I was going to review a film I actually expected to like this week, I really was. I was going to go to see The Jungle Book, but then there was a bomb threat at the local mall, the bus route was closed and I didn’t know if the cinema would be showing movies. I’m not making this up. There was a bomb threat, so I’m going to review another bomb. You see, I’ve apparently typed “pure flix” into my browser... Read more
Ezra, you’ll recall, is the name of the prophet who found the scrolls of the Law and had them read to all the returned exiles. It’s not the real name of my neighbor down the block, but it’s close to it. Let’s call him Ezra. Ezra is a perpetually grubby little boy with autism, epilepsy and a mouthful of crowns; he is his mother’s middle child. His mother is chronically ill herself and she has no other parent to help her with the... Read more
Let’s talk about sex. When I was a bookish homeschooler, I was an odd combination of well-read and ignorant. I read the unabridged Les Miserables at twelve and had to ask what a “woman of the town” was; I didn’t have the courage to ask why it turned your hair gray. I devoured Charles Dickens but didn’t know that Oliver Twist’s Nancy was of that same profession until I was in college. I pored over the un-annotated Complete Works of... Read more
Days ago I inadvertently knocked over a powder keg with my frustrated rant about bad Christian art. Apparently a lot of people agree with me, as that rant has been shared more than any of my other much better posts. And in the comments on these shares, I’ve seen many people asking questions. What should we do? How should we change? What is art, anyway? Isn’t it subjective? Who gets to decide what art is good and what art is... Read more
When I was a very small girl, my family went to Mass at the Cathedral. I loved everything about it. I loved coming inside from the bright sunshine to the dark foyer, all built of sandy stone that looked like it was covered in sugar. There was hardly any light in the foyer; it was blocked off on one end by the grille that surrounded the Baptismal font, like the bars to a cage in a dungeon. There were holy water fonts... Read more
Due to my love of films and my being a glutton for punishment in general, and due to the inexplicable popularity of my panning of God’s Not Dead 2, I have already decided to review another Pure Flix film, I Am Not Ashamed: The Rachel Joy Scott Columbine Story, when it comes out in September. And I’m trying to keep an open mind about it– it’s based upon the actual writings of the Columbine victim herself, who seems like a... Read more
I’ve said it at least a thousand times since we left the house for Tot Time. It started when I saw another woman at the bus stop. Rose is shy and doesn’t like saying hello to strange grown ups; she hadn’t got much sleep, and was already promising to be cranky. Mommy got even less sleep. Mommy was on the verge of dozing off as I walked. “Rose,” I hissed, “Be sweet. Mind your manners. Say hello.” Rose did not... Read more
You may recall that last week I went to see God’s Not Dead 2, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t have time to mention that I met a new friend on the way to my movie. There was a talkative gentleman sitting in a new electric wheelchair at the front of the bus, and I heard him ask the driver for directions to the Social Security office behind the mall, the bus’s last stop. I told him it... Read more
I am an unabashed lover of films. Films are among my favorite things. I am obsessed with Stanley Kubrick; I am very fond of the Coen brothers. I like to memorize Hollywood musicals and sing them in the shower. If you ever see me in public not watching a late 90s J-Horror movie, be assured that I’m only planning the quickest way to get home and watch a late 90s J-Horror movie. I love films more than just about anything... Read more
Okay, get this, you have got to hear this. You have got to hear this one. A Dominican priest walks on to a college campus and is mistaken for… oh, you’ve heard that one? Never mind. How about this one? A Franciscan TOR from the local university and a Byzantine Catholic priest from the church across the river walk into a Chinese restaurant. The host says “Is there a Star Wars convention in town?” Yes, that really happened. This one... Read more
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