Movie Review: The Neon Highway

More than 30 years in the making, the movie The Neon Highway debuted on the silver screen this last week in Nashville. Originally written by Phillip Bellury and directed by William Wages for the likes of Johnny Cash, the deal never worked out. They say everything happens for a reason: Beau Bridges was meant to play Claude Allen, and Rob Mayes was meant to play Wayne Collins.

Here is a synopsis of the plot: 20 years ago, Collins, played by Mayes, an aspiring singer/songwriter, was a heartbeat away from making it in Nashville when a car accident derailed his ambitions. Now working a 9-5 job and struggling to support his family, Collins has a fateful encounter with waning country music great Allen, played by Bridges, who reignites Allen’s musical dreams. Together, they go to Nashville with one of Collins’ songs, believing they can make it big with Allen’s fame and contacts. The problem is the industry has changed and no one is interested in the song – or Allen. Devastated and out of options, Collins creates a way to get the song out to the public; not for himself, but for Allen.

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Commentary: The Surprising Christian Values in ‘The Exorcist’

In his four-out-of-four review of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the picture “transcends the genre of terror, horror, and the supernatural.” However, Ebert did not address perhaps the most compelling element of the 1973 classic horror film: that buried deep within the gruesome story of a demon-inhabited 12-year-old girl is one of the most authentically theological films ever made.

The protagonist of The Exorcist is not, as one might expect, either the possessed Regan MacNeil or her mother, Chris (each of whom take up a majority of the screen time). After all, neither of them complete a character arc during the film.

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New Documentary Film Pokes Holes in False George Floyd Narratives

George Floyd Protesters

A sobering new documentary aims to debunk the false narratives surrounding the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin.

“The Fall of Minneapolis,” produced by Alpha News journalist Liz Collin, also examines the tragic impacts of the Black Lives Matter riots, including the collapse of law and order, that continues to this day.

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‘The Chosen’ Season Four to Debut in Theaters This February

“I know it’s hard,” Jesus (played by Jonathan Roumie) says in a voiceover for “The Chosen’s” Season 4 teaser. “Man makes it much harder when he leans on his own understanding.” 

The smash hit’s fourth season premieres in theaters on Feb. 1, 2024, producers announced Monday. The rollout will begin in the U.S. and Canada with a two-week run of episodes 1-3 on Feb. 1, followed by episodes 4-6 beginning Feb. 15, and Episodes 7-8 beginning Feb. 29, according to a news release. 

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‘Playin’ Possum’: Nancy Jones Remembers George Jones

FRANKLIN, Tennessee-Many have been fascinated by George Jones’ storied life. He is possibly the greatest male vocalist in county music history with 79 top ten hits and 10 number ones including “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a song often considered as the greatest country song of all time. But his addiction to drugs and alcohol nearly destroyed his career.

This addiction affected his relationships with women, including his volatile marriage to Tammy Wynette. However, when he met Nancy Sepulvado in 1981, his entire world changed.

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‘Jesus Revolution’ Immediately Lands in Netflix’s Top Ten

The faith-based film Jesus Revolution soared to popularity on the big screen in early 2023, and now has become an immediate hit on Netflix, landing in the streaming service’s Top 10 in the United States.

The film, which first hit theaters February 24, debuted on Netflix on July 31 and, by the next morning, was ranked in the number 8 spot of the top 10 movies viewed in the United States, reported What to Watch.

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Rep. Chris Smith to Introduce Federal Child Trafficking Legislation Drafted in Collaboration with ‘Sound of Freedom’ Producer

U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) announced Friday in advance of Sunday’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons that he is planning to introduce legislation that would require the federal government to provide reports on its work investigating potential child trafficking related to the unaccompanied minors released from federal custody and with whom contact has now been lost.

“In the near future, I will be introducing new legislation drafted in collaboration with Eduardo Verastegui—the producer of ‘Sound of Freedom’ and Roger Severino of The Heritage Foundation,” Smith said in a press statement sent to The Star News Network, further detailing that the legislation would “require the federal government to report on efforts to locate, establish contact with, conduct wellness checks on, and investigate any suspicion of human trafficking related to the approximately 85,000 unaccompanied minors who were released from federal government custody and with whom subsequent contact has been lost.”

