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I know…technically the decade doesn’t end until next year. Whatever. The first 10 years of the 20th Century, as it was, was a great era for great movies. In my mind, we saw a true resurgence of innovation and imagination…with some routine Hollywood nonsense thrown in. Now, I took some editorial leeway on some of these, as you will see. For what it is worth, here is my top 10 list:

the case of It’s a Wonderful Life. When the film was released in 1946, it was given a 28-year copyright term which was eligible for a 28-year renewal. For whatever reason, a request wasn’t put in for renewal, and it was believed to have fallen into the public domain in 1975. Had it not connected with the American people on its rediscovery, it would have become a resident of dollar DVD bins, like other public domain mainstays such as the Fleischer Superman cartoons or Bill Cosby’s TV movie Tell All My Friends on the Shore. However, the movie studio smelled...

When it comes to a Christmastime movie, a perennial favorite of most everyone is It’s a Wonderful Life. Jimmy Stewart made no secret it was his favorite film and favorite role as George Bailey. The poignant slice of Americana is on the Vatican’s film list and No. 5 on the Register’s 100 best films list. No matter how many times we watch it, the story remains fresh and remarkably uplifting. And with strong spiritual implications whose foundations were laid before filming began. Before Stewart became George Bailey, his guardian angel surely watched over him during harrowing combat missions in World...

London, England, Dec 16, 2009 / 02:18 am (CNA).- Actor Sam Elliot has blamed the Catholic Church for stopping sequels from being made to the Golden Compass movie based on the first book of Philip Pullman’s atheistic trilogy His Dark Materials. The film, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green, grossed more than $380 million worldwide after its Christmas 2007 release, but took in only $85 million in the U.S. According to the Internet Movie Database, the film had a budget of $180 million.The 65-year-old Elliot, who played a Texan “aeronaut” in the film, charged that a Catholic-led...

Soundtrack albums are the hidden pleasures of pop. Composed and performed to accompany moving images, they're emotional enhancers. This dramatic quality, coupled with the depth of sound-field in full cinema reproduction, ensures that many soundtracks stand apart from their parent films as a listening experience.

For Old Timers or fans of old time movies, list your favorite movies made before 1950. Include the date of the movie. Please don't list any movies made after 1950. Thanks!

Steubenville, Ohio, Nov 27, 2009 / 09:04 am (CNA).- The latest installment of the Franciscan University Distinguished Speaker Series, Steve McEveety, the producer of “The Passion of the Christ,” spoke to a standing-room only crowd of students, faculty, and community members last week in a talk entitled, “The Passion, Hollywood, and the Church.” “Never has the world been so dark,” he said. “This is the time to make this world a better place.”According to a press release from the university, McEveety, who also produced “Braveheart,” “We Were Soldiers,” and “Bella” shared his thoughts about how a rising generation of...

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“Blazing Saddles” (1974) “Airplane!” (1980) “There’s Something About Mary” (1998) “Caddyshack” (1980) “Love and Death” (1975) “Kentucky Fried Movie” (1977) “Team America: World Police” (2004) “Porky’s” (1982) “Song of the South” (1946) “Bad Santa” (2003)

Some reviewers have called "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg's World War II film about D-Day and the search for a soldier, one of the greatest war movies. Military historian Antony Beevor begs to differ. Not only is it not the greatest war movie, it's not even the best cinematic depiction of D-Day, says Beevor, author of the newly published "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy" (Viking). He admires the famed Omaha Beach opening -- "Probably the most realistic battle sequence ever filmed," he said -- but described the rest of "Saving Private Ryan" as "ghastly." "It's sort of a 'Dirty Dozen'...

The film, The 13th Day, distributed in North America by Ignatius Press, continues to earn rave reviews from viewers. Sr. Helena Burns, FSP, who authors the "Hell Burns" blog, writes: This is a triumph of a film. And I don’t think I’ve ever used that word for a film before. “The 13th Day” was screened here at the 1st Annual John Paul II Film Festival in Miami: http://www.jp2filmfestival.com/. British producer Natasha Howes (birthday: May 13, feast of Our Lady of Fatima) was present. I was prepared not to like this film, and very apprehensive about not liking it because...

I'm amazed by the soothsayers: Ayn Rand, for instance, who warned us fifty years ago of the risk of dictatorship or civil war if collectivism persisted. Or economist Friedrich Hayek, who wrote in the 1940s that we'll become serfs if we move toward big government. However, what feels most prophetic lately is an obscure movie from the l970s called Little Murders. The writer, Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer, predicted that the '60s would unleash a feral, primitive society. The movie has a checkered history. It started out as a play on Broadway in the mid-'60s that was such a bomb, it...

Madrid, Spain, Oct 31, 2009 / 08:20 am (CNA).- Award-winning director Roland Joffé discussed his upcoming film “There Be Dragons” in a Thursday press conference. The film, set during the brutal Spanish Civil War and based on the life of St. Josemaria Escriva, can teach about love and forgiveness between families and enemies, Joffé said. The film begins with a young journalist, estranged from his military father Manolo, who conducts research on the life of Opus Dei founder and priest St. Josemaria Escriva. He discovers his father was a childhood friend of the future saint, and also uncovers family secrets.The...

For a myriad of reasons, I have spent the last few months watching a movie most every weeknight. I have finally gotten my money’s worth from my Netflix account. But, lately I have had trouble finding movies I think I will like. I scour Netflix and am having a hard time finding movies that interest me, though I know they are out there. My interest runs from war movies to action flicks to quirky indy films to foreign art things. Some of my favorite movies I have seen the past few months are Defiance, all of the Sean Connery Bond...

Maurice Sendak’s poetic, luxuriantly illustrated Where the Wild Things Are is revered as a childhood classic, but I think it speaks more powerfully to grown-ups than to children, or at least children of the age for picture books. I’ve met grown-ups who don’t like it, but I suspect they wouldn’t have liked it as kids either. If a child doesn't like it, there is always the chance he will grow into it a few years down the road. If kids do like it, it may be that they grasp that there is something there they don’t quite understand, something waiting...

Can't post Bloomberg content but looks like Coppola thinks Hollywood is in big trouble. Awww. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajbmamDBit14

San Francisco, Calif., Oct 1, 2009 / 06:39 am (CNA).- A new film about the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, based on the memoirs of visionary Sister Lucia and the accounts of thousands of eyewitnesses, will be holding pre-release screenings in at least seven major U.S. cities.“The 13th Day” is the first major motion picture by directors Ian and Dominic Higgins. According to the film’s U.S. distributor Ignatius Press, their film tells the story of the Virgin Mary’s appearances to Lucia Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto.Over a six month period in 1917, the Virgin Mary...

    The best religious films, and therefore the best Catholic films, convey the great truths of Christianity implicitly rather than explicitly, not unlike the mystery of incarnation itself, in which the Word became flesh in the person of an obscure carpenter from a hick town in a minor province. In addition, this list consists primarily of films that deal with Catholic characters, Catholic society, and the Bible in ways that are not hostile to the Church. Most of them were made by Catholic directors.   It is interesting to note that the three best directors who ever worked...

Steve McEveety CNA STAFF, Jul 23, 2009 / 01:28 pm (CNA).- In a Wednesday evening conference call Steve McEveety, producer of movies such as "The Passion of the Christ" and "Bella," spoke about his Hollywood career, his faith, and how aspiring filmmakers can advance in the entertainment industry. He also discussed the production of movies such as "Braveheart," "The Passion" and "The Stoning of Soraya M."McEveety, a founder of Mpower Pictures, was interviewed by Sean Wolfington, founder of Positive Media and co-owner of Metanoia Films. Members of the media, aspiring young moviemakers and interested laymen listened in and then...

Indian comedy star Ajay Kumar is world's smallest actor Indian comedy star Ajay Kumar has been officially recognised as the world's smallest actor. Last Updated: 4:20PM BST 22 Apr 2009 Kumar, who is just 2 feet 6 inches tall has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after starring in 50 films over 13 years. "There's no point complaining about being a dwarf," said Ajay, "I am small in size but I have got the talent and can work like a normal man." Better known by his stage name Unda Pakru, the tiny star has become a household...

I can’t believe I’m actually getting ready to do a movie promotion/review…. CNN/Entertainment has a story up on Nicholas Cage’s new movie, Knowing. It apparently beat out some stiff competition and surprised many that it is currently the number one film in the country. But, what grabbed my attention about it was Cage’s comments. Normally, I would brush over something like this but this made me do a double take. “I’m a huge believer of the human spirit,” he told CNN. “I think people are amazing. I think what we have accomplished is incredible. … If you think positive and...

The French film “Séraphine” won its country’s top film honors Friday, receiving seven Césars, awards akin to the Oscars, The Associated Press reported. Directed by Martin Provost, the film is based on the life of the early 20th-century painter Séraphine of Senlis, who was played by Yolande Moreau, above with Mr. Provost. She was named best actress. “Séraphine” will be shown this weekend at Lincoln Center as part of the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema series. Dustin Hoffman, 71, received a special César, just a day after he was named an honorary commander in the National Order of Arts and Letters...

Claude Berri, who as a director, producer, screenwriter and actor was among the most influential figures in the French film industry over the past 40 years, died Monday in Paris. He was 74 and was described after his death by President Nicolas Sarkozy as “the great ambassador of French cinema” to the world. The cause was a stroke, his agent, Dominique Segall, said in a statement. Mr. Berri had been admitted to the hospital on Saturday with a “cerebral vascular problem,” he said. Mr. Berri was, by and large, a filmmaker of mainstream sensibility who favored stories of either quirky...

Calling all Bill Clinton look-alikes: an audition next month in Arlington, Va., will cast the role of the former president for a new indie flick. A room is reserved at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City for the audition, where Monica Lewinsky was interrogated by the FBI in 1998. The tentative date is the weekend before inauguration. Daniel Vovak, executive producer of The Blue Dress, calls the movie a “non-political comedy” and “even Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live is reading a script,” for the part of Clinton, he said. Vovak resides in Bethesda, Md., and is the executive producer and...

Say what you will about Tom Cruise’s acting in other movies; in "Valkyrie," which opened yesterday, he is awful. Amid British and European actors, Cruise stands out like a sore thumb. He doesn’t even attempt a German accent, his mannerisms are all from his "Jerry Maguire" era, and his earnestness suggests at best some kind of fictional American soldier trying to infiltrate the Luftwaffe. You knew it would be bad, and it is. I’m more concerned that “Valkyrie” could represent a new trend in filmmaking: Nazi apologia. We know already what Valkyrie is about: a group of German soldiers who...

In a way, it’s harder to choose the worst films of a year rather than the best. There are so many! How many times did we walk out of a theater this year muttering, “That’s the worst thing I ever saw”? About as many times as last year. So here they are, for better or worse.Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes starred in two of 2008's biggest clunkers. 1. SEVEN POUNDS [Only the list is presented in this excerpt. You can read a mini-review of each film in the article.] 2. CLOVERFIELD 3. QUANTUM OF SOLACE 4. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK...

An American Carol, David Zucker’s unabashedly pro-American, anti-left comedy, came out Friday without being screened for critics. But movie critics pounced anyway, just a day later than normal. Some critics used turns of phrase they’d never utter in describing, say, a Michael Moore opus. Check out the Miami Herald’s Rene Rodriguez, who calls the film one of the worst movies of all time: “It is the movie’s underlying tone — its relentless hammering on its pro-war, anti-dissent, anti-liberal message — that makes watching it such a sour experience.”...

Mpower pictures and Vivendi are starting to hear complaints about sabotage of An American Carol by employees of theaters that are carrying the movie. So far, ten theaters have been implicated in outright fraud regarding this movie. Obviously, the producers and distributors would like to get to the bottom of this and find out the extent of any fraud, but they need our help to determine whether the problem is systemic, or confined to a few theaters in a nationawide release. What we know: in at least ten theaters nationwide, customers were sold tickets they were told were for An...

<p>The conservative stars are in it & as I was on the way to the movie I heard an interview by Kelsey Grammer by Michael Medved. The obvious question from Michael… “What do you think this will do to your Hollywood career?”. Kelsey responded, well when I saw the script & showed it to my family my wife said, YOU ARE SO DEAD”. He laughed & gave indication that it was important to be true to your convictions. Yea! Nice to hear that from OUR SIDE, isn’t it?</p>

You can almost picture the Hollywood studio execs scratching their heads A film that was made for $500,000, relied more on word of mouth than television and print ads, and is headlined by an actor best known for a 1980s television show, opens at No. 4 in the country and rakes in $6.8 million in ticket sales. "Where did this come from? We didn't see this on the radar," actor Kirk Cameron imagined the execs saying. "What is 'Fireproof?'" After this week, few will be left wondering. The Christian-themed film, which stars Cameron as a firefighter whose marriage is on...

Pauline Kael & trash cinema Will Smith's films are the endgame of a critic's take on Bonnie and Clyde Robert Fulford, National Post Published: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Happy as a clam, rich as a minor Rockefeller, Will Smith turned up recently on a 60 Minutes update of an item from last December. He was there to promote his current movie, Hancock, but his main theme was his huge success and the way he's engineered it. He left me thinking sad and rueful thoughts about, of all people, the late Pauline Kael, the most passionate, stimulating and argument-starting critic in...

The movie industry no longer aspires to portray genuine heroism—even though that's precisely what audiences want to see. A spate of movies about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror came out last year, all of them hostile to U.S. involvement and all of them box-office flops. At the time there was a certain amount of soul-searching in the media as to why, when most Americans told pollsters they thought the Iraq war, at least, had been a mistake, they didn't seem to want to go and see movies that sought to show them just how...

More than 20 years of data is in – and the conventional wisdom is wrong. The chances a Hollywood movie will win big at the box office are greatly enhanced by a family-friendly rating and strong moral content, defying the notion the entertainment industry is merely serving up what consumers want when they produce so many R-rated movies full of foul language, sex, drugs and immorality, shows a new study by the Christian Film and Television Commission, publishers of Movieguide. According to the study, G-rated movies averaged nearly $92.2 million, more than 438 percent better than R-rated movies, making only...

Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, who turned such literary works as "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain" into acclaimed movies, has died. He was 54. Minghella's death was confirmed Tuesday by his agent, Judy Daish. No other details were immediately available. "The English Patient," the 1996 World War II drama, won nine Academy Awards, including best director for Minghella, best picture and best supporting actress for Juliette Binoche. Based on the celebrated novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje, the movie tells of a burn victim's tortured recollections of his misdeeds in time of war. Minghella (pronounced min-GELL'-ah)...

IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if Americans won't see their movies. While the public is staying away in droves from “Rendition," “Lions for Lambs" and “In the Valley of Elah," audiences are really avoiding “Redacted," De Palma's picture about US soldiers who rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then kill her and her family.

A ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to the Chairman of the Motion Picture Association today calling the new Iraq war film "Redacted" a shameful view of American soldiers. California Republican Duncan Hunter sent a scathing letter regarding Brian DePalma's new Iraq war film to Motion Picture Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman asking that he not forget that there are heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the United States and Iraqi people. "Unfortunately, Brian De Palma's new movie "Redacted," which opened in several theaters this week, portrays American service personnel in Iraq as uncontrollable...

"My books are about killing God" — Phillip Pullman.Are you concerned with the witchcraft and dark themes embodied in the Harry Potter book and film series? If you are a Christian and your answer is "Yes" then Phillip Pullman thanks you. Sort of. Identifying J.K. Rowling's stories about the boy wizard as covering fire, drawing away the ire of concerned Christians, Phillip Pullman — the author of the best-selling His Dark Materials trilogy -- has been slowly advancing what he identifies as an even more subversive philosophy: the need for children and adults alike to kill God. Of course, Pullman also...

Here's your chance to make a cameo appearance in Fred's Presidential campaign. Make a video telling us why you support Fred Thompson for President and upload it using the form below. We'll share these videos with all of our supporters on Fred08.com, and allow you, and them, to pick the best one. Here's your chance to be a star. Submit your video now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sure, Fred Thompson is an accomplished lawyer, prosecuting criminals in Tennessee before serving as counsel on the Watergate hearings. And yes, he served the people of Tennessee as a common sense, conservative Senator for eight years....

AMRITSAR, India (AFP) - Indian police said on Monday that an explosion that killed six people and injured 32 in a packed cinema hall in northern India was a "terrorist" bombing. Hundreds of people -- mainly poor migrant workers -- were crammed into the theatre in the industrial city of Ludhiana in Punjab state to watch Sunday's late-night screening of a new Bollywood comedy. "It was a bomb blast. It is a terror act. We are trying to find out the exact nature of explosives used," said a senior police official on condition of anonymity. Police have not named any...

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Directed by Shekhar Kapur. Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Samantha Morton, Jordi Mollà.From a National Catholic Register review By Steven D. Greydanus A lurid sort of Christopher Hitchens vision of history pervades Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Shekhar Kapur’s sequel to his 1998 art-house hit Elizabeth. The earlier film, which made a star of Cate Blanchett as the eponymous Virgin Queen, celebrated the triumph of bright, happy Elizabethan Protestantism over the dark, unwholesome Catholic world of Bloody Mary. Even so, that film’s church-bashing was tame compared that of this sequel, in which...

