There's a new film out about nuns. And we can never have too many films about nuns, of course. The film "The Innocents" is  about a convent in Poland in 1945, at the end of World War II, where horrors have occurred. Horrors not just from the war and the Nazi occupation, but from the newly-occupying Red Army. I won't be able to go any further in this review if I don't tell you more. SPOILER ALERT: The whole film is about the fact that many of the Sisters were raped by R...

Back in 1991, I spent one week in Charleston, SC, on loan from my community in Alexandria, VA, to help out in the Pauline Book & Media Center there while other Sisters were away on vacation. Having always been a history buff, I took the opportunity to visit Fort Sumter on the weekend.  The narrative provided during the boat trip  mentioned the 1989 film, Glory, the story of which took place on nearby Morris Island. That night, I rented Glory and loved the film so much that it launc...

"The Dark Horse," the true story of New Zealand speed chess champion, Genesis Potini (Cliff Curtis), radiates compassion and mercy. Potini suffers with bipolar disorder. The opening scene sets the tone for the whole film. Gen, as he is called, wanders the rain-soaked streets wrapped in a patchwork quilt. He’s drawn to a pawn shop by the chess set in the window. The people in the shop show him compassion as he’s obviously mentally disturbed but they don’t quite know what to do with him.

Annabelle Beam, “Anna” (Kylie Rogers) is a ten year-old girl who lives with her two sisters and parents, Christy (Jennifer Garner) and Kevin (Martin Henderson) in Burleson TX. Anna suffers from “pseudo-obstruction motility disorder” meaning that her intestines are not able to function. As her condition worsens with increasing pain, Christy desperately tries to find a doctor that can help Anna but is frustrated at every turn.Christy finally finds Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez)...

Humility. It’s a virtue that is sometimes misunderstood to mean that we should demean ourselves and consider ourselves as unworthy of another's esteem. Not so. True humility is being aware of our strengths and weaknesses and being honest about them. Humility is not letting our strengths over-inflate our egos or letting our weaknesses discourage us from trying to do better. "The Finest Hours" gives us examples of true humility in action.

If you are a parent on the lookout for a role model for your athletically-inclined son or daughter, look no further than Michael “Eddie” Edwards, better known as Eddie the Eagle, a British ski jumper at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. If you’re not, that’s OK. You can just sit back and enjoy this charming tale about the spirit of the underdog.

Water, breath, fire, wind. Ice, snow, cold, wet. Pain and more pain. Violence, so much violence. Heartbreak, loneliness. Beauty and cruelty. Betrayal and treachery. Death, so much death. Whispers from beyond yet near and signs of hope. Body and soul, love and sacrifice. The natural and unnatural in a tension that hemorrhages blood and life. This is just a sample of what Alejandro G. Iñárritu's "The Revenant" is about.

"The Lady in the Van" showcases what living the Golden Rule can look like in today’s society. Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith) lives in her van parked on a street in Camden Town in North London. To stay within the law, she moves up and down the street at regular intervals and annoys the residents on a consistent basis. They tolerate her and even show her small kindnesses for which she offers no thanks. Then one person, Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), against the advice of his neighbors, allows her to...

I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché, “If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, this saying perfectly describes the new Jennifer Lawrence film, "Joy."

"Concussion", starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin, gives us a glimpse into the life and work of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born forensic neuropathologist, whose research into a condition called CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) will make you think twice about how much you enjoy your Sunday NFL football game. It’s all about awareness.