Jacob Sahms

Four Christmas favorites arrived last week in stunning 4K HD. Now old fans and fans-in-the-making can tackle the stories of Ralphie, Buddy, Clark, and Billy, in the highest clarity possible. Read on for special features and brief synopses – just in case you’ve been stuck in the woods without internet or television for the last forty years!

I’ll begin with one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time: Elf. It’s the story of how a human baby named Buddy ends up living at the North Pole, discovering he’s not an elf, traveling to New York City to meet his birth father, and finally, saving Christmas by encouraging people’s faith in Christmas. Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, and Mary Steenbergen star in this 2003 classic.

Special features include commentary by Ferrell and director Jon Favreau, while the Blu-ray combo pack includes deleted scenes, behind the scenes, and karaoke opportunities. This might be the best special feature possible: given how music-infused the story is thanks to Deschanel and Ferrell, singing along sounds the perfect cure for the holiday blues!

While Elf is fun for the whole family, there’s more discretion required for Chevy Chase and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s “little full, lotta sap” with laughs, and a few lessons about family, commitment, expectation, greed, and finding Christmas spirit even when its hard to find the positive in this film from 1989. Chase is joined by Beverly D’Angelo, Diane Ladd, Doris Roberts, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Randy Quaid, and a very young Johnny Galecki.

Special features include commentary by Quaid, D’Angelo, Galecki, Miriam Flynn, director Jeremiah S. Chechik, and producer Matty Simmons.

In 2004, Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis broke into a pretty closed-up ring of animated Christmas classics. While most people would point toward the Grinch or Frosty as the animated stalwarts of the season, the cinematically adapted The Polar Express has quickly developed a strong following – potentially launched by people’s love of the 1985 book. While it’s an animated film, it’s big heart focuses on what it takes to believe and what happens when we don’t, as a young boy takes a mysterious ride on a magical train.

Special features include “You Look Familiar: the Many Polar Faces of Tom Hanks,” “True Inspirations: An Author’s Adventure: Profiling Chris Van Allsburg,” “Meet the Snow Angels: the Moviemaker’s Christmas Memories,” motion-capture sessions, documentary featurettes in “A Genuine Ticket to Ride,” and a focus on music with Josh Groban’s “Believe.”

The final entry in the foursome of films WB delivered last week, A Christmas Story flashes to 1940s Indiana, where nine-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) longs for “a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle” that his mother opposes because “you’ll shoot your eye out.” Yes, there’s a leg lamp and an unfortunate tongue-to-the frozen flagpole episode, along with all the hijinks a nine-year-old can get into as Christmas approaches.

Additionally, WB has announced that A Christmas Story Christmas will debut on HBO Max on November 17, with a grown-up Ralphie dealing with Christmas from a dad’s perspective now!

Special features include commentary by director Bob Clark and Billingsley, and featurettes on Another Christmas Story, Daisy Red Ryder:A History and Get a Leg Up.

In Lila Neugebauer’s directorial debut, Jennifer Lawrence plays Lynsey, a recently discharged U.S. soldier who must sort through her emotional, mental, and physical state as she returns to her hometown.

Lynsey’s story is complicated, not just because of the side effects of her tour, but because she’s estranged from her mother and her brother. Her mother, Gloria (Linda Emond), is hardly a rock of stability, and her deaf brother, Justin (Russell Harvard), whose drug addiction derailed not just his but his whole family’s life. Thankfully, when Lynsey has mechanical trouble with her truck, she encounters mechanic James Aucoin (Brian Tyree Henry), who is receptive to her struggles and her need to sort through the prospects of her future.

Causeway is a melancholy film that often threatens to drown us in the chlorinated waters of the pools Lynsey cleans for work. But there’s always something a little cheeky underneath, largely provided by the dialogue between Lynsey and James, that seems to point the audience toward something hopeful.

