Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist is going to be adapted into a movie.  Harvey Weinstein will be the producer and Laurence Fishburne is attached to star and direct.  Shooting starts a year from now. 

The Alchemist is an inspirational fable about a Spanish shepherd, Santiago, who sets out on a quixotic quest to find a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids.  Along the way he learns various spiritual lessons.  The lessons he learns include the importance of paying attention to the signs in our life and that it is our responsibility to follow our dreams because that is how we become in integrity with our soul. The most famous line in the book is:

“When you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” 

 The book has sold more than 30 million copies and is currently number seven on the New York Times bestseller list for paperback fiction.  Coelho has been hesitant to adapt his book into a movie because the producers who have approached him have attempted to add violent war scenes to his book that have nothing to do with its message or plot.  However, Coelho agreed to allow Harvey Weinstein adapt his book because Weinstein will stay true to Coelho’s messages about simplicity and spirituality.

       The Invocation is a new film that asks how God has been active throughout our history of violence and separation.  The movie looks  to various religious leaders and peacemakers from across the globe for insights.  Many of them point that one universal belief from people across all religions is a belief and faith in something greater than the material world.  Dan Millman, author of The Peaceful Warrior, who is in the film says that having faith is believing that everything is happening for our best and highest good even if we do not understand.  The movie is set to be released in October

You can watch the trailor on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-tbQ8Lof7A

Mike Myers is coming out with a new comedy, The Love Guru, this summer June 20.  The Love Guru is about an American, Guru Pitka (Myers) who is left at the gates of an Ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus.  He returns to the US seeking fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.   According to the website, his karma is huge.  Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Deepak Chopra also make appearances in the movie.

This movie is taking advantage of the viral nature of the Internet with video clips on YouTube, a Myspace page, Facebook page, and a blog by Guru Pitka on Intentblog.  This movie and some of its viral marketing has already raised controversy as it pokes fun at Eastern spiritual traditions.  Interestingly enough, Deepak Chopra, who is an advocate for Eastern philosophies, is in the movie and also makes jokes about some of the stereotypes associated with himself and other Eastern mystics.  Chopra also hosts the blog for Guru Pitka at his website, http://www.intentlbog.com 

The humor in the movie is just that.  It is simply humor.  The movie reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously and that life is capable of being a cosmic playground for us to enjoy, laugh at and have fun.

You can watch the trailer of The Love Guru at http://www.lovegurumovie.com/

10. Celestine Prophecy

9.   What the Bleep do We Know

8.   The Secret

7.   Forrest Gump

6.   City of Angels

5.   Gandhi 

4.   What Dreams May Come

3.   Peaceful Warrior 

2.   It’s a Wonderful Life 

1.   Field of Dreams

Did I miss any? What are your favorite spiritual cinema movies?

On Earth Day, Disney revealed that it is creating a new production house, Disneynature, that is focused on documentaries about the environment. Their first movie released in the US is ”Earth”, from Alastair Fothergill, producer of “Planet Earth” series.  It will be narrated by James Earl Jones and released April 22, 2009.  

   
Disney prexy-CEO Robert Iger explained, “Disneynature is a concept we look forward to building across the company and across the globe for years to come, and we hope these films will contribute to a greater understanding and appreciation of the beauty and fragility of our natural world.”

Disney’s emphasis on nature docs is similar to when Walt Disney was running the studio.  From 1948-1960, Disney’s True-Life Adventure series won eight Oscars, including best feature documentary for 1953’s “The Living Desert.”      

Last night I watched August Rush and was deeply moved.  This movie is about an eleven year old orphan and music prodigy who is trying to find his parents by “listening to the music”.  It stars Robin Williams and Keri Russell.  One of the fundamental questions that this movie asks is where does the music come from.  The musical prodigy does not believe that he creates the music, but that it just comes to him.  All he is doing is listening for it and rewriting it. 

This raises some very spiritual questions.  For example,  Where does the capacity to appreciate music come from?  Where does beauty originate?  Additionally, many great musicians, similar to the prodigy in the movie, say that they are not the ones who create their lyrics and musical compositions because it the music just ”comes to them”.  Where is the music coming from?  Who or what is creating the music?

The “music” may also be symbolic for any source of inspiration in our life such as the capacity to experience love, follow a dream, or create beauty.  This movie reminds us that the “music” is always playing.  All we need to do is listen. 

The box office numbers have been lower this spring than last year and are expected to be lower this upcoming summer partially because there is no original movies.  This summer there will be 16 movies released that are sequels, remakes or based on television shows or comic books. 

COME ON HOLLYWOOD! WAKE UP! This is a waste of some of the most talented screenwriters who come up with original ideas.  Hollywood makes the same type of movies because they already have a built in audience.  For example, blockbuster hits last years like Transformers, Pirates of the Carribean 3, Shreck 3 and Spider Man 3 already have a built in audience of people who will watch the movie.  The problem is that eventually the market for remakes or adaptations becomes saturated.  For instance, this summer IronMan, a remake of a comic book hero is Hollywood’s only hope this summer for a big blockbuster.  But, eventually, you run out of comic book heroes and audiences get tired of seeing sequels.

This opens the door for original movies that do well financially when they are given a chance.  For example, Juno, an independent film did well even though it was written by a first time screenwriter.  These movies do well because instead of trying to make a blockbuster that something for everyone or a built in fan base, these movies have a message and meaning.  This message resonates with people on a spiritual level.  Eventually, Hollywood will get it and start making more of these movies.

The Opus movie is another movie in a similar vein as The Secret with many of the same teachers including Jack Canfield, Dr. John Demartini, Dr. Joe Vitale and Marci Shimoff.  However, this movie is a little different than The Secret because it focuses more on taking action to achieve your goals.   Additionally, its reference to The Opus serves as a reminder for us not to die with our music left inside of us.  Many people will probably know most of the information in The Opus.  However, the visual scenes and emotional connections that take place when a person watches a movie helps one to know and really get the information on a much deeper level.  The homepage for the movie is http://www.theopusmovie.com.

Ben Stein is releasing a documentary this Friday, April 18th, Expelled No Intelligence Allowed.  This movie is about how academy ridicules people who suggest the possiblity of an intelligent design for the origin of our world.  He points out that Darwinism, while being a valid scientific theory, offers no explanation for the origin of life and that some professors have even lost their jobs for advocating that an intelligent designer or God may play a role in the origin of life. 

This movie points out some of the great questions that we often ask ourself such as Who are we?  What is our origin? and Where did we come from?  Stein suggest that the spiritual answers to these questions may be absolutely consistent with Darwinism, but many intellectuals are ridiculed for even mentioning the possibility that religion and science are not mutually exclusive.

You can watch the trailer for the movie at http://www.expelledthemovie.com/