Music and Spirituality | Fr. Basil Cole, O.P.

The Ignatius Insight just published an article from Fr. Basil Cole Music and Spirituality | Fr. Basil Cole, O.P. | Ignatius Insight | Ignatius Insight that is very insightful and very much needed in this Society Gone Madd!  I've read his book Music and Morals which really helped me, he is just awesome.  Now he connects Music and Spirituality to the tune of St Thomas Aquinas - my favorite saint.  Part of spirituality is using your mind, but people today seem to believe whatever they feel is ok.  When music (or any of the arts, I believe) causes feeling a certain way for a prolonged period of time it is bound to have it's effects.  Please consider reading the article (which I think can be applied to all forms of the arts), it may change your life, like his book Music and Morals did mine. 

GH Nightshift 08/06/08

General Hospital is by far the best soap on right now.  I began watching it in the dayroom with all the second shift guys in the dorms on the Air Force Base I was at.  It was during the Luke and Laura days.  About twenty five years later, I got back into it somehow.  Now all the kids of the characters are in it and it's as good, if not better than ever.  Then Last year they started a spinoff, Nightshift, with some of the same characters and they bring in new ones also. 

This particular episode was the best one ever.  I was really happy they tackled the subject of abortion in a worthy way.  They really brought out the horror of abortion and how it really affects the mother, even years later.  This is what will stop the crisis the entertainment industry is in.

A Christian at the Movies

First Things has a good article - A Christian at the Movies that chronicles some of the things that have happened in Hollywood to cause it's deterioration.  There is also good information on Dr. Ted Baehr and his MovieGuide web site and Christian Film & Television Commission. The article notes, interestingly, that since around the turn of the century Hollywood has released an average of 33 movies with strong positive Christian content each year.  Though the article questions his rating system, it has some good information to ponder.

FIRST THINGS: Interview with an Ex-Vampire Novelist

 FIRST THINGS: Interview with an Ex-Vampire Novelist is an article that gave me some insight on how art can bring about the conversion process.  It took writing 27 books for Anne Rice to learn the things that helped bring her to Christ.  I like how she characterizes some of the current scandalous biblical scholarship.  It seems to me she is a bit misguided in the area of politics.  For the best explanation of how to vote in a informed manner consistent with Catholic Moral teaching and fundamental human rights read the Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics.

An American in Paris - A Refreshing Feeling

I was flipping channels this evening and came across the movie "An American In Paris" and thought I'd seen it before but I never had and right from the beginning of the movie,  from the first notes of music, it just gave me a good feeling.  It made me really realize how much entertainment has devolved.  It is amazing the drastic difference in the past fifty years.  The mid sixties is when the de-evolution started.

The biggest change I felt watching the movie is the quality of music.  I normally am not a big Gershwin fan, but most of the music in the movie was very uplifting to the soul, unlike the music of this day and age.  There has to be something that can be done to re-beautify the music and movies of this day and age.

Speed Racer review

We saw the movie Speed Racer this weekend and it was actually pretty good.  It wasn't as good as the original series in the 1960's but it definitely could have been worse.  It had a relatively good story with the message that cheaters never prosper.  My children (boys 11 & 9) liked it and as I am sure, as most kids, liked the action and didn't care about the story which was kind of confusing at the beginning because they went back to the past, forward to the future, to the present, future, present, past, future, etc.  Boy it got confusing at times, probably too confusing for my 9 year old.  The racing was kind of strange to me, the cars were constantly going sideways, "drifting", and constantly spinning around bouncing and crashing into each other with little or no damage.  But that's what my kids liked.

Get your kids away form the terrible cartoons of this age and get the original version on DVD for them to watch.  The 5 seasons of the original Speed Racer TV series are available here.

     

                      

If you haven't caught the newest in the Speed Racer series, they have been showing Speed Racer - The Next Generation on TV and it is actually pretty good also.  They already have it on DVD if you want to check it out.

Iron Man Review

I saw the movie Iron Man last night with my 11 year old son and he said it was probably better than Spiderman 3. When asked, he said it was basically the effects and action parts that he liked, when I asked him what he thought about the story, he said "Boring, especially at the beginning."

My opinion of it is that I expected a little better movie. The anti-war theme is a bit tiring; can't they come up with anything new instead of the same old propaganda? They give the impression that weapons are bad in anyone's hands instead of the fact that they are bad only in bad peoples hands. They also give the false impression that all weapons contractors sell weapons to both side because they only care about the money and power. Yes, I am sure there are a few contractors that may be like this, working both sides of the fence, but if the exception is always shown as what is the norm, the normal end up getting viewed as being bad when it shouldn't be. It is definitely a great good vs evil message that needs to be heard.

It could be because I am jaded by Hollywood making the same kind of movies all the time. It's all about the money anyway.

Great May for Movies!

May is going to be a great month for movies.  The 2nd of May Iron Man opens.  May 9th Speed Racer begins.  May 16th the next in the Chronicles of Narnia series - Prince Caspian.  May 23rd is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie. 

I do hate it though that they bunch all the good movies together.  It's so much money to go to them all in one month.  After years of only one or two good movies in a whole year I guess I'll take a month of good movies.

Good Catholic Writers Need

Here's an interview about Rich Culture Nourishes Catholic Writers. I think Gregory Roper, author of The Writer's Workshop: Imitating Your Way to Better Writing(ISI Books), makes some great suggestions on what is needed to help our kids to learn to write well.

Daytime Soaps keep going through strike

This is what I like to see. People that don't let Union mobsters control them. After 20 years I have got myself back into General Hospital and am glad to see there is no stopping production. This is an interesting article in the NY Times.

Broken Trail

I know this TV movie has been out for a while but I didn't see it until this past holiday season and I am glad I finally did. It is a really good story and seems to be more realistic than most of the Westerns that have been made. The acting was superb and the scenery excellent. A reality I noticed was that the head of the brothel was a woman and was the one exploiting the Chinese women and the men were the ones who cared about them. I think that happens more often than others hurting particular people. Just like it was blacks in Africa who sold other blacks into the slave trade. Women made money exploiting other women by prostitution. I'm sure it happens with all other groups. You know your own, so so you know the weaknesses to exploit.

Golden Globes Cancelled!

Great news! I really hate these award shows, they are the biggest waste of time and even more waste of money. Thank you writers for sticking to your demands. Hope the same happens to the Academy Awards another waste. There should be more of what has happened with some shows, making private deals with the different companies. The Union shouldn't be doing any of this each writer should make a deal for them self and not rely of some union thug. Then they will be more free and have more choice.

Thoughts on the show "Saving Grace"

This blog is normally about entertainment in crisis but once in a while there are a few shows that could actually improve the TV scene. The TNT show Saving Grace could be one of them.

We've been watching Saving Grace since the show began and are still trying to figure out where are they going with it. The premise seems mostly good but there are a lot of disturbing things about it. It is good that it is a show about one woman's struggle with God but sometimes the way that they portray God is erroneous. The personality of the angel is kinda cool, different, but his theology is inaccurate.

I don't like it when the writers take a good show and politicize it like they did this past episode (the tornado episode). The guy in prison converted to being Muslim and the angel says basically that it doesn't matter all paths lead to God. Well we know that there is only one sure way to God and the other paths aren't as certain, though it is possible.

The show could loose one's attention eventually because it is getting to be the same struggle but she isn't making much progress. But I guess if she ends up "finding God" The show will be over because the tension will cease to be in the story. We'll have to wait and see where they go with the story and see if it keeps our interest.

Bella - the movie

If you haven't seen the movie Bella, it comes highly recommended. Here you can hear Michael Medved's review or download it here. It has received many rewards. We need more movies like this. So please support this great movie so Hollywood gets the message that we want good movies and not the trash they have been releasing. Another review from Decent Films Guide offers another view.

What Black Men Think Movie

Listening to Michael Medved today he had on the producer of this movie "What Black Men Think" and it was a great interview and sounds like a great movie. Sounds like someone is willing to actually tell the truth and not have an agenda like Hollywood does. We need more movie made like this, maybe Hollywood will start putting something good out again.

Some good things about the writers strike

I read an article in the New York Times that hinted at some good stuff coming from the writer strike. There's so much trash coming out of Hollywood that may be we'll get a little break from it, since nobody will be writing it. One of the best things I read in the article was that production on a sequel to the "Da Vinci Code" movie has been postponed! Yippie! We don't need to hear more lies spread. And we'll have less bad movies with the political agenda like "Lions for Lambs". Besides, maybe people will actually find something else better to do with their lives than relying on entertainment to fulfill themselves, like spending more time with their family, read a good book, or learning to do something constructive with their life.