Saints and Cinema

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about relationship horror movies Together and Obsession . What does it mean to be "one flesh"? What does it mean to love another person? What kinds of truth can horror expose? (Also, just give Inde Navarrette all the awards.) Warning: spoilers for both films. Some of the films we mention in this episode: Together , Obsession , Hereditary . Come find us:...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay had the opportunity to talk with Brett Neveu, playwright, professor, and screenwriter of (the play and) film Eric LaRue , directed by Michael Shannon. We talk about the differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen; the absurdity of grief, pastors trying to help, and good intentions. Along the way, Brett gives us great insight into crafting a com...

Send us Fan Mail We finally get around to talking about our favorites of last year. Did we mention yours? Do you have a favorite we didn't mention? Let us know! Some of the films we mention in this episode: Sentimental Value , Sinners , Frankenstein , Never Get Busted , Train Dreams , Weapons , and a lot of other films that came out in 2025... Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay take up our top Duvall films and then discuss The Apostle , depictions of preachers, what makes a character sympathetic, and the nature of redemption. Some of the films we mention in this episode:  The Apostle ,  Apocalypse Now ,  The Godfather, Part I ,  The Godfather, Part II ,  Tender Mercies ,  Calvary ,  On the Waterfront ,  Romero ,  Diary of a Country Priest , ...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk to Ryan Tinetti, professor at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, about the newest Knives Out mystery, Wake Up Dead Man . Religion in movies, Christianity, pastors, and culture war in the church and in the world. Check it out! Also, Ryan has a new book out (which we should have mentioned!), Quiet Ambition , which you can find here . Some of the films we mention in th...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay watch  Christmas with The Chosen - Holy Night and continue the discussion from episode 85 on what works well and what doesn't work as well, along with what comes from the Gospels and what does not. Choices were made. Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starting with Episode 81) Opening music: "Let's Start at the Beginning," Le...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about Frankenstein , being human, technology, death and life with professor, pastor, and bioethicist, Scott Stiegemeyer, as well as a few horror films from Newport Beach Film Festival. Scott teaches at Concordia University in Irvine, California.  Some of the films we mention in this episode: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio , Loud , Pontypool , Men , The Bride!...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim talk to the writers/producers/actors of Theater Is Dead , Decker Sadowski and Olivia Blue . Their film premiered at Fantastic Fest, and is coming to Newport Beach Film Festival in less than a month. We talk about the filmmaking process, how it works to write, produce, and act in a film, and Washington State. Then we look at a few of the films coming to NBFF October 16-...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about what they like and don't like about Season 5 of The Chosen . Interpretation, the Bible, Jesus, religious art--and the band Whiteheart. (Stay to the end for a long outtake where Tim takes the episode completely off the rails.) We pretty much stick to The Chosen in this episode. Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starting with Epis...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk a little about what might end up on their best-of-2025 lists at the halfway point, and what they still want to see. What's on your list? Some of the films we mention in this episode: Life of Chuck , Nobody 2 , Eddington , Together , No Other Choice , One Battle After Another , Caught Stealing , Black Phone 2 , Materialists , Omaha , Werwulf (2026), Frankenste...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk zombies, the  28  franchise, and the father-son/generational inheritance theme that runs through  28 Years Later . Thanks for listening! (Or watching!) Some films we mention in this episode:  28 Years Later ,  28 Days Later ,  28 Weeks Later ,  Train to Busan ,  Night of the Living Dead ,  Sinners . Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starti...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim talk about a few animated movies that seem to offer resonance with the Bible or Christianity. What are some Christian themes? What makes a theme  Christian ? How would someone outside the Christian faith interpret the themes in these movies? We talk about that, and more. Thanks for listening! Some films we mention in this episode:  Croods: A New Age , The Iron Giant , ...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk to Pastor Jason Swan about the film  Sinners and all the theological resonance we can muster: vampires, music, liturgy, worship, vocation, and how Christians should watch movies. Some films/shows we mention in this episode:  Midnight Mass ,  Nosferatu ,  Sinners. We're on YouTube! Not sure why you would want to look at us for an hour or so, but if you do, you...

