Just when you thought you had meditated enough on the true meaning of Christmas, Santa's favorite aged former elf reminds you that you still have so much to learn. Hank returns in the sequel to the popular, at least to us, HANK'S CHRISTMAS WISH, directed by West Virginia film icon Jason Campbell, bringing back many of the familiar faces from the first film for another round of holiday magic. Remember Tippee and Toes, the elves? No? You don't? Well, too bad, because they're back. Bella has been recast and is largely absent, as she and her husband Kevin are away on a mission trip to Africa, but her brother Liam is still working in Hank's independently contracted toy workshop. Mayor Dean, played by actor and ICE agent Dean Cain, continues his agreeable stewardship of the town's Christmas festivities. Now openly known as a real elf and former custodian of Santa, Hank has more influence than before and uses it to push for a town production of The Nutcracker, choreographed by local dance teacher Heather. Mayor Dean quickly agrees, motivated by the fact that Heather is single and he is looking for love. The holiday peace is disrupted by Frosty, a Christmas comedian hired by the town council whose jealousy over The Nutcracker leads him to spread the common cold throughout the town. Frosty is revealed to be the son of Jack Frost, a former North Pole intern alienated by the elves, a grudge he still holds. It's a creative and contemporary take on familiar Christmas cultural tropes, and Jason Campbell succeeds at what seems to be his goal of making a family-friendly Christmas film that pays lip service to Jesus without hitting you over the head with religious themes, allowing you to relax and enjoy your hot cocoa. It's honestly refreshing that the film isn't so serious, though its greatest flaw may be its characterization of Frosty, who is a genuinely annoying screen presence largely because his entire thing is being the brunt of fat jokes. Lesson learned: never hire a Christmas comedian to do an elf's job!

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Is a heart transplant also a soul transplant? A real-life news story from 2008 concerns Sonny Graham, a heart transplant recipient who married his donor's wife and ultimately committed suicide in the exact same method as his donor. Likely inspired by this bizarre event is ECHO RHYME, a Christian thriller with far too many plot points, but mostly about a career criminal who receives a Christian's heart transplant and gets saved. ECHO RHYME is by director Caleb Johnson and his son and frequent writing collaborator Jeff Johnson, who also made 2 TO TANGLE, a film we absolutely love that is also about shared souls and tangled identity, in this case involving the lives of two identical twins separated at birth. The Johnsons have clearly built up their skill set for the ambitious ECHO RHYME, but in growing have bitten off more than they can chew with the film's concept. ECHO RHYME protagonist Frank is a gallery artist and jewel thief who practices martial arts, but when he does a hit on a devout Christian man on behalf of his jealous ex–business partner, he sets off a chain of events that leads to him inheriting the heart. Confused yet? It does not stop there, as the heart begins influencing his own Christian thought, inspiring a mission trip to Central America, where another rival gang targets him and he learns a secret that links every character in the movie in a bizarre web. It is too much to handle, and the first 20 minutes of the movie's exposition are impossible to parse on first watch. The artistic spirit of the genuinely talented Johnson family comes through in this enthusiastic feature, but ultimately ECHO RHYME would have been stronger with some serious editing.

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We kick off football season with a review of a new film by prolific Christian director Jason Campbell. WE BELIEVE, which even features a cameo by former Superman actor Dean Cain, takes an impressionistic look at a real high school football community in St. Mary's, West Virginia, centering on the inspirational story of coach Jodi Mote. Grounded in fact, the film makes odd leaps into seemingly fictional storylines about St. Mary's students, an attempt to introduce conflict while staying inoffensive to the community. That tension becomes the film's biggest weakness. WE BELIEVE was cowritten by Campbell, Jodi Mote, and his wife Brandy, so the Motes clearly have a personal stake in telling the story of Jodi's sudden stroke, which left him unable to coach the St. Mary's Blue Devils during a crucial season. He was temporarily replaced by Bill Hanlin, a local legend remembered for coaching an undefeated season in 1963. The film's action drifts between Mote's recovery (as his team and special ed students miss him), Hanlin instilling Christian values in the Blue Devils, and contrived side plots: a Danish freshman exchange student turned field-goal kicker, and a troubled teen named Trey whose broken home pushes him into drinking and sexual temptation. The Danish subplot is especially bizarre, since actor Addison Dattilo, tattooed and visibly closer to 28 than 14, plays the role with the vibe of a California surfer instead of a homesick exchange student. In general, it is disappointing that the only conflicts (underage drinking, divorce, high school politics) are fictionalized; meanwhile the true story is flattened. The film would be far more compelling if it explored Mote's actual challenges. What did loneliness and frustration feel like for a devout Christian man whose body had failed him? To admit weakness, however, would cut against the film's purpose: flattering its collaborators.

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We return with our long-awaited review of the hotly anticipated sequel to Unequally Yoked, the feature film comprised of slice-of-life vignettes about relationships in which one person's lack of seriousness about Christ threatens to drag the other behind. UNEQUALLY YOKED, PART II does something we frequently see from DIY filmmakers making their sophomore effort, which is to assume that their audience is deeply invested in the characters they've created and push their stories further than necessary in a way that doesn't really fit the mission statement of the first film. In this case, however… the plan worked! We at Boys' Bible Study found ourselves asking — whatever happened to the Bell Family? How will Ce Ce and Jeremiah adapted to newlywed life? Is Marcus leaving the path of the hustler behind? And, gentle listeners: we simply could simply not have predicted what goes on between Dante and Candy. Once again set in a predominantly black Baptist congregation in Indianapolis, IN, and once again featuring the catchiest theme song we've ever heard in a DIY Christian film franchise, UNEQUALLY YOKED, PART II is a low budget sensation that already has us itching to review its spin-off film THE BELL FAMILY CHRISTMAS once the holiday season comes around later this year. 

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This over-the-top yet underrated Christian boxing film is a who's who of some of our favorite creators in the faith-based genre. The ever-present Kevin Sorbo co-stars as a burned out boxing coach. TC Stallings, who stars in the Kendrick Brothers' high-grossing relationship drama WAR ROOM (2015), is in the ONE MORE ROUND ensemble as a hulking rival boxer. However, the names we're most excited to see on the credits are director Chip Rossetti and co-writer and co-star Donald James Parker, the duo behind the incredibly grating yet wonderful GRAMPS GOES TO COLLEGE (2014) about an old guy who enrolls in an undergrad program to debunk the lies of Biology 101. Donald James Parker's writerly touch is all over what could otherwise be a straightforwardly inspirational tale about a lapsed Christian boxer (Jake Taylor, played by Tommy Lee Thomas) who needs a miracle to be able to provide for his family. Parker's insane turns of phrase and trademark toxic female characters elevate the drama of ONE MORE ROUND to surreal territory. However, there's one more shining star in the cast who we should mention — Franco Columbu, the bodybuilder, actor, and frequent associate of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who made his final film appearance in ONE MORE ROUND shortly before he passed away in 2019. With such a glittering list of names associated with this film, we wonder, why isn't ONE MORE ROUND more well known in the Christian film world? We attempt to answer this question during our discussion with a little help from a new "Good Art/Bad Art" chart that made the rounds on Twitter this week, which has finally removed the subjectivity from art criticism and rendered our jobs useless from this point forward.

