More Than One Lesson

Tyler was recently a guest on comedian Mike Siegel‘s podcast “Travel Tales.”

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Tyler was recently a guest on Paul Gilmartin’s podcast “The Mental Illness Happy Hour,” discussing his struggles with depression.

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In this episode, Tyler discusses the themes of various classic Christmas movies.

Ben Gilbert over at Panels on Pages has written a very nice review of the show. You can read it below.

Those who have known me on the PoP! Message Boards for a while know that I am a “person of faith,” but I’m not one of those crazy Bible-thumpers that everyone likes to make fun of. I believe in the basic tenets of Christianity, but I also love secular art and popular culture and have never felt any conflict between my beliefs and my interests. Sure, some of the movies, books, TV shows, and comics that I enjoy have a fair amount of sex and violence, but so does the Bible. While some so-called Christians are quick to dismiss non-Christian works of art, I at times can find deep spiritual meaning in a work of popular art that contains material that some may deem questionable. That’s why I was so relieved and delighted to find a podcast named More Than One Lesson that finds spiritual and/or intrinsic value in secular movies. Each weekly episode is hosted by Tyler Smith, a Los Angeles-based film critic and enlightened Christian, who usually contrasts and compares two films based on a similar theme. The films he talks about aren’t always considered “Christian-friendly,” but he manages to find things in nearly every film that people of all faiths and beliefs can find value in and challenges all his listeners to take a closer look at works of art from all points of view.

The films that Smith chooses to talk about range from big-budget studio pictures to smaller indie flicks. Most of them are films that Smith himself enjoys and finds value in, but every once in a while he will talk about some films that he does not enjoy from an artistic standpoint and contrast it with a film with a similar theme that he finds more successful. His enlightened reviews of such films as Superbad, The Hurt Locker, Iron Man, and the Hellboy films are enlightening and encouraging to open-minded people of faith who enjoy a well-told story on screen, no matter the subject. Surprisingly, though not inaccurately, Smith finds a lot of Christian-themed films such as Fireproof and The Passion of the Christ to be too simplistic and poorly structured to be considered great art. In other words, he holds “Christian films” up to the same standards of quality that he would for any other movie, and it’s that objectivity that makes his show such an intellectually pleasing listening experience.

Even though More Than One Lesson maintains a predominantly Christian point of view, it is never condemning or disrespectful of people with different beliefs or no belief at all. Smith expertly combines his passion for film with his unwavering faith in a way that even those who don’t share his beliefs can respect, and the show consistently provides an entertaining and intelligent hour or more of quality discussion about the medium of film. Just like our awesome selection of podcasts on the PCN, it can easily be found on ITunes, but it can also be downloaded directly from Morethanonelesson.com, which also features print reviews and blogs from a number of contributors. More Than One Lesson is highly recommended for anyone, regardless of their faith, who wants to hear a unique and well thought-out discussion about movies.

In this episode, Tyler is joined by actor Robert “Bobo” Chang to discuss what we can learn from Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:45- Intro
00:01:21- Bobo
00:31:34- Happy-Go-Lucky
01:10:00- Harvey
01:25:43- Episode wrap-up

The show was recently reviewed on Edgy Podcast Reviews. The basic summary (including the good and bad) is below, but feel free to listen to the more in-depth review on their podcast.

Host Tyler Smith uses movie reviews and themes to present a Christian lesson. Most movies he discusses are not Christian films and are generally mainstream, such as The Hurt Locker, Hellboy, and Iron Man. Tyler has a degree in Film/Video and was a Film Production intern so he certainly knows his stuff. In addition to discussing plot summary, actors, and writers, he also relates the main movie to another film that is somehow similar or has a related lesson to be learned. Tyler does not pretend to have religion figured out and is pretty relatable. While at times he takes the role of “teacher” with listeners being students, his conversational tone is easy to listen to. Organization could help Tyler make a better show. It would keep him from over-explaining himself and being repetitive. It might also reduce his use of “ums” and “you knows.”

Daniel: ***1/2 out of *****
Jana: *** out of *****

Thanks to Daniel and Jana for their kind words.

In this episode, Tyler is joined by filmmaker Jason Eaken to discuss what we can learn from the Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man.

In this episode, Tyler discusses what we can learn from Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant!

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:45- Intro/new message board
00:02:17- The Informant!
00:13:25- Shattered Glass
00:26:28- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler discusses what we can learn from Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:43- Intro/hushed tones
00:01:10- Intentions for the podcast
00:05:35- New blog series on Job and Luke
00:06:56- The White Ribbon
00:29:58- The Sweet Hereafter
00:49:30- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler discusses what we can learn from Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:42- Introduction
00:01:03- The Wolfman
00:32:08- Ravenous
00:39:44- Episode wrap-up