Okay, so there are 30 days left over at my attempt on Kickstarter to raise money for Alphonse issue two. We’re at not quite one-quarter funded. But you know what? I’m gonna keep hoping. Thanks to everyone who has donated.
Archives for June 2009
30 Days.
June 30, 2009 by at 10:28 am
52 Movies for the Year of the Priest at Korrektiv
June 30, 2009 by at 6:33 am
Rufus & Co. are having a festival! I’ve gone and italicized the ones I’ve seen, and starred my favorites. Because dammit, it’s my blog.
“Korrektiv and Transcendental Musings are celebrating the Year for Priests (or the Year of the Priest, if you please) by launching an entirely unofficial 52-week (beginning last week) festival of films about priests.
What follows is our list — hammered out over a bunch of Twitter posts and blog comments, a few beers and prayers — of 52 movies in which a priest or priests take center stage or at least play a pivotal role in the development of the films’ concerns.
I’ve arranged our selections chronologically, with the notion that it might be interesting to thus trace the evolution of filmmaking over the past seventy years while at the same time considering how perceptions of the priesthood, as reflected in these cinematic images, may have changed over that same period.
1. San Francisco (1936) [view the week of 6/19/09*]
2. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) [6/26/09]
3. Boys Town (1938) [7/3/09]
4. The Fighting 69th (1940) [7/10/09]
5. The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1941) [7/17/09]
6. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) [7/24/09]
7. Going My Way (1944) [7/31/09]
8. The Bells of St Mary’s (1945) [8/7/09]
9. The Fugitive (1947) [8/14/09]
10. Monsieur Vincent (1947) [8/21/09]
11. Fighting Father Dunne (1948) [8/28/09]
12. The Miracle of the Bells (1948) [9/4/09]
13. Diary of a Country Priest* (1951) [9/11/09]
14. I Confess (1953) [9/18/09]
15. Father Brown (1954) [9/25/09]
16. On the Waterfront* (1954) [10/2/09]
17. The Left Hand of God (1955) [10/9/09]
18. The Miracle of Marcelino (1955) [10/16/09]
19. The Prisoner* (1955) [10/23/09]
20. Seven Cities of Gold (1955) [10/30/09]
21. Nazarin (1959) [11/6/09]
22. Hoodlum Priest (1961) [11/13/09]
23. The Cardinal (1963) [11/20/09]
24. Becket (1964) [11/27/09]
25. The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) [12/4/09]
26. The Exorcist (1973) [12/11/09]
27. The Massacre in Rome (1973) [12/18/09]
28. Hounds of Notre Dame (1980) [12/25/09]
29. True Confessions (1981) [1/1/10]
30. The Scarlet and the Black (1983) [1/8/10]
31. Mass Appeal (1984) [1/15/10]
32. The Assisi Underground (1985) [1/22/10]
33. The Mission (1986) [1/29/10]
34. Au Revoir les Enfant* (1987) [2/5/10]
35. The Fr. Clements Story (1987) [2/12/10]
36. Under Satan’s Sun (1987) [2/19/10]
37. Don Bosco (1988) [2/26/10]
38. Francesco (1989) [3/5/10]
39. Black Robe (1991) [3/12/10]
40. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) (1991) [3/19/10]
41. Sleepers (1996) [3/26/10]
42. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian (1999) [4/2/10]
43. The Third Miracle (1999) [4/9/10]
44. Keeping the Faith (2000) [4/16/10]
45. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) (2004) [4/23/10]
46. The Ninth Day (2004) [4/30/10]
47. Saint Ralph (2004) [5/7/10]
48. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) [5/14/10]
49. Pope John Paul II (2005) [5/21/10]
50. The Novice (aka Crossroads) (2006) [5/28/10]
51. Doubt (2008) [6/2/10]
52. Gran Torino* (2008) [6/9/10]
Alternate Selections
· Francis of Assisi (1961)
· The Reluctant Saint (1962)
· A Man for All Seasons (1966)
· Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
· Jesus of Montreal (1989)
· Stigmata (1999)
· St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (2000)
· Papa Giovanni John XXIII (2002)
· The Order (2003)
· Twist of Faith (2004)
· Into Great Silence (2005)
· Karol: The Man Who Became Pope (2005)
"Fields of Gold" in my living room.
June 29, 2009 by at 1:39 pm
The sound is terrible, but that is the fault of my recorder – not the guitarist.
The man has a gift. Go buy his stuff.
How it’s done.
