The Book of Eli (2010)
Boys' Bible Study
This stylized post-apocalyptic thriller is a unique example of a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster with overtly Christian themes, even if it stops just short of a true Christian message. Directed by the Hughes Brothers (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS, FROM HELL) and starring beloved leading man Denzel Washington, THE BOOK OF ELI depicts the Bible as a source of tremendous power in a fallen world. Eli (Denzel Washington) is a survivor of a nuclear holocaust, wandering westward on a mysterious mission with few possessions except for a large book that he treasures. When Eli crosses paths with...
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Salomé (1923)
Boys' Bible Study
We dip into cinematic classics of the silent age (before people learned how to talk) with 1923 classic SALOMÉ, co-directed by married couple Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova. The latter stars as the titular SALOMÉ, a Bible character who has achieved historical infamy despite not being officially referred to by her first name. The story is provocative: a teenage princess dances seductively for her stepfather King Herod who promises her anything in reward; she picks the head of prophet John the Baptist, who is summarily executed and presented to her on a platter. Bryant and Nazimova’s...
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Touched by an Angel s7e22 "The Face of God" TEASER
Boys' Bible Study
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! If we had to nominate one piece of broadcast media to be “the best episode of television of all time”, in the shortlist would be this compelling TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL episode about human cloning, with a cameo by (an actor portraying) the legendary Albert Einstein. TBAA (as our listeners are well aware by this point) is a famous y2k era TV drama where a Greek chorus of angels inflict themselves upon humans going through moral crises. In this episode, a genetic scientist named Dr. Conover...
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Face the Beat (2024) feat. Pretty R1cky
Boys' Bible Study
This Christian feature film about an aspiring DJ feels like a remake of the 2015 Zac Efron-fronted EDM movie WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, but unfortunately is lacking a lot of substance both in its spiritual and musical themes. FACE THE BEAT is the story of Zack aka “ZDJ Grey”, a teenager who wants to escape the rat race by kickstarting his career as a DJ and music producer. The film uses a lot of EDM stock music to represent Zack’s creative output, which confusingly runs the gamut from chill house to lo-fi hiphop. Zack’s support system includes his divorced parents (a working-class nurse...
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Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah (2003) TEASER
Boys' Bible Study
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! We were very intrigued to find out just how deep this cartoon anthology series of Bible stories would go into the story of Sodom. GREATEST HEROES AND LEGENDS OF THE BIBLE is a y2k era animated series of biblical stories tied together by live action segments hosted by none other than the legendary Charlton Heston. Heston is well known for his portrayal of Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, one of the most famous Bible adaptations in American film history, so he’s the closest thing we...
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Mindreader (2022) feat. Brad Roelandt
Boys' Bible Study
Veteran Christian film director Rich Christiano is back with a riveting parable about a magician named Dexter whose life story is obviously meant to represent the life of Jesus. Dexter is a stage performer specializing in mentalism, drawing huge crowds with his special trick where he guesses audience members’ secret words and then gives them extremely specific life advice. Dexter’s advice is so good that audiences have started to believe he is a miracle worker. This draws the ire of the Pharisee-like Magicians’ Association, an elite club trying to maintain the sanctity of stage magic,...
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Barbara Sundstrom short film roundup! TEASER
Boys' Bible Study
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! THE GUARDIAN (2012) & FOSTER CARE (2013) Inspired by our rediscovery of one of our favorite Christian directors on our episode last week with guest Louise Weard, we decided to spend this week immersing ourselves once again in Barbara Sundstrom’s work, getting a few notches closer to having watched her entire catalog. Barbara Sundstrom is a Texas-based former youth film ministry director with a career spanning several features and shorts, primarily focused on empowering a youth cast...
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In the Mirror Dimly (2007) feat. Louise Weard
Boys' Bible Study
This dark, gripping teen drama about a girl suffering from an eating disorder begins with a surreal carnival dream sequence where protagonist Nicole sees herself distorted in a funhouse mirror, seemingly instigating a pattern of binge-eating candy and purging. Stuck traveling in between the houses of her divorced parents, Nicole’s disorder becomes life-threatening after an electrolyte imbalance causes her to faint while horseback riding on her father’s remote ranch. Director Barbara Sundstrom is a lesser known but accomplished Christian film ministry director whose work we’ve celebrated...
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Promised Land (TV, 1996-1999) TEASER
Boys' Bible Study
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! We’re getting deeper into our exploration of popular American TV with Christian themes, now scraping into this seemingly forgotten spinoff series of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, also created by TBAA executive producer Martha Williamson. PROMISED LAND launched with a “backdoor pilot” in the third season of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL where audiences met their new favorite family: the Greenes (Dad Russell, mom Claire, son Josh, daughter Dinah, mother Hattie, and roguish redheaded nephew Nathaniel.)...
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Touched by an Angel s8e8 "Heaven's Portal" feat. Woodrow White
Boys' Bible Study
Prayer, Love, Unity, Respect: in this topical episode of popular 90s/y2k era TV drama TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, angel-in-training Gloria goes to a rave and actually does ecstasy with the human teen boy she’s supposed to be protecting. Raves were a huge point of anxiety in pop culture in the y2k era. Although their colorful futurism and utopian optimism inspired a generation of media and fashion, people also had safety concerns about the newfound popularity of club drugs like ecstasy, leading to a large-scale moral panic. In the U.S. in 2003, then-Senator Joe Biden co-sponsored the RAVE Act...
info_outlineThe newest film by the legendary Kendrick brothers, currently playing in theaters, feels impeccably focus-grouped for maximum impact of a Christian movie in 2024. We’re not surprised that director Alex Kendrick and producer Stephen Kendrick were able to create another competent and successful Christian film. They have a history of huge box office success stories on relatively low budgets, including WAR ROOM (2015) which notably became the #1 film in America during its second week of release. On a reported budget of $5 million, THE FORGE has already grossed $26 million in its first month, which is huge in the faith-based genre. THE FORGE seems like a spiritual sequel to WAR ROOM; it casts a lot of the same actors from WAR ROOM in extremely similar roles, including Priscilla Shirer (daughter of mega-church pastor Tony Evans) as a strong but exasperated mother struggling with family issues. In THE FORGE, newcomer Aspen Kennedy plays recent high school graduate Isaiah Wright, a directionless 19-year-old without a father who is unemployed and seems to have no passions in life beyond video games and basketball. When he gets a part time job at local business Moore Fitness, CEO Joshua Moore (played by Cameron Arnett) takes Isaiah under his wing and becomes the father he never had. With the help of an exclusive Christian men’s club called “The Forge”, Isaiah finally feels motivation to become the man he has always wanted to be. But unspoken in the film’s plot is how the setting of THE FORGE, Moore Fitness, is meant to resemble an Amazon fulfillment warehouse. THE FORGE attempts to bring dignity and motivation to fulfillment center employees through an unimaginable plot line where Isaiah and his coworkers volunteer to work a 24 hour shift to save the company. Sadly, this feels laughably out of touch for a film that otherwise does an eerily good job of elevating the mundane of an everyday Christian’s life in today’s fallen world.
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