Movie Festival for Year of the Priest

So Rufus from Korrektiv and I have been tweeting all day about the idea of watching a movie a week that includes or is about a priest for the year of the priest. We came up with a pretty good list to begin. Here are the ones I came up with, you can add more as you think of them or remember ones you have seen.

BTW: I know that Francis of Assisi wasn't a priest, but there are priests in his story, and his story is worth seeing so that is why I have included two versions of his story in my list.


1. Going My Way 1944
2. The Bells of St Mary's 1945
3. Keeping the Faith 2000
4. Sleepers 1996
5. Hoodlum Priest 1961
6. The Keys of the Kingdom 1944
7. The Mission 1986
8. The Scarlet and the Black 1983
9. The Assisi Underground 1985
10. The Massacre in Rome 1973
11. Becket 1964
12 . The Third Miracle 1999
13. The Novice (aka Crossroads) 2006
14. The Exorcist 1973
15. The Shoes of the Fisherman 1968
16. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian 1999
17. The Left Hand of God 1955
18. Diary of a Country Priest 1951
19. The Fugitive 1947
20. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) 2004
21. Black Robe 1991
22. Mass Appeal 1984
23. Angels with Dirty Faces 1938
24. Fighting Father Dunne 1948
25. Boys Town 1938
26. On the Waterfront 1954
27. The Fr. Clements Story 1987
28. The Cardinal 1963
29. I Confess 1953
30. Doubt 2008
31. Miracle of the Bells 1948
32. Gran Torino 2008
33. Seven Cities of Gold 1955
34. Saint Ralph 2004
35. Don Bosco 1988
36. The Devil at 4 O'clock 1961
37. The Fighting 69th 1940
38. San Francisco 1938
39. Francesco 1989
40. Francis of Assisi 1961
41. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) 1991 Polish Maximillian Kolbe film
42. Pope John Paul II 2005
43. Karol: The Man Who Became Pope 2005
44. The Miracle of Marcelino 1955
45. Hounds of Notre Dame 1980
46. Jesus of Montreal 1989
47. Monsieur Vincent 1947
48. Nazarin 1959
49. Au Revoir les Enfant 1987
50. Papa Giovanni John XXIII 2002
51. The Reluctant Saint 1962
52. The Exorcism of Emily Rose 2005


Other Options

Stigmata 1999
St. Patrick: The Irish Legend 2000
The Order 2003
Brother Sun Sister Moon 1972
True Confessions 1981
Father Brown 1954
The Prisoner 1955

Television Series
Father Ted 1995
Father Dowling Mysteries
Bless Me Father
Nothing Sacred

If you have any favorites that I missed please add them in the comment box. I purposely didn't include The Thornbirds or the Exorcist sequels, which I probably should have, but I just didn't like them.

Pax

Don't Have Time To See A Whole Movie?

Is your life so busy that you just don't have time to see that movie that you have always wanted to see? Well this website I found takes the stress out of that decision by condensing the plot line of most movies down to less than a minute.

It is just the thing for the harried Twenty-first Century person.

This is the explanation directly from their start page:

Let's face it. There's a lot of movies out there and very little time
to watch them in. Well sit back and relax, because your troubles are solved! We
here at Movie-A-Minute have come up with a solution. We've taken several classic
and contemporary movies and extracted the important stuff, cutting out all the
filler. (You'd be surprised how much filler there is sometimes.) With our
ultra-condensed versions of your favorite films, you can experience whole movies
in just one minute! As an added bonus, Movie-A-Minute protects against torture
by bad movies -- if you don't have to sit through them, well, you don't have to
sit through them.

"That's nice," you say, "but I don't believe you." Yah
hah, skeptical soul! We've got our collection of ultra-condensed movies right
here! We've got everything from Gone With the Wind to Die Hard! See for
yourself!

Movie-a-Minute

Browse the titles and select your choice, click on the one you want and within a minute you will get the gist of the movie.

Personally I think Taxi Driver gets props for being short and poetic.



