J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) is a Los Angeles-based sports agent who has branched out on his own with his business partner, Ash (Aasif Mandvi), but things have not been going well. When they fail to sign a big-name athlete, J.B. is inspired to go to India to look for the next baseball star. He convinces Chang (Tzi Ma) to finance a reality show in India where young men compete for the chance to come to the United States to try... Read more
Here’s the link to “Social Sisters” that aired on Al Jazeera’s Online show “The Stream” yesterday This is so last minute but you can join the conversation about nuns and social media on Al Jazeera’s “The Stream” at 3PM ET/12 noon PT. If they post the entire program after I will post the link here. On Thursday, May 29 at 19:30 GMT: Tweeting nuns. Pop singing nuns. Activist nuns. The Catholic Church is not what it used... Read more
I so meant to post this last week! As you probably know, Mother Dolores published her autobiography last year: and I wrote about her coming to our Pauline Book & Media Center in Culver City in my blog. What a grand time it was! Click here for Turner Classic Movies website . Here’s a preview of “Lisa”: Read more
Somehow, I think the Transformers franchise started a trend in “look” even to Noah’s prehistoric giants. The violence inherent in all the images is more troublesome. I have always liked the X-Men film franchise. This most recent installment, again directed by Bryan Singer, revisits themes of predestination and free will, courage and hope, intolerance of “the other”, abuse of power, consequences of atomic bomb fallout (but you have to go back to the other... Read more
As an sort-of alumnus of “Last Comic Standing” (Season 5, Episode 7) where I was actually paid scale for being one of several persons the comedians had to make laugh in order to get votes to advance (I am still getting residuals; the last check was for 8 cents after taxes), I wanted to see if the new version of LCS would be actual comedy and not just a series of quick lines intended to shock a snort from audiences.... Read more
by Abderrahmane Sissakoa From the press release: This film tells the story of the life and dignified resistance of men and women in Timbuktu who seek to live according to their culture and traditions while at the same time integrating modern communication media. The film is a strong yet nuanced denunciation of an extremist interpretation of religion. The Ecumenical Jury Prize honours the film’s high artistic achievement and its humour and restraint. While offering a critique of intolerance the... Read more
“Belle” — This film is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a British sea captain (Matthew Goode) in the 18th century. Belle grows up with a cousin in the mansion of her uncle, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), the chief justice of England, and his wife (Emily Watson). It is a story about the power of cultural mores and the law when England was beginning to challenge the legitimacy of the... Read more
Noah by Lorenzo Monaco, 1370-1425 On May 16 the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a new open access policy that allows users to browse and download images for non-commercial use: The Collection Online: “… more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum’s world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum’s website for non-commercial use—including in scholarly publications in any media—without permission from the Museum and without a fee. The number of available images... Read more
Do consider coming to our annual awards event this year on June 1! The invitation is above. For tickets click here on Catholics in Media Award Tickets (and for advertising opportunities). Participating in the Mass overlooking the Pacific Ocean is beautiful. Cesar’s Last Fast is a feature documentary film about the private sacrifice and spiritual conviction behind Cesar Chavez’s struggle for the humane treatment of America’s farm workers, and the impact of Chavez’s legacy. The film is built around powerful, never-before-seen footage of... Read more
Right on time for Mother’s Day comes “Moms’ Night Out,” an angst-ridden comedy from Sony’s Affirm Films, a label aimed at evangelical Christians, and Provident Pictures, that has given the faith audience “Fireproof” (2008) and “Courageous” (2011). Allyson (Sarah Drew) is mother to three and married to Sean (Sean Astin), an architect who travels a lot. She is also a mommy blogger without any followers. She obsesses over germs and being a perfect mother, and seems addicted to the very... Read more
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