DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 16, 2023

Bigfoot: Man or Beast? (1972) Wait a minute! That Bigfoot hair sample is really a what!?! Eww. Anyway, other than the dubious answer to that pressing question, this pseudo-documentary offers little beyond the nostalgia of early 70's crypto-comfort food for those who tuned in to watch Leonard Nimoy host In Search Of every week.

TIL: If it were discovered that Bigfoot (Bigfeet?) had rational minds capable of intellect and free will, would they then, like man, be in need of redemption? Most of those who think about such things say only if they were some offshoot of Neanderthal/early humans and therefore in the same 'family' as man. Otherwise, like the aliens in C.S. Lewis' writings, it would depend on whether or not Bigfoot had their own version of "The Fall" similar to mankind's.

Funny Book Philosophy: Crypt of Shadows (2023)

PONDERING NIGHTCRAWLER'S PARENTAGE

As some of my fellow comics fans out there know, Marvel recently ended our long national nightmare and finally allowed Chris Claremont's fetish fueled fantasy of having two lesbians sire a child to come to fruition. Yes, Kurt Wagner's true parents have been revealed to be Mystique and Destiny all along. This has, of course, been celebrated in the usual places, but I don't think they have thought it through. You see, this plot point actually confirms that the only way two biological women could ever naturally conceive together is for one of them to possess the fantastical not-of-this-reality ability to alter her body down to the genetic level. Just changing the outward appearance wouldn't cut it. So, kudos to Marvel for supporting the science, though in all likelihood not on purpose.

However, it's not all good. Since they have now elevated Mystique's shape-shifting abilities to this near-omnipotent level, how long will it be before some writer (probably Mark Millar if we're being honest) realizes its horrible potential? How long before someone (again, probably Millar) gives us a storyline in which Mystique, following a blackout drunk hookup with Dogpool, gives birth to a litter of blue puppies? (They'd have to be blue right? If Nightcrawler proves anything, it's that the blue gene is dominant.) Don't get me wrong, blue puppies would be unbearably cute, but the whole idea is gross. So, shame on you Marvel for opening up the possibility of that particular story which nobody wants. Well, except for maybe Claremont, who knows.

DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 2, 2023

Cybernator (1991) A bunch of guys made up like Dollar Tree knockoffs of Borg action figures begin assassinating those in power. Suspiciously, the only humans who seem at all concerned are a detective who watched too many Lethal Weapon movies and his rhythmically challenged stripper girlfriend. Yep, it's another one of those old space fillers for Blockbuster Video shelves which for posterity's sake now inhabit the lowest depths of Tubi. Approach accordingly.

TIL: It's unknown the exact number of Popes who have been assassinated, however, the first is believed to have been Pope John VIII, who in 882 was poisoned by his own clerics. Unfortunately, the poison wasn't quick enough for the conspirators, so they finished the job with a hammer. Apparently, power struggles were handled a bit differently back then.

Freeze Frames #014: "Abstract art is not the creation of another reality but the true vision of reality." - Piet Mondrian

This is a picture I took of the surface of a pond with its fair share of algae. No special filters. Not a Pink Floyd album cover. You know, the original abstract artists were so sure they had created something new that surpassed reality, while the gatekeepers of traditional art were convinced abstraction was an insult to the beauty of nature. As usual, THE Creator was millennia ahead of both sides.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 25, 2023

Calvaire (2004) A low rent lounge singer's car breaks down in the most backwoods rural setting France has to offer. The good news for our hero(?) is one of the locals offers to help. The really bad news is this leads to the gayest version of Misery one could imagine. Actually, the film seems to be asking what if male characters in movies were treated in the same manner many female characters are. The answer, apparently, is that things would quickly go out-of-control bonkers.

TIL: It probably goes without saying, but the Church considers kidnapping and hostage taking a great evil. Such actions are an offence against bodily integrity, something recognized by the Church as a nearly inviolable human right trumped by very little except for, in some instances, the right to life.

