Holy Unknown

  Spotlight (2015)  is a drama directed by Tom McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer. The film follows the investigative journalists of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team as they uncover systemic sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and the institutional efforts to conceal it. New editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) encourages reporters Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) to pursue court records that reveal a pattern of protected priests. As the investigation expands, the team confronts resistance from church officials, legal barriers, and the weight of a story rooted deeply in the city’s culture. The reporting gradually exposes the scale of the cover-up and forces the paper to decide when and how to publish findings that will have lasting consequences. Filmed primarily in Boston, the production made extensive use of real locations and buildings tied directly to the Globe’s reporting history. Man...

By Cody Andrus Julia Child was born on August 15, 1912, in Pasadena, California, into a family that valued education and independence. She attended Smith College and graduated in 1934. Afterward, she moved through clerical and writing jobs without a clear professional direction. Cooking was not yet central to her life. After the United States entered World War II, Child joined the Office of Strategic Services, the wartime organization that later became the Central Intelligence Agency. She was assigned to administrative and research roles, first in Washington, D.C., and later overseas in Ceylon and China. The work was practical and procedural. She tracked personnel, managed files, and supported intelligence officers operating under pressure and logistical constraint. Her assignments required accuracy, adaptability, and discretion rather than initiative or risk-taking. She worked long hours in unfamiliar environments, learned how large systems functioned under strain, and became comforta...

So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) is a romantic comedy thriller directed by Thomas Schlamme and written by Robbie Fox. The story follows Charlie MacKenzie (Mike Myers), a commitment-averse poet living in San Francisco who becomes romantically involved with Harriet Michaels (Nancy Travis), a reserved butcher with a mysterious past. As their relationship deepens, Charlie begins to suspect that Harriet may be connected to a series of murders attributed to a serial killer known as the “Honeymoon Killer.” His growing paranoia, fueled by gossip and coincidence, pulls friends and family into his investigation. The story unfolds as Charlie tries to determine whether his fears are justified or the result of his own inability to trust intimacy. Filmed primarily in San Francisco, the production made extensive use of real locations, including neighborhoods, cafes, and waterfront areas, rather than relying on soundstages. Mike Myers performed the film during a transitional moment in his career,...

By Cody Andrus John Scobell was born around 1821 in Virginia, where slavery governed labor, movement, and law. As an African American born into enslavement, his early life unfolded under constant surveillance and restriction. Little documentation survives from his childhood, but the conditions themselves shaped what he would later rely on: careful observation and the ability to remain unnoticed. At some point before the Civil War, Scobell escaped slavery and made his way north. By the late 1850s, he was living in Washington, D.C., working quietly as a civilian. The capital was crowded with soldiers, politicians, and informants, a place where rumor traveled faster than orders and accurate information was hard to come by. When the Civil War began, Union officials faced a serious intelligence problem. Reliable information from inside the Confederacy was scarce, and conventional agents were easily detected. Private intelligence networks began to fill the gap. Among them was the Pinkerto...

A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018) is a biographical comedy directed by David Wain and written by John Aboud and Michael Colton. The film chronicles the life of Doug Kenney (Will Forte), a co-founder of National Lampoon. As Kenney helps build the Lampoon brand alongside Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and Robert Hoffman (Thomas Lennon), the publication grows from a campus joke into a cultural force. The story follows Kenney’s increasing influence on comedy through projects like Animal House and Caddyshack, while charting the personal pressures and creative expectations that accompany success. Framed through an unconventional narrative device in which Kenney’s life is commented on by a fictionalized version of himself, the film moves toward an ending shaped by both legacy and loss. Filming took place in Toronto and surrounding areas, which doubled for multiple locations including Harvard, New York, and Los Angeles. Will Forte spent months researching Doug Kenney’s writing an...

By Cody Andrus Roald Dahl was born on September 13, 1916, in Llandaff, Wales, to Norwegian parents. He was educated in England, where strict schools and rigid authority left a lasting impression. Those early years sharpened his awareness of power, obedience, and quiet resistance. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force and flew as a fighter pilot in North Africa. In 1940, he was badly injured in a crash that ended his flying career. During his recovery, he was reassigned to diplomatic service in Washington, D.C., where his fluency, charm, and observational skill soon attracted attention. Dahl was recruited into British intelligence and tasked with helping shift American opinion from neutrality toward intervention. Operating out of the British Embassy, he moved easily through Washington society, gathering information, cultivating contacts, and reporting back to London. His work placed him in proximity to senior politicians, journalists, and figures insi...

Argo (2012)  is a political thriller directed by Ben Affleck and written by Chris Terrio. The film is based on the real CIA operation to extract six American diplomats who hid in Tehran during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA exfiltration specialist, is tasked with devising a plan to get the diplomats out without alerting Iranian authorities. Posing as a Canadian film producer scouting locations for a fake science-fiction movie, Mendez travels to Iran and coaches the group to assume new identities as part of the fabricated production. As tensions escalate and suspicion grows, the mission hinges on whether the cover story can hold long enough to get everyone safely out of the country. Filming took place in Los Angeles, Istanbul, and parts of California that doubled for Tehran. Ben Affleck worked closely with CIA Officer Tony Mendez before filming, studying his demeanor and operational habits to ground the performance in real tradecraft rather than ci...

By Cody Andrus Virginia Hall Goillot was born in Baltimore in 1906 into a well-off family that expected polish, education, and a conventional life abroad. She was fluent in French and German, educated in Europe, and trained for diplomatic service. The path ahead appeared settled. In her twenties, while hunting in Turkey, she suffered an accident that resulted in the loss of part of her leg. She was twenty-seven. The injury ended her prospects in the U.S. Foreign Service, which declined her application on medical grounds. Hall did not argue the decision. She redirected herself. By 1940, she was in France as a freelance journalist when the German invasion began. As others fled, she remained. She began passing information to British contacts and soon came to the attention of the Special Operations Executive. The SOE recruited her and sent her into occupied France. She was the only American woman they deployed there during the war. Working under false identities, Hall established resist...

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)  is a fantastic comedy directed by Frank Oz and written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro, and Paul Henning. The story follows Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine), a refined British con artist operating along the French Riviera, whose carefully controlled scams are disrupted by Freddy Benson (Steve Martin), a crude and impulsive American grifter. Forced into an uneasy partnership, the two men agree to compete rather than cooperate, devising a wager to see who can swindle a wealthy tourist out of her fortune first. Their escalating schemes grow increasingly elaborate, each designed to outmaneuver the other through deception, disguise, and psychological games. As the rivalry intensifies, the contest becomes less about money than about pride, control, and who can execute the more convincing performance. Filmed primarily along the French Riviera, with locations in the south of France standing in for the elegant resort towns. Director Frank Oz encouraged the c...

By Cody Andrus John Kiriakou was born on August 2, 1964, in Sharon, Pennsylvania. He joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1990 and built his career in counterterrorism, working in a profession defined by secrecy, discipline, and obedience to chain of command. After the September 11 attacks, Kiriakou was assigned to overseas counterterrorism operations. In March 2002, he led the operation that captured Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan, one of the first high-value detainees taken into U.S. custody after 9/11. Inside the agency, the capture was treated as a major success at a moment of national urgency. In the weeks that followed, Abu Zubaydah was transferred into CIA custody. As interrogation plans were developed, Kiriakou was asked whether he wanted to be trained for or take part in the questioning program. He refused. He believed the techniques being proposed amounted to torture and chose not to participate. After leaving government service, Kiriakou spoke publicly about what he had learn...

The Village (2004)  is a mystery thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The story is set in a secluded 19th-century village governed by a group of elders, including Edward Walker (William Hurt), who enforce strict rules to protect the community from dangerous creatures believed to inhabit the surrounding woods. Life in the village is shaped by fear and ritual, until tensions rise following violent incidents involving Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix), a young man determined to challenge the boundaries that confine them. As fear spreads and authority is tested, Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard), Edward’s blind daughter, becomes central to the village’s survival. The presence of Noah Percy (Adrien Brody), whose unpredictable behavior unsettles the fragile order, further complicates efforts to maintain control as the story moves toward a decisive reckoning. Filming took place in rural Pennsylvania, where large portions of the village were constructed from scratch in open far...

By Cody Andrus Noor Inayat Khan was born on January 1, 1914, in Moscow, into a family devoted to music, mysticism, and discipline. Her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, was a Sufi teacher and musician whose work kept the family moving across Europe. Her mother, Ora Ray Baker, was an American who took charge after her husband’s death, guiding the children first out of Russia and later out of France as the continent grew more dangerous. Noor was educated in Paris, trained as a harpist and pianist, and studied child psychology at the Sorbonne. She wrote children’s stories drawn from Indian folklore, quiet lessons in patience and moral restraint. After the fall of France in 1940, Noor fled Paris with her mother and siblings and crossed to Britain as German control closed in. She joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and trained as a wireless operator, a role that demanded accuracy, calm, and isolation. British intelligence noted her fluent French, strong memory, and capacity to work alone. The ...

Clear and Present Danger (1994)  is an intense political thriller directed by Phillip Noyce and written by Donald Stewart, adapted from Tom Clancy’s novel. The story follows Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford), a CIA analyst who is unexpectedly appointed acting Deputy Director and quickly finds himself navigating a covert U.S. operation in Colombia. As Ryan uncovers evidence that American forces are secretly engaged in an illegal war against a drug cartel, he realizes the mission is being run without oversight and outside the law. Caught between the White House, the CIA, and military commanders in the field, Ryan is forced to choose between following orders and exposing the truth. The situation escalates into a dangerous confrontation that tests Ryan’s loyalty, judgment, and willingness to act independently. Filming took place in California and Mexico, with jungle environments used to double for Colombia due to security and logistical concerns. Harrison Ford pushed for a more physically invo...