Paul Scofield, RIP

Paul Scofield died last week. Leave me alone. I can't help it I'm always a week behind. They never tell me anything here.

Don't know if he was Catholic, but he played St. Thomas More in one of my favorite films, A Man for All Seasons. It's a very traddy Catholic movie. Calling protties heretics and asserting the superiority of the Church over the state. Way cool.

You should buy it. It's cheap.

Here's a clip of More's final speech before the court. Notice what a blowhard Cromwell is. He's the one that stands up and says, "Now we plainly see you are malicious." Heh. I can say from personal experience that Cromwell sucks.



Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Amen.

Abortion Film Wins Top Spot

From LifeSite news, here's a review of the abortion film called “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days”that just won top honours at the Cannes Film Festival.

Without God

Here's an interesting video called "The Day They Kicked God Out of Schools"about the absence of God in our schools today and the repercussions that society has invited upon ourselves by turning our backs on God. We reap what we sow.

Reform or Revolt: The Mass of Pope Paul VI

Here is a really good video (sent to me by a friend) on the liturgical revolution and the Mass of Pope Paul VI. It is a fair and honest comparison of the Tridentine Mass with the Novus Ordo, and goes back in history to the root of the revolt, and explains how it all started with the Reformation and culminated in the Second Vatican Council. Here is the link to part two. Each video is about 45 minutes long, and well worth watching.

Pepsi, anyone?

Jesus drinks Coca Cola? Apparently. In a scene in the film "Seven Kilometers From Jerusalem," by Claudio Malaponti, Jesus drinks the soft drink during a dusty Jeep ride through the desert.

And this has company officials of Coke up in arms. They are adamant that the scene portrays the soda-maker in a negative light. "We are not interested in this kind of product placement," a spokeswoman for the company told the paper.

I guess Coke considers the affiliation with Christianity bad publicity. Pepsi, anyone?

The Miracle of Marcelino

This is a 12 part video series, well worth watching. Each video is about 8 minutes, and you can access the other ones here.

From EWTN - Miracle of Marcelino - Part: 01 of 12 -- Award Winning, Heart warming, classic true story of a young child (Marcelino) with an unforgettable ending. Produced in 1956, this is one of the most popular dramas ever done. It tells the heartwarming story of a baby boy left on the doorstep of a Franciscan monastery. He is then parented by the monks and as a young child encounters the crucified Jesus..

Thanks to my sister Marilena for sending me this!

Into Great Silence - A Film of the Carthusian Monks

I received an email today from Laura about a film that is of interest to Traditional Catholics. It is called Into Great Silence and you can watch the trailer here.

Several reviews are posted here, and the following is the review from Newsday.com

Those who hear music in the sound of falling snow, or see dance in the swing of church bell, will be transported by "Into Great Silence," a 162-minute exploration of the life of a monastery by German filmmaker Philip Gröning, who spent six months among the Carthusians of La Grande Chartreuse, in the French Alps.

Virtually a silent a film, it makes no attempt to explain, apologize for or psychoanalyze the members of what is one of the world's strictest religious orders.

Rather, it replicates the spiritual atmosphere of Chartreuse, getting viewers into the monastic mood through an ascetic system of carefully orchestrated, yet unobtrusive observations, of ritual, work and the occasional outdoor excursion. (These monks may lack soccer skills, but they do slide down a snowy hill on their backsides.)

"Into Great Silence" is one of those films -- Martin Scorsese's "Kundun" is another example -- wherein the spiritual aspiration of the filmmaker informs, and even exalts, the film itself.