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Non-Review Review: Mea Maxima Culpa – Silence in the House of God

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013.

It’s very hard to know how to react to the seemingly bottomless pit of sex abuse allocations that have surfaced against the Catholic Church over the past couple of decades. Mea Maxima Culpa reveals that not only does the institutional abuse reach far into the past of the religious organisation, but that the Vatican was aware of these betrayals and violations of trusts for forty years. Mea Maxima Culpa is brutally candid in the way that it exposes the steps that the Catholic Church took to insulate and protect itself from these allegations and insinuations, even pointing out that most modern concessions and apologies are more concerned about the violation of the sanctity of the priesthood than with the damage done to the victims.

Mea Maxima Culpa is rough and overwhelming at times, but it’s hard to fault the documentary for this candid approach to the most uncomfortable subject matter. It’s well-constructed, thoughtful and also quite affecting – a powerful piece of documentary cinema that really exposes the true extent of a problem that has only been acknowledged in the past decade or so.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Alex Gibney, boston, catholic church, christianity, Father Murphy, film, Mea culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa, Movie, Murphy, non-review review, pope, Pope Benedict XVI, review, Sexual abuse, United States, vatican | 2 Comments »

My 12 for ’12: Prometheus, Faith, Treachery & The Great Beyond…

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Darren

I’m counting down my top twelve films of the year between now and January, starting at #12 and heading to #1. I expect the list to be a little bit predictable, a little bit surprising, a little bit of everything. All films released in the UK and Ireland in 2012 qualify. Sound off below, and let me know if I’m on the money, or if I’m completely off the radar. And let me know your own picks or recommendations.

This is #5…

In the year 7510,
If God’s a-comin’, he ought to make it by then.
Maybe he’ll look around himself and say,
“Guess it’s time for the Judgement Day.”

In the year 8510,
God’s gonna shake his mighty head.
He’ll either say “I’m pleased where man has been”,
Or tear it down and start again.

-Zager and Evans, In The Year 2525

Faith is a funny thing. If you don’t have it, it’s impossible to explain. If you do have it, it needs no explanation. Ridley Scott’s Prometheus feels a little bit ham-strung by the “Alien DNA” that it carries. As a prequel to the iconic film series, it’s hardly the most successful endeavour. Indeed, the film’s references to everybody’s favourite chest-bursting extra-terrestrial feel almost forced. Like the discussion about the Scientology influence on The Master, focusing on the instantly recognisable xenomorph tends to obscure the unique strengths of Prometheus as its own film.

Interestingly, the strongest connection to Alien is thematic rather than literal. Like Ridley Scott’s first science-fiction masterpiece, Prometheus postulates a cold and uncaring universe, one that is inherently alien, incomprehensible and hostile. The human condition causes us to question, but Prometheus suggests that there can be no answers – no satisfactory answers at least.

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: alien, Alien (film), Alien DNA, arts, British Isles, christianity, damon lindelof, DNA, god, Ireland, Jon Spaihts, Lykke Li, Movie, Prometheus, ridley scott, Scientology, Shaw | 8 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Super

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Darren

Super is pretty much one joke, extended over a movie runtime. It’s a funny joke, and it’s told well by a great cast and a witty director, but it feels a little stretched, even at under a hundred minutes. It also suffered a bit from being released in the same year as Kick-Ass, a movie that dealt with similar themes in a much more compelling manner, but Super remains an interesting examination of geek power fantasy, and some of the more sinister undertones of the conventional superhero narrative.

Not so super, hero…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan moore, bible, christianity, crime, Electronic cigarette, Ellen Page, film, god, James Gunn, kick-ass, Michael Rooker, Movie, New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, non-review review, Rainn Wilson, Religion and Spirituality, review, Sarah, Shopping, sin city, Sports, United States, Wii U | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Devil

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Darren

Devil actually has a pretty interesting B-movie premise, evoking the sort of cheesy thrill of an eighties horror. Six strangers are trapped inside an elevator… and one of them might be Satan. It’s a fairly straight-forward idea, albeit one that the script and direction needlessly complicate and convolute as they attempt to fill up the seventy-seven minutes. In many ways, Devil feels like something of a classic horror throwback, a simple high concept that relies on occasionally overstated jump scares rather than gratuitous gore or carnage. It’s not necessarily the best representation of the genre, but – if you can suspend your disbelief and live with the overwrought corniness – it’s an affectionate old-fashioned homage.

And things were just looking up…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Army of Two, arts, bible, Bravo, Chris Messina, christianity, Devil, Electronic Arts, family, film, Frostbite (game engine), god, Hell, hollywood, Logan Marshall-Green, Mexican Drug War, Mother, Movie, non-review review, parents, Ramadan, review, Satan, Security Guard, Visceral Games, Xbox 360 | Leave a comment »

To Play the King (Review)

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Darren

The wonderful folks at the BBC have given me access to their BBC Global iPlayer for a month to give the service a go and trawl through the archives. Read my thoughts on the service here, but I thought I’d also take the opportunity to enjoy some of the fantastic content.

You’ve got the King against the Prime Minister, the Lords against the Commons. The bishops are in now, you’ve got “don’t blame the royals”, and – in particular – you’ve got Urquhart’s plan to bring down the monarchy for good and all. And they’ve all played the personal morality card. Every one of them. Which means, in my book, that everybody’s private life is now up for grabs. And I mean everybody’s!

– Sir Bruce Bullerby sums it up

The second part of the House of Cards trilogy has some fairly interesting subject matter. While Francis Urquharts Machiavellian rise to power was enough to ground the first four-part serial, it does occasionally feel like To Play The King has just a bit too much going on. Of course, Andrew Davies’ tight scripting ensures that all the necessary subplots are tidied up before we reach the end credits of the final episode, but things do occasionally feel just a little bit too packed. Still, it’s hard to blame a television show for having too much substance, and there’s a compelling issue at the heart of To Play The King, as novelist Michael Dodds takes the opportunity to explore Britain’s constitutional monarchy, and the possibility of friction that a proactive King might present.

A crowning accomplishment for the BBC?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Charles Prince of Wales, Chief Whip, christianity, David, Denis Thatcher, Francis Urquhart, god, Great Britain, Great Is the Lord, Holy Is the Lord, House of Cards, Ian Richardson, Iron Lady, king, King Jesus, margaret thatcher, meryl streep, Phyllida Lloyd, Praise and Worship, Religion and Spirituality, Scotland, Social work, stephen frears, To Play The King, Urquhart, Wales, Wisdom | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Tree of Life

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Darren

Terence Malick’s Tree of Life stems from the beginning of the universe to “the end of time.”It’s hard to imagine any film with a similar scope, let alone one focused on the troublesome relationship between a nuclear family in the mid-to-late-twentieth century. The easiest way to summarise Malick’s epic yet intimate drama is describe it as a profound meditation on the history of the cosmos, reflected through a child’s coming-of-age tale. Confused? I don’t blame you. I’m slightly confused and I just watched the damn thing.

A beautiful sequence of images...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: bbc, Book of Job, christianity, Father, film, Filmmaking, god, Koyaanisqatsi, Movies, non-review review, Old Testament, Religion and Spirituality, review, Terrence Malick, theology, Tree of Life | 5 Comments »

Y: The Last Man – The Deluxe Edition, Book III (Review)

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Darren

In an effort to prove that comic books aren’t just about men in spandex hitting each other really hard, this month I’m reviewing all of Brian K. Vaughan’s superb Y: The Last Man. In April, I took a look at all the writer’s Ex Machina.

What continues to astound about Y: The Last Man is how Brian K. Vaughan took a pulpy science-fiction concept that might have served as an episode of The Twilight Zone and has managed to not only expand it out into a five-year series, but also continue to offer new and clever takes on a world without men. It’s a wonderful and thoughtful book, but perhaps the most impressive thing is that – amidst the end of the world – Vaughan never loses sight of humanity.

It's bloody great...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: arts, brian k. vaughan, catholic church, Christian Church, christianity, Churches, dc comics, Exmachina, Jesus, Protestantism, Religion and Spirituality, review, san francisco, Sydney Opera House, Transubstantiation, United States, y: the last man | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Stone

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Darren

Stone began its life as a play. You get a sense of that watching the film – the only points during which it seems to come especially alive is when its two leads, Robert deNiro and Edward Norton, are playing off against each other. Both actors are genuinely great performers who have faded from the spotlight in recent years and, while the film isn’t consistent enough to put either back on the map, it does demonstrate some of the talent involved.

A Stone-cold killer?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: christianity, Corrections officer, edward norton, film, John Curran, milla jovovich, Movie, non-review review, Probation officer, review, robert deniro, Stone | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Dogma

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Darren

I have to confess that I have a soft spot for Dogma. It’s very much the black sheep of Kevin Smith’s “View Askew” trilogy (of six films), veering away from incorporating his trademark witty banter and dialogue with a relatively new philosophical and religious undercurrents. Dogma is, in fact, an odd film by any standard – one part “group on a quest” film akin to The Lord of the Rings, one part slapstick comedy and part indie introspective dramedy. Smith admittedly has great difficulty balancing the different demands on his script, pulling it one way or the other. It doesn’t always work, but the cocktail is certainly interesting and – truth be told – I am actually quite fond of the film.

Alan Rickman found himself winging it...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan rickman, angels, ben affleck, christianity, comedy, god, irreverant, jason lee, jay, jay and silent bob, kevin smith, linda fiorentino, matt damon, religion, salma hayek, silent bob, theology, view askew | 16 Comments »

Is Anton Chigurh an Angel?

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Darren

Yes, you read the title right. Is Anton Chigurh, the sociopathic hitman from No Country For Old Men who kills his victims an instrument used to cull cattle, an instrument of divine will? I stumbled across an interesting argument on-line which proposed that McCarthy (who is – apparently – staunchly conservative) wrote the character as an angel who was sent down to purge all those connected in anyway with the money from the drug trade – bringing on the old-school biblical wrath which you don’t see too often these days. Talk about executing your purpose with zeal.