Criteria: The Catholic Film Podcast

CatholicCulture.org
  • 4.6 (45)
  • 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. NOV 6

    Revisiting Malick's A Hidden Life (2019)

    James, Thomas, and Nathan Douglas conclude their journey through Terrence Malick's filmography (thus far) with a discussion of the film that introduced him to many Catholics: A Hidden Life, about the Austrian martyr Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, who was killed for refusing to swear loyalty to Hitler. Coming after Malick's avant-garde phase of the Weightless Trilogy, A Hidden Life is a more conventional narrative but retains much of the stylistic and formal development of his past few films. Links Original episode on A Hidden Life https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/episode-58-hidden-life-film-review-w-james-majewski/  New Polity podcast on Bl. Franz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD04XvxBLkE  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

    1h 29m

  2. OCT 22

    Triumph of the Heart director faced glorious trials making great Catholic art - w/ Anthony D'Ambrosio

    Anthony D'Ambrosio directed, wrote, and produced the outstanding new film Triumph of the Heart about St. Maximilian Kolbe. In this inspiring interview, he discusses the difficult path he and his team charted to produce this independent film with a low budget, high artistic standards, and deep Catholic spirituality. Film is an expensive medium. Since a high budget requires one to calculate mainstream appeal in order to make one's money back, a low budget can leave more room for artistic and spiritual integrity. Though the production faced many hardships, it was buoyed up by the hope that the project could break a new path for other Catholic filmmakers to follow. Triumph of the Heart is available to screen at your parish, and will start streaming on its official website November 1. Links Show Triumph of the Heart at your parish https://www.triumphoftheheart.com/ Our review of Triumph of the Heart https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/triumph-heart-is-film-worthy-its-subject-st-maximilian-kolbe/ 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

    55 min

  3. OCT 7

    US army chaplain meets Italian monks in Paisan (1946)

    Roberto Rossellini's 1946 World War II film Paisan has a unique structure: six vignettes following the American troops north from their landing in Sicily through Naples, Rome, Florence, Romagna, and the Po Delta. However, the film takes the perspective of the Italians, with the Americans more often than not naive outsiders. It is a fascinating exploration of the clash of cultures in the tragic scenarios of war and foreign occupation. One segment in particular will be very interesting to Catholics: an American priest serving as an army chaplain visits a Franciscan monastery along with his Protestant and Jewish chaplain counterparts and encounters a more intense and less ecumenical religiosity than he is accustomed to. 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

    1h 10m

  4. SEP 23

    He Who Gets Slapped (1924)

    James and Thomas discuss the original creepy clown movie, He Who Gets Slapped, starring Lon Chaney in an amazing performance as scientist Paul Beaumont, who suffers a mental breakdown after his research and his wife are stolen by a wealthy baron. Leaving his former world behind, Beaumont becomes a circus clown known only as He, whose entire act consists of attempting to say profound things while being slapped and ridiculed by the other clowns, recreating his trauma - until one day, he comes back into contact with the man who betrayed him... The film explores the effect that the crowd's  propensity for mockery and humiliation has on the human psyche. The film is by the pioneering Swedish silent-era director, Victor Sjöström - his second movie made in the US. It remains very engaging for a silent film, and makes a good introduction to the medium. Watch He Who Gets Slapped for free on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qlCtPdqto 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

    35 min

  5. SEP 2

    Triumph of the Heart is a film worthy of its subject, St. Maximilian Kolbe

    James and Thomas review an outstanding and very intense new film about St. Maximilian Kolbe, directed and written by Anthony D'Ambrosio. Triumph of the Heart is set mostly in the starvation cell in Auschwitz as Kolbe and his companions try to find a way to die with hope and dignity. Don't miss it, in theaters Sept. 12. https://www.triumphoftheheart.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

    38 min

  6. JUL 16

    A hard world for little things: The Night of the Hunter (1955)

    James and Thomas discuss one of their favorite films, The Night of the Hunter, directed by Charles Laughton. It's about the sacred innocence of children, and discerning true vs. false prophets. A unique mix of fairy tale, horror, and Southern gothic with expressionist visuals, The Night of the Hunter contains some of the most striking and poetic sequences ever filmed. 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

    53 min

  7. JUN 17

    Hitchcock's I Confess and the world's failure to understand priesthood

    In Alfred Hitchcock's 1953 film I Confess, a young priest in Quebec City is suspected of murder because of his unwillingness to break the seal of confession. A major theme of the film is the incomprehension with which the world sees the priesthood, such that people project their own sins onto the priest, resulting in a kind of white martyrdom. 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.

    53 min

  8. JUN 3

    The Ritual portrays exorcism accurately, but is stuck in genre cliches

    The new exorcism film The Ritual, starring Al Pacino and Dan Stevens, is based on the famous 1928 exorcism of Emma Schmidt, which also partially inspired The Exorcist. The Ritual is touted as more realistic and meticulously researched than most exorcism films, and it does seem to portray the rite of exorcism accurately (as the title indicates, most of the film is focused on the ritual itself). The film avoids many of the worst pitfalls of exorcism movies, such as fascination with the glamor of evil, sadism, etc. It is a Catholic-approvable treatment of the subject in that it avoids theological error, the liturgy is accurate, and God is clearly shown to be more powerful than demons. However, the film is still sensationalistic, not because its extraordinary demonic manifestations are fabricated, but because they are excessively centered at the expense of more interesting and edifying aspects of the real-life case. Those details which would have made the treatment unique and thought-provoking are too often filed down to fit the genre's cliches or to avoid alienating a non-Catholic audience. The Ritual will be in theaters starting June 6. 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 keep this podcast going: https://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio

    25 min
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4.6
out of 5
45 Ratings

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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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