Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

If you’re like me, Wonder Woman immediately brings to mind the campy 1970’s TV show starring Lynda Carter. The movie is very different in tone from the TV show. Surprisingly, much of the movie is an espionage/adventure/romance movie with heroes Diana (Wonder Woman), played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, and dashing American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Diana and Steve, with the help of a small group of other spies, go behind German lines during World War I in order to end the war. This part of the movie is absorbing, enhanced by great sets and photography.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

One of the breakout hits of the summer of 2014 was Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a comic book superhero movie, but with a big difference.  While most of those movies are very dark and serious, all about saving humanity, Guardians was goofy, funny, and didn’t take itself seriously. In addition, it had a fun 80’s soundtrack, including “Hooked on a Feeling,” which was heard frequently throughout the movie. Guardians was hardly a great movie, but at least for the first half, it was unexpectedly entertaining.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

The Lost City of Z is the engrossing true story of British adventurer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) who lived in the early 20^th Century. When the film opens, Percy, who has experience with mapmaking, is offered the opportunity to travel to South America, to chart the disputed boundary between Brazil and Bolivia. The journey would be long and dangerous, deep in the jungle. Percy discusses this with his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) who is pregnant with their first child. They both decide that Percy should go on this expedition, even though he would miss the birth of their child.

Percy loves the adventure and the jungle. Along with his small group of fellow travelers, they travel far into the Amazon region, navigating both the dangerous rapids and the arrows of the native tribesmen. Percy gains an admiration for the indigenous people, and defends them on his return to England, where even educated members of the Royal Geographic Society consider them to be “savages.” Percy also hears rumors of a fabulous lost city of Z, which he is determined to find.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

It’s hard to believe that the classic Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast is 25 years old.  Released in 1991, it became a beloved classic and the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. I saw the movie and loved it, as did many others. The timeless story, innovative computer generated animation, and of course, wonderful score won over a generation.
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Movie Review by Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.

Fences is the screen adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play about Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington), a trash collector in 1950’s Pittsburgh. The beginning of the movie is weighed down by a lot of dialogue between Troy and his friend Bono, as they finish their shift and make their way home. Like many screen adaptations of plays, I feared that Fences would be stiff and very “talky.” Thankfully Washington, who also directed the movie, brings the characters to the back yard of Troy’s modest house, where we are introduced to his wife Rose (Viola Davis); and then Lyons, his adult son from a previous marriage; Gabe, his mentally handicapped brother; and Cory, Troy and Rose’s teenage son.
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