By Matthew Sawczyn I don’t think I will ever forget that phone call. It came at an awkward and unexpected time, as most changes seem to. I had been in California for five years, and Los Angeles for three. I had worked tirelessly, networked endlessly, and dreamed longingly. I had acquired that strange cocktail of jaded and pragmatic that creatives …
God and the Problem of Hope in ‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’
–By Sam Hendrian– Contains Spoilers It is safe to say that after staying up to 2:30 AM watching I’m Thinking of Ending Things for a second time within 48 hours, I have never been so profoundly haunted and baffled by a cinematic experience. This new Netflix film from writer/director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich) …
The Other Big Screen: Is There Value in the Drive-in Theater Today?
– By Joe Campbell – At least once a year when I was a kid, my parents would take me and my younger sister to the local drive-in movie theater. After picking our prime parking spot, my dad would unhook the middle double seat of our minivan, place it next to the car, break out the blankets, and crank up …
Searching for the Miraculous in ‘Fatima’
– By Maria Andress – After two postponements due to Covid-19, the feature film Fatima finally released this past weekend. With many theaters still in shutdown and the film primarily released on streaming, Marco Pontecorvo’s new film in the faith genre (and first film in English) won’t be garnering huge box office success. However, its 87% Audience Rating on Rotten …
A Saint for the Sick: Damien of Molokaʻi
By Matthew Sawczyn “Dear Lord, you died at thirty-three. I begin my life at thirty-three.” Thus prays Fr. Damien upon landing at Molokaʻi, the island where “no patient leaves except in a coffin.” The year is 1873. The terrifying, still mysterious scourge of leprosy ravages the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, and the island of Molokaʻi has been designated as a quarantine …
Femininity and Masculinity in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
– By Marielle Cuccinelli – Contains spoilers for all three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender I was skeptical the first time I started watching Avatar: the Last Airbender. There was only one girl in the main cast, after all, which is one of the top tropes out there – the Token Female Character, who not only is fated to …
Filling the God-Shaped Hole in ‘Ramy: Season 2’
–By Sam Hendrian– “I feel like I have this hole inside me that’s always been there. Like this emptiness. I’m always trying to fill it with something… I’ve tried to fill it with God. I have. But I… I just don’t know how.” These words spoken by a deeply lost young Muslim man named Ramy (comedian Ramy Youssef) to a …
Why ‘Dark’ Is the Show That 2020 Needs
By James Powers I remember reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as a kid and having my mind blown when, at the end, the four Pevensie siblings return to 1940’s England and find themselves children again after having already grown to adulthood in Narnia. What a weird experience that must be, I thought, to go back to childhood …
Cool, Christian, Korean: How ‘Kim’s Convenience’ Celebrates Family and Culture in the Everyday
By Matthew Sawczyn There’s a conversation in the pilot of Kim’s Convenience between Mrs. Kim (affectionately called ‘Umma’) and her daughter Janet, a back and forth about why Janet is not married yet. It’s a familiar family scenario, made even more hilarious when Umma pulls the church directory out to show Janet all the available boys Umma’s found for her. …
A Catholic Creative’s Guide to Productivity During COVID-19
– By Maria Andress – “A guide to productivity? I need to catch a breather!” If that’s your reaction to the title, one, I don’t blame you, and two— be at peace. Most of us probably fall into the category of that meme which shows someone building the sandcastle of their entrepreneurial craftsmanship while the tsunami of Covid-19 looms devastatingly …