While Lynsey is the protagonist, it’s made clear that she’s not the only one struggling, that she’s not the only one who “doesn’t fit.” She herself is inclined to re-up with the military, to go back to what she knows even while she deals with bad dreams and takes a cocktail of meds to get through the day. Her mother admits to not being able to “settle down,” and the audience can see that in Lynsey. It’s quietly portrayed by cinematographer Diego Garcia, in mostly calm moments, even tenderly, as Lynsey struggles to figure out her way back to a normal that may end up being better than the normal she left behind when she enlisted.

Causeway is a beautiful film, challenging the audience to see each other beneath the accumulation of life’s scars, and to gently consider whether change can come if we choose a different path. Maybe we can go home again, but we don’t have to be the same people we were before.

ScreenFish sat down with screenwriter, director and star Bill McCann to discuss his biopic The Liberator about Daniel O’Connell, the nineteenth century political leader whose faith shaped the actions he fought for in court and in the countryside of Ireland. 

Bill McCann admits that when it comes to Daniel O’Connell, he’s obsessed. Spending a year at the University College Cork in Ireland, he saw streets, monuments, money, and more named the man who fought for equality for Catholics in Ireland and for Irish representation in the British government. When he took a history class at Cork, he discovered that O’Connell had shown commitment, faith, and desire to resolve the conflict peacefully, and realized that more people should hear O’Connell’s story. 

“He gave voice to Irish identity, as courageous, faithful, quick witted, eloquent, and sharp-tongued if necessary – a quintessential Irishman,” shared McCann. “As an attorney, he never loses a case, realizing that the courtroom was as much a stage as a legal argument. I felt he should have a film that told his story.”

Over a decade ago, McCann read a dozen books on O’Connell, and set out to learn how to write a screenplay, relying on the books of screenwriter Hal Ackerman and taking classes to hone the skill. He started writing and rewriting, submitting to contests, getting reviews, and trying to tell the story in two-hour film. McCann married, had children, and worked a full-time job but continued tightening the screenplay. 

“At one point, I thought I was ready for Spielberg or Gibson to take it on, but I realized it’s difficult to even get anyone to notice,” admitted McCann. 

O’Connell showed character that McCann wanted to emphasize. Here was a man who could have lived a comfortable, successful life but who followed his conscience to make a stand. “He felt he had more to use his gifts for, and moved from looking out for himself to looking out for his people. Wherever there was injustice, he needed to do what he could to address it regardless of its negative impact on him.” 

“Abolition ran counter to his own interests because he was often criticized for it, because it jeopardized relationships and funding with sympathetic folks in the US who would have otherwise supported the causes. But he didn’t want that support if he couldn’t have spoken out against slavery. Frederick Douglass so admired O’Connell, he traveled to Ireland to meet him. Douglass said, ‘I knew I would love Daniel O’Connell because my master hated him so much.’ Douglass really looked up to O’Connell and was moved by him.”

The other thread running through the film, quite intentionally, was highlighting how O’Connell’s faith informed his politics rather than vice versa. McCann points out that this was also true of Gandhi and Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. “In the place of King and O’Connell, it was “I’m a man of God and a Christian.” They always inform everything else, including political life. I hope that the film raises people’s minds to think about it.”

“We’ve twisted that now, the political ends are the goals, not the human and religious ends. A character like O’Connell, his faith is informing him politically, that’s obviously Christian, with the faith that God is in control, giving me gifts, and giving me challenges, and he’s going to support me, and I need to do my level best, to bring about change that is beneficial to everyone. I can work hard, and be aggressive and determined about that, but God is in control. I need to do it with humanity, with God’s perspective and God’s big picture that we’re all children of God and that God wants everyone to be saved.”

“These issues are beneath that, and we want to promote change that is going to be beneficial to everyone, including their salvation. It doesn’t mean you’re not in the moment, and addressing injustices, and passionate about the change, but it gives you that perspective. It’s going to set limits. You’re going to be respectful, no matter how hard you’re pushed. You’re going to have that centeredness, and respond in the right way.”

