Mr. Rogers Neighborhood went nationwide in 1968. Mr. Rogers became a part of the life of innumerable children and their parents. Fred Rogers was beloved by many. He was also frequently parodied and ridiculed for his calm and quiet demeanor in a medium that thrives on...
Each year many thousands of people walk the 600 mile Camino de Santiago, a route that has been a religious pilgrimage since the middle ages. Not all those who walk the Camino are religious pilgrims, but even those who do it as tourists may well discover spiritual...
Religious communities can be nurturing and fulfilling, providing people with spiritual meaning and a sense of belonging. But those same communities may also be stifling and destructive of individual freedom and self-esteem. Disobedience, set within an Orthodox Jewish...
One of the things I liked about the original Star Wars (now Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) is that we come into a story in the middle, yet it captivated audiences. That?s one of the reasons I wasn?t fond of the prequel trilogy. I never believed the backstory was...
When writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman collaborate (as they did earlier in Juno and Young Adult), the result is always an interesting bit of social philosophy set within the institution of family. Tully is their latest work, with a special emphasis on the...
When motocross rider Aaron Baker broke his neck (C-4, 5, and 6) in 1999, the doctors told him he had a one-in-a-million chance to even be able to feed himself again. Dominic Gill?s documentary Coming to My Senses recounts Baker?s determination and work to regain...
What happens when all you?ve ever dreamed of is taken away? That is a question that many films ask, but few answer it as beautifully and spiritually as Chlo? Zhao?s The Rider. This is a partially fictionalized story set on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It blends fiction...
I recently had the chance to talk by phone with Academy Award winner Vanessa Roth about her new short documentary, The Girl and the Picture, that played at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The film tells the story of Madame Xia, who as an eight year old girl survived...
When a woman abandons her family, how are we to understand her? In Dominic Savage?s The Escape, we may be tempted to be judgmental. We may ask if being unhappy is enough of a reason in itself to destroy her family. We may look down at her?or perhaps we may ponder what...