Trailer Time: Ms. Marvel

I want to say upfront that I have not been a big fan of Kamal Khan from the Marvel Comics.  Like Miles Morales in the comics, her stories are either bland or weirdly preachy.  She constantly feels like a character that you are "supposed" to like rather than one who organically becomes a fan favorite.

Also, a lot of the people I listen to have been dragging this trailer, saying that it is pointing to the end of the MCU.

My own thoughts?

I thought it looked kind of fun.

In this trailer, Kamala seems way more fun, engaging, and relatable than in the comics.  She is an outcast geek, in the same way Peter Parker was the way Stan Lee originally wrote him.  As a high school teacher, there is something about her that is very familiar to some of the students I teach.  I like the fact that she in many ways is an alienated, boy-crazy, typical teen.  Seeing this trailer, I was reminded how the cinematic end of Marvel properties does a better job of making their characters appeal to a broader audience.  Miles Morales is awesome in Into the Spider-Verse, and Kate Bishop was sort of charming in Hawkeye on Disney +.

I also like that they changed her power set from the comics to something different on film.  This makes her much more akin to Captain Marvel and thus makes their connection stronger.  

Very little is scene of the story, but that is okay for now.  I'm not looking for this one to change the world or anything.  But it looks to be an enjoyable Ant-Man level romp.

Thoughts?

TV Tap Out: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

 

Years ago I came up with the term "TV Tap Out."  This referred to when a TV series did something that bothered me so much that I had to "tap out" and quit.  

And I believe I have reached this point with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

The show takes place in the late '50's/ early '60s.  Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is an upper-middle class Jewish New York married mother whose husband leaves her.  After this, she decides to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

I was turned off by the show in the pilot when the main character tricked members of her Jewish family into eating shellfish at her wedding.  I thought this was an unnecessarily antagonistic move towards people of faith.

However, I gave the show another chance.  I found that while it was often vulgar, it had some incredibly funny writing, fantastic production design, and some great performances.  I soon found myself getting caught up in the main character's professional and family drama.

The fourth season is airing on Amazon.com now, with new episodes dropping every Friday.

SPOILERS AHEAD

This past week, Miriam's father (Tony Shalhoub) was trying to hide out from people threatening him.  So he decides to take refuge in a Catholic Church just as the communion line was forming.  He did not know what was happening, until he was at the communion rail.  He then received the Body of Christ.  As he relates this story to his wife (Marin Hinkle), he pulls out the Host from his pocket.  The two then proceed to discuss how to dispose of the Blessed Sacrament.

I can be charitable and imagine that there was no ill intent involved.  Perhaps there was only a significant display of ignorance about what Catholics believe about the Host.  And to be fair, Miriam's father was very disturbed that he was sacrileging something holy to Catholics. I'm not sure I can continue watching the show.

After watching that scene, I felt all the enjoyment drain from what I was watching.  I had to stop and attempted to look up how this situation got resolved (I could not find anything conclusive).

As a Catholic, I believe that the Eucharist is Christ Himself.  To see a depiction (though fictional) of our Lord treated so horribly is something I find very disturbing.  I have witnessed scenes of the Blessed Sacrament being abused, as in the movie Romero.  But in those circumstances, you are meant to be filled with horror at the act and moved by the bravery of the hero to save the Eucharist from further desecration.  

In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this desecration is played for laughs.  It felt to me that our Lord was mocked as He was when crowned with thorns.

Again, I wish to be charitable to the producers and believe that this degradation of the Blessed Sacrament was only meant as a gentle tease instead of a blasphemy.  But I do not know that I can continue on with this series now.

I would like to close with the Angel's prayer from Fatima:

O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

Film Flash: The Batman

 

 15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Noir murder/mystery.  Grounded, fresh, dark, intense.  Feels like a mini-series.  Great for comic fans.

Lack of Updates February/March 2022

 Dear Reader,

Thank you again for your patience.

Everything is going well, but I have hit a convergence of several time-sensitive activities that have been eating up my time and away from this blog.

