Sacred Frames

What four films best capture the story of America? In this Fourth of July edition of Sacred Frames , Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Mike Yager each build their own cinematic "Mount Rushmore," selecting four films they believe reveal the promises, contradictions, triumphs, and tragedies that have shaped the American experiment. From Far and Away , Do the Right Thing , Wall Street , and The Right Stuff...

Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day has become one of the most divisive films of the year—and it split the Sacred Frames hosts as well. Mike Yeager sees Disclosure Day as a late-career masterpiece: a hopeful meditation on empathy, trauma, faith, and humanity's place in the cosmos. Jeff Cook had the opposite reaction, arguing that the film never earns its emotional weight, depends too heavily on Spie...

Science fiction may be our culture's most spiritual genre. In celebration of Disclosure Day, Jeff Cook, Mike Yager, and Sean Palmer hold a science fiction movie draft built around eight themes that sit at the intersection of faith, philosophy, and the future. Cosmic Christ — The messianic figure who saves, sacrifices, redeems, resurrects, or carries unmistakable Christological themes. To Infinity...

Is The Sheep Detective just a clever animated mystery—or something much deeper? In this episode of Sacred Frames, Jeff Cook, Movie Mike Yager, and Sean Palmer explore one of the year's most surprising films. What begins as a charming murder mystery about a flock of sheep investigating the death of their beloved shepherd unfolds into a profound meditation on grief, memory, love, community, and what...

Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Mike Yager return to the mic to explore Project Hail Mary—a film that surprised audiences not just with spectacle, but with heart. From cosmic survival to unexpected friendship, from science to sacrifice, this conversation moves beneath the surface. We reflect on courage, mortality, connection, and the quiet question that sits underneath it all: What makes a life meanin...

Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Movie Mike Yager step outside their usual film discussions to take on HBO’s The Pitt—a rare kind of show that feels like “must-see TV” in a fragmented, algorithm-driven world. What begins as a conversation about storytelling quickly deepens into something more personal: why this show resonates, what long-form storytelling can do that movies can’t, and how The Pitt captu...

This week on Sacred Frames, we’re doing something a little different—a full-on Jesus Movie Draft. In honor of Holy Week, we step into the massive world of films shaped by the life of Christ, the Church, and the long shadow of Christian imagination. From direct portrayals to subtle allegories, from sacred to satirical, we’re asking a simple question: Where does Jesus show up on screen—and who tells...

Ryan Coogler made a 1930s Mississippi vampire blues epic about race, land, faith, and the hunger to own another person’s story. Sinners isn’t just a horror film; it’s a meditation on who gets to live, who gets remembered, and who gets consumed along the way. In this episode of The Sacred Frames, Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Movie Mike Yeager finally sit down with one of 2025’s most talked-about fil...

Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Movie Mike Yager dive into Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest—part revolution thriller, part political satire, part mirror held to 2025 America. We wrestle with the film’s big swings: the “Christmas Adventurers” as villains, whether satire trivializes white supremacy, how Black women’s bodies and sacrifices are depicted, the generational handoff at the end, and the perennial...

Stephen King’s The Long Walk hits the screen, and we dig into what it says about power, violence, and how we walk with each other toward the end we all face. We compare King’s novel to the film (3 mph vs. 4 mph, book’s crowds vs. film’s bleak roadsides), weigh the “prophetic horror” label, and ask whether this story critiques dehumanization—or risks feeding it. We track Ray Garrity and Pete’s bond...

Fifty years ago, Jaws forever changed the way we experience movies. In this episode, Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Mike Yeager revisit Spielberg’s classic on its 50th anniversary and explore why it remains one of the greatest films ever made. From the birth of the summer blockbuster to John Williams’ iconic score, from themes of community crisis and outsiders to the haunting parallels with modern ev...

In this episode, we dive into  Weapons , the recent film from director Zach Cregger, unpacking its spiritual themes and the cultural conversations it sparks. From its layered storytelling to the moral questions at its core, we explore how the film challenges and engages its audience. This full discussion is available now on YouTube.

In this episode of Sacred Frames, Jeff Cook, Sean Palmer, and Mike Yager dive deep into Marvel’s new Fantastic Four—a film loaded with potential but plagued by missed opportunities. We explore the movie’s central moral question: Would you sacrifice one life—your own child—to save the world? Along the way, we compare this film to The Incredibles, unpack the themes of motherhood, cosmic hunger, and...

A discussion of James Gunn's Superman, what it asks about us, and what it says about God. #Superman #God #Spirituality #Movies #moviereview