Everyday Liminality

There's nothing like a ministry of presence, simply being with people and open to listening. Fr. Dennis Tamburello, OFM has spent his entire life with this mindset, listening to students, visiting prisoners, and conferencing with Protestants. Also, he plays the guitar and drums!

Not all Christmas classics are great. But we think we can fix this one.

Few movies are as stark and haunting as No Country For Old Men. 

Like Shakespeare? Neither do we. But we love the high school cult classic 10 Things I Hate About You, based off of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

Whiplash is everything a movie should be: well-shot, brilliantly acted, compelling, unique, and most of all, perfectly written. The ending may leave the viewer wanting from a character growth standpoint, but you can't deny how absolutely pitch perfect it is.

Seriously. Is Marisa Tomei not the absolute greatest? Nothing more needs to be said.

What can we say? Gladiator is just a great movie. Is it flawed? Yeah, but who cares?

Few movies have quite the backstory as Good Will Hunting. Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck because they weren't getting cast in any roles, it launched multiple careers, won Robin Williams his only Oscar, and wedged itself into our minds as one of the most iconic movies of the past 30 years. By no means the best or most popular, who doesn't know the story of the wicked smart janitor that solves the math problem on the whiteboard?

It's difficult to beat the comedic stylings of Robin Williams, and Good Morning Vietnam undoubtedly has funny moments. But is it a comedy? Frs. Casey and Tito discuss.

There's something so enticing about magic. How did he do it? The Prestige plays on that fascination to tell a story of ambition and pride that leaves you guessing until the end.

If you're a millennial, you probably grew up watching Big and amazed at the dream world he gets to live in. As adults, it's no less fun, but the nostalgia reminds us how hard being an adult is.

Watching Mr. Holland's Opus as a kid was a great experience. Watching it as an adult, that now works at a high school, hits different.

Back in the 80s, kids movies used to be kids movies. There were no jokes for parents, nothing speaking over kids' heads. Great for kids in the 80s, not great for us today. Watching The Never Ending Story, we can't help but admire it for what it was... while recognizing that it didn't age well.

We're back for another season of reviewing movies! This week, we discuss one of the strangest, most creative, wonderful movies ever made: Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. This movie is not for everyone...

The biggest movie experience in years has been the dual release of Barbie and Oppenheimer. The friars went to watch them on consecutive days and have some thoughts to share.

Listen as Fr. Tito, Fr. Casey, and guest host T.J. draft their favorite trilogies. Once it's picked, it's gone.

After a season discussing sequels, Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey crown the best trilogy with help of a repeat special guest.

Is this the greatest sequel ever made? Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey discuss.

Few movies are as iconic as the Aliens franchise. But did you know that they were actually really good?

The most controversial Star Wars movie? It has to be the Last Jedi. Fr. Tito discuss why we love aspects of this movie but why it ultimately disappoints many.

The Bourne series is about as iconic as it comes for action movies. Although we can look back and see flaws today, what it did in its time will never be forgotten.

There is much debate over who the real Batman is. Michael Keaton makes his claim in Batman and Batman Returns.

There are many who say that Shrek 2 is the best sequel of all time that it's better even than the original. Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey debate.

Few movies bring the energy that Top Gun: Maverick do. It's dialed up to an 11 in every way, and we're here for it.

It shouldn't surprise us that Pixar puts out quality work. But some movies get lost in the shuffle. Toy Story 2 is one of those for us: a movie that we saw as kids and forgot about, only now realizing how good it was.

The original Men in Black was a blockbuster hit. The (first) sequel not so much.

Return to a blockbuster from the early 2000s that you probably forgot to love: The Mummy Returns.

John Wick changed the landscape of action movies with impeccable choreography and unique cinematography. John Wick: Chapter 2 builds upon that with a deeper backstory into the world of assassins. 

Look, don't take it too seriously and it's a great movie!

Some sequels just don't need to be made. That's the case for The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It's not a bad movie, it just doesn't match the expectations set by the original, nor does it add much to the overall story. 

I'm not sure if we got older or times changed, but this movie is not as funny as it was when we were 10. Go figure. Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey discuss why that is and whether this movie lives up to the original.

Star Wars is obviously a classic. Even on its own, it's a great movie. Who would have thought that its sequel, which was not planned from the beginning, would be even better?

Our first sequel this semester was highly anticipated. It did not deliver.

Can you believe that we've been doing this for 10 seasons? Crazy. Fr. Tito and I are excited to begin again next week and we have a great theme for the season: sequels and prequels.

Listen to Fr. Casey, Fr. Tito, and special guest draft their favorite Pixar movies. Once it's drafted, it's gone!

There have been 26 movies produced by Pixar, many of them among the best movies of a generation. But which is the best? With the help of a special guest host, Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey complete the Pixar bracket to determine the champion.

You thought the original Spider-Man was good? Wait until you see the 2012 reboot starring Andrew Garfield. Although it's using the same source material, it feels very different.

At this point, superhero movies are a dime a dozen. Everyone knows their tropes and everyone knows they'll be successful. This was not the case in 2002 when Toby Maguire portrayed the iconic character. In many ways, this movie vaulted us into the superhero era we know today.

Imagine a world where if you open your eyes outside, you die. You must survive entirely by touch and sound, feeling your way around the world, lest the monsters get you. For this reason, Bird Box might be the most unsettling movie I've ever seen.

A Quiet Place is about monsters that kill people who make sounds. It's also about coming together as family to live a contemplative life. I dare you not to see the Catholic imagery in this movie.

Robin Williams as Peter Pan? Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook? Sign me up! While the classic kid's movie Hook has a lot of flaws, there's something really wonderful about it. Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey find a lot to discuss in this episode.

How do you help a kid that feels alone? How do you help a kid when he loses his best friend in a tragic death? These were questions that Katherine Paterson had with her son in 1977, inspiring her to write the classic novel, The Bridge to Terabithia. The movie is a bit uneven, but it has something important to say.

For people of my generation, there is no more iconic high school movie than Mean Girls. If you were in high school in the early 00's, you can probably quote a dozen famous lines from it. But it's not just an iconic movie: it tells a great story and shares a relatable lesson.

Everyone in high school wants to be noticed and to fit in. But what if it takes lying about something to achieve that? What if that lie gets out of hand? Based on the themes of the Scarlet Letter, Easy A is a warning about how rumors can spread.

Some movies are just fun. They don't evoke deep questions or require a lot of thought to enjoy. That's how we feel about Red.

Fr. Tito and Fr. Casey are torn on this one. One thinks it's brilliant, the other used to think it was brilliant. There's no denying, though, that it's original and interesting to watch.

They say there isn't a perfect movie. That might be true, but you're not going to hear any criticisms from Fr. Tito or Fr. Casey about the movie Shutter Island. Beautifully scored, powerfully acted, meticulously directed, and ingeniously written, it is one of the best thrillers ever made. Not for the faint of heart though, so be attentive to the R rating.

Most movies these days are remakes or sequels, leaving very little room for originality. Free Guy is by no means an original concept, borrowing a lot from various sources (see The Truman Show) and yet it feels fresh and creative. It's a bit shameless at times, playing to emotion and cheap tricks, but man do we love it.

Birdman is a dizzying work of art. Enter the anxiety of a man trying to show the world that he matters by creating a hit Broadway show when, ironically, the best bit of advice he receives is that he doesn't.