Send us Fan Mail In our 80th episode, Tim and Jay talk about how much film viewers want or need to know; what makes some people love a film, and others hate it; and, is over-explaining really new? Do you like having a movie explain itself, or would you rather put things together yourself?  "The New Literalism" article at The New Yorker We talked about some movies.  Come find us: Website...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim talk about what the Academy Awards got right and what they got wrong. We talk about Hollywood, agendas, propaganda, and Oscar surprises. Some of the movies we mention in this episode are: Oscar nominees. Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starting with Episode 81) Opening music: "Let's Start at the Beginning," Lee Rosevere Closing...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim get into the films they saw from 2024, their favorites, and their less-than-favorites. Some of the films we mention in this episode:  The Brutalist ,  Gladiator II ,  Challengers ,  The Substance ,  Joker: Folie á Deux ,  Civil War ,  Trap ,  Hard Truths ,  Smile 2 ,  Heretic ,  A Complete Unknown ,  Conclave ,  Hundreds of Beavers ,  Monkey Man ,  Dune II ,  Long Legs...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim reconnect with Thomas Torrey about his film  Long December , new to streaming. We talk about the creative process, music and film, marathon running (well, Jay and Thomas), and how new projects come together when things fall apart. Long December Long December Instagram Register for a Zoom watch party on December 15 with cast and crew! Our first episode with Thomas about...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about the new movie Heretic , true belief, and playing games with choice and control. Some of the other movies we mention in this episode: Hard Truths , September 5 , Small Things Like These , Saw , Nosferatu , and some others that I forgot about. Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starting with Episode 81) Opening music: "Let's S...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim talk with Travis Garcia, the co-director of the features programming team for the Newport Beach Film Festival, two weeks out from its 25th anniversary. We hit some of the films we've already seen, as well as some we're looking forward to. Come and join us, October 17-24! The Newport Beach Film Festival See the schedule and get tickets here . Some of the films...

Send us Fan Mail Jay and Tim talk about vocation, doing the right thing, how do you know what the right thing is, ambulances, and cigarettes...plus far too many outtakes Some of the films we mention in this episode: The Insider,   Bringing Out the Dead, Fight Club , and probably some others that Tim forgot to write down Come find us: Website Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube  (starting with Episo...

Send us Fan Mail Tim gets echoey in his new house as he and Jay talk documentaries, history rhyming, and the life you make when you're trying to make something else. Some of the films we mention in this episode:  One Day in September ,  American Movie ,  Coven ,  Buena Vista Social Club ,  Who Took Johnny ,  Liberated ,  Abducted in Plain Sight ,  Love Me ,  Karl Marx City.   Come find us: We...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Tim and Jay talk about two seemingly opposite films, the primarily French-language Beau Travail and the German-language Run, Lola, Run . But maybe the themes and questions aren't as far apart as we initially thought! We discuss free will, choice, human nature, and a bit of slow cinema. Some of the films we discuss in this episode are: Beau Travail ; Run, Lola...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we get existential, philosophical, and humanistic with Boise-based filmmaker (and NBFF alum) Collin Insley . We work through the implications of Being John Malkovich and Charlie Kaufman's filmography for fame, identity, and what it means to be human. Also puppetry.  Collin's film Scam Likely is here . Some of the films we mention in this episode: Burn Af...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about two of the highest grossing movies of 1999: M. Night Shyamalan's first major hit,  The Sixth Sense , and the beginning of the found-footage explosion,  The Blair Witch Project . How do they play 25 years later? What do they tell us about our fears and traumas? What makes a genre film work, or not? Some of the films we mention in this episode:  The Sixth...

Send us Fan Mail Tim and Jay talk about two defining movies of 1999:  The Matrix  and  Fight Club . How do they hold up?  Why  do they hold up? Should Tim have kept his word to preach a sermon focused on The Matrix ? Or was he just dumb (with sincere apologies to all college students who are not as dumb as he was)? Plus, some good feedback for our  Magnolia  episode. Some of the movies we mention...