Movie reviews Archives

Feb 26, 2016

Deacon Greydanus explains how two movies about Jesus: Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” and Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” provoked criticism because of charges of anti-Semitism, along with the pervasive, extreme violence and blasphemy.

By Deacon Steven D. Greydanus

Hitchcock’s most Catholic films

Feb 19, 2016

“I Confess” (1953) is new on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection. “The Wrong Man” was recently released on Blu-ray and DVD from the Warner Archive Collection. NOTE: This column contains spoilers. * * * * * A few days ago, in an excellent essay for RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny identified “The

By Deacon Steven D. Greydanus

Mardi Gras and movies: Easy riders, anthropomorphic frogs
- Feb 5, 2016
Ash Wednesday is just around the corner, and of course that means so is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras. New Orleans’ legendary Mardi Gras celebration has been depicted or used as a backdrop in scores of films, though surprisingly few depictions are of any great or enduring note. Abbott and Costello

By Deacon Steven D. Greydanus
Rickman, Bedford, and their 'Robin Hood' movies
- Jan 15, 2016
This week the world lost three English performers who were all film actors, although the first, David Bowie, was mainly a musician, and the other two, Alan Rickman and Brian Bedford, were Shakespearean stage actors before making any films. Only Rickman was best known as a film actor; Bedford, whose

By Deacon Steven D. Greydanus
Thanksgiving leftovers: 'Pieces of April'
- Dec 4, 2015
Thanksgiving is over, but for Hulu users “Pieces of April” has just arrived. It’s also available to Amazon Prime users. Now a dozen years old, “Pieces of April” (2003) is one of the most endearing entries in the dysfunctional family Thanksgiving subgenre. Writer-director Peter Hedges specializes in hopeful stories about

By Deacon Steven D. Greydanus