Fortress of Amerikkka (1989) Having served time for a crime he didn't commit, a Native American returns home to start a three-way war with the corrupt local police force and a backwoods militia full of social deviants. It's Rambo by way of Troma, with everything that studio name entails. That might be okay in small doses, but the filmmakers decided this thing needed to be a nearly two-hour opus because... I don't know, they hate you, I guess.

TIL: Decades before his death in Auschwitz, St. Maximilian Kolbe founded The Militia of the Immaculata. Rather than an amateur fighting force, backwoods or otherwise, it's a worldwide evangelization organization formed to encourage total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

THE LONG DARK NIGHT GALLERY OF THE SOUL #004: RENDING THE VEIL

The Long Dark Night Gallery of the Soul #004: Rending the Veil

"So Russell, What Do You Love About Music? / To Begin With? Everything." - Almost Famous

I've hung out with a lot of musicians over the years, which has often left me with the desire to create an album. The problem with that is... I have little to no musical talent. Still, I can make my own version of an album, in an offhand way. This piece consists of nine "tracks", each of which is 4x4-inches, so when you put them all together the whole thing becomes the size of a standard vinyl album cover. I also decided to make it a concept album so, while each individual track has its own story behind it, they're all linked by a common theme. Like any concept album, some of the individual tracks are weaker than the others (I'm looking at you Track 5), but hopefully it all comes together to make a coherent whole. Now, as to what the unifying theme is, it's there in the album's title, Rending the Veil, a reference you'll probably get if you paid attention in Sunday School. But how does that theme relate to each track? Well, I'll leave that up to your imagination for the moment. Try to figure it out, or don't. Either way is fine. As always, critiques and criticisms are welcome.

Here's the track list... 

Rending the Veil Track 1 - Stendhal's Garden

Rending the Veil Track 2 - Pay No Attention

Rending the Veil Track 3 - All Ye Who Enter

Rending the Veil Track 4 - Another Midnight Conversation

Rending the Veil Track 5 - Skirting the Edges

Rending the Veil Track 6 - The Silent Walk

Rending the Veil Track 7 - Chapel of Salt

Rending the Veil Track 8 - After All, It's Not Easy

Rending the Veil Track 9 - Shall Not Prevail

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 29, 2023

Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982) After snorting a mysterious white powder, meek surgeon Dr. Jekyll turns into a fright-wig wearing 80's party animal. It's like Robert Louis Stevenson tried to write Airplane... when he was twelve. Lots of faces you'll recognize in this, though let's be honest, they probably wish you wouldn't.

TIL: The Church opposes the legalization of drugs, even the so-called soft ones like marijuana. This is because even if their physiological effects are not as serious as those of hard drugs, which is debatable, soft drugs still foment the same type of dependence mentality and loss of personal dignity that hard drugs produce.

D-Tox (2002) Sylvester Stallone and a bunch of other troubled cops get sent to a snowbound rehab clinic in the middle of nowhere. The trouble is, one of the group is actually a deranged cop killer. But which one? It's basically a slasher movie that really wants to be The Thing, but ultimately ends up being just an average early-aughts action thriller. Nice cast though.

TIL: St. John Paul II noted that drug suppliers should be the primary object of legal and police action. He suggested that while it would be a mistake not to punish ordinary drug users, authorities should always take into account the personal and social factors that led to their addiction. Above all, users should be afforded the chance for rehabilitation.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 27, 2023

Bridge to Nowhere (1986) Hillbilly hermit hunts down peeping tom teens after their presence encourages his reluctant hut-mate to try and beat feet for the big city. Not necessarily a classic, but this oft-forgotten piece of Ozploitation is a decent entry in the backwoods horror genre. It even manages to throw in a little social commentary if you care to look for it.

TIL: Believe it or not, consecrated hermits are still a part of modern Church life, though they rarely live in caves anymore. The Code of Canon Law defines a hermit as one who has devoted their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance.

Zombie Brigade (1986) Small town Aussies want to open a theme park based on a Japanese superhero because why not, but they stupidly decide the best place to build it is on top of a Vietnam war memorial. The veterans buried there don't take kindly to the idea. It's actually a promising setup, but don't let that raise your expectations. The end product is dirt cheap, dreary, and dull.

