“Remember Sunday” Hallmark’s sweet but improbable new movie

April 19, 2013 By 5 Comments
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Hallmark Hall of Fame Sunday, April 21 ABC -check local listings Molly (Alexis Bledel) is a sweet, ditzy, waitress and college student in New Orleans on a first name basis with the traffic man who comes to take the boot off of her car over and over again. She is romantically challenged and shares an apartment with Jolene (Valery Azlynn) who constantly nags her to find a good man. Molly has college loans but is in a waiting pattern because she is expecting her portion of an inheritance … [Read more...]

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“Oz the Great and Wonderful” is about the wizard of ‘id’

March 12, 2013 By 1 Comment
Michelle Williams stars in a scene from the movie "Oz the Great and Powerful." (CNS/Disney)

  "Oz the Great and Powerful" opens with Oscar "Oz" Diggs (James Franco), a self-centered small-time carnival magician and would-be ladies' man in Kansas more than a century ago. He tries to woo young women by including them in his shows, just as he tries to con the meager profits out of his assistant, Frank (Zach Braff). As the show is about to begin, Annie (Michelle Williams), perhaps the one woman Oscar truly loves, comes to tell him another man has asked her to marry him. She … [Read more...]

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Sr. Rose’s Oscar Picks for Best Picture 2013

February 19, 2013 By 1 Comment
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I think Lincoln should win this category, but don't be surprised if Silver Linings, Argo, Les Miz, or Zero Dark Thirty actually do take home Oscar. A real surprise would be Django Unchained. Argo – The best performance in Ben Affleck’s political thriller is by Alan Arkin who plays a Hollywood producer dedicated to making a great fake movie to provide a cover for a CIA agent, played by Ben Affleck, who poses as a Canadian filmmaker, to rescue six members of the US diplomatic staff from … [Read more...]

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Les Miserables: a conversation about what the movie means

February 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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      Here's is a conversation that I had with radio host Sharon DiCicca of Toronto's Radio Maria. Sharon is a wonderful host and producer and I think you will enjoy this show.  HMWN Radio Maria is a Canadian Catholic Radio Station based in Toronto. This is a link to the HMWN Radio Maria Audio Archives: Click here for the audio file: In conversation about the 2012 film"Les Miserables". -- Sharon DiCecco says:  -- -- To love another person is to see the face … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adult Faith Formation, art, Catechesis, Catholics in Media, Commerntary, Drama, Faith and film, Faith formation, Film Reviews, Grace, Musical, On Faith and Media, Popular Culture, religion, Sacraments, Social justice, Spirituality and Media, Sr Rose Faith and Media Tagged With: , , , , , Leave a Comment

Windrider Forum a perfect introduction to Sundance, filmmaking

January 30, 2013 By 1 Comment
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Ever since I was assigned to Los Angeles in 2002, I have wanted to come to the Sundance Film Festival. Colleagues and friends from Family Theater/Angelus Student Awards and Fuller Theological Seminary were making plans to attend and create some kind of event for students. In 2004, John and Ed Priddy, award-winning film producers, in collaboration with the above, began the Windrider Forum. They had discovered The Branch, a Christian church in Park City, and the pastor generously provided space … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adult Faith Formation, Analysis, Church and cinema, Faith and film, Popular Culture, Spirituality and Media, Sr. Rose movies Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Want to be a film critic?

January 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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When I watch films for review I am attracted by two elements: relationships and mystery. Relationships between people, communities, or nations in this universe and beyond, or a mixture of any and all. The conflicts that provide the drama and drive the action can be resolved in so many ways but I am always looking at the human struggle and the human and Gospel values that underpin the resolution of the conflict or the denouement. I am always looking for grace – for the characters and for … [Read more...]

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What is Cinema Divina?

January 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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Cinema Divina: Spiritual Development through Contemporary Film One of the most spiritually powerful essays I have ever read is “To Fall in Love with the World: Individualism and Self-Transcendence in American Life” by John M. Staudenmeier, S.J. (Institute of Jesuit Studies, May 1994). The author asks: “How can we respond to the call of faith and live committed to something other than our individual selves without an impossibly violent rejection of our culture?” In his cultural … [Read more...]

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Feeling grinchy about family movies? Don’t miss “Parental Guidance” it’s one of the good ones

December 25, 2012 By 1 Comment
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  Artie (Billy Crystal) is the sports announcer for the Fresno, CA minor league baseball team. At the end of the season when he is suddenly let go due to the team’s reorganization,  he and his wife Diane (Bette Midler) get a call from their daughter Alice (Marisa Tomei) in Atlanta. She and her husband Phil (Tom Everett Scott), a computer application inventor, are going away for several days and want the grandparents to take care of their three children. Besides, the other … [Read more...]

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Do we need the zombie apocalypse?

December 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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  Thanks to my sister who sent me this I discovered that Marc, over at Bad Catholic, has written an authentic and insightful piece on the zombie apocalypse.  It's too good not to share. This is the conclusion but be sure to click through to read the entire post "concerning the zombie apocalypse."   Marc obviously spends more times with the walking dead than I do so read on, on this day when the world did not end. Again. The fact of the Zombie Apocalypse has the … [Read more...]

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