Dear Friends,
Christ is among us!
May I suggest "The Phantom of the Opera" I know that some may wonder how this could lead to a good theological discussion, but our Youth Group had a marvelous discussion of the DVD movie version.
May the Love of God consume us,
Fr. Vladimir

Fr. Vladimir,

This is an excellent idea! I am a fan of this old classic (have a copy of the Lon Chaney silent film) and of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is highly symbolic and reflects much in it's various contrasts. On another forum I have seen teens and young adults get into lively discussions about the recent version of "Phantom" and the various nuances involved. If I was a youth group facilitator I wouldn't hesitate to show it on movie night.

In Christ,

Porter.

mistake.

Taras Bulba. An all-time classic.

"Stand aside, Mykola!"

Katie,

Though this is suppose to be in the Church, maybe you would want to take a night out and go to the movies. For the older teens, it seems that The Exocism of Emily Rose would be a good for all to see. Here are the links from discussion in Town Hall
http://www.byzcath.org/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=002536
http://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=002547;p=1#000000

This may sound like a crazy choice, but tonight I watched "DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN" with my daughter. We both found this movie very good. It had some destructive seens in it, and one lady toted a gun. But, overall I felt it had really good quailties.

I just read a parental guide for it, and they were not favorable on it. Yet felt it dealt with life without God and with. With making choices, at one point she falls asleep on the couch, fully dressed, asleep with this man who in some ways is a knight in shining armor. When she awakes, both dressed and I can't remember how she said it, but she wrote in her diary that 'he gave her intimacy'. To me it was a good picture of trust and respect. Of perseverence and overcoming. Dealing with anger and hurt and what happens when we forgive.

Anyway, my daughter - now 22 - is a good judge of movies and she really got a lot out of it. The Gospel music is really good in it. So I would definately reccomend this for older teens.

This may sound odd but would Casablanca be dumb. I mean in the end everyone does the right thing.

-katie g