hand and heart

The recent post office troubles have impacted our regular fundraising efforts. Please consider supporting the Register and Catholic journalism by using one of the methods below:

  • Donate online
  • Donate by e-transfer to accounting@catholicregister.org
  • Donate by telephone: 416-934-3410 ext. 406 or toll-free 1-855-441-4077 ext. 406

De Palma’s ode to the fruitlessness of war

{mosimage}Director Brian de Palma is obviously outraged, morally scandalized, angered and saddened by the war in Iraq. A Catholic educated in Quaker schools who came of age protesting the Vietnam War in the 1960s, de Palma is not the kind of American President George Bush can count on for support.

Documentary explores new style of mother-daughter relationship

{mosimage}TORONTO - Mothers moving in with their adult daughters is the focus of a TVOntario  documentary being filmed.

Critics pan The Da Vinci Code

{mosimage}CANNES, France - Toward the end of the movie The Da Vinci Code, the main character, Robert Langdon, tells his sleuthing partner, Sophie Neveu: "You are the last living descendent of Jesus Christ."

Despite poor reviews, Da Vinci phenomenon grows

{mosimage}Finally, the buildup to The Da Vinci Code movie release is over and we can now dispense with speculation about its faithfulness to the famous novel by Dan Brown. All in all, the movie follows the novel quite faithfully, with all of its wild and erroneous claims about "real" history. And, the movie has no notice that it is based on a work of fiction. There is no disclaimer about the picture it presents of Opus Dei or of traditional Christian orthodoxy. However, it is quite significant that both Ron Howard and Tom Hanks played up the element of fiction in interviews, rather than bragging about Brown's alleged incredible research. Neither was inclined to give serious attention to the fact that the movie was advertised with the line: "seek the truth."

Movie's Pro-Life Message Connects With Viewers

{mosimage}HAMILTON, Ont. - A movie much anticipated by Canada’s pro-life community because of its life-affirming message is set to make its debut in this country after having an impact south of the border.

Oscar nominees: Forgive us our sins

{mosimage}It’s always a mistake to imagine we know exactly what original sin is. Narrowing it down to illicit sex, lies, greed, violence etc. narrows down our humanity and tempts us to imagine that by some heroic effort or stroke of genius or act of contrition we might make it all right, take back that original sin, undo the fall.

Struggle to be family

{mosimage}One of the most useless and common complaints about the movies is that they’re not like real life. It’s like complaining that the water is wet, or exercise makes you tired.

Juno has strong pro-life message

The titular Juno is an unwed teen (a marvelous performance by young Ellen Page) who finds herself pregnant after, more or less, seducing her shy classmate Paulie (Michael Cera).

Street Kings is self-delusional

{mosimage}A lot of very smart people in command of rare skills, incredible technology and huge amounts of money have once again made an absurd movie — a numbingly violent, cops-versus-the-social-ills-of-America fantasy that makes no sense and bears no relationship with real people or the real world.

Movie tackles doubt, hope, despair and faith without sentimentality

{mosimage}It's not often that an explicitly Christian movie, indeed an explicitly Catholic one, escapes the toxic treacle of sentimentality and nostalgia or the pompous pedantry of polemics. Henry Poole is Here tackles miracles, faith, hope, doubt, despair and the difference Christ makes in real lives with straightforward honesty, intelligence and heart.

It's a good movie.

Hollywood's summer of morality

{mosimage}The first big summer blockbuster movie was about an enormous, morally neutral, ravenous shark who arrived on a New England beach ready to punish everything from skinny dipping to political hypocrisy and capitalist greed. Jaws was big, loud, spectacular and scary.

In the 33 years since Steven Spielberg’s most original film, directors have dedicated each summer to overwhelming our senses, scaring us silly and making a pile of cash out of young audiences on vacation.