Ant-Man Review on Novel Ninja

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

I keep most of my stuff on reviews and writing over on my editing blog, Novel Ninja. However, I should really do more cross-linking. Ant-Man is a good place to start, since I know a lot of you are going to be interested in that. I posted my review on Friday; I know at least one other author here on The Catholic Geeks will do a separate review, but for now you can take a look at what I had to say.

If you’re looking for the specifically-Catholic, “is this family friendly?” review, then I’ll add this to what I already wrote: no sleaze (the only women being visually exploited are in momentary flashbacks that are practically blink-and-miss-it even for a visually-oriented male such as myself), and no overt immorality other than two obvious things. First, that the main character’s divorced, and his ex-wife is remarried; and second, it’s a heist movie, so there’s lying and stealing. The latter is easily explained to your kids. The former depends on what you’re teaching your kids; my Catholic homeschooling neighbor hasn’t yet started any of that, and her eldest is 9.

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The Pixar Hierarchy

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Ross Windsor

Pixar Logo

Since they released their first feature film in 1995, Pixar Animation Studios has become a household name all but synonymous with quality. They have had a few missteps along the way, but on the whole you can count on Pixar delivering solid films that moviegoers of all ages can enjoy. This general excellence makes it difficult to rank Pixar’s films into a “best and worst,” and yet many reviewers have tried. Dissatisfied with the other lists I have seen, how could I pass up a chance to tackle this challenge?

Note: while some subjectivity will inevitably infiltrate my judgment from time to time, I will nevertheless attempt to rank these films as objectively as possible, favoring the merits of a particular film over my personal preferences.

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Let’s Take Back Rainbows

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Karina Fabian

Ever since the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage, people on Facebook have put that rainbow overlay on their profile pic. Matthew posted on July 3rd instructions on how to Vaticanize your profile pic with an overlay of the Vatican flag. It’s a cool way to declare where who we are.

However, there’s another issue that needs to be addresses: the real meaning of rainbows. Continue reading →

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Enter Strawpope Frank

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Declan Finn

Note: If you listen to The Catholic Geek Radio Show, the following may seem familiar.

Pope Francis - Commie Crucifix strawpope

You may have noticed a new segment on the blog under “The Church.” It’s called Strawpope Frank. Because, let’s face it, every time the Pope says something, the media headlines it as something completely different — much like a Monty Python sketch, only not as funny.

Continue reading →

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Not Quite Gundams

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Andy

Optimus Prime

It’s the distant future, the year 2015. We may not have flying skateboards, but you know what we do have? COMBAT ROBOTS. Sorta. Lemme back up a second. See, once upon a time, the Japanese robotics company Suidobashi Heavy Industry made a robot: buyable for $1.3 million, it weighs almost five tons, can be outfitted with dastardly weapons like twin BB gatling cannons or a water bottle cannon, is over 12 feet tall, and is programmed to fire when its operator smiles.

Japan. I tell ya.

So that’s all well and good, but the Kuratas has been around for a while. Why is it notable now? Well, see, we’re about to witness some good ol-fashioned robo beatdown. Continue reading →

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Bastille Day

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

Bastielle Day Prise_de_la_BastilleToday is Bastille Day, seen as the beginning of freedom in France. Of course, it lead almost immediately to one of the worst tyrannies in human history. Then that lead to a more efficient tyranny that contradicted that previous tyranny and began to conquer Europe. After that, we got a weakened France that allowed itself to be conquered by Germany . . . twice. Not a great track record.

What’s more, it was an unlawful rebellion. Now, that might sound peculiar; aren’t all rebellions unlawful by their very definition? Absolutely. But I’m talking about the moral law in this case; Just War Theory, if you want to get technical.

And yet, for once, I don’t actually want to get technical. If you want to know about Just War in detail, you’ve got a lot of reading ahead of you. I’m just going to go with a summary of the Church’s just war doctrine.  Continue reading →

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Suicide Squad Trailer Unveiled at Comic Con

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Declan Finn

So … what the bloody blue hell was that?

