Reel World Theology

On this episode of Reel World: Rewind: Josh is joined by Reel World staff member David Atwell to talk about the 2005 movie, MirrorMask. A UK-based movie produced by Jim Henson Studios, MirrorMask was written by renowned comic book writer and author Neil Gaiman and directed by comic book artist and illustrator Dave McKean. While there might be more famous movies about similar themes, Gaiman and McKean's movie dives into intriguing concepts of handling complex emotions, as well as being artistically bold and visually arresting. David and Josh talk about how the movie addresses grief, growing up, as well as comparing the movie to other fantasy movies featuring a female protagonist like Labyrinth, The Wizard of Oz, and Pan's Labyrinth. Plus, there is a deeper discussion into how stories handle pain and grief and how biblical narratives do. The movie has no ties to any new releases, but David's pick of a movie was really great and led to some great discussion on this month's Rewind!

On this episode of the Reel World Theology podcast: Even though we may have been confused as to why there was another version of Spider-Man coming to our cinemas (especially an animated one), we, and audiences everywhere, quickly found out why. Into the Spider-Verse has been met with incredible reviews and so we take some time to talk about what this film does different, why it has captured audiences attention, and how it thematically stands apart from some of your other superhero films.

On this episode of the Reel World Theology podcast: We're back with another Patreon sponsored episode. This time, Patron, and friend of the show, Dave Courtney asked us to chat about The Rider, an independent film that has garnered a lot of praise over the course of 2018. It's likely too small to win any major awards, but it is quite the film considering the small scale and the use of real people instead of actors. We talk about what we liked and what this film has to say about brokenness and healing.

On this EXTRA! episode of the Reel World Theology podcast... The Staff of RWT get together to talk about their impressions of the 2018 year in film. The good, the bad, the thematic significance! Please enjoy one of our favorite episodes to record every year as we let this EXTRA! out into the wild for all to enjoy. Thanks for listening!

On this episode of Reel World: Rewind... With the upcoming release of M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, it seemed fitting to return to the movie that started it all. Surprising audiences on the back of Shyamalan's Oscar-nominated Sixth Sense, people were excited to see what the director did next. Unbreakable kept audiences guessing and was a surprisingly disguised superhero movie focused on character development and a reluctant hero. We discuss this surprising turn, the controversial ending, as well as how the movie acted as a pivot point for comic book movies to come after. Are our opinions as indestructible as David Dunne or fragile as Mr. Glass himself, Jeremiah Price.

On this episode of the Reel World Theology podcast: The latest offering from the DCEU is upon us and we have thoughts. Is this more of the drab symbolism that we got with early DCEU movies or did Aquaman learn some lessons from its Wonder Woman predecessor? And, more importantly, what kind of story does Aquaman hope to tell?

On this episode of the Reel World Theology podcast: Merry Christmas! for this special holiday episode, we look at one of the more traditional Christmas specials that we think most closely represents the holiday we love. We talk about what resonates with us and why this is one of the best!

On this episode of the Reel World Theology podcast: One of the most anticipated movies of 2018 was the follow up to the spectacular Creed. Creed II promised more of the first sprinkled with 100% more Drago. Or Draygo. Or Drogo. However many ways we find to mispronounce it this episode. Regardless, this film can't exist with comparisons to the first and we compare all the things while trying to pull apart all the themes woven in this newest (Ryan Coolger-less) installment.