After watching the trailer of the latest Dan Brown movie, Angels and Demons, I have only word to describe it –> RIDICULOUS!!!
This must be biggest joke Hollywood has played on the Catholic Church, next to the DUH-Vinci Code.
I’ve not read either of Mr Brown’s books myself, but based on what I’ve heard and read about them, it does appear to me that they’re both packed with historical and theological errors, and outright lies. Although many will say “that’s just fiction” (which it is, of course), but still there will be people whose faith and impression of the Catholic Church will be negatively affected by the books, and even more so the movies. We must arm ourselves with the necessary knowledge to differentiate between fact and fiction, build up our own faith with the truth, and be prepared with the answers for various questions (and at times, attacks and accusations) that our friends and family may have for us.
Well known apologist, Mark Shea, has written an electronic booklet in corporation with Ascension Press, on the craziness of Angels and Demons. This 23-page booklet contains answers to over 30 typical questions that may arise after reading the book or watching the movie, and is available for free download here. Read it for yourself, share it with your friends, and spread the word.
Catholic Answers has also written an answer guide to Angels and Demons. Find out more here! There’s also a clip of the This Rock article written by Carl E. Olson in the Catholic Answers Forums, which can be found here.
Al Kresta has written on the Angels and Demons phenomena on Ignatius Insight, as well as on his blog. I particularly what he said after watching Angels and Demons. –> “The movie won’t turn you into either.” Well said!
Last but not least, there’s also this brilliant article by Steven Greydanus on DecentFilms.com, highlighting the errors and mistakes that are in abundance in Dan Brown’s works. I’m also looking forward to reading Steven’s review of the movie.
I hope you find these resources helpful in educating yourselves and those around you about the horrific lies in Angels and Demons, in contrast to the truths which the Catholic Church stands for.
Yesterday was a company-declared holiday for me (in lieu of Vesak Day on Saturday). So I decided to make good use of it, and run as many errands as I can. I was up and out of the house by 8am, thus missing the SQPN podcast marathon. Thankfully most of it was recorded on uStream, so I’ll be able to catch up on what I missed out. 
First stop, value breakfast at McD! Sausage McMuffin with refillable coffee/tea at just $2.50 is always a good deal. 
Next, a quick stop at the box office upstairs to grab my ticket to watch Star Trek at 10:30am. That was followed by another quick trip to the bank downstairs to transfer some funds around. While waiting for the movie to start, I was bombarded with loads of advertisements as well as 4 movie trailors, 3 of which piqued my interest enough to want to watch the movies when they actually air. These were:
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
The final trailor that only served to increase my disgust of Dan Brown and his “literary” works was, yup you guess it, Angels and Demons. Obviously, I shall not bother including poster images and links for this piece of trash, attempting to pass off as a thriller. For a great interview with Carl Olson, where he gives a brief rundown of the craziness that is Angels and Demons, check out the latest episode of The Catholics Next Door podcast.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Star Trek movie. (You can read my review of the movie here.) The only complain I had was that the theater smelled of feet (eww..) 
It was 1pm when the movie ended. Oops.. I was supposed to meet my financial planner in her office at 1pm. It was raining cats and dogs.. double oops. I quickly sent her a message informing her that I’ll be 15 minutes late. Luckily, her office is just a couple of bus-stops from the cineplex I was at, so I managed to get to her office in time. We completed our little exercise in less than an hour. By then I was already hungry. So I started roaming around, wondering what to eat. Driven by an unexplainable craving for pasta, I headed to Astons Specialities at the basement Suntec City to try their Spicy Chicken Spaghetti. Yummy. 
Finally, to top off all the madness of the day, I spent an entire hour at the Charles and Keith factory outlet located near my workplace, looking for a new pair of shoes to replace my terribly worn-out pair. It was end-of-season sale, and most of the shoes on sale were selling at a 50-70% discount. Quite the deal if you ask me. However, all the designs that I wanted did not come in my size, and those that came in my size was not within my budget. Because I’m still recovering from that nasty ankle sprain from early March, I’d wanted to get flats. Since that was not possible, I eventually settled for this at $16.90. It has a little bit of heels (about an inch high), but it was low enough that my ankles did not complain too much. I’ll just have to be careful and watch my steps. 
So you see, that’s what this crazy kitty does on her day off. It was definitely enough madness for one day.
First of all, I must admit.. I’m not a Trekkie. I only have vague memories of watching the series on TV with my dad, who was quite the sci-fi geek in the family. (Dad loved watching Star Wars, Star Trek and Babylon 5, while mom and I would rather he turned in early so we could catch up with the Hong Kong dramas that was on the other channel ) I don’t remember any of the punchlines or quotes from the series. All I remember was the pointy-eared commander, whom I later learned was Spock.
However, it turns out that most of online friends are avid fans of the franchise, just like my dad. 
So if I wanted to counted among the “in” kids, I better start gaining some “Trek cred” now. Besides, all the reviews that I’ve so far on this latest installment has been highly positive. Plus there was the cute Zachery Quinto (who plays my favorite villian, Sylar in my favorite TV series Heroes) taking up the role of Spock.
So I woke up bright and early to catch the 10:30am show at a cineplex in town. There was only 1 word to describe the experience.. AWESOME!!!! 
The visuals and special effects were STUNNING! The dialogue was witty and humorous. Quinto was a joy to watch, as was Chris Pine, who plays James T. Kirk. I also found Anton Yelchin’s role as the Pavel Chekov very amusing. The final battle between USS Enterprise and the Narada kept me at the edge of my seat. Well done, J. J. Abrams and team! 
Overall, this was a truly enjoyable movie, even for someone like me who has practically zero background on “Trek history“. A must watch, whether you’re a Trekkie or not! If only dad was still around to enjoy this with me.
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