DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

The Children (1980) Not exactly good, but oddly watchable tale about a bus load of kids turned into nuclear zombies with black fingernails who hug people to death. TIL: Jesus calls us to be ‘like little children’, not childish in understanding, but childlike in trusting love.

Dad Rock Diary: The Allman Brothers Band - Brothers and Sisters (1973) Despite their recent losses, this Betts-led effort proves the boys had at least one great album left in them. Laudable Lyrics: Your wasted words so absurd, are you really Satan, yes or no?

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

Scum of the Earth (1974) City girl on the run from a mad killer gets taken in by a swamp family, who turn out to be much worse. Grimy, undiluted hicksploitation. TIL: With a population of around 400 at the time Jesus lived there, Nazareth was considered something of a hick town.

Sing A New Song: Fleet Foxes - Shore (2020) Something this light and graceful might feel out of place and maybe even insubstantial in 2020, but time will likely be kind to it. Bonus points for the bit of Brian Wilson. Laudable Lyrics: Oh, devil walk by, oh, devil walk by.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 26, 2020

Dark Relic (2010) Crusaders, Muslims, & atheists fight fiends over a piece of the True Cross. Dodgy script and poor CGI derail SyFy's attempt at ecumenism. TIL: Heard there are enough pieces of the True Cross to rebuild Noah’s Ark? A study by de Fleury found that to be false.

Dad Rock Diary: Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969) Once upon a time an album this eclectic could be number one album in the country. Sigh. Laudable Lyrics: Don't wanna go by the devil, don't wanna go by the demon, don't wanna go by Satan, don't wanna die uneasy.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Ring of Terror (1962) Geriatric med students attend an autopsy and undergo hazing while their women whine. Nearly unbearable to watch without Joel and the Bots. TIL: When a pope dies, the first duty of the Cardinal Camerlengo is destroy his Fisherman’s Ring, the papal signet.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

S.S. Doomtrooper (2006) The Dirty Dozen vs bad CGI Nazi Hulk. Throw another $100 mil at the budget and this might have worked. TIL: While NOBODY did enough about the Holocaust, modern Jewish historians have begun to debunk the whole "Hitler's Pope" nonsense about Pius XII.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

The Man Without a Body (1957) Dying man pays to resurrect Nostradamus' head so he can ask it stock tips. Apparently they did do drugs in the 50's. TIL: Nostradamus allegedly predicted Pope Francis to be the last pontiff in history. The Church's response is basically an eye roll.

Dad Rock Diary: Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe (1967) The voice and songs are praiseworthy, but Jimmie Haskell's arrangements are on another level, defining the cool side of the non-psychedelic 60's. Laudable Lyrics: Each day is a treasure, it's Sunday every day of the week.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

Crawlspace (1972) Old couple find troubled teen underneath their house and take him in. Tense TV tale explores the old maxim no good deed goes unpunished. TIL: God gives us grace to do good. Doing 'good works' is a response to that grace; not doing them is a rejection of it.

And also, there’s this…

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) Giant dog/hippo thing must fight a bigger monster or Japan won't feed him anymore. Kooky kaiju for kids and the young at heart. TIL: The Church denounces using access to food (part of the right to life) as a means for controlling or subjugating others.

One Sheet Words of Wisdom: The Party Animal (1984) "Drooling is not thinking, picturing is not thinking, craving is not thinking, dreaming is not thinking... thinking about sex means striving to see sex in its innermost reality and in the function it is meant to serve." - Frank Sheed

Dad Rock Diary: The Kinks - Something Else by The Kinks (1967) So begins a string of modern masterworks that lasts for at least three more albums. Laudable Lyrics: Percilla saw her little children and then decided she was better off than the wayward lass that her sister had been.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 19, 2020

Color Out of Space (2019) Good? Bad? What do these words even mean for an ooey gooey Lovecraft adaptation featuring Nic Cage raising alpacas? TIL: The vastness of God is inconceivable, but unlike Cthulhu, he takes a personal interest in us, driving no one crazy but atheists.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

Meatcleaver Massacre (1977) Degenerate dude-bros fall victim to a dying man's curse. Christopher Lee narrates because he has bills to pay too. TIL: The Psalms' imprecatory prayers were not really curses because they asked God to judge enemies the SAME as he judged his followers.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

Trailer Park Shark (2017) Electrified predator puts the bite on the planet's reddest necks. As a life-long southerner, I attest to the reality of these characters. TIL: Home to over 40,000 trailers, Florida is also the location where Catholicism first entered the U.S. in 1513.