For some people (like mrangelmeg most of the time) that is about all he needs of most movies, unless it is a comedy or has Clint Eastwood or is about World War II -- Kelly's Heroes (which wasn't on their list by the way) is one he would probably recommend that you watch the whole movie.



Anyway, have a fun Friday.

Pax

I've seen 133!

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 219 movies on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog . Then, put x's next to the movies you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number





(x ) Rocky Horror Picture Show

(x) Grease

(x) Pirates of the Caribbean

(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

(x) Boondock Saints

(x) Fight Club

( ) Starsky and Hutch

(x) Neverending Story

(x ) Blazing Saddles

( ) Universal Soldier

(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events

( ) Along Came Polly

( ) Joe Dirt

(x) KING KONG TOTAL SO FAR 1o

(x) A Cinderella Story

( ) The Terminal

(x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie

( ) Passport to Paris

(x) Dumb & Dumber

( ) Dumber & Dumberer

(x) Final Destination

( ) Final Destination 2

( ) Final Destination 3

(x) Halloween

(x) The Ring

( ) The Ring 2

( ) Surviving X-MAS

(x) Flubber

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

( ) Practical Magic

(x ) Chicago

( ) Ghost Ship

( ) From Hell

( ) Hellboy

( ) Secret Window

(x) I Am Sam

(x ) The Whole Nine Yards TOTAL SO FAR 20

( ) The Whole Ten YardsTotal

(x ) The Day After Tomorrow

(x ) Child's Play

( ) Seed of Chucky

(x ) Bride of Chucky

(x ) Ten Things I Hate About You

( ) Just Married

(x ) Gothika

(x ) Nightmare on Elm Street

(x ) Sixteen Candles\

(x) Remember the Titans

(x ) Coach Carter

( ) The Grudge

( ) The Grudge 2

(x ) The Mask

( ) Son Of The Mask

(x ) Bad Boys

( ) Bad Boys 2

( ) Joy Ride

( ) Lucky Number Sleven

(x) Ocean's Eleven TOTAL SO FAR 30

(x) Ocean's Twelve

(x) Bourne Identity

(x) Bourne Supremacy

( ) Lone Star

(x ) Bedazzled

( ) Predator I

( ) Predator II

( ) The Fog

(x) Ice Age

( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

( ) Curious George

(x) Independence Day

(x ) Cujo

( ) A Bronx Tale

( ) Darkness Falls

(x ) Christine

(x) ET

(x ) Children of the Corn TOTAL SO FAR 40

( ) My Bosses Daughter

(x ) Maid in Manhattan

( ) War of the Worlds

(x) Rush Hour

(x) Rush Hour 2

( ) Best Bet

(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

(x ) She's All That

(x ) Calendar Girls

(x ) Sideways

(x ) Mars Attacks

(x ) Event Horizon

(x ) Ever After TOTAL SO FAR 50

(x) Wizard of Oz

(x) Forrest Gump

(x ) Big Trouble in Little China

(x) The Terminator

(x) The Terminator 2

(x) The Terminator 3

(x) X-Men

(x ) X2

(x ) X-3

(x) Spider-Man TOTAL SO FAR 60

(x ) Spider-Man 2

(x ) Sky High

( ) Jeepers Creepers

( ) Jeepers Creepers 2

(x ) Catch Me If You Can

(x) The Little Mermaid

(x) Freaky Friday

(x ) Reign of Fire

(x ) The Skulls

(x ) Cruel Intentions

( ) Cruel Intentions 2

( ) The Hot Chick

(x) Shrek

() Shrek 2

(x ) Swimfan TOTAL SO FAR 70

(x) Miracle on 34th street

(x ) Old School

(x) The Notebook

(x ) K-Pax

(x ) Kippendorf's Tribe

(x ) A Walk to Remember

(x) Ice Castles

( ) Boogeyman

(x ) The 40-year-old-virgin

(x ) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring

(x ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers TOTAL SO FAR 80

( x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King

(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

() Baseketball

( ) Hostel

(x ) Waiting for Guffman

( ) House of 1000 Corpses

( ) Devils Rejects

(x ) Elf

(x ) Highlander

(x ) Mothman Prophecies

(x ) American History X

( ) Three

( ) The Jacket

( ) Kung Fu Hustle

( ) Shaolin Soccer

() Night Watch

