In the months and years following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the crash of the fourth plane into a field in Pennsylvania, the CIA pursued Osama Bin Laden, the founder of the global terrorist network al-Qaeda who claimed responsibility for the events of September 11, 2001. At a secret “black site” an agent, Dan, interrogates a man named Ammar (Reda Kateb) suspected of having knowledge about Bin... Read more
As Hurricane Charlie bears down on Tampa, FL in 2004, 7 year-old Zach Bonner (Chandler Canterbury), his mom, Laurie (Anna Gunn), and big sister 16 year-old Kelley (Daveigh Chase), board up the house and lay in supplies to wait out the storm. But the storm changes direction leaving the Bonners will a lot of bottled water. When Zach sees on television the devastation in Punta Gorde, FL and learns that 20,000 people are homeless and suffering, he... Read more
SIGNIS and INTERFILM Criteria for Juries I have had the privilege of serving on Catholic and Ecumenical Juries at Berlin (2004), Venice (2000, 2010), and Locarno (2006). Here are the criteria that SIGNIS, the World Catholic Organization for Communication, and INTERFILM (the International Interchurch Film Organization), have developed to inform and guide jury members as they discern winning films: The Ecumenical Jury makes awards to films and to filmmakers according to the criteria developed by SIGNIS and INTERFILM as guidelines... Read more
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... Read more
A good friend of our community here in Culver City,CA, Darrell Fusaro, wrote this reflection on St. Vibiana, the patroness of the first cathedral in Los Angeles. The reflection is not about cinema but about life and spirit, also the domain of cinema. The article has gotten such good responses on Facebook that I thought I’d share it here as well: Tucked away in the basement of the downtown Cathedral in Los Angeles, CA, are the remains of a nobody.... Read more
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 analysis Staudenmeier addresses the ambiguity... Read more
“The Abolitionists” American Experience, PBS 10 p.m./9 p.m. Central, Jan. 8, Jan. 15 and Jan. 22 Tonight, a three-part documentary premieres on PBS that tells the story of the abolitionists and the movement they created in the United States to end slavery. The series comes at the right moment by providing the historical context, biographies and background to the passage of the 13th Amendment as shown in the Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln,” now in theaters. Yet Abraham Lincoln’s beliefs,... Read more
Just weeks after President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) is reelected to a second term in 1864, he pushes for the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution that would outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude. It had already passed the Senate, but it stalled in the House of Representatives. At the same time, word comes that the Confederacy is ready for peace discussions between the North and the South as the Civil War rages. The Senate figures... Read more
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.... Read more
Millions of people have seen the musical “Les Misérables” since the English version premiered in London in 1985 and New York in 1987. Countless others have read the original 1862 novel by Victor Hugo or seen the more than 70 film adaptations in 15 languages. (My personal favorites are the 1978 British telefilm starring Richard Jordan and the 1998 feature film with Liam Neeson, both playing Jean Valjean.) The tale of the suffering poor of France in the years... Read more
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