Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts
Sunday, August 02, 2026
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Jesuit Theater Of Control: Manipulation Faith, Politics and Perception | Audiobook
Jesuit Theater Of Control: Manipulation Faith, Politics and Perception | Audiobook
This audiobook pulls back the curtain on a world where faith, power, and performance intersect. Across five chapters, Jesuit Theatre of Control explores how theatre, symbolism, spectacle, and narrative have been used throughout history to shape belief, influence societies, and reinforce authority. What begins in the Counter-Reformation—with elaborate Jesuit stage productions and emotionally charged religious drama—extends into Inquisition trials, manufactured miracles, and ultimately into the modern world of cinema and global media.
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Jesuit National Treasure
Jesuit National Treasure
NinjaAlex420
Jesuit Hollywood's National Treasure exposed featuring Eric Jon Phelps author of Vatican Assassin's.
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
All About Zohran Mamdani’s Parents, Dad Mahmood Mamdani and Mom Mira Nair
Zohran Mamdani’s parents took him to rallies and marches as a child
By
Makena Gera
Published on November 4, 2025 07:00AM EST
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Mahmood is a professor of government and anthropology at Columbia University, and Mira is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who focuses largely on South Asian and Indian stories. The couple met in the late 1980s in Uganda and welcomed their son in 1991. The family lived in Africa for nearly a decade before moving to New York when Zohran was 7 years old.
The New York City mayoral candidate's views have been shaped by his upbringing, from witnessing his father’s career in academia and watching his mother’s movies, which often showcase overlooked perspectives.
Zohran told City & State in April 2023 that he spent time as a child attending rallies and marches with his parents, including protests over the Iraq war and Marxist lectures.
“When you’re the kid of two parents who are very involved in social justice, a lot of times what you remember as a playdate was you being at some rally or some march,” he said.
Here's everything to know about Zohran Mamdani’s parents, Mahmood Mamdani and Mira Nair.
They raised Zohran in Uganda, South Africa and New York
By
Makena Gera
Published on November 4, 2025 07:00AM EST
Zohran Mamdani, Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani on September 23, 2017.Credit :
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Zohran Mamdani was born in 1991 to dad Mahmood Mamdani, a professor, and Mira Nair, a filmmaker
- Zohran's parents raised him in Uganda and South Africa before their family relocated to New York City in 1999
- Zohran is now the Democratic nominee for New York mayor, and Mahmood and Mira have spoken out in support of their son
Mahmood is a professor of government and anthropology at Columbia University, and Mira is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who focuses largely on South Asian and Indian stories. The couple met in the late 1980s in Uganda and welcomed their son in 1991. The family lived in Africa for nearly a decade before moving to New York when Zohran was 7 years old.
The New York City mayoral candidate's views have been shaped by his upbringing, from witnessing his father’s career in academia and watching his mother’s movies, which often showcase overlooked perspectives.
Zohran told City & State in April 2023 that he spent time as a child attending rallies and marches with his parents, including protests over the Iraq war and Marxist lectures.
“When you’re the kid of two parents who are very involved in social justice, a lot of times what you remember as a playdate was you being at some rally or some march,” he said.
Here's everything to know about Zohran Mamdani’s parents, Mahmood Mamdani and Mira Nair.
They raised Zohran in Uganda, South Africa and New York
Monday, March 18, 2024
Controversial 'Civil War' Movie Prompts Debate Over US Schism
Story by AFP
Political elites and Congress are more divided than ever, but polarization among the public is "overstated," said Howell.
Survey responses to vaguely worded questions do not necessarily speak to on-the-ground realities about how people will actually behave, he added.
"I don't think we're on the brink of a civil war," said Howell.
"It's more diffuse than that... a hollowing out of the state, a sabotage of administrative agencies, the disaffection of the larger public."
"All that can be true, and it also not be the case that we're about to line up as we did in 1861, and en masse begin slaughtering one another."
On the other hand, author Stephen Marche believes "the United States is a textbook case of a country headed for civil war" -- just not in the way depicted by the movie.
Marche's book, "The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future," uses political science models to suggest five scenarios that could plausibly trigger widespread internecine conflict.
