News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Thursday December 25th 2025
“The Shape of Water”
“The Shape of Water”(2017) Fox Searchlight
****1/2
Back during the Cold War, a young mute woman, Eliza Esposito (Sally Hawkins), lives in a shabby apartment above the Orpheum Theater (“The Story of Ruth and the Mardi Gras” on the marquee) with in-a-closet, gay struggling illustrator, Giles Richard Jenkins in Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1962. She works as a cleaning woman in a questionable, secret government facility. She goes about her job in a perfunctory way and has only one friend on the job Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer), who looks out for her.
One thing will change Eliza”'s life forever which she doesn”'t see coming. One day she and Zelda are told to clean some spilled blood in the laboratories. Eliza becomes curious about a tank in the lab. What they find next is an amphibian humanoid creature in the tank. For Eliza, whenever the chance she gets while at work, she gets the creature”'s trust. The boss of the secret place is Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), a sadistic man who sees the creature simply as an experiment for the space program
The fact the creature can breathe in and out of water fascinates Strickland and his cronies. However, the Russians also have their eyes on the creature, led by Russian spy, Dr.… Read the rest ““The Shape of Water””
SPIRIT WOUNDS: Passion for Justice and Beauty: LA POSADA
by Patrick Cabello Hansel
We had our annual Posada last Saturday”“the Christmas procession with Mary and Joseph/Maria and Jose, looking for shelter for the holy child. We had some really mean innkeepers turn us away, which was great!
I”'m looking for Posada or shelter from all the craziness of this past year. The tax cut for the rich has passed, sacred lands are going to be sold to mining companies, Dreamers are hung out to dry, pedophiles are honored, but don”'t say “transgender” or “science based”. It seems like an assault a day. But–as they say on the ads for “miracle” products on late-night TV”there”'s more!”
That “more” may indeed be more assaults on the poor, the earth, those who are seen as “other”. But on this eve of the Solstice, I hold my hands out, not only asking for shelter, but offering it. Mary gave the fetus that became Jesus (yes, Virginia, that”'s how it happened) posada in her womb. She gave him breasts aching with milk.… Read the rest “SPIRIT WOUNDS: Passion for Justice and Beauty: LA POSADA”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
Messiah Before Profit
By Peter Molenaar
Faithful readers of the Alley will recall two pages from last month”'s issue, devoted to the conversation surrounding the fate of Messiah Lutheran Church. As things stand, Messiah will be marketed, starting at the rumored price of $800,000. Any takers other than the adjacent corporate interest which intends to demolish it?
Hey, when inside these historic sanctuaries, I feel the presence of my Swedish ancestors. However, the question is way deeper than my self-centered concern.
Check it out:
“Messiah Lutheran”'s interior presents”¦ lavish use of wood, with pointed arches emblematic of the English Gothic style, carved wood paneling, and the intricate stained glass window above and behind the altar lends the interior a graceful ambience”¦ perhaps the most splendid interior architectural feature is the system of wood hammer beam trusses, each characterized by a series of sizable vertical members with lathe-turned bases.”
(Sight-seers should trek to 2501 Columbus Avenue for a glimpse before its gone.)
Question: Would you slash the Mona Lisa”'s face?
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