Reel World Theology

We take a look at The Monuments Men, a George Clooney joint. With a near-all-star cast, this movie, about an unlikely World War II platoon tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners, hasn’t made as much of a splash as I think it would have hoped, but, it does have a very clear message about the value of history, art, and human life. It also speaks about human legacy and what matters in the annals of time. We try to dissect where the film is pointful and where it is just fun— and with this cast, it certainly had a bit of both. This week’s panel included Laura Fissel and Clay Morgan.

We talk about Spike Jonze film, Her, about a man, in the “not too distant future”, who falls in love with his operating system. This film, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara, Amy Adams, Chris Pratt, etc, etc, has received universal acclaim and is nominated for 5 Academy Awards including “Best Original Screenplay” and “Best Picture” (and it’s probably a travesty that Phoenix isn’t nominated for “Best Actor”). This pseudo sci-fi tale weaves a story that takes us down roads where we have to explore humanities ability to love, connect, and make any type of relationship work. Ultimately, we are left to wonder “can you truly love a machine?” This week’s panel included Elijah Lovejoy and Griffin Kale.

So, American Hustle, a tale of cons and double-crosses acted out by one of the finest gathered casts all year in any film; Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper— heck, even the minor and supporting characters are great as Louis CK shows up. This character driven jaunt into a loose retelling of the events of the ABSCAM scandal of the 1970s, is not a perfect film, but is deserving of some of the accolades it has garnered. Its themes of political corruption (or political necessity?), searching for authenticity in an inauthentic world, and how this film stacks up against The Wolf of Wall Street (another recent film about corruption and injustice in the corporate world) are all discussed. AND… because it’s “Awards Season,” we take a look at the importance, if any, of things like the Golden Globes and the Oscars when it comes to acknowledging those people who bring us some of the best stories we will see on screen in a given year. This week’s panel included JR Forasteros and Griffin Kale.

We chat about Saving Mr.Banks, a movie about making a movie— and not just about the making of any movie, but one of the most beloved musicals of all time, Mary Poppins. This telling of the story behind the story is heart-warming at times, and also, heart-breaking. While there has been some discussion as to the accuracy of the portrayal of how this story played out in real life vs the film, it is still a remarkable and touching story. Art, the value of story, the personalness of story, fact vs fiction, family, and the redemptive power of story, all on the table in this episode! This week’s panel included Mark Wingerter and Jason Rennie.

We take a look at the latest installment in Peter Jackson’s reimagining of Middle Earth via The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. In this installment of Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy, the dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey, continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug while Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring. There is much “to-do” about Jackson’s interpretations and variations from the original text, and while that does raise some questions about story telling, we are more concerned with what we can garner from the narrative itself. Weak vs Strong, Legacy, Division, and keeping our eyes on the evil pulling the strings– all on this Episode of the show. This week’s panel included Alan Hawkins and Elijah Lovejoy.

It’s our first annual Christmas Episode! Yes, we show our British bias by following in the footsteps of the BBC and have a special, extra, episode just for Christmas. Hopefully this will be something we do for years to come. I mean, ’tis the season for giving (extra episodes)! There were lots of ideas I had for this episode (as i hope to use this space to actually review Christmas movies), but I wanted to kick this off in a very special way. So, on this episode of the podcast we are going to look at one of my favorite things in all of Space and Time— Doctor Who. This week’s panel included Mark Wingerter, Laura Fissel, and Mandy Rosenberry.

We are swept up in the blaze that is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second installment in the Hunger Games series of 3 (or 3.5 if you base the numbers on the movies). Starring “the girl on fire,” Katniss Everdeen, played by Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, this winter blockbuster improves on its predecessor in nearly every way. From direction, to acting, to plot development, this film takes the time to more deeply explore a lot of the themes that were not exceptionally developed in the first film– but they are right out front in this one. There is allegory galore and speculative allegory to boot. Pacifism vs visions of the Roman Empire, and the unconditional love of the boy next door and how it can change even the coldest hearts…

Thor: The Dark World throws out a lot of very obvious theological themes from the start with it’s concepts of light vs dark and good vs evil, but, as usual, there is much more than meets the eye. Taking it a step further, we have an entire theology that involves life or light needing to struggle to exist, while , like usual with a movie that shows us the worlds of gods, we are able to talk about the very nature of gods themselves. There is also family turmoil and division, coupled with loss and grief. Add to that the oddity that our benevolent main character isn’t the most beloved of this franchise, and the waters only muddy. So, as we always do, we dive into those muddy waters... This week’s panel included Mark Wingerter and James Harleman.

Nearly 30 years later and after Orson Scott Card, himself, doubted that this movie could ever be made, we get to see this story unfold before our eyes on screen. The movie has drawn the finest of crowds, including Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, and the well-cast, Asa Butterfield. Boasting impressive special effects as well, this movie tried to be everything we could hope from an adaptation. While there was much "to do" about Orson Scott Card’s personal beliefs on many current hot button social topics, there were many people who couldn’t be dissuaded from seeing the film. For the movie, we don’t get every subplot from the book, but we still have a plethora of narrative topics to choose from when it comes to examining the film, from self-preservation, to Christ-imagery, to the “end game” of life itself. This week’s panel included Laura Fissel and Erienne Jones.

The subject matter of this film is quite audacious for any filmmaker, much less, a first time film maker. We have grown to really enjoy Joseph Gordon-Levitt from his roles in movies and TV, but now he takes the next step as an artist by writing and directing his first feature film. It deserves to be said that, though this film is VERY discussion worthy, it does deal with issues of masturbation, pornography, addiction, and sexual themes in very frank ways that anyone wanting to see the film who hasn’t yet, should use discretion in doing so. But, with that disclaimer, everyone on the panel has seen the film, for better or worse. It proved to be one of our more intentional discussions that we’ve had on the podcast. Addiction, Pornography, Romance, Love, and where the Church fits into all of that, all on this episode. This week’s panel included Laura Fissel and Elijah Lovejoy.