(x) Monsters Inc. TOTAL SO FAR 90

(x ) Titanic

(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail

(x ) Shaun Of the Dead

(x ) Willard

( ) High Tension

(x ) Club Dread

( ) Hulk

(x ) Dawn Of the Dead

(x) Hook

(x) Chronicle Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

(x ) 28 days later

( ) Orgazmo

(x) Phantasm TOTAL SO FAR 100

(x ) Waterworld

(x ) Kill Bill vol 1

(x ) Kill Bill vol 2

( ) Mortal Kombat

( ) Wolf Creek

(x ) Kingdom of Heaven

( ) the Hills Have Eyes

( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman

(x ) The Last House on the Left

( ) Re-Animator

(x ) Army of Darkness

(x ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace

(x ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones

(x ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith

(x ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope TOTAL SO FAR 110

(x ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back

(x ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi

( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage

(x ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor

(x) The Matrix

(x) The Matrix Reloaded

(x ) The Matrix Revolutions

( ) Animatrix

(x ) Evil Dead

( ) Evil Dead 2

( ) Team America: World Police

(x ) Red Dragon

(x ) Silence of the Lambs

( ) Hannibal

( ) Battle Royale

( ) Battle Royale 2

(x ) Brazil TOTAL SO FAR 120

(x ) Contact

(x ) Cube

(x ) Dr. Strangelove

( ) Enlightenment Guaranteed

( ) Four Rooms

(x ) Memento

( ) Pi

(x ) Requiem for a Dream

(x ) Pulp Fiction

(x ) Reservoir Dogs

( ) Run Lola Run

( ) Russian Ark

(x ) Serenity

( ) Sin City

( ) Snatch

( ) Spider

(x ) The Sixth Sense

(x) The Village TOTAL SO FAR 130

(x) Waking Life

( ) Zatoichi

( ) Ikiru

(x) The Seven Samurai

(x) Brick


( ) Akira
Grand Total Wasted Life 133 Movies



Pax

Yeah Right!

So as promised I took the angelbaby to see Twilight this afternoon. Ever since she became fascinated by the books I have known that they were probably not the best works of fiction around, but I let her read them, and since I promised, I took her to the movie. We did talk about how unrealistic it was as a real love story though.

We also talked about how absolutely stalkery the entire feel of the way this young man in the movie (and books) goes after this young woman is. The angelbaby was still a bit starry eyed even when the movie had begun about how "romantic" it all was, but after seeing it played out on the big screen even she had to admit that when Edward tells Bella that he has been coming into her room at night for a month to watch her sleep that that was a bit stalkery and slightly creepy.

There is something too extreme about the devotion of the protagonists, that is just a bit off for my taste. The best thing I have to say about this movie is it did give my daughter and I a lot to talk about, and there was very little sex which was nice in a teen romance. I somehow just couldn't get past the whole idea that by the end of the movie the beautiful young woman's one ambition was to be as undead as her sparkly suitor.

I suppose it could happen. In some one's imagination, just not mine. Or in reality.

Why can't someone make a realistic love story for teen age girls? Please, I beg you!

Pax

Thank You Matthew . . .

for taking one for the team.

Now that he has seen and reviewed Bill Maher's new movie Religulous, I don't have to bother going to see it.

h/t to Matthew Lickona for having a stronger stomach than mine.

Redemption as a Movie Theme

I must have been in some kind of mood when I stopped by the local Red Box on the way home yesterday because I chose three movies to watch while I finished the reorganization of my closet and bedroom (I watched them on my computer DVD player).

