Voiceover: Movies that Move Us

Today's movie is Song of the Sea from Irish animation company Cartoon Saloon and Heather is joined by Rev Dani Lee at St. Mary's Episcopal and her bestie Oana Stan, who called in from Romania. Song of the Sea is about siblings, Ben and Saoirse, who have lost their mother—she is a selkie, a creature who can shape-shift between human and seal form. It's got gorgeous animation and is haunting and lov...

It's a bonus episode here on Voiceover--this time Heather is in conversation with Matt Whitaker, writer, director, and producer of Truth & Treason. The film is currently in theaters, distributed by Angel Studios. You can also see a 4-episode cut of the same material on Angel's streaming platform. Matt Whitaker's previous writing credits include: Saints & Soldiers (2003), Work & The Glory II & III,...

Brian McLaren discusses The Color Purple (Spielberg, 1985) and what he learned about redemption and forgiveness. The film is an adaptation from The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Originally published in 1982, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. It’s a book of letters, from the main character Celie to God, as she tries to understand the brutality of her life. The...

Kaleigh Cohen talks through The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983), the main stay of her after-school decompression process when she was 12. We explore the movie's themes of authenticity, friendship, and overcoming adversity. and even dive into 'Napoleon Dynamite' and 'Forrest Gump' because of their similar themes of outsiders embracing their uniqueness. Kaleigh Cohen creates free cycling and...

Uzma Jafri and return guest Kevin Blankenship discuss Season 1 of Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime and how the show has been a bee in Uzma's bonnet, or a hornet in her hijab, for a while now. Jack Ryan Season 1 was seen by 40% of Prime members its first year on the platform, which makes it an important artifact when discussing Muslim representation in American media. We discuss negative stereotypes, Isla...

Rob Taber talks about Remember the Titans, the first sports movie featured on Voiceover! This 2000 classic about integration in 1970s Virginia stars Denzel Washington and Will Patton as two coaches who must unify high school football players divided by race and racism. We cover community building, historical films, teaching leadership, and crying in sports movies. Rob Taber has taught history at F...

Nava Kavelin of Ninth Mode Media and Podcrushed talks to me about Now & Then, a movie that felt so real to her as an 11-year old that she was embarrassed to see it with her parents. Now & Then is about the summer of 1970, experienced by four 12-year olds on the cusp of teenage-hood. Starring Christina Ricci, Gaby Hoffman, and Thora Birch, the film wants to bring authentic female friendships to the...

Danor Gerald discusses Darren Aronfsky's The Fountain, a visually stunning film, about accepting death as a way to understand life. In The Fountain, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz play three different couples tied to each other over time, embattled by different desperate challenges, and trying to find a way to understand death. The Fountain is celebrated for its practical effects, made with macro p...

Rabbi Lex Rofeberg from Judaism Unbound talks through American Jewish Representation in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. The show was a massive sensation in 2024, season 2 premieres in Oct 2025. Lex shares what he sees as missed opportunities in Season 1 and what he hopes for Season 2. It's a great conversation that covers interfaith dating and marriage,...

Haroon Moghul shares why Malcolm X is the film he recommends for every American Muslim. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) avoids hagiography and instead looks at the complex, controversial American civil rights leader who transforms as he embraces Islam. Haroon Moghul is the Founder and President of Queen City Diwan, a company that leads immersive travel experiences and hosts global leadership programs....

Liberty Barnes discusses a French film about women's trauma during WWII and how difficult films can help us build empathy. Les Innocents (2016) is about a French doctor in Poland who discovers that a local convent is dealing with the aftermath of Soviet assault--many of the nuns are pregnant and must reconcile their religious vocation with their lived experience. Liberty Barnes, PhD, is a medical...

Justin Petrisek from Notre Dame discusses The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung, 2023)--the anti-Iron Chef film known for its gorgeous cinematography and the way it contemplates devotion and commitment. Starring Juliete Binoche as the masterful cuisinière who communicates through her exquisite meals, the film also asks, what does it mean to be a partner? Justin Petrisek is at Notre Dame and serves as...