TIL: In the late 18th century during the Tay Son rebellion, Catholics in Vietnam were heavily persecuted and many churches were destroyed. The 117 individuals the Church honors as the Saints collectively known as the Martyrs of Vietnam are just a representative sampling of the hundreds of thousands who were killed. 

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 25, 2023

Alone in the Dark (1982) Four psychotics break out of an asylum so they can lay siege to the home of the man they believe has murdered their favorite doctor. Without its cast of uber-recognizable faces this film would probably be relegated to mediocrity, but even if this were Jaws The Revenge level of bad (it's not), the scenery chewing from Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, and Martin Landau would easily add an extra star or two.

TIL: In Old Testament times, insanity was most often seen as a form of divine retribution for those who refused to heed the word of God. However, as the science around mental illness improved, so did the religious understanding. These days, the Church does not consider psychiatric disorders a moral failure or sign of insufficient faith, but rather a condition which science, medicine, and religion must work together to provide care for.

Kids vs. Aliens (2022) Kids left home alone decide to throw an unsanctioned house party. Unfortunately, uninvited guests arrive, bringing with them close encounters of the worst kind. To be sure, the setup offers some goofy adolescent shenanigans, but don't plop the little ones down in front of it just yet. That's because once the credits roll, this becomes as bleak as one of those old 80's kid flicks that left Generation X forever emotionally scarred.

TIL: The Church commonly defines the Age of Discretion as the age when a child is capable of making free acts of the will, thereby becoming morally responsible for their actions. It's usually considered to be around seven years of age. So kids, if you decide to throw a party while you're parents are away and murderous aliens show up, unless you're under seven, that's on you.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 6, 2023

The Exorcist: Believer (2023) After going missing for three days, two young girls return home, bringing something evil along with them. Fortunately for all the helpless preachers, priests, and manbo priestesses in Georgia, Chris MacNeil, the mother from the original Exorcist, knows exactly what it is and agrees to help out. The film is well-meaning with a strong first half and some interesting God-talk, but the relativistic CoeXisT exorcism is goofy, and even it's undermined by the fact that you can apparently beat the devil (if that's even what it is) if only you can get "the feels" strong enough. Wishy washy and disappointing.

TIL: The Church does promote an ecumenicism which seeks to establish visible unity among the diversity of ecclesial communities, but rejects the idea that all religions are just varying (and fallible) human expressions of a natural religious impulse or instinct, considering that to be one of the fundamental errors of modernism.

Funny Book Philosophy: The Avengers 068 (1969)

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 4, 2023

The Lost Continent (1968) Ship full of nogoodniks washes up on an uncharted isle overrun with carnivorous seaweed, plus-sized crustaceans, and the religiously confused descendants of Spanish conquistadors. Rather fun once the rubber monsters show up and the insanity kicks in. If anything, it's convincing evidence that at least some of Hammer's writers were dropping acid in the late 60's.

TIL: Some scientists speculate that pre-Pangaea there was another lost supercontinent called Rodinia that was destroyed in a cataclysm. Some Christians who take all of the pre-Abrahamic stories in Genesis literally suggest this may have been where Noah lived pre-deluge. That might have been a bit hard, though, considering scientists believe Rodinia existed before life made its way to dry land.

Do the makers of 'Mother Teresa & Me' understand the Dark Night? That's the question in my latest for Aleteia.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Sorry About the Demon (2022) Heartbroken nebbish Will is so pathetic that even the demon lurking in his new home doesn't want to possess him, so it tries to use the household ghosts to drive him out instead. However, unable to find anywhere else to go, Will decides everyone is just going to have to learn how to live together. Purposely silly and good natured, this makes for a lighthearted time killer.

TIL: As with most movies, this one has demons that can possess anyone at the drop of a hat. In the Church's understanding of possession, though, demons are more like spiritual "groomers", conditioning and manipulating their intended victims over time in order to wear down their will and entrap their souls.

There's been more than a few demon-possession flicks this year, but only one I've seen that tries to stick to what the Church actually teaches on the subject. For Aleteia this week, I take a look at Nefarious.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 17, 2023

Dr. Jekyll’s Dungeon of Death (1979) Continuing the family tradition of questionable medical practice, a mad doctor injects people with his great grandad's secret formula, compelling them to beat each other to death in his basement. Pretty sure this isn't the sequel Robert Louis Stevenson would have written, but since the film crew consists almost entirely of one guy and there's only a couple of sets, I suppose this is the sequel we get.

