FILM clips

January 11-17, 1998 Issue

Following are VHS videocassette reviews from the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Office for Film and Broadcasting.

The Abyss (1989)

Derivative sea adventure tracking the attempt to rescue a U.S. nuclear submarine that has sunk in waters inhabited by mysterious, benign alien creatures.... READ MORE

The Wages of Modern War

BY John Prizer

With melodrama and documentary footage, Welcome to Sarajevo produces an affecting portrait of one of this century's darkest events

January 11-17, 1998 Issue

The genocidal ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia was one of this century's worst crimes against humanity. The primary, though not exclusive, perpetrators were Serbs who murdered Muslims and Catholic Croatians en masse. Its horrors are well dramatized by the siege of Sarajevo, which was the lengthiest... READ MORE

At Institute, Prayer Counts as Much as Intellectual Rigor

BY Steve Rabey

Conviction and creativity win followers for Jars of Clay

December 7-13, 1997 Issue

JARS OF CLAY aren't exactly an overnight sensation, but the band's four Gen-X members come close: Their 1995 self-titled debut has sold 1.5 million copies, the best-selling debut in Christian music history.

“It's always been one surprise after another,” says Dan Haseltine, singer and lyricist for... READ MORE

Sister Wendy Brings the Saints to Life

BY Stephen Hopkins

In a new PBS special, a simple and strangely charismatic British nun sheds light on some of the world's finest illuminated manuscripts

November 30-December 6, 1997 Issue

As the millennium approaches some of the world's greatest libraries and museums, including the Vatican Art Museum, are celebrating with an unprecedented display. Many are mounting an exhibit of their most precious illuminated manuscripts, some are on public view for the first time.

PBS will... READ MORE

FILM clips

November 23-29,1997 Issue

A sampling of capsule reviews of movies from the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Office for Film and Broadcasting:

Beaumarchais, The Scoundrel

(New Yorker)

Elaborate historical romp recounts the romantic and political exploits of the rakish 18th-century playwright (Fabrice Luchini) who, in addition... READ MORE

Beelzebub Takes Manhattan

BY John Prizer

In a slam on the legal profession, The Devil's Advocate opts for entertainment over enlightenment

November 23-29,1997 Issue

LAWYERS AREN'T very popular these days, and defense attorneys who get the guilty acquitted are considered the lowest of the breed. The Devil's Advocate, based on a novel by Andrew Niederman, exploits these negative stereotypes by making the “evil one” the senior partner of a prestigious Manhattan... READ MORE

A Sampler of the Flicks Now Playing

October 12-18, 1997 Issue

A sampling of capsule reviews of movies from the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Office for Film and Broadcasting:

Aaron's Magic Village (Avalanche)

Animated version of Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories about a Jewish village in Poland that becomes threatened by a wicked sorcerer's Golem until an... READ MORE

Priesthood Documentary Set to Air

October 12-18, 1997 Issue

WASHINGTON—It's Ash Wednesday in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood, and Father Mitch Rozanski, pastor of Holy Cross Parish, struggles up the five flights of stairs to the top of his church steeple.

The bells of the 150-year-old church tower need to be fixed. Earlier in the day, Father Rozanski... READ MORE

Crooked Cops Find Redemption in the City of Angels

BY John Prizer

October 12-18, 1997 Issue

IN THE POPULAR imagination Los Angeles has long been the city of the American Dream—a land of openness and opportunity where people can reinvent themselves and realize their highest economic and spiritual potential. The guardians of this earthly paradise, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD),... READ MORE

Dorothy Day Hits the Big Screen in ‘Entertaining Angels’

BY David Finnigan

September 22, 1996 Issue

AFTER SIX YEARS of prayer and hard work, Paulist Father Ellwood “Bud” Kieser, is bringing his 110-minute cinematic vision of the life of Catholic Worker Founder Dorothy Day to the big screen. But he's going it alone, without the hype and fanfare that accompany most of Hollywood's releases.