And, even with a mask on, my nose tells me 'tis the season, so here's a little something from the archives to commemorate the yearly onslaught of the scent zombies.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 13, 2020

Monster Ark (2008) The world is menaced by bad CGI from Noah's other ark. Silly SyFy mixture of creature features and faith manages a few neat ideas. TIL: The Church has no definitive teaching on Noah as figurative or fact. She's concerned with the spiritual truth of the tale.

Dad Rock Diary: Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Fudge (1967) Your 60's Greatest Hits disc isn't on the wrong speed, the Fudge just plays covers slow. Oddly, it's okay. Laudable Lyrics: Have pity on those whose chances are thinner, cause there's no hiding place from the Kingdom's Throne.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 9, 2020

Witchtrap (1989) Ghost hunters get offed at a B&B. No joke, this has some of the most legendarily bad line delivery you'll ever hear. TIL: Historian Suzannah Lipscomb notes the Church rarely persecuted "witches". Secular courts, on the other hand, executed tens of thousands.

Dad Rock Diary: Roy Harper - Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith (1967) Would even stoners in PHIL 101 find these ramblings on God and life deep? Laughable Lyrics: For he must have a conceivable being. And if he's got being he must have life. And if he's living he must also be dying.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Memorial Valley Massacre (1988) Obnoxious campers perturb what seems to be the local caveman. Don't you hate it when that happens? TIL: The Church allows that prehistoric men may have developed from previous biological forms, but insists on God's special creation of their souls.

Dad Rock Diary: Flipper - Album: Generic Flipper (1982) Maybe not the most "punk" sounding punk album ever, but absolutely the perfect ugly music to gob to. Laudable Lyrics: Ever wish the human race didn't exist, then realize you're one too?

And finally, while Jesus may have done away with the Kashrut for Christians, Matthue Roth over at My Jewish Learning points out that any undead Jews still trying to stay kosher might have a bit of a problem.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Stranded (1987) Ione Skye is held hostage by alien refugees trying to escape an assassin. The local cops can't figure out who the bad guys are. Interesting idea done average. TIL: Pope Francis says, “Every stranger who knocks on our door is an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ."

Tinseltown Testaments: Ghostbusters (1984) "Hey Ray. Do you believe in God?" "Never met him." "Yeah, well I do. And I love Jesus's style, you know."

Sing A New Song: Neil Young - Homegrown (2020) Leftover pizza = good. Leftover french fries = bad. Leftover Neil Young from the early 70's, alas, = a little bit of both. Laudable Lyrics: You lose your love when you say the word "mine", "mine", "mine".

STORYBOARDS #033

 

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Strange New World (1975) Decent TV pilot has John Saxon and crew waking from suspended animation to find much has changed. Well, except for people. TIL: Pope John XXIII noted there will be no true progress until men return to a sense of their dignity as creatures and sons of God.

Funny Book Philosophy: Wasteland 001 (1987) Can't help but wonder if DC would have the stones to publish this vision of a secular utopia today?

Dad Rock Diary: Food - Forever Is a Dream (1969) Food analogy for this album? How about a chain dine-in restaurant. Tasty, varied menu, but few surprises for the palate. Laudable Lyrics: Spending my time beside you, wasting no time to help you, trying to love all of my friends.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Endangered Species (1982) Who or what is mutilating Colorado's cattle? Surprisingly intelligent thriller for conspiracy theorists. TIL: One odd theory is that the birth of an unblemished red heifer will herald the reconstruction of the Jewish temple and the return of the messiah.

Still Voices - Dune (1984) "Kindness in ourselves is the honey that blunts the sting of unkindness in another." - Walter Savage Landor

And finally, with the recent release of Face The Music Over, Brian Niemeier over at Kairos reconsiders Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and finds it better and more spiritually satisfying than the first movie. Shh, don't tell, but so do I.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Turistas (2006) Vacationing hardbodies run afoul of Brazilian organ harvesters. Play on a double-bill with Hostel and you'll never want to leave the U.S.A. again. TIL: 65% of Brazilians are members of the Church, making the country the largest Catholic community in the world.

Dad Rock Diary: April Wine - The Nature of the Beast (1981) Somewhere there's an 80's kid with a mullet and a Camaro who thinks this is the best album ever. Laudable Lyrics: Only doing as they please. You'll never hear a word about Heaven or what they'd have to do to fly so high.

And finally, Daniel Kempton and Anne Hendershott over at The Catholic World Report ask the question, “Can horror give hope in a horrifying world?”