There is a world of difference between the dark arts and the art of darkness. Truth be told, there is more than a world of difference; there is a hell of a difference and a hell of a distance. It is the difference and the distance between heaven and hell. The dark arts are evil [...]
The Miracle of the Bells doesn’t claim to be great literature, but it is a richly-drawn story about faith and Hollywood, a time capsule of a bygone era that retains its inspirational charm. The Miracle of the Bells by Russell Janney (510 pages, Forgotten Books, 1946) Back in 1947 it was possible for a Catholic novel to [...]
Considering my enthusiasm for Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," it should come as no surprise that film adaptations of the novella are on the list of movies that the Pearce family like to watch during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Here are our favorites. George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge I confess to [...]
Christopher Nolan’s rightly celebrated movie is not what you expect to see. It uses the life and times of the father of the atomic bomb to denounce a world made wretched by the lack of truth. And T.S. Eliot becomes a seer of hope, prophesying that, before the nuke-metaphor explodes, there is still a chance [...]
The Red Rose Revolution brought about by Princess Diana's tragic death was a triumph of sentimentality over reality. In the intervening twenty-five years, that sentimentality has prevailed in England, sweeping away the sterling values that had been the hallmark of English character. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have watched the most recent [...]
I am glad that the saints continue to be an inspiration to writers and filmmakers. We shouldn’t resent them trying to make great art with these holy lives. But as one sometimes “had to be there” to get the point of certain stories, it would seem that for some fictional depictions to succeed, you really [...]
"Those days have come and gone," says Indiana Jones at one point in the newly-released film, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." And they sure have, for our hero has been emasculated on the altar of political correctness in this film, with an immoral, money-grubbing, narcissistic, feminist character usurping his place. "Those days have [...]
To rebuild their movement and society, and to rebuild a viable culture, conservatives must embrace the conservative populism championed by two men: filmmaker Frank Capra and scholar Willmoore Kendall. Pursuing this path will be challenging, for populism has become a bogeyman for the powers that be. Last December, my wife and I motored a couple [...]
For most people, the name of Sir Alec Guinness is associated with his playing of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Such an association is understandable enough but it does scant justice to Sir Alec’s true legacy as one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century. He was a fine Shakespearean actor, [...]
At the heart of "Gran Torino" is the portrayal of a good man. Too often good characters are simpering or squeaky clean; if not flawless their flaws are superficial traits plastered on top by a mediocre filmmaker. But Clint Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski comes across as authentic because of all the faults our society recognizes in [...]
If you want your children to know how one can discern his God-given purpose and calling in a self-centered world, be a patriotic American in a corrupt world, and be a man or a woman in a genderless world, then you need look no further than these three Frank Capra masterpieces. Frank Capra [...]
I take the blame for this idiosyncratic list. Since my betters have identified so many stellar choices, I propose the somewhat obscure: books (presented in no order) that may lead an already-humane human in the direction of the holy as unexpected and inspirational, maybe mischievous and mirthful. Great? Maybe not, but possible nectar for an [...]
The whole point of "The Lord of the Rings" is that true heroism is inseparable from true humility, and that true humility is inseparable from true love. The spirit of Amazon’s "Rings of Power" is the very reverse of this. Heroism is inseparable from pride, and pride is inseparable from self-empowerment. What would happen if [...]
One of the best contemporary memoirs I’ve read in the last decade is My Grandfather’s Son, which was published in 2007. In his tale that ended with the fierce 1991 confirmation battle for his seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas told a remarkable story of his journey from being raised by a single [...]