have been a little better, so Dan stepped in to do some rewrites, and he and I have come up with some minor tweaks.

Editor's note: Dr. Tom Snyder contributed to this column. Dr. Ted Baehr is founder and publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®: A Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment and founder and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission. Dr. Tom Snyder is editor of MOVIEGUIDE®. © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com "The First Amendment provides for the separation of Church and State." "The Founding Fathers were all deists." "America is a racist country." "Cuba is a worker's paradise." "The Bible is contradictory." "Jesus Christ didn't die on the Cross." "The religious right in America wants to establish a totalitarian theocracy." "Modern homo sapiens are descended...

War on Christianity has been declared. On which side of the battle line will you stand? The movie version of Dan Brown's book, THE DA VINCI CODE, is now in theaters. Although the movie significantly waters down the unrelenting, anti-Christian attacks and virulent paganism and goddess worship of the novel, it promotes the book and contains enough falsehoods and scurrilous conjecture to distort the truth about Jesus Christ, the Bible, Christianity, and God. That, coupled with the book’s popularity and some Christians’ ignorance about their faith, leads us to believe that the movie, and the attention it draws, will increase...

MOVIEGOERS in Manila may have to go to neighboring cities to watch “The Da Vinci Code” after the city council yesterday passed a resolution prohibiting the showing of the controversial movie. The resolution said the movie, which was based on US author Dan Brown’s explosive novel, “is undoubtedly offensive and contrary to established religious beliefs which cannot take precedence over the right of the persons involved in the film to freedom of expression.” The resolution, which was passed just hours before cinemas in Manila and other parts of the metropolis began showing the movie, cited a provision in the Revised...

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Most critics panned "The Da Vinci Code" on Wednesday ahead of the world premiere of the year's most eagerly awaited movie. Kicking off the annual Cannes film festival, Ron Howard's adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller was described variously as "grim," "unwieldy" and "plodding," though one reviewer bucked the trend and said "You'll Louvre It!" The cool reception was temporarily forgotten at a glitzy opening ceremony, where screen legend Sidney Poitier and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai joined Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks and the normally publicity-shy Brown on the red carpet. Even before its general...

While promoters of "The Da Vinci Code" have tried to downplay the film's challenge to Christianity, actor Ian McKellen took a shot at the Bible in an interview with the "Today" show, saying Scripture should carry a disclaimer that it is "fiction." McKellen, who played Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" triology, was responding to a question from host Matt Lauer about the requests by some Christian groups to insert a "fiction" disclaimer at the beginning of the controversial film, which suggests Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife and that the divinity of Jesus was an invention...

Apparently, the reviews of Tom Hanks latest movie have been less than kind. Maybe his new look is behind it all...

by Mark Finkelstein May 17, 2006 If the Da Vinci Code was already feeding the flames of controversy with its challenge to the basic tenets of Christianity, actor Ian McKellen managed to throw a refinery tank's worth of gasoline on the fire on this morning's Today show, asserting that the Bible should carry a disclaimer saying that it is "fiction." Matt Lauer, on his second day "On The Road With The Code," was in Cannes for the film festival, where the Code will have its debut. It has already been screened to some critics, who have given it decidedly mixed...

“The Da Vinci Code” has undermined faith in the Roman Catholic Church and badly damaged its credibility, a survey of British readers revealed Tuesday as tensions over — and hype for — the forthcoming film reached a fever pitch. As its stars off headed to walk the red carpet at Cannes, where the film was set to debut Wednesday before a worldwide release Friday, at least two countries limited the film's release. The British survey, released by a group of prominent Catholics, revealed that readers of Dan Brown's blockbuster novel are twice as likely to believe Jesus Christ fathered children...

Tom Hanks Provokes Catholics’ Ire As if starring in one of the highest profile blasphemies of history was not enough, The Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks has added insult to injury with a blasphemous skit on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” on May 6. During the show’s beginning monologue, cast members dressed as clergymen and “clergywomen” reportedly derided Mr. Hanks for starring in The Da Vinci Code and threatened him with eternal damnation. The blasphemous parody escalated as actor Jason Sudeikis appeared dressed as “Jesus Christ,” saying that he forgave Mr. Hanks. Mr. Hanks responded, “So you have seen the...

The row over the imminent release of the Da Vinci Code film grew today when star Tom Hanks hit out at its Catholic critics. Cardinals, speaking with the authorisation of the Vatican, have called for the Hollywood version of Dan Brown's bestselling novel to be boycotted. They say the theme of the film - that Jesus Christ had children with Mary Magdalene and that hardline Catholic movement Opus Dei covered up his secret life - is highly blasphemous. But Oscar-winner Hanks said objectors to The Da Vinci Code are taking the film too seriously, telling the Evening Standard: "We always...

Introduction There is little doubt that the Da Vinci Code has hit a cultural nerve. It has been on the best seller list in the USA for two years, it also has hit equal heights in various countries overseas. Sales estimates run at forty-three million, while reader estimates reach as high as one hundred million. And a major movie by Ron Howard with Tom Hanks in a lead role is on the way in May. The novel's combination of mystery, history, conspiracy and the use of romantic locations and figures have made it a popular piece of fiction. Its plot...

Oscar nominees, who may be in a fix about preparing their acceptance speeches, can now look to Tom Hanks for help. The Academy has brought out an eight-minute instructional video, narrated by Hanks, about the do's and don'ts while accepting an award. Entitled An Insider's Guide: What Nominees Need To Know, the video includes clips of Oscar moments that stuck in the memory, such as Jack Palance doing one-arm push-ups, or Roberto Benigni gliding over the tops of everyone's chairs en route to the stage or Gwyneth Paltrow's deluge of tears, reports The Independent...