TIL: Early on, Robert Louis Stevenson was adamantly anti-religion and often disparaged belief of God, and yet in his later days he penned prayers for household worship meetings, a book of which was published by his wife following his death. "Strange as it may seem to you," he wrote to his strict Calvinist father, "everything has been, in one way or the other, bringing me nearer to what I think you would like me to be. 'Tis a strange world, indeed, but there is a manifest God for those who care to look for him."

Turns out that walking in the footsteps of Jesus and the prophets isn't just a metaphor. This week for  Aleteia I take a look at the new documentary Route 60: The Biblical Highway.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

 

Creature of the Walking Dead (1965) Some idiot brings his mad scientist grandpa back to life but discovers the old coot needs human blood to keep going. At least I think that's what happens. This is another one of those Jerry Warren specials wherein new unrelated footage is inserted into a re-edited re-scripted badly dubbed Mexican film, so what's actually going on is anybody's guess.

TIL: Riffing on the 4th Commandment, the Catechism notes that grown children have a responsibility toward their elderly family members. "As much as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress." Note, however, that there's nothing in there about trying to raise them from the dead to prey on the living.

Still Voices - Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) "Two heads are better than one only if they contain different opinions." - Kenneth Kaye

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 9, 2023

Man Beast (1956) After an expedition to the Himalayan Mountains to locate Yetis goes missing, a woman puts together a second group to rescue them. However, unbeknownst to our intrepid heroes, the Yetis have placed a spy in their midst. The purpose? To prevent the humans from interfering with the Yetis' ultimate goal, which is the acquisition of that most important of resources... dames. The pulpy plot is actually creepy and fun, but the unrelenting padding to stretch out the running time is nigh unbearable.

TIL: Oddly enough, in the Himalayan region, the number of Catholics has increased so much since 1970 that they now compose around 20% of the population. As is often the case, the surge came not as a direct result of preaching, but through the building of schools and hospitals, and though the Corporal Works of Mercy.

The Long Dark Night Gallery of the Soul #003: For your consideration... some paper bags. Yeah, yeah, I know, try to contain your excitement. The reason for showing you bags was the process fascinated me. The idea of the exercise was not to pre-sketch the overall image, but to just work on finishing small sections of ink washes, slowly letting the bigger picture emerge in its own time as each section was completed.  Art and life are like that sometimes. While it's happening you may not always be able to see how the little section you're working on contributes to something bigger, but as God has assured us, your contribution matters. Have faith and do the work. "Your big picture will never be a masterpiece if you ignore the tiny brushstrokes." - Andy Andrews

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

Amsterdamned (1988) A maniacal scuba diver stalks the canals of Amsterdam. I don't know, can you stalk underwater? Lurks, maybe? Dog-paddles dastardly? Whatever, this is a surprisingly decent Giallo-adjacent thriller with slasher elements and an unexpected,  but well done James Bond style boat chase scene plopped right in the middle of it. If it sounds all over the place, it is, but it's never less than entertaining.

TIL: There is no officially designated saint for scuba divers, but lots of folks unofficially claim St. Brendan the Navigator for the position based mainly on the start of a prayer honoring him which goes, "God of sea and land, you endowed your servant Brendan with a bold and adventurous spirit, to occupy himself for your business on the great waters, and revealed to him your wonders in the deep." Works for me.

One Sheet Words of Wisdom: Anthropophagous (1980) "You can only come to the morning through the shadows." - J. R. R. Tolkien

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 26, 2023

The Demolitionist (1995) What if the powers that be decided to make a female version of Robocop, but all they had to work with was some pocket change, a few scraps of latex, and one of the ladies from Baywatch? Well, not to worry as that seemingly imponderable question has already been answered.  To be sure, you may not like said answer,  but at least there is one. Cameo aficionados will have fun spotting the likes of Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, Bruce Campbell, and Reggie Bannister, but that may just make you wistful wondering what a movie starring Ash and Reg would have been like. If only somebody would have answered that question instead.

