Category Archives: Movies & Television

This movie chronicles Bernadette’s life in the convent, from when she entered at age 22 until she died of TB at age 35. It shows a much more human and, to me anyway, appealing side of Bernadette than the Song of Bernadette did for this period.

My impression of the latter (which admittedly I haven’t seen in years) was that she was just oh so holy and her Mother Superior was a big meany pants. In this, we see a young woman with a charming sense of self-deprecating humor who disliked the notoriety the apparitions brought and was grateful that the Mother Superior wouldn’t let anyone make a big thing of her.

I preferred watching it in French with subtitles, because the actors’ vocal performances were far better than the dubbers’. This movie is a sequel, but I have not yet seen the first one. (It seems to be in greater demand at Netflix.) I’m looking forward to seeing it. The same actress, who did a wonderful job here, plays Bernadette in the first one as well.

Bernadette was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1933. Her body has never decayed.

My one quibble with this DVD is the formatting. In particular, the lack of any menu and the excessive volume on the ads you have to slog through before you can play the feature. This has been true for the other Ignatius Press DVDs I’ve rented from Netflix. I don’t know if the ones they sell are formatted in a more user-friendly way, but the Netflix disks are a pain in the neck.

Decent, clean entertainment with a few laughs and a happy ending.

Arabian Nights (2000) NR 175 minutes  Believing all women are treacherous murderers, the crazy sultan vows to behead his new wife before she can do the same to him. His bride, Scheherezade, saves her life and brings him back to sanity by telling him a captivating series of tales. This is a lush and beautiful production that is well worth the 3 hours of your life. Plus John Leguizamo is wonderful as both genies, so what’s not to like?  It got me curious to hear Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade” while the tales were fresh in my mind. I found it at YouTube and am listening as I work.

Part 1 of 5 by Moscow Symphony (2008)

Part 2 of 5 by Moscow Symphony (2008)

Part 3 of 5 by Moscow Symphony (2008)

Part 4 of 5 by Moscow Symphony (2008)

Part 5 of 5 by Moscow Symphony (2008)

… saw this on Facebook and had to share. 🙂

1936 G 75 minutes

Very early Shirley Temple musical comedy about an orphan whose happy life with with the lighthouse keeper, Capt. January (Guy Kibbee), is threatened by a Margaret Sanger look-alike playing a mean government bully who decides the kid is much too happy and should be put in an orphanage. Fun flick with youngest Buddy Ebsen I’ve ever seen. And who knew he could tap dance?!

2000 NR 96 minutes

Based on a true story about a little girl who comes to terms with the death of her father by sending him a note tied to a heaven-bound balloon. Hubby and I both needed tissues at the end. Really NICE story. Plus the very little girl who plays the lead is not only cuter than cute, but also an amazing actress!

2002 PG 100 minutes

In this sequel to the hit sci-fi family adventure, spy kids Carmen and and Juni Cortez team up with two other pint-sized secret agents, Gary and Gerti Giggles. The foursome travels to a mysterious island to save the world from an evil scientist.

CtH: I know … you’re thinking what the heck, right? But this is a FUN movie. Goofy plot and characters played with tongues firmly in cheek … kinda reminiscent of the tone of the Nutty Professor. Drool-worthy hunk-fest Antonio Banderas is really funny … who knew?  And the photography, special effects and Special Features are very well done. I especially liked the 10 minute feature by the director/writer on how to make a movie cheaply and the part where they showed how they stuck two kid actors 200 feet up on actual mountain tops to fight off a horde of CGI skeletons. I love to see behind the scenes stuff and these were unusually informative and interesting.