Thank you for your interest in my more than 400 reviews and postings that used to be hosted by AOL. They decided not to do this anymore and then worked a deal with Google so us bloggers could migrate all our hard work to a new home! When the notice came I created a new blog at WordPress right away thinking I could move the archive there. This was not possible. Then AOL sent the instructions about their deal with ... Read more
If you are interested in this topic, please check out Clark Hoyt’s (the Public Editor for the New York Times) sage column in today’s New York Times. It deals with the many complaints the NY Times received for reviewing the revivial of the 1998 play “Corpus Christi”. Hoyt considers “how a newspaper like The Times, which devotes great space and energy to covering the arts, should deal with the frequent collisions between art and religion” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09pubed.html?_r=1&oref=slogin or this link http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09pubed.html?ref=todayspaper Read more
On Friday, November 9, I will be teaching a film class at the Saddleback College Emeritus Institute in Mission Viejo, CA. The focus of the class is film and censorship using Rossellini’s 1948 controversial short film (c. 40 mins.) Il Miracolo (or “The Miracle” in English) as a case study. The Miracle is actually the second part of a film entitled L’Amore. Roberto Rossellini’s film “The Miracle” http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cd.sc.ehu.es Date: 1951 – 1975 Location: USA Subject: Religious Medium: Film... Read more
Since I have been hearing a variety of perspectives about Guy Ritchie’s film, I went to see it yesterday. My review of the film here may be a way to discover who is really reading my blog! Rocknroller is smart and extremely witty. As a caper is clever, quick-paced and artistic. In fact, some of it is completely LOL, not unlike some of the more entertaining heist films. This is not to say the film has any socially redeeming value. Yet as I write... Read more
This 35-minute film focuses on three U.S. presidential candidates who are held prisoner in a room where the walls are closing in. They are forced to confront their inner demons and secrets and consider what they are really to do and sacrifice for their country. The unanswered questions present opportunities for dialogue. Themes of Catholic social teaching abound and form a lens for viewing. Available with guide from wwww.InsideDarkeness.com. Read more
Ruby: Telling My Truth Ruby Gettinger, a thirty-something Sunday school teacher in Savannah, GA, received a death sentence from her doctor when she reached 700 lbs. Battling obesity since the age of ten, she “socialized her way out of college” after two years. She later thought of going back to school but realized she wouldn’t fit in a seat. Several years ago Ruby saw an episode of Oprah that showcased the dilemmas of overweight women who had... Read more
November is National Adoption Awareness Month The Hallmark Channel is bringing back its inspiring series Adoption in honor of National Adoption Awareness Month. All previous episodes are on the Internet at www.hallmarkchannel.com and new episodes will be available online. This touching and inspiring series has a strong B.K. rating: Bring Kleenex. See http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/nam/ as well. Read more
This “reel” of Snickers commercials is worth some cross-curricular media mindfulness analysis (very funny, too.) Read more
Hi everyone, This course is sponsored by the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation: http://vlc.udayton.edu. If you would like to join this course (which I will be facilitating if we have enough students), please visit http://vlc.udayton.edu , scroll to the bottom of the front page, and follow through. You can create a student profile even if you decide not to register at this time. Please sign up as soon as you can. Next time I will let you... Read more
Nicholas Nickleby, based on Charles Dickens’ critique of the effects of unscrupulous capitalism expressed through market “speculation”, is a tale for our times. This 2002 version isn’t necessarily the best of the many screen and TV adaptations produced through the years, but it was nominated for a Golden Globe and is highly “watchable” (the comic burlesque aspects are very entertaining.) And it offers much to talk about in terms of the side-effects of capitalism. Dickens wrote the novel in serial form from... Read more
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