Culture
‘The World’s End’ starts in pubs, ends with intelligence
NEW YORK (CNS) — Combine a British pub crawl, a rueful reflection on the conformity of adult life and an episode of the long-running BBC television series “Doctor Who,” and you get “The World’s End” (Focus). Occasionally coarse but never vulgar, it’s the rare film with a thesis. Plus, there are all these cool robots […]
Church historian captures subtleties of complex Catholic times
In "History of the Catholic Church: From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium," James Hitchcock, a longtime professor of history at St. Louis University, argues successfully that the Gospel in all its fullness was contained at the beginning in "seed" form, and the church came to know more and more deeply the truths of the mystery of faith as the centuries wore on.
Woody Allen shines a bright light on the blue mood of ‘Blue Jasmine’
NEW YORK (CNS) — At his best, Woody Allen is a brilliant writer-director of comedic films as insightful as they are hilarious. But in his latest venture, “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Classics), Allen turns the lights down low, presenting the dark and depressing tale of a crazed woman whose life is spiraling out of control. The […]
‘The Butler’ makes an inside-the-White-House journey personal
NEW YORK (CNS) — A frequently heard slogan of the late 1960s held that “the personal is political.” Whatever its value as a rallying cry, that phrase certainly fits the affecting fact-based drama “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” (Weinstein) in which the private and public realms collide. Drawing on a 2008 Washington Post article by reporter […]
Whatever Steve Jobs’ flaws, his biopic ‘Jobs’ crashes more than an iMac
NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Jobs" (Open Road), the story of Apple computer founder Steve Jobs, may not be the worst biographical film ever made. But it certainly earns an unenviable place in the pantheon of lame screen profiles. No one should expect biographies of highly driven people to show them without flaws or moral compromises. "Jobs," however, fails abysmally at fundamental storytelling.
Movie review: Elysium
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Back in 2009, South Africa-born writer-director Neill Blomkamp made quite a stir in Hollywood with his low-budget, high-box office science fiction film "District 9." Penned in collaboration with Terri Tatchell, the movie used its human characters' interaction with an invading race of unpleasant-looking, insectlike extraterrestrials as a prism through which to examine topics like racism, colonialism, apartheid and xenophobia.
Book brings new information to arguments against capital punishment
In the foreword to "Where Justice and Mercy Meet," Sister Helen Prejean, the Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet famous for "Dead Man Walking," promises that readers will learn new information in every chapter.
Parents may have some explaining to do with ‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Problematic material occasionally mars the otherwise serviceable adventure sequel "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" (Fox). Parents will want to be aware, for instance, that the mythological elements underlying the franchise as a whole seem to be emphasized with increased forcefulness in this go-round, and that a passing reference to Christianity in the script is at best ambiguous.
Movie review – Planes
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Having conquered the world of "Cars," Disney waves its anthropomorphic wand skyward in "Planes," a delightful 3-D animated adventure. Directed by Klay Hall ("Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure") from a clever, pun-filled script by Jeffrey M. Howard, "Planes" excels on two ... well, planes. The animation dazzles with exhilarating air races over beautiful scenery, while the entertaining plot offers good lessons for kids about friendship and overcoming obstacles.
Movie review – We’re the Millers
NEW YORK (CNS) -- "We're the Millers" (Warner Bros.) would like to be taken as both a conversion story and a comedy celebrating family togetherness -- albeit through the exploits of an improvised clan of quirky misfits. In reality, however, director Rawson Marshall Thurber's tawdry project falls short on both scores.