Evangelical Christians like Arnie movies, too!

Those nice people at Movieguide (the one’s who award Avatar "four marxes and an Obama" on the basis of perceived pantheistic ills) have released the nominations for their “Best 2009 Movies for Mature Audiences” awards. For those of you unfamiliar with this illustrious ceremony, which takes place at a Bervely Hills gala, the awards were created to honor “moral and spiritual principles” as decided by a Christian nonprofit organization “dedicated to redeeming the values of the entertainment industry by influencing industry executives and by informing and equipping the public about the influence of the entertainment media.” Sounds like they have their hands full! Their shortlist comprises:

The Blind Side
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Invictus
Julie & Julia
Knowing
Star Trek
The Stoning of Soraya M
Taken
Terminator Salvation
The Young Victoria

The Blind Side's Christian bona fides are self evident. (Southern, since you ask, and republican-voting, with a gun tucked into its purse for good luck). Confessions of a Shopaholic is a sweet little parable about the virtues of conspicuous consumption — maybe not a subject on which Jesus had all that much, or even anything to say, but then he never got to witness the greater glories of the American mall. I am guessing that Star Trek squeezes in because it provides such timely mockery of Obama-era diplomacy (hopelessly naive against antagonistic Romulans). Knowing I had to look up, but it's that piece of apocaylptic garbage starring Nicolas Cage which teaches us that when God destroys the earth at the End of Days he will clearly be taking lessons from Industrial Light and Magic. The Stoning of Soray M teaches us how perfectly horrible it is to live in the middle east. Taken is that b-movie knuckle-duster about Liam Neeson castrating his daughter's kidnappers. The Young Victoria was charming piffle about English royalty. The really confusing one for me was Terminator Salvation. Anyone like to hazard a guess as to which "moral and spiritual principles" these people think they've uncovered in a McG movie? The moral efficacy of skidding motorbikes? The Jesuitical blush of blooming mushroom clouds? Or did they just dig the redemptive appearance of that Republican governor at the end? Please tell me it wasn't just because it had the word "salvation" in the title.