I have, as I suppose most anyone would, complex, mixed feelings about leaving an institution that’s been such a big part of my life for so long a time, but I have no regrets regarding my decisions nor doubts about how God is leading me.
Local to the Washington metropolitan area? This Friday, May 13th, I’ll be at the FORUM Arlington talking about cinema and Catholic faith — at least, if the title of my talk, “A Ray of God: Movies and Catholic Teaching” is any indication.
“Reel Faith” returns to NET TV tonight — with a new feather in our caps: We are now the proud winners of a 2015 Gabriel Award, bestowed by the Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals, the U.S. affiliate of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication.
Recently I had the opportunity to field 18 questions from Sean Salai, SJ for a profile piece in the Jesuit magazine America. I had a lot of fun answering Mr. Salai’s thoughtful, sometimes surprising questions, ranging from how my faith informs my film writing to what I gave up for Lent.
This is the first completely new Decent Films in ten years. It’s also the first version ever that feels more or less complete to me. Not that there aren’t still bugs and tweaks to be addressed — and not that I wasn’t thrilled about the 2010 (and 2005) iterations when they were new.
It was a busy summer season; it wasn’t a terribly good summer season — above all for family audiences, who were left almost completely out in the cold. Still, it was generally an improvement on last summer, particularly for popcorn spectacle and action.
During our summer season and our holiday mini-season, “Reel Faith” debuts on Fridays at 8:00 PM Eastern on New Evangelization Television (NET TV), with encore airings throughout the week.
Two notable back-to-back Decent Films events tonight!
I enjoyed reviewing movies this summer far more than I enjoyed the movies themselves — and perhaps my readers enjoyed the reviews more than the movies as well.
Coming to Fox News and The Catholic Channel: Reel Faith! Well, not permanently or anything. (Not yet, anyway.) But in the next 24 hours or so David DiCerto and I will be appearing on both venues to talk about Reel Faith and movies in theaters.
This evening, Friday, May 17, I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT). Next week, tune in for the summer season premiere of Reel Faith!
This evening, Friday, March 22, I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
Tune into the second hour of “Catholic Answers Live!” tonight as Patrick Coffin and I discuss the best movies of 2012 and take your calls. Then come back in a week for our annual one-hour “Reel Faith!&8221; Oscar special!
This week I’ll be all over Catholic media talking about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: EWTN’s “The World Over Live” with Raymond Arroyo, “Catholic Answers Live” with Patrick Coffin, and our own “Reel Faith” with my co-host David DiCerto. (Pay attention and you may catch me on “Kresta in the Afternoon” at some point too.)
This Friday, September 28 I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
Everything is always changing, but August 2012 will go down as a month of particularly momentous milestones for the Greydanus family—some of which will have repercussions on my life and work, including my film review work, for many years to come.
Hard to believe 12 weeks has gone by, but the 2012 summer season finale of “Reel Faith” is upon us. David and I review The Odd Life of Timothy Green, ParaNorman, Hope Springs and more (watch NET live). You can also still catch our penultimate episode, covering The Bourne Legacy, Total Recall and more at the show’s website.
This week I’ll be all over Catholic media talking about The Dark Knight Rises: EWTN’s “The World Over Live” with Raymond Arroyo, “Catholic Answers Live” with Patrick Coffin, and our own “Reel Faith” with my co-host David DiCerto.
After last week’s July 4 hiatus, the second half of “Reel Faith”’s summer season continues this week as David and I review The Amazing Spider-Man, Ice Age: Continental Drift and Ted.
This Friday, June 22, I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
Tune into EWTN this Thursday, May 31, when I'll be on “The World Over Live” with Raymond Arroyo (8:00pm EDT). Raymond and I will be discussing the new Cristero war drama For Greater Glory, how the film's theme of religious freedom relates to current events, the state of faith-based film productions and much more.
The summer 2012 season of “Reel Faith” begins this Friday, May 25 at 8:00pm EDT. David DiCerto and I kick off the new season with The Avengers, Men in Black 3 and Battleship. And because Battleship has us in a Liam Neeson mood, Father Lauder’s “Movie with a Message” is Les Misérables (1998). Watch online (unless you have CableVision or Time Warner cable).
This Friday, May 4 I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
This Friday, April 13 I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
Once a month Patrick Coffin of “Catholic Answers Live!” and I talk about movies for an hour that never seems quite long enough for all the films we want to talk about. So this month, we’re taking two hours! Friday on “Catholic Answers Live!” it’s all Decent Films, all the time, from 6pm–8pm EST (3pm–5pm PST).
If you missed the various broadcasts of the “Reel Faith” one-hour Oscar special over the last few weeks, you’ve still got time to catch online before Sunday’s Oscar ceremony … and see how wrong we were three weeks ago! David and I talk about the nominees, call out snubs, give our favorites and give our predictions, some of which have aged better than others. Watch online now!
