UPDATE: See new 60 second reviews below!

Exciting news!

“Reel Faith” returns to NET TV tonight — with a new feather in our caps: We are now the proud winners of a 2015 Gabriel Award, bestowed by the Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, the U.S. affiliate of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.

The Gabriel Awards, which date to 1965, are intended to honor excellence in broadcasting. They are not limited to religious programming; in the words of the Academy:

The single most important criterion of a Gabriel winning program is its ability to uplift and nourish the human spirit. Gabriel-worthy programs affirm the dignity of human beings, and recognize and uphold universally-recognized human values such as community, creativity, tolerance, justice, compassion and the dedication to excellence.

“Reel Faith” was recognized in the category “Television – Arts: National or Local Release.” We don’t actually have the shiny statue yet; that comes in an awards banquet in Buffalo, New York on Thursday, June 25th. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about it!

Meanwhile, as of this week I’m officially transitioning for the summer from diaconal student to full-on film critic. Monday evening I took my last final exam for my spring semester at Immaculate Conception Seminary. (Three years down, one to go till ordination!) Tuesday evening, without skipping a beat, I shot the “Reel Faith” summer season premiere, reviewing Tomorrowland, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ex Machina with my co-host David DiCerto.

This is now our sixth summer in production, and there are some changes. For five years we’ve shot the show at Cinemart Cinemas in Forest Hills, Queens, but this summer we’re moving to a Catholic venue in Manhattan, the Loreto Theater at the Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought & Culture — where, as it happens, David has a new gig. He is now the Sheen Center’s Director of Film & TV. Congratulations, David!

Incidentally, if you want to stay up on all the latest Decent Films doings, why not subscribe to the new Decent Films mailing list? For many years readers have been asking me if I had a newsletter, but I kept putting it off. This year, for the 2015 Decent Films redesign, I finally took the plunge and got myself a MailChimp account.

It’s still kind of a new thing for me, and I don’t yet send them out every week at a regular time, but if you sign up, eventually you’ll get an email from me letting you know what I’ve written lately, what I’m doing and what’s coming up.

Where can you watch “Reel Faith”? I’m glad you asked!

 

Of course the return of “Reel Faith” means the return of 60-second reviews!

Tomorrowland (SDG)

Tomorrow isn’t what it used to be.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (DD)

This time out, you could almost spend 60 seconds just listing the important characters and cast members.

Ex Machina (DD)

Yet another movie with a human male falling for a female A.I. — though I liked this one more than most, and better than David. More to come.