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Silent Triumph of the Human Spirit
BY John Prizer Even without sound, Fritz Lang's classic Metropolis remains a haunting story of man vs. machine
July 5-11, 1998 Issue 
Contemporary film culture often ignores silent-movie masterpieces. Shamefully, the recent American Film Institute poll of the 100 best movies included only three. The Vatican's list is better. Among the silents it recommends is the 1926 science-fiction classic, Metropolis.
The film's breath-taking... READ MORE
Alien Fascination for the Masses
BY John Prizer A big-screen-sized dose of paranoia to thrill X-Files fanatics
July 5-11, 1998 Issue
TV series have often been good vehicles for explorations of the paranormal. Episodes on the subject from classic shows as Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone still air regularly, decades after they first appeared. The X-Files, currently in its fifth year on prime time, has developed both a cult and... READ MORE
Running for God’s Greater Glory
BY John Prizer Chariots of Fire delves deeply into the souls of competitors on the track
June 21-27, 1998 Issue
Are sports about winning, or about how well you play the game? Probably both, but nowadays it's a billion-dollar international enterprise whose champions often become celebrity millionaires. Victory is held up as the only virtue, and losing is seen as a character flaw.
To address these issues,... READ MORE
A Political Fantasy Direct from the Hollywood Bubble
BY John Prizer Warren Beatty's Bulworth is a silly stew of his hard-left ideas
June 21-27, 1998 Issue
Warren Beatty is an important Hollywood figure. His ambitions and contradictions are typical of many in his generation, and his work is a good indication of what that community believes in its heart of hearts.
Beatty began his career more than 35 years ago as a handsome leading man — the Brad Pitt... READ MORE
Two-Fisted Priest Stands Up for Workers On New York Docks
BY JOHN PRIZER
June 14-20, 1998 Issue
How far should the Church go in encouraging social activism? And how deeply should a parish priest involve his flock in political protests that put their lives in danger?
Most people remember On the Waterfront, which won five Oscars in 1954, for Marlon Brando's bravura performance as a dockworker... READ MORE
A Touching Fable in Cattle Country
BY JOHN PRIZER The Horse Whisperer falls short on reality, but saves itself with sincerity and passion
June 14-20, 1998 Issue
Almost since the beginning of recorded history, cities have been depicted as corrupters of human nature and sources of moral confusion. By contrast, living in the country has been seen as simpler and more virtuous because people there remain connected to their physical and emotional roots.
Ever... READ MORE
Natural Wisdom vs. Spiritual Deficiency
BY John Prizer
May 31-June 6, 1998 Issue
Oscar-winning film showcases indigenous life of ethnic Mongolian
In this age of environmental concerns, Western artists and intellectuals often over-praise the wisdom of indigenous peoples in dealing with nature. Celebrating more primitive lifestyles is a backhanded way of flailing the cultures of... READ MORE
Rationalizing Americans’ Moral Decay
BY Ellen Wilson Fielding
May 31-June 6, 1998 Issue
The cover story of the June-July issue of First Things is J. Budziszewski's “The Revenge of Conscience,” a look at the perversions of thought that have caused America's moral decline and their likely result.
Budziszewski, a rising young philosophy professor attuned to the Catholic natural law... READ MORE
Deep Impact Makes Shallow Impression
BY John Prizer
May 31-June 6, 1998 Issue
Summer thriller is long on special effects, but comes up short on issues of morals and character
There are times when contemporary Hollywood seems good only at awesome, computer-generated special effects. Certain screenplays seem conceived merely as a way to exploit this technical expertise, with... READ MORE
Circus Vagabonds Find Virtue on the Road
BY John Prizer La Strada, Fellini's 1954 classic, offers an enduring message for modern believers
May 10, 1998 Issue
Jesus included the socially marginal in his ministry. Modern middle-class believers often find it difficult to follow his example because the behavioral norms of society's outcasts are very different from those whose lifestyle is more secure.
Italian director Federico Fellini's 1954 masterpiece, La... READ MORE
Featherweight Creatures From Heaven
BY John Prizer In City of Angels, happiness and personal fulfillment are everything
May 10, 1998 Issue
Angels are currently popular with people who have few other religious beliefs because there is no hard work involved. If detached from their Judeo-Christian origins, the heavenly messengers can satisfy the need for comfort and guidance from a supernatural source without a tough-minded moral code.... READ MORE
Character Studies In the Old West
BY John Prizer Stagecoach has more on its mind than just who can shoot a six-gun
May 3-9, 1998 Issue
Westerns are not a genre usually associated with spiritual values. Violent shootouts are the norm, and revenge is a frequent and much admired motive.
Stagecoach is the exception. When the movie was released in 1939, westerns were primarily low—budget items aimed at the bottom half of double bills.... READ MORE
Portrait of a Sad and Sordid Childhood
BY John Prizer Anti-Catholicism badly damages critically acclaimed drama of a young criminal
May 3-9, 1998 Issue
Getting inside a criminal's mind, particularly that of a murderer, is a difficult challenge for a filmmaker with a sense of morality. On the one hand, the criminal's deranged sensibility must be presented as non—judgmentally as possible so that the audience can understand how such a person operates... READ MORE
A Fifth Grader’s Theological Search
In Wide Awake, a charming story of a young boy's temporary loss of faith, Catholic schools are portrayed-for once-in a positive light
April 12-18, 1998 Issue
For the past 20 years there has been a continual stream of movies and plays that portray Catholic schools in a negative light. The teachers are shown to be bullies and occasionally perverts; their faith is presented as rigid, narrow, and oppressive; and the students suffer deep psychological... READ MORE
Misreading Anne Frank
BY Peter John Cameron OP The current Broadway production doesn't do justice to a young Holocaust victim's famous diary
April 05-11, 1998 Issue
Why would anyone want to mount a revival of The Diary of Anne Frank? In a certain respect, the film Schindler's List has determined the definitive way to remember the unspeakable atrocities of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, thereby rendering less eloquent depictions of those events redundant. What... READ MORE
‘You’re No Abraham Lincoln’
BY John Prizer In the world of Primary Colors, politics--not the president--is the bad guy
April 05-11, 1998 Issue
Politics is always the art of the possible. Compromises are necessary to get candidates elected and legislation passed. The hope is that the dark side of these activities will be justified by the importance of a larger cause. It's often a difficult piece of moral calculus.
Primary Colors is a deft... READ MORE
Misreading Anne Frank
BY Peter John Cameron OP The current Broadway production doesn't do justice to a young Holocaust victim's famous diary
April 05-11, 1998 Issue
Why would anyone want to mount a revival of The Diary of Anne Frank? In a certain respect, the film Schindler's List has determined the definitive way to remember the unspeakable atrocities of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, thereby rendering less eloquent depictions of those events redundant. What... READ MORE
‘You’re No Abraham Lincoln’
BY John Prizer In the world of Primary Colors, politics--not the president--is the bad guy
April 05-11, 1998 Issue
Politics is always the art of the possible. Compromises are necessary to get candidates elected and legislation passed. The hope is that the dark side of these activities will be justified by the importance of a larger cause. It's often a difficult piece of moral calculus.
Primary Colors is a deft... READ MORE
A High Society Hostess Reflects on Life
BY John Prizer
March 22-28, 1998 Issue
Mrs. Dalloway captures the spirit of the liberal-thinking Bloomsbury set, but gets weighed down by its too-literary approach
The celebrated Bloomsbury group of early 20th-century artists and intellectuals had a single goal-the destruction of the institutions and values on which Victorian England... READ MORE
Looking for Love In the Golden ‘80s
BY John Prizer
March 15-21, 1998 Issue
The Wedding Singer fondly remembers—and pokes fun at—conventions of the recent past
For those of you who thought the 1970s revival films (Boogie Nights, The Ice Storm, etc.) brought to the screen an era best forgotten, brace yourself for the latest nostalgia-driven fad—movies that celebrate the... READ MORE
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