More Than One Lesson

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Jonathan M. Gunn’s Do You Believe? and Robert Altman’s Short Cuts.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, Premium Episode, dream interpretation
00:07:40- Do You Believe?
01:29:00- Short Cuts

One of my biggest criticisms of the genre known as the “Christian film” is that the films too often feel reactionary. Rather than being created from a desire to tell a good story and tell it well, many films in the “Christian” genre are responding to a specific cultural condition with a specific message and an undeniable agenda.

The latest film to fall into this category is Old Fashioned, written and directed by Rik Swartzwelder, who also stars as the lead role opposite Elizabeth Roberts. The film centers around a couple whose romance is more akin to “courtship” than dating and was specifically marketed as the Evangelical response to 50 Shades of Grey. I should be upfront about the fact that I wasn’t expecting much from it.

But the marketing campaign was probably a disservice to the film because what I saw offered me a few surprises, which not only endeared it to me as a positive entry in the “Christian film” genre, but also gave me some glimmers of hope for where that genre might be headed.

[…]

In this episode, Tyler and Josh are joined by actor/director Corbin Bernsen to discuss his faith, career, and the state of Christian film.

In this episode, Tyler and Josh are joined by Nathan Potter to discuss Darren Doane’s Saving Christmas and Bill Melendez’ A Charlie Brown Christmas.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:50- Intro, Miami Meet-up, Nathan Potter
00:04:10- Saving Christmas
01:39:35- A Charlie Brown Christmas
01:55:50- Episode wrap-up

I’ve seen films that inspired me, challenged me, provoked me, entertained me, amused me, and bored me. All of these effects, except perhaps the last one, can specifically be intended by the filmmaker and I believe that a fully formed criticism should at least attempt to consider such intentions when evaluating whether or not the film works.

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In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Will Bakke’s Believe Me and Richard Brooks’ Elmer Gantry.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro, Alpha Omega Con
00:03:00- Believe Me
00:50:00- Believe Me on iTunes
00:50:00- Pre-order Believe Me
00:50:40- Elmer Gantry
01:08:30- Episode wrap-up

St. Francis is attributed with saying, “Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words.” Taking this maxim to a literal conclusion is a new film by Sharon Wilharm called The Good Book, which professes to be the world’s first evangelical silent feature film.

[…]

Rarely have I rooted for a film to be effective as much as I did for Jacob Kindberg’s Sing Over Me, an intimate portrait of Christian singer/songwriter Dennis Jernigen and his lifelong struggle with homosexuality. Aware of the controversy of the subject, I was excited for a film that would address the issue from within the heart of the struggle, hopefully providing unflinching honesty, unique insight, and brave message of hope.

[…]

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Harold Cronk’s God’s Not Dead and Oliver Stone’s JFK.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:44- Intro
00:03:45- God’s Not Dead
01:39:50- JFK
02:00:10- Apologetics resources
02:04:42- Episode wrap-up

In this episode, Tyler and Josh discuss Steve Taylor’s Blue Like Jazz and Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00:45- Intro
00:02:30- Blue Like Jazz
01:12:00- Paris, Texas
01:33:02- BP Video, episode wrap-up