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Mark Levin: ‘Not a Single Democrat Congressman Attended’ Capitol Hill Showing of ‘Sound of Freedom’

Conservative author and host Mark Levin took to Twitter to observe that “not a single Democrat congressman” attended a special showing this week of the true-to-life film Sound of Freedom, arranged by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and to which the speaker invited members of both parties.

Levin explained in his post that, for the first time, he skipped his own radio show Tuesday night to attend a movie.

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Commentary: The Man Behind the Movie ‘Oppenheimer’

This weekend, thousands of Americans will go to movie theaters across the country to watch Christopher Nolan’s newest film, “Oppenheimer.” A star-studded cast of talented actors, including Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt, will bring to the big screen the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant theoretical physicist often called “the father of the atomic bomb.”

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Angel Studios’ ‘Sound of Freedom’ Projecting to Cross $100 Million in Box Office Revenue

Crowdfund platform Angel Studios announced Sunday its July cumulative-to-date box office revenue for its true-life child trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom is projected to be over $85 million through Sunday with the anticipation of crossing the $100 million mark this week.

Angel Studios, which has also distributed the blockbuster faith series The Chosen, said Sound of Freedom, driven by its star Jim Caviezel, showed a $27 million box office draw in the second week of the film’s release in America since it opened July 4, and earned the top spot at the box office with the help of its Pay It Forward fans.

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Angel Studios’ ‘Sound of Freedom’ Child Trafficking Exposé Becomes America’s Top Movie on July 4 Opening Day

Fans of Sound of Freedom, the true-life thriller that exposes the sinister world of child trafficking, have propelled the film to the top spot at the box office on its July 4 opening in America.

The film, distributed by Angel Studios (The Chosen), is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, played by The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel, who quit his job to rescue a little girl from sex traffickers in the jungles of Colombia, and ended up saving many more children and adults.

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Disney’s First Movie with a Non-Binary Character Becomes Pixar’s Worst-Ever Opening Weekend

Disney’s film “Elemental,” which features Pixar’s first “non-binary character,” had the worst box office opening weekend in the studio’s history, bringing in just $29.5 million in domestic ticket sales over the three-day Juneteenth weekend.

With a $200 million budget, “Elemental” is set in a fictional town known as Element City, where fire, water, land and air live and work together. The younger sibling of the water element is known as Lake, who is non-binary and voiced by Kai Ava Hauser, who is also non-binary.

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New Documentary Exposes Ivy League Privilege and the Students it Shuts Out

“Exclusion U,” a feature documentary released this year, details how Ivy League universities accumulate billions of dollars as they restrict class sizes, turn away qualified students, and favor the children of the rich.

“Ivy League endowments are worth $193 billion dollars, but they only educate 0.3 percent of U.S. undergrads,” the film’s narrator stated. “That’s less than 63,000 students.”

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Fan-Supported ‘The Chosen’ Season Three Tops Box Office with No. 3 Open

The premiere of Season 3 of The Chosen, a free streaming series based on the life of Jesus, opened at a stunning No. 3 spot at the box office this past weekend.

The first two episodes of the premiere of The Chosen Season 3 has drawn a historic number of viewers, pushing its original five-day run in theaters to December 1, and grossing $8.7 million in the United States.

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Candace Cameron Bure: Christian Message of ‘Traditional Marriage’ at Core of Great American Family Channel

Christian actress Candace Cameron Bure says in her new top-level role at the Great American Family Channel, she will place faith and “traditional marriage” at the core of its Christmas movies.

In April, Bure became chief creative officer at Great American Family, a channel that is aiming to become the faith and freedom alternative to Hallmark, where the actress once served as the chief representative of the romantic comedy Christmas channel.

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Music Spotlight: Noah Hicks

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- If there is one thing that means something to me in country music, it is authenticity. Are you singing your truths or just latching onto the newest country fad?

Noah Hicks is probably the most authentic country guy I have ever interviewed. He is a fifth-generation farmer from Carrolton, Georgia. The land he tilled with an air-conditioned tractor is the land his grandfathers plowed with a mule.

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Stephen K. Bannon’s WarRoom Interviews Corey Lewandowski at Mar-a-Lago ‘Rigged’ Premiere

The Star News Network provided the connection for this interview of Corey Lewandowski at Mar-a-Lago by Stephen K. Bannon on Tuesday’s WarRoom Battlefield to talk about the importance of the film Rigged and widespread election fraud.

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Neil W. McCabe Reports from Mar-A-Lago About the Premiere of New Film ‘Rigged’ Detailing Voter Fraud

WarRoom Battleground’s Stephen K. Bannon talks with Neil W. McCabe of The Star News Network live outside Mar-a-Lago before the premiere of The Rigged 2020 Election.

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Music Spotlight: Rob Mayes

I attended RomaDrama Live! last year initially because several of the artists I had featured in my column were part of the entertainment. And of course, it was fun to see and meet the popular actors of favorite romance dramas and Hallmark movies. But what I wasn’t expecting was for one of the actors to be a genuinely talented country music singer/songwriter.

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Ty Herndon and Kristen Chenoweth Release ‘Orphans of God’

When country crooner, Ty Herndon announced he was releasing a duet with the talented Tony Award Winner, Kristen Chenoweth, I wanted to find out how this came to be.

With Herndon, he grew up singing from a young age and never really had a choice. He comes from a musical family and they traveled the south singing at camp meetings and tent revivals. He even considered being an evangelist at one point. His family listened to the Grand Ole’ Opry and singers like Tammy Wynette.

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‘Brian’s Song,’ ‘Roots,’ ‘Purple Rain’ Screenwriter William Blinn Dies

William Blinn, a screenwriter for the landmark TV projects “Brian’s Song” and “Roots” and the Prince film “Purple Rain,” has died. He was 83.

Blinn died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living community in Burbank, California, his daughter, Anneliese Johnson, said Saturday.

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‘Dune’ Ditches 2020, While AMC Commits to Staying Open

The 2020 theatrical release calendar is getting even slimmer in the wake of the announcement that Regal cinemas are temporarily closing, although AMC, North America’s largest theater chain, says it will remain open.

Warner Bros. said late Monday that its sci-fi pic “Dune” will now open in October 2021, instead of this December. The studio also pushed back “The Batman” to March 2022 and moved up its “Matrix” sequel to Dec. 2021.

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Pandemic Chases ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ to Christmas

Following the less-than-stellar theatrical debut of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” Warner Bros. is delaying its next big release, “Wonder Woman 1984,” to Christmas.

The postponement Friday of the “Wonder Woman” sequel, which had been scheduled to hit theaters Oct. 2, comes on the heels of Hollywood’s boldest attempt to lure moviegoers back to theaters during the pandemic.

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Oscar Winning Actress Olivia de Havilland Dies at 104

Olivia de Havilland, the doe-eyed actress beloved to millions as the sainted Melanie Wilkes of “Gone With the Wind,” but also a two-time Oscar winner and an off-screen fighter who challenged and unchained Hollywood’s contract system, died Sunday at her home in Paris. She was 104.

Havilland, the sister of fellow Oscar winner Joan Fontaine, died peacefully of natural causes, said New York-based publicist Lisa Goldberg.

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Actor John Saxon Dies

Actor John Saxon, a versatile actor with a lengthy and prolific career who starred with Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” and appeared in several “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies, has died at his home in Tennessee, according to the Hollywood Reporter. He was 83.

The entertainment news outlet quotes Saxon’s wife, Gloria, as confirming that the actor died of pneumonia on Saturday in Murfreesboro.

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Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Delayed Indefinitely by Virus

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which had hoped to herald Hollywood’s return to big theatrical releases, has yet again postponed its release due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Warner Bros. said Monday that “Tenet” will not make its August 12 release date. Unlike previous delays, the studio this time didn’t announce a new target for the release of Nolan’s much-anticipated $200 million thriller.

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‘Jaws,’ ‘Black Panther,’ and More Coming Back to the Drive-In, with a Percentage of the Proceeds Going to Black Lives Matter

Jaws,” “Black Panther” and “Back to the Future” are just a few of the modern popcorn classics coming to the drive-in this summer.

Tribeca Enterprises, IMAX and AT&T on Monday announced the initial lineup for its summer series of films, comedy and football, running every weekend from July 2 through Aug. 2 in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Miami and Seattle.

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Warner Bros to Hold Massive Virtual Event for DC Comics Fans

Comic-Con may be canceled this year, but Warner Bros. will convene a 24-hour virtual gathering of the biggest names in the DC Comics universe.

The studio announced Tuesday that DC FanDome will be held on August 22 starting at 10 a.m. PDT. The event will feature talent announcements and reveal new content from WB games, comics, film and television.

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Academy Delays 2021 Oscars Ceremony Over Coronavirus Concerns

For the fourth time in its history, the Oscars are being postponed. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network said Monday that the 93rd Academy Awards will now be held April 25, 2021, eight weeks later than originally planned because of the pandemic’s effects on the movie industry.

The Academy’s Board of Governors also decided to extend the eligibility window beyond the calendar year to Feb. 28, 2021, for feature films, and delay the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures from December until April 30, 2021.

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Warner Bros. Sets Late July Theatrical Release for Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Tenet’

The closely watched arrival of Christopher Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi espionage film “Tenet” will finally happen on July 31, Warner Bros. announced Friday.
The studio said it would delay the release by two weeks and instead re-issue Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi blockbuster “Inception” in mid-July.

The release date for “Tenet” has been closely watched in all corners of the film industry, which has faced shuttered theaters due to the coronavirus since mid-March. Movie theaters plan to reopen in July for a vastly different summer season than the one the industry had planned.

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Review: ‘Richard Jewell’ Is Clint Eastwood’s Latest Portrayal of the Greatness of Ordinary Americans

Something really interesting is happening at Malpaso Productions, Clint Eastwood’s movie production company. Eastwood’s films, especially in recent years, portray the best in the American character through real stories of ordinary Americans called by events to stand up and shine. In his latest, “Richard Jewell,” Eastwood continues exploring a theme I’ve called “American Greatness in the Shadow of 9/11.” The result is a body of work that is awe-inspiring and unlike anything we have seen before in American cinema.

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‘Unplanned’ Abortion Movie Has Zero Nudity or Sex, Gets ‘R’ Rating for Violent and ‘Disturbing’ Images Of Aborted Babies

by Grace Carr   The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) officially gave the upcoming abortion film Unplanned an “R” rating Friday for “some disturbing/bloody images” of aborted babies. Movies are rated R for profanity, nudity, sex or violence. Unplanned contains no profanity, nudity or sex. “Ironically, the MPAA seems to…

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FAKE NEWS: Contrary to the New Film ‘Vice,’ Dick Cheney Was Not Evil

by Brandon J. Weichert   Dick Cheney doesn’t have a heart. That, at least, is the intended conclusion one is supposed to draw from the recent Dick Cheney biopic, “Vice,” starring Christian Bale. In “Vice,” audiences are subjected to a torrent of subliminal messages suggesting Dick Cheney is an abnormal…

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‘Gosnell’ Movie Producers Never Trusted Pro-Lifers, but ‘Brutal’ Murder Evidence Changed That

by Grace Carr   Film producers of “Gosnell,” a movie detailing the crimes of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, never trusted pro-lifers until they pulled together “brutal” murder evidence for the movie that changed their perspectives on abortion. “I never trusted or liked pro-life activists,” film producer Ann McElhinney told Lifesite. “I thought the…

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‘It All Begins With A Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter’ Awarded Three Silver Lions at Cannes Lions International Festival

It all begins with a song

It All Begins With A Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter, a new documentary that takes an in-depth look at Nashville’s songwriting community, was awarded three Silver Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently. “This documentary portrays the strength of Nashville’s creative community and of its…

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Dean Cain: People Didn’t Want Us To Release Abortion Film About ‘Most Prolific Serial Killer’ In US History

by Grace Carr   Actor and reserve police officer Dean Cain sat down with “Fox & Friends” Friday to talk about his new film, “Gosnell: America’s Biggest Serial Killer,” which reveals the horrors that occurred at the hands of America’s most infamous abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell. “It’s the story of…

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