toddly6666

What the hell is PASSAGE TO ZERAHEMLA? It looks like a cross between Apocolypto and Bridge to Terabithia. Did this film only play in theaters in Utah?

Here's the imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479974/
Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-KAY7U7r5k
The DVD is available to buy at amazon.com as well.

I've heard of Christian cinema...but I had no idea that the mormons were making films too. Anyone else know about this? Well at least ZERAHEMLA looks better than Kirk Cameron's FIREPROOF.

GoldenJCJ

I usually stay away from these types of movies simply because they play out like bad Lifetime Channel movies. I know Kirk Cameron has made Christian cinema hot with Fireproof and the Revelations movies so it doesn't surprise me that the Mormons are trying it too.

I did actually see a war film called Saints and Soldiers not realizing it was produced by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Jazzbutcher

I stumbled across Brigham City a few years back, and found it enjoyable. DVDTalk review here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/4253/brigham-city/

modfather

I live in Utah, and they make lots of Mormon films, with bigger and bigger budgets, by the look of the billboards/advertising (I'm assuming - never seen one). Brigham City, IIRC, is not actually a Mormon-backed production, though. It's a bit of a bummer to go to the theater and see one of the 8 theaters being used for a church film, rather than for a newer release. But then again...

But the history of Mormon movies goes back a long way. I remember way back in the mid-70's, whilst on vacation with my parents, going to the Temple visitor center in SLC and watching "Johnny Lingo" (QUOTE: Father, to his daughter: "Mohanna, you ugly!").

They do a lot of comedies, too, aimed at Mormons, of course. Actually, they have a lot of humour in them, if you grew up LDS. If not, you may not "get" some of the humour, but they're actually funnier than you'd think, and not quite as awful as you'd think (but still, pretty bad). My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law watch some of the comedies and pass them on or recommend them to my daughters, who actually like some of them.

That being said, even though we grew up Mormon, haven't been to church willingly, since 1996.

E. Honda

It takes a strong commitment to live behind the Zion Curtain. Not unlike most Soviet propoganda films of the 1950s, many of these films never see release outside the Mormon-bloc states. Be grateful you never had to see Gary Coleman vamp for the cameras in "Church Ball". Be grateful you never had to see the ludicrous acting in "The Home Teachers". Be grateful that you didn't have to see ANY of the following: The RM, Baptists at our Barbecue, Sons of Provo, Brigham City, Mobsters and Mormons, God's Army, Saints and Soldiers, Book of Mormon Movie, any of The Work and the Glory movies, The Best Two Years, or The Legend of Johnny Lingo. There is an unspoken moral obligation to see these films. And yet, when The Passion of the Christ came out, there was a great divide amonsts those living in Happy Valley: those who saw it as a testimony builder, and those who saw it as a great work of Satan. Though there is one film you must see, The Pirates of the Great Salt Lake . It looks to be an amazing film. It's a gem in the mountain of crap that is Mormon cinema. Here is the trailer:

http://www.spike.com/video/pirates-of-great/2785080

Goldberg74

Of that list, I have seen three... The RM (), Saints and Soldiers (), and The Best Two Years ().

But since we moved from Utah to Texas almost a decade ago, we never hear about these unless one of our relatives tellsus about it or I read about it here.

The Passage to Zarahemla made no sense until I saw that Chris Heimerdinger wrote it. He has made a living out of writing books that cross modern time with ancient time/scripture ("Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites"), so it's not surprising to see this. I for one do not really care for or support the "Mormon Genre" being a member of the LDS church myself. I find it to be funny and sad at the same time.

But to each their own.

Matthew Chmiel

As someone who hates religion, I get a weird kick out of Mormon comedy cinema. I think it's part fact that I grew up with a lot of Mormon friends during my high school years (I was a senior when The RM and The Singles Ward came out theatrically here) and the fact that I've met Will Swenson (writer/director/star of Sons of Provo along with star of movies earlier mentioned) numerous times as we share some friends.

The movies are pretty awful, but unlike say Fireproof that tries to push Christianity down people's throats, they're not pushing their own religion onto others (when it comes to most of their comedies, I have never seen their dramas and most likely never will). Yeah, there are a lot of in-jokes to the church and culture, but most don't try to get you to join the Latter Day Saints once you're done watching the movie.

NoirFan

Hopefully, they'll make full-length films out of those old cornball television ads that plagued my youth:

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S3xke0CFpPg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S3xke0CFpPg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

The one where the little kid from Picket Fences helps make a pizza for a lonely, grizzled old-timer always brought a tear to my eye.

toddly6666

The movie looks sort of funny. Is there some mormon theme in the film though? It just looks like a regular off-beat comedy about pirates.