In 2012, McCann’s family moved to Lancaster, MA, where they became involved in the Trivium School, which focuses on providing a Catholic education to students in seventh through twelfth grade. McCann had his own experience in that, having attended Portsmouth Abbey School in the 1980s, receiving a Catholic education of his own, under the watchful eye of the Benedictine monks who were part of the priory. 

Talking with the theater department at Trivium, McCann showed his adaptability, turning his cinematic screenplay into a three-act stage play, which debuted in 2017. With forty actors, the team delivered a well-received theater version and McCann realized the possibility of a “scaled back Hollywood version” that he could film himself. With support from his Clinton, MA, parish, McCann assembled a team and filmed for six weeks in 2021. 

Cinematographer Jacob Schmeideke, who McCann met through Thomas Aquinas College, moved to Lancaster to live with the McCanns for the six weeks of shooting. They rented a high-powered camera and other equipment, investing heavily in costumes and locations, including at Trivium. With the timely background, they were able to give the illusion of an 1820s/1840s period piece shot on location. The team has been working to prepare the home media versions (out November 15 through the website at https://www.theliberatormovie.com/. 

McCann says that he was “extraordinarily blessed” to make the film. He realizes looking back that he once prayed for a big Hollywood production, but realizes now he was always praying “not my will but God’s will be done.” “As usual, it worked out as a much better plan,” he said. “The experience of making the film with several hundred parishioners and friends was extraordinary. All of the things have to line up correctly, especially when you don’t have a large budget and you have so many volunteers. God was so watching over this project, from the costumes to the food to the locations to the weather!”  

One memory sticks out for McCann: when filming a crucial dock scene toward the end of the film. The Columban fathers allowed the filmmakers to use their property, and on the day that they were scheduled to film, one of the historic Tall ships was parked in the harbor. The day was ominous, and they completed filming moments before a deluge hit, washing everything out. McCann shakes his head, grinning as he recounts that story. “What I wanted wasn’t what God had in mind, and it was a much better experience.”

In filming a movie about a Catholic man who focused on trusting God, McCann’s own growth becomes obvious as well. He’s thankful for the direction God led him through, for the prayers that weren’t answered the way he expected, and for the way that he was forced to be creative. 

From Rhode Island, to Ireland, and back to New England again, McCann’s journey reminds him of God’s providence and grace, sometimes where we least expect it. It’s an encouragement that God can use to provide others hope and direction for their own futures: both the story of an Irishman who chose the harder, more faithful route to reform, and an American who saw a story that deserved to be told, with a reminder that the way forward will always be faith over politics and fear. 

The arc of John Ridley’s career reaches back into the early 1990s where he wrote for shows like Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and others, as well as cinematic features Three Kings and Undercover Brother. But his 2013 Academy Award-winning turn as the writer of 12 Years A Slave, coupled with his writing on TV series American Crime and Five Days at Memorial, show a deeper development in terms of storytelling and truth speaking into the universe. While his writing is now included in the DC and Marvel pantheon, largely with Black Panther and Batman, the depth of his storytelling continues to deepen. From the New York Comic Con, Ridley shared about his motivation and the stories he shares with the world.

“My mom was a teacher and my dad was a doctor, and I come from a service-oriented family,” he shared. “I love what I do, but how does that improve the world that we live in? There was a desire to tell stories that would have an impact, and challenge people to be uncomfortable. It’s not about whether they agree or disagree but to acknowledge certain facts. It’s been an evolution. I’m thankful for the graphic novel space to tell some more fantastic stories, but they are grounded in certain realities.”

While Ridley has continued the storylines fostered by author Ta-Nehisi Coates in the Black Panther series, he has also introduced a new black Batman, as Lucius Fox’ ‘other’ son dons the cowl. In a one-shot, he tackles the Penguin’s rise and fall in “One Bad Day,” and does some heavy lifting on crime, punishment, and race in GCPD: The Blue Wall. Several installments of these storylines drop October 18, and the author warmed to sharing about his latest creations.

