***UPDATE: A few titles got lost in the ole’ cut and paste: Ordet, Passion of Joan of Arc, Leap of Faith, and One Night with the King. I am adding and/or reconsidering others mentioned.  By the time I’m done watching all of these, my guess is that I’ll either be a better Christian (not a high bar) or get so sick of religion I become an atheist, like Obama.

In no particular order, other than alphabetical, here is the pool of Christian films I’ll be looking at for the coming Easter holiday countdown. You have no idea how helpful it was to receive suggestions via email, Twitter, and in the comments. I’m embarrassed to admit how many of these great films I might have otherwise overlooked. Not everything nominated by everyone is on this list of nominees. But the only titles I removed were films that I didn’t think qualified as a Christian film for the purposes of this particular countdown.

So here’s your last chance to make your case and change my mind, or to fire off something else that might have been overlooked. I intend to view all of these over the coming weeks. In the end, the ranking will be one that reflects my personal opinion, but within that context, I do intend to be exhaustive. I’ll also try to explain why some didn’t make the cut as the countdown rolls on.

A Man Called Peter
A Man for All Seasons
A Prayer for the Dying
Agony and the Ecstasy, the
Amazing Grace
Andrei Rublev
Angels With Dirty Faces
Apostle, The
Au Hasard Balthazar
Babette’s Feast
Bad Lieutenant
Barabbas
Becket
Bella
Ben-Hur (both versions)
Bishop’s Wife
Black Narcissus
Blind Side, The
Book of Eli, The
Boy’s Town
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Bruce Almighty
Cardinal, The
Chariots of Fire
Come to the Stable
Day of Wrath
Dead Man Walking
Decalogue
Defending Your Life

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This year Easter falls on Sunday April 24th, and that seemed a fitting time to do a countdown of The Top 25 Greatest Christian Films of All Time! …at least according to me. As with all of these countdowns, what we have here is the opinion of one person and art is entirely too subjective for one person to claim they’re creating some sort of definitive ranking, so that’s never been the point. What is the point, though, is to have the opportunity to delve into and to hopefully pass on to others a desire to see the films I love so much. Besides, lists are always fun. But they’re also a lot of work and that’s why I’m announcing this one well in advance of my deadline.

Simply put, I need your help through a nomination process.

As has always been the case with every single one of these lists, you the commenters are what make all the work involved in such an endeavor worthwhile. You’re also invaluable when it comes to jogging my notoriously bad memory about deserving films I might have otherwise forgotten or may not have yet seen. So please continue that tradition in the comments section here. The more titles you name, the more comprehensive the final list will be. With almost a couple months to go, there’s plenty of time for me to see and contemplate everything.

A few guidelines: These films should be openly Christian. I’m not interested in allegory or even subtlety. “Lord of the Rings” and “Narnia” are terrific, but once the floodgates open to that kind of thing it becomes impossible to draw any kind of line. But that doesn’t mean that the list will only include Biblical epics. There are plenty of mainstream movies, even dark and thematically complicated ones, where a Christian God is central or at least important to the story. Please feel free to nominate any of those and please feel free to nominate entries critical of the Christian faith. There’s nothing wrong with a smart, well-made, respectful story that forces us to think. Also, as far as the photo above, the Old Testament is an important part of our faith and anything in that arena should and will be considered.

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Towards the end of my interview with David Nixon, the director of the new film “Letters to God” (in theatres everywhere tomorrow), he told me that he and many of the people he works with “are not interested in making movies that don’t have a message.” Such a sentiment is not surprising coming from Nixon, who has previously produced small, successful Christian films like “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants.” What is a surprise, and a pleasant one at that, is how Hollywood now seems to be embracing films with a Christian message and how people like Nixon are able to fulfill their dreams by working on films such as “Letters.”

He told me about a dream that he’s had for thirty years.  That dream, he stated, was “to use motion pictures to get [a] message out.” That message, he added, is that “God is real and you can have a relationship with him.” His movie, which I recently had the chance to view, certainly does that. It’s open about its Christian message, a message that might not have reached moviegoers just a few years ago before Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” changed everything. Today, Nixon told me, studios are more interested in films that appeal to the faith community and “Letters to God” will likely very much appeal to that large demographic. (To learn more about the marketing for this film, make sure to check out Christian Toto’s BH interview with Mr. Nixon.)

“Letters to God” tells the story of Tyler Doherty, a young boy fighting cancer. As he struggles against the disease, he sends letters to God about what he and his family are going through. He also inspires his friends and family even though he’s the one physically suffering. It’s a sad story with a positive message about faith and Christianity. (more…)

As I mentioned in my last article, Hollywood is more interested in Christian, or “faith-based,” films than ever. The mind-blowing success of “The Passion” got it started, but then it waned as studios couldn’t quite figure out how to match that success. It heated up again recently with the success of the micro-budget, church-produced “Fireproof,” which was the highest grossing indie of 2008.

These trends beg a few questions. What took Hollywood so long to discover the Christian market? Why can’t they replicate even half the success of “The Passion?” And when Christians make up over half the population, why are faith-based films still relegated to the low-budget, straight to DVD world? The seemingly obvious answer would be that there are few Christians in Hollywood, both at the studio and creative level, but even that would raise the question of why.

I think I know the reason(s), although it’s a bit embarrassing because I happen to be a Christian evangelical. But we must face the truth, and as Dr. Phil so eloquently and charmingly puts it, “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” The fact is, Christian movies have been pretty bad for a few decades. Yes, Hollywood had largely ignored the Christian market, but it’s not like there have been good examples for Hollywood to learn from. And now that Hollywood is actively seeking faith-based material, there’s still a lack of quality scripts and filmmakers available, with a few exceptions, and among the films that are being made in this genre, there are still more crappy ones than good ones. (more…)

After my first feature film Hometown Legend had been sold to Warner Brothers, I had some meetings with the WB marketing team in 2001. Near the end of their presentation, I said, “Now you know that this film has some faith elements in it, and my Dad (the executive producer) wrote the Left Behind books, so we could take advantage of his fan base and also promote the film to churches and youth groups.” After an awkward pause where I assume they were expecting me to explain myself, they had two questions: “What are the Left Behind books, and what are youth groups?” After another awkward pause where I expected them to say they were kidding, I replied, “The Left Behind books have sold over 30 million copies, and youth groups are where the young people in a church gather every weekend and/or Wednesday night for an hour or so.”

They adjusted their marketing plan.

This was before the Left Behind movies sold a few million DVD’s and The Passion of the Christ opened to over $100 million despite being set 2000 years ago in a dead language. Now every studio in Hollywood is looking for “faith-based” projects, especially because this year’s highest-grossing independent film was Fireproof, produced by a church for about $700,000 and which grossed over $30 million. Several studios even have faith-based divisions.

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