Some books should be left alone — From almost the moment motion pictures were invented, filmmakers have been turning books into movies. From the Iliad and the Odyssey to the plays of Shakespeare to the latest bestseller, Hollywood has always been ready to bring a successful (or even unsuccessful) book or play to the big screen. They…

And not in a good way — Last year, in an effort to keep the peace during the dumpster fire that Thanksgiving family gatherings have become since that fateful day a former real estate mogul rode down a golden escalator and into infamy, I wrote an article suggesting five creative ways to change the subject when uncomfortable…

The saint for times when all seems lost — I was looking back through my lists here recently and was surprised to find that it has been exactly a year since I last did an installment of my “Three Minutes with the Saints” series. Because I enjoyed writing them and at least three of you seemed to enjoy reading…

Where did the time go? — In most states, for both registration and insurance purposes an automobile is classified as a “classic” at 20 years old. As I learned in the early 2000s, the same is true of music; when I turned on the oldies radio station I was shocked to hear them playing Huey Lewis…

It’s a film that stays with you — I love Mafia films (I firmly believe that The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are the two best films ever made), and as someone who loves Mafia films I obviously love Martin Scorsese. The trifecta of Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman solidified his place in the Italian Mob film…

Most of what we’ve learned is wrong — We are just ten days until Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which makes it a fine time to slaughter some sacred cows along with the turkeys and debunk several Thanksgiving myths that have become entrenched in our popular culture. I want to be clear that I am talking about…

And the divide in the Church deepens — In a rare but not unexpected move, today Pope Francis relieved Bishop Joseph Strickland of his position as head of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. Normally, even such an uncommon event as this would garner little media attention, especially for a diocese whose boundaries contain only around 120,000 Catholics out…

Happy Veterans Day! — Tomorrow is Veterans Day in the United States (Remembrance Day in the U.K. and Commonwealth countries), a day when I try to do nothing except gobble up as many free meals as I can from every restaurant that offers them. I usually start with the free donut from Krispy Kreme…

Reflections on a dubious milestone — As I was pulling a draft from my stories page this morning, I just happened to look at the number of articles I have published here, and because my brain only retains song lyrics and quotes from movies, my first thought was a paraphrased version of a Bill Nighy quote…