Everyday Liminality

At this point, superhero movies are a dime a dozen. Everyone knows their tropes and everyone knows they'll be successful. This was not the case in 2002 when Toby Maguire portrayed the iconic character. In many ways, this movie vaulted us into the superhero era we know today.

Imagine a world where if you open your eyes outside, you die. You must survive entirely by touch and sound, feeling your way around the world, lest the monsters get you. For this reason, Bird Box might be the most unsettling movie I've ever seen.

A Quiet Place is about monsters that kill people who make sounds. It's also about coming together as family to live a contemplative life. I dare you not to see the Catholic imagery in this movie.

Robin Williams as Peter Pan? Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook? Sign me up! While the classic kid's movie Hook has a lot of flaws, there's something really wonderful about it. Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey find a lot to discuss in this episode.

How do you help a kid that feels alone? How do you help a kid when he loses his best friend in a tragic death? These were questions that Katherine Paterson had with her son in 1977, inspiring her to write the classic novel, The Bridge to Terabithia. The movie is a bit uneven, but it has something important to say.

For people of my generation, there is no more iconic high school movie than Mean Girls. If you were in high school in the early 00's, you can probably quote a dozen famous lines from it. But it's not just an iconic movie: it tells a great story and shares a relatable lesson.

Everyone in high school wants to be noticed and to fit in. But what if it takes lying about something to achieve that? What if that lie gets out of hand? Based on the themes of the Scarlet Letter, Easy A is a warning about how rumors can spread.

Some movies are just fun. They don't evoke deep questions or require a lot of thought to enjoy. That's how we feel about Red.

Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey are torn on this one. One thinks it's brilliant, the other used to think it was brilliant. There's no denying, though, that it's original and interesting to watch.

They say there isn't a perfect movie. That might be true, but you're not going to hear any criticisms from Fr. Tito or Fr. Casey about the movie Shutter Island. Beautifully scored, powerfully acted, meticulously directed, and ingeniously written, it is one of the best thrillers ever made. Not for the faint of heart though, so be attentive to the R rating.