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.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 18, 2024

Watership Down (1987) After their warren is demolished to make way for condominiums, a group of rabbits led by the stalwart Hazel and his soothsaying brother Fiver make their way across the countryside in search of a new sanctuary. Dogs, hawks, men, and even competing bunnies complicate the journey. Full of mythology, politics, and more than it's fair share of violent bloody death, this landmark in childhood traumatization won't be for everyone, but for those with whom it resonates, it will always linger. Bonus emotional ordeal: trying not to choke up when Art Garfunkel's Bright Eyes starts playing.

TIL: Literalists have a rough time with Leviticus 11 where it talks about rabbits chewing their cud because, of course, rabbits do no such thing. Rabbits do, however, chew on their own cecotrope, a type of soft greasy feces that aids in secondary digestion. Given the visual similarity between chewing cud and gnawing on rabbit pellets, not to mention the general grossness of an animal eating its own poop, it's forgivable for the author to have lumped rabbits in with cud chewers to be avoided for sanitary reasons. Besides, with the language barrier inherent in translating the original scripts, who knows if cud is even the exact interpretation.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Putting pencil to thoughts on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 14, 2024

Divinity (2023) The plot? Let's try. A billionaire peddles his father's serum which grants immortality at the price of sterility, resulting in a hedonistic civilization built around passionless orgies. Two extraterrestrials (angels?) arrive to right things but get caught up in drama with a hooker. Meanwhile, a secret cult of women try to bring back babies. This in your face experimental and purposely cryptic sci-fi saga sits squarely in the "not for everybody" category, but if overtly weird black and white art films inspired by anime is to your tastes, you'll have a blast with this.

TIL: For those who have replaced religion with politics, scientism, or whatever, the film's underlying premise that the natural order of things is to grow old and pass the world to the children when the time comes will likely feel like a slap in the face. It shouldn't, though. As Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD, Senior Ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center, reminds us, a truly authentic human experience is a combination of longing for the infinite (God) while having to embrace and grow through the limitations inherent in having a finite body. You can't obtain the former by trying to bypass the latter.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Still scribbling down thoughts on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 10, 2024

Never Say Never Again. (1986) SPECTRE sends Largo to steal a couple of nuclear warheads causing James Bond and his usual bevy of beauties to swim into action. If that sounds like Thunderball, it is, as some legal mumbo jumbo allowed producer/writer Kevin McClory to retain filming rights to the original novel. To make it seem more like a legitimate Bond flick, Warner Brothers lured Sean Connery back to give the role of Agent 007 one more go. The results are okay, especially if you like a lot of in-movie jokes about Bond's age or watching him throw his own urine in someone's face. What? It happens.

TIL: Okay, look, Connery was only 52 when he signed up for Never Say Never Again, but I guess that's elderly by super spy standards. Being 007 is probably hard on the knees. Heck, when I hit 52, everything was hard on the knees. Still, as Pope Francis noted, longevity is a blessing and that the elderly have a place in God’s saving plan. Maybe not stopping madmen with nuclear bombs, mind you, but as the Pontiff put it, as an "indispensable link in educating children and young people in the faith... [and as] actors in a pastoral evangelizing ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love”.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: More scatterbrained scribbles based on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 5, 2024

Demons (1985) A disparate group of ticket holders must come together to fend for their lives when demonic spirits from the horror movie they are watching begin to inhabit audience members. With the exits barred and no refunds available, it's either become one of the possessed or become a pile of guts on the already sticky theater floor. Fundamentally a zombie flick, but elevated by producer Dario Argento and director Lamberto Bava, who bring with them an overabundance of style and all the neon bulbs Italy had on hand in the mid 80's.

TIL: While the Church doesn't teach that demons will pop out of the silver screen and possess you, she is naturally concerned about the effects cinema can have on a person's soul. Pope Pius XI wrote, “There does not exist today a means of influencing the masses more potent than the cinema… [it] teaches the majority of men more effectively than abstract reasoning." That's why he recommended learning about the techniques and conventions of film-craft, so you can recognize when you're being manipulated by a movie in an unhealthy way.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Dashing out more doodles on my daily Scripture readings.