With twenty minutes to go until show time, a large, chatty crowd already filled the Loma Linda University Church to see a documentary, The Adventists, by Martin Doblmeier, the filmmaker who also screened his feature films on Deitrich Bonhoeffer and forgiveness at the church within the last three years.

It's Oscars time. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday, March 7th, showcase the best of film from 2009. In this film vlog, we break down the Oscar nominees and predict winners in all the biggest categories.

This three-part conversation focuses on the importance of film as art and the importance of art as a window into the human experience.

How do you unseat a violent and implacable dictator who is wantonly killing his own people? By prayer. Really! Once again a lesson of peacemaking in the face of seemingly impossible odds comes out of Africa, this time from the small West African country of Liberia, founded in 1847 by freed African slaves, and whose capital is named after an American president.

It is dicey business suggesting potentially great films from any age or genre as tastes vary so much. And to move back toward cinematic beginnings also means that many younger readers will have no idea what is being discussed – it is ancient history.

I make this attempt in hopes of enticing some to discover new and wonderful cinematic experiences--enjoyment and value that you might not otherwise have encountered.

Disney’s new animated film, The Princess and the Frog, has proved a modest success at the box office and a lightning rod in the blogosphere. The film, which portrays Disney’s first African-American heroine in the company’s eighty five-year history, has received heavy criticism for what many perceive as denigrating ethnic stereotypes. The Disney film is not alone in raising issues of race. Several of 2009’s top films deal with the topic directly or indirectly.

It's that time of year when two things happen: First, as one Facebook friend quipped, "We sit and look at a dead tree and eat snacks out of our socks." Second, this is the time of year for a total onslaught of many of the year's most anticipated films, hitting the big screen all at once.

With so many holiday-time films to choose from, and in the spirit of year-end, top-ten lists everywhere, we offer a list of the top ten holiday films to be sure to see before the clock strikes 2010. Most are in theaters now; a couple are available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Is it always wrong to lie? What sort of a society would we have if we always told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Is a belief in God merely a lie that has evolved to provide a delusional sense of hope?