Catholic Fire

My favorites have been: 1. Expelled -- No Intelligence Allowed **** A Must See 2. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (DVD) *** 3. Nim's Island *** I've read some great reviews of Expelled -- No Intelligence Allowed. I particularly enjoyed the review of Expelled at Libertas , who comments, "We all know there’s a war against religion in America. We all know it’s a hostile and unrelenting war. We knew this long before the ACLU sued to have Christmas trees removed from firehouses. Under the guise of a separation of church and state — which is written nowhere in the Constitution — freedom of religion is under assault by hostile atheists desperate for a godless theocracy. But did you know this hostility extends to science and academia?" Go here to read the rest. For teens, I would refer you to Joey's review here. Adults will want to check out the following posts: Darwin's Kool-Aid: A Review Of Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" at Rom...

In response to the recent outrage about the reviews of Harry Forbes of the USCCB Office of Film and Broadcasting, three Catholic bloggers (Leticia at causa nostrae laetitiae and Cause of Our Joy , Julie at Happy Catholic , Christine at The World IMHO ) and I have formed a group blog called Catholic Media Review , on which we will post film reviews, and possibly, in the near future, TV show reviews. I am thrilled to be a part of this group of talented writers. The blog was Leticia's idea, but I think each one of us was shocked and appalled by the fact that Harry Forbes, the USCCB movie reviewer, gave positive reviews to Golden Compass and Brokeback Mountain and wanted to put our gifts to use to make a difference in our culture. We will do our best to examine each film in the light of Catholic teaching and to warn parents about films that will present a danger to our youth. We also want to encourage people to see those films which we believe will have a positive impact on our s...

Juno opened here this weekend and I went to see it this afternoon. This film really surprised me! I had heard it was good, but I had no idea that it would be so funny, and, at the same time, so touching. It was obvious from the reactions of the audience (the laughter and the tears), I was not alone in my feelings for this film. Ellen Paige plays Juno McGruff, a brainy but zany 16 – year – old, who decides to have sex for the first time with her best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), who is also a virgin. Naturally, she gets pregnant and after a frightening trip to the abortion clinic, Juno decides to give the baby up for adoption. At the suggestion of her girl friend Leah (Olivia Thirby), she checks out the want ads in The Penny Saver and discovers a picture – perfect couple to be the parents of her child -- Mark and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman). When Juno breaks the news of her pregnancy to her dad and stepmom, Bren (Allison Janney) and Mac (J.K. Simmons) they reac...

Juno is back in the news again now that it's getting closer to the release date, which is Christmas. The film critics love it. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun Times has this t0 say about it: "Jason Reitman's "Juno" is just about the best movie of the year. It is very smart, very funny and very touching; it begins with the pacing of a screwball comedy and ends as a portrait of characters we have come to love. Strange, how during Juno's hip dialogue and cocky bravado, we begin to understand the young woman inside, and we want to hug her." Jill Stanek has an updated review of it here . She calls it "the film pro-aborts will hate." Previous Post with video: Juno, The Movie

The Bishops of the United States are being asked to fire the chief movie reviewer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Harry Forbes, the Director of the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting, has reignited scandal by praising the film "The Golden Compass" which is based on an anti-Catholic novel. Forbes caused similar controversy two years ago when he issued a glowing review in the name of the USCCB for the homosexual propaganda film "Brokeback Mountain". Pete Vere, who has a written book on the author of The Golden Compass, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com about the USCCB review. "Several bishops have spoken to me about this review and they are horrified at what has been done in their name," Vere told LifeSiteNews.com. "Certainly the USCCB has to revisit its rules for issuing movie reviews." Vere's book co-authored by Sandra Miesel, Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy, is to be released by Ig...

*Bella held over $1 million for the fourth week in a row and has earned a place at the table for Thanksgiving, the biggest movie season of the year! *Bella went from the #17 top film to the #12 top film and we have a higher ranking than films that are in thousands of theaters and we are in only 456theaters! *According to BoxOffice.com Bella is ranked #5 on their POWER SCORE going into Thanksgiving, ahead of Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium, Dan in Real Life, Lions for Lambs, Saw 4 and Love in the Time of Cholera. *Bella is still the #1 Top Rated Movie on Yahoo, Fandango and the New York Times readers poll *Eduardo gave an unbelievable Keynote speech at the White House Friday for National Adoption Day. After his speech he received a standing ovation. Here is a link to an article and video: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/271464.aspx Here is the excerpt from the Article & TV show: "A film called Bella is sparking nationwide debate about adoption. It's film's leading man, actor...

