Why Oscar Will Expel ‘Expelled’
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Sunday, January 11, 2009 2:18 AM
The best (and top grossing) documentary of 2008 won’t get an Academy Award nomination. The truths in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed are too inconvenient for official awards.
Three key questions explain why.
When interviewer Douglas Todd steps back from his passive-aggressive personal take on the movie to allow producer Walter Ruloff to speak, the interview provides some intriguing... READ MORE
Filed under movies, weekend commentary
‘The Unborn’: 3 Things to Like
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Saturday, January 10, 2009 8:30 AM
The not-quite non-Catholic exorcism in The Unborn.
Rotten Tomatoes says critics mostly hated it. So why did I take my wife to see The Unborn on opening night?
A line from the trailer sold us: “Do you think it’s possible to be haunted by someone who was never even born?”
April loves horror movies, and I love unintended pro-life statements. It was a perfect fit.
I agree with the critic who says: “The movie’s not very good, but there... READ MORE
Filed under movies, weekend commentary
What ‘Doubt’ Is About
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Thursday, January 01, 2009 11:28 AM
As others have noted, the Catholic-school movie Doubt (like the play) is kind of a Rorschach test that leaves audiences forming conclusions based on their preconceptions. The film, set in 1964, pits a disciplinarian nun (Meryl Streep) against a “the-Church-needs-to-change” priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) over his abuse of a child.
But having seen it, I think the movie version is open to... READ MORE
Filed under doubt, movies, weekend commentary
Why It’s So Wonderful
Posted by Tom McFeely
Monday, December 22, 2008 1:02 PM
The New York Times city editor Wendell Jamieson wants to hate It’s a Wonderful Life.
He really does.
But even though the film’s self-sacrificing message and small-town lifestyle represent many of the things Jamieson detests, he just can’t help being touched by the movie’s timeless message of Christmas love.
In his Dec. 19 article, “Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful... READ MORE
Filed under it's a wonderful life, movies, the new york times
Streep Doesn’t Doubt Nuns
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Sunday, December 14, 2008 3:46 AM
USA Today is an unlikely place to find a discussion of the virtues of nuns. But there it is, in Susan Wloszczyna’s article.
The story is schizophrenic. It keeps recognizing the virtues of habited nuns, then reminding the reader that we’re not supposed to like that kind of thing.
The story is about the movie Doubt, which opened Friday. Meryl Streep as the austere Sister Aloysius is “a... READ MORE
Filed under doubt, movies, weekend commentary
Vampire Hating
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Sunday, December 07, 2008 12:53 PM
I said last week that Matt Lickona’s interesting review nonetheless didn’t tell me whether or not my daughter can watch the movie Twilight.
If you’re reading, dear, I just read Steven D. Greydanus and, ahem, you can’t.
Writing on his own site, DecentFilms.com, the Register’s film critic compares Twilight, helpfully, to Titanic. Both movies have found success by attracting one demographic to... READ MORE
Filed under movies, weekend commentary
Nixon vs. St. Thomas More
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Sunday, December 07, 2008 11:34 AM
Frank Langella plays Nixon in a performance that’s getting rave reviews. But a USA Today story reminds readers that Langella is also playing another famous politician right now: St. Thomas More, on Broadway.
“I am playing in both of these men the loneliness of good and the loneliness of evil,” he says. “I never thought of it before.”
Langella did an enormous amount of research about Nixon,... READ MORE
Filed under man for all seasons, movies, thomas more, weekend commentary
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