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Join us live in Los Angeles as Boys' Bible Study and American Cinematheque present... LET THERE BE LIGHT (2017) on Sun., Aug 27 at 10pm. Advance tickets on sale now!

Every so often, God calls upon you to watch a movie that makes you reexamine the big milestones of decision-making in your life, such as, "What if… I never hosted a Christian film podcast?" WHAT IF… is a Christian romantic drama about guardian angels and alternate timelines that would feel right at home in the 1990s trend of secular/faith-based crossover media such as TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. However, WHAT IF… was made two decades after this angelic era, and by a very consequential team of directors, writers and producers who would soon go on to achieve great success in the faith-based film genre. Director Dallas Jenkins (son of LEFT BEHIND co-creator Jerry B. Jenkins) would go on to direct THE CHOSEN, the hugely popular contemporary Christian TV series about the ministry of Jesus. Writers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon would go on to create the consequential GOD'S NOT DEAD series just a few years after the release of WHAT IF…. Finally, WHAT IF… co-producer David A.R. White (already a famous name in the genre) and star Kevin Sorbo would soon be the lead actors in GOD'S NOT DEAD, cementing their respective statuses as the contemporary titans of Christian film. WHAT IF… stars Kevin Sorbo perfectly in his favorite typecast role of a ruthless, worldly atheist. In this case, his character Ben Walker leaves his relationship with his devoutly Christian high school sweetheart Wendy (Kristy Swanson) to start a new life in the big city as a rich and successful investment banker. Sounds great, but something must be missing… right? Right? Right!? Guardian angel "Mike the Angel" (John Ratzenberger) is sent by God to dispatch Ben to a more wholesome realm, where he never left Wendy and he gets to experience the richness of family life. Through Ben's eyes, we learn that love is more important than money… but money definitely helps a lot!

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It's been about two years since the bizarre death of Gwen Shamblin Lara and her husband Joe Lara in a private plane crash in June 2021, but media coverage of the two charismatic Christians is only just now coming to a climax with the release of dueling films profiling the pair. HBO has a new documentary, but we focus on Lifetime's GWEN SHAMBLIN: STARVING FOR SALVATION, which stars Jennifer Grey (DIRTY DANCING, FERRIS BUELER'S DAY OFF) in the lead role as Gwen, covering her life's journey from housewife to cult leader. We at Boys' Bible Study previously covered Gwen ourselves back in 2021, learning about her extensive and specific theories on how you can replace gluttonous urges with prayer. Her most famous theory is that one must wait for "The Growl", a stomach growl which sometimes requires fasting as long as 36 hours at a time to truly experience. STARVING FOR SALVATION doesn't get too deeply into the content of Gwen's teachings, but the film is impressively researched and entertaining as it recreates the harrowing atmosphere of a southern belle cult leader who exerts total control over the dogma (and diets) of her congregation. Watch as Gwen and Joe go shopping for a private plane to add to their tacky, opulent estate — the same plane that would later come crashing down in a Tennessee lake, bringing an abrupt end to Gwen's reign over Remnant Fellowship. The Church lives on, and has even issued a harsh press statement denouncing Lifetime's biopic, but they should be grateful! GWEN SHAMBLIN: STARVING FOR SALVATION is not a flattering portrait, but we think Gwen would enjoy seeing her legacy live on in such an entertaining and, dare we say, "iconic" way.

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Boys' Bible Study podcast presents LET THERE BE LIGHT (2017, dir. Kevin Sorbo) with in-person introduction by Ash and Julian and remote introduction by Scott. Los Feliz 3 theater in Los Angeles. Sunday, Aug. 27 at 10pm, as a part of American Cinematheque's FRIEND OF THE FEST 2023.

We're thrilled to present a very rare repertory screening of a faith-based film and LET THERE BE LIGHT will be an amazing one to watch with a crowd. We hope to see you there!

This grim yet colorful gem from the prolific Mark IV Pictures is one of the most revered and feared Christian movies of all time, for good reason. For many millennials who grew up Christian, A THIEF IN THE NIGHT was a foundational movie shown in church that introduced them to the terrifying immediacy of the apocalypse. Its snappy vignettes and powerful messaging that targets children left a strong impression and a sense of impending doom in young viewers. A THIEF IN THE NIGHT opens with a scene of a worship band covering the famous Larry Norman song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready", taken from Norman's 1969 album Upon This Rock, which is often credited as being the first Christian rock album of all time. "Children died, the days grew cold/A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold" the band sings, viewed by our teen protagonists, who take its message with varying levels of seriousness or bored amusement. As the film unfolds, the teens who don't take this message seriously are faced with the scariest punishment available to a wannabe Christian — they are "left behind" in the rapture as America descends into a fascist state run by the antichrist. A THIEF IN THE NIGHT's message is clear: doing good works is not enough to save you. A truly good Christian believes the apocalypse is deadly serious and coming soon, and deviance from this worldview is a mortal sin. Joining us on the pod today is our friend Wormy, aka Jacob, who we met online through doing the show and has provided some key research that built up a few of our episodes over the past few months. He joins us today using his past as a student of Biblical Studies to fill in some key details about the history of dispensationalism in American Christianity. Wormy has his own show of pop cultural history and criticism on YouTube as Sludge Surfer. Check it out! And look forward to a special Boys' Bible Study live event announcement dropping tomorrow morning.

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Good Christian girl Sandy falls in love with Jack, an atheist "motorcycle freak", after Jack intentionally lets the air out of Sandy's car tires in order to start a conversation with her. This is the beginning of a tumultuous relationship that leads to an "unequally yoked" marriage, where Jack pretends to be saved by Christ in order to convince Sandy to tie the knot. It doesn't take long before the couple are screaming, fighting, and neglecting their kids. Jack flees the house by entering motorcycle competitions around the country, and Sandy pops sleeping pills like candy. Can God bless this nightmare relationship with a fairytale ending? From the makers of the legendary A THIEF IN THE NIGHT comes ALL THE KING'S HORSES, a classic of 1970s Christian cinema about how divorce is simply not an option, even in instances of physical and mental abuse. The couple consults a series of pastors, family members, and even a divorce attorney, who mysteriously all oppose the dissolution of this sacred vow made before God. Shockingly, Sandy's own mother encourages her daughter to adjust her attitude, even as Sandy is standing before her with a black eye. But ALL THE KING'S HORSES is not merely a depressing relationship drama — prepare to be delighted by multiple musical numbers sung by the fabulous Lowell Lundstrom and his band, and enjoy a compelling performance by lead actress Dee Wallace, who would go on to star in Hollywood blockbusters such as E.T., CUJO, THE HOWLING, and more. To all the young lovers out there: marriage is the greatest decision you'll ever make, divorce is the worst, and watching ALL THE KING'S HORSES is somewhere in between.

