The Christ and Pop Culture Podcast Network

The god of thunder and director Taika Waititi both return to the MCU in Thor: Love and Thunder . Kevin and Sarah decide whether the series has managed to harness lightning again, or if the romance has finally fallen flat. Next up, they take on romance of a different kind in Jonathan Demme's screwball/road trip movie Something Wild . Follow us on Twitter @SeeBelievePOD Support the Seeing & Beli...

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a feature-length take on the YouTube shorts about a tiny sentient shell. Kevin and Sarah discuss whether the movie is a successful adaptation. Then, they talk about the 2010 French animated film The Illusionist, a lovely movie about magic and maintaining a sense of wonder in a world that doesn't value either one. Follow us on Twitter @SeeBelievePOD Support the See...

Does The Black Phone get a ringing endorsement from Kevin and Sarah, or is the line dead? They discuss Scott Derrickson's latest horror film, and whether it's successful in adapting the short story of the same name. Then they turn their attention to Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind . Apocalypse preparation scenarios make an unexpected appearance. Follow us on Twitter @SeeBelieve...

This week, Kevin and Sarah take on a David Cronenberg double feature. First up is Cronenberg's latest,  Crimes of the Future , which presents a dystopian world that questions what it means to be human. Then, Kevin introduces Sarah to one of his favorite horror movies, the 1986 version of  The Fly . Be afraid…be very afraid. Follow us on Twitter  @SeeBelievePOD Support the Seeing & Believing Pa...

Jurassic World Dominion asks: what if dinosaurs invaded modern-day Earth? Kevin and Sarah talk about whether or not the movie's answer to its own question is any good, or if the film was trying to do too much at once. Then, Kevin and Sarah explore another movie about a scientist grappling with hubris, the 1931 classic Universal monster movie Frankenstein . Follow us on Twitter @SeeBelievePOD Suppo...

Are men okay? That's what Kevin and Sarah want to know after recording this week's episode. First up is Alex Garland's latest movie  Men , which takes on questions about sin and gender for better or worse. Then for the Watchlist, they discuss Charlie Kaufman's 2015 stop-motion movie  Anomalisa . Follow us on Twitter  @SeeBelievePOD Support the Seeing & Believing Patreon Learn more about your a...

Kevin and Sarah feel the need…the need for speed…and for Dad Movies. First, in a review of Top Gun: Maverick , they ask whether a sequel 25 years in the making is worth it. For the Watchlist, they ask whether Philip Kaufman’s 1983 film The Right Stuff does, indeed, have the right stuff. Many dad jokes are made. Check out the Seeing & Believing Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

Kevin and Sarah take on a Patreon subscriber's pick as they review last year's melodrama WParallel Mothers , starring Penelope Cruz in an Oscar-nominated role. For the Watchlist, they discuss another family drama, Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 masterpiece Tokyo Story . The difference between drama and melodrama is hashed out. Check out the Seeing & Believing Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Kevin and Sarah catch up on their indie movies with Jane Schoenbrun's debut,  We're All Going to the World's Fair . For the Watchlist, they pivot to the 1984 dance movie  JFootloose . Kevin has his doubts about Kevin Bacon. Check out the Seeing & Believing Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin and Sarah dive into another parallel universe with the latest Marvel movie,  Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness . Then, they keep the conversation going with feedback from listeners about past episodes. Finally, they bring on guest Elijah Davidson, who introduces them both to the French New Wave film  Jules and Jim . Sarah has a grand unifying theory about the MCU. Listeners can sig...

Kevin and Sarah discuss whether his new meta movie  The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent  manages to live up to its title. Then they have a standoff over the latest Watchlist pick,  Face/Off . Kevin gets animated about doves. Check out the Seeing & Believing Patreon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Persuasion , Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson discuss the second reading of the series (Volume I: Chapters 4–7), in which the characters and their suffering take center stage. Shelley’s rich descriptions of the inner turmoil provide readers insight into how suffering can alter a person’s ability to function. Her story is raising those age-old questions about why suffering exists...

