The challenge of making "Jesus" movies

March 13, 2014

Good Christians have intensely personal relationships with Christ.
My evangelical Christian friends talk about the necessity of establishing this personal relationship, this friendship, with God’s only Son. Catholics pursue this relationship through the Church’s sacraments which are profoundly personal.
In other words, Christians see Christ a little bit differently, even though they are friends with the same Man-God. You can see the challenge filmmakers face when creating movies about the life of Christ …

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Top 15 religious movies for Lent

March 11, 2014

Lent is a good time to revisit some of the great religious movies made down through the years.
I have a number of favorites, which I’ve listed below. My list this year has been expanded to fifteen movies (from 13 last year) to accommodate a couple of new entries: “Son of God,” which is in the theaters right now, and “Faustina.”

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"The Son of God" movie review

March 10, 2014

What a scene: Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane; Caiaphas prays in the temple to the same God; and Pontius Pilate and his wife pray to their ancestors.
The juxtaposition of these simultaneous events was sheer cinematic drama, and a very creative way for Son of God director, Christopher Spencer to contrast this epic clash of religions. The scene was given added heft by the formidable performances turned in by Greg Hicks as the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, and Adrian Schiller as Jewish high priest, Caiaphas. “Son of God” is a movie worth seeing …

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