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Hollywood is a vortex of evil, depravity, and abuse. Actors are not who they say they are — except of course for certain actors, who say the things I want to hear, so they are exactly who they say they are. A certain 1998 interview clip with Mel Gibson has been viral recently, with commenters breathlessly lauding the actor for revealing disturbing truths about the inner workings of Hollywood. Gibson's word choice is certainly provocative, using language from horror films to illustrate his point of the film industry's weird vibes. He alludes to "heathens" and people in basements with "devil horns". Ash and Julian expected to be shocked by his revelations — instead, we immediately concluded them to be obvious metaphors delivered by a man with higher charisma than normal. What is the psychological profile of a conspiracy theorist who thinks all Hollywood players are sexual abusers, yet still desperately wants an actor to worship and believe in? Ash and Julian examine this question in their ongoing series about contemporary satanic panic while also covering Christopher Lee's 1975 interview about the occult, and Julian's trip to theaters to see the new buzzed about thriller SOUND OF FREEDOM.

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From the twisted mind of shot on video (SOV) horror filmmaker Tim Ritter comes… an explicitly Christian film? Yes — the writer and director behind such SOV horror classics as TRUTH OR DARE and CREEP made a film with unironically Christian messaging, including allusions to Bible verses and reenactments of Bible stories, all delivered with the drama you'd expect of a low budget slasher film. In the film, Paul is a devout Christian plagued with recurring nightmares oF dragons destroying churches. He's also busy trying to convince his comatose brother, Franklin, to renounce his sinful ways and accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Meanwhile, in Franklin's inner world, we relive his memories of pounding bottles of Goldschläger as he drives up dirt roads, pursuing his ex-wife with the plan of murdering her. A mysterious hitchhiker befriends Franklin and joins his adventure, but it soon becomes clear that this man is no mere mortal. He knows all of Franklin's secrets and he is capable of magical feats, such as immortality and the manifestation of biblical plagues. The charm of RECONCILED THROUGH THE CHRIST is its reframing of Christian stories through a horror lens. The Bible is full of themes of violence, body horror, and pestilence that would be right at home in gothic imagery. RECONCILED THROUGH THE CHRIST doesn't editorialize these stories — it takes them at face value, allowing viewers an intimate, visceral view of the Bible with all the gooey special effects it deserves. Despite being an undeniably campy film, RECONCILED THROUGH THE CHRIST is artistically powerful enough to jumpscare the fear of God directly into your heart.

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Merry Christmas in July! What if the most effective way to serve God was to do as much evil as possible? From accomplished Spanish writer/director Álex de la Iglesia comes THE DAY OF THE BEAST (EL DÍA DE LA BESTIA) which finds a protagonist in priest Ángel (portrayed by prolific actor Álex Angulo) who believes he has cracked the cryptogram that holds together the entire biblical book of Revelations. It's not just a book about the end of the world — it actually reveals the time the antichrist will be born, which is (of course) on Christmas Eve, in a perfect demonic parody of the birth of Christ. Ángel desires direct contact with the devil in order to ask him the location of the antichrist, so Ángel can kill him. To do so, he enlists the help of metalhead burnout record store clerk Jose María and famous television psychic Professor Cavan, who teach Ángel the ways of the occult as the trio becomes our "three wise men" in a perverted, slapstick hunt for the antichrist in the dark streets of Madrid. THE DAY OF THE BEAST is a fantastic warp of Christian cosmology that feels simultaneously reverent and irreverent. It couldn't have been made without the perspective of a writer/director obviously deeply immersed in Christianity, even as it evokes the music and aesthetics of a satanic metal underground to poke fun at cliché Christian moralizing. To analyze this week's film, we were excited to invite shot-on-video (SOV) filmmaker Brewce Longo, whose most recent film A CORPSE FOR CHRISTMAS (2022) also contains a unique fusion of Christmas, metal music, horror, and anarchic aesthetics. Brewce unpacks this unique horror comedy with us, gives us an insider look at his process as an up-and-coming SOV director, and recommends us his favorite SOV underground classics with explicitly Christian themes.

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While most Roblox gamers are busy with worldly pursuits such as "dressing to impress" or "stealing a brainrot," MinisterMatt and his Robloxian Children of God Ministries are using the popular gaming platform to spread the word of God. We review an hour-long Christian narrative special created entirely in Roblox called STANDING WITH GOD, subdivided into three episodes: "Challenges," "Trials and Faith," and "I Believe." The story follows a college-aged protagonist named John as he navigates the conflicts between personal faith and a secular world. Filmed entirely on location in the popular Roblox RP server Brookhaven, John begins his first term at Brookhaven School and immediately struggles with self-doubt. His new friends accept his faith but treat it as a curiosity, accusing him of being "abnormal" for requesting wine-free drinks at parties instead of getting drunk like the rest. Teachers at the school target Christian students by "preaching" pro-evolution lectures that are explicitly anti-God, while the looming threat of LGBTQ acceptance encroaches on everyday life, as rainbow-haired men go on dates with each other in full public view. What's a Robloxian Christian to do? John seeks guidance from an older Christian mentor, a famous pastor whose program he follows on television. But more significant than the actual plot of STANDING WITH GOD (which is admittedly hard to follow thanks to the static Roblox animation and the unrelenting monotone of robot voices) is the sheer fact that a group of internet believers banded together to create a feature-length production using only the resources immediately available to them. The boundaries between film and performance, roleplay and acting, blur as the conventional movie set is digitized, and actors log into location (the RP server) in costume (avatar) to perform film ministry. STANDING WITH GOD proves that, just like "IRL" film production, it's not the size of your Robux budget but the urgency of your message that makes for truly passionate filmmaking.

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Accomplished television actor John Schneider (most famously Bo Duke in DUKES OF HAZZARD) also has a contemporary career as a conservative, faith-based film auteur. His most recent opus is the gritty, psychedelic patriot drama TO DIE FOR, where he portrays Quint North, a disabled veteran on a mission to protect the American flag from unsavory elements that would like to see it disrespected. Enemies of the flag include the local high school's star quarterback, who has drawn media attention by taking a knee while the national anthem plays at his games. Quint also contends with his neighbor, a Native American man who doesn't see the symbol of the flag with the same degree of pride as Quint, igniting racial tension between the two men. But the most crushing blow to Quint's daily life comes when his own daughter files a restraining order against him to prevent him from driving too close to the local school while displaying an American flag, because today's politically correct standards render the flag an offensive symbol. John Schneider uses a bizarre combination of on-location filming mixed with green screen effects, frequently on very different perspectives of size and scale, which create a disorienting visual environment that perfectly complements his character Quint's descent into madness as he is pushed to the limit for the simple crime of being a proud American. Quint's genuinely troubling depiction of alcohol use, and his untreated PTSD go completely unremarked on throughout the film. Could these medical issues explain why Quint's relationships are so unsuccessful? This 4th of July, the fireworks aren't just a boisterous celebration of American strength — they're also a cry for help.

