Brother Superior: When the heart speaks, Brother Orchid, other hearts must listen. Brother Orchid (1940) Interested in seeing a screwball-comedy-film noir gangster-western-religious flick? I am always on the lookout for oddball films for Advent and they don’t come
My bride and I and our son went to see Midway last Saturday. We all enjoyed it. I highly recommend it. Here follows the review with the usual caveats that there are spoilers ahead.
Probably the most powerful sermon ever placed on film, Father Barry speaks of Christ and his crucifixion on the docks. The best performance Karl Malden ever gave. Elia Kazan’s masterpiece, On the Waterfront (1954) was also his response to the criticism
“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today” Inscription on the memorial to the dead of the British 2nd Infantry Division at Kohima. I went out yesterday to visit the grave of Larry with
Herman Wouk has died at age 103. A Navy veteran of the War in the Pacific, he became a celebrated novelist after the War. To me his best novel will always be the Caine Mutiny, in which he drew upon
Well, my bride and I watched They Shall Not Grow Old (2018) last Sunday, and technically it was as magnificent as I had heard. The expertise applied to make World War I era films look like contemporary
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow
My family and I went to see Avengers: Endgame and I enjoyed it immensely. I will not do a formal review of it, since I think it would be impossible for me to do so without sounding like Comic
Ah the Golden Age of Hollywood! Hollywood made lots of “historical films” during this period, usually filled with historical howlers. Juarez is one of the more accurate “historical films” of this era, the biggest howler being the complete absence of
My bride and I and our son saw Unplanned last Saturday. It is a great film with a magnificent message, and is also highly entertaining. Every pro-lifer and Christian should see this film, or anyone who simply enjoys watching a
More is a man of an angel’s wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime
Sidney Melbourne (Bob Hope): Santy Claus don’t drink. Gloomy Willie (William Frawley): Oh, no? Well, how come he’s always falling down chimneys? Screenplay, Lemon Drop Kid (1951) Damon Runyon and Bob Hope make a terrific combination in The
Dudley: All right. Let me think. This happened many, many years ago. Debby: That’s not the way to begin. Stories start “Once upon a time”. Dudley: Yes, that’s true. Once upon a time there was a little boy and he
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch
“Underneath this little stone Lies Robert Earl of Huntington; No other archer was so good – And people called him Robin Hood. Such outlaws as he and his men Will England never see again.” ― Roger Lancelyn Green, The Adventures
Have you ever heard of some fellows who first came over to this country? You know what they found? They found a howling wilderness, with summers too hot and winters freezing, and they also found some unpleasant little characters who
I am surprised that I did not dislike the Army more. It was, of course, detestable. But the words “of course” drew the sting. That is where it differed from Wyvern. One did not expect to like it. Nobody said
I saw the film Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer on Saturday with my bride. I was pleasantly surprised by both the production quality of the film and the skill of the actors and actresses. Too often
Deputy: Yeah, in Dallas they do it in a barn outside town. Judge Roy Bean: ln a barn? Like they was ashamed of it? Why, l’d rather give up hanging. No, sir. The law says that the guilty shall
I saw Death of a Nation, the latest film of Dinesh D’Souza, on Saturday with my bride and son. Overall I was disappointed by it. The review is below the fold and the caveat as to spoilers is
(The American Catholic will observe its tenth anniversary in October. We will be reposting some classic TAC posts of the past. This post is from March 10, 2016. In light of later developments, the post now seems highly ironic
My family and I went to see Incredibles 2 on Saturday. Most sequels I find disappointing, but this one more than lived up to my expectations. Review below the fold and the caveat as to spoilers is in full effect:
I have been reading a biography of Lawrence of Arabia the past few days, Hero by Michael Korda, and it has directed my attention back to the magnificent film, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). I have always thought highly of the
From a distance, Kennedy has long seemed like a man playing a role: the role his staff expected him to play, the role his public expected him to play, the role his brothers and their retainers expected him to play,
I finally saw The Death of Stalin (2017) with my bride and son last Saturday. Most films that I have high expectations for often leave me at least slightly disappointed. This film exceeded my expectations. It is a superb evocation of
Hollywood, when it goes into the realms of History and Faith, often does justice to neither, getting the History wrong and making a complete hash of the presentation of religious faith on the screen. I am pleased to report that
This is the nature of war. By protecting others, you save yourselves. Kambei, leader of the Seven Samurai Dave Griffey at Daffey Thoughts takes a look at Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, The Seven Samurai. I finally did it.
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go
I didn’t think much of the film Dunkirk (2017). Go here to read my review. I like it better as a re-imagined silent film.
Hands down the most hilarious sequence in all the films I have seen is the below from the Danny Kaye movie The Court Jester (1955). Hawkins: If I die, just pray that I die bravely. Witch: You’ll not die, you’ll not
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of
Peripetchikoff: While they are putting Uncle Sam in cuckoo clock, we will put Soviet cosmonaut on moon. C.R. MacNamara: Okay, so you guys may be the first to shoot a man to the moon, but if he wants a Coke
Donald Sutherland as Confederate General Pierre Beauregard calms a group of Confederate civilians under bombardment by Union forces in besieged Charleston by singing The Bonnie Blue Flag. This is from the 1999 movie The Hunley, a film about the Confederate