June 29, 2009 by at 6:38 am
Now that’s a pie:
The Wife goes from strength to strength.
52 Movies for the Year of the Priest: It’s a Wrap
June 28, 2009 by at 8:44 am
Korrektiv and Transcendental Musings are celebrating the Year for Priests (or the Year of the Priest, if you please) by launching an entirely unofficial 52-week (beginning last week) festival of films about priests.
What follows is our list — hammered out over a bunch of Twitter posts and blog comments, a few beers and prayers — of 52 movies in which a priest or priests take center stage or at least play a pivotal role in the development of the films’ concerns.
I’ve arranged our selections chronologically, with the notion that it might be interesting to thus trace the evolution of filmmaking over the past seventy years while at the same time considering how perceptions of the priesthood, as reflected in these cinematic images, may have changed over that same period.
1. San Francisco (1936) [view the week of 6/19/09*]
2. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) [6/26/09]
3. Boys Town (1938) [7/3/09]
4. The Fighting 69th (1940) [7/10/09]
5. Going My Way (1944) [7/17/09]
6. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) [7/24/09]
7. The Bells of St Mary’s (1945) [7/31/09]
8. The Fugitive (1947) [8/7/09]
9. Monsieur Vincent (1947) [8/14/09]
10. Fighting Father Dunne (1948) [8/21/09]
11. The Miracle of the Bells (1948) [8/28/09]
12. Diary of a Country Priest (1951) [9/4/09]
13. I Confess (1953) [9/11/09]
14. Father Brown (1954) [9/18/09]
15. On the Waterfront (1954) [9/25/09]
16. The Left Hand of God (1955) [10/2/09]
17. The Miracle of Marcelino (1955) [10/9/09]
18. The Prisoner (1955) [10/16/09]
19. Seven Cities of Gold (1955) [10/23/09]
20. Nazarin (1959) [10/30/09]
21. The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1961) [11/6/09]
22. Hoodlum Priest (1961) [11/13/09]
23. The Cardinal (1963) [11/20/09]
24. Becket (1964) [11/27/09]
25. The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) [12/4/09]
26. The Exorcist (1973) [12/11/09]
27. The Massacre in Rome (1973) [12/18/09]
28. Hounds of Notre Dame (1980) [12/25/09]
29. True Confessions (1981) [1/1/10]
30. The Scarlet and the Black (1983) [1/8/10]
31. Mass Appeal (1984) [1/15/10]
32. The Assisi Underground (1985) [1/22/10]
33. The Mission (1986) [1/29/10]
34. Au Revoir les Enfant (1987) [2/5/10]
35. The Fr. Clements Story (1987) [2/12/10]
36. Under Satan’s Sun (1987) [2/19/10]
37. Don Bosco (1988) [2/26/10]
38. Francesco (1989) [3/5/10]
39. Black Robe (1991) [3/12/10]
40. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) (1991) [3/19/10]
41. Sleepers (1996) [3/26/10]
42. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian (1999) [4/2/10]
43. The Third Miracle (1999) [4/9/10]
44. Keeping the Faith (2000) [4/16/10]
45. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) (2004) [4/23/10]
46. The Ninth Day (2004) [4/30/10]
47. Saint Ralph (2004) [5/7/10]
48. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) [5/14/10]
49. Pope John Paul II (2005) [5/21/10]
50. The Novice (aka Crossroads) (2006) [5/28/10]
51. Doubt (2008) [6/2/10]
52. Gran Torino (2008) [6/9/10]
Alternate Selections
· La passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1928)
· Francis of Assisi (1961)
· The Reluctant Saint (1962)
· A Man for All Seasons (1966)
· Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
· The Juggler of Notre Dame (1984)
· Jesus of Montreal (1989)
· Romero (1989)
· Stigmata (1999)
· St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (2000)
· Papa Giovanni John XXIII (2002)
· The Order (2003)
· Twist of Faith (2004)
· Into Great Silence (2005)
· Karol: The Man Who Became Pope (2005)
From the YouTube Music Video Archives: Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
June 28, 2009 by at 3:18 am
On the other hand, when you have had enough, by all means do stop. Anyway, here is Michael Jackson at his best. I like to think that between the royally screwed-up childhood he never chose and … all that other stuff, there were a few years in which he lived a life instead of a nightmare. R.I.P.
