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November 2021

November 18, 2021

Will Smith’s “King Richard” is about a dad with a plan

This inspiring drama is about how Richard Williams (Will Smith) planned and co-coached, with his...

November 09, 2021

“3212 Un-Redacted” reveals U.S. Army cover-up about soldiers killed in Niger in 2017

3212 Un-Redacted premiers on November 11, 2021, HULU As I write this review of the...

November 02, 2020

The Hopeful Relevance of “The American President”

Every four years I start watching my favorite films about the U.S. president. These...

May 2019

May 02, 2019

Knock Down The House: a doc about four women of the 2018 election

This documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of this year and is...

October 2018

October 15, 2018

“The Eugenics Crusade” continues today – premieres PBS October 16

This two-hour documentary, written and directed by Michelle Ferrari, tells the largely unknown story of...

May 2017

May 02, 2017

’13 Reasons Why’ could save lives

This morning a friend, a father of a family, posted on social media that...

April 2017

April 21, 2017

“The Promise”- a too familiar world

In the early 1900s, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians lived within the borders of the...

March 2017

March 13, 2017

‘Cries from Syria’: J’accuse! Airs tonight 3/13/17 HBO

The opening scene of Cries from Syria is of a two-year old baby laying dead...

December 2016

December 21, 2016

Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ is his most Catholic film

(Andrew Garfield, left, plays Fr. Rodrigues, and Shinya Tsukamoto plays Mokichi in the film "Silence"...

October 2016

October 03, 2016

‘Birth of a Nation’ offers lots to talk about

"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his...

September 2016

September 20, 2016

‘Queen of Katwe’ tells of a mighty girl chess prodigy from Uganda

(This is from my column but I loved, loved, loved, this movie because Phiona is...

September 18, 2016

Netflix: The light of grace in human stories

When Netflix was launched by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1998 as a...

June 2016

June 30, 2016

‘The Innocents’ tells a story of trauma, grace

At last, the long night of World War II is over in Europe, but for...

May 2016

May 08, 2016

Stories that invite us to be cultural mystics

After more than six decades of life, I am still startled by the profound empathy...

May 07, 2016

Pope Francis invites us to reflect mercy in our speech and in Tweets for World Communications Day 2016

One of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic Church is that we have a...

May 06, 2016

“Rabin in His Own Words” is a testament to peace

At the Venice Film Festival last September, the SIGNIS (Catholic) Jury placed filmmaker Amos Gitai’s...

April 2016

April 11, 2016

“Noble” is now on DVD

In the early 1950s, Christina Noble (Gloria Cramer Curtis), a young girl from a poor...

February 2016

February 29, 2016

Statement from Daughters of St. Paul: “Condemned” series on TCM hosted by Sr. Rose Pacatte

Statement from the Daughters of St. Paul Beginning on Thursday, March 3, Sr. Rose Pacatte,...

May 2015

May 28, 2015

High-octane ‘San Andreas’ tells audiences to be prepared

Ray (Dwayne Johnson) is a Los Angeles firefighter who heads a team of helicopter rescuers....

February 2015

February 18, 2015

The perfect book for Lent (and pictures from the book signing!)

Here's a short video I just made about how "Martin Sheen: Pilgrim on the...

January 2015

January 30, 2015

‘American Sniper’ – a question of heroes

* This essay/review contains spoilers In Clint Eastwood's Iraqi Western, we see the evolution of...

January 29, 2015

“Martin Sheen: Pilgrim on the Way” is in the house! Launch Feb 7th, 2015

CLICK HERE for early editorial reviews. The back cover: Martin Sheen, best known for...

January 12, 2015

‘Klansville USA’ on PBS outlines the 1954 rise of the KKK

“Klansville U.S.A.” is a relatively short film that documents a portion of U.S. history...

January 08, 2015

‘Selma’ shows how nonviolence can achieve social change

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It...

January 07, 2015

‘Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain’ tells of the world’s deadliest industrial disaster

Dilip (Rajpal Yadav) lives in the city of Bhopal, India, which grew around a gigantic...

December 2014

December 15, 2014

‘Journey to the Planet Earth: Extreme Realities’ premieres on PBS tonight Dec. 15, 2014

A new episode of "Journey to Planet Earth" narrated by Oscar-winner Matt Damon, premieres tonight...

October 2014

October 21, 2014

My new book in production: ‘Martin Sheen: Pilgrim on the Way’

I received word today that my biography on Martin Sheen, entitled "Martin Sheen:...

October 08, 2014

‘The Decent One’: Documentary on Himmler a compelling contribution to Holocaust filmography

Heinrich Himmler -- the Nazi Gestapo chief, head of the German police in the...

July 2014

July 03, 2014

‘Gabrielle’ a sweet story of a young woman struggling for acceptance

Gabrielle (Gabrielle Marion-Rivard) is a 22-year old woman who lives in a group home...

June 2014

June 04, 2014

“Korengal” Same valley, same soldiers, different story

One of the loglines for Sebastian Junger’s latest documentary film “Korengal” is: “Same valley, same soldiers. Different...