This week the redemptive movie Beyond the Farthest Star screens at the national Values Voters Summit. Meanwhile, many other good redemptive and family movies remain at the top of the box office, some for many weeks now. These include War Room, Captive, Inside Out, Ant-Man, 90 Minutes in Heaven, and Shaun the Sheep.
Beyond the Farthest Star offers hope of redemption; Photo Courtesy of Pathlight Entertainment.
Some worthwhile choices for movies in theaters include on-demand movies like Beyond the Farthest Star. Creative strategies have enabled some good redemptive movies with limited budgets to start as on-demand movies. For example, Gathr® Films has facilitated the success of the independent redemptive movie Beyond the Mask and is currently supporting independent film Beyond the Farthest Star. The 168 Film Festival has also promoted Beyond the Farthest Star because Andrew Librizzi (filmmaker, writer and director of Beyond Farthest Star) is one of the 168-empowered successful career launches. This first feature length film from Librizzi was released to theaters in August and continues to enjoy on-demand screenings through Gathr® Films.
Notably, Beyond the Farthest Star has been selected for screening at the Values Voters Summit, held every year by the Family Research Council. This year, all presidential candidates will be speaking, along with other celebrities, media, and organizations. The summit will be televised live on CSPAN and network news.
David Oyelowo plays Brian Nichols and Kate Mara plays Ashley Smith in Captive; Photo Courtesy of Evan Klanfer.
The top picks for movies in theaters for the last week are September are for three PG movies (containing hard subjects but nothing gratuitous or salacious) in the following order for artistry and content: Captive (PG-13, teenagers and adults), 90 Minutes in Heaven (PG-13, older children through adults), and War Room (PG, older children through adults). For children and or the whole family, Inside Out and Shaun the Sheep are the best choices.
There have been few G-rated movies in theaters recently, but good programming for children abounds on DVDs, streaming sources, and PBS television. Meanwhile, Disney is developing some promising live action remakes for movies in theaters, including Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast, and more. (Again, even for remakes and reboots of familiar titles, it is important to check out good reviews for current suitability.)
Disney is remaking The Jungle Book in live action form; Photo Courtesy of Variety
The future is bright for redemptive and family movies in theaters. Some promising movies this fall for all ages include:
- Oct. 9 – Pan
- Oct. 16 – Woodlawn
- Nov. 6 – The Peanuts Movie
- Nov. 25 – Disney Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
- Dec. 18 – Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Promising redemptive and family movies on the horizon for early in 2016 include:
- The Masked Saint
- Risen
- Kung Fu Panda 3
- Ben-Hur
- Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt
- God’s Not Dead 2
- Miracles from Heaven
- The Jungle Book
- I Am Not Ashamed: Rachel Joy Scott Story
- Same Kind of Different as Me
- Finding Dory
- Providence
- Left Behind 2
- The BFG.
Other hopeful, redemptive, and/or family movies in development for 2016 include:
- Young Messiah
- Do You Believe 2
- The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew
- Ten Commandments
- King David
- Apostle Paul (with Hugh Jackman)
- Pontius Pilate
- Butterfly Circus
- The Adventures of Tintin 2
Written by Diane Howard, Ph.D. (Performance Studies), dianehoward.com
Leave a Reply