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The Kendrick brothers are proven moneymakers. Their films are notable in the Christian media industry for turning an extremely high profit given their budgets, and WAR ROOM is the Kendricks' most impressive entry. Entertainment Weekly cites WAR ROOM as the fourth highest grossing Christian film of all time. The film even finished first in the North American box office in its 2nd week of theatrical release — impressive considering its meager $3 million budget. What's in the Kendricks' secret sauce that makes them outperform most of their competition? Our theory (other than lowering production costs by using free church labor) is that they aim for the gut with their films' subject matters, which tend to center on Christian marriages that look perfect on the outside, but are broken within. In WAR ROOM, real estate agent Elizabeth (Priscilla Shirer) is frustrated in her failing marriage with her successful pharmaceutical dealer husband Tony (T.C. Stallings) until she receives sage advice from an elderly woman (Karen Abercrombie) who teaches Elizabeth that marriage is a war, and prayer is the battlefield upon which it is fought. Elizabeth makes a "war room" in her walk in closet, where she performs spiritual warfare on the devil until Tony shapes up and starts happily doing elaborate double dutch routines with their daughter. The Kendrick brothers know the formula — hit their audience at home, where it hurts most, and sell them an idealized but plausible-seeming Christian solution that will turn their lives around. Frequently, they release a tie-in self-help book based on their current film, a strategic maneuver that would impress even the most seasoned combat general of the spiritual war. In the battle for the Christian audience's hearts and minds, the Kendrick brothers win every time.

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Happy Father's Day! David (Craig Lindquist) is a loving, successful father who takes pride in taking care of his family. But his family's life changes dramatically one day when, at age 55, David is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Fast forward two years: David is a drooling shell, unable to aim food at his mouth when he's eating, and speaking in a childlike voice, wondering aloud, "Why can't both teams win?" while watching a professional football game. Naturally, this puts a tremendous strain on his family. His wife goes back to work, and his constantly-vaping, weed-addicted failson Jacob, who is on on house arrest, becomes David's full time caretaker. When Jacob falls asleep after smoking a bowl, David wanders out of the house and terrifies his family who loses track of him for several days. Fortunately, a homeless girl with a perfect heart named Christine finds David and adopts him as her own father. OUR FATHER'S KEEPER is a genuinely tragic and effective piece of emotional terrorism. It will make you tear up during climactic moments of family crisis, but it will also make you feel bad at yourself for laughing hysterically at David's character's overwrought and selectively lucid manifestation of Alzheimers. The character of Christine is a Christian movie manic pixie dream girl extraordinaire: a perfectly manicured and plucky street kid who (spoiler alert) does not at all get saved from her plight by the upperclass family of protagonists. The real star of the film, however, is Jacob. He's never seen without his vape, and he's constantly battling his role as the Hunter Biden of his squeaky-clean Christian family. He just like me fr!

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We celebrate the NBA Finals with a look at the finest God-honoring basketball team to ever dominate in the paint: the Mormon Yankees. SPIRIT OF THE GAME is based on the remarkable true story of an amateur basketball team comprised of Mormon missionaries from the United States who played exhibition games against various national teams in the days leading up to the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. These wholesome jocks were victorious against so many countries' teams that they became media sensations in Australia at the time, and the LDS church still seems to take pride in their achievements all these years later. In true Christian film fashion, SPIRIT OF THE GAME uses the story of the Mormon Yankees to create a nostalgia porn mood board, celebrating the golden days when you had to ask a woman's father's permission to marry her, and when swing was considered by some to be "just people shouting things over music". Australian heartthrob Aaron Jakubenko stars as squeaky-clean Delyle Condie, and accomplished Christian film mercenary Kevin Sorbo delights as Delyle's masculine yet tender father. Crack open a fresh jar of Vegemite and join us as we discuss the most exciting basketball event of 70 years ago!

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Stephen Groo is a remarkable artist — an "outsider" filmmaker who boasts over 200 completed films in his catalog. His work was the subject of the 2018 documentary THE INSUFFERABLE GROO, which features Jack Black acting in one of Groo's films. It was the first time a mainstream Hollywood actor had ever engaged with Groo's work, and marked a milestone in a prolific career that until that point was largely obscure and ignored by the film world. Groo's filmography is a bizarre mix of original stories and unauthorized adaptations of existing intellectual properties. BATMAN, TOMB RAIDER, and even YU-GI-OH are some of the media properties that Groo has incorporated into his cinematic universe. With such a huge array of films to explore, we at Boys' Bible Study were pretty overwhelmed to embark on the journey of getting to know this unique filmmaker. Then, our friend Wormy recommended we start with CHALLENGE OF FAITH, a distinctly Christian offering from Groo featuring an original script about the moral dangers of ignoring your faith and family to try to succeed in business. Groo writes, directs, and stars in this picture as Jason Quinn, a humble desk clerk at an unnamed company who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is mysteriously promoted all the way up to be the new company president. He's thrilled at first to create a more comfortable lifestyle for he and his wife, but when a mysterious goth stranger starts poking around the office, Jason starts to wonder if this new success was actually the bait to a spiritual trap laid by the devil himself. CHALLENGE OF FAITH is a delightful and relatively sophisticated "outsider" film, tightly constructed but with that homemade, mid-aughts, shot-on-digital campiness that we here at BBS love to see in a film. Add an encounter with a powerful angel, and a spirit quest back in time to the Garden of Eden, and it became immediately clear to us that CHALLENGE OF FAITH had firmly immortalized Stephen Groo as one of our favorite filmmakers.

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Papyrus font, LORD OF THE RINGS inspired sound effects, and breathless interviews with "philosophers" and "visionaries" set the tone for one of the most defining spiritual movements of the 2000s — THE SECRET. This metaphysical self-help film, written by Australian author and TV producer Rhonda Byrne, would go on to gross $300 million after she adapted it into a book, and it was famously championed by talk show host and self-help mogul Oprah Winfrey. Basically, THE SECRET instructs us to manifest our desires by thinking positively with intentional focus. Money and other material wants will come "freely and easily" to those of us who are grateful to the universe's bounty, but negative thoughts can just as easily have life-ruining consequences. This idea isn't new — the "law of attraction" had been a pop spirituality concept ever since the New Thought movement of the early 20th century — but THE SECRET crystallized it in such an accessible way that it has become a household concept for millions of people, regardless of their religious identity. Despite its emphasis on positivity, THE SECRET gets dark, quickly. Its intentionally vague promises of easy miracles (free money, cured cancer, dates with beautiful women) are bait to desperate people yearning for a way out of the mundane brutality of their lives. Also, one of the prominently featured "philosophers" interviewed in the film, James Arthur Ray, would go on to negligently kill three of his followers in a tragic accident in a homemade sweat lodge during a "vision quest" experience. Watch THE SECRET and be entertained by its madcap pace and bizarre claims, but do so at your own risk — one incorrect thought can change your life!