Bella Wins Top Prize for Dramatic Movie at Heartland Film Festival Bella, the touching drama that has inspired the pro-life community and took in the second highest per-theater amount last weekend, started off its premier with another film festival award. This time, the movie captured the Grand Prize Award for Best Dramatic Feature at the 16th annual Heartland Film Festival. The festival, based in Indiana, concluded its nine-day run on Friday, the same day Bella premiered in 31 cities across the country. Read the complete story . I have been posting on the movie, Bella , since January, 2007 and I'm still not tired of posting on it! It's a powerful movie and I can't wait to see it again! Bella Reviews: My Advance Review of Bella Kansas City Star Review National Catholic Register Review Catholic News Service Review Roger Ebert at The Chicago Sun Times Life Teen Review Recapturing Our Catholic Patrimony Review USCCB Review American Papist Mega Review Joan Frawley Desmond Revie...

I saw Becoming Jane Saturday evening with my husband and agree with Leticia's review , which I recommended in an earlier post. However, I need to add a few comments of my own. Becoming Jane is a drama about the life of novelist Jane Austen (Ann Hathaway) and her bittersweet romance with Irish lawyer Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy). The first half of the movie is slow moving. I was bored with the scene where Jane Austin's respectable minister father becomes frisky with his wife in the bedroom (not shown but implied) and with the brawling, drinking, and implied sex scene at the beginning of the film, but the film came alive for me when I saw the tenacity of the writer herself and the passion she had for writing. As a writer myself, I felt that emotional connection. As the plot thickens during the second half, the film heats up and becomes more interesting. When Jane meets the handsome, but penniless Irish lawyer from Limerick, there is an instant attraction, some hurt, disappointmen...

I loved the previews of this film and am really looking forward to seeing it, especially after reading Leticia's review. She cautions not to bring the children along, so take some time for yourself to watch a entertaining, romantic film about Jane Austin, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. You can watch the trailer here. The Bourne Ultimatum receives an A- from Decent Films . It is PG - 13 and is also recommended for adults. You can view the trailers (all six of them) here.

I watched the official trailer on this movie and have heard some good things about it - mostly that it is very funny and enjoyable to watch; however, there are a couple of things I'm concerned about. First, I don't really care for the fact that John Travolta is dressed as a woman and plays the part of the main character's mother. I know that in Shakespeare's time, male actors played the female roles, but that was mainly due to the fact that they didn't have women actresses back then (In medieval times, it was considered disgraceful for the woman to go on stage.), but nowadays it seems somewhat distasteful and disgraceful for a man to appear in women's clothing. Second, this film is rated PG and contains some crass expressions, innuendo, mild sexual banter and irreverence, and brief teen smoking, which makes it less than ideal to view. USCCB reports that it is best for older adolescents, but I would have to see it for myself before making recommendations on the a...

Scott Nehring, of Nehring the Edge , has begun another blog, Good News Film Reviews : Discerning Christian Reviews. Via Happy Catholic. Check out my most recent movie reviews here on Ratatouile, Nancy Drew , Into Great Silence , Shrek the Third , and Spider Man - 3.

I am so looking forward to seeing Ratatouille this weekend. Decent Films Guide has a review here. Rotten Tomatoes' reviews are also very favorable. The Official site is here.

Leticia has a movie review of Evan Almighty up at causa nostrae laetitiae . Barbara Nicholosi gives her opinion of Evan Almighty as well. A Diamond in the Raunch: Pro-life Positions Emerge in Knocked Up and Waitress via New Advent and Catholic Exchange by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D. The Curt Jester reviews John Allen Jr's Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church here. Esther reviews Magic Mystic - Stories of Padre Pio . Francis Phillips of Mercatornet has a book review on Edith Stein . Julie D. has a book review of EIFELHEIM by Michael Flynn here as well as several movie reviews - some of my favorite old classics. Steven posts a book review on The Song by Calvin Miller.

Movie Reviews: Amy Proctor reviews Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End . Bottom Line Up Front : What a HUGE disappointment... Tito's review of Into Great Silence (Die Groß Stille) can be found here. Exhilarating Holiness!"--Tito of Custos Fidei Book Reviews: Jeff Miller reviews Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church by Sister Sarah Butler, MSBT. When I first read about this book I was intrigued by both the subject and author and ordered it. [ Read more here. ] Jeff also writes a great review of Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith. Oswald Sobrino reviews Strangers in a Foreign Land: The Organizing of Catholic Latinos in the United States by George E. Schultz -- don't let the name fool you: he's Latino himself through his mother. [ Read more here. ] George Weigel's review of the Holy Father's Jesus of Nazareth is here. Michael Dubriel's review is here. Linda, the Pro-...