These include, but are not limited to:

-directing a musical that will open very soon

-preparing new lessons plans for a class I have never taught before

-working on a project for a master's degree in philosophy

-organizing a Synodal Process for my school

-regular grading and teaching.

These next few weeks may be very busy so my updates here may be very light.  I thank you for all of the times that you have stayed with this blog during these slow times.

My hope is that by mid-March, my work-load will become much lighter and I will be able to devote more time to this blog, especially as it approaches its 10th year anniversary!

God Bless,

Catholic Skywalker

Trailer Time: The Lord of the Rings - The Rings of Power Teaser

JRR Tolkien originally wanted to call the final part of his trilogy The War of the Ring.  

It is a title that aptly describes the online vitriol over this upcoming Amazon Middle-Earth series.

To some extent, I understand it.  After all, beloved franchises like Star Wars have been plundered by people like Rian Johnson who fundamentally did not understand George Lucas or his visionary genius.  Instead, he wanted to say something and Star Wars just happened to be a vehicle for that message.

One of the things that makes Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings so good is that everything is done with a reverence for Tolkien.  There are some serious deviations in the story and character, especially with a character like Faramir.  But all of this was done in order to find a way to successfully interpret Tolkien's ideas cinematically.  As a result, Jackson's trilogy is an all time classic.  I heard a youtuber recently say, something akin to "Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings is so good that no one has been able to match it, even Peter Jackson." (referring to Jackson's Hobbit trilogy).

So there is a huge portion of fandom that is waiting to get sucker-punched.  I don't blame them for being wary.

Me?

I try to be a bit more optimistic.  

This trailer did not do anything that turned me off of the project, but it didn't do too much to excite me.  I enjoy the sweeping vistas of Middle-Earth.  I especially love the shot of the riders surging into battle on their horses.  But right now there is nothing that is really grabbing me.

If you look at the very first Lord of the Rings teaser, it does an amazing job of pulling you in through only a few seconds and brief flashes.  After going through The Hobbit trilogy, returning to Middle-Earth is not as exciting a prospect.

What I really want to see is how the characters, especially returning ones like Galadriel and Elrond, are handled by this story.  Will they be radically altered away from Tolkien's vision?  And if they are, will it be to turn away from the main vision, as Johnson did with Luke Skywalker or towards the vision as Jackson did with Faramir?

I do not know.  But I remain open.

Thoughts?

New Evangelizers Post: Be a Valentine

                  

 

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

The popular devotion to St. Valentine as a day to celebrate romantic love did not come about until around a 1000 years after his death. Much of his life is lost to us. The popular legend is that St. Valentine was was martyred in part because he married Christian couples in defiance of the Roman Emperor. The historicity of this is not the purpose of this article.

The idea of being a Valentine is a wonderful and noble thing.

If we model our Valentine after this image of St. Valentine.

In our secular society, we think of being a Valentine as simply being someone who declares their romantic love for someone. This is a very human impulse and one that has kept the population of the world replenished and growing since the dawn of humanity. Sometimes there is an impulse among Christians to downplay or dismiss romantic love. But this is a mistake. It is true that there are high loves, but we are naturally inclined to seek this kind of love. It would be a wrong to suppress this desire in our nature. There are those who are called to celibacy, but ideally, that is not a suppression of nature, but a an embrace of a higher love. Even in this case, we are not destroying nature. Rather, grace is perfecting nature.

And to really be a Valentine is to have grace perfect the nature of romantic love. Anyone can profess their romantic feelings for someone. Perhaps many of us have cringeworthy memories of high school crushes and embarrassing declarations of devotion. To feel romantic feelings is human, but it is not praiseworthy. To feel something has no moral weight.

What makes a real, Christian Valentine is not only the presence of romantic love, but something more. Romantic love involves a strong desire for union, even to the point of being possessive. The purest form of this is found in the unitive nature of this love, where the husband and wife donate themselves to each other, even with the sharing of their bodies. This is natural and good, but we must remember that man is not only made for a natural end, but a supernatural end as well.