These include anti-government militias clashing with federal forces, or a president being assassinated.
Political violence "becomes acceptable, and in a certain sense, inevitable, because people don't feel that their government is legitimate, and that therefore violence is the only response," said Marche.
"I would say that to a certain extent, that has already happened in America."
Cautioning that he has not yet seen the movie, Marche says a conflict fought along geographical lines like the North-South civil war of the 1860s is unlikely.
More likely than state-on-state violence would be a "massive, splintering chaos," reminiscent of the late 20th-century "Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
In Marche's book, retired US Army colonel Peter Mansoor says a new conflict "would not be like the first civil war, with armies maneuvering on the battlefield."
"I think it would very much be a free-for-all, neighbor-on-neighbor, based on beliefs and skin colors and religion. And it would be horrific."
'Civil War' director Alex Garland deliberately leaves the specific origins and politics of the conflict vague in his film
© LISA O'CONNOR
A major film that imagines a second civil war in the near-future United States has highlighted fears about the divided state of the nation ahead of November's presidential election.
"Civil War," which premiered at the SXSW Festival this week and hits theaters April 12, pictures a three-term US president in Washington DC battling secessionist forces from California and Texas.
The movie stars Kirsten Dunst as a journalist travelling through a broken, dystopian nation. The FBI has been disbanded, and military drone strikes launched on US citizens.
In early reviews, The Atlantic noted an "uncomfortable resonance in these politically polarized times." Rolling Stone said "you might accidentally mistake" the film's futuristic premise for the present.
So, just how plausible is the film's scenario?
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, was recently criticized for seemingly joking he would be a "dictator" on "day one" if he wins a second term as president. He faces charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Biden has accused his predecessor of embracing "political violence."
A survey by the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) last year showed 23 percent of Americans agree "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country."
A major film that imagines a second civil war in the near-future United States has highlighted fears about the divided state of the nation ahead of November's presidential election.
"Civil War," which premiered at the SXSW Festival this week and hits theaters April 12, pictures a three-term US president in Washington DC battling secessionist forces from California and Texas.
The movie stars Kirsten Dunst as a journalist travelling through a broken, dystopian nation. The FBI has been disbanded, and military drone strikes launched on US citizens.
In early reviews, The Atlantic noted an "uncomfortable resonance in these politically polarized times." Rolling Stone said "you might accidentally mistake" the film's futuristic premise for the present.
So, just how plausible is the film's scenario?
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, was recently criticized for seemingly joking he would be a "dictator" on "day one" if he wins a second term as president. He faces charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Biden has accused his predecessor of embracing "political violence."
A survey by the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) last year showed 23 percent of Americans agree "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country."
Related video: Civil War Movie Trailer (Dailymotion)
But William Howell, a University of Chicago political science professor, said while there is cause for concern about rising political violence, "talk about 21st-century muskets being fired at one another isn't very helpful."
Political elites and Congress are more divided than ever, but polarization among the public is "overstated," said Howell.
Survey responses to vaguely worded questions do not necessarily speak to on-the-ground realities about how people will actually behave, he added.
"I don't think we're on the brink of a civil war," said Howell.
"It's more diffuse than that... a hollowing out of the state, a sabotage of administrative agencies, the disaffection of the larger public."
"All that can be true, and it also not be the case that we're about to line up as we did in 1861, and en masse begin slaughtering one another."
On the other hand, author Stephen Marche believes "the United States is a textbook case of a country headed for civil war" -- just not in the way depicted by the movie.
Marche's book, "The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future," uses political science models to suggest five scenarios that could plausibly trigger widespread internecine conflict.
These include anti-government militias clashing with federal forces, or a president being assassinated.
Political violence "becomes acceptable, and in a certain sense, inevitable, because people don't feel that their government is legitimate, and that therefore violence is the only response," said Marche.
"I would say that to a certain extent, that has already happened in America."
Cautioning that he has not yet seen the movie, Marche says a conflict fought along geographical lines like the North-South civil war of the 1860s is unlikely.
More likely than state-on-state violence would be a "massive, splintering chaos," reminiscent of the late 20th-century "Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
In Marche's book, retired US Army colonel Peter Mansoor says a new conflict "would not be like the first civil war, with armies maneuvering on the battlefield."
"I think it would very much be a free-for-all, neighbor-on-neighbor, based on beliefs and skin colors and religion. And it would be horrific."
- 'Fault lines' -
In the film, director Alex Garland deliberately leaves the specific origins and politics of the conflict vague. He has said the movie is intended to be "a conversation" about polarization and populism.
It offers little exposition, and focuses on the horrific daily reality for American citizens and journalists.
"We don't need it explained -- we know exactly why it might happen, we know exactly what the fault lines and the pressures are," Garland told the audience at Thursday's premiere in Texas.
The movie's "three-term president" appears to invoke the fears held by many Americans that Trump -- if re-elected -- could ignore the US Constitution's two-term maximum, and refuse to step down after four years.
"It's hard to think otherwise, if you just take him at his word -- and I think we would be mistaken not to," said Howell.
If that scenario was reached, said Marche, talk of a civil war may already be redundant.
"If there's a three-term president, America has already ended," he said. "There's no United States anymore."
In the film, director Alex Garland deliberately leaves the specific origins and politics of the conflict vague. He has said the movie is intended to be "a conversation" about polarization and populism.
It offers little exposition, and focuses on the horrific daily reality for American citizens and journalists.
"We don't need it explained -- we know exactly why it might happen, we know exactly what the fault lines and the pressures are," Garland told the audience at Thursday's premiere in Texas.
The movie's "three-term president" appears to invoke the fears held by many Americans that Trump -- if re-elected -- could ignore the US Constitution's two-term maximum, and refuse to step down after four years.
"It's hard to think otherwise, if you just take him at his word -- and I think we would be mistaken not to," said Howell.
If that scenario was reached, said Marche, talk of a civil war may already be redundant.
"If there's a three-term president, America has already ended," he said. "There's no United States anymore."
amz/hg/st
Sunday, December 24, 2023
Thursday, July 23, 2020
DeVon Franklin lands deal with CBS...
DeVon Franklin lands deal with CBS; plans to 'create new opportunities' for Christians, people of color
DeVon Franklin on the set of the "Breakthrough" movie in Winnipeg, Canada, December 2018. | The Christian Post
Christian author and filmmaker DeVon Franklin announced that he's struck a deal with CBS where he plans to “create new opportunities for people of faith and people of color.”
Franklin, president and CEO of the Franklin Entertainment production company, made the announcement on Instagram on Tuesday.
“Thanks for all the thanks and congrats! I’m beyond excited to expand into TV with CBS Studios!” he wrote. “I’m excited to create new opportunities for people of faith and people of color! I believe entertainment is one of the most powerful mediums in the world and we can use it to help shape hearts and minds for the better. Now when you see the announcement of a deal, it’s the beginning of something, not the end. So now the real works begins, so please keep your prayers going up (I need them!) and I commit to doing my best to bring you the best shows I possibly can!”
Though the CBS deal marks Franklin’s first foray into television, his production company also has a multi-year first-look film deal with Paramount Pictures and a second-look deal with Netflix, according to Deadline.
Christian author and filmmaker DeVon Franklin announced that he's struck a deal with CBS where he plans to “create new opportunities for people of faith and people of color.”
Franklin, president and CEO of the Franklin Entertainment production company, made the announcement on Instagram on Tuesday.
“Thanks for all the thanks and congrats! I’m beyond excited to expand into TV with CBS Studios!” he wrote. “I’m excited to create new opportunities for people of faith and people of color! I believe entertainment is one of the most powerful mediums in the world and we can use it to help shape hearts and minds for the better. Now when you see the announcement of a deal, it’s the beginning of something, not the end. So now the real works begins, so please keep your prayers going up (I need them!) and I commit to doing my best to bring you the best shows I possibly can!”
