More Than One Lesson

As I write this, it is two years to the day since four students were murdered by a classmate at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington. 15 years earlier, I was a junior at that school, looking around the campus on the morning of April 21, 1999. It was the day after the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. School shootings were not as commonplace as they would become but I still remember feeling that if someone really wanted to commit such a horrific act on our campus, there would be little to stop them. Tragically, 15 years later that would turn out to be true.

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In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Purpose, the Variety Faith-Based Summit.

Tyler recounts his experiences at the 2016 International Christian Film Festival.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro
00:04:40- Day 1, Priceless, human trafficking
00:16:45- Day 2, Tyler’s seminar, Wade Williams
00:26:00- Movie recommendations
00:57:00- Reactions to seminar
01:04:15- Day 3, Alex Kendrick
01:10:00- God using Christian film, “The Dilemma of Christian Film”
01:26:50- Awards, meeting Alex Kendrick, the end of the festival
00:01:35- Episode wrap-up

In this episode Tyler and Josh discuss Harold Cronk’s God’s Not Dead 2 and Otto Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, International Christian Film Festival
00:05:50- Atheists reviewing Christian films
00:13:55- God’s Not Dead 2
01:39:35- Anatomy of a Murder
01:54:03- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Kevin Reynolds’ Risen and Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, new articles, International Christian Film Festival
00:02:50- Risen
00:53:18- Spartacus
01:04:35- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss the Erwin Brothers’ Woodlawn and Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, International Christian Film Festival
00:06:30- Woodlawn
01:09:30- In the Heat of the Night
01:20:30- Episode wrap-up

I walked into Andrew and Jon Erwin’s Woodlawn with my usual skepticism. Most Christian films leave a lot to be desired, both artistically and theologically. In an attempt to appeal to a neglected Evangelical audience, these films will oversimplify every element of their stories and themes, creating art meant to inspire its viewers, but that instead panders to them in the worst way. These films often fail at every artistic level, but are forgiven because their hearts are in the right place, as though a filmmaker’s intention is the only thing that matters.

And so when I was told that Woodlawn was the best Christian film in a while, I was understandably hesitant. A film that depicted faith amidst the trappings of a sports movie (a genre that often has pandering problems of its own) didn’t do much to inspire hope for me. But, while Woodlawn is far from perfect, it left me feeling engaged and entertained, which is more than can be said for any other faith-based film. For this reason alone, I consider Woodlawn to be the best Christian film I’ve ever seen.

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In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Alex Kendrick’s War Room and Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Episode intro, Alpha Omega Con, Lavalantula
00:09:45- Christian film fatigue, War Room
01:25:10- The Ice Storm
01:33:30- Marriage and prayer
01:57:30- Episode wrap-up, Wes Craven tribute

Traditionally, the American Christian right is closely associated with conservatism and traditional “American” values. So it’s no surprise that Burns Family Studios, a Christian film company started by two home-schooling families, chooses to set their new film around the American Revolution. The company has one film under their belt so far, the medieval epic Pendragon: Sword of His Father, which was well received at several Christian and Family Film festivals. While Pendragon was a passion project shot in back yards and starring the Burns family themselves, Beyond the Mask is a more ambitious, higher budget project, aiming to stand alongside similar Hollywood projects.

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