Everyday Liminality

Shrek is the ultimate anti-Disney movie with a great message for those who feel left out. That said, Br. Tito and Fr. Casey wish the movie would have ended differently.

Little Miss Sunshine is a wonderful tragi-comedy about a dysfunctional family forced on a road trip together. While it is their common goal of arriving at their destination that initially holds them together, it is in their disillusionment with the goal that ultimately changes them for the better and makes them a healthier family.

St. Francis is arguably the most revered saint in history. Books have been written about him, paintings commissioned to depict his life, and movies upon movies produced to inspire the world. And yet, despite all his attention in Hollywood... Br. Tito and I aren't exactly impressed. Here's what we make of two of the most famous movies, and how we would make our own Francis movie.

History is often boring an irrelevant to people. Which is a shame, because it is often repeated in our own day. The Gangs of New York may appear, at first, to be a movie about a time completely unlike our own, but the themes and values of the 1860s are the same ones driving our political and social lives today.

St. Vincent is a funny, heartwarming, and mildly tragic movie starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. In it, Hollywood gives it take on what it means to be a saint, but Br. Tito and Fr. Casey thinks it falls flat. Great entertainment, horrible life advice.

Arrival might be the greatest movie ever made. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but it is a top 5 movie for both Br. Tito and Fr. Casey. If you haven't seen it, you might want to watch before listening... spoilers ahead.

Black Jeopardy is just a stupid sketch on SNL making fun of white people, right? Not exactly. Through self-deprecating humor and subtle satire, what is achieved is a powerful message of encounter across cultural lines.

Many movies use Christological imagery to cement the main character as the hero. We can certainly see Christ-like characters taking on a variety of forms. What can we learn about these characters, and what might we want to be careful of?

Heist movies are often fun, creative, and so very satisfying. Which is weird, right? Are we doing anything more than glamorizing criminals?

In the 17th century, Christians in Japan faced persecution. Jesuits ministered to them but also fell to persecution. The 1966 book and 2016 movie Silence offers a fictional account of the horrors faced by those Christians, asking a difficult question: in the midst of torture and stress, why is God silent?