Everyday Liminality

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.