Movie Review: ‘Wicked’ November 19, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Considered purely from an artistic viewpoint, the lavish musical “Wicked” (Universal) represents a confluence of the best both Broadway and Hollywood have to offer. On a moral level, however, the film’s content, while largely free of overtly problematic material, nonetheless demands careful assessment.
Movie Review: ‘Red One’ November 18, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews The attempt to put Santa Claus in the middle of a lot of frenetic brawling and then wrap the whole thing up with a climactic sleigh chase leads to a hopelessly unbalanced tone in this ill-conceived holiday offering.
Movie Review: ‘Heretic’ November 13, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Co-writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ chiller “Heretic” (A24) probes the nature of faith.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon November 13, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ November 12, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Gentle and family-oriented, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) offers top-flight holiday entertainment for a wide range of age groups. In adapting author Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s novel, helmer Dallas Jenkins blends wry humor and touching drama while also successfully conveying some valuable insights.
Movie Review: ‘The Carpenter’ November 4, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Designed to present a portion of the Gospel narrative to fans of mixed martial arts fighting and heavy metal music, the biblical drama “The Carpenter” (Purdie) adds a whole new meaning to the term muscular Christianity.
Movie Review: ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ October 30, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews A trilogy of Marvel Comics adaptations that launched in 2018 comes to a dull close with “Venom: The Last Dance” (Columbia). Hobbled by the apparent exhaustion of the franchise’s trademark wit, writer-director Kelly Marcel’s wrap-up feels less like a waltz out the door than a stagger to the finish line.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon October 30, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘Lost on a Mountain in Maine’ October 28, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Donn Fendler’s story is recounted in the restrained dramatization “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” (Blue Fox). Though the lad’s experience was a harrowing one, this look back at it is ultimately a life-affirming tale about the power of perseverance.
Television Review: ‘Grotesquerie,’ streaming, Hulu October 23, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Catholic viewers will naturally be interested in a TV show that features a nun as one of its principal characters. In the case of “Grotesquerie,” however, they’ll tune in, to use an obsolete term, only to be turned off — both by a welter of gore and by a treatment of the church that degenerates from mere ignorance to outright hostility.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon October 17, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.
Movie Review: ‘Piece by Piece’ October 16, 2024By John Mulderig OSV News Filed Under: Movie & Television Reviews There’s much to like and even admire in the animated biography “Piece by Piece” (Focus). Most significantly, as a Lego version of singer, songwriter and music producer Pharrell Williams explores his past via an extended interview with director and co-writer Morgan Neville, the film highlights its subject’s Christian faith.