Richard Lindsay discusses Barabbas (1961), a Hollywood Biblical epic starring Anthony Quinn as the criminal released by Pilate in the New Testament story of Jesus' crucifixion. The film engages with the existential crisis of freedom and the cackling Jack Palance--talk about tonal shift! Richard Lindsay is the Program Director at the Blackfriars Gallery in Berkeley, California, where he curates and...

Morgan Atkinson discusses his latest film In the Company of Change, about the Urseline nuns in Louisville KY. The filmmaker explores the challenges that face the order in an era of declining vocations and uses the life of Sister Martha Buser as a lens through which to view changes of the past 60-plus years in the religious and cultural landscape of America. Morgan Atkinson has made films for over...

Meli Solomon discusses Bank of Dave (2023), based on a true story about a UK man who wants to open a local bank to help his neighbors but also to challenge the British banking system. It's the kind of film that might have been made in the 1940s, with Jimmy Stewart in the lead--or wait, maybe they did? Meli Solomon is the host of the Living Our Beliefs podcast and the researcher behind the Talking...

James Goldberg discusses the highly decorated Lage Raho Munna Bai, a Bombai film about living like Gandhi in the modern day. James Goldberg is an American poet, playwright, essayist, novelist, documentary filmmaker, scholar, and translator who specializes in Mormon literature.

Kevin Blankinship discusses the evolution of The Batman and how The Dark Knight offers us blurred lines and shades of grey to better understand redemption. Kevin Blankinship is an expert in Arabic and the Middle East who has written and published widely. You can find his work, including his poetry, in the likes of Journal of Arabic Literature, New Lines Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, and the Los An...

Heather & Ian chat with McKay Coppins and Benjamin Park about the Hulu 2023 limited-series adapation of Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven.

Becca Hurley Luong shares how Contact's message of peace and unity continues to teach her. Becca Hurley Luong is a linguist, writer, and comedian. She produces The Lisa Show and Council of Moms at BYUradio.

Producer Matthew Janzen shares Philomena, a film that challenges our perceptions of forgiveness and truth. Matthew Janzen is the Head of Film at ACE Entertainment, which produces Gen Z & Millenial feature films and tv series. Previously he was the Senior Vice President of Production & Development at Lionsgate.

Robert Monson shares why this 1978 musical still resonates today and explores its themes of spirituality, community, and empowerment. Robert Monson is a writer, musician, and scholar that looks closely at Black and womanist theologies as well as Black disability theology. He is currently a PhD student and is a host for two podcasts: Black Coffee and Theology and Three Black Men: Theology, Culture,...

Multi-talent Danor Gerald joins Ian and me to work through Jeymes Samuel's 2024 Book of Clarence, a sword and sandal movie with an all-Black cast. What does this movie get right and why didn't it connect with Black audiences? Danor Gerald is an actor, director, writer, and producer, as well as the President of Monark Media, PC, and Chief Creative Officer at Brand One Media, llc. He also co-hosts a...

Cinema curator Marie-Laure Oscarson shares Bye Bye Tiberias (Lina Soualem, 2023) about the relationship of mother and daughter against the backdrop of war, displacement, exile, and autonomy. Marie-Laure Julien Oscarson is a native of France who has been living in Utah the last couple decades. She has always been a film enthusiast. She remembers learning English watching classic American films on T...

Educator Evan Martin-Casler dives deep on childhood in the movies with a discussion of Ben Zeitlin's 2012 Beasts of the Southern Wild, a handmade movie that resulted in an Oscar nomination for six-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis. Stay tuned for more coming-of-age movie recs at the end! Evan Martin-Casler is teaching faculty at the University of Arizona and holds an MA from Tufts University in Diversity...

Lisa Valentine Clark shares the romance A Room with A View.