Though the CBS deal marks Franklin’s first foray into television, his production company also has a multi-year first-look film deal with Paramount Pictures and a second-look deal with Netflix, according to Deadline.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Sunday, May 05, 2019
En el Séptimo Día (On the Seventh Day) - official trailer
EN E L SÉPTIMO DÍA (On the Seventh Day), a fiction feature from director Jim McKay (GIRLS TOWN, OUR SONG, EVERYDAY PEOPLE), follows a group of undocumented immigrants living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn over the course of seven days.
Bicycle delivery guys, construction workers, dishwashers, deli workers and cotton candy vendors, they work long hours six days a week and then savor their day of rest on Sundays on the soccer fields of Sunset Park. José, a bicycle delivery worker, is the team's captain - young, talented, hardworking and responsible. When José's team makes it to the finals, he and his teammates are thrilled. But his boss throws a wrench into the celebration when he tells José he has to work on Sunday, the day of the finals. If he doesn't work, his job and his future will be on the line. But if he doesn't stand up for himself and his teammates, his dignity will be crushed.
Shot in the neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Park Slope, and Gowanus, EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA is a humane, sensitive and humorous window into a world rarely seen. The film’s impact is made quietly, with restraint and respect for the individual experiences, everyday challenges and small triumphs of its characters.
Nn
Sunday, April 29, 2018
‘If You Were To Die Tonight’: Preacher Causes Panic In Theater At ‘Avengers’ Showing
April 27, 2018 at 10:42 pm
REDLANDS (CBSLA) — An outing to catch one of the season’s most anticipated films turned into a panic-filled afternoon for some moviegoers Friday.
Armed officers rushed to the Harkins Mountain Grove 16 theaters in Redlands, where people had just finished watching the latest installment of the “Avengers” franchise, fearing there might a gunman inside. Witnesses said when the movie was over, a man stood up and started yelling in what sounded like a preacher’s sermon.
“I think when he said, ‘If you were to die tonight, would your passage to heaven be guaranteed?’ — something along those lines — I think that’s when people started panicking,” Susie Arias told CBS2 News.
Arias said she and her partner were able to walk out, but they said people behind them started running and pushing in an effort to exit quickly.
“That’s when the kind of chaos happened in the little exit, where people were jumping over the railings, and kind of falling over, twisting their ankles and hitting their head,” recalled Adrian Arias.
In footage taken immediately after the incident, a man can be seen limping out of the theater. Police said a woman hit her head and had to be hospitalized.
“I thought she had fainted, passed out, completely passed out,” said Susie.
The culprit in all this chaos? Michael Webber.
The 28-year-old preacher with Truth and Triumph Ministries told CBS2 via phone he’s preached at the theater before with no problems.
“Last night was an anomaly,” said Webber. “The lights did not turn up for quite a few minutes, and so I really couldn’t see anyone’s reaction except those of the people just right around me.”
He added he didn’t know the people in the theater couldn’t see he had his hands up, showing he did not have a weapon.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that anyone sustained injuries because of this,” lamented Webber. “Again, I was unarmed.”
Susie told CBS2 she wasn’t aware of that at the time, and she didn’t want to take any chances, given what has happened at theaters around the world in recent years, such as the shooting at a theater in Aurora, Colorado in 2012.
“I think that’s why people reacted,” said Susie. “They just felt like, ‘We have to get out, no matter what the cost.'”
Arias said she hopes Webber realizes the fear she caused in others.
“If you’re gonna try to draw people towards the Bible, that’s not the way to do it, and he needs to stop,” admonished Arias.
Webber has been charged with a misdemeanor. He told CBS2 this will not deter his evangelizing, but he might reconsider his setting.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Samson: the Movie vs. Samson: the Bible Truth
Shaun Willcock
Samson the Movie, PDF format
In 2018 Samson, the latest screen version of the biblical hero and judge of Israel, was released. It purports to bring the story of Samson to life for the big screen. But it fails miserably, because it does not stick to the biblical account. In typical filmmaking tradition, those who made this movie felt that they could improve on the Bible. Essentially this was saying, “The account in God’s Word is good, but we can do better. We can flesh it out, add lies to the truth, and basically re-tell the story in a more exciting and believable way.” Of course the filmmakers did not actually utter these very words or anything like them, but in essence this is what they did.