TIL: In the original Robocop 2, it's suggested that Murphy's sense of duty springing from his devout Catholicism is the only reason he's able to survive the horrors of the Cyborg transformation while all the other Godless heathens used as test subjects end up committing suicide. This is likely because Christianity teaches it's possible for unavoidable suffering to be offered up for the good of others rather than wasted in despair.

Freeze Frames #013: "True villains are extremely photogenic." - Wallace Stevens

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 21, 2023

The Long Dark Night Gallery of the Soul #002: For your consideration... a colored pencil study I did of a mosaic, the name and location of which I'm ashamed to say I didn't write down. "None of us is alone in this world; each of us is a vital piece of the great mosaic of humanity as a whole." - Pope John Paul II

Dad Rock Diary: Dead Kennedy's - Frankenchrist (1985) Fans seem to consider this the kinder, gentler Dead Kennedy's, but for the uninitiated, that's probably like receiving a kindler, gentler boot to the face from an angry rioter. Just saying, if you're having one of those days when you're ready to burn the whole military-industrial complex to the ground, this is still an acceptable soundtrack. Laudable Lyrics: People, we know who should know better howl, "America rules, let's go to war!" Business scams are what's worth dying for!

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 16, 2023

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) A British nobleman (Christopher Lee!) is troubled by a family curse and the spectral beast which accompanies it. All seems hopeless, but not to worry, Sherlock Holmes is on the case. One of the best adaptations of one of Arthur Conan Doyle's best stories with Peter Cushing providing one of the best onscreen Sherlock Holmes. It's a shame this didn't do well enough to convince Hammer to turn it into a series but, alas, you take what you can get.

TIL: Modern interpreters of the character predictably try to claim Holmes as an atheist, however, the books strongly hinted Sherlock was a believer of some sort. The detective once mused, "Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers."

Freeze Frames #012:  "Looking up into the night sky is looking into infinity — distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless" - Douglas Adams

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 11, 2023

Amityville Vampire (2021) A cleaning crew in something vaguely resembling the Amityville house run across a nosferatu, but are quickly forgotten as the movie becomes an anthology about vampires running around somewhere else entirely. Since the word Amityville can't be copyrighted there are, as of August 2023, at least 56 movies or shorts with Amityville in the title and this... is certainly one of them. I mean, it's marginally watchable in an "at least it's not porn" kind of way, but overall it's (hopefully) just another nail in the coffin of the trend of slapping the name Amityville on a movie just to garner a few more streams.

TIL: For obvious reasons, Scripture can't be copyrighted so, as of August 2023, there are nearly 2,900 different versions of the Bible floating around out there. To help the Church weed out those with too many errors in adaptation, or just full of outright agenda-related gobbledygook, the Vatican reserves the right to approve all translations of Lectionaries or biblical texts that are read during the Liturgy, though it does grant local ordinaries the authority to issue imprimaturs (In Latin: (let it be printed!) and Nihil obstats (In Latin: nothing hinders) to various other translations for personal study.

Short Feature: The Amityville Cute Farting Cat - It's a cute cat that farts while walking around the Amityville House for 46 seconds. That's it. And it's still better than most movies that have come out in the past decade with Amityville in the title. Enjoy.

In flatulence-related news, there's a story in the first book of Judges in which Caleb offers to marry off his daughter Achsah to whomever successfully conquers the city of Kiriath-sepher. When Achsah hears the news, there is some argument amongst translators over of her exact response. At least one Biblical scholar, Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver, insists the proper translation of the original Hebrew is that Achsah let one rip, thereby voicing (so to speak) her disapproval. For some reason, most versions of the Bible have decided not to include this translation.

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 9, 2023

Guess What Happened to Count Dracula? (1971) Keep guessing. This snoozer isn't even about ol' Vlad, but rather his ne'er-do-well son Adrian, who runs a nightclub of sorts for 70's proto-goths in a low rent section of L.A. There's some sort of plot about Adrian's fixation on one of his patrons, but you'll be hard pressed to stay awake long enough to figure it out. Rumor has it this was either shot as hardcore porn and then had the sex parts removed to make it presentable in drive-ins, or else filmed as is and then had hardcore scenes added later to trick the 42nd Street crowd into watching it. No matter, it wouldn't have worked either way.

