Michael Huffington Movies

A political neophyte recruits an out-of-work reporter to help take on a Seattle city councilman, waging a valiant fight to create an urban monorail system instead of a proposed ground rail train. The year is 2001, and Grant Cogswell (Joel David Moore) has a vision: he sees a state-of-the-art monorail system connecting the city of Seattle as it's never been before. But there's one man standing in his way, and that's Seattle city councilman Richard McIver (Cedric the Entertainer). Councilman McIver has drawn up plans for an ambitious rail system -- one that Cogswell believes will be bad for the environment, and divide the city even more. Short-fused, foul-mouthed, and determined to defeat the political incumbent at all costs, Cogswell hires unemployed alternative weekly columnist Phil Campbell (Jason Biggs) to launch a massive political campaign, and quickly finds a collection of rabid volunteers who are willing to rally for his cause. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Freshly divorced father Jerry Coletti (Paul Wolff) and his bashful son Grant (Josh Dean) enter into a romantic rivalry over the irresistible Darlene (Heather Stephens) in this screwball comedy also featuring Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The place of gay and lesbian congregation and clergy within various Christian denominations has become an increasingly controversial issue in recent decades, and many conservative Christian leaders have justified church polices which limit the participation of homosexuals in the church (as well as support of legislation against gay marriage or civil rights for gays) by citing certain passages of the Holy Bible. But what do these passages really mean? How accurate is their translation from the original holy texts? And have they been used outside of proper context to justify a political agenda that runs counter to Christian ideals of acceptance and forgiveness? For The Bible Tells Me So is a documentary which looks at the ongoing battle of gays and lesbians to celebrate their faith without denying their sexual preferences. The film includes interviews with a number of conservative Christian families as well as V. Gene Robinson, who became the first officially ordained Anglican bishop; political activist and spiritual leader Bishop Desmond Tutu; and Chrissy Gephardt, the openly lesbian daughter of Congressman Dick Gephardt. For The Bible Tells Me So was directed by Daniel Karslake, longtime producer of the PBS news and public affairs series In The Life. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Parvez Sharma's A Jihad for Love marks one of the very first documentaries to examine the occasional overlaps between Islam and homosexuality. Evincing great sensitivity to both the subject matter and the interviewees, Sharma hones in on a transcontinental group of homosexual individuals who attempt to reconcile their faith in the Koran (where, according to many interpretations, same-sex relations are condemned) with their non-heterosexual identities. Hailing from countries as diverse as France, South Africa, Turkey, and India, these individuals typically find themselves in a delicate position; forced to hide their private lives in their native Muslim communities under fear of death, the next best option that exists involves immigrating out of the Middle East and thus abandoning their home cultures. At the core of her film, Sharma suggests that the answer may lie in an unusual source of hope: the devout individuals who, in lieu of relinquishing Islam, make the difficult and commendable decision to try to reconcile their sexual and romantic proclivities with their Islamic faith. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi