Sister Rose Movies -

“The Eugenics Crusade” continues today – premieres PBS October 16

October 15, 2018 By Sister Rose

This two-hour documentary, written and directed by Michelle Ferrari, tells the largely unknown story of America’s quest to breed healthy babies – the impulse to perfect humanity – through eugenics beginning in the late 19th century. By the mid 1920’s eugenics was mainstream and codified by laws that restricted immigration and allowed for the sterilization of tens of thousands of American citizens deemed to be “morons,” “unfit,” or poor, illiterate, had a child due to rape, or a prostitute. As the… Read more

“The Sentence” shows the dark side of mandatory sentencing

October 15, 2018 By Sister Rose

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In 2008 there was an ominous early morning knock on the door of the Shank family home in Lansing, Michigan. Cindy, mother of Autumn (6), Ava (2) and Annalise (under a year), and wife to Adam, answered the door. Federal agents were there to arrest Cindy on conspiracy charges related to the time she was a live-in girlfriend to a drug dealer named Alex. After Alex’s murder state and federal charges were brought against Cindy; as the girlfriend she… Read more

Geek out in joy with NatGeo’s ‘Science Fair’

September 21, 2018 By Sister Rose

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This exhilarating and hopeful film tells the story of high school students from several schools in the USA, Brazil (two students from a rural area take on the Zeka virus), Germany (a student takes on aerospace) as they prepare for their state or national science fairs and then, for the winners, on to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). It demonstrates not only intelligence and interest in the world and science but that these modest young people, and… Read more

‘Tea with the Dames’ sparkles

September 21, 2018 By Sister Rose

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This very funny film documents a weekend of sparkling conversations between Dames Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins and Judi Dench at Plowright’s countryside home. It is intimate, a little salty, and most entertaining. Director Roger Mitchell (Notting Hill), with minimal suggestions to the ladies, turns on the camera and lets these friends chat about their careers, acting, families, and life. Augmented with archival photographs and footage, their stories combine into a thoroughly enjoyable narrative. If you already like… Read more

Dog Days: No animals were harmed in the making of this movie

August 8, 2018 By Sister Rose

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In Ken Marino’s lightweight predictable romantic comedy, the best part is in the last five minutes and then the outtakes alongside the credits. The cast includes Vanessa Hudgens as Tara, Eva Longoria as Grace, Nina Dobrev as Elizabeth, Ron Cephas as Jones, and Jon Bas as Garrett. The plot entwines the lives of various people in Los Angeles, from childless parents who adopt a young girl and then adopt a dog, to a talk show host’s love life and… Read more

The Late Teen Age Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat documented in “Boom for Real”

May 10, 2018 By Sister Rose

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Courtesy of Magnolia Films New York City in 1978 was on the verge of bankruptcy. The tenements of lower Manhattan looked bombed out and graffiti was exploding across the city and on the subway trains to the tune of hip-hop and the vision of break dancing. While many people, if not most, considered graffiti a blight, emerging street artists were paying attention. Today we have Banksy; the late 1980’s had Jean-Michel Basquiat. This new documentary by director Sara Driver… Read more

Ismael’s Ghosts: a cinematic ego showcased

April 10, 2018 By Sister Rose

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Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg in ISMAEL’S GHOSTS. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. Noted French director Arnaud Desplechin’s sometimes interesting, often confusing, random, occasionally frenetic narrative is about a filmmaker, Ismael (Mathieu Amalric) whose wife Carlotta (Marion Cotillard), disappeared twenty-one years previously and has been declared dead. He is still friends with her father Henri (László Szabó) and is in a passionate relationship with an astrophysicist, Sylvia (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Life is good as Ismael works on his new feature film at… Read more

My Oscar reflections, hopes and scolds

March 3, 2018 By Sister Rose

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Here’s a link to a podcast where I am in conversation about the Oscars: In Conversation Listen to Sr. Rose Pacatte discuss the threads of Catholicism running through many of this year’s Oscar-nominated films and hear her predictions and hopes for the Academy Awards in the latest episode of NCR’s podcast. My Oscar reflections, hopes and scolds 2018 I watched about 85 films in 2017. It was an exceptionally good year for cinema. History, humanity, humor, family, religion,… Read more