TIL: Every so often, as if no one had ever thought of it before, detractors of the Bible will try to accuse Scripture of being pornographic due to its depictions of such things as incest, rape, gruesome murders, bestiality, gross bodily functions, etc. etc. What these atheistic puritans seem to ignore is intent and context. As with some (certainly not all) R-rated films, the occasional depiction in the Bible of the lousy things people do is not meant to titillate or arouse, but to communicate real truths about the human condition, one which God didn't sneer at from on high, but entered into personally to help us navigate.

Still Voices: Ready Player One (2018) "The danger is quite real that souls habituated to constant technological stimuli will never be silent with themselves, never alone in a receptive manner, and so never able to discover God in a personal encounter of prayer." - Fr. Donald Haggerty

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 6, 2023

The Stay Awake (1987) Catholic girls (well, girls in a movie reality sense of the word) having a sleepover at their high school use crucifixes, rosaries, and random crap they find in classrooms to combat a serial killer's demonic ghost. Sure, it ain't great, but how many South African attempts at a Freddy Krueger style slasher flick full of 80's rubber monsters are you gonna get the chance to watch? Um, likely just this one come to think of it. And honestly, that's probably enough.

TIL: Between the Dutch East India Company and the British government, Catholicism was actually outlawed in South Africa until the mid-1800's. However, once the Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrived, the Church began to take a foothold the way it always does, by making people less miserable through the establishment of agricultural initiatives, hospitals, and yes, schools. Not sure the school in this movie is what they had in mind though.

Back in high school, I had a very nice teacher tell me that while I obviously had some artistic skill, my true talent lay in writing and I should pursue that. Later, in college, during a weekly painting class critique session (a soul crushing experience for those in the know), my instructor offered his opinion that although I was a competent artist with interesting ideas, he sensed that at heart I was a storyteller and shouldn't abandon that path. And they weren't the only ones. Apparently, the gist of it all was that I should keep picking up a pen, but not necessarily to draw.

The thing is, when it comes to such matters, sometimes it feels like you don't have a choice. In his book Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Miller explained how "every now and then, especially if there are no visitors for a spell, the watercolor mania comes over me." What he was getting at is that he knew he could write books people wanted to buy, but he HAD to paint. See, even if you're known for something else (even if it's only by a few dozen people who follow you on the internet like myself), the "artsy fartsy" compulsion is a thing you just have to let loose sometimes.

So, I've decided to let it loose for a little bit, and from time to time will be sharing some art, if you want to call it that, that I've created over the years. All that being said, let's just go ahead and start with something weird.

The Long Dark Night Gallery of the Soul #001: For your consideration... an ink sketch from the journal (I have a few) I occasionally use to bleed off negative emotions at the end of some long, late nights. "A great obstacle to happiness is to expect too much happiness." - Bernard de Fontenelle

DAILY CALL SHEET: AUGUST 3, 2023

Monster Brawl (2011) The world's toughest monsters are assembled for a MMA-style pay-per-view tournament. Wrasslin' fans may chuckle at the cast of recognizable WWE faces and gore hounds might appreciate the Mortal Kombat-style finishing moves, buuuut...  overall, this plays out like something that would've worked much better as a short SNL sketch. Also, WTH is Dave Foley doing here? Are actors from the Great White North under some blood oath to appear in anything Canadian? On the plus side, it's got Lance Henriksen as the voice of God, which is acceptable.

TIL: As with many things, the Church has made no formal declaration on the morality of sports like boxing or MMA. Instead, it tasks the participants with weighing their training and personal motivations against the demands of the particular sport and their spiritual responsibility for bodily integrity. Even more complicated, it asks spectators to examine their reasons for watching. Are they tuning in based on an appreciation of skill or for the excitement of competition, or is it just to see real people bash each others brains in?

Freeze Frames #011: "I count it as a certainty that in paradise, everyone naps." - Tom Hodgkinson