The Thin Place

By Film Geek RadioTV & Film

The Thin Place episodes

July 01, 2013 Episode #36: Genre Conventions in White House Down
Ken and Todd examine the conventions of action films and how White House Down uses them. Do action films promote American exceptionalism? How does the use of comic relief undercut the film's moral seriousness? What makes a true hero?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro: Why we are discussing White House Down
5:40 - What are the film's genre conventions?
14:50 - Conflict, resolution, and social order
18:00 - American exceptionalism
29:10 - Death and comic relief
38:18 - True heroism and cultural values
44:14 - Concluding remarks
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
46 min
June 17, 2013 Episode #35: Love and Masks in The Magician
Todd and Ken look at Ingmar Bergman's The Magician. Is the film about the conflict between rationalism and faith or the conflict between performers and critics? What did Bergman say about the film in interviews? What makes Ken say that Bergman is the director he's tried the hardest to like without success? Did The Magician change his mind?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Introduction and plot summary.
5:00 - True believers and true doubters.
12:50 - Step by step into darkness.
22:48 - On needing to be loved.
32:17 - Who are we? Masks and public performance.
40:51 - What is our delusion?
44:10 - Closing remarks and recommendations.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
50 min
May 27, 2013 Episode #34: At Any Price
Ken and Todd discuss Ramin Bahrani's At Any Price. Which family member did Todd want to see more of? What connections does Ken see between this film and Chop Shop? Is the film's climactic sermon meant ironically? WARNING: Plot spoilers..
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Introduction: Expand or Die.
6:51 - Modern farms, prodigal sons, crimes and punishments.
08:45 - The church sermon.
17:46 - "I don't know what to do."
27:03 - External vs. Internal Contentment.
29:24 - Bahrani's work and overall assessments.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
34 min
May 12, 2013 Episode #33: Timeless Truths in Stromboli
Todd and Ken discuss the films of Roberto Rossellini, focusing on Stromboli. How sympathetic is Karin? What does the film's reference to the book of Isaiah mean? Is the ending positive, negative or ambiguous? WARNING: Plot spoilers.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro to Rossellini.
3:30 - Plot summary and Karin's shifting story.
07:25 - Isaiah 65:1.
15:51 - Timeliness.
20:06 - How to read the ending.
28:30 - Is Karin unlikable?
33:30 - Getting back to the end.
41:20 - Where to watch the film.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
46 min
May 01, 2013 Episode #32: The Feel Good Mediocrity of 42
Ken and Todd discuss Brian Helgeland’s hagiography of Jackie Robinson.
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Christian Movies vs. Thinking Christian
4:30 - General assessments.
13:00 - Historical foreknowledge and narrative complexity.
21:20 - Of showers and maternity wards.
37:19 - How do we effect change?
40:43 - Truth and feeling good.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
52 min
March 30, 2013 Episode #31: Predestination in Wreck-It Ralph
Todd and Ken look at Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, and ponder whether or not being written into a computer program is an apt metaphor for predestination. Also, what makes Ken compare Wreck-It Ralph to Paradise Lost?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Wreck-It Ralph vs. Toy Story.
4:30 - Predestination.
12:30 - Adult themes -- hating your job.
18:00 - Is Satan just misunderstood?
23:00 - Parallel worlds and the transcendent world.
29:00 - Free will metaphors: "rehtorical" vs. actual "have to"
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
41 min
February 20, 2013 Episode #30: On Finally Watching The Last Temptation of Christ
Todd and Ken discuss Martin Scorsese's (in)famous imagination of the life of Jesus. Is it really blasphemous? Is it any good? Do you have to watch a movie to be able to boycott it? And how do you pronounce "Nikos Kazantzakis"?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - The infamous production history--or why Ken saw Die Hard on his honeymoon.
6:00 - Responses today.
10:56 - Whose fault was it?: The script.
15:04 - Who is this Jesus, exactly?
19:29 - Film vs. Novel: Problems with abstraction.
33:00 - Well, how should Christians respond?
43:46 - What was Scorsese's intent?
47:00 - Other Jesus movies.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
51 min
February 03, 2013 Episode #29: Zero Dark Thirty and Historical Fiction
Todd and Ken examine the morality of making stories about other people’s lives. What is the difference between "truth" and "accuracy," and is accomplishing one ever an excuse for neglecting the other? Should historical fiction be judged differently from imaginative fiction? Why or why not?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Should we judge historical fiction differently?
4:45 - One person's suffering is another's entertainment
8:57 - The opposite of truth is not fiction: Zero Dark Thirty
13:53 - Dead Man Walking and agenda-driven films
18:45 - Do we trust the artist?
27:00 - Truth telling and story telling: Zero Dark Thirty again
33:00 - What bothers Todd more than historical inaccuracies?
38:00 - What do we want in historical movies?
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
45 min
January 07, 2013 Episode #28: The Grapes of Wrath
Ken and Todd look at John Ford’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel. What is the difference between poverty and destitution? Who is the audience surrogate? How is mythologizing the past different from arguing about the present?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro; The Convict and the Preacher
4:00 - Surrender vs. Plucky Resolve
10:05 - Family is what is true.
13:44 - Form vs. content.
18:00 - I don’t know where the next thing is coming from...
25:00 - Mythologizing vs. Agenda driven filmmaking.
32:00 - Who is the audience?
35:00 - Being persuaded and being moved.
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
39 min
December 13, 2012 Episode #27: The Hobbit: A Not-So-Unexpected Travesty
Ken and Todd claim that Peter Jackson doesn't really understand the material that he is adapting. Is there any way they can back up such a claim?
SHOW NOTES:
0:00 - Intro; "certain technical aspects of the film..."
12:45 - "Do you even know what this story is about...?"
22:00 - "It felt dumbed-down to me."
26:02 - "The Hobbit is not a prequel."
30:00 - Speaking of Gollum....
33:30 - The change we hated the most.
40:30 - Surfaces vs. Deep Roots.
45:00 - Growing vs. Changing
DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
53 min

About The Thin Place

From the publisher's feed

Join Ken and Todd every two weeks as they explore films that are about or advance our understanding of issues of faith and spirituality. Some films may do so overtly, through a direct examination of these themes as subjects; others may be more subtle or even opaque in the way they prompt us to think on such things. Still other films may serve primarily as a catalyst for dialogue or discussion. Insights can be gleaned from a part of a larger whole, a scene, a shot, a moment. As the title suggests, such moments can be elusive, fragile, or obscured.