On Le Feu Follet
June 28, 2009 by at 2:36 am
Le Feu Follet is another movie directed by Louis Malle, from 1963. It’s an interesting time-capsule of a film: America is referred to as “Kennedy land”, and newspaper clippings of Marilyn Monroe are taped up all over the room of the main character. Alain Leroy, an alcoholic is “taking the cure” at a rehab center in Versailles – actually, the cure has taken and he hasn’t had a drink in three months. His doctor strongly hints that it’s time to move on. The trouble is that Leroy’s wife is now living in New York and isn’t convinced that Leroy won’t start drinking again. Leroy himself is convinced he will if he leaves the hospital, and in this stand-off with himself he has spiralled into a depression that he can’t pull himself out of. One strength of this movie is Malle’s mostly realistic portrayal of a kind of relentless indolence that accompanies clinical depression, and indeed the grim determination that accompanies suicide. On the other hand, all those Marilyn Monroe clippings (like the music of Brahms in Les Amants) struck me as much too obvious. If we’re supposed to notice these signs, shouldn’t we expect that the doctor would, too?
Those whom the gods wish to destroy…
June 26, 2009 by at 7:24 am
…they allow to self-interview. Me yammering to myself about Alphonse.
52 Movies for The Year of the Priest
June 25, 2009 by at 4:54 pm
By way of celebrating the Year for Priests (or The Year of the Priest, if you will) the Korrektiv and Transcendental Musings blogs are co-sponsoring a 52-week film festival. The list of 52 films is still being formulated, but here is the latest stab at it. What follows is a chronological list of films in which a priest or priests take center stage (or at least appear as a main character or characters):
1. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
2. Boys Town (1938)
3. San Francisco (1938)
4. The Fighting 69th (1940)
5. The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1941)
6. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
7. Going My Way (1944)
8. The Bells of St Mary’s (1945)
9. The Fugitive (1947)
10. Monsieur Vincent (1947)
11. Fighting Father Dunne (1948)
12. Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
13. I Confess (1953)
14. Father Brown (1954)
15. On the Waterfront (1954)
16. The Left Hand of God (1955)
17. The Miracle of Marcelino (1955)
18. The Prisoner (1955)
19. Seven Cities of Gold (1955)
20. Nazarin (1959)
21. Francis of Assisi (1961)
22. Hoodlum Priest (1961)
23. The Cardinal (1963)
24. Becket (1964)
25. The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
26. Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
27. The Exorcist (1973)
28. The Massacre in Rome (1973)
29. Hounds of Notre Dame (1980)
30. The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
31. Mass Appeal (1984)
32. The Assisi Underground (1985)
33. The Mission (1986)
34. Au Revoir les Enfant (1987)
35. The Fr. Clements Story (1987)
36. Don Bosco (1988)
37. Jesus of Montreal 1989
38. Francesco (1989)
39. Black Robe (1991)
40. Zycie za Zycie (Life for Life) (1991)
41. Sleepers (1996)
42. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian (1999)
43. The Third Miracle (1999)
44. Keeping the Faith (2000)
45. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) (2004)
46. The Ninth Day (2004)
47. Twist of Faith (2004)
48. Karol: The Man Who Became Pope (2005)
49. Pope John Paul II (2005)
50. The Novice (aka Crossroads) (2006)
51. Doubt (2008)
52. Gran Torino (2008)
Thanks to Quin and cnb for contributing to the list. We now have 52 films here, but this is still a rough draft. Let us know if there are other films out there that you think are worthier than any of the films listed here — and we will consider swapping them out. In any case, the list will be fine-tuned by festival organizers Angelmeg and Rufus before we finalize it in the next day or two. Meanwhile, go check out Transcendental Musings for Angelmeg’s version of the list which includes hyperlinks to the films’ listings at IMDB.com.
What’s that? The Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist, my Patron Saint, was yesterday? Sigh.
June 25, 2009 by at 7:36 am
While attending a local Friends church a couple weeks back, I heard, for perhaps the first time, the following line preached from the pulpit: “Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.”
That’s Job talking. But it might have been John the Baptist, he of the great insight that “He must increase, I must decrease.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Movies for The Year of the Priest
June 24, 2009 by at 10:18 pm
Angelmeg and I got into a twitteresque brainstorming session this morning about doing a Year of the Priest Film Festival. (Yeah, I know, it’s the Year for Priests, but doesn’t that just make your lameness bells go off? Year of the Priest, now that has some gravity.) So we’re trying to come up with 52 movies that have a priest as a main character. That’s one movie per week for the duration of this Year of the Priest.
