Natl Film Title                Weekend Gross  %B.O. Theatrs
Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Star   Total Gross  Chnge  $/Thtr  Days
--- ---------------------------  -----------  ----- -------  ----
 9  Home on the Range              2,306,510  -35%   2,010     31
    Roseanne Barr (actress)       45,597,280        $1,148
      (1st billed star)

38  Bugs!                            141,836   +3%      27    416
    stars Papilio,                 7,394,580        $5,253
      a Great Mormon butterfly

75  Pride and Prejudice               24,192            20    150
    Andrew Black (director)          347,071        $1,210
    Jason Faller (producer)
    Kynan Griffin (co-producer)
    Anne K. Black
      (screenplay/produc. designer)
    Jason Faller; Katherine Swigert (screenplay)
    Travis Cline (cinematographer)
    Ben Carson (composer)
    Alexander Vance (editor)
    Actors: Ben Gourley, Hubbel Palmer,
      Amber Hamilton, Carmen Rasmusen

80  The Best Two Years                20,054  -33%      20     73
    Scott S. Anderson                748,023        $1,002
      (writer/producer/director)
    Michael Flynn (producer)
    Fred C. Danneman (executive producer)
    Gordon Lonsdale (cinematographer)
    Wynn Hougaard (editor)
    Michael McLean (songwriter, music supervisor)
    Dave Sapp
      (line producer/1st A.D./unit production manager)
    Darin Anderson (production manager)
    Michael L. McDonough (sound editor)
    Rebecca Nibley (costume designer)
    Actors: K.C. Clyde, Kirby Heyborne,
      David Nibley, Cameron Hopkin,
      Scott Christopher, Michael Flynn

91  Latter Days                       13,301  +11%       8     94
    C. Jay Cox (writer/director)     702,441        $1,663
    LDS main characters

92  The Young Black Stallion          11,084  +14%      17    130
    Reed Smoot (cinematographer)   6,307,265          $652

94  The Book of Mormon Movie Vol. 1   10,625  -48%      13    234
    Gary Rogers                    1,660,354          $817
      (writer/producer/director)
    Craig Clyde (screenplay)
    David Hales (co-producer, editor)
    Ira Baker (editor)
    Robert C. Bowden (composer)
    Actors: Bryce Chamberlain,
      Mark Gollaher, Jan Broberg Felt,
      Cragun Foulger, Jacque Gray,
      Kirby Heyborne, Michael Flynn

102 The United States of Leland        8,312  -39%      34     31
    Ryan Gosling (actor)             319,683          $244
      (2nd billed star)

118 Galapagos                          3,778             3   1648
    Reed Smoot (cinematographer)  14,463,208        $1,259

BOOK OF MORMON MOVIE OUT ON DVD - It's May. May means the arrival of those flowers promised by April's showers. School is out for the summer at BYU (unless you are taking sring or summer session classes of course). Most of the public schools still have a month left, but still, theaters have already begun to clear room for the summer blockbusters. This means limited action on the independent film front - at least in the theaters. But for collectors of LDS cinema films on DVD and video, May can be like Christmas in ... well, May. Already out this week is "The Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey." Due out next week is "The Legend of Johnny Lingo." Both films grossed over $1.6 million in the theaters (and "The Book of Mormon Movie" is still seeing some theatrical release action). Due out at the beginning of June is "The Home Teachers." Soon stores will also see Christian Vuissa's award-winning short "Unfolding" and John Lyde's charming bedtime flick "Mariah's Prayer" and the list goes on and on.

NEW WADSWORTH BOOK DUE OUT IN TIME FOR MOTHER'S DAY - It's not a film - yet - but we couldn't help put in a plug for the latest book by one of our favorite authors, Amy Maida Wadsworth. Sister Wadsworth's latest book, "Silent Witness," should be available now in most LDS bookstores, and she is scheduled for book signings at Seagull Bookstores in Bountiful, Layton, Salt Lake City, Taylorsville, Orem, Sandy and West Jordan over the next four weekends. Readers familiar with Sister Wadsworth's work will of course remember her previous offering "Shadow of a Doubt" and will be eager to pick up this newest book as soon as possible.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IS BACK - We thought its theatrical run might have come to a short and disappointing end, but we were wrong. This week, "Pride and Prejudice" shows up once again on the box office charts, grossing just over $24,000 over the weekend. According to the official Pride and Prejudice movie website (http://www.prideprejudice.com/), the film is currently playing in Alaska, California and parts of Canada.

TRAILER FOR BAPTISTS AT OUR BARBECUE OUT - This is very exciting news... A short trailer (or long teaser) is now online for the upcoming LDS Cinema feature film "Baptists at Our Barbecue." The movie was directed by Latter-day Saint Austrian auteur Christian Vuissa, who previously wowed film festival audiences nationwide with his award-winning short films "Roots & Wings" and "Unfolding" (both now available on video and DVD in LDS bookstores nationwide, and at LDS Video Store).