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A confused man relies on his notes to piece together the tatters of memories of things he's experienced mere minutes ago in order to communicate his sad reality to an audience that pities him — but enough about Boys' Bible Study podcast! Our movie this week is a new entry in our series exploring the immense catalogue of filmmaker Jason Campbell (THE MAN WHO WENT TO HEAVEN, NUN NANCY, THE STORY OF MOTHER'S DAY) who specializes in slice-of-life films that feature surprisingly sophisticated storytelling paired with bizarre technical decisions related to sound, photography, and editing. THE NOTEBOOKS takes a relatively common, yet tragic story of a senior man struggling with a severely impaired memory, and elevates it to the realm of the surreal with sound effects that feel like a haunted house, and a bizarre scene where protagonist Preston Walker turns on a TV just to laugh while watching the static. On a nostalgia trip back to his hometown to reclaim memories of his childhood, Preston influences God's will to fix the life problems of many strangers he encounters along the way, but he struggles with the limitation of needing to write every single detail of his life down in one of his many notebooks to remember basic things such as where he parked his car, and the names of his family members. Could these ordinary notebooks contain a powerful healing secret that enriches Preston's life, and the lives of the people around him? You'll have to tell us, because we forgot!

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Happy Mother's Day! We celebrate with this recent film from director Jason Campbell (THE MAN WHO WENT TO HEAVEN, NUN NANCY, and many more) that explores not only the historical origin of Mother's Day, but also the many types of moms that a random troupe of high school theater kids might experience. These include: Rich Mom, Foster Mom, Pill Addict Mom, Alcoholic Mom, Cancer Mom, and Caring Mom Who Works Late. Our protagonists are on a journey to write and direct an original school play that pays homage to the moms who love and traumatize them on a daily basis, but can they secure funding from the school principal, who happens to be portrayed by legendary SUPERMAN actor Dean Cain? Things don't turn out quite the way the kids expect, but they all learn an important lesson along the way: no matter how dysfunctional your family is, God made them for you that way, so you've simply got to love them!

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When sensitive, artistic teen Winter gets a job at a coffee shop, she struggles to write her customers' names correctly on their cups, so she creatively improvises and draws their portraits instead. If you don't mind waiting 35 minutes for a latte, this would be a quirky and heartwarming tale of a teen overcoming her life's mundane challenges — the perfect subject for a Lauren and Jennifer Havel film. We at BBS first encountered this daughter/mother duo when we reviewed SCREENED IN, the Havels' feature length manifesto about how smartphones can literally put you and your family's lives in danger. We found their work to be largely maudlin and hackneyed, but we couldn't help but be compelled by their sheer ambition and technical ability to organize a huge production on a relatively small budget. NOT BROKEN picks up where SCREENED IN left off, striving to make the most wholesome film possible by slamming together weepy piano stock music, long digital shots of perfectly manicured suburban homes, and monologues about how disability is inspiring. NOT BROKEN references the famous "fearfully and wonderfully made" verse from Psalm 139 to make the inspiring point that we were all crafted intentionally by God. Likewise, this film was fearfully and wonderfully made by Lauren and Jennifer Havel, masters of emotional manipulation, using their ability to take the smallest moments of the average (upper class suburban) life and elevate them to high Christian camp.

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"The Secret" or "The Law of Attraction" is such a simple and vague philosophy that almost every contemporary motivational speaker invokes it, but it can be directly traced to the publishing of a famous 2006 self-help/New Age spirituality book called THE SECRET by Rhonda Byrne. Basically, the book posits that the things we focus on in our minds can become reality, and this can affect us in both positive and negative ways. Your thoughts can literally make you an overnight millionaire, or cure your own cancer — but too much negative projection can directly lead to sabotaging your own life. Although the idea of positive affirmation is harmless, living your life believing your thoughts can literally bend reality has the potential to create toxic, unhealthy, obsessive thought loops, which are easily preyed upon by scammers. But a relatively benign (and bizarre) artifact of THE SECRET universe is the film we focus on this week — THE SECRET: DARE TO DREAM, starring Katie Holmes as a worrywart mom struggling to take care of her kids on a meager salary, and Josh Lucas as a radiantly positive (and hot) single man who enters her life with a secret of his own that could change everything for her. To analyze this weird,New Age-y romcom, we're joined by our friend Ember Knight, a comedian, musician and filmmaker who started performing at a very young age as a choir soloist at the Agape International Spiritual Center under the direction of Rickie Byers (who later left the congregation) and Dr. Rev. Michael Beckwith, who would go on to be a featured speaker in the influential THE SECRET documentary from 2006. Ember has a fascinating insight into being a part of a New Age congregation that was foundational in forming the philosophy that would later be called The Law of Attraction, and Ember's current spiritual identity as a Christian is influenced by both the beautiful and dark sides of growing up within this style of worship.

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We first fell in love with the film character Gramps and his anti-evolution hijinks when we watched GRAMPS GOES TO COLLEGE (2014), one of the most outrageous Christian films of all time. We knew we'd eventually explore the entire Gramps cinematic universe. We continue our journey with IN GRAMPS' SHOES, the confident first entry in this series, which, based on its morbid ending, does not feel like it's setting itself up for a sequel. Thankfully, writer Donald James Parker and director Chip Rosetti broke canon and persisted. Donald James Parker's work as Gramps could be compared to Jacques Tati's "Monsieur Hulot": an archetypal clown character wandering through our overly complex modern society and exposing its foibles. In IN GRAMPS' SHOES, Gramps heals the broken modern nuclear family by moving into his adult daughter's house and making a positive male role model impression on her teenage son and daughter. Sixteen-year-old Scott has taken up smoking cigarettes, is curious about marijuana, and in general has a grumpy, antisocial teenage attitude that needs to be healed with Christ's love. Gramps challenges Scott and his teenage cohorts to a footrace, which Gramps clears spectacularly, given that his passion is long-distance running. This inspires the whole family to take up cross-country racing, culminating in a climactic scene where Scott wins his high school cross-country meet and the heart of a Christian runner girl on the team, who he secures as his prom date. But it wouldn't be a Gramps movie without hearing Gramps take aim at pop culture unrelated to the main events of the film; IN GRAMPS' SHOES chooses to attack the HARRY POTTER series of books and films, saying they are "bait" to lure kids away from the church and toward a life of witchcraft and wizardry. Gramps states that things loved by many people are probably ungodly, because what God loves is not the same as what man loves. That's good news for IN GRAMPS' SHOES, because not a lot of people like this movie, so God probably loves it.

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A film that could have simply been a straightforward, wholesome tale about compassion for the homeless becomes a surreal pseudo-Christian epic for the VHS era. EMANON was the directorial debut of Stuart Paul, but the film is truly a family production. Stuart Paul's siblings, Steven and Bonnie Paul, as well as his mother, Dorothy Paul, have credits on the movie. Becoming familiar with these names will unlock an entire world of filmmaking, with famous titles over the years one may not have realized were interconnected — for instance, the BABY GENIUSES franchise, and the BRATZ live action adaptation are all Steven Paul productions. Stuart, however is the one who shines in EMANON - he plays the titular character, a homeless drunk capable of magical feats that cause some to believe he may be the second coming of Christ. He is watched with interest by Jason Ballentine, heir of the famous Ballentine fashion company — a disabled spoiled rich kid who is driven around New York City all day by his faithful chauffeur, Max. Jason's mother Molly is struggling to take over the company after the Ballentine patriarch recently passed away. When Jason discovers Emanon, this unassuming man could unlock the key to creating a truly bizarre "homeless couture" fashion line that will change the world and get the Ballentine company back into financial solvency.

