Culture

‘Child 44’: A Stalinist tale of crime that (officially) can’t happen

The crime drama is murky as Siberian mud. That's too bad, because the premise -- a serial killer is loose in the Soviet era when even reporting the crime goes against the party line -- is sound.

Movie review: The Age of Adaline

Glossy proceedings follow on a silly premise in the serviceable romantic drama "The Age of Adaline" (Lionsgate).

Slim volume offers amazing depth in look at history of Jesuits

With the 2013 election of history's first Jesuit pope, interest mounted exponentially in the now-worldwide Society of Jesus that St. Ignatius Loyola, with nine friends, founded in the 16th century.

Good deeds of ‘Little Boy’ lead to warm family film

An undersized, bullied boy learns the corporal works of mercy and how to overcome racial hatred in 1940s California in a new film with positive portrayals of Catholic life.

New film dramatizes Irish woman’s work with Vietnamese orphans

Deirdre O'Kane said it took six years from idea to finished form to tell the story of Christina Noble, who has spent the past 26 years in Vietnam helping the nation's orphans and abandoned children.

Movie review: True Story

Crime and punishment are at the heart of "True Story" (Fox), a detailed dissection of a real-life murder case.

If a friend invites you to ‘Unfriended,’ click ‘unfriend’

Lost somewhere in the gore of this silly, 82-minute teen horror film is a potentially valuable message about the harmful effects of online harassment.

In ‘Woman in Gold,’ a journey of art, journey of heart

The "last prisoners of World War II" -- famous paintings stolen from persecuted Jews by the Nazis -- await justice and release in the new film starring Helen Mirren.

Tough choice for ‘Longest Ride’: Love the rodeo or the cowboy?

The home-on-the-range soap opera film has some humor, some questionable morality and some lush horse-country scenes.

Book’s promised look at future under Francis fails to materialize

In a book purporting to take a long-range view on where the church may be headed with Pope Francis, the author almost never mentions him until the epilogue.