Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
Before the conservative panic about political bias in Big Tech, there was the conservative panic about political bias in Hollywood. It would, after all, be hard to find a place more solidly blue than Tinseltown, where those to the right of center have long felt the need to keep their views under wraps and where … Read more
In his recent motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, Pope Francis called the Novus Ordo Mass the “unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.” But he did not state his intention that celebrations of this Mass be beautiful. Perhaps the principle of beauty in liturgy was assumed. Many pre-conciliar Catholics would have taken it … Read more
A new documentary about former Executive Director Ira Glasser explains how the once-storied civil liberties organization came to embrace the ideology it was built to fight Think of the American Civil Liberties Union during the last two decades of the 20th century, and a certain type of person invariably comes to mind: shrewd, thick-skinned, and … Read more
It is inadequate to describe Mel Gibson’s masterpiece, “The Passion of the Christ,” as a film; it is much more than that. It would be more accurate to describe it as a moving icon. It calls us to prayer and leads us to the contemplation that takes us into the presence of Christ Himself. It’s … Read more
The Chosen, an Education in Meditation | Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast In anticipation of Season 2 of The Chosen, the popular TV series based on the Gospels, Thomas and James take a look back at Season 1 and what made it so remarkable. They are joined by Brother Joshua Vargas, a filmmaker, … Read more
Watching the rape-revenge fantasy Promising Young Woman is a grueling experience, but not for the reason intended. The film is built on the enduring urban legend that legions of college women are getting gang-raped on campus by men who suffer no repercussions whatsoever. Never mind that such a crime is such an exceedingly rare occurrence … Read more
No writer has ever made me feel so keenly my deficiencies as a reader more than William Shakespeare. (I will not be so ridiculous as to consider what Shakespeare tells me about my deficiencies as a writer.) . . . Shakespeare’s plays were written to be performed, but in these pandemic days the live theater … Read more
Hollywood rails against fracking, but production companies are happy to benefit from subsidies generated by oil producers. We have known for decades the extent to which progressives dominate Hollywood. In the age of social media, Hollywood celebrities waste no opportunity to show that they stand with the poor, the downtrodden, and the righteous. But they … Read more
In the summer of 2016, I went into a bookstore in Maine looking for a book that I thought my wife would like to read — a memoir about growing up as the heir to rural Appalachian culture and passing from that world into the gilded precincts of the meritocracy, written by a guy I … Read more
The Chosen | Official Trailer HD 1. It’s Different… In a Good Way The Chosen is similar to Risen, the excellent faith-based film that followed a Roman military tribune as he encounters the risen Christ. Like that 2016 movie, The Chosen tells stories of radical transformation. But unlike Risen– which used a fictional … Read more
When most of us think of Shakespeare we don’t immediately connect him with the saints. We might think of the play Sir Thomas More, on which he collaborated with other contemporary playwrights and which was banned during his lifetime for its volatile pro-Catholic perspective. We might connect him with the positive portrayal of Edward the … Read more
Prior to the coming of the pandemic, I traveled all over America to see and review regional theater productions. Thanks to the theatrical webcasts that I started covering in March, though, I’ve been discovering first-rate companies of whose existence I was previously unaware. That’s one of the many reasons why smart theater companies will make … Read more
In today’s Wall Street Journal drama column, I write about the original 1954 live-TV version of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men. Here’s an excerpt. . . . Most people know “Twelve Angry Men,” in which Reginald Rose dramatized the contentious deliberations of a New York jury, from Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film version, whose screenplay was … Read more
Abortion is a serious and sorrowful thing, but the new film ‘Unpregnant’ tries to make it a laughing matter and normalize the loss of life and hope. . . . Even those who support abortion have generally not treated it as a laughing matter. Most people have had the moral decency to recognize the seriousness … Read more
The greatest classical guitarist of the twentieth century died today [August 14, 2020]. I reviewed one of his New York solo recitals for the Daily News back in the Nineties, and have never forgotten how wonderful it was. Here’s part of what I wrote. Julian Bream, R.I.P. Julian Bream Concert 1978 Julian Bream: … Read more
One of the many mysteries surrounding the life of William Shakespeare is the reason for his early retirement, perhaps as early as 1610 and certainly no later than 1612, at a time when he was still at the height of his powers and while he was still apparently in good health. He announces his retirement … Read more
A politically-charged documentary about an unheralded voting bloc is drawing raves on two of the web’s biggest film sites. “Uncle Tom: An Oral History of the American Black Conservative” lets its subjects share why they favor smaller government — and the ridicule they endure for that position. The film profiles famous black Americans like Candace … Read more
The Reviews Are in: ‘Uncle Tom’ is a Hit! | Larry Elder Is there anything more frightening to the American political left and their high media priests of the woke world than Black Americans who think for themselves and refuse to kneel? No. Black people who become conservatives and dare question Democratic Party … Read more
When, several years ago, my wife first asked me to watch Downton Abbey with her, I was somewhat skeptical. A television show which had become that much of a fad seemed unlikely to be particularly worthwhile but I decided to give it a try and was soon thrilled with my decision. Not because it was … Read more
“Thrilling…These webcasts effortlessly convey the joyous experience of watching Shakespeare performed in Blackfriars Playhouse..let ASC take your mind off your troubles as you commune at home with theater’s supreme genius,” — Terry Teachout for The Wall Street Journal Since audiences can’t come to the Blackfriars, ASC is bringing the Playhouse to you. Pull up a … Read more
“Sister Calling My Name,” written by Buzz McLaughlin, is currently being performed by Storm Theatre Company and the Blackfriars Repertory Theatre at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in Manhattan. I’m a friend and fan of all the aforementioned, but I had no idea what I was in for when I walked into the … Read more
A HIDDEN LIFE | Official Trailer [HD] | FOX Searchlight 8. A Hidden Life. Terrence Malick’s grave, pensive, impressionistic, interior-oriented films are not for everyone, and this one runs nearly three hours. But this true story of a Catholic Austrian farmer named Franz Jägerstätter who refused to bend the knee to Adolf Hitler … Read more
A HIDDEN LIFE | Official Trailer [HD] | FOX Searchlight Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life is a cinematic monument of Christian apologetics. ‘The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts,” wrote George Eliot in Middlemarch, “and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might … Read more
Divine Mercy Chaplet (2-page PDF) Love and Mercy: FAUSTINA – trailer The Divine Mercy Chaplet Prayer VERY POWERFUL Love and Mercy : Faustina | Beyond the Vision Related PostsDespite All the Hype, Movie Theater Ticket Sales in 2021 Down 68% from 19 Years Ago. AMC Shares collapse from WTF Spike The … Read more
Literary analysts have long noticed the hand of another author in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. Now a neural network has identified the specific scenes in question—and who actually wrote them. . . . For much of his life, William Shakespeare was the house playwright for an acting company called the King’s Men that performed his plays … Read more