…yours truly. As background, the March 2012 issue of Catholic Digest magazine marks a complete reinvention of the magazine under the direction of its new editor-in-chief, Danielle Bean, formerly of Faith & Family magazine.
The Oscars are just a week away now. If you missed the first two airings of our one-hour “Reel Faith” Oscar Special, you have one more chance to catch it on Thursday, February 23 at 9:00pm. Note: This is a change from the date and time originally reported. Hope you enjoy it. (Watch NET live.)
This Friday, February 10 I'll be appearing on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT).
Thanks to my friend Mark Shea of Catholic and Enjoying It! for including my work here at Decent Films among his “Ten must-see web resources for Catholics” for Our Sunday Visitor.
Friday, January 20, I’ll be on the first hour of Catholic Answers Live! (6pm–7pm EST). Patrick Coffin and I will be talking about the best and worst films of 2011 and much much more. Listen live!
Tuesday, 1/10: This afternoon I’ll be on Catholic radio twice in the 5 o’clock hour (EST) discussing a pair of movies with very Catholic themes (a comment that should not be taken as an endorsement!).
Recognition and praise are always appreciated, but this month’s shout-out from Image Journal naming me their Artist of the Month for January 2012 is especially gratifying. They have some thoughtful comments about my film writing, both with respect to craft and content, and the guy they’re describing sounds to me like the guy I try to be. Suz says they nailed me. What do you think?
Last week’s “Reel Faith” season finale is now online at the show’s website. This is the end of regular “Reel Faith” programming until next year’s summer season, although we may come back for one-off episodes a couple of times in the interim, and we’ll continue to produce 30-second reviews.
This Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I’ll be on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live!” with Patrick Coffin. We’ll be discussing The Muppets, Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, Happy Feet Two, Arthur Christmas, J. Edgar, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Tower Heist, In Time and more. Listen live!
This Friday, September 30, I’ll be on the second hour of Catholic Answers Live! (7pm–8pm EDT). Patrick Coffin and I will be talking about new and older movies including The Way, Courageous, The Lion King, Machine Gun Preacher, Moneyball, Dolphin Tale, Contagion, Citizen Kane, Warrior and more.
I’m pleased to report that “Reel Faith”—the Catholic movie review TV show that I co-host with David DiCerto—is back for a special fall season, and that episode 1 is now available at the Reel Faith website at NetNY.net!
All reader feedback is welcome! If you think of any articles missing from tags that should include them, or if you find any that should be removed, please let me know. And, of course, let me know what new tags you’d like to see. Thanks!
Just a quick note to say that while Irene put a dent in my writing schedule this week and I’ve completed none of the projects I hoped to post by today, I plan to hit the ground running after Labor Day and will be posting multiple pieces next week.
Neither of the two reviews posting today is for a newly opening movie, but with the summer winding down, vacation behind me and “Reel Faith”’s summer season ending with next week’s finale (edit: not tonight’s finale; preempted for World Youth Day), I’m trying to catch up. After Cowboys & Aliens and Crazy, Stupid, Love, movies I’ve screened that I’d like to write about including today’s Fright Night as well as The Help, 30 Seconds or Less and even The Smurfs.
In the meantime, if you missed my radio reviews this morning of 30 Minutes or Less and Crazy, Stupid, Love, I’ll be on “Kresta in the Afternoon” today around 4:40 EDT talking about both movies — as well as Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’ll also be reviewing 30 Minutes and Crazy, Stupid tonight with David DiCerto on the penultimate episode of “Reel Faith” (8:30 PM on NET-NY).
Sorry I neglected to mention this earlier: I’m on vacation with the family this week (with only spotty Internet access!), which is why there’s no Cowboys and Aliens review here at Decent Films. I will be on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” tonight, though. And of course there will be a new episode of “Reel Faith” tonight on NET. Both are available online (see the homepage Spotlight box for links).
Look up at the Decent Films nav bar and you’ll see a new addition: In addition to RSS and Facebook, Decent Films is now on Twitter.
This Friday, May 27 I’ll be on the second hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (7pm–8pm EST) with Patrick Coffin. Movies we’ll be talking about include Kung Fu Panda 2; The Tree of Life; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Bridesmaids; Priest; Born to Be Wild; Thor and more. Listen live!
This Friday, March 15 I’ll be on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EST) with Patrick Coffin. Movies we’ll be talking about include Rio; The Conspirator; Hop; Soul Surfer; Born to Be Wild; Jane Eyre and more. Listen live!
Today on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EST), I’ll be talking about Of Gods and Men; Red Riding Hood; Rango; The Adjustment Bureau and more. Listen live!
Tune in this weekend for a one-hour Oscar special of Reel Faith … Also, this afternoon around 5:40pm EST I’ll be on Al Kresta discussing the transcendent film Of Gods and Men, which opens this weekend in NY and LA.