Thank you to Wormy for providing research for this episode. Wormy's introduction to Paul family productions can be found on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/wormwould/list/the-paul-family-empire-the-road-to-stuart/

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When God is literally your co-pilot, anything is possible. This is the lesson that 56-year-old pharmacist and amateur pilot Doug White learned in 2009 when he, his wife, and two daughters were trapped in an airborne private plane en route to Louisiana after their pilot died soon after takeoff. Through a combination of Doug's very limited training, the resourcefulness of air traffic control operators who talked him through landing the plane, and the additional guidance of a flight instructor named Kari Sorenson who was patched into the call remotely, the Whites were saved, and they attribute their miraculous survival to divine intervention. This genuinely remarkable event in aviation history lasted all of twenty minutes in real life. The writer/director/producer of ON A WING AND A PRAYER, Sean McNamara (Even Stevens, That's So Raven), managed to stretch this incident into an hour and 45 minute film by editorializing on the Whites' Christian values as they win barbecue contests, feed the homeless, and work their way through petty family squabbles before their near death experience brings them together once again. A star-studded cast (Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Jesse Metcalfe) and some bizarre additions to the story, including a deadly peanut allergy and an accidental flight misdirection into a tropical storm, ensure that ON A WING AND A PRAYER is one of the more tightly constructed and entertaining Christian blockbusters of recent years. Many recent Christian genre films have been weighted down with boring descents into complicated conservative conspiracy theories, or bulky runtimes, but ON A WING AND A PRAYER keeps the drama light and soars above the competition.

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This 90's "modern day" fantasy retelling of the life of Jesus is a classic example of the VHS era of Christian films that live in the collective memory of millennial audiences. THE JUDAS PROJECT has that classic, washed out, dreamy, white "glow" effect throughout its VHS transfer, evoking a wholesome nostalgia, but it contrasts that safe feeling with a particularly brutal crucifixion scene, featuring body horror special effects that push the film's MPAA rating to PG-13. When a mysterious, magical man named Jesse stuns the world with a series of miracles, including raising the dead, an evil shadow government begins to take notice of his power. As Jesse's story unfolds, we, the Christian audience of THE JUDAS PROJECT, begin to realize that Jesse is an analogue for Jesus, right down to the disciples he takes and the wonders he demonstrates to them through his "transfiguration" on an idyllic mountainside. The film is an ambitious and relatively grandiose attempt at a contemporary parable, considering its relatively small budget, but it has some major flaws — mainly, plot intrigue that goes nowhere (a sexy Russian spy who appears briefly and never returns) and a confusing series of leaps in between Biblical and modern language. Sometimes characters speak like the King James Bible, but sometimes they speak normally. Sometimes the script switches Biblical names like "Jesus" to "Jesse", yet Jesse's disciples including Thomas and Peter keep their exact same names for some reason. Still, THE JUDAS PROJECT is a compelling experience, if nothing else for the wave of Sunday School nostalgia it will evoke in its millennial viewers, and for the enormous amount of campy original songs written and performed for the film by writer/director/producer James H Barden.

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Ape-ril Fool's! A confident and unyielding propaganda film wrapped in an unassuming package, AMAZING APE uses talking chimps and political intrigue to teach the world how eating a completely raw food diet and doing yoga can reverse the effects of powerful diseases such as terminal cancer, rendering the medical establishment completely obsolete. This is the first and only film by the director/producer who goes by the mononym Juliano — a chef-turned-filmmaker with a star clientele, specializing in raw vegan food, whose obsession with diet borders on religious. Juliano's mystical worldview, where eating raw honey can literally cure cancer, comes to life in his film as the young protagonist Albert reverses his terminal illness using dietary guidelines he learns from a special chimpanzee named Simon. Simon is the descendent of the first chimp to fly a spacecraft, and he's cared for in a secret military zoo by beautiful blonde scientist Riley. When Simon the chimp is purchased and transferred to an evil pharmaceutical lab that delights in torturing its animal subjects, Albert must convince his own mother Miranda, a sadistic torturer of chimps, to embrace the raw lifestyle and respect chimpanzees as honorary members of the human race. There are almost too many incredible moments in AMAZING APE to discuss, so we called in Rook and Devi of noise pop duo Black Dresses to help us platform Simon's raw food diet and bring about the change in cultural consciousness known as "The Shift". We're honored to host these talented musicians as they make their podcasting debut.

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Stream/buy Ada Rook's new solo album "Rookie's Bustle" (with featured vocals by Ash!): https://adarook.bandcamp.com/album/rookies-bustle

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A nun goes undercover in the mean streets of Baltimore to bring the word to the lost souls of The Gold Club, a strip club with an infamous "champagne room" that hides the secret of a prostitution ring. Director Jason Campbell, who also made one of our favorite recent films THE MAN WHO WENT TO HEAVEN, pulls no punches in this character drama, but gives us plenty of comic relief along the way. We follow Nancy as she is called by the Lord to Google the phrase "YouTube how to bartend", and we laugh with her as she laughs alone while watching tutorials. We conspire with her as she quickly changes into her habit before entering the convent late for Bible study after a long night secretly working in the club. We also share her frustration at a world that seems fallen beyond repair — is the work of a solitary nun enough to change society? Or is it merely a drop of bitters in an ocean of soda water? Our friend Marina Kittaka, one half of game design team Analgesic Productions (Anodyne, Even the Ocean, Sephonie) joins us in our Los Angeles studio to watch this fascinating piece by one of the more promising of the currently active faith-based filmmakers.

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Ashley Hays Wright and David Owen Wright have become our favorite power couple of DIY Christian filmmaking. Together with their three daughters, they have produced over 20 feature films, some of which we've covered previously on our podcast: HALLOWEEN HERO, HALLOWEEN CANDYMARE, CHRISTMAS ZOMBIES, and THE EXORCISM IN AMARILLO. Although we've only scratched the surface of their vast catalog, we thought we had begun to fully understand these compelling artists and the reasons they create. We were wrong. We were tipped off to some stunning revelations about the Wright family's past, assembled through several years' worth of local news reports from various small towns. It turns out that both of the Wrights had separately worked as police chiefs, despite having limited or no police training, and both were separately fired from their positions under various controversies. David was charged with impersonating an officer, and people who knew him allege he made implausible claims about his work that seemed more like a movie than reality. Arrest warrants were evaded as the family began their nomadic journey together around remote areas of the United States while being called by God to start a church. It's an exciting story, and it's only endeared them more to us as artists — we can't help but wonder if they know when the movie ends. Our longtime friend Brian Kamerer, a prolific novelist and podcaster behind the audio art project Books By Brian, joins us as we introduce him to the first family of faith-based filmmaking, and tells us about his upcoming debut feature film.

