DAILY CALL SHEET: MARCH 27, 2025

 

Tomb of Torture (1963) Someone with a really messed up face kills two girls in a castle where a countess was long ago murdered. Unaware of those events and plagued by visions that she is the reincarnation of the dead noblewoman, a young(ish) woman and her father travel to the castle looking for answers. They don't like the ones they find. The film tries valiantly to be a Bava-esque gothic thriller, but the unfortunate choice of cartoonish library music makes the whole thing feel like a hard PG-13 episode of Scooby Doo.

TIL: "Music, great music", Pope Benedict XVI remarked after attending a concert by Chinese pianist Jin Ju, "distends the spirit, arouses profound emotions and almost naturally invites us to raise our minds and hearts to God in all situations of human existence, the joyful and the sad. Music can become prayer." Of course, the qualifier there is the word great. The choice of lackluster or inappropriate music, be it at church or on a movie soundtrack, can ruin the desired atmosphere.

Still Voices: Gamera vs. Jiger (1970) - "And the turtles, of course...all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be." - Dr. Seuss

DAILY CALL SHEET: MARCH 18, 2025

Funny Book Philosophy: Nighthawk 001 (1998) Remembering that time Nighthawk ran into Daredevil at mass and Matt gives him a quick lesson on Easter.

DAILY CALL SHEET: MARCH 17, 2025

Adam and Eve (1983) After getting the boot from Eden, the titular couple run afoul of pterodactyl puppets and a guy dressed in a bear suit seemingly made by a special effects person who only vaguely remembers what a bear is supposed to look like. They also interact with various Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals, one of whom Eve temporarily hooks up with after her and Adam have a spat. The movie never really explains why all of this stuff might have been left out of the Bible, but if one had to guess, it's probably because it's all so abysmally dull.

TIL: Scripture doesn't mention what takes place between Adam and Eve's expulsion from Eden and the birth of Cain because, well, it just doesn't matter to the story of salvation history the Bible is telling. Still, people like to imagine what might have gone on in the narrative gaps. The Church is fine with such noodling as long as the resulting guesses take into account the living traditions of the Church and don't contradict what is theologically certain. It might also be a good idea to leave out the pterodactyls, at least if you want to be taken seriously.

One Sheet Words of Wisdom: Adam and Eve l(1983) "Had Adam tenderly reproved his wife, and endeavored to lead her to repentance instead of sharing in her guilt, I should be much more ready to accord to man that superiority which he claims." - Sarah Moore Grimke

DAILY CALL SHEET: MARCH 6, 2025

Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966) We begin the story with the already notorious Rasputin as he seems to miraculously heal an innkeeper's wife, after which he immediately seduces the man's daughter. Just giving God some sins worth forgiving, Rasputin claims. After that, the alleged holy man heads for Saint Petersburg where he worms his way into the good graces of the Russian royal family. Nothing good happens after that. Actually, there's very little historical accuracy here, but who cares when you've got Christopher Lee going hard as the hypnotic huckster.

TIL: How did some high ranking members of the Orthodox Church fall for Rasputin's schtick? Didn't any of them read 2 Cor 11 where it says, "For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough… For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who masquerade as apostles of Christ." You'd think Rasputin's teaching that you could drive out sin with sin would have been a clue something was off.