DAILY CALL SHEET: MAY 9, 2024

The Red Shoes (1948) A ballerina is torn between her obsession to live only for dance and her newfound love for a young composer, mirroring the dilemma faced by the heroine in the Hans Christian Andersen inspired ballet in which she stars. One of the few entries in Danny Peary's Cult Movies I've inexplicably avoided for decades, foolishly so. A deserved cult classic with an ending that, while not entirely unexpected, goes much, much harder than the subject matter would imply.

TIL: Dance historian Jennifer Homans claims the Church used to excommunicate ballet dancers in the mid-1600's, which given the Church's hot and cold relationship with dancing over the centuries isn't all that implausible. Regardless of whether that happened or not, though, the book of Sirach does warn young men to be wary of (depending on your translation) female dancers/singers, presumably because those women tend to rate higher on the hot/crazy matrix.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: More things that popped in my head during  my daily Scripture readings.

THE LONG DARK NIGHT GALLERY OF THE SOUL #006: DON'T MIND ME

One of the occasional  difficulties in keeping sketchbooks is figuring out what to put in them. I mean, there's only so many cartoon heads you can doodle before you want to do something else. So, for the last few weeks I've been playing around with neurographic art, a popular fad among child therapists right now. It's a focusing technique that requires no prior artistic skill and appears to help relieve anxiety and stress.

It's also supposed to promote "mindfulness", the turning of your attention to what is happening in the present moment and then accepting what you observe without judgment. Sounds Buddhist, right, which in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But, like most 1960's American bastardizations of Buddhism, mindfulness can be a trap if you're not careful. Focused situational awareness is one thing, narcissistic navel gazing with no heed given to your conscience is another. Be cautious.

That being said, you can get some neat images out of the practice. You can even use them for the basis of something more interesting, as I did with a little computer manipulation of the last image. Look up the steps for neurographic art, and have fun; anyone can do it.

DAILY CALL SHEET: MAY 5, 2024

Satanic Attraction (1989) Radio DJ hosts a proto-podcast in which she tells tall tales of a satanic serial killer, only to discover that each of her fictional crimes comes true as she broadcasts them. A fairly interesting premise undone by weird editing and nonsensical plot points. Of special note, though, is the dubbing, which is so wooden and emotionless that I'm pretty sure they hired somnambulists to read the script and kept the first take every single time.

TIL: One of the more difficult teachings of the Church is to avoid sin, not because we want to evade punishment or just to follow the rules, but because we truly love what is good and pleasing to God and despise what is wrong. Unfortunately, many of us still have an attachment or (satanic?) attraction to certain sins, often against our will. This is what St. Paul was referring to when he talked about warring against the flesh.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Jotting down more things that crossed my mind during my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 30, 2024

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) Hoping to make a big score, private investigator and utter A-hole Mike Hammer looks into the torture/murder of a random woman he gave a ride to. As secrets are uncovered, the innocent die first, leaving the creeps behind to use, betray, and kill anyone who gets in their way. By the end, only a pathetic few are left to slink away into the radioactive darkness. With Robert Aldrich at the wheel, film noir arrives at its inevitable destination, the grim void of total self-destruction.

TIL: A December 18, 2017 article in Psychology Today notes that the majority of amassed research suggests that religiosity [higher levels of religious belief and practice] is associated with lower rates of depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, and suicidal behavior. In short, no matter if the issues that lead a person to commit self-destructive actions are a result of biological, psychological, or environmental factors, religion can help.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: As I hoped, making these quick notes/sketches on my daily Scripture readings is helping me retain things better, and thus learn a thing or two. Alas, probably all of you who look at these posts are learning is how strange my mind works.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 26, 2024

Lowlifes (2024) A family of well-to-do city dwellers traveling by RV find themselves stranded at a remote farmstead with a clan full of eccentric hicks. As you might expect, things go wrong very quickly, but... they don't go wrong in the way you might expect. It's not an all-time classic or anything, but it's fun enough that you'll find yourself double checking to make sure you're actually watching a Tubi original.

TIL: Following on the heals of the commandments to worship God, the 4th Commandment to honor parents establishes the family as the foundation for all the social commandments that follow (don't steal, don't murder, etc.). Basically, if family members don't uphold their proper responsibilities to each other, the wider social order will naturally suffer and eventually collapse into a free-for-all.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Not gonna stop jotting down random thoughts on my daily Scripture readings until the Pope tells me to stop (which, I suppose, could happen).

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 23, 2024

For Aleteia this week I look into whether or not it's accurate to attach a pro-life label to 'Dune: Part Two'.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Still sketching out some thoughts on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: APRIL 19, 2024

Sasquatch Sunset (2024) In which we join a small family of Bigfoot as they traverse the shrinking wilderness looking for more of their kind. Along the way, we see them grunt, forage, grunt, sleep, grunt, mate, and exercise every possible excretory function you can imagine (and one or two you probably can't), while grunting. Gross, ridiculous, and oddly poignant by the end. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to give this a low or high rating, but I'm going high since it makes me happy that oddball movies like this can still get made.

TIL: A pastoral statement from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops noted that by preserving natural environments, by protecting endangered species, by laboring to make human environments compatible with local ecology, by employing appropriate technology, and by carefully evaluating technological innovations as we adopt them, we exhibit respect for creation and reverence for the Creator.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Continuing to keep my notepad nearby as I bumble my way through  daily Scripture readings.