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This gripping family drama about a middle class Catholic family and its patriarch, the Kitchen King, shows the difficult choices that one must make in leading their life according to Biblical principles. The Kitchen King is protagonist Peter Landingham's business moniker. He sees his duty in life as "serving the great American middle class" by installing perfect kitchens, which in his eyes are the heart of the home. He has many folk theories about how the kitchen can symbolize the state of the relationship between a husband and wife. But Peter's own perfect family life is thrown into shambles when his former high school sweetheart, now married to a rich man, commissions an extravagant kitchen from The King that is obviously an attempt to rekindle an old flame. Peter struggles with the temptation to cheat on his wife, Claire, especially after she reveals a bombshell secret of her own that threatens her relationship with Peter and their son, Peter Jr. The drama never stops, but A BRAND NEW KITCHEN also features full original musical numbers, and bizarre montages illustrating how  Peter Jr.'s courtship of his girlfriend incestually mirrors the past relationship his father had with his own high school sweetheart. Truly, any lover of religious films would want to convert to Catholicism after letting the Kitchen King remodel your heart.

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The sequel to the beloved Christian parkour film LEAP is an ambitious jump up in every way, from production quality to knowledge of biblical prophecy, allowing its cast of fit teens to hit the antichrist where it hurts him the most — his evil headquarters in the Vatican City. It's the contrast between the film's DIY action thriller tropes and the wordiness of its anti-Catholic messaging that makes LEAP: RISE OF THE BEAST one of the most fascinating Christian films we've ever watched. Director Chris Tempel was in his early to mid 20s when he made this film, and it's truly remarkable what he was able to achieve on such a small budget and with self-taught filmmaking skills. He's clearly obsessed with Hollywood action blockbusters, but not nearly as obsessed as he is with Bible study. LEAP: RISE OF THE BEAST uses Tempel's own conclusions he drew from self-guided Bible studies to transmit lofty ideas of how mainstream Christianity gets the Bible wrong. Tempel frequently blames the Catholics for using their influence throughout history to knowingly subvert Biblical teachings, convincing the average Christian to take up incorrect habits such as going to church on Sundays instead of Saturdays. In fact, Tempel goes as far as to argue that the end times prophecy of the Book of Revelations uses the metaphor of the antichrist and the beast to represent the anti-Pope and the Vatican City. LEAP: RISE OF THE BEAST is a delightful film for being so precocious and yet so confident in its message that most Christians don't understand the basic facts of their own religion, and that a gaggle of backflipping teens are our only hope in the fight against the evil Catholics.

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This Christian parkour movie is full of rapture prophecy scripture painstakingly lifted from the King James Version of the Bible, and DIY death-defying stunts by a cast of Russian teen freerunners. LEAP is a low budget, backyard Christian film with a cult following. An upload of the film has over a million views on YouTube, which is apt because parkour itself is an internet video-based phenomenon, emerging in popularity around the time of LEAP's release. Director/writer Chris Tempel must have had the vision to see that young people would be open to hearing about the Bible in between compilations of cool teens doing parkour stunts, so he created this film that basically alternates parkour montages and extended Bible study sequences. Interestingly, the Bible study scenes are among the most conservative we've ever encountered in a Christian film. In one scene, the youth pastor character explicitly states that AIDS is God's earthly punishment for the crimes of homosexuality and adultery. Most Protestant films we encounter, especially ones aimed at teens, don't take on so heavy of a message — LEAP, however, is as bold as the dangerous dives over bike racks and picnic tables it depicts. The film even sets itself up for the biggest leap of all — an ambitious sequel (LEAP: RISE OF THE BEAST) that takes on the entire religion of Catholicism and its sick plot to induce the New World Order. We'll be covering the sequel next week on our show!

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We're so excited to add a new genre of Christian film to our repertoire: anti-Catholic movies made by Protestants. What's really going on in that weird little city called the Vatican? Brothers Casey and Wayne Harmberg allege that a cabal of Jesuit priests are working together to infiltrate the ranks of innocent churches to spread their insidious doctrine of universalism. They will also upset the economic balance of every country, creating the need for a one world currency that will usher in, of course, the New World Order we've come to know and love. Adding to the intrigue of ELIJAH'S SECRET is its marvelous visual style. CGI effects allow Jesuit priest Elijah to levitate and create protective magical force fields through his mastery of the occult arts. Barely any costumes are used, meaning scenes depicting the highest levels of military intelligence prominently feature characters such as an ancient man wearing a Beatles hoodie. The Harmberg brothers open ELIJAH'S SECRET with title cards urging viewers to embrace the controversy and to watch with an open mind. We did exactly that, and we will never look at the world quite the same way ever again.

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The tension between faith and delusion builds to a thrilling climax in FRAILTY, the Bill Paxton-directed y2k crime drama with Christian themes. Matthew McConaughey, who we recently reviewed as a cast member of 1994's ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, stars as a man recounting his troubled childhood as the son of a religiously-motivated murderer (Bill Paxton) to a detective (Powers Boothe) who is trying to solve the case of the God's Hand killer. This killer, who McConaughey's character Fenton believes is his own brother Adam, targets seemingly random victims who are allegedly demons in human form. According to Fenton, his brother Adam is carrying out the legacy of their father, who experienced religious psychosis that led to a series of murders carried out with an axe the man believed to be a magical weapon provided by God. Young Fenton and Adam react to their father's passion for God and murder in different ways; Adam's naive admiration for his father foils Fenton's teenage skepticism. The two boys are possibly a metaphor for the human journey of faith and doubt, a reading supported by a surprising twist revealing the true nature of God's prophecy. FRAILTY does a great job of exploring Christian themes in an edgy way that condemns blind faith while still understanding the importance of faith itself.

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A new wave of satanic influence in media prompts Ash and Julian to conduct an emergency meeting. Sam Smith and Kim Petras's recent televised performance of their Grammy award-winning collaboration "Unholy" leaves nothing to the imagination, as the two cavort onstage in plastic red devil horns while singing about marital infidelity (a subject never before covered in the medium of the pop song .) Meanwhile, in the virtual realm, insidious video game designers are playing god of their own hand-sculpted worlds by decorating them with explicit references to satanism and the illuminati. Truly, it seems that our elites have gotten so cocky that they can't help but "let the mask[s] slip" — accidentally revealing their secret plots to dethrone God and cannibalize the innocent by leaving a series of elaborate clues meant to only be understood by the smartest people in the world. Fortunately for us, these geniuses have made a series of YouTube videos explaining what's going on. What a relief!

