Recalling Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, released at the very start of the 21st Century, a popular line said by Maximus was rather infamously despised by the movie’s star, Russell Crowe:
“I will have...
Mary is a young, selfless woman with a heart for God and a desire to serve others.When she sees a beggar, she gives him food. When she witnesses wrongdoing, she speaks out.Mary, though, has no desire to...
Motherhood can be a, well, you know the word.
Sleepless nights Endless feedings Crying jags that go on and on and on “Nightb**ch” honors that thankless truth with a twist. What if an overwhelmed,...
Warning: Disgusting spoilers ahead!
Hailed as a “feminist masterpiece,” The Substance gained notoriety for scenes so gory that they reportedly caused people to walk out of theatres. That’s some...
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Back with a NEW video that I wrote & narrated for Sam, Joe and the rest of the guys at 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See and Reconquista Media! A new video essay...
Two stars BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
It’s very difficult to pull off a truly compelling ‘I found Jesus’ movie that isn’t a bit schmaltzy. This is an overall well enough done movie that tells an interesting(and true) story that is reassuring to believers (I am one) but doesn’t do ‘quite’ enough to push the unsure, agnostic or atheist over the Jesus Goal Line. That said, it’s an ok film,...
Elite prep school student Charlie weekend “caretakes” for spending money a cantankerous, self-destructive army Lt. Col. (Al Pacino) whose meteoric rise to almost general was halted by a drunken game of chicken with a hand grenade that left him blind. Charlie needs money to go home to Oregon for Christmas; the colonel’s family who quarters uncle Frank needs someone to look after him while they...
Moral clarity matters, but capturing it on screen can be daunting.
“Bonhoeffer. Pastor. Spy. Assassin” walks that tightrope, more often than not delivering what an unconventional biopic should....
"Shining a Light on Disabilities"
Content: +3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)
Entertainment Quality:
"Reviving the Republic"
Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.
Black Box Diaries ***1/2
"Issue documentaries” sometimes feel like they can only take you so far emotionally; this one packs a real wallop because it’s also such a powerful character study. That...
"We Must Obey God Rather than Men"
Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.
Predictable sports movies are fun; Cinderella sports movies accurate down to exact shots, blocks, and body checks are few. Director Gavin O’Connor casted hockey players who could act in the reenactment of a ragtag bunch of college hockey players facing off against - [/and defeating] - the juggernaut Soviet Red Army hockey team in the Lake Placid 1980 Olympics. The attention to recreating game details...
"Searching for ENDURANCE"
"Great Art Direction, Not So Great Execution"
Turn off your brain, suspend reality, and enjoy this mindless, cliché nugget. Just as Hallmark Channel is the ‘go to’ for women who want to escape and put their brains in low idle, Torque is a most suitable male equivalent. That said, you will be hard pressed to find any women who will endure the mindless predictable bravado, misunderstood and ‘on the lam’ Ford (played by Martin Henderson),...
Kieran Culkin’s character in “A Real Pain” can light up a room.
Just ask his cousin David, played by writer/director Jesse Eisenberg. That light exposes a tortured soul, one who spikes the road...
When the troublesome Herdman kids cause a ruckus in church, during the Christmas pageant’s rehearsals, the play’s new director and young Grace’s mother, Beth, laments just briefly when all hope...
"Don’t Be Naughty"
Ghost Cat Anzu ***
The predictability of so much American feature animation certainly gets a bracing counterpoint in this anime adventure that feels both vaguely familiar and somehow also its own...
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