If we were to choose one word to describe modern life, busy would be a top contender. We are a busy people—busy making a living, busy making a name for ourselves, busy being busy. This is why productivity hacks are all the rage. We need better ways to make the most of every moment. But is this the point of it all? Does all of our ambition produce a life worth living? This is one of the questions b...

In this episode of Persuasion , Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the background of the story, starting with what we've gotten wrong due to the many cultural adaptations. Hollywood has taken a seed of Mary Shelley's classic and grown an entirely new story that overshadows the original. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you consider yourself a reader? That answer isn't so easy to come by. How many books do you need to read a year—or a month—to qualify as a true reader? And does it matter what kinds of books you read? Do mystery novels count? What about young adult fiction or business books or graphic novels? Do you need to have read all 100 of the top books ever written to confidently claim you are a reader? I...

A common critic cliche is to say that watching a bad action movie feels like watching somebody else play a video game, but what  Free Guy  supposes is, “What if we treated that not just as an okay thing but as an actual goal?” Part  Wreck-It Ralph , part  The Matrix , part  The Truman Show , Shawn Levy’s new film features Ryan Reynolds as a smiling, innocent person who finds out that he’s not a pe...

The guys take a turn for the roguish with this week's episode, as they talk about the latest adventure for DC's #1 band of psychos and misfits, The Suicide Squad . Erstwhile MCU director James Gunn switches teams for this reboot of the much-reviled 2016 film of (almost) the same title, and the question on everyone's mind (or least Wade and Kevin's) is "Does Gunn manage to spin straw into gold?" Gi...

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After his foray into creating a superhero cinematic universe, M. Night Shyamalan is back to his bread and butter — spine-tingling chillers — with Old , the movie about how seaside resorts and beach vacations are the absolute worst. A family goes on vacation, discovers a beach that causes everyone to age unnaturally fast, and encounters many other obstacles that can't be divulged due to spoilers. W...

A story about the spiritual realm and the souls that populate it. A quiet vibe reminiscent of Hirokazu Kore-eda. A cast including Winston Duke, Benedict Wong, Zazie Beetz, and Tony Hale. How could Seeing & Believing say no? Wade and Kevin take a look at the ethereal debut feature from Japanese-Brazilian director Edson Oda to see if these elements result in a film as wonderful as its constituen...

After a long time away, the MCU makes its return to Seeing & Believing! Wade and Kevin take a look at Scarlett Johansson's swan song as Black Widow in a prequel that takes the superspy on a globetrotting adventure to reconnect with family members, stop an evil villain from using super-soldiers to control the world, and make peace with her checkered past. The guys discuss Black Widow's place am...

It wouldn't be summer at the movies without sci-fi action blockbusters. Director Chris McKay ( The Lego Batman Movie ) and star Chris Pratt fill that gap with The Tomorrow War , which imagines a near future where a near-apocalyptic conflict with an alien species forces humanity to recruit soldiers from the population of today's present. Threads of fatalism, family complexities, and hope are thread...

Our world came to a screeching halt with the pandemic. Schedules that used to be packed to the brim opened wide, creating unexpected space. Now that the world is opening up again, we have the opportunity to decide if the ways we had been in community before the pandemic are the ones we even want to return. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys enter the sun-baked Mediterranean world of Pixar's latest film in this week's episode! Luca tells the story of a young boy named Luca (Jacob Tremblay) who, along with his best friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), dreams of acquiring a Vespa with the prize money from a big race and seeing the world. The only thing standing in their way? Luca and Alberto are secretly sea monsters. Wade and K...

In this episode of Persuasion, Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson dig into the summer miniseries called Showing Up . Each episode explores the challenges we face to show up in the world. Erin and Hannah invite Rebecca McLaughlin to help us learn how to show up in conversations despite our differences. Rebecca grew up in the United Kingdom and holds a Ph. D. in English literature from Cambridge as wel...