DEARBORN--Screen star Fred Thompson muscled into his debut 2008 presidential debate clash with Republican rivals Tuesday, vowing to repel a tide of "Islamic fascism" aimed at bringing down the West. The tough-talking ex-senator and top rivals in party nominating contests, due in three months, pledged to halt Iran's nuclear program, bickered over taxes and sparred over China's alleged trade transgressions. Thompson, 65, the star of internationally syndicated "Law & Order," faced pressure to quell mocking reviews of his performance since belatedly launching an official campaign only last month. "It is a global war -- Islamic fascism has declared it upon...

<p>This action/thriller could have devolved into a giant PC "can't-we-all-get-along" tolerance-fest. Fortunately, except for a line at the end (no, I won't spoil it), it does not. It brings home the lack of freedom present in Saudi Arabia, combined with the best in suspense and action. Although Jamie Foxx is clearly the star, the ensemble that includes Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and Ashraf Barhoum keeps the focus on solving the terrorist attack on the U.S. compound, not on personalities.</p>

Gibson, De Niro in Polish big budget film project? Friday, September 14. 2007 The most expensive ever big-budget movie is about to be made in Poland. “Victoria” retells the story of the Polish victory in the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Possible highlights include Hollywood cast and “Lord of the Rings” special effects crew. The budget for the movie is to be 200 million zloty (50 million euro). The ambitious plans for the project include asking Mel Gibson to direct and play the part of king Sobieski for 20 million dollars, casting Robert De Niro, as well as getting the famous...

New York, NY (CNS) - Lionsgate has signed "House of Sand and Fog" director Vadim Perelman to direct the film adaptation of Ayn Rand's iconic novel "Atlas Shrugged." According to trade magazine Variety, Perelman will also rewrite a draft of the script penned by "Braveheart" writer Randall Wallace. The latter will remain involved with the project. The film follows, Dagny Taggart, a railroad executive to be played by Angelina Jolie, who strives to keep her family-owned trans-continental railroad company alive amidst worldwide strike involving industrialists and thinkers. Howard and Karen Baldwin ("Ray"), who hold the rights to Rand's most ambitious...

American film icon Woody Allen on Monday said he was devastated to hear Swedish filmmaker and playwright Ingmar Bergman had died, hailing him as cinema's greatest director. "I was very sorry to hear Ingmar passed away," Allen told Swedish daily Aftonbladet's website. "He was a friend and certainly the finest film director of my lifetime," added Allen, who has also expressed great admiration for Bergman in the past. In a 70th birthday tribute in 1988, Allen said Bergman was "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera." Bergman, considered one of the...

Tributes have been pouring in for Ingmar Bergman, one of the most influential film directors of the 20th century, who died on Monday at his home on the Swedish island of Fårö. He was 89. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt hailed Bergman as "one of the great dramatists in this world," and French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to "one of the geniuses of our time." "The dream ended, the music went quiet that night on the island of Fårö, where Ingmar Bergman died," Sarkozy said. "France, a land of the cultural exception that was dear to Ingmar Bergman, honours...

Film historian Geoffrey Macnab reflects on the surprisingly versatile career of director Ingmar Bergman, who has died aged 89.

Film director Bergman dies at 89 Legendary film-maker Ingmar Bergman has died aged 89, according to a Swedish news agency. One of the key figures in modern cinema, his 60-year career has spanned intense classics like Cries & Whispers, The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. He was nominated for nine Oscars himself, while his films won the best foreign film Oscar three times.

May/June 2007Edition Reel Cinema Current Box Office Reviews Amazing Grace Reviewed by Athelass From acclaimed director Michael Apted ("The World is Not Enough," "Coal Miner's Daughter") comes "Amazing Grace," a moving historical epic about the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce. "Amazing Grace" follows Wilberforce's career through his 20's and 30's, as he and his fellow humanitarians make the issue of slavery a talking point, not only in political circles, but also throughout the country. They wage the first modern political campaign, using petitions, boycotts, mass meetings and even badges with slogans to take their message to the country...

Polish Holocaust heroine in Hollywood movie By Borys Kit Mon Apr 9, 12:00 AM ET LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A Polish World War Two heroine whose efforts to save about 2,500 Jewish children were largely covered up after the war, will finally have her story brought to the screen. Irena Sendler was a Polish social worker who smuggled children out of the Warsaw ghetto. She kept track of them, as well as their original and new identities, with names hidden in jars. She was arrested in 1943 by the Gestapo, tortured and sentenced to death but was saved on...