A real Valentine not only expresses this unitive desire, but seeks the greater good of the beloved. When you are “in love,” all you want is to be with the other person. CS Lewis once wrote that this desire is so strong that even if you knew the love would end in tragedy, you would still want it. “Let our hearts break, so long as they break together.” This may be one of the reasons we have such strong popular devotions to romantic tragedies like Romeo and Juliet.

But Christian romance not only looks inward at this unitive desire, but upwards towards God. I love my wife with all of my heart. The worst part of my day is the morning when I have to part from her. By God’s grace, even after more than 20 years of marriage, we still miss each other constantly when absent. However, I think one of the reasons that the romantic well has not run dry is because we have tried very hard to place God at the center of our marriage.

What this means is that my first goal as a husband is not to a unitive or possessive desire for my wife. Rather, my first goal is to make sure she has her greatest good. And her greatest good is the salvation of her soul.

Admittedly, I fail often in my task. Too many times I am a cause of stress, strain, and grief. Nevertheless, I want her to grow closer to God so that one day she will be with Him forever in heaven. If I draw her away from the Lord only bring her closer to me, then I am being selfish. I am putting my personal desires for her affections ahead of her salvation.

You can read the whole article here.

Sunday Best: Oscar Nominations 2022

  So the nominees were announced this past week for the 94th Academy Awards.

These awards remain the most prestigious in film.  And while many of you, dear readers, are of the opinion that all awards shows are terrible and should simply be shunned, it is my perpetual hope that Hollywood will reform itself and once again nominate movies that matter.

While there were a few happy nominations, I don't think this will be the year for that.  Once again, the elite in the industry will gather together, kick out the homeless from the streets, and congratulate themselves.

Last year, I did not compare the box office to the list of Best Picture nominees because of all the COVID lockdowns.  However, with things opening up and some movies shattering box office records, I thought we would do it again.

The movies nominated for Best Picture are:

“Belfast”

“CODA”

“Don’t Look Up”

“Drive My Car”

“Dune”

“King Richard”

“Licorice Pizza”

“Nightmare Alley”

“The Power of the Dog”

The highest grossing film on here was Dune, but with its simultaneous premiere on HBO Max, it didn't crack $100 million domestic.

The top 10 highest grossers for 2021 are:

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Black Widow

F9: The Fast Saga

Eternals

No Time To Die

A Quiet Place Part II

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Free Guy

So as you can see, there are very few films for viewers at home to root for.

 My own top ten of the year include:

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home

2. Dune

3. The Tragedy of Macbeth

4. Zack Snyder's Justice League

5. CODA

6. Those Who Wish Me Dead

7. Dear Evan Hansen

8. Nobody

9. Ghostbusters: Afterlife

10. A Quiet Place Part II

Admittedly, there is a box office issue when things are released on streaming either simultaneously or exclusively.  I know Zack Snyder's Justice League was a big hit on HBO Max, but it was not something that was in theaters.

Even though superhero films are a tremendous source of the cinematic experience, the Academy refuses to recognize their worth.  Spider-Man: No Way Home was definitely snubbed in all of the major categories.  I am convinced it is because it is a super hero film.


So below are my thoughts on some (not all) of this year's nominees.  

BEST PICTURE
Belfast 
CODA 
Don’t Look Up 
Dune 
King Richard 
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley 
The Power of the Dog 
West Side Story 

I was incredibly excited to see CODA and Dune receive nominations.  The Oscars are a time when smaller films receive recognition that could help them touch the hearts of wider audiences.  Dune was my frontrunner for my own list of Best Movies until Spider-Man.  I think King Richard is a worthy film to put on the list.  I'm going to try and see Belfast and West Side Story before the Oscars, but I don't have a desire to see the others.  