Pure Flix Entertainment was the production company which released the film. This has become a well-known and very popular professedly Christian filmmaking company – or rather, as so many prefer to say these days, a “faith-based” company. Not strongly, uncompromisingly Christian. Not outright Evangelical. Certainly not Protestant. Not Bible-based either. Just “faith-based.” It could mean anything.
There is no need to see the film to know that it is an inaccurate portrayal of the life and times of Samson. The website, and the trailer on the website, provide sufficient information to be able to judge.
Samson the Movie, PDF format
In 2018 Samson, the latest screen version of the biblical hero and judge of Israel, was released. It purports to bring the story of Samson to life for the big screen. But it fails miserably, because it does not stick to the biblical account. In typical filmmaking tradition, those who made this movie felt that they could improve on the Bible. Essentially this was saying, “The account in God’s Word is good, but we can do better. We can flesh it out, add lies to the truth, and basically re-tell the story in a more exciting and believable way.” Of course the filmmakers did not actually utter these very words or anything like them, but in essence this is what they did.
Pure Flix Entertainment was the production company which released the film. This has become a well-known and very popular professedly Christian filmmaking company – or rather, as so many prefer to say these days, a “faith-based” company. Not strongly, uncompromisingly Christian. Not outright Evangelical. Certainly not Protestant. Not Bible-based either. Just “faith-based.” It could mean anything.
There is no need to see the film to know that it is an inaccurate portrayal of the life and times of Samson. The website, and the trailer on the website, provide sufficient information to be able to judge.
Monday, March 05, 2018
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Ignacio de Loyola (2016) NEW Full 1min Trailer
Ignacio de Loyola (2016) NEW Full 1min Trailer
Published on Dec 15, 2015
JESCOM FILMS PHILIPPINES presents the feature film IGNACIO DE LOYOLA starring Andreas Muñoz, Javier Godino, and Julio Perillan. Coming July 2016. www.IgnacioDeLoyola.com #IgnacioMovie
A modern and very human take on the story of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, often called 'The Saint of Second Chances.'
As a brash, hot-headed soldier in a time of political upheaval in Spain, the young Iñigo went from living a life of brutal violence and debauchery, to becoming one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church.
This film chronicles Iñigo's torturous struggle to turn from darkness to light—a struggle that nearly destroyed him, but also gave him the key to a spiritual weapon that continues to save lives to this very day.
Produced by Jesuit Communications Philippines (JesCom), IGNACIO DE LOYOLA was shot on location over two months in the northern regions of Spain.
BE PART OF HISTORY.
We still need your help to complete the considerable funding needed for the post-production, CGI, and musical scoring on the film. If you want to help bring IGNACIO DE LOYOLA to the big screen, please go to www.jescom.ph/ignaciomovie/how-you-can-help
CREDITS:
Production Company: JesCom Films Philippines
Executive Producer: Emmanuel Alfonso, SJ
Producer: Pauline Mangilog-Saltarin
Co-Producer: Ernestine Tamana
Writer/Director: Paolo Dy
Director of Photography: Lee Briones
Production Manager: Ana Carrera Lopez
First Assistant Director: Bombi Plata
Second Assistant Director: Eduardo Huete
Second Unit Director: Aaron Palabyab
Production Designer: Leo Velasco
Art Director: Cari-Dawn Campbell
Hair & Make-up/ Costume Designer: Juvan Bermil
Pre-Production PD: Fritz Silorio
.
Sunday, May 29, 2016
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend: Some 'Frozen' fans want her to be a lesbian
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
Updated 12:30 PM ET, Wed May 4, 2016
Story highlights
Teen recently started the hashtag
There's debate raging on social media
(CNN)A few "Frozen" fans would like to see something special in the film's sequel.
A campaign to #GiveElsaAGirlfriend has gone viral.
It all began when teen Alexis Isabel recently tweeted "I hope Disney makes Elsa a lesbian princess imagine how iconic that would be." She followed that by tweeting "Dear @Disney, #GiveElsaAGirlfriend."
Read more
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