Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

CatholicCulture.org
  • 4.6 (50)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Biweekly

Discussions of great movies from a Catholic perspective, exploring the Vatican film list and beyond. Hosted by Thomas V. Mirus and actor James T. Majewski, with special guests. Vatican film list episodes are labeled as Season 1. A production of CatholicCulture.org.

  1. 22h ago

    Nolan's Odyssey: not subversive, not that deep

    Nathan Douglas and Thomas Mirus review Christopher Nolan's adaptation of Homer's Odyssey. It is not necessarily a bad thing if an adaptation doesn't reproduce the precise worldview of its source material - an artist makes his own work of art, not a scholarly translation. The movie is not a deliberate subversion of its source material, as many assumed. It is Nolan's honest personal reflection on what the poem means to him. But he does view the story through the lens of modern concerns which, while by no means false or unworthy of exploration or even totally incompatible with Homer's story, result in a less interesting version of Odysseus and a less coherent but overly didactic interpretation of the events depicted. Links Clip about diversity casting from previous episode https://youtu.be/5EEe-ogUXMI Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters  DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

  2. Jul 15

    A child at war: Ivan's Childhood (1962)

    James and Thomas begin a sub-series on the filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky (whose religious films Andrei Rublev and The Sacrifice they already discussed as part of the Vatican Film List). His first film, Ivan's Childhood, depicts a young boy, Ivan, who acts as a scout for the Russian army during World War II. Made precocious – and profoundly damaged – by his wartime experience, Ivan is a fascinating and tragic figure brought to life in a remarkable performance by Nikolai Burlyayev. Tarkovsky begins his career with a film that is understandably more conventional than the rest of his oeuvre – but still plenty unconventional, and in fact serving as a test run for Tarkovsky's poetic convictions. James and Thomas discuss the director's views on "poetic links" in cinema expressed in his book Sculpting in Time and instantiated in this film's dream sequences and evocative landscapes. Tarkovsky believed that poetry comes about when the objective beauty of reality is filtered through the artist's subjectivity, connected to his own personal associations and feelings, such that the authenticity and density of life somehow appear on screen, in a way that is truly poetic and allows the viewer to take part in the aesthetic experience of the artist. SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

  3. Jun 17

    30 Years of the Vatican Film List – Catholic Cinema's Past and Future

    Thomas Mirus, Nathan Douglas, and Andrew Petiprin gave this panel session at the 2024 Notre Dame Fall Conference, presented by the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. The theme of the conference was "Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination." 30 Years of the Vatican Film List – Catholic Cinema's Past and Future Thomas Mirus (Catholic Culture) – The Vatican Film List: Introduction and Reflections Nathan Douglas (Independent Scholar/Filmmaker) – The Filmmaker as Auteur Andrew Petiprin (Spe Salvi Institute; Word on Fire Institute) – Europe for Everyone: Yesterday's Vatican Film List and Catholic Imagination Today Chair: John O'Callaghan (University of Notre Dame)  Video of the panel: https://youtu.be/-7oE8d6RcCw?si=x4cTzl847-A8bG5M

  4. Jun 2

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

    Paul Duda joins James and Thomas to discuss Steven Spielberg's first extant UFO movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and what it says about the kind of meaning and transcendence people are seeking in the current UFO obsession. Paul also talks about the film he is producing about St. Bernadette. Links Bernadette movie:  www.10thhourproductions.org  www.Bernadettemovie.com www.Instagram.com/bernadettemovie Frank and Lou Creative www.Frankandlou.co   SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters  DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

  5. May 16

    Speaking in L.A.

    On May 30, Thomas is giving the keynote address at the first annual conference of the Thomistic Artists Guild at the parish of St. Vitus in Los Angeles, CA. Free to attend! https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/thomistic-artists-guild-2026-conference

  6. May 4

    Is Brideshead Revisited (1981) the best book-to-screen adaptation ever?

    Brideshead Revisited is much discussed as a beloved Catholic novel. But it is also perhaps the only instance of a great book getting a screen adaptation that is equally good - almost to the point of being interchangeable with the book. We refer, of course, to the 1981 miniseries, not the 2008 movie! James Majewski, Nathan Douglas, and Thomas Mirus discuss what makes this series such a great work of adaptation. SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio

  7. Apr 9

    Bishop Erik Varden on cinema

    His Excellency Erik Varden, Trappist monk and bishop of Trondheim, Norway, joins Thomas Mirus and James Majewski for a discussion of the art of cinema. The interview touches on the danger of violent images, saint movies, the relationship between film and theater, the private vs. theatrical experience of film, the value of watching foreign films, and some of Bp. Varden's favorite movies. Links Thomas's interview with Bp. Varden about his book on chastity https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/173-chastity-integrity-and-desert-fathers-bishop-erik-varden/ Bp. Varden's website, Coram Fratribus https://coramfratribus.com/ SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters DONATE to keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio Music is The Duskwhales, "Take It Back", used with permission. https://theduskwhales.bandcamp.com

  8. Mar 18

    New Lives of the Popes podcast

    Lives of the Popes on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lives-of-the-popes/id1885968422 Lives of the Popes on CatholicCulture.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/category/lives-of-popes-podcast/

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Discussions of great movies from a Catholic perspective, exploring the Vatican film list and beyond. Hosted by Thomas V. Mirus and actor James T. Majewski, with special guests. Vatican film list episodes are labeled as Season 1. A production of CatholicCulture.org.

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