FINDING GOD IN DEPRESSION One of my dear friends, Sr. Kathryn James, fsp has just published a book on depression. Surviving Depression will be a wonderful, thoughtful book, principally because SkJ is one of the most profound and prayerful women I have ever known. As a result of a minor surgery, she suffered a devastating and debilitating stroke when she was 24 years old. We all knew it was God taking one of his special souls to the next level.... Read more

VATICAN SCREENS PASSION Here is an interview that went out on ZENIT today. My understanding is that the film was also screened for the Pope. Mel Gibson’s “Passion”: On Review at the Vatican Exclusive Interview With Father Di Noia of the Doctrinal Congregation VATICAN CITY, DEC. 8, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Several high-ranking Vatican officials who attended a private screening of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” this past weekend in Rome came away impressed. Members from the Vatican Secretariat of... Read more

PASSION WATCH: THE ROCKS CRYING OUT? One of my students sent me the following. I print it here focussed mainly on the effort to keep from succumbing to potentially fatal waves of smugness… Mel Gibson screened The Passion for a couple hundred (influential) movie geeks at the annual Ain’t It Cool News movie marathon. They went ballistic. Peter Jackson and a bunch of other filmmakers were there as well. Harry Knowles says it’s one of the three best films he’s... Read more

HOLY NEPOTISM Today is the Feast of St. Barbara, who is the patron assigned to me by my parents. (I assigned myself St. Paul a few years later. But Barbara has always been on the receiving end of my joys and gripes.) St. Barbara is the patron of artillerymen and her medal is the highest military award given in Europe. So let’s speak to her today about our soldiers in Iraq. Barbara means “strange/foreign”. When I was in the convent,... Read more

“I DO BELIEVE IN MOVIES! I DO! I DO! I DO BELIEVE IN MOVIES!” Just saw the new movie Peter Pan tonight and, as Tony the Tiger would say, IT’SSSSSSSSS GREATTTTTTTTTTTT! A really delightful, clever and beautifully made film that will work for kids and adults. I knew the movie would be good when I read in the production notes that the producer on the project had the option on the film rights for twenty years as she tried to... Read more

ACT ONE ON ZENIT The international Catholic news service, ZENIT, is running an interview they did with me about Act One. I have no idea where it appears on line, so I will reprint the whole interview here. Christian Boot Camp for the Silver Screen HOLLYWOOD, California, DEC. 3, 2003 (Zenit.org).- The program director for a Christ-centered film school has been in show business long enough to know that she can’t fix Hollywood. Instead, Barbara Nicolosi and a growing group... Read more

KILLMENOW…OR IF YOU WANT TO BE REALLY VINDICTIVE AND CRUEL……strap me in front of a screen and play the LOTR movies over and over. As the year 2003 dragged on, and the recollection of the tedium and confusion dulled, I actually started to doubt myself… “Maybe the LOTR films aren’t as meandering and unfocussed as it first seemed…maybe the characterizations aren’t as underdeveloped and the dialogue more than just a series of grunts and keen statements of the obvious…maybe the... Read more

[Applications are now being accepted for the two Act One writing programs that will be held in 2004. Please feel free to cut ‘n paste/reprint/read from street corners this press release to help us get the word out.] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE In 2004, Christian screenwriting program ACT ONE will bridge Washington and Hollywood Hollywood, CA, December 1, 2003 – Nearing its sixth year and with more than 200 of its graduates now striving to move up through the entertainment ranks,... Read more

SOFT PORN, ACTUALLY The new flick from the guy who wrote Notting Hill and Four Weddings is a textbook example of a film that uses human nudity to violate and degrade both the actors and the viewers. Too bad several of the vignettes are clever and enjoyable. The scenes with the sex-industry people are quite altogether putrid. The language would also have to ascend six floors to reach the gutter. PASS, old boy. PASS, PASS, PASS. Read more

“Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask. Get up there with that lady that is up on top of this Capitol dome–that lady that stands for liberty, take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something and you won’t just see scenery–you’ll see the whole parade of what man’s carved out for himself after centuries of fighting and fighting for something better than just jungle law; fighting so’s he can... Read more