Each one of the movies had an underlying theme of a life redeemed. Each movie was beautifully, masterfully made in a very different way and for a very different audience, and yet, each left me feeling ultimately hopeful.

I am sure that my loyal readers have all seen these movies before, and I have even blogged about one of them before, but just in case I am going to mention all three of them here.

The first one I watched was Atonement. This is the story of how one young girl's miss-perception can change the lives of those around her so irrevocably, and what she does to try to make up for it. The acting was superb and it was amazingly well directed. I was torn to shreds by the end of this film.

The Second film was the beautiful Bella. This film tells the story of how two people share one day, and in that day find a way to repair the damage that has been done in their lives. It is an extremely pro-life, pro-family movie. Again, I was crying by the end.

The third movie was The Kite Runner. This is the story of two boys growing up in Afghanistan; one who is totally devoted to the other. Without giving more away this story is a tale of family loyalty, love and redemption between the two as they reach maturity half a world away from each other. I cannot tell you how deeply this film affected me. I am still savoring the heartfelt messages of hope and love that were brought out in this story.

The storytelling in these films was masterful. I was transported to three very different cultures and three different times. And yet, each had a message of loss, hope,forgiveness and redemption.

If you are looking for a good movie, you can't go wrong with any of these. Unless you are looking for car chases or fart jokes. I am afraid you will have to look somewhere else to get your fill of those.

Pax

Happy Accidents

So we have been reading Exiles on the Korrektiv Summer Reading Klub. The reading has been very stimulating and I have greatly enjoyed the book.

The discussion at Korrektiv turned to who should be cast, should the book ever be made into a movie. While Rufus from Korrektiv thought that the part of Gerard Manley Hopkins should be played by the fine American actor Casey Afleck, I thought that he might be better portrayed by a Brit, and suggested Sean Biggerstaff (if you haven't been living under a rock this last decade you have seen him as Oliver Wood in the first two Harry Potter movies at least).

I had seen him originally in a beautiful movie directed by Alan Rickman, and starring Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllidia Law called The Winter Guest. He was about 14, and stole every scene from the other kid.

What I found out from his IMDB sheet was that he had made an indy film in 2006 that was all the rage but because of Gradual School I didn't watch many indy movies that year. It went right under my radar. Anyway, I went over to the local Blockbuster here in paradise and thanks to our dear friends here who have a card I checked out Cashback and mrangelmeg and I watched it last night.

The basis of the story is that Ben, the main character breaks up with his girlfriend and it causes him to have insomnia. Since he can't sleep at night, he gets a job on the night shift of a grocery store where he learns to see the beauty of the world around him in his attempt to simply make it through his interminable eight hour shifts without going insane. In the process he meets another woman who helps him to see that there beauty and hope in every moment of your life, you simply have to be aware of them and take advantage of them.

So, thanks to being aware of even what might seem to be the most insignificant piece of information that came through my processor this week I had a very interesting evening watching a movie that I really enjoyed.

And I still think that Sean Biggerstaff would make a better Gerard Manley Hopkins than Casey Afleck.

Pax

Love Changes Everything

We went to see Wall-e yesterday. It was probably one of my favorite Pixar movies so far. I loved the attention to detail, and the character given to each of the little bots. The girls all liked it as well. Mrangelmeg was a bit disturbed by the political message (I will leave it to you to figure that one out because it slipped right by me but after he mentioned it I realized that it could be perceived that way as well.)

If you click on the widget above you can go to the official wall-e site and play around a bit. (one thing disney does well, is tie in marketing).


It was a fun afternoon and the message I got was that Love changes everything and when people realized what was really real they were transformed.

I'm off to plant some pizza seeds with the angelbaby.

Pax

GO: Theology Thursday: Angelmeg is Giving You Homework . . . Get Expelled!

This weekend dear children I want, no, I command you all to make time to seek out Ben Stein's new film Expelled: no intelligence allowed (to see the trailer click on the picture to the right and click through to the getexpelled.com website).