"Baptists at Our Barbecue" stars Dan Merkely (one of the supporting actors in "The Work and the Story") and Heather Beers (star of "Jack Weyland's Charly"), plus supporting cast of Utah's top professional film actors, including Frank Gerrish, Jan Broberg Felt and Steve Anderson.

The trailer is at the official website: www.baptistsatourbarbecue.com, www.bbqmovie.com or http://www.eatdrinkandgetmarried.com

During production the movie went by the title "Eat, Drink and Get Married," which is what the third URL reflects.

This is a VERY FUNNY movie trailer! I laughed out loud and watched it multiple times. This is also a great looking movie.

After seeing this I absolutely stand by my prediction made that Christian Vuissa's movie "Eat, Drink and Get Married" will be numbered along with Scott S. Anderson's "The Best Two Years", Little's "Saints and Soldiers" and Black's "Pride and Prejudice" as a new wave of critically-acclaimed LDS Cinema films which stand a ahead of the pack in the genre. "Baptists at Our Barbecue" looks like it has real crossover appeal, but should definitely appeal to LDS audiences. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

The trailer for "Baptists at Our Barbecue" is also included on the "Book of Mormon Movie, Volume 1: The Journey" DVD, which was released this week.

NEW REVIEW: "THE BEST TWO YEARS" SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR FUTURE RELIGIOUS FILMS - See http://www.theplaza.ca/moview/Films/B/best_two_years.html

NEW REVIEW OF LDS CINEMA "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" - See http://u.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,216~24283~2116255,00.html

NEW REVIEW OF "BRIGHAM CITY" - See http://www.badmovieplanet.com/unknownmovies/reviews/rev431.html

REVIEWS OF NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, DIRECTED BY BRO. JARED HESS - See http://sundance.weblogsinc.com/entry/3463694269313459/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/usercomments Napoleon Dynamite opens in selected theaters on June 11th.

THE WORK AND THE GLORY TV NEWS REPORT - The link below lets you see the actual story from the news broadcast. It even includes a scene from the movie, apparently taken from the dailys. After seeing the scene from "The Work and the Glory" I just want to say... Jared Hess' "Napoleon Dynamite" opens nationwide on June 11th!!! I can't wait!

http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=39&sid=90918

ROGER EBERT: "LATTER DAYS" IS "AN ATTACK ON THE MORMON CHURCH" - See http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/living/8556255.htm?1c

ERIC D. SNIDER: GLBT/LDS FILM "LATTER DAYS" AND ITS AFTERMATH - See http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog.php?id=46

ERIC D. SNIDER'S LDS CINEMA COLLECTION - LDS film reviewer Eric D. Snider, formerly the film and theater critic for Utah County's Daily Herald, has posted a very useful list to his main movie page with links directly to his reviews of LDS Cinema. Snider is one of the few newspaper reviewers in the world who has reviewed essentially every LDS Cinema flick so far. We've forwarded links to all hi reviews to the mailing list as they have been posted or published in Daily Herald. But you can go to the URL shown before, and you'll find the list, each linked directly to the reviews, in case you would like to review them. Snider disliked some movies that I liked very much. But I always find his reviews useful and thoughtful.

http://www.ericdsnider.com/movie.php

Hooray for Holywood: The Mormon cinema movement

- The Best Two Years B (02/20/2004)
- The Book of Mormon Movie C- (09/12/2003)
- Brigham City B (04/06/2001)
- Charly B- (09/27/2002)
- Day of Defense F (10/10/2003)
- God's Army B+ (03/10/2000)
- Handcart C- (10/11/2002)
- The Home Teachers C- (01/09/2004)
- The Legend of Johnny Lingo C (08/29/2003)
- The Other Side of Heaven C+ (12/14/2001)
- Out of Step B (02/15/2002)
- Pride & Prejudice C+ (12/05/2003)
- The R.M. B- (01/31/2003)
- Saints and Soldiers A- (08/06/2004)
- The Singles Ward C- (02/01/2002)
- The Work and the Story D+ (10/03/2003)

NEW INTERVIEW WITH BRO. NEIL LABUTE - http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/theater/newsandfeatures/02SCHI.html?ex=1084075200&en=e73a339e1763282f&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

Excerpt:

SCHILLINGER I know you belong to the Mormon faith. Can you be "excommunicated" if your writing offends the Mormon church?

LABUTE I was "disfellowshipped," actually, for "Bash." It's sort of a state of limbo.

SCHILLINGER Is that like the silent treatment?

