DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 17, 2024

The Return of the Vampire (1943) Smack dab in the middle of WWII, German bombs unearth a vampire who, though he dresses and acts like Universal's Dracula and is played by Bela Lugosi, is definitely not to be confused with Universal's Dracula. He's Armand Tesla. You got that, lawyers? Anyway, Tesla brings his fluffy wolfman servant along with him and generally causes mayhem for the family who staked him the first time around. The movie is missing some of the stylistic touches found in the Universal oeuvre, but has enough of its own quirky charm and atmosphere to carry it along.

TIL: Speaking of people who aren't quite the real thing, in Matthew 4 Jesus warned his followers about future imposters, saying, “See that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many." Not only was he right, but it's getting worse. The Wikipedia list of people who have claimed to be Jesus notes one in the 17th century, two in the 18th, nine in the 19th, and thirty in the 20th century. Heck, we're only 1/4 of the way into the 21st century and there's already twelve. So, what's worse, that we're producing greater numbers of people with delusions of grandeur, or that people keep falling for them?

I HAVE SOME NOTES: More rambling reflections on my Daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 14, 2024

Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) After hearing about possible sightings of Frankenstein's creature in Transylvania, two tabloid reporters from America fly over to investigate. It isn't long before they find more monsters than they bargained for, including an overly sensitive wolfman and a sex starved bloodsucker. With the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley, Jr., Gena Davis, Carol Kane, and Michael Richards, the cast of this horror comedy is to die for, but alas the scriptwriter must have already died first because the jokes are mostly dead on arrival. To be fair, though, Richards alone makes it worth at least one watch.

TIL: While most know that Transylvania's most famous son, Vlad III, was somewhat of an inspiration for Dracula, his true story is just as interesting. Taken hostage by Muslims, the teenage Vlad was tortured while his younger brother Radu was made a sex slave to the Sultan. These experiences no doubt influenced his decision to wage war against the invading Turks when he got the chance, declaring in a letter, "we will not flee before their savagery, but stand by all of the Christians, and if He will kindly lend his ear to the prayers of his poor subjects and grants us victory over the Infidels, the Enemies of the Cross of Christ."

I HAVE SOME NOTES: More oddball takes on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 11, 2024

 

Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) Peeved that a priest has performed an exorcism on his castle, the newly resurrected Count sets his sights, and fangs, on the holy man's niece. Okay, so it's not the most riveting script Hammer ever churned out, but the lack of plot is more than made up for by the director's choice to layer a Bava-esque color scheme over Hammer's already lavish production values. In short, don't fret over the scarcity of story, but rather bask in the glory of Christopher Lee lit in deep oranges, greens, and purples.

TIL: It wasn't until the 1200's that Pope Innocent III declared that white, red, green, purple, and black would be the Church's official liturgical colors. The use of black vestments fell out of use over time though, and finally went missing from the list when Paul VI recodified the allowable liturgical colors in 1969 as white, green, red and purple, with other colors like rose, blue, gold, and black limited to special days. There's no guidelines on specific shades, though, so any priest out there willing to risk laughter by wearing chartreuse, knock yourself out.

now showing at a blog near you: A North Dakota farm girl Saint? Seems that way. For Aleteia this week,  I take a look at Radiating Joy - The Michelle Duppong Story, in theaters for one day on November 12.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 8, 2024

 

Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) Embarrassed and/or disgusted by Roland Emmerich's attempt to pass off an overgrown iguana as the Big G in 1998, Toho decided to bring the original back to theaters just in time for Y2K. Their idea to better the American film was to have Godzilla battle... a large rock. The sad thing is, as lame as that sounds, it is better. Despite some pretty dodgy CGI, the miniatures and suit work are top notch, and once the rock reveals its true nature, the movie moves into classic kaiju territory. This is probably nobody's favorite Godzilla movie, but it's an enjoyable enough addition to the franchise.

TIL: When many Protestants speak of the Millennium, they are referring to an expected 1,000 year reign of Christ on Earth before Satan is unleashed to usher in the end of the world, basing this belief on a few verses from the book of Revelation. A handful of Early Church Fathers knocked this idea around but, agreeing with Augustine, the Church ultimately rejected this notion as Scripture as a whole doesn't support the idea of a complete Christianization of the world before it ends. Instead, the Church interprets the "Millennium" in an allegorical and moral sense as representing, well, right now, the time between Jesus' first and second coming.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: One notepad, one pencil, and a lot of goofy notes on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: NOVEMBER 4, 2024

 

Pete's Dragon (1977) On the run from the abusive Gogan clan, an orphan and his animated occasionally-invisible dragon pal Elliott take up with a kindly family in their lighthouse. However, when the greedy Dr. Terminus catches wind of Elliott's existence and smells a profit, all heck breaks loose. Yes, heck. This is a Disney musical after all, and one featuring Helen Reddy at that, so heck is all you're getting. That might make it a little too saccharine for today's jaded kiddies but in the late 70's this was peak live-action Disney, so it remains a nice nostalgic trip for those who were youngsters at the time.

TIL: In the 11th chapter of the book of Wisdom it makes note that, had He been so inclined, God could have created brand new wrathful beasts that could pour out smoke and breathe fire on the wicked. In short, God could have made dragons if He wanted too. Instead, the author goes on to say, God passed on that option and chose instead to let the sinful be punished by the very things through which they sin. That's kind of worse because it means, while we definitely suffer from many natural evils, our punishments come from our own moral evils and could be avoided if we were willing to put in the effort.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Continuing to scribble down thoughts on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 30, 2024

 I HAVE SOME NOTES: More not so notable notes on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 24, 2024

 I HAVE SOME NOTES: More meandering musings on my daily Scripture readings.