‘Spotlight’ brings Globe’s investigation of clergy sex abuse to film

Last updated on: November 5, 2015 at 10:40 am By Sister Rose

Director Thomas McCarthy’s new film, “Spotlight,” plays like the Watergate of the Catholic church. Focusing on The Boston Globe investigative news team that, through a series of articles in 2002, exposed the cover-up of clergy pedophiles by Cardinal Bernard Law (and ultimately many other prelates and dioceses), it even includes Ben Bradlee Jr. (John Slattery), then deputy managing editor of the paper. (His father, Ben Sr., was the publisher of The Washington Post when the paper’s investigation of President Richard... Read more

‘Chaplains’ documentary looks into lives of chaplains, NASCAR, military ….

Last updated on: November 3, 2015 at 11:54 am By Sister Rose

“Chaplains” is a two-hour look at the vocation, lives and ministries of chaplains in the United States that begins airing on PBS stations on November 3 and continues throughout the month. The film opens with U.S. military chaplains, men and women from various faiths. I think beside hospital chaplains the first thing people think of when they hear “chaplain” is connected to the military. The film goes back to World War II with the sinking of the USS Dorchester in... Read more

‘The Armor of Light’: Guns – Second Amendment or Second Commandment? You choose

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 10:01 pm By Sister Rose

There are many Christians who are arming themselves because they are fearful, terribly fearful. God’s people are in bondage to fear and I think we pastors, shepherds of souls should be concerned. I asked pastors where and they get their information on gun issues and most tell me Fox News or the NRA. Brothers and sisters, Fox News and the NRA are not spiritual authorities. I am concerned that the NRA promoting the idea that the best way to... Read more

Are horror films C(c)atholic?

Last updated on: October 19, 2015 at 4:42 pm By Sister Rose

(Back in 2013 I posted this on Reel Spirituality’s website and since there is always conversations about whether or not we should even watch horror movies, I think it’s a good time to post in on my blog. Enjoy! Right on time for Halloween….) The first horror film I ever saw at age eight, indeed the first film I ever saw in a theater, was the 1959 House on Haunted Hill. It starred Vincent Price, and I now know... Read more

‘Room’ is a story of crime and survival but also of family and reconciliation

Last updated on: October 19, 2015 at 2:32 pm By Sister Rose

It is Jack’s (Jacob Tremblay) 5th birthday and he wakes his mother, whom he calls “Ma” (Brie Larson), sleeping next to him. Ma has a present for him and they bake a cake together in a small one-room apartment where they live. Jack, however, is very unhappy that Ma doesn’t have any candles for the cake. The television, with fuzzy reception, plays in the background. Jack loves “Dora the Explorer.” There are a few books on a shelf that... Read more

‘The Assassin’ is a stunning martial arts with a female hero

Last updated on: October 13, 2015 at 11:07 am By Sister Rose

“Wuxia” is the name of the Chinese dramatic martial arts genre and Taiwan’s legendary filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien’s latest film “The Assassin” is a stunningly beautiful example of the art form. The film won “Best Director” for Hou Hsiao-hsien at Cannes earlier this year and musician/composer Giong Lim’s soundtrack was also awarded at Cannes. “The Assassin” is Taiwan’s official entry for the 2016 Academy Awards. The film opens in ninth century China where treachery and corruption are rife. Nie Yinniang (Shu... Read more

‘Dukhtar’ showcases Pakistan’s fledgling independent film industry

Last updated on: October 13, 2015 at 12:29 pm By Sister Rose

First time Pakistan producer and director Afia Nathaniel tells a harrowing yet tender story of one woman’s journey to save her ten year-old daughter from marriage to an old man as part of a peace deal between opposing village leaders in Pakistan’s mountainous hinterland. Inspired by a true story “Dukhtar” illustrates primitive cultural practices of rigid patriarchy on the one hand and the growing empowerment of women who are willing to risk even life itself to become fully human and... Read more

‘He Named Me Malala’ deserves an Oscar (see Stephen Colbert’s interview with Malala, too)

Last updated on: September 30, 2015 at 4:10 pm By Sister Rose

There is a legend in Pakistan that goes something like this. During the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80), a young woman named Malala (or Malalai) was tending to the injured when the Afghan army started to retreat. She called out to her husband to stand firm and, taking off her veil, she used it as a flag to rally the troops. They turned back and defeated the British that day, but the heroic Malala was killed. “He Named Me... Read more

‘Captive’ is a compelling, moving drama

Last updated on: September 28, 2015 at 4:11 pm By Sister Rose

I’ve been traveling so I am just now able to post my review of CAPTIVE as it appears in the October 2015 issue of St. Anthony Messenger. But I want to add that this is an inspiring film. And it is gritty and does not hide the violence. It’s a truthful film about something that really happened and the power of a book to make a huge difference in the choices the characters make. Inspiring films can be compelling –... Read more

’90 Minutes in Heaven’ cannot be saved

Last updated on: September 19, 2015 at 6:40 pm By Sister Rose

“90 Minutes in Heaven” is based on Dan Piper’s 2004 New York Times best-selling real-life experience story. Director Michael Polish’s new film, simply put, is no match for the book and is proof that some books should never, ever be made into films. Don Piper (Hayden Christensen) is on his way home from a Christian conference in Texas in 1989 when he’s involved in a terrible accident on a bridge. He flatlines and by the time he is in the... Read more