LABUTE It's not quite that. There are certain things you can't do, like take the sacrament, because they found the play to be detrimental.

SCHILLINGER To the reputation of the church?

LABUTE They have a very specific feeling about what art should do.

SCHILLINGER Like Giuliani?

LABUTE That it should enlighten, and empower and things like that. And they didn't find that my work was doing that.

SCHILLINGER Have they changed their mind lately?

LABUTE Not really.

KIRBY HEYBORNE TAKES HOLLYWOOD BY STORM - See http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/50079

BRO. BILLINGSLEY SCREENS "IRAQ'S NEW WAR" DOCUMENTARY AT BYU - See http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=20526&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

YOUNG OSMOND, FULL-TIME MISSIONARY, MOBBED BY MEDIA IN SCOTLAND - http://iclanarkshire.icnetwork.co.uk/news/localnews/rutherglen/rrnews/tm_objectid=14194984&method=full&siteid=50144&headline=osmond-junior-forced-to-flee-town-by-media-name_page.html

TV SINGING STAR CARMEN RASMUSEN AND LESSER-KNOWN UTAHNS FEATURED IN COOK BOOK - See http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05052004/wednesda/wednesda.asp

NYC'S CLASSICAL LDS FAB FIVE - See http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/04/arts/music/04MORM.html

NEW LINE CINEMA ACQUIRES SORKIN'S "THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION", ABOUT LDS INVENTOR OF TELEVISION - This is really awesome news. I would love to see a Farnsworth feature helmed or written by a talented Latter-day Saint filmmaker such as Peter David, LaBute, Dutcher, Neibaur or Van Wagenen. But all of these names are pretty unlikely, I have to admit. Sorkin and Schlamme are certainly no slouchs, and the press release itself identifies Bro. Farnsworth as a Latter-day Saint. So hopefully that fact won't be totally left out of an eventually made movie. "The West Wing" is one of the most smartly written series on television. So, yeah, even though this appears to be solidly in the hands of people who do NOT share Bro. Farnsworth's ethnic and religious background, I think this could be a very welcome, well-made movie.

See http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040430/laf071_1.html

KIM PEEK - THE REAL RAIN MAN - "Rain Man," starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, is one of the highest-grossing movies ever featuring a main character based on a real-life Latter-day Saint. Hoffman's critically acclaimed portrayal, however, is NOT actually identifiably a Latter-day Saint in the movie. Bro. Peek is identified as a Latter-day Saint in his biography, "The Real Rain Man," written by his father. (I read the book at a Deseret Book store.) Kim Peek's online bios are a little more private about the matter. Here are a couple of old articles, for anybody who has ever wondered why "Rain Man" is placed 2nd on our list of movies with LDS characters (http://www.ldsfilm.com/lds_chars.html ) - way ahead of "The Other Side of Heaven" (ranked 14th).

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/kimpeek.cfm
http://ntn.donrdenton.com/shownews.php3?ID=11

REVIEWS OF JANE SEYMOUR'S FAMILY MOVIE, WHICH SHE IS SHILLING TO SAINTS - Jane Seymour was in Utah pitching her new family movie. Seymour is NOT a Latter-day Saint, but she played a famous Mormon actress in "Somewhere in Time." I guess she thinks Utah will be a fertile place to ply her family film. Personally, I think I'd rather watch "Somewhere in Time" one more time than a horse movie. But that's just me.

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04302004/friday/161990.asp
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595059641,00.html
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595059640,00.html

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT NEEDED FOR ESPN PROJECT IN UTAH - From Andy Nicholson:

I'm producing 7 episodes of a new show covering the UROC Pro-Nationals (http://www.uroc.com) for ESPN2 and am needing some PA's. Wondered if you might be able to spread the word for me?

We film our next episode in Cedar City, UT on May 14 and 15.

These are unpaid positions but it will be lots of fun and its a great opportunity to get some experience working on a nationally televised show. Meals and accomodations will be provided.

No experience required.

Anyone interested, please e-mail Andy Nicholson at andy@stonegatemedia.com

SPY HOP SAYS THANKS - See http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595060189,00.html

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH PICKS LATTER-DAY SAINT AS NEW PRESIDENT - See http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595059931,00.html and http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04302004/utah/162035.asp

LDS AUTHOR PUBLISHES " WHAT WOULD BUFFY DO? THE VAMPIRE SLAYER AS SPIRITUAL GUIDE" - See http://www.sltrib.com/2004/May/05012004/saturday/saturday.asp

MERIDIAN MAGAZINE/STEVE DEVORE: DECENCY IN MEDIA: ACT NOW! - See http://www.meridianmagazine.com/familywatch/040504media.html

ACLU HEADS STOP MAKING SENSE - See http://www.storyhunters.com/godandcon/archives/000643.html