DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 24, 2026

Audition (1999) Seven years after the death of his wife, Shigeharu Aoyama is ready to get back out there on the dating scene. The problem is, he doesn't really know how to go about it anymore. Fortunately (or so he thinks), Shigeharu's producer pal Yasuhisa comes up with the brilliant idea to hold fake casting calls where young women will come thinking they are auditioning for a TV show, but they are really auditioning as potential dates for Shigeharu. When former ballerina Asami shows up for a reading, Shigeharu is immediately smitten, but complications arise when none of her references can be verified, most of them due to the fact that they have disappeared. Shigeharu  ignores these red flags, though, because he believes he's found love again. However, as romance begins to blossom between the two, Shigeharu learns Asami wasn't the only one auditioning for a role. While certainly not his first film, this is the one that put director Takashi Miike on everyone's radar, It's deservedly praised for its increasingly unnerving storyline and one of horror cinema's greatest WTF moments, which hopefully won't be ruined before you see it.

 

You don't get a lot of dating advice from the Early Church Fathers, Aquinas, and the lot because what we think of as dating these days is pretty much a 20th century invention. Even more recent Catholic writings often uses the older language of courtship rather than dating. Still, the principles of romantic relationships apply no matter what you call it. The Church views dating as a form of discernment ordered toward marriage, and any romantic date should be held to the same moral standards that govern chastity, the dignity of the person, and the goods of marriage. It should be fun, yes, but also a time of getting to know a date's character, faith, compatibility, and readiness for marriage. In fact, that's probably one of the reasons the Church still uses the language of courtship rather than that modern casual dating, because courtship makes the potential marital purpose of the act clearer.

 

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) What is the true origin of Michael Myers? What is the final fate of the character of his niece, Jamie Lloyd? Can Dr. Loomis put an end to the Boogie Man once and for all? All these questions and more are answered in the worst way possible in this patched together sequel that features a visibly ill Donald Pleasance, some new guy named Paul Rudd, unnecessary ickiness like incest by artificial insemination, and a bunch of gobbledygook about ancient druid curses that ends up diminishing the character of Michael Myers rather than adding to it. The film made money because it's a Halloween movie, but everyone disliked it so much the producers first tried releasing an alternate version on home video to calm fan outrage, then just gave up and erased all the niece and druid stuff from the timeline with the next film. On the positive side, at least Curse is not considered the worst Halloween movie simply because 2002's Halloween: Resurrection exists.

 

Before St. Patrick showed up to finish cleaning things up, a native group of clergymen now known as The Four Holy Bishops are believed to have evangelized the south and southeast parts of Ireland. Among the four was Ibar of Beggerin, a noble of Ulster who was reportedly educated by druids before entering the Church. Interestingly enough, while the Church would eventually forbid druidic practices as heretical, it was the 1st century Romans who actually suppressed and massacred most of them. In fact, though legend has it a few druids died while challenging Patrick to a miracle contest, there are no records of a single druid being executed by the Church. Like so many other pagan religions, the teachings and practices of the druids were simply found lacking when compared to Christianity and they faded away into history and storybooks.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 16, 2026

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) One hundred years after Dracula's last death, young Jessica Van Helsing and her hippie friends are convinced by Johnny Alucard to perform a Black Mass. Hey, all the kids are doing it. During the supposedly mock ceremony, Dracula is resurrected and begins to pursue Jessica, hoping to end the Van Helsing line once and for all. However, Jessica's grandfather, Lorimer Van Helsing, is still kicking and ready to pick up the family business of killing vampires. This being the seventh and next to last Hammer Horror featuring Dracula, there are some diminishing returns to be expected, but it's still Cushing and Lee doing the things we like to see them do, so it evens out. It's also one of Tim Burton's top ten recommended movies for what that's worth.

In addition to Dracula's return, 1972 was also the year geologist Laszlo Toth attacked and damaged Michelangelo’s Pietà. Toth claimed the almighty couldn't have a mother, so the blasphemous statue must be destroyed. I guess he didn't realize Catholics call Mary “Mother of God” because of who Jesus is, not because they think she is older than God or the source of the Trinity. As the Catechism explains, Jesus is one Person with two natures, divine and human. A mother gives birth to a person, not to a nature. Since the Person Mary conceived and bore is God the Son made flesh, she is truly His mother. It's a logical teaching that helps protect against heresies such as Nestorianism. Of course, Toth also believed he himself was Jesus, so logical arguments weren't his strong point.

