Except for the stray cartoon here and there, and an occasional review for Aleteia (Ghostbusters was the last one I believe), I’ve pretty much been absent around these parts over the past few weeks. It’s just been one of those perfect storm kind of summers, what with burst water pipes, getting attacked by a dog, and the passing of my mother. But just because I’ve been tied up attending to daily disasters doesn’t mean the rest of the web shut down.
Picking up the slack on my delayed Twilight Zone binge, Catholic World Report’s Thomas M. Doran takes a look at the classic episode, Kick The Can. Oddly, he finds the story edifying not because it says something good, but because it completely misses the mark on true grace.
Of course, I haven’t been the only one on hiatus, so has everybody's favorite zombie show. But that hasn’t stopped Allison Low from considering Zombies and the Cure for ‘The Walking Dead’ over at Catholic Stand. With sentiments like, “we too suffer various afflictions in our lives which can result in us becoming less of the person God calls us to be,” it seems Ms. Low has definitely picked up on the show’s theme that all of us are practically zombies already whether we know it or not.
As long as we’re discussing television, perhaps you’ve heard The Exorcist is coming to the small screen as a mini series. The Catholic Geeks have and they’ve posted a few thoughts on the first teaser trailer. Meanwhile, in other possession news, The Curt Jester has a few questions regarding a recent article detailing how the original Exorcist director, William Friedkin, was (or was not) invited by someone at the Vatican to experience the real thing.
But enough of the boob tube, let’s talk movies. If you’ve read my reviews over the years, you might have noticed one thing missing from them is a rating system. That would likely please E. Stephen Burnett who apparently has no use for such things, as he details in a couple of posts at Speculative Faith explaining his problems with religious rating systems. Personally, I think ratings can be useful in certain contexts, I’m just usually more interested in discussing how much I enjoyed a movie rather than how it stacks up to other films.
Speaking of which, you might remember I was a bit lukewarm on the latest film in the X-Men franchise. Well, over at Patheos, Peter T. Chattaway also sat through X-Men: Apocalypse and caught a quick reference to the legend of Nimrod’s arrows. It doesn’t really make the movie any better, but it’s an interesting side note. Better received was Captain America: Civil War, which for the moment is still my favorite comic book movie of the year, at least until Doctor Strange comes out (please, please let that be good). Father Niko at Christ, Coffee, and Comics seems to have enjoyed it as well. He spends some time pondering the good Captain’s portrayal in movies and asks, “What’s wrong with being a boy scout?”
One film I really, really wanted to like but ultimately couldn’t was Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. I guess I just prefer my Luthors to be a bit less of a weenie and my Batmen to be a bit less of a murdering psychotic. DC Comics has acknowledged such criticisms (from most of the world, not just me) and have begun to take steps to address them. Catholic Skywalker has taken a look at the company's recent line of Rebirth titles and gives his recommendations on which ones are worth a look. If you’d prefer your comic material without all the pictures, though, then don’t forget that D. G. D. Davidson already has 14 chapters of his anime-inspired magical girl novel, Jake and the Dynamo, up at his website free for your perusal.
And finally, just in case you missed the news, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival is coming to Netflix. Yes, after all these years, we’ve got new movie sign! On that happy note, I’ll leave you until next time. Good reading!
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