The Village (2004)

Watching Theology January 19th, 2010

People respond to trauma in different ways. Some find religion. Others re-evaluate their priorities. Some people, like those in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, put themselves into an isolated 19th century town hiding away from the world. In this edition, Duke and Joe look at Shyamalan's parable of fear through the Watching Theology lens and ask, "What's the difference between a mythology of monsters and the Amish?" This episode is the second in "The Cave" series, an examinations of films that feature Utopias, Delusions, and Deceptions. [04.02]

Next Episode: "The Cave" part 3–Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998).

NOW AVAILABLE: Watching, a film book by Joe and Melissa Johnson (also available through Amazon)

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Fight Club (1999)

Watching Theology January 1st, 2010

[NOTE: Explicit Content] New season. New series. New co-host. Same Watching Theology wisdom (sorry). Season 4 begins with an all-male look at twentieth century masculinity according to Pitt, Norton, Fincher, and Palahniuk. Joe is joined by Duke Senter to listen to Fight Club and ask what it means to be male and survive existential vacuums. This extended-length show is the first of a series on "The Cave: Utopias, Delusions, and Deceptions." [04.01]

Next Episode: "The Cave" part 2–M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004).

NOW AVAILABLE: Watching, a film book by Joe and Melissa Johnson (also available through Amazon)

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WT03.07 Brigham City (2001)

Watching Theology December 23rd, 2009

God's Silence Series: no. 5. In the final installment of the "God's Silence" series–and the last of WT Season 3–we look at Brigham City, Richard Dutcher's third film. Brigham is a little community in Utah, a Mormon town with two police officers and no crime. But a series of murders disrupts paradise. The Sheriff/bishop (played by Dutcher) has to reconcile two worlds, the spiritual and temporal, in an unusual film about the religious life in a secular world. O … (Read More)

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WT03.06 Breaking the Waves (1996)

Watching Theology June 17th, 2009

God's Silence Series: no. 4. When Bess married Jan, it united an outsider and an insider, an oilworker and a member of a strict religious community. Their marriage was a happy one: sensual, fun, passionate. All that ended when Jan returned to his oil platform and Bess was left alone. She resumed prayers to a talkative God, a being who once was her only confidant. When Bess asked God to bring Jan back home to her, she took a significant step to a time of trial and atonement, losing her digni … (Read More)

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WT03.05 Mean Streets (1973)

Watching Theology June 6th, 2009

God's Silence Series: no. 3. [NOTE: Explicit Content] Sometimes God is silent. Sometimes he's shut out of the conversation. In Martin Scorsese's breakthrough film Mean Streets, Charlie is trying to find his own way to stay out of Hell. He is the saint of Little Italy, just not the kind of saint anyone would canonize. Although God offers him absolution, Charlie prefers real atonement. He is the savior of the dregs, but his first priority is to save himself without losing anything. … (Read More)

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WT03.04 Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Watching Theology May 7th, 2009

God's Silence Series: no. 2. In part two of the "God's Silence" series, Watching Theology considers the profound link between ethics and God's existence. If God exists, He must care, and if God cares, He must punish. So if Martin Landau were to, say, kill Anjelica Huston, you might expect a lightning bolt or two, right? Not according to Woody Allen's masterpiece of tragedy, comedy, existentialism, and literary binaries. Join this episode for a look at Allen's C … (Read More)

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