30-Second Review Madness!

Over the last several months, while “Reel Faith” has been on hiatus, my co-host David DiCerto and I have kept our hands in the game a bit by taping 30-second video reviews. I’ve blogged mine as they became available, but to celebrate tonight’s season 2 premiere of “Reel Faith” I’ve collected every single 30-second review I could find done by either David or myself. Here they all are, in alphabetical order. If you’ve missed any, please enjoy them!

And please, let me know what you think.

I’ve had a blast scripting my 30-second reviews in rhyming verse—and occasionally using props and costumes—and I hope it’s made them entertaining to watch. David, on the other hand, has done more traditional reviews—and if you’re looking for the bottom line on a film, his are more informative.

Which approach do you prefer? Would you rather watch me reel off some rhymes, or tell you what I thought of the film? Are they entertaining or self-indulgent? (As a point of contrast, note that my True Grit and Rabbit Hole reviews below are not in rhyming verse.)

What do you think?


127 Hours (DD)


Arthur (DD)


Battle LA (DD)


Black Swan (DD)


The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (DD)


The Conspirator (SDG)


The Dilemma (DD)


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (SDG)


Hop (SDG)


Hop (DD)


How Do You Know (DD)


Inception (SDG)


Inception (DD)


The Fighter (DD)


The Kids are All Right (DD)


The King’s Speech (DD)


Morning Glory (DD)


Mars Needs Moms (DD)


Of Gods and Men (SDG)


Rango (DD)


Rio (SDG)


Rabbit Hole (SDG - non-rhyming)


The Rite (SDG)


Tangled (SDG)


The Social Network (SDG)


The Social Network (DD)


Adjustment Bureau (SDG)


Soul Surfer (SDG)


There Be Dragons (SDG)


The Tourist (SDG)


True Grit (SDG - non-rhyming)


Water For Elephants (DD)


Winter’s Bone (SDG)


Yogi Bear (DD)

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis