You are welcome to come in to purchase tickets or to call 310-397-8676. Tickets must be pre-purchased. All sales are final. No tickets will be sold at the door. This is a benefit screening of the film; proceeds will go to the Building Fund of the Daughters of St. Paul here in Culver City, CA (for repairs, new roofs, remodeling, new carpet, tuckpointing of chapel exterior wall if the budget can manage it). Bless you! Although there is nothing objectionable... Read more
The notice announcing Academy Award winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s new documentary “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream” included a photo of 740 Park Avenue, a luxury apartment building in Manhattan. I was rendered completely curious so I replied immediately to the publicist and requested a screener. (Gibney’s previous films include “Taxi form the Dark Side” and “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”). You see, my great aunt lived at 740 Park Avenue for almost thirty years. Her... Read more
If “Quantum of Solace”, the last James Bond movie, was remarkable for themes of social justice, then the new Bond cat-and-mouse film is just as remarkable for its theology. Well, kind of. It’s more about God embracing James Bond then the other way around. But who knows what will happen in movie 24 of this 50-year franchise when it comes out at some future date? In this latest installment of 007’s next incarnation James (Daniel Craig) is riding a... Read more
Tim Burton’s Big Fish (2003) and Ang Lee’s 3D Life of Pi (2012) have a lot in common, and it’s not just the fish or the almost overwhelming cinematography and artistic design that transcend the ordinary. Besides the fact that both films are based on novels, their common bond is the larger than life idea of fish and creation, imaginary worlds, and telling a fantastical story using metaphor, analogy and fable. Both stories share themes about life and death,... Read more
This small movie is about the relationship between a grumpy, growling, aging baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves, Gus (Clint Eastwood), and his lawyer-daughter Mickey (Amy Adams). When Gus’ friend Pete (John Goodman) alerts Mickey to Gus’ eyesight problems, she joins her dad to scout players in North Carolina, jeopardizing her promotion to partner at her law firm. Father and daughter spar, but they love each other—and the game—even though Mickey, named for Mickey Mantle, has abandonment issues.... Read more
“Seven Psychopaths” is what a filmmaker makes when he thinks no one is looking. Writer/director Michael McDonagh has hit the skids of derivative and retread hell – think “Pulp Fiction” only on a smaller budget, if that’s possible. He says his new film has a moral conundrum (NY Times Magazine October 14, 2012) but if it does he does not commit to it. McDonagh also says he finds Shakespeare boring. Fine, everyone has a right to their own opinion.... Read more
As a kid, Jay Moriarty loved to watch the waves. He timed the swells and figured out a way to predict the waves that will be good enough to surf. When he is 15, Jay (Jonny Weston) asks his neighbor and surfing hero Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler), to teach him to ride the surf break known as the mavericks, the legendary gigantic waves off the coast of northern California. Frost reluctantly agrees but only if Jay will work a... Read more
Watching scary movies can help you burn the calorific equivalent of a small chocolate bar, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Westminster. Those who watched a 90-minute horror film were likely to burn up to 113 calories …. Click here to continue reading this article from The Guardian (UK). Read more
This enthralling and deeply moving true story, starring pianist Mona Golabek, will have a two-week run at the Paramount Center, Emerson College, Boston. It has drama, humor, romance – the whole package. It is about hope, resilience and the power of music. I will post my review in the next week or so but this is an experience that will renew your faith in humanity and inspire your faith because it is how Christians and Jews can be together. It... Read more
When Oscar nominee, Colin Firth was asked to guest-edit the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, he wanted to look at the sometimes complex relationship between faith and film. Who better to talk about this than renowned screenwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce? The writer of several films, including Hilary and Jackie and Welcome to Sarajevo, describes what it is like to be a Catholic in the film industry: Cinema and religion are completely – in fact, architecturally – tangled up in... Read more
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