More Than One Lesson

In this episode, Tyler is joined by filmmaker Cory Edwards to discuss being a Christian in Hollywood.

In this episode, Tyler is joined by actor Doug Jones to discuss his faith and career.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:01:00- Introduction of guest, Doug Jones
00:02:51- Growing up
00:07:37- Performing
00:11:37- Artistic goals in a Christian community, parental reaction
00:18:52- Reconciling faith and artistic choices, Legion
00:39:40- Being an “outspoken” Christian
00:44:30- Episode wrap up

In this episode, Tyler is joined by Shawn Richardson to discuss the Hughes Brothers’ The Book of Eli.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:01:00- Introduction of guest, Shawn Richardson
00:02:13- Discussion of Avatar episode
00:10:12- Discussion of The Book of Eli
01:02:20- Break
01:02:52- Discussion of Night of the Hunter
01:29:17- Episode wrap-up

In the most recent episode of the podcast, I spoke for about an hour about James Cameron’s Avatar. When I finished recording, I was rather pleased with myself. Not being a huge fan of the movie, it was imperative that I get across the specific things about the film that I thought were sub-par. Thinking back on the episode, I was pretty sure that I had done that. […]

In this episode, Tyler discusses James Cameron’s Avatar and what we as Christians can learn from it.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:45- Introduction
00:01:47- Discussion of Avatar
00:48:56- Discussion of Munich
01:01:02- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler discusses James Toback’s Tyson and what we as Christians can learn from it.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:45- Introduction
00:01:25- Announcement of For The Title raffle winners
00:02:31- MTOL press
00:03:49- Discussion of Christian attitudes towards Fireproof
00:15:20- Discussion of Tyson
00:22:19- Discussion of The Fog of War and Deliver Us From Evil
00:31:45- Episode wrap-up

A Christian arts group called Fusion out of St. Louis has posted a blog about the show. The site is relatively new, but it looks like they’re doing some good stuff over there. Head on over and check them out. Meanwhile, the blog post is below.

Remember that rousing discussion we all had about Fireproof a couple months ago? Well, we weren’t the only ones. I recently discovered a podcast called “More Than One Lesson,” hosted by a fellow named Tyler Smith out in L.A. I was surprised and encouraged to find much of our conversation mirrored on his show.

By day, Tyler co-hosts the popular “Battleship Pretension” podcast, which he and co-host David Bax describe as “a weekly conversation between two movie nerds.” It’s a great deal of fun, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy some good film talk. Tyler and David have made appearances on some of my other favorite film ‘casts like “Filmspotting” and “On the Page,” so they’re not just messing around here. Well okay, they are, but that’s why it’s fun, and they know what they’re talking about.

Recently, Tyler branched out with a solo show. “More Than One Lesson” digs eagerly into popular movies with an eye towards gaining insights that Christians can appreciate. Mind you, this isn’t the kind of Christian review that counts up the swear words and points out who the Jesus figure in the movie is. It’s for Christians who genuinely love cinema and can hear God speaking through the art form, even when it’s in the hands of those who don’t follow Him.

Tyler’s first episode, for instance, talked about the film Milk, the true story of a gay politician assassinated in the middle of his efforts to gain civil rights. I’m sure many Christians, like myself, skipped it mainly on general principle. But Tyler waded into the middle of the controversy to see what there was to see–and there was quite a bit. You certainly don’t have to condone homosexuality in order to feel the same compassion Jesus felt when faced with the suffering of lost souls.

I’ll refrain from paraphrasing Tyler’s entire episode and instead invite you to listen. If you believe that art is originally a gift from God, capable of displaying His truth and beauty despite the failings of us fallen humans, this is a podcast for you. Check it out in iTunes, where you can subscribe to it, and visit the website at morethanonelesson.com. There you’ll find discussions about Harry Potter, Superbad, Wall-E, and of course Fireproof.

In this episode, Tyler discusses Paul Schrader’s Adam Resurrected and what we as Christians can learn from it.

In this episode, Tyler discusses Pete Docter’s Up and what we as Christians can learn from it.

The podcast was recently reviewed on the website “The Itinerant Iconoclast.” You can read the review below.

Podcast Review
More Than One Lesson

This is simply the best podcast I’ve run across that reviews film from a Christian perspective. Host Tyler Smith is a film school graduate living in Hollywood, and looks at film equally from those two perspectives of cinema quality and Christian worldview.

What I like about the show is that Smith knows what he is talking about when it comes to examining film, and he knows what he is talking about when it comes to analyzing Biblical themes and concepts in cinema. Smith is not a fundamentalist in his biblical worldview. To my way of thinking, this separates his podcast positively from too many that I have run across.

His podcast successfully manages to intelligently discuss both faith and cinema. And I appreciate that greatly.

// posted by I.I. @ 11:09 AM