Many have talked about the failures of GLADIATOR 2, but in this episode we throw our hat in the ring and arrogantly try to fix an ultimately uninspired retread of Ridley Scott's classic film, GLADIATOR. Luckily we're joined by Great Books professor and Director of the Center for Catholic Media, Dr. Jared Zimmerer.

Over the past decade, The Hunchback of Notre Dame has gained a swell of appreciation, from the grandeur of its production, to the stunning complexity of its central villain, Judge Frollo. But this is a film so steeped in Catholicism that you can only fully understand it through a religious lens. In this episode of The Catholic Film Club, Michael Coy and Patrick Bautista dive deep into the biblical and Catholic symbolism woven through the brilliant tapestry that is Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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Hugh Grant lures two Mormon missionaries into a sinister psychological game to test their religious beliefs. He and the writers of HERETIC ask one of the ultimate questions, "What is the one true religion?" (It's Catholicism).

"Conclave" is a masterfully directed but ultimately bone-headed thriller about the election of a new pope. Tom Hoopes (The Extraordinary Story Podcast) joins the Catholic Film Club to bring some light to what the film gets wrong about the Catholic faith, including its approach to certain physical disorders, priestly ordination, and the sacraments. Michael Coy argues that these flaws are so foundational to the beliefs of Catholic clergy that it's actually impossible for the film to be good.

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Abigail Favale “The Intersex Body Is a Revelation”

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D “Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 132: Seeing through the Intersex Confusion”

Michael Coy proposes that analog film is the only real form of making movies. Patrick Bautista provides a more moderate view. What do you think? Is film dead and buried or is there still value in using it? What is the value of using digital cameras?

Dr. Nathan Bowman is the Chair of the Department of Theatre at Benedictine College. He is also an avid horror fan. Michael Coy sits down with Dr. Bowman to talk about how horror approaches Catholicism, paganism, and his dissertation on the relationship between horror and Greek tragedy. Michael and co-host Patrick Bautista also list four of their favorite horror films.

The Catholic Film Club is brought to you by The Center for Catholic Media at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. It is hosted by Michael Coy and Patrick Bautista.

Michael and Patrick went into Megalopolis expecting anything from a crazy masterpiece to an admirable failure. What they saw, instead, was a pitiful failure. A hodgepodge of half baked ideas as visually inconsistent as its narrative. But what could have saved Megalopolis?