FILMS AND BOOKS

Since the advent of cinema in the late 1800s, faith has been treated on film in a wide variety of ways, from the respectful to the satiric. With the church's observance of the Year of Faith continuing, here in alphabetical order are capsule reviews of 10 films that engage with this often elusive topic in an accomplished and illuminating manner. Sometimes directly, in other cases only by subtle implication, these screen parables provide viewers with insights into the nature of faith — as well as its effects.

College is that place where Catholic students first meet with the world’s great diversity, where students first take care of themselves, where they must first make the majority of their own decisions, and where their faith is first really tested.

I met George Weigel last year when he came to the Valley to speak about how the KGB tried to suborn John Paul II, if that were even possible. I told him that I read his book, “Against the Grain,” and it totally revolutionized my view of Just War Theory. He seemed surprised that someone had actually read, and, understood a book of his. I read another one that he released in 2013 (our review schedule is full, but I insisted anyway), “Evangelical Catholicism,” and decided that this one simply blew me away, as the old cliché goes.

A Maryland-based catechist and writer reviews a book by a professor emeritus at Arizona State University and twice a Fulbright fellow, who begins "The Catholic Labyrinth" with these words, "The argument of this book is not that Catholicism changes ... the story concerns how the church changes and by how much, and the direction of the change as well."

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The feature films "The Muppets," "The Help," "The Way" and "War Horse" were among the winners of this year's Christopher...

Western civilization owes an incalculable debt to the real-life figures behind the fact-based World War II drama "The Monuments Men" (Columbia). Yet, despite honorable intentions and a cast of heavy hitters, this cinematic salute to their memory falls well short of the monumental.

Al Kresta's book, “Dangers to the Faith: Recognizing Catholicism’s 21st Century Opponents,” shines light into all the nooks and crannies where the dangerous things lurk and sets us thinking about our own ambivalence and lack of action toward them.

"I am not writing a biography but a conversion story," Joseph Pearce explains in his new book, "Race With the Devil." His was a Christian conversion in the strict sense that it represented a full turnaround of his life. A Catholic today, Pearce during his teens became a white supremacist in England, devoting his talents then and in his early 20s to promoting racism.

Literary critics, the world over, write critiques and reviews of novels every day. Catholic novels are something different or we wouldn’t label them “Catholic.” We can suppose that such novels contain our particular set of beliefs and practices and we know that all Catholic novels teach some kind of lesson.

From time to time a really terrific film comes along, whose characters present an important message through an exciting story. Audiences remember those films. Apparently...