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The Catholic Geek, with John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Declan Finn

http://player.cinchcast.com/?platformId=1&assetType=single&assetId=7754943

Check Out Culture Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with We Built That Network on BlogTalkRadio

Wow, that was AWESOME.  L. Jagi Lamplighter and John C. Wright are sincerely awesome people. Jagi and I spent a large part of the opening discussing the joys of LibertyCon, and the wonder that is Chattanooga, and the joys and the charms of a small convention, as well as the monstrosity that is DragonCon.

Continue reading →

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Evil Dead returns

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Declan Finn

Um … Groovy?

Yeah. An Evil Dead tv series. You know that this is going to be completely insane. I can’t figure out if this is going to be a comedy or horror. But then, Bruce Campbell has been doing self-parody probably since Evil Dead 2.

Continue reading →

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BvS trailer released at Comic Con; Batfleck to Script own movie

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Declan Finn

I guess the first section to ask is: Why does it look like Kyra Segwick is in this film? Why, God? Why? Superman testifying before a Senate hearing?  Batfleck shoehorned into the previous Superman film?

You know, the film Man of Steel felt like someone rewrote the awesome Superman: Earth One comic book by the amazing J. Michael Straczynski.

This feels like someone read the other two volumes and said “Hey, wouldn’t it be just great if we crammed Batman into this?”

Sigh.

Continue reading →

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There They Go Again: Another Episode of “Pope Francis Said What?”

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

Once again, the Pope has said something that the media has picked and run with, cackling in glee at further proof of how a left-wing agenda is supported by the Church they reject. Let’s start by looking at what the Pope actually said about money in his latest South American speech:

Time, my brothers and sisters, seems to be running out; we are not yet tearing one another apart, but we are tearing apart our common home. Today, the scientific community realizes what the poor have long told us: harm, perhaps irreversible harm, is being done to the ecosystem. The earth, entire peoples and individual persons are being brutally punished. And behind all this pain, death and destruction there is the stench of what Basil of Caesarea called “the dung of the devil”. An unfettered pursuit of money rules. The service of the common good is left behind. Once capital becomes an idol and guides people’s decisions, once greed for money presides over the entire socioeconomic system, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it destroys human fraternity, it sets people against one another and, as we clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home.

Continue reading →

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More Sherlock

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

Moffat says he’s yet to start writing up the scripts for the fourth round of Sherlock TV movies. (Oh, come on . . . they’re extra-long and you can’t call three of them a “season.”) Now, I obviously deal a lot with writers, so I expect this is either a flat-out lie or a case of different definitions, because I’ve never known a writer who doesn’t spend time writing something that’s on his or her mind, even if it’s not time to focus on that particular project. Normally, I would lean to the first, but with Moffat I’m thinking he just has a different definition for what constitutes writing; he rarely gives up an opportunity to troll his own fans, so I suspect he just hasn’t put things in script form yet.

In the meantime, we’ve got the usual Comic Con message from the actors, and a clip from the upcoming Sherlock Christmas special that apparently isn’t a Christmas special.  Continue reading →

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Review: The Watson Chronicles

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Declan Finn

For those of you who are suffering from a deficit of Sherlock, wondering why Robert Downy Jr. hasn’t made another Sherlock Holmes film already, and the okay-Elementary isn’t really cutting it, have we got something for you.

When Ann Margaret Lewis wrote Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, she had the venerable detective come face to face with Pope Leo XIII, with a guest cleric named Father Brown. Holmes solved mysteries that Arthur Conan Doyle only hinted at in his books — Sherlock fans will recognize the title of the short story “The Vatican Cameos.”

And now, Madam Lewis tackles the next great task in filling the Sherlockian mysteries — namely, giving Dr. Watson a personal life.

TWC

Continue reading →

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Murder in the Vatican, by Ann Margaret Lewis

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Declan Finn

When I was thirteen, I started reading through the collected stories of Sherlock Holmes. I made it about halfway through. I had been stopped dead by “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott”—one time Holmes was the narrator. I wasn’t the only one who had a problem with that story. Another author of the day, G.K. Chesterton, said that the Gloria Scott showed why Watson was relevant: because Holmes was an awful storyteller.

Since then, I have been critical of anything about Sherlock Holmes written after the death of Arthur Conan Doyle. Some stories went wildly off track. Others were riddled with so many anachronisms it was painful. Of the vast quantity of Holmes-related material published, my family of readers owns only a fraction.

When Robert Downey Jr. starred in Sherlock Holmes, I crossed my fingers and hoped it didn’t suck … instead, I got a checklist of what they did right.

When Doctor Who scribe and show runner Steven Moffat created Sherlock, I also crossed my fingers. It was surprisingly awesome.

Then I heard about Murder in the Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes on the newsletter for the Catholic Writers Organization. It had an interesting premise: author Ann Margaret Lewis takes Watson’s offhand references of Holmes working on cases for the Pope, or involving religious figures, and turns them into entire stories.

I experienced the same feeling of dread. How off would the narration be? Would someone try converting Holmes? How lost would a detective from Victorian, Anglican England be in Catholic Rome? How many different ways were there to screw this up?

Continue reading →

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The Pope is Not Amused

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

Well, the Pope is in the news again . . . but this time, not for looking like a communist. In fact, it’s hard to say that this is the face of someone who believes in communist principles:

Pope Francis - Commie Crucifix blank

The constantly-peaceful Pope Francis seems to have been shaken rather severely when Bolivian President Evo Morales gave the pontiff a “communist crucifix,” where the cross is replaced by a hammer and sickle. Reportedly (though I can’t hear it myself, being a non-native Spanish speaker with a hearing problem), the Pope muttered “No está bien eso,” or in English, “This is not okay with me, dude.”  Continue reading →

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Next Up on The Catholic Geek Radio Show: John C. Wright and L. Jagi Lamplighter

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

On this coming Sunday’s episode of The Catholic Geek, Declan Finn welcomes two prolific authors: Hugo-nominated author and Catholic convert John C. Wright (Count to a Trillion) and his wife L. Jagi Lamplighter (Prospero’s Daughter).
Continue reading →

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Remember Sherlock?

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

There was once this show on TV called Sherlock. All nine episodes of it. You know, that’s more of a single season, even for British TV; and nothing’s been going on for a while.

Well, now there’s this:

Sherlock

I guess someone finally got around to remembering that this show existed.

But enough of that idle stuff. Time for months of commenting on Watson’s facial hair! Can even Sherlock solve the mystery behind that particular fashion choice?

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Elodie Yung Cast as Elektra

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Declan Finn

So, we have a new cast member for Daredevil next season (2016)

Elodie Yung is Elektra.

Huh. This should be interesting.

I can’t really object to the casting. Yung looks exotic enough to be Greek or … well, something.

Jeph Loeb likes her, but we shouldn’t hold that against her — he is the schlub who is running Agents of SHIELD, mostly into the ground.

Season 2 of Daredevil will also include Jon Bernthal as the Punisher.  The season originally had plans for Jason Statham as Bullseye, so this is going to be odd.

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The Catholic Geeks Are Now on Twitter

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Matthew Bowman

TwitterI’ve long been on record as disliking Twitter, because I can’t do anything in 140 characters or less. Seriously . . . have you seen my blog posts? I’m pretty sure the vast majority of my Facebook comments would need at least four or five tweets’ worth of characters.

But . . . *sigh* Like it or not, I’m now the admin of a major new blog for news and opinion on Catholic geekery. (Er . . . well, I’m kind of counting on you, dear reader, to spread the word so we can live up to that “major” part.)

Long story short, you can now find us on Twitter. Continue reading →

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The Catholic Geek Radio Show: Catholic Sci-Fi with Right Fans

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Declan Finn

https://player.cinchcast.com/?assettype=single&show_id=7740635&version=2.0&platformId=1

Check Out Culture Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with We Built That Network on BlogTalkRadio with We Built That Network on BlogTalkRadio

Continue reading →

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