 

Terror at Red Wolf Inn (1972) It's Spring Break and all of the college students are headed out of town to have some fun except for poor Regina because, well, she's poor. Image her delight, then, when Regina receives a letter stating she has won an all-expenses paid vacation at a coastal B&B called the Red Wolf Inn. Once there, Regina is introduced to Henry and Evelyn Smith, the old couple who run the place, as well as their handsome but simple grandson Baby John and the other young women who have also been granted a free trip. With everyone present, the Smiths treat them all to a lavish dinner, heavy on the meat. Alas, after such a promising start to the weekend, things start going downhill quickly as the guests go missing one by one. On the positive side, though, the meat portions at mealtime keep getting larger. Will Regina's rapidly blossoming relationship with Baby John be the key to her escaping the inn, or will her new beau insist she show up for dinner… as the entrée? For sure, the movie drags here and there, but the scenes that work do so well, and the ending makes it all worthwhile.

 

So, what's the protocol when having to choose between your intended and your cannibalistic parents? Probably the same if your parents weren't cannibals. The guidelines go all the way back to Genesis where it says, "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." Now, since the Fourth Commandment must not be violated, the Hebrew verb in this verse (ʿazab)  usually translated as "leaves" or "forsakes" cannot mean to stop honoring your parents, cut them off, or refuse to care for them when they are old or in need. What it does mean is that marriage demands a God-ordained transfer of primary loyalty from the parents to the spouse. The husband and wife must give the first place in affection, decision-making, and household loyalty to each other. That means no running home to mommy or daddy when there's a fight, and no controlling in-laws making decisions for the family. That probably goes double if they're cannibals.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 10, 2026

Urban Legend (1998) A young woman on her way back to college pulls into a gas station in the middle of nowhere, but quickly gets the creeps when the clerk tries to stop her from leaving. What she realizes too late is that the clerk has seen an axe murderer lying in the backseat of the car and is only trying to save her. Oops. And thus begins a series of killings based on old urban legends that will plague the students of Pendleton University as they try to navigate the soap opera that is their love lives. This is hardly the best of the Scream cash-ins made in the late '90s, but where else can you get kills centered around Pop Rocks and the Ohio Players' Love Rollercoaster? Of course, those set-pieces, along with everything else in the movie, are overshadowed by Rebecca Gayheart's out-of-control hairdo, which really should have gotten its own credit.

 

Some of the most fun parts in the stories about the Saints are, of course, the ones that probably never happened. You know, old urban legends like St. George's dragon, St, Christopher's dog head, the milk flowing out of St. Catherine of Alexandria's neck, St. Wilgefortis' miraculous lady beard, and so on. To trim down the crowded General Roman Calendar, those Saints whose exploits were mostly legendary were removed, but this doesn't mean they were un-canonized, or that their stories don't matter anymore. That's because even in Medieval hagiographies, such legends were never meant to be taken as a history text, and the Church never required a belief in them. Instead, even the most outlandish legends were intended to edify and inspire, and there's no reason they can't still do so. After all, sometimes it takes a legend to make a point a historian can't.

 

Lifeform (1996) One of NASA's Viking landers returns to Earth from Mars, which is odd considering it was never designed to do that. The craft is taken to a nearby aerospace research facility where scientists and the military argue over who has authority in this situation. The argument is settled for them, however, when something pops out of the lander and escapes into the facility's corridors. Likely having watched enough movies, the military locks everything down and prepares for a fight, but the expected bloodbath never comes. Instead, the armored alien seems more interested in peacefully hacking into the humans' computers, only taking a break to emerge from its exoskeleton to stare wistfully at the lead scientist. Unconvinced, the military guns the creature down anyway, which may be a mistake as the alien has also laid an egg, and what hatches from it has no intention of being as nice as its predecessor in obtaining their goal. This is a nice little DTV feature that turns the usual alien-movie playbook against the audience to keep the central mystery going.

 

It's always nice when a movie doesn't go the way you think it will, but it can de irritating when it happens in real life. Lots of Saints have warned against clinging to how we think things should go, expecting too much from ourselves or others, and then losing peace when reality doesn’t match the picture in our heads. St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop advises, "Never expect perfection, and bear quietly the defects that from time to time come under your notice… Pray to be ever ready for God’s will even when it takes you by surprise.” St. Catherine of Siena adds, “Everything that happens to us… can or will disturb us [only] if we do not hold these things in reverence, reflecting that they come from God.” St. Faustina concludes, “The past does not belong to me; the future is not mine; with all my soul I try to make use of the present moment.” In short, we should never stop wanting good things, but we should never let our expectations become idols. After all, it's God’s script, not ours.

DAILY CALL SHEET: OCTOBER 8, 2026

Bloodfist (1989) When Jake Raye (Don "The Dragon" Wilson) learns his brother has been killed in the Philippines, the self-defense teacher travels there to retrieve the body. However, once Jake finds out the killer will be participating in a last-man-standing martial arts tournament, he chooses to stick around and join in. The trouble is, as Raye kicks and chops his way through the competition, he gets conflicting information on which of his opponents is his brother's murderer. How will Raye know who to kill? It's not really surprising that Roger Corman would ride the coattails of the Jean-Claude Van Damme hit Bloodsport, it's just surprising that Corman didn't get to produce Bloodsport itself. Maybe that's part of the reason Corman made sure Bloodfist's poster carried the blurb, "Don Wilson would kick Van Damme's a-- in one round!"

 

In Exodus it states, "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but keeps his bed, then if the man rises again and walks abroad with his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed." By itself, this warning to the ancient Jews about getting their fists bloody is simply basic civil law, but taken in the context of Genesis, where it's established that people are made in God's image, it points to something greater. It reminds us that taking life or damaging the body is not just a private injury; it is an assault on something that belongs to God.

 

Tormented (1960) Tom's got it made. He's a successful jazz pianist, he lives ion a cool lighthouse, and he's getting married to the lovely Meg. Alas, his ex Vi shows up threatening to derail everything unless Tom comes back to her. As they argue at the top of the lighthouse, a railing breaks and Vi plummets to her death. Rather than inform anyone, Tom goes on as if nothing happened, at least until ghostly footprints start appearing on the beach and a disembodied hand steals his and Meg's wedding rings. Even worse, the local ferryman arrives to blackmail Tom with the knowledge that Vi never left the island. With all that going on, Tom decides it's past time to deal with Vi's spirit, but it's not a good idea to tell a live woman to calm down, much less a dead one. For once, Bert I Gordon doesn't enlarge anything to ludicrous proportions, but he probably should have as that might have livened things up a bit.

 

Like so many other people, Tom just doesn't want to face his guilt. That's unfortunate, as guilt isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sure, there's all the jokes about "Catholic Guilt", that supposed lifelong neurosis where someone wrings their hands over every little perceived wrong. However, that's what we call the sin of scrupulosity, which is the act of seeing mortal sin where there is none, treating small faults as catastrophes, or refusing to believe a sin is forgiven after confession. The good kind of guilt, the sorrow and awareness that one has actually done wrong, is meant to wake the conscience and lead a person back to God. It can be unpleasant, for sure, but it helps lead to contrition, self-knowledge, and growth as a person. Well, if you let it, that is. You can always just try to avoid feeling guilt over anything and remain unevolved as a human being, but that's up to you.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

Showgirls (1995) Ambitious exotic dancer Nomi heads to Las Vegas to make it as a showgirl, but must take work as a stripper until she gets her big break. While visiting a friend at a casino, Nomi meets Cristal, the lead dancer in the revue Goddess. Though attracted to Nomi, Cristal insinuates the young woman is little more than a prostitute, and to prove her point, shows up at Nomi's workplace to humiliate her. Eventually, Cristal does arrange for Nomi to get a spot on the chorus line of Goddess, but more humiliations follow. Fed up, Nomi pushes the older woman down a flight of stairs, breaking Cristal's hip. Sensing the chance to realize her ambitions at last, Nomi fights for and lands the lead role in Goddess. However, the new star soon discovers that life at the top of the world may not be all she dreamed it would be. Campy out the wazoo, Showgirls is another Paul Verhoeven cult classic where, like Starship Troopers, the film wallows so much in what it intends to satire that the joke almost gets lost and you end up laughing at the movie instead of with it.

 

Aquinas defines ambition as the inordinate desire for honor. Of course, honor itself is not a bad thing as it's the recognition of real excellence, but the desire for it can become disordered in basically three ways, These would be wanting honor for an excellence you do not actually possess, wanting honor for yourself without referring it back to God from whom every gift comes, or resting in the honor itself instead of using whatever excellence you have for the good of others. Now, despite Aquinas' definition, not all ambition is disordered, as it can be a sign of magnanimity to aspire to great and difficult goods. Basically, if ambition is ordered toward holiness, service, the common good, and the glory of God, it is a virtue, but if it is ordered toward status, power, applause, or self-sufficiency, it is a form of pride, and will lead your soul to ruin. Just ask Nomi. Once you stop laughing, that is.

The Pyx (1973) Elizabeth, a drug-addicted prostitute, throws herself off a building while holding a crucifix and a pyx. The detective assigned to the case, Sgt. Henderson, learns that Elizabeth, a lapsed Catholic, was struggling to turn her life around,  but things weren't going well due to her involvement with a new client. Making his way through Montreal's network of hookers and druggies, Henderson learns that Elizabeth fell in with an ex-priest and other occultists who have plans for the confused woman that don't involve helping her improve her situation. But what does that have to do with the pyx she was holding and what will Henderson do when he learns the truth?  Karen Black and Christopher Plummer headline this surprisingly well-done thriller. Bonus points for having Black write and sing all the original songs on the soundtrack, which adds an extra layer of pathos to her character's story.

 

Most Catholics know a pyx is small container, usually round, that is used by a priest, deacon, of Extraordinary Minister to transport a consecrated communion wafer to those who can't make it to mass, particularly the sick, homebound, or dying. But have they ever wondered what happens if, God forbid, somebody loses the thing while the host is still in it? Well, if it's subsequently found, it goes back to the priest immediately, who consumes it on the spot. If it isn't though, there are processes in place, depending on the reason it was lost. Most parishes keep a record of when a pyx goes out the door and who has it. So, if the loss was accidental, the person responsible is considered gravely negligent, but the matter is handled pastorally, usually involving a prayer of reparation. If the loss (or theft) is intentional, though, as happens in the movie, then you're talking automatic excommunication. Best just to be careful with it.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 23, 2026

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) A man with no name drifts into San Miguel, a small frontier town where the criminal Rojo and Baxter families compete for total control. Recognizing an entrepreneurial opportunity when he sees one, the nameless stranger begins covertly working for both sides. When the Rojos nab a chest of gold from the Mexican army, the stranger concocts a scheme to secure the treasure for himself, but with all the double and triple crosses going on, things quickly get complicated and bloody, much to the enrichment of the local coffin maker. With the right source material (Kurosawa's Yojimbo), the right director (Sergio Leone), the right star (Clint Eastwood), and the right composer (Ennio Morricone), this is one of cinema's perfect storms, a rare coming together of talents at just the right time to reinvent the western. Not only is the film undeniably great, but it would lead to even greater ones down the line.

 

While playing both sides makes for good movies, the Bible isn't too fond of the idea, especially when the two sides are God or anything that tries to rival Him, be it false idols, the self, or whatever else the world offers in God's place. When the choice is between God or something else, there is no safe neutrality or divided loyalty, you have to make a decision. As it says in Joshua 24, "And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Of course, you're free to choose any of the options on the table, but choosing God’s side is the only choice that leads to life.

