Unbroken, the powerful American biographical war drama film, produced and directed by Angelina Jolie, based on the 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand, “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption,” took first prize in the BEST MATURE AUDIENCE FILMS category at the “Christian Oscars” on Friday, February 6, 2015.
The film revolves around the life of athlete Louis “Louie” Zamperini, portrayed by Jack O’Connell. Zamperini survived in a raft for 47 days after his bomber was downed in World War II, then was sent to a series of prisoner of war camps.
Zamperini, who became a born-again Christian in 1949, during Billy Graham’s historic Los Angeles Crusade, never stopped sharing his faith around the world. He died at the age of 97, on July 2, 2014, in Los Angeles, so he wasn’t able to see the opening of the film.
The prestigious award was presented at the glittering 23rd Movieguide Faith and Values Awards held at the Universal Hilton Hotel.
Andraé Crouch performing.
Tribute to Andraé Crouch
A highlight of the evening was a live tribute to the legendary singer/songwriter, Andraé Crouch, who passed away on January 8, 2015, at the age of 72. Crouch was originally scheduled to perform during the awards gala, so instead, Donnie McClurkin, Cece and Marvin Winans, Take 6, and Tata Vaga, were scheduled to pay their personal tribute to Crouch, who was a seven-time Grammy Award-winner. His songs such “My Tribute (To God Be the Glory)” and “I’ll Be Thinking of You” have played in churches around the world and have been recorded by artists like Elvis and Paul Simon.
Dr. Ted Baehr’s Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry
For the 23rd year in a row, Dr. Ted Baehr, the founder and publisher of Movieguide, presented highlights of his much-awaited Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry by Movieguide®: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment once again showed clearly that moviegoers prefer clean, heroic, family-friendly movies with Christian, biblical, redemptive, conservative, and patriotic faith and values.
“This was also true in 2014, despite a significant decrease in box office earnings for Hollywood in general,” said Dr. Baehr.
Dr. Ted Baehr; Photo Courtesy of PR Web.
For example, he explained, 90% of the Top 10 Movies in the United States, overseas and home video sales in 2014 contained strong or very strong Christian, redemptive, biblical, and/or moral content, values or worldviews, including such movies as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Big Hero 6, Frozen, the last two Hobbit movies, The Lego Movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, and Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Each year, Movieguide analyzes 275 or more major theatrical movies according to basic biblical principles, morality, and theology from a Christian perspective.
Dr. Baehr said that in 2014, movies with very strong Christian, redemptive worldviews following biblical principles and values averaged $66.79 million at the domestic box office in 2014, but movies with very strong Non-Christian worldviews averaged only $20.13 million.
In fact, movies with humanist/atheist worldviews did the worst, averaging only $1.98 million! Also, movies with absolutely no foul language, sex, explicit nudity, or substance abuse earned the most money. Something, he believes, Hollywood should take note of.
To find out more about Movieguide®, please go to their website, which is www.Movieguide.org
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