In this cinematic imagining of Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal) as a child of about seven or eight living with his parents in the small Jewish community of Alexandria, Egypt, we meet a young boy who is bullied and willing to stand up for another child, a girl, being picked on as well. With some devilish mischief thrown in the brawl, a child dies and Jesus is accused. When Jesus sneaks to the boys bedside he lays his hands on his face... Read more
I am posting this bibliography as a reference to the Turner Classic Movies series “Condemned” that I am hosting on the Thursdays of March, 2016 (17 of the 27 films, that is.) Please feel free to add titles that I may have missed and refer to my previous post with a paper on the history of the Catholic Legion of Decency. These titles are listed on Amazon but some are no longer available or are very expensive; a library may... Read more
Statement from the Daughters of St. Paul Beginning on Thursday, March 3, Sr. Rose Pacatte, the founding Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Culver City, CA, will be providing introductions and commentary on a series of films for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) entitled “Condemned.” While the title is provocative, the subject consists in twenty-seven films that were condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency between the years 1933 – 1965, and then some in the following years.... Read more
This paper was written by Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP in 2013 as a Church History project. It’s a good overview of the history of the Legion of Decency in view of the upcoming series on TCM “Condemned” that I will be hosting (all the Thursdays of March, 2016). HISTORY OF MOVIE CENSORSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES Long before the Catholic Church became officially involved in rating the morality in films, the Motion Picture Industry itself had developed it’s own form of self-... Read more
While most people know the story of the Jamaican bobsled team through the film “Cool Runnings” (1993), anyone who watched the 1988 Winter Olympics will remember the story of an even more unlikely Olympian, Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards, the one and only member of the British ski jumping team. His herculean efforts to train and qualify for and compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics are now told in a movie filled with heart, humor and charm. Eddie (Taron Egerton) was... Read more
Hi everyone, Just wanted to share this news with you so you can program your DVR. This is a fascinating look at older films and why they were condemned or found offensive and objectionable by the Legion of Decency. I am the host for about 17 or 18 of the films, usually the first 3-4 of the evening (each Thursday during March.) My approach is cinematic, historical and educational. Some of the films once deemed “condemned” were revisited years later... Read more
Tomorrow night, Sunday, February 21, “The God Brain” premieres on the National Geographic Channel. It’s fascinating. The energetic host, Jason Silva, travels to Jerusalem to test how deeply people believe. He first asks them their favorite color, for example, and then offers to pay them to change it. They all do – for cash! But none of the believers, regardless of their faith, would take any amount of money to say they no longer believed in God. Once the brain... Read more
This new biblical epic is focused on the resurrection and billed as “the most important manhunt in human history.” It is a simple yet majestic telling of the Easter story. It’s grand yet intimate. Seen through the eyes of one man, it is set in Palestine in the weeks following Jesus’ crucifixion in the year 33 A.D. It features a battle-weary Roman military tribune named Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) who has served in the Roman army for 25 years. In the... Read more
It’s 1999. The Kendall family lives its dysfunctional existence on Staten Island: Vietnam War vet dad Ed (Michael Harney), mom Elaine (Karen Allen), Gulf War vet eldest son Kent (Johnny Whitworth), New York cop wannabe second son Todd (Theo Rossi) and mentally challenged DeeDee (Iris Gilad), who works at a factory in Brooklyn. An official selection at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, “Bad Hurt” opens in U.S. theaters today, Feb. 12. The Kendalls struggle through each day. Elaine, Ed... Read more
Kennedy Blaine (Michaela McManus) is 25 years old and about to take the California Bar Exam, when she inherits a ranch in rural Nebraska. Part of the stipulation of the will is that she visit the ranch before she sells it, which everyone expects her to do, including the ranch’s long-time accountant. Her mother had eloped with her father years before and Gabriel Morgan (Ed Asner) has never forgiven his daughter, even though she is now deceased. Gabriel treats his... Read more
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