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)

Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!)
Will Smith (King Richard)
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Garfield, Smith, and Washington all put in excellent performances.  I didn't see the other two.  There is a lot of buzz on Garfield, who is still riding a lot of good will from recent movies.  Of these nominees, I would probably give it to Smith.  Washington was incredible, but Smith reached certain emotional levels that earned him the award.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

I've only seen King Richard, so I will have to go with her.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)

I've only seen CODA, but Kotsur was excellent in the role.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran)
Dune (Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)

This category is notorious for snubbing original sci-fi and fantasy costuming.  Dune should clearly win, but I think they will go with something like Nightmare Alley

BEST SOUND
Belfast (Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri)
Dune (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett)
No Time to Die (Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor)
The Power of the Dog (Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb)
West Side Story (Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy)

Easily, this should be Dune.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)

I've only seen Dune and Encanto from this list.  I feel strongly about Dune's score, but Encanto is a crowd favorite.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (screenplay by Siân Heder)
Drive My Car (screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa
Oe)
Dune (screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve
and Eric Roth)
The Lost Daughter (written by Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (written by Jane Campion)

Heder won my award for Best Screenplay, so I was very excited to her nominated for CODA, and I hope she wins, though Dune was excellent as well.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (written by Kenneth Branagh)
Don’t Look Up (screenplay by Adam McKay; story by Adam McKay & David Sirota)
King Richard (written by Zach Baylin)
Licorice Pizza (written by Paul Thomas Anderson)
The Worst Person in the World (written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier)

Again, with this list I've only seen King Richard, so I will go with this.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Affairs of the Art (Joanna Quinn and Les Mills)
Bestia (Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz)
Boxballet (Anton Dyakov)
Robin Robin (Dan Ojari and Mikey Please)
The Windshield Wiper (Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run (Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger)
The Dress (Tadeusz Lysiak and Maciej Ślesicki)
The Long Goodbye (Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed)
On My Mind (Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson)
Please Hold (K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker)
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
Tick, Tick … Boom! (Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum)

I want to say Dune on this one, but Tick, Tick ...Boom! did a very good job with how it edited the scenes together in a non-linear fashion.  If I'm being objective I would have to give it to them.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Coming 2 America (Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer)
Cruella (Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon)
Dune (Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh)
House of Gucci (Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras)

It should be Dune without question.  But I think they will go with The Eyes of Tammy Faye

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto (Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer)
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie)
Luca (Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren)
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht)
Raya and the Last Dragon (Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer
and Peter Del Vecho)

I was actually very surprised by how well crafted Encanto was, so I will be rooting for this one.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension (Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell)
Attica (Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry)
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sorensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie)
Summer of Soul (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein)
Writing With Fire (Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Audible (Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean)
Lead Me Home (Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk)
The Queen of Basketball (Ben Proudfoot)
Three Songs for Benazir (Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei)
When We Were Bullies (Jay Rosenblatt)

I haven't seen any of these.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” — music and lyrics by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (King Richard)
“Dos Oruguitas” — music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
“Down to Joy” — music and lyrics by Van Morrison (Belfast)
“No Time to Die” — music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas
O’Connell (No Time to Die)
“Somehow You Do” — music and lyrics by Diane Warren (Four Good Days)

I would probably go with the song from Encanto

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune (Greig Fraser)
Nightmare Alley (Dan Laustsen)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)

This is a tough one between Dune and Macbeth, but ultimately I think the wonder caused by Dune gives it an edge.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Drive My Car (Japan)
Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of God (Italy)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)

Did not see any.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (production design: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos)
Nightmare Alley (production design: Tamara Deverell; set decoration: Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (production design: Grant Major; set decoration: Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (production design: Stefan Dechant; set decoration: Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (production design: Adam Stockhausen; set decoration: Rena DeAngelo)

Once again Dune and Macbeth are in a tight race with me.  And once again, I think Dune wins out.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and
Gerd Nefzer)
Free Guy (Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and
Dan Sudick)
No Time to Die (Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick)

This might be the toughest category of all, between Dune, Shang-Chi, Spider-Man, and Free Guy.  But in the end it isn't just the quality of the special effects, but how they are used.  So I'm going with Dune.

Soon I will be posting my annual OSCAR GAME for anyone who wants to participate.

Thoughts?