Mr. Stein, who is my new hero by the way, takes on the Darwinist conspiracy that is attacking any person of science who dares to believe that God has anything to do with the creation of the world.

You will be tested on this information, dear children. Every time you stand up for your beliefs you will be tested in our pluralistic society where it is not just "uncool" but unthinkable to believe that there is somehow a reason for how the universe comes together at the cellular, and sub-atomic level.

My favorite story concerning a man of science and his belief in God was of Louis Pasteur, riding on a train clutching his rosary beads and fervently praying. He was accosted by another rider who asked him, "But Dr. Pasteur, knowing all you know of science, how can you believe in the hocus pocus of God?" With tears streaming down his face he responded "Knowing all I know, how could I not?"

How can anyone look into the deepest reaches of space, or the most infinitely small quarks or DNA strands and see that their origin was some random event? It makes no sense to me, and I have a rudimentary understanding of the underlying science. I look at the amazing beauty of the carefully laid out pattern of DNA strands such that we can map where each characteristic is, and it screams of some highly intelligent designer, someone who cared enough and loved enough to do such amazingly intricate work. But then that's just me.

So, dear children, Go see this movie opening weekend! Take your children. (Our eleven year old has seen the commercials on television and is already asking if she can see it.) Take your friends. Prove to Michael Moore that someone makes an intelligent documentary, we will flock to the theaters to see it.

h/t to Karen Hall at Some have Hats for the heads up.

Pax

A Cautious Reason to Celebrate

I think I may have actually finished my Systematic Theology Essay rough draft this afternoon. I read it through once and it seems to flow pretty well, has an introduction supporting statistical middle arguments and a conclusion that ties it all together.

I am printing out a copy and leaving it here for mrangelmeg to read and I am taking the evening off. The girls and I are going to go see the movie Bella which we have heard is quite good and is in town this weekend. Mrangelmeg will edit the paper and let me know if he thinks my thesis holds up (I did use an analogy in this paper that was a bit creative but I think it holds together pretty well).

Tomorrow I will do the final edits on all three papers. The end is actually that close. I can hardly believe I survived. A week ago when I was really sick I never thought I would make it to this point.

God is good, all the time.

Pax

Hidden Gem of a Movie

I just got finished watching a great movie called Mozart and the Whale. I highly recommend it.

My daughter works with a young man who loaned her this DVD that I just finished watching. It is one of the most touching movies I have seen this year, especially as I have two high functioning autistic children.

Actually they are young adults; our son is 22 and learning to make his way in the world. He has a job and drives a car (a truck his grandfather gave him). He interacts with people much more easily on-line than he does in person, but this movie gives me hope that some day there may be a woman out there that will be able to see him for the wonderful person that he is.

Our daughter is 18 and will graduate from High School this year. She is creative in many ways. She has an amazingly inventive thought process which leads to beautiful essays, everyone says so. She made such an impact on her freshman special education teacher that now that teacher has a new baby daughter with the very same name as our daughter, how cool is that?

Our daughter will probably be able to go on to college in a structured and supportive environment, and we have found such a program, but we have decided that she needs a year off to get ready, so next year she will be staying home, working part time somewhere and learning how to balance a checkbook and manage the transit system and live in the world a bit. Besides that, the College with the best support for autistic young adults is five hours away from here, I need a year before I am ready to have her move that far away. I don't want to suffer from separation anxiety.

So, if you can find this movie at your local video store or library I highly recommend it. It is the closest approximation to the world of High Functioning Autism that I have ever seen. You may realize after you see this movie that you know someone who is high functioning autistic.

Pax

Too Open to Suggestion?

So mrangelmeg and I won't be going to see this movie any time soon.

He already is spooked after only seeing the trailer, and realizing that we have been married for 23 years (see the comment he made in a previous post).

Now he is finding 23's all over the place. I shudder to think what our lives would be like after we see the entire movie. Maybe someone else should see it and let me know if seeing it would make things worse or better.

Or maybe we are better of not knowing.

Pax