Thanks to my friend, Arlene. This was just what I needed this evening:
Revenge of the Bronte Sisters
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Category Archives: Film
Robin Hood – the Fighting is the Best Thing in the Movie
Well, I'm no movie critic, but the fights were the best part of this. The individual characters were predictable and didn't even look very happy about their lines.
I'm going back to Errol Flynn and "Men in Tights."
Shake It Up, Baby!
Are you feeling stuck in a rut? Wishing you could get a new project underway? Well, watch this – and maybe you'll start moving.
Movie Time This Afternoon
The Classical Fan Club will be at the movies this afternoon – with tracks from Harry Potter, The Mission, Brief Encounter, Superman and more!
Join us from 1-3 p.m. on WFCF Flagler College Radio. FM88.5 – listen online at radio.flagler.edu
The Redoubtable Barbara Nicolosi
A great interview with the screenwriter and one of my favorite commentators on Hollywood – Barbara Nicolosi of Church of the Masses.
Don't miss it! This lady has something to say – and she always says it well.
The Lost City – Best Movie I’ve Seen in a Long Time
This 2005 film by Andy Garcia (both director and leading actor) recounts the effect of the 1959 Cuban Revolution on one family. The movie is a wonderful way to clarify one's often cloudy personal history of that event. (Remember Castro's ticker-tape parade in New York City?) It is engaging, moving, beautifully filmed, and has a soundtrack to die for. Need I say more?
Some critics said it was too long. I watched it with a friend who is notorious for wandering away 5 minutes into any movie we watch at home. She never moved an inch.
Available on Netflix. (And probably lots of other places as well.)
Watch it!
Sinner the Movie
Take a look at this website for "Sinner." I haven't seen the film in its entirety, but it's definitely a cut above most of the "Catholic films" about which I received promotions emails, with a good score and high production values.
Here's the trailer:
Catholicism – What You See vs. What You Get
Catholicism Trailer from Nancy Ross on Vimeo.
However, consider the radical disconnect between what you see in this trailer and what's happening at the typical "Ground Zero" of your American Catholic parish. Art, beauty, mystery, music? 'Fraid not. While there are wonderful exceptions, many parochial liturgies are a community group meeting with some odd tidbits of vestments, campfire songs, and a motivational lecture in an ambiance similar to a fixed-seating auditorium. It both breaks my heart and strengthens my resolve.
Yes, I know we can't have the glories of Byzantium and Chartres in South Sandusky, Ohio. But we need to find the beauty we can achieve. Yes, I know churches are being redesigned, music redirected, vestments and ritual practice restored. But think of the shock to the potential convert (or uncatechized "Catholic by tribe") who is thrilled by a series such as this and calls the rectory (oops, church office) about exploring this marvelous adventure further – or wanders into the nearest Catholic church on a Sunday morning.
(Thanks to Domenic Bettinelli of Bettnet for the heads-up on the program.)
12 Monkeys – A Movie I’d Missed
My movie-viewing career has occasional gaps. I don't know why, but there are simply times in my life when I don't get to the movies. Well, I was on another planet in 1995.
"Twelve Monkeys" was recommended by someone who knew I was a sci-fi fan. And it was great. Yes, it's disturbing and somewhat violent. But it certainly gets your attention with its dystopian future. And right now, that fits my mood. Wish it didn't.
Strange But True – Odd Movie Trailers
Went to see "An American Carol" the other evening. Because I like comedies and am hopelessly politically incorrect, I enjoyed the film. (Even if the mega-plex put it in the smallest theatre in the complex.) The puzzlement was the choice of trailers. (When we began calling previews "trailers" I don't know, but I bow to the popular usage.)
Okay, "An American Carol" is a movie satirizing Michael Moore. I expect trailers that were either comedies or vaguely patriotic. Nope. We got – Oliver Stone's upcoming film about George W. Bush, a movie about Harvey Milk, the famous San Francisco gay activist, a cinematic version of "Doubt," a play about clerical sex abuse and nuns, and something else I can't remember right now. Huh? We all just sat quietly and waited for the movie to start.