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Part of Snow White’s charm and power lies in its lingering redolence of the world of animated shorts. The shorthand way that Snow White and the Prince fall in love — an early scene in which the Prince comes upon Snow in her ragged attire at the wishing well, and serenades her briefly at her balcony, professing already that his heart is hers alone — works here in a way that it wouldn’t have in, say, Cinderella. (Granted, one magical date and a quixotic quest with a glass slipper isn’t much more on which to hang a life together, but still the romance in Cinderella is treated with more naturalism than Snow White.)

The key to Snow White’s storybook feel is its pervasive musical...READ MORE

“Dark Shadows” occupied a unique place on the narrow spectrum of afternoon television programming in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A gothic daytime soap opera with paranormal elements, it gave the world the first vampire heartthrob, Barnabas Collins, played by Jonathan Frid (who died only a few weeks ago).

For a generation of housewives, Barnabas was a figure of immortal intrigue and romance long before the similarly named (and less age-appropriate) Edward Cullen or Buffy’s romances with Angel and Spike. For a generation of youngsters, too, “Dark Shadows” was a daily after-school dose of shivery thrills.

Unsurprisingly, both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp were part of this “Dark...READ MORE

Suz and I have a framed Divine Mercy image in our living room — not the most popular and widely disseminated version of the image (like the one on the right), but a different one that we greatly prefer.

We’ve never liked the Divine Mercy images you see on most holy cards and website — the ones based on the 1943 painting by Adolf Hyla, with Jesus tilting his head to one side and making good eye contact with the viewer. To our eyes this Jesus looks too much like the mild, slightly effeminate, northern European Jesus of too much sentimental Protestant devotional art — something that, as converts, we’re more than slightly allergic to.

Everything about the Hyla-influenced Divine Mercy...READ MORE

Do we have a pope? Do we even have a movie?

The premise for Nanni Moretti's lightweight comedy/drama Habemus Papam or We Have a Pope is an intriguing one: What if a newly elected pope had a panic attack after accepting his election, feeling overwhelmed and unable to lead, or even to appear at the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and give his first Urbi et Orbi blessing, and retreated into the depths of the Apostolic Palace?

I'm not talking about a momentary emotional breakdown. The election process provides for that: Adjacent to the Sistine Chapel is the Room of Tears, to which the the newly elected pope retreats after accepting his election in order to don the white papal...READ MORE