 

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) Sometime in the near future, Freddy has killed off every teenager in his hometown of Springwood except for one boy. After that lone lad wakes up with no memories outside Springwood's city limits where Freddy's powers cannot affect him (who knew Freddy had a specific jurisdiction), he is picked up by the police and taken to a nearby youth shelter. Once there, the facility's kindly psychologist suggests the best way to return the boy's memories is to go right back to Springwood, so the pair pack up a van and head off, unwittingly taking a bunch of teenage stowaways with them. It turns out this is just what Freddy wanted, as he was sorely in need of fresh dreamers to terrorize. What nobody counted on is one of the group pulling into Springwood is Freddy's long lost child, and that person might just have a way to kill Freddy for good. This film was supposed to be Freddy's big sendoff, but with its silly 3D dream demons, some out-of-place celebrity cameos, and the all-around stench of a last desperate cash grab, this is less goodbye and more good riddance.

 

Of course, even though Freddy was finally dead, they managed to find a couple of clever ways to bring back Robert Englund's Krueger before the franchise was ultimately sentenced to reboot hell. That was always a major complaint about these kind of horror series, the fact that the evil was never truly defeated. In a way, though, that's the way it really works. While Christ’s death and resurrection have already broken Satan’s dominion and won the decisive victory, the devil is not bound yet, meaning he can just keep showing back up in various ways until the end of time. As the Catechism notes, "It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.” As Aquinas explained, temptation is allowed so that our merits become greater, our virtues purer, and our spiritual progress more rapid. In fact, the continuing struggle itself, when we resist evil with grace, humiliates the devil and glorifies Christ in us.

DAILY CALL SHEET: SEPTEMBER 15, 2026

Strange Days (1995) It's 1999 and the most popular illegal "drug" on the streets is human memories and sensations which can now be recorded and experienced by others through a headset known as a SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device). On the eve of the new millennium, Lenny Nero, a former cop turned dealer of black market memories, accidentally comes into possession of a SQUID disc containing the violent recollections of an assault and murder. Deciding to look into the origins of the disc, Lenny is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy of cover-ups and double-crosses where the countdown to the new year may also be the countdown to his own death. Alas, Kathryn Bigelow's first foray into sci-fi bombed when it came out, which is a shame, because it's ideas were a little ahead of their time and the loaded cast is good all around.

St. Thomas Aquinas talks about knowing another person's thoughts in the Summa Theologica, explaining there are two ways this can be accomplished. They can be reasonably be figured out through their effects such as words, facial changes, varying pulse rate, or other bodily signs. Angels, demons, observant humans, just about anybody can learn to discern another's thoughts in this way, at least to a certain degree. However, as far as being able to 100% know another's thoughts, only God has immediate access to the interior of a rational creature. ⁠So, because we humans can't truly know what's in another person’s heart, we are warned to be slow to judge others.

 

Being John Malkovich (1999) Out of work puppeteer Craig Schwarz takes a job as a file clerk on the 7 1/2 floor of an office building where he discovers a small portal that allows him to enter the mind of renowned actor John Malkovich for 15 minutes at a time. Addicted to the experience of inhabiting another person, Craig shares his discovery with his co-worker Maxine and his wife Lotte, both of whom also become obsessed with being John Malkovich. Once Craig's puppeteering skills allow him to start exercising some control over the actor's body, Malkovich himself becomes suspicious and goes to Charlie Sheen for advice, but unsurprisingly finds no help there. Things begin to spiral out of control as Maxine beings to charge others for use of the portal, Craig learns of a cult that plans to achieve immortality by using the portal to jump from person to person for eternity, and Malkovich decides to enter the portal himself to see what's on his mind. And, of course, there's the monkey. It's all as weird as it sounds, but it works brilliantly, especially since John Malkovich is so good at playing John Malkovich.

 

There's an overabundance of themes at work in Being John Malkovich. You've got identity and the unstable self as suggested by the LA Times. There's celebrity as an empty shortcut for unmet needs as suggested by the Village Voice. And obviously there's the issue of free will. But one that has been mentioned by a few sources is the idea of escapism versus self-actualization, the notion of trying to become someone else rather than your true best self. Now, the Church doesn't quite teach self-actualization in the way Maslow's hierarchy of needs defined it, which is the autonomous realization of one’s inner potential as the highest human goal. In Catholic teaching, fulfillment is received as a gift and realized through relationships with God and neighbor, not through self-centered growth. Or, as Augustine put it, the restless heart finds rest in God, not in Malkovich's head. Okay, I added the part about Malkovich's head, but the point stands.