Several weeks ago (but only five updates back) ago I mentioned I would be scarce through all of January, and for most of last month I hoped that life would return to normal by Groundhog Day or so. Alas, my January crunch overran most of February.
2010 was a good year for Decent Films, though there’s room for improvement in 2011.
Tune in Friday, December 17 for an hour of Decent Films radio on Catholic Answers Live with Patrick Coffin … Also, don’t miss episode 4 of our special Christmas mini-season of “Reel Faith” this Sunday at 7pm EST.
Tune in Sunday, December 12 at 7pm EST for another episode of “Reel Faith.” Reviewed this week: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Love and Other Drugs and The King’s Speech, plus Fantasia and NET Pcik of the Week. Watch online!
A belated announcement that “Reel Faith” is back for 5 weeks only, starting last Sunday. Now airing on Sundays at 7pm, the mini-season runs through December 26.
Some readers may have noticed posting at Decent Films has been a little light. I’ve been more than usually busy lately with various things that have kept me from posting here as often as I’d like … On the plus side, for the benefit of readers in Arizona, I’ll be in Phoenix this Friday, November 5, speaking at Xavier College Preparatory at 7:00 pm on behalf of the Emeth Society.
Just a quick note drawing your attention to a couple of modest enhancements in the site that hopefully make it more usable.
Today on the first hour of “Catholic Answers Live” (6pm–7pm EDT): Waiting For Superman; Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole; The Town; Easy A; Devil and more. Listen live!
If you missed last week’s episode of “Reel Faith,” now’s the time to catch it on the website.
Just a reminder that the latest episode of “Reel Faith” airs tonight, 8/20, at 8:30pm EDT on NET TV (watch online).
Just a belated reminder that the latest episode of “Reel Faith” airs tonight, 8/13, at 8:30pm EDT on NET TV (watch online).
Just a reminder that the latest episode of “Reel Faith” airs this Friday, 8/6, at 8:30pm EDT on NET TV (watch online).
Quick note on my refurbished review of Robert Duvall’s The Apostle…
Just a quick note to say: After taking off about sixteen days over the last several weeks, I’m now back at my desk for the duration. Watch for a bump up in the rate of new material appearing here at Decent Films! That is all for the moment.
Tune in Friday, July 22 at 8:30pm EDT for another episode of “Reel Faith.” Reviewed this week: Salt, Predators and Ramona and Beezus, plus Rossellini’s Open City and comments about Creation.
Just a quick note that Friday’s episode of “Reel Faith” is now available at the show’s website. This is our sixth episode, and I think we’ve started to hit our stride. If you missed the broadcast on Friday, check it out online!
This Friday I’ll be doing an hour of “Catholic Answers Live” with Patrick Coffin and co-hosting the latest episode of “Reel Faith” with David DiCerto! In both venues we’ll be discussing the latest movies: Inception, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Despicable Me.
A few quick notes: After a week back in the States, I’m just about back in the swing of things. (Hope you’ve been enjoying my pilgrimage blogging!)
Yesterday I taped the fourth episode of Reel Faith with David DiCerto. We discussed Knight and Day, Grown Ups, and Jonah Hex, as well as the documentary Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders. It airs tomorrow, Friday, June 24 at 8:30pm. As usual, you can watch it online at the show’s website, either when it airs or anytime over the next week.
Yes! Having joined the 21st century six months ago by adding RSS, Decent Films has now taken its first step into the world of social media by creating a Facebook page. For readers who use Facebook, especially Facebook users who don’t use RSS, it’s another way to keep track of when I update Decent Films.
A couple of busy weeks on the air: Next Friday, 5/7, I’ll be doing an hour of Kresta in the Afternoon from 5pm–6pm EDT. Then the following Friday, 5/14, I’ll be back on Catholic Answers Live from 6pm–7pm EDT. (See homepage Spotlight for “listen live” links.)
Note for Win/IE users: A bug in the quick search in the header has now been fixed. (You can still upgrade to a better browser.)
For the benefit of RSS readers who may not see the homepage Spotlight notice, I’ll be on the first hour of Catholic Answers Live this Friday, 4/9, from 3pm–4pm PDT (i.e., San Diego time, where Catholic Answers is), or 6pm–7pm EDT (i.e., New Jersey time, where I am).
If so, check out the Emeth Society, billed as “A Book and Film Society Promoting Catholic Culture in the Diocese of Phoenix.” And if you don’t live near Phoenix, check out their website anyway, and ask yourself, “How can I get something like this going in my diocese?”
Last week I blogged about my upcoming Catholic Answers Live appearance — but I wrote the wrong day. It’s Thursday, 2/11, not Friday, 2/12, from 7pm–8pm EST / 4pm–5pm PST. Sorry for the confusion!
Has it really been ten years?
Copyright © 2000– Steven D. Greydanus. All rights reserved.