This Friday, May 22nd, NET TV’s Gabriel Award-winning series Reel Faith will premiere its sixth summer season. The weekly show, which reviews Hollywood’s biggest films through a Catholic perspective, will be also celebrating its 100th episode this season.
This season’s reviews will include highly-anticipated comic book adaptations like Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Ant-Man,” and “Fantastic Four;” big-budget sequels like “Jurassic World,” “Terminator: Genisys,” and “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation;” and family fare like Pixar’s “Inside Out,” and DreamWorks Animation’s “Minions.” Reel Faith will also weigh in on a variety of smaller independent films and documentaries.
Returning as co-hosts are David DiCerto, newly appointed Director of Film & Television programming at The Fulton J. Sheen Center for Thought and Culture and former film critic of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting; and Steven Greydanus, film critic for the National Catholic Register, contributor to Crux and Catholic Digest, and creator of decentfilms.com.
“Movies are much more than mere entertainment; they have the power to influence ideas and attitudes,” says DiCerto. “I am thrilled to be able to provide Catholic moviegoers – especially parents – with a voice they can trust, in a way that is fresh, informative and, hopefully, entertaining.”
“Catholic film reviewing has been around for as long as the movies themselves, but we have been slow to bring it to the screen, which is ideal for a visual medium like movies. The Church has always been aware of the power of images, and on Reel Faith we can interact with the movies we are reviewing in a way you can’t do in writing. It is almost a more Catholic way of reviewing movies,” said Greydanus.
Labeled the “Catholic Siskel and Ebert,” the duo see Reel Faith as an innovative opportunity for evangelization and spreading the Gospel message, while encouraging greater film literacy among Catholics, using a format that appeals to mainstream viewers.
In addition to reviews, past Reel Faith seasons have featured red carpet coverage of movie premieres and interviews with top Hollywood talent, including: Ridley Scott, Naomi Watts, Brendan Gleeson, Tyler Perry, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Bill Murray, and Christian Bale. With the help of film scholar Fr. Robert Lauder, Reel Faith also introduces viewers to motion picture classics highlighting “Movies with a Message.”
Reel Faith is produced by the New Evangelization Television (NET TV www.netny.tv), a cable network featuring news and information with a Catholic point of view, which is part of DeSales Media Group, the communications and technology arm of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The show airs on NET TV every Friday at 8 p.m. on Time Warner Cable, channel 97, Cablevision, channel 30, and nationally on Verizon FiOS On Demand.
Reel Faith also airs nationally in 10 U.S. states on Catholic TV, headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, and in Toronto, Canada on Salt + Light Television.
Follow Reel Faith’s updates on Facebook at Facebook.com/ReelFaithShow and Twitter @ReelFaithShow.