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We headed to theaters for a rare irl Christian movie screening! The latest reboot of the LEFT BEHIND franchise is directed by none other than Kevin Sorbo, an actor who has become Christian movie royalty due to his work in the genre over the past two decades. He stars in this brand new film alongside his wife Sam and his eldest son Braeden, reminiscent of the 2017 film LET THERE BE LIGHT, which also featured the entire Sorbo clan in one of our all-time favorite Christian films due its outrageous and fun plot about defeating terrorist group Isis with the power of God's love. We went into LEFT BEHIND: RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST with high expectations, which ended up being a terrible idea. Unfortunately, in our opinion, this new film represents how COVID broke everyone's brains and changed the entire course of evangelical Christians' taste in entertainment. It seems like a steady diet of YouTube conspiracy videos has influenced what could have been a very exciting story about the rapture that ended up being a boring and lifeless film with lots of long scenes of people sitting down and talking about the New World Order. Still, LEFT BEHIND: RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST was a fascinating look at the current flavor of evangelical Christian filmmaking, even if it sacrificed entertainment for information.

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We complete our watch of the original LEFT BEHIND film trilogy with WORLD AT WAR, which also stars Kirk Cameron, but notably adds prolific, Oscar-winning (!) actor Louis Gossett Jr. to the main cast as President Gerald Fitzhugh. The series would get rebooted in 2014's LEFT BEHIND (starring Nicolas Cage) and now again with today's (!) theatrical release of LEFT BEHIND: RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST starring Kevin Sorbo. We plan to see the latter in theaters later tonight. But LEFT BEHIND III: WORLD AT WAR was an interesting watch because of its bizarre, coincidental (or not?) parallels to the world events of the past few years. Mainly, the film is focused on the rapture prophecies concerning "pestilence", which in the film manifested as the handsome Slavic antichrist Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie) literally poisoning Bibles with a mysterious green gas that kills all Christians who touch the infected books. Christians hoard vaccines and wait it out in their underground churches, while President Fitzhugh takes matters into his own hands to connect with the Tribulation Force and investigate disturbing intelligence leaks that can be traced back to Nicolae and his dastardly reign at the United Nations.

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Our LEFT BEHIND movie month continues with the 2nd in the series, in which handsome young reporter Buck Williams (Kirk Cameron) and his former atheist pilot cohort Rayford Steele (Brad Johnson) form a TRIBULATION FORCE to oppose the rise of Nicolae Carpathia (Gordon Currie), the charming, Slavic secretary general of the United Nations who promises to unite the world under a single currency. While the original LEFT BEHIND felt so competently made that it might be mistaken for a "normal" film, LEFT BEHIND II gives itself permission to go way off the deep end into pure Christian movie cliches. These include: worldly characters being unnecessarily hostile to Christians, Kirk Cameron trying to change the world by broadcasting a Biblical message on live TV, and a minor character's bizarre conversion to Christianity featuring dialogue cribbed directly from a Ray Comfort sermon. Truly, LEFT BEHIND II teaches us that desperate times call for desperate measures. Joining us to oppose the New World Order are Sam and Casey of Growing Up Christian podcast, who have had many conversations in the past on their show about the religious trauma that some Christians experience after being exposed to terrifying rapture stories from a young age. We're happy to have them in our own Tribulation Force.

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Perhaps the definitive contemporary Christian film, this end-times thriller starring Kirk Cameron is based on bestselling novel LEFT BEHIND, which launched a series of 16 books that sold tens of millions of copies since the mid-1990s. This franchise's vision of the end times basically created the contemporary pop cultural idea of what the rapture might look like. Rewatching LEFT BEHIND: THE MOVIE over two decades after its original release, we're stunned by how well it holds up. It's one of the most competent, "convincing" Christian thrillers in that it's so "normal" and well-produced that you sometimes forget you're watching a Christian film. Secondly, the end-times philosophy perpetuated by LEFT BEHIND still sounds incredibly current in an era where social media has decentralized conspiracy theory and created a hybrid of Biblical eschatological ideas merged with pop culture. We can't help but find modern day analogues to this film in recent world events — from former President Trump's acknowledgment of Jerusalem as Israel's capitol being seen by some evangelical Christians as a harbinger of the apocalypse (and to be clear, this is a good thing) — to COVID vaccine mandates being seen as the first real test of globalist authoritarianism that would lead to the rise of the "new world order". LEFT BEHIND: THE MOVIE is also overtly Zionist, depicting Israel as a modern-day Garden of Eden protected by the hand of God, yet constantly besieged by its enemies. But despite the heavy-handed messaging, the film is genuinely fun and at times (unintentionally?) silly. It cemented Kirk Cameron's star status in the Christian film world, and it even throws us a little bit of Masonic imagery — for the kids!

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We celebrate the Holy Trinity today as we complete our 3rd full year of weekly Boys' Bible Study episodes. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the ones ACTUALLY holding the microphones — we just talk into them. As is our tradition, we mark a new beginning with a special meta episode where we look back at all we learned about Christian cinema through the previous year. We ask and answer important questions such as: who is John Lennon? Why does God let bad things happen to girls with pixie cuts? Are we really in heaven, or is that just what the nice man who kidnapped us wants us to believe? We also once again finish our year-end roundup with the 3rd annual GOLDEN CALF AWARDS, where we recognize excellent Christian films in categories of our own creation. Whether you've listened to Boys' Bible Study from the beginning, or are newly joining us this week, we hope this episode will be a comprehensive look into both the history and also the current trends of Christian cinema!

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Have you ever wanted to enter... The CheyZone™? Perhaps you were so enamored by our reviews of Tim Chey movies that you fantasized yourself living within one. You could imagine yourself as one of the high IQ geniuses who are forced to confront a terrorist in THE GENIUS CLUB, or an A-list actor wanted for murder in LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG. What if we told you that your desire could finally come to life? This 90 minute audio piece uses segments from Tim Chey films to weave together a simulation of life in The CheyZone™, which is a term we coined to mean the climax of every Tim Chey movie where all of the characters start screaming at each other about Christian dogma and moral debates. Chey is one of our favorite directors, and we consider his writing style fascinating. We love the way that all of the characters gradually lose their identities and become a kind of Greek dramatic chorus that helps Chey prove his point about such topics as evolution not being real, or car alarms being literally invented by the devil to torment mankind. Happy new year! We hope you'll enjoy this special presentation, and we wish you many long nights this year arguing with your loved ones about culture war issues. 

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Is this a bone-chilling crime thriller that somehow got rewritten as a Christian inspirational movie? Kirk Cameron in his prime stars in A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN, which sells itself as a whimsical comedy/drama about a young man who wants to adopt troubled kids into a loving family. What Kirk Cameron's character Will actually does to accomplish this involves literally drugging and kidnapping an orphan, and in another case dressing as an angel to lure a girl out of her abusive parents' home. Elevating the drama is the casting of Jussie Smollett, who made headlines in 2019 for faking a hate crime perpetuated against himself, in a supporting role as kidnapped orphan Salem Bordeaux. Salem is tough, streetwise boy whose dialogue is written in exaggerated AAVE, which Will and his disabled sister Violet are constantly correcting with "proper" English. Parallel plot lines, such as an ongoing FBI investigation and the impending closure of the town orphanage, make A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN an exciting