HBO is set to launch an entertainment series that openly promotes polygamy. Beginning March 12, the “bold new series” Big Love will replace the Sopranos on the station’s Sunday night line-up. Starring Hollywood’s Jim Paxton, Big Love attempts to show the “endearingly normal” side of a typical American man who “happens” to have three wives. The producers worked hard to ensure they found an All-American actor to play the lead role, reports the Star Telegraph, to minimize any potential “creepiness” of the material.Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, the show’s scriptwriters, are both gay. Although the producers deny there was...

THE Da Vinci Code is one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year but its significance to Hollywood may go deeper than mere box office success: Tom Hanks has delighted his studio bosses by accepting a pay cut for his role as the book’s art sleuth hero.

As soon as Tom Hanks wraps up shooting on his role in The Da Vinci Code, he will play "as real-life (and rather controversial) Texas congressman Charlie Wilson in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR, written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing). It's based on the true story of a womanising politician who ran one of the largest-ever CIA operations. "Hanks will play a congressman whose penchant for booze and women earned him the nickname Good Time Charlie. He watched his political career almost go down the drain in the early 1980s when he was caught in a hot tub tryst with two...

In Hollywood, as the old adage goes, bad books often make great movies. In fact, the pulpier the fiction, the better the final result (think "The Bourne Identity" or "The Bridgesof Madison County"), because then the movie adapters feel no qualms about making significant improvements. So it'll be fascinating to see how closely the team behind the 1995 smash "Apollo 13" - star Tom Hanks, director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer - will hew to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," which started production in Paris on Wednesday. The phenomenally popular novel has remained on the U.S. best-seller list for...

Deep Throat has a book deal and a movie deal, and he could end up being played by Tom Hanks. The family of 91-year-old W. Mark Felt, who revealed his role as The Washington Post's key Watergate source two weeks ago, has chosen PublicAffairs Books to publish a combination of autobiography and biography, publisher and CEO Peter Osnos said last night. Osnos said that Universal Pictures has optioned Felt's life story and the book for a movie to be developed by Hanks's production company, Playtone. He said the book will blend Felt's own writing about his life, including his out-of-print...

Tom Hanks' production company has bought the film rights to the life story of Mark Felt, the former FBI official recently revealed to have been Deep Throat, it was reported today. Universal Pictures is understood to have secured the rights for development by Playtone, the company co-owned by Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the New York Times reported today. The rights, along with those for a book to be published by respected non-fiction house PublicAffairs, are believed to have been sold for almost $1 million (£550,000). Peter Osnos, the chief executive of PublicAffairs, said the book is expected to be published...

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, 2005 – The winners for the prestigious $50,000 John Templeton Foundation Epiphany Prizes for Inspiring Movies & TV were announced last evening at the 13th Annual Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, with Dr. John Templeton, Jr., presenting THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST with the $50,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspirational Movie of 2004. The $50,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspirational Television Program of 2004 was awarded to the “Happy Trails” episode of DOC, broadcast by PAX-TV. “This is a very special night for us,” said Jim Caviezel, star of THE...

In the movie The Terminal Tom Hanks plays an international traveler Viktor Navorski that gets stranded in John F. Kennedy International airport in New York City because while he was in flight, his home country experienced a coup and the government had fallen. Travel documents we no longer valid, so Viktor could not get to his dream destination of New York City. So, Viktor is stuck in the Terminal. Viktor has experiences with a ladder-climbing bureaucrat that help to paint a clearer picture of who Viktor is and help to move the movie along. Of course along the way, Viktor...

Anyone with any sense knows the makers of the unpleasant children's movie "Polar Express" were foolish to unload it just days after the release of the excellent, can't-miss animated hit "The Incredibles." But some in Tinseltown seem eager to lose money. The good news about the failure of "Polar Express," already being nicknamed "Polar Distress," is that it's hurting Bush-bashing fat cat Steve Bing, one of those left-wing tycoons who tried to buy the presidential election for John Kerry. Bing put up half the money for "Polar Distress" (the rest came from the Democrat media leviathan Time Warner) and squandered...

Tom Hanks has been pegged to play the lead role in Sony's upcoming film "The Da Vinci Code," the adaptation of author Dan Brown's best-selling thriller, Newsweek has learned. Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the duo who helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy "Splash" and rehired him 11 years later for "Apollo 13," cast Hanks as the globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon, a decision based partially on the cerebral (riddle-solving, code-cracking) nature of the action in "Da Vinci," Newsweek reports in its Nov. 22 issue (on newsstands Monday, Nov. 15). "Tom is an exciting actor to...

Tom Hanks backs US troops in Iraq 2.11PM, Tue May 18 2004 Tom Hanks, star of Second World War TV drama Band of Brothers and the movie Saving Private Ryan, has voiced his support for US troops. He was speaking in Cannes, where film-maker Michael Moore and actor Sean Penn yesterday used the film festival to attack the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Hanks said: "These are extremely tough times, not just for America but for the world. "We are up against a type of philosophy we don't quite understand. We are in a difficult sort of grey...

NEW YORK -- Actor Christopher Reeve knows how to get to fellow celebrities. As consultant to the upcoming PBS series Freedom, he wanted well-known actors to provide voices for characters from American history. But if he went through managers, publicists or agents, Reeve knew he'd get some brush-offs. So he wrote to the celebrities themselves. He assembled an impressive list: Jennifer Aniston, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Robin Williams and many others. Reeve, 50, wanted to participate because his half brother, a teacher in rural Vermont, had such trouble...