Here is what we’ve got so far, in chronological order by year of release:
1. Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
2. Boys Town (1938)
3. The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
4. Going My Way (1944)
5. The Bells of St Mary’s (1945)
6. The Fugitive (1947)
7. Fighting Father Dunne (1948)
8. Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
9. I Confess (1953)
10. The Cardinal (1963)
11. The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
12. The Exorcist (1973)
13. The Massacre in Rome (1973)
14. The Scarlet and the Black (1983)
15. Mass Appeal (1984)
16. The Assisi Underground (1985)
17. The Mission (1986)
18. The Fr. Clements Story (1987)
19. Black Robe (1991)
20. Molokai: The Story of Fr. Damian (1999)
21. The Third Miracle (1999)
22. Keeping the Faith (2000)
23. The Confessor (The Good Shepherd) (2004)
24. Doubt (2008)
25. Gran Torino (2008)
Help us out in the comments!
On Les Amants
June 24, 2009 by at 3:40 am
Les Amants is a very good film made by Louis Malle in 1958. I have only one major criticism to make, and that is the use of Brahms’s music at various points in the movie. I like Brahms’s music a lot, but it’s simply too, too much to accompany scenes in a movie.
Jeanne Moreau is excellent in the lead role, and the anxiety felt by her character in the wake of extraordinary climactic decisions was ominous. The entire movie might be mistaken for a rather one dimensional take on a woman’s sexual awakening, were it not for the darker moments of introspection she is unable to avoid. There are several scenes in which Moreau looks into a mirror and doesn’t seem to understand what she sees. The moments pass, but they are terrifying.
Here’s some interesting trivia from imdb:
After screening this film, Nico Jacobellis, manager of the Heights Art Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was charged with and convicted of possessing and exhibiting an obscene film. He appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, which overturned the convictions, ruling that the film was not obscene. In a concurring opinion, Justice Potter Stewart made his famous pronouncement concerning what was pornography: “I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.” Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184, 197 (1964) (Stewart, J., concurring).
Incredible.
The Feast of St. Thomas More Ended Half an Hour Ago…
June 22, 2009 by at 11:32 pm
…but I’m gonna post this from the Patron of Lawyers anyway: “But truly I will give counsel to every good friend of mine that unless he be put in such a position as to punish an evil man in his charge by reason of his office, he should leave the desire of punishing to God and to such other folk who are so grounded in charity and so fast cleaved to God that no secretly malicious or cruel affection can creep in and undermine them under the cloak of a just and a virtuous zeal. But let us that are no better than men of a mean sort ever pray for such merciful amendment in other folk as our own conscience shows us that we have need of in ourselves.”
"Head to Trader Joe’s and buy anything made or grown in Israel. I hear the Israeli couscous goes well with grilled scapegoat, by the way."
June 22, 2009 by at 8:00 pm
From There Is No God but Politics by Theodore Dalrymple
June 22, 2009 by at 5:55 pm
This is an excellent essay on similarities between Marxism and Islam, or at least Islam according to Sayyid Qutb, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the most influential Muslim thinkers of the 20th century. Here is a selection that epitomizes, I think, the way many of in the West view Islam:
During my reading, I found myself swinging like a pendulum between taking Islam as a threat very seriously indeed, and not taking it seriously at all. The reasons for taking it seriously were that a large proportion of humanity was Muslim, that an aggressive and violent minority had emerged within that population with apparently very widespread, if largely passive, approval, and that the leadership of western countries was very weak and vacillating in the face of this, or any other, challenge. The reasons for not taking Islam seriously were that, in the modern world, it was intellectually nugatory, that the disproportion in power between the rest of the world and the Islamic world appeared to be growing rather than contracting, and that behind all the bluster about the certain possession of the unique, universal and divinely ordained truth for man was an anxiety that the whole edifice of Islam, while strong, was extremely brittle, which explained why free enquiry was so limited in Islamic countries. There was a subliminal awareness – and perhaps not always subliminal – that free philosophical and historical debate could quickly and fatally undermine the hold of Islam on various societies. Fundamentalism was therefore a manifestation of weakness and not of strength.
Alphonse in the news.
June 22, 2009 by at 10:09 am
Deal Hudson weighs in at Inside Catholic: “The subtitle for the completed novel, ‘A Monster for Our Times,’ reminded me of Mary Shelley’s 1818 Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus. People forget that Frankenstein is the doctor, and his creation is referred to only as the ‘creature’ or the ‘monster.’ Lickona’s ‘monster for our times’ has a name and a voice but, like Shelley’s creature, fights to live in the face of a creator who wants to murder him.”
Recent Comments