DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 3, 2026

Jabberwocky (1977) During the Middle Ages, the territories of King Bruno the Questionable are being terrorized by the titular monster, but this is of no concern to Dennis Cooper, who has just been disinherited by his father. Dennis only cares about getting to a city so he can get a job which will allow him to marry his beloved Griselda Fishfinger, not that she's in any way interested in such an arrangement. Dennis makes the trip to town, which leads to a series of misadventures and brings him to the attention of the princess, who mistakes him for a knight, as well as a cult who mistake him for Satan. Eventually, despite his overwhelming cowardice, Dennis ends up coming face to face with the Jabberwocky. Terry Gilliam's first solo outing as director has its moments, but it's a bit too rough around the edges and nowhere near the level of his films which would follow.

Although many scholars have made valiant attempts, Lewis Carroll's poem, Jabberwocky, purposely defies deep interpretation. In fact, Lewis would likely scoff at such efforts. His intention was to pen pure balderdash just for the linguistic fun of it. He would laugh at the notion of trying to find meaning in nonsense. Of course, some people carried this notion too far, declaring life itself nonsense, and therefore devoid of meaning. Albert Camus noted, "“The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need [for meaning] and the unreasonable silence of the world.” Naturally, the Church disagrees with this sentiment. She teaches that true meaning comes from orienting our entire life toward God—through worship, love of neighbor, living one’s vocation faithfully, and ultimately aiming for eternal communion with the Trinity. Without this relationship, human life can feel meaningless, but it doesn't have to.

Now Showing at a Blog Near You: Just in time for the Triduum, Scorsese' saints series takes up Mary. My latest for Aleteia at the link.