For Now We See

We're back... again! After another extended hiatus, Rhys and George are back to the cinema and back to theologically informed pub chat. We caught The Banshees of Inisherin, the latest from In Bruges director Martin McDonagh. It's a dark comedy which throws up big questions: how should we spend our time before we die? What's the place of great art in life? Is there a difference between "niceness" and love?


Timestamps
00:00-05:12 - Intro
05:26-end - The Banshees of Inisherin

Another biggy that we missed: Spider-Man: No Way Home. Already one of the highest grossing movies of all time, we give our verdict, and talk about why Hollywood is so obsessed with franchises, and whether it's a good thing to want to "heal" all our villains.


Timestamps
00:00-07:37 - Intro and general MCU overview
07:41-end - Spider-Man: No Way Home review

No time to record! After another extended hiatus, we're back! We're catching up on big things we've missed in the past few months, starting with No Time To Die. After pondering Bond's enduring popularity and its classic tropes, we give our thoughts on Daniel Craig's 007 swansong.


Timstamps
00:00-21:14 - Intro and general Bond overview
21:28-end - No Time To Die

After an extended hiatus, we're back! After brief thoughts on the Oscars movies we didn't cover we dive into Loki, Disney+'s latest MCU limited series. We talk about why we now need to make our villains sympathetic, time travel and free will, the narcissism of the multiverse, and more!


Timstamps
00:00-12:28 - Intro and News
12:42 - end - Loki

This week's news is of course the Oscars, so we talk about the surprises and the increasing diversity of the Academy's choices.

Then we review time-loop rom-com Palm Springs, and what it says about why our actions are morally significant. After that we discuss The Mauritanian and how it demonstrates humanity's shared sense of justice. Finally, we talk about how Minari uses Christian imagery, and showcases a surprisingly traditional view of family life.

Timstamps
00:00-08:51 - Intro and News
09:05-26:50 - Palm Springs
27:04-40:32 - The Mauritanian
40:47-end - Minari

In this week's news, we talk about Disney moving a whole load of release dates, and wonder if people will really go back to the cinema.

Then, we review I Care A Lot and wonder why we like watching horrible people succeed.

We also review Judas and the Black Messiah, and explore why Christians have always regarded betrayal as such a great sin.

Timestamps
00:00-10:09 - Intro and News
10:23-24:09 - I Care A Lot (spoiler-free!)
24:24-30:38 - I Care A Lot (spoilers!)
30:52-end - Judas and the Black Messiah

In the news, we discuss Oscar nominations and Avatar's infuriating reclamation of the "highest grossing film of all time" spot.

Then (and we still can't quite believe it exists) we get into Zack Snyder's Justice League.  We discuss why Christians need to realise the power of fans, whether people are really into myths, and where Zack Snyder does worldbuilding like Tolkien or Lewis.

Timestamps
00:00-07:53 - Intro and News
08:07-end - Zack Snyder's Justice League

In this week's news, we talk about the BAFTAs and the upcoming release of The Snyder Cut of Justice League.

Then, the whole episode is devoted to WandaVision. We talk about the comfort and community of sitcoms, resurrection hope, and whether hype and "event TV" is good for us as viewers.

Timestamps
Intro and News - 00:00-06:15
WandaVision - 06:29-end

This week, in the news we go over the Golden Globes, then talk Spider-Man and Bond.

Then we review Capone (Netflix) - one of the most spectacularly terrible films we've seen in a long time.

We then have a much better conversation about a new documentary, A Glitch in the Matrix, which is all about "simulation theory" and whether or not we're living in a computer generated dream. We discuss the history of this idea, how it replays ancient heresies, and how the church should respons to conspiracy theorists.

Shownotes
"His pastors tried to steer him away from social media rage. He stormed the Capitol anyway" in The Washington Post (February 2021)

Timestamps
00:00-13:10 - Intro and News
13:25-28:20 - Capone
28:34-end - A Glitch in the Matrix

This week, we do a quick news catch-up about what to watch during award season.

We also review The Dig (Netflix), based on the true story of the Anglo-Saxon horde unearthed at Sutton Hoo. We discuss the distant past and distant future, carpe diem, and why people now like to descibe humans as "stardust".

Then, we review News of the World (Netflix), Tom Hanks' new western. We talk about the cowboy fatherhood tropes, fake news, and the relationship between stories and facts.

Timestamps
00:00-11:41 - Intro and News
11:55-38:53 - The Dig
39:01-end - News of the World