“In ‘One Bad Day’, you have someone who has a criminal empire, the beating heart of every bad thing that happens in Gotham. Everyone loves the villains. They’re complicated, interesting. The Penguin is someone I’ve grown up with like so many readers, someone at this point who is very indelible in terms of what they represent. I wanted to take some of the ideas that had been baked into the equation, and figure out how those pieces fit. Sixty-four pages in one shot, but that was the attraction. And then there’s some introspection of my own mixed in. How did this person get there? When you get to where you’ve always wanted to be, you wonder if you can get there again. How much of it was luck? How much of it was the people around you? How much of it was you stumbling forward? How much was it you? Is the ride sometimes better than arriving or being at the destination?”

Examining the heroes and the villains, Ridley can’t help but considering real life, too, even if he’s reflecting it on comic book pages with made-up characters. “You look at life, and you see the cycles of society. Sometimes we say life is getting worse and more challenging. You ask, ‘Where are the leaders of yore?’ They weren’t perfect, but they had these kinds of skills and they led these things. Were they really better? Did men and women rise to the occasion? Did their Imperfections make them better because they were compensating in the best possible ways or did it make them worse?”

“No great person thought they were really great and that’s what made them great. Is greatness what makes a person great because they were born that great? Is it Excalibur and the sword from the stone. Is it because I could be the kid who could pull the sword from the stone? It’s mythology and hero worship. I personally don’t want to see leaders who are pristine from top to bottom but people who can overcome whatever that is and can see that irrespective of my failings, when it comes time to do right, I know right and I know how to accomplish it and I’ll do whatever it takes to make right happen for the good of us all. I think those people do exist. At its core, however we tell these stories about heroes, they have value.”

Ridley realizes that there’s a person’s internal wiring and thinking, and then there’s the added layer of how people look at another person and what they think about them. This is especially valuable to Ridley in terms of tackling questions of a person’s value in terms of race, gender, and sexuality, as considered by society. “How do people perceive you and look at you one way or another? How do I perceive myself when I’m alone? How does the world perceive me when I leave the house?” he asked. “I get treated one way when it’s, ‘oh it’s John Ridley at Comic-Con’ and another way when I’m just me riding the subway. For me, centering these stories around people of color, it’s what I was missing growing up. As much as I love comics and storytelling, you realize that this isn’t a world that I recognize. A thinking, caring person would say that everyone deserves to feel that joy reading these stories, without tempering it by realizing that they’re missing something. Emotional, philosophical, and fundamental reasons lead you to choose to make a story that reflects you. People who are part of the family of narrative appreciate that, and there are others who will read it and not get it, and that’s fine.”

The writer still values the art even as he’s creating words, reflecting on his own childhood appreciation for the comics and his work to now tell more of those stories for a diverse audience. “I’ve been fortunate to work with great artists for the right stories. I can’t give enough credit to their ability to be cinematic. The most important part of a comic is the art! I’ve gone to the comic book store and picked up a comic and barely read the text. There’s a connection between graphic novels and storyboarding,” Ridley says, before adding, “I was an acquaintance of John Singleton and he would say that part of what made him become a director was because he was a comic book nut, and the consequential storytelling form.”

Just like Singleton pushed boundaries and confronted stereotypes in film, Ridley continues to do this through his arc of storytelling in little squares with dashes of color and worlds we’ve visited before.

“I’d separate I am Batman and Black Panther, because they exist more in the mainstream. To tell the mainstream story with a Batman who happens to be black. Outside of the mainstream with The Blue Wall or The Other History push interaction and conversation. These are stories that are intentionally underscored in their narrative outside of the prevailing culture.”

He continued, “In The Blue Wall, particularly because it follows out of Gotham Central, I wanted it to be grounded in reality. Montoya is Latin-x, her second, Davis, is a black man, the rookies are an Asian American female, a hispanic Latin-X, and a young black guy. When we discuss policing in community, there are issues because of the binary definition of a person by their race, but when we talk about systemic bias, which I absolutely believe in, we still have to allow for the things like faces and races to change, are there still biases baked in. When we change things in the equation like the race, gender, or sexuality, can we distill it to look at the systems? When we look at Freddie Gray in Baltimore where officers of color were involved in that, it’s more complicated and painful.”

“I’m trying to be aware of that, and what I can say to a person to a kid picking up Batman, or Black Panther, The Other History, or The Blue Wall. I’m trying to be aware of who the audience is, and being aware of their capacity to read it. You’re seeing a Batman who is black – maybe that’s all I have to do there. With The Blue Wall, I’m hoping you’re challenged by something difficult, challenging, and cause you to consider things that you struggle with. You may love one and hate the other, but at my age, as much as I love comic books, to have the desire and capacity to work with large media companies who say that this is possible is just incredible.”

Check out John Ridley’s work available digitally and in print now, with more coming soon on October 18.

Prequels are tricky things. They come with the baggage of expectations based on the films that at one time exist as THE story and eventually become the later portions of the story once the prequels take root. Sci-fi fans have seen this played out in the prequels of the Star Wars films, and now, thanks to Amazon and Jeff Bezos’ love for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, fantasy fans will again explore the prospect with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, having already embraced The Hobbit trilogy.

Having just tackled the extended versions of the six movies with my son, I was eager to see how the series would handle a world before the world we think we know. From my son’s perspective, watching the Hobbit trilogy first, and then the LOTR films, the final arc of Tolkien’s story was more exciting. So what can we make of the prequel before the prequel? Would it hold up? Would it engage fans?

With a pair of advance episodes, it’s clear that the production quality is on par with Peter Jackson’s films. That’s thanks to the developmental work of J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, as well as composer Bear McCreary, and the acting of an international cast that begins a story spread out in several different perspectives.

Unlike the original films that largely showed us the original Fellowship’s perspective, Rings of Power launches us on the various paths of characters that we’ve heard of before and some we haven’t, against detailed created sets and the beautifully lush countryside of New Zealand. Some of the characters are more interesting than others – warriors who recognize that there’s evil lurking in the shadow, even if they can’t see it; wise elders who counsel patience; young ones who long to explore what could be versus what they’ve been told is all there is. It’s classic Tolkien, told by modern storytellers.

And yet – the heart of Tolkien’s works remains the battle between good and evil, and the individual’s opportunity to choose. Like Gandalf’s words to Frodo, ““All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,” each of these newly-depicted characters has a journey with divergent paths. Some will choose well; others will not. But in the prehistory of the world, free will is the greatest gift – lifted straight from the pages of the Old Testament for our consideration, transposed to the world of Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

With just a few episodes considered, I’ll offer this final caveat. I’ve been a fan of both Tolkien and George R.R. Martin, of their written work and the cinematic interpretations. In a span of just a few weeks, watching prequels from each world with HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel hot off of the press as well, I found myself lagging in zeal for one, and eager to see what happens next in the other. Maybe it’s true – there is one ring to rule them all.

Paws of Fury is the best animated film – maybe one of the best films period – I’ve seen in the last several years. The Legend of Hank tells the story of Hank (Michael Cera), a wannabe samurai who is cursed with being the wrong species – a dog – in a land where only cats become samurai. Mentored unwillingly by the recluse Jimbo (Samuel L. Jackson in all of his animated snarkiness), Hank must face down an evil conspiracy led by Ika Chu (Ricky Gervais), a civil servant who isn’t civil at all as he works to drive the cats of Kakamucho out of their village. In a story that blends feudal Japan with spaghetti westerns, Blazing Saddles, and a rivalry as old as time between cats and dogs, Paws of Fury delivers an adventure that’s fun for the whole family.

Let’s check a few boxes off, and get to the next level of discussion: Paws has snappy animation, an awesome voice cast that includes George Takei, Mel Brooks, Gabriel Iglesias, Djimon Hounsou, and Michelle Yeoh, a sense of humor that includes enough fart jokes for the younger kids and witty comebacks for the adults, and a storyline that allows anyone who has ever since a western to know there’s a showdown coming. All of that works. But the reality is that the film wants to dive deeper, too.

There’s discrimination involved, as Hank is told he isn’t welcome because he’s a dog and that no one can understand him (even though they can). It’s assumed he can’t provide anything admirable or worthwhile to society just because he’s not one of them. The flip side is that it’s assumed that Chu must be reliable just because he’s a cat, and it takes another cat stepping up to finally reveal that Chu isn’t actually a good cat.

There’s an element about being new in the community that works, because Hank doesn’t know how to do things and no one seems all that keen on making him feel welcome. In my experience as a pastor arriving at a new church, there’s a lot to be said for a welcome committee! Whether it’s a new job, or arriving at a new home in a new community, the reception you receive goes a long way to making you comfortable (or not). The story does talk about it a little, but it mostly shows us.

And then there’s my favorite (I think!) element: everyone needs discipleship. Hank needs a mentor but Jimbo doesn’t want to be a mentor. From a faith perspective, this is a crucial element of what it means to be a Christian. Jesus said in Matthew 28 to go into the world and make disciples; it’s a foundational element of what the church is supposed to be about! But too often we get hung up on hanging out with the people we’re already comfortable with, who are already part of our group, who are known to us. It’s important for them to grow as disciples but we’re supposed to make new ones!

I’ll throw in one last one for free: the discrimination isn’t just about cats and dogs. What Paws does wonderfully is show that everyone has the capacity to be a samurai with the right heart and the right training. I won’t spoil how that plays out, but it’s important to note that the film doesn’t spend the entire time trying to convince us that Hank is a hero. There are other heroes, too. [I’ll give you a hint: go read Jeremiah 1!]

Paws of Fury entertained the theater full of parents and children (and teenagers!) I was with a week ago, but better yet, it left me thinking about what it means to lead, to mentor, and to act with courage in the face of criticism. Two giant paw-sized thumbs up!

Opulent-spending David and Jo Henninger (Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain) are vacationing in Morocco when they commit a tragic accident. Director John Michael McDonagh’s cinematic translation of Lawrence Osborne’s book of the same name reveals the way that the events ripple out through their collection of rich friends in Morroco, and the villagers whose lives they impact.

The film itself is cinematically impressive, with Lorne Balfe’s score beautifully setting the tone of melancholy and hopelessness. The obvious disdain that the Henningers and their hosts led by Richard Galloway (Matt Smith) have for the locals is infuriating. The Westerners look down on the language, the culture, the faith, the family of the locals , and flaunt their wealth like a weapon. These people are ridiculous, and despicable, really. They don’t recognize that just because the locals are different that they’re not less than them, not less civilized or smart or worthy of respect and love.

I remember a scene in the second season of Jack Ryan, where a local arms dealer tells Ryan that he wonders what his life would’ve looked like if he’d been born in America. Here, Anouar (Mourad Zaoui) announces to Henninger that he doesn’t really understand Morocco. “You think I like the camels and palm trees? No, I dream of Sweden… a fantastic place by the looks of it, the place I would most like to live. But the world never promised any man anything, and no man ever lived the way he wished.”

The Henningers and their friends see the world from their privileged mountaintop and assume everything can be bought or sold, economically evaluated on a sliding scale of morality. If you have enough money, you can make everything alright; everyone just wants more money, right? But there are other values, some might argue better ones, in place that they can’t wrap their minds around.

Ultimately, the film is a straightforward morality tale that has no heroes, only victims and perpetrators. It’s well done, but by no means enjoyable.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)