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Reading Catholic and catholic

movies

Worth Watching: Navis Pictures, and a Local Screening of "The War of the Vendee"

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“Children’s Cinema.”  Quick, what comes to mind?

It may sound less than thrilling, but I assure you, one movie company has not just invented by perfected this genre of film.

Navis Pictures, based in Connecticut, has produced two (so far) fascinating movies with Catholic themes, featuring the acting of scores of children from the very young to teenage years.  It may sound like a strange way to portray complicated events, but with great production, music and casting, it really works.  Here is founder Jim Morlino explaining what “children’s cinema” is all about.

“The War of the Vendee” tells the story of France’s civil war and religious persecution in the years following the French Revolution.  is the recent winner of the “Best Film for Young Audiences” award at the 2012 Mirabile Dictu International Catholic Film Festival.  Featuring a cast of over 250 young Catholics, and a great orchestral score, the story is dramatic and violent, but still safe for the whole family to watch.

This wasn’t the first time I had encountered Navis Pictures.  Several years back, we happened upon EWTN one day during the last 15 minutes of St. Bernadette of Lourdes, and all of us, kids, mom and even dad, who rarely watches television, were completely entranced by it and dropped everything to watch it.  Wow!

So when I read about “The War of the Vendee,” several weeks back, I thought it was time to get our own copy, not only to see it, but to support this great filmmaker and their ministry.  I am so glad that I did–“The War of the Vendee” is just as good as “St. Bernadette of Lourdes.”  Our whole family cannot wait until Navis Pictures releases Robin Hood–The Good Spirit of Sherwood.

Imagine my surprise when the filmmaker, Jim Morlino (read his bio here), e-mailed me after my order was placed, to say that he was coming to the Peoria diocese for a screening of “The War of the Vendee” this weekend.

“The War of the Vendee” will be screened Saturday, October 13, at Holy Trinity Parish in Cherry, Illinois.   There may be other screenings as well in that area over the weekend, and I will update as I learn about them.

Here’s the trailer, so you can see the great cinematography, the score, and just in general why you want to watch it:

The CNMC "Following Along in Spirit" Edition

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Well, I still have the badge on the blog saying that “I’ll be there!” to the Catholic New Media Conference in Dallas this week, but this year, it’s just going to have to be in spirit, or on Twitter, or something.  A little more than a week ago, for far-too-long-to-explain-here reasons, I had to cancel all my reservations for my planned trip to this great conference.

Last year, when I followed along with several of the sessions that were streamed from Kansas City’s CNMC, I had determined that I would work hard to make it happen this year.  The plans did get made, but now it’s not going to work out this year.  Doubly sad, I was planning to see two young friends at The University of Dallas–a neice and a daughter of my best college friend.  Because I won’t be in Dallas, visiting them and seeing their college home won’t happen.

I’m super disappointed about all of it, especially since at the CNMC I was going to get to see friends that I know, and meet many others that I know only online.  The conference is going to coincide with both the Catholic Marketing Network and the Catholic Writers Guild.  It’s going to be a great experience for those who are going to network, learn about great books, movies and other Catholic media, and just in general soak up the atmosphere.  Attending a conference the first year is often a “lost” year, getting one’s bearings, etc., but I think with all the great topics and speakers and sessions, I would have gleaned a lot from attending even this first-for-me conference.

So, though I am Emily of Deep Valley sad about this (and you can read all about what that means here, in my literary pilgrimage to Betsy-Tacy land), I do hope to make the best of being at home.

The conference starts today, so if you are attending or en route, please do tweet and updating those of us at home about it.  I will be following along on Twitter and Facebook.  And have a great conference!

First, What are You Reading, Volume 24: The Quotable Edition

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Here are my answers to the four questions I ask on the first of each month:

first, what are you reading?

what do you like best about it?

what do you like least?

what’s next on your list to read? 

As always, I hope you’ll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook.  Happy reading!

First, what are you reading?  

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Also, Magic for Marigold, a lesser-known novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

What do you like best about them?

I’m re-reading the great Tolkein books to and with our 9-year-old son.  I’m not sure our family will be seeing the movie version of The Hobbit when it comes out at Christmastime (, but I want our family to be introduced to the real books before seeing any movie versions.   I haven’t seen the movie versions of The Lord of the Rings since they were out in the theater many years ago, when my kids were far too small to see them.  I’m not really sure if I’m ready for them to see those movies, but we are definitely becoming a more Tolkein-aware house at the moment.

The Hobbit has so many great quotes, I want to keep running for my iPhone (where I keep quotes these days) while I’m reading it aloud.  Because it’s usually downstairs “docked” for the evening, I don’t get to do so, and I want to remedy that somehow.  Maybe I’ll just have to keep a pen and index card with me.  Here’s one that I wish I could find a way to put up somewhere in our house:  

It’s the description of Elrond’s house, (also known as the Last Homely House), where the dwarves and Bilbo have their last respite before heading towards their dangerous adventures:

“His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.  Evil things did not come into that valley.”

My other favorite quote would have to be the frequent times when Bilbo thinks something along the lines of “Not for the first time did Bilbo wish he were back in his tidy hobbit-hole.” 

Magic for Marigold is a sweet story about a girl being raised by an eccentric assortment of relatives, and her adventures.  My favorite quote here is at the end of an exchange between Marigold and her melancholic mother.

“’I don’t think you were a coward at all, dearest.  You were very brave to go right on when you were so afraid—and keep going on.’


‘If I could have picked my mother I’d have picked you,’ whispered Marigold.”

What do you like least about them?

The Hobbit is just great through and through; there’s everything to like and love about this classic.

Though I hate to admit it, there is a reason that Magic for Marigold is not well-known. It’s not the best of LM Montgomery’s work—it’s more an assortment of vignettes than a cohesive story.  Still, the characters are loveable and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable read.  It’s especially worthwhile for Anne of Green Gables lovers, or young people who might want a fun summer read.

What’s next on your list to read?

Our family is recently back from vacation with extended family, and I have a lot of great suggestions from my siblings of good recent reads.  I’ve got a lot of library requests in at the moment.

So, what are you reading these days?  Any books you would like to share?

October Baby

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October Baby is a sweet and at the same time unbelievably powerful movie about a young woman who always feel there is something missing, or different about her, until she discovers a shocking truth.  There’s a lot about family, about growing up, about forgiveness.  Heavy topics, and yet the movie itself is quite funny.

I got the opportunity to attend a screening several weeks back of October Baby.  Normally, my husband and I try to make these screenings a “date night” (and we usually run into other couples we know).  That particular night, my husband had a speaking engagement, so I invited a fellow blogging friend along and we had a nice evening out.

Sister Helena Burns (not the blogging friend I attended with, incidentally) wrote a comprehensive review on her blog earlier this week.  Please head on over there to get a feel for the plot of the movie.
There’s nothing for me to add to her excellent review–she’s much more detailed about “movie-ish” things.  I didn’t really notice the background music issue she raises; in fact, I thought the cinematography was especially good.  Here are some of my favorites from the movie:
*the father-daughter relationship felt really real, especially a dad being a little overprotective, then learning how to let go.
*the loving, beautiful and kind portrayal of those in the abortion industry.  This loving and kind portrayal is even more so for women who choose abortion.  There’s no condemnation, just love.  Wonderful–may we all be this way, all the time.
*Truman, the “funny” friend of the two main characters, and really all the friends.  He’s hilarious, and wild horses couldn’t drag me back to being a college student, but I would do so just to get to go on a road trip with the cast of characters that do in October Baby.
*a non-Catholic character experiences an epiphany, and a kind of healing, in a Catholic church.  Much has been made (and I have found absolutely true, and wonderful) that ecumenism is a great quality of the pro-life movement.  This movie shows how exists naturally and is not forced or awkward, but heartfelt.
*Like Sister Helena, I cried at the end.  How could you not?
October Baby is about an abortion survivor–and by that I don’t mean a woman who “survives” abortion.  Sometimes, rarely, a baby survives an abortion (so the bumper sticker “abortion: one dead, one wounded” becomes “two wounded.”)   And those babies grow up into remarkable adults.
Many years ago, I spent several days with Gianna Jessen, one of the abortion survivors on which the movie is based, the first time she testified before Congress.  It must have been in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and she was a young teenager–14 or 15.  I had the great good fortune to drive Gianna and her (adoptive) mom around throughout the several days she was in DC.  Driving people around seems to be a theme in my life, but it is a great way to get to know people!
I hope if our weekend schedule permits that I will take my 14-year-old daughter, and perhaps a friend or two, to see the movie this weekend.  I’ve been talking to her about it, and she is very eager to see it.  I think the PG-13 rating is appropriate, but probably a lot of younger kids could see it, considering all the intense media many kids consume.
I love that October Baby filmmakers will set aside 10 percent of the profits from the film for women in crisis pregnancies: