Film

‘Joker’ and the Mythology of Madness

After Colin Clive uttered his mad crescendo of “It’s alive!” in the 1931 film Frankenstein, he screamed a line that censorship boards judged as blasphemous. So, a thunderclap was added to obscure him raving, “Now I know what it feels like to be God!” Shocking. What’s even more shocking is that there was such sensitivity … Read more

Undressing is Now “Empowering”

Jennifer Lopez calls her new film Hustlers an “empowering, feminist story.” The inference is that the strippers—the film’s protagonists—use the sexualization of their bodies to gain control of their male clients. This has become a common message for women. The entertainment industry no longer portrays women as straightforward sexual objects. Now, leading ladies accentuate their … Read more

The Cultural Train Wreck That Is Hollywood

Ours is a tragic age, but based on my cultural observations over the Christmas holidays hardly anyone appears to be taking it tragically. Instead, people are blissfully adrift: eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage. Few seem to be noticing the red tide rising. The holidays always afford me the opportunity to take the … Read more

L’Apparition: A Film About Religion But Not About Faith

The French film L’Apparition appears on cinema screens this weekend. It is the story of an investigative journalist and a young woman who is allegedly having visions of the Virgin Mary. It is a movie that explores belief and skepticism more than faith, however. The film’s main character is Jacques Mayano (Vincent Lindon). He is … Read more

All Is Not Good in the Marvel Universe of Superheros

An article penned recently from The Eternal City—“Superheroes Saving Us from Ourselves”—contends that the latest Avengers film, Infinity War, reaffirms a sound understanding of good and evil. The author gives the film a positive review for being “a good story” that has “good good guys and good bad guys,” concluding that bringing one’s children to … Read more

New Film Shows How Dying for Christ Isn’t So Simple

Some months ago this film critic presented a review of Scorsese’s Silence—a movie that definitely explored the issue of how Christians respond to martyrdom. Consistent with the director’s own well-know faith struggles, Silence delivered an ambiguous, troubled look at committed Christians giving in to their persecutors, a movie that certainly concluded that dying for one’s … Read more

Beauty and the Beast’s Obeisance to the Big Gay Machine

My son and I saw the new Beauty and the Beast. It was lovely, magical, following the 1991 cartoon, almost scene for scene, song for song. This is the story everyone wants to hear: darkness and evil and selfishness transformed by love into light and good and self-surrender. Life and love conquer death and fear. … Read more

The Shack’s Preachiness leads to Cinematic Boredom

Toward the end of his life, according to legend, the fourth century Church father Saint Augustine stated: “I spent some 30 years in writing fifteen books concerning the Trinity, which is God.” Yet this theological genius was confronted by the inability of the human mind to probe this mystery as this story relates: He was walking by … Read more

Of Friendship, Faith, and Death: A Film Series for the Ages

Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant (Sirach). I heard last month about the Academy Awards and the Big Flub. I suppose it would’ve been fun to witness it live instead of on YouTube, but not fun enough to regret skipping the broadcast altogether. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about … Read more

Scorsese’s Silence: Many Martyrs—Little Redemption

The official trailer for the newly released Martin Scorsese film Silence gives the impression this movie is about missionaries in Japan and how Catholics bravely endured persecution for the sake of the Faith. That however is not the real focus of this very disturbing movie and movie-goers should not be lured into believing they are … Read more

The Euthanasia Deception: A New Film, An Old Lie

A middle-aged man wheels his disabled daughter through a public park. They have enjoyed their visit there. The young woman likes to look at the flowers. For a moment, their shared pleasure of the beauty all around unites them. This is especially precious given her limited ability to communicate. In recent years, however, the visits … Read more

Voiceless Takes Christian Filmmaking Where It Needs to Go

First there was Bella, then there was October Baby, followed by Gimme Shelter—three films with unabashedly pro-life messages—and not surprisingly all three produced by Christian film-makers in what has become known as the faith-based film genre. This reviewer has been quite open about her opinion of nearly all films created by dedicated Christians—with a few … Read more

The New Ben Hur Falls Short of the Original Classic

The story of Judah Ben Hur a wealthy, influential Jewish prince betrayed by his friend Massala as he seeks to climb the ranks of Roman power, first appeared as a best-selling novel in 1880 penned by an unlikely writer, retired Civil War general Lew Wallace and was subtitled “A Tale of the Christ.” And the … Read more

Me Before You: On Disability, Suicide, and Guts

They all think any minute I’m going to commit suicide. What a joke. The truth of course is the exact opposite: suicide is the only thing that keeps me alive.  ~ Walker Percy Ordinarily I’d avoid commenting much on a movie I hadn’t seen. However, I’m willing to make an exception in the case of “Me … Read more

Risen Rises Above Most Faith-Based Films

I have to admit that when I know a movie was produced by bible-believing Christians I don’t expect much. Such was the case with films like October Baby, Gimme Shelter, Son of God and Old Fashioned. I am not saying that these are horrible films—they are just not very good films—and certainly nowhere near great … Read more

The Holy Fool on Screen

Saint or psycho? The Holy Fool is a man or woman perceived as foolish in the eyes of the world but who is, nevertheless, an unnerving presence. Both in the Christian East and West, there is a long tradition of such individuals who witness to a spiritual reality beyond this world. Periodically, they appear on … Read more

The James Bond Cult

A British newspaper recently ran an article asking if the cult of James Bond is a new religion. It came to the conclusion that it is. I wasn’t surprised at the question posed. In fact, I was relieved that, at last, it was being asked. Only this year, that cult has grown still greater with … Read more

Priest Scandal Movie: Painful, Disturbing, and Surprisingly Fair

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.” This dialogue sums up the primary lesson of the film Spotlight, currently playing in a major nationwide release. The movie, “based on actual events” and starring Michael Keaton, chronicles a Boston Globe four-person investigative team’s discovery of Cardinal Bernard … Read more

Parental Guidance and Offensive Movie Favorites

“I shall not today attempt further to define [hard-core pornography], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.”  ~ Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart “How about we go see the new Mad Max movie,” I suggested to my almost-twenty son, Ben. It hit a nerve. “I haven’t even … Read more

Documentaries to Get You Thinking

Think again about documentaries. Once, the older, plainer sister to the more glamorous younger feature film, the genre has been quietly developing into something compellingly attractive. Only recently, films such as The Act of Killing, Finding Vivian Maier and The Drop Box have revealed yet again the depth and breadth of the best of such … Read more

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