I found this pretty accurate:

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

A smattering of reviews from around the globe...

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a horrible experience of unbearable length, briefly punctuated by three or four amusing moments...If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination." (Roger Ebert)

"Like watching paint dry while getting hit over the head with a frying pan!" (Bradshaw, London Guardian)

"Sums up everything that is most tedious, crass and despicable about modern Hollywood!" (Tookey, Daily Mail)

"A giant, lumbering idiot of a movie!" (Edwards, Daily Mirror)

"I hated every 149 minutes. This is so bad it's immoral. Michael Bay is a time-sucking vampire who will feast off your lost time. This is why the movie is so long." (Victoria Alexander, Films in Review.com)

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is such a pointless, messy assault on the senses that it's hard to even call it a movie. There is little intelligible plot, no characters to root for and hardly even a sense of place. What's left is basically a two-plus hour special effects reel. Even for a Michael Bay movie, it's just truly awful." (Joe Lozito, BigPictureBigSound)

And the ONE positive thing I could find (drum roll, please):

"Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen is good when it is good, but extremely, shockingly, horrifyingly bad when it is bad." (Willie Waffle, WaffleMovies.com)

So...what do you think? Have you seen it? Will you?

Garage Sale!

Spread the word, y'all!

Corpus Christi

"In a unique and peculiar way, this feast speaks to us of divine love, of what it is and what it does. It tells us, for example, that it regenerates itself in giving itself, it receives itself in giving itself, it does not run out and is not used up; thus we hear in a hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas: "nec sumptus consumitur" (it is not used up in being consumed).

Love transforms every thing, and so we understand that the mystery of transubstantiation, the sign of Jesus-Charity, which transforms the world, is at the center of today's feast of "Corpus Domini." Looking upon him and worshiping him, we say: Yes, love exists, and since it exists, things can change for the better and we can hope. It is the hope that comes from Christ's love that gives us the strength to live and to face every difficulty. This is why we sing while we carry the most Blessed Sacrament in procession; we sing and praise God, who reveals himself hidden in the sign of broken bread. We all have need of this bread, because the road to freedom, justice and peace is long and wearisome."

What about it, folks? Any thoughts?

What's wrong with Mr. Adolfo's eye?

I'm so glad you asked. Let's review this diagram, shall we?



So, my lacrimal sac got dirty or infected or inflamed or possessed or something causing my tear duct to become blocked, pushing all of that water and, yes, a little pus back through the lower canaliculus and gathering underneath my eye. The effect of which is that my eye hurts, my face is puffy, and it feels like my eyeball might pop out from time to time.

How did this happen? Hard to say. I wear glasses so the Doctor says it's possible some bacteria was passed from them to the upper or lower punctum. Maybe I rubbed my eye without washing my hands well enough--or with soap still on them.

Me? I blame communists. Or maybe Al Qaeda.

The good news is, it's getting better and should be fine by tomorrow. Thanks for all of your prayers and for the suggestion to ask the intercession of St. Lucy.

Lord of the Rings Movie Feast!

When: Saturday, June 20th--10am until we're done (probably about 8:30pm)
Where: Youth House

That's right, we're watching all 3 films! Come dressed as your favorite character if you'd like! Popcorn, snacks, lunch, and dinner will be provided. (Please bring a $5 donation to help defray the cost.)

Fun with Venn Diagrams!

Don't make the Vatican sad--go to Confession :)

Vatican laments drop in confessions
Jun 2 11:41 AM US/Eastern

VATICAN CITY (AP) - A Vatican official is lamenting that many faithful no longer confess their sins, and says some confuse a psychologist's couch for a confessional booth.

Archbishop Mauro Piacenza has told Vatican Radio the sacrament of penance has been experiencing a "deep crisis" for decades. Piacenza, an official for the Vatican office on clergy, says fewer people distinguish between good and evil, and as a result don't go to confession.

The archbishop said in the interview Tuesday that if faithful don't have a sense of sin, they might "confuse" confession with "the couch of a psychologist or a psychiatrist."

He says the Vatican plans to publish this year a kind of handbook on confession to drum up enthusiasm among Catholics toward the sacrament.

Movie Review: Up

There ought to be two standards of greatness for films: Regular great and Pixar great. I mean, that's the only way to make things fair. I cannot think of a production company on a bigger roll than the folk at Pixar. Toy Story (I&II), Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Wall*E, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc., A Bugs Life... that is a fine display of quality film making. (Yes, I left out Cars. That is because I have not seen it. I don't watch things that have Larry the Cable Guy in them. Not gonna happen--ever.)

All of this leads us to their latest offering, Up. In a word, genius. Really, this movie is about as good as movies get. Touching, sweet, funny, and with something on its mind that ought to lead to some nice conversations between parents and children of any age.

"A pleasure is only full grown when it is remembered."-- C.S. Lewis

That quote popped into my mind when the credits rolled at the end. And, of course, to remember something, you've got to let the experience go, to surrender it to time, to memory. That's really what Up is all about.

It's the story of a man, Carl, who is driven to act (in the most extreme, imaginative way I can remember on screen) because he is desperately holding on to the memory of his beloved wife, Ellie. You can't blame him for it. As we see in a beautifully framed montage of their lives together, Ellie was quite a woman. Full of passion and an adventurous spirit, she elevated Carl's life in the same way those helium balloons he's made a career selling lifted his sales cart. But she dies, never having visited Paradise Falls, their dream adventure-vacation set somewhere in South America.

Carl is left alone, in their wonderful dream house, which he has maintained as a monument to Ellie, even still speaking to her as if she were standing next him. The house, you might say, is used as a metaphor for Ellie herself--certainly their life together. Greedy developers have beset Carl at all sides and are just waiting to take his property, too. After an accidental beating at Carl's hands, the retirement home seems destined to be Carl's future.

Not content to go quietly in that good night, Carl makes a choice that sets the movie in motion and takes the audience on a wonderful ride. I know, this doesn't sound particularly funny, but trust me, the funny comes. Along the way, we meet a young stowaway, Russell, the Wilderness Scout, and a talking dog named Dug. Actually, we meet lots of talking dogs--I mean, lots of them. And believe me when I tell you that they nearly steal the show with their zaniness. Oh, we also meet a giant bird, Kevin, who is not quite what "he" seems.

I refuse to give away plot points, so let me just say that Up is fantastic. Whimsical, funny, exhilarating at times, and with a profound message. From a technical standpoint, also fantastic. Not a thing wasted on screen--not even squirrel jokes. The colors are vibrant, the animation as good as any Pixar has created (though perhaps not at amazing as the detail on Ratatouille), and the script tight and well written.

If I'm a movie reviewer, I'm going to need symbols to say how good something is, right? Thumbs are taken, stars are over-used... Four/Four Torches!

I encourage you to talk about the movie in the comments section. Please, don't give away spoilers w/out a *Spoiler Alert*. Now, go see Up.