It’s still 2020, and Borat and Rudy are still with us.
Jake Martin
Jake Martin, S.J. is an assistant professor of film studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He received his PhD in Film Studies from Trinity College, Dublin in 2023. His book What’s So Funny About Faith: A Memoir from the Intersection of the Hilarious and Holy was published by Loyola Press in 2012. He has been a contributing writer on film and television for America since 2009 and has written for numerous other publications including Huffington Post, Busted Halo and American Catholic Studies. Jake is also an actor and improvisational comedian whose solo show ”Learning to Pray in Front of the Television“ was an official selection for the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Jake has performed at numerous venues in Chicago and New York
Posted inArts & Culture, Film
What we talk about when we talk about ‘Joker’
“Joker” is more than just another comic book film. It has hit a nerve with an already nervous American public.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
Review: ‘Dickinson’ struggles to transform a poet into feminist warrior
The new show subverts the traditional Dickinson iconography, but also takes away the best part of her.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Review: The birth (and birthplace) of R.E.M.
Robert Dean Lurie’s biography of R.E.M. aims to trace the group’s rapid ascension from college town obscurity to rock’s upper echelons.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
‘Fleabag,’ or, in praise of cool priests who swear
The priest in “Fleabag” is of a type that has become, surprisingly, quite common in film and on television
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
John Mulaney: the Jesuit grad whose comedy is crossing divides
John Mulaney freely admits that he needs to be liked by everyone.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Chris Rock’s new Netflix special is must-see TV for couples
“Tambourine” should be mandatory viewing in all diocesan Pre-Cana programs.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
Figure skating deserves your attention more than every four years.
The Winter Olympics are upon us once again, and once again, figure skating steps out of its burrow of athletic obscurity.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Getting Catholicism, the Troubles and 90s nostalgia right in ‘Derry Girls’
The coming-of-age sitcom follows a group of girls as they navigate their way through Catholic high school during the Troubles.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
Review: Jon Snow leads a Catholic revolt in ‘Gunpowder’
The series tells the story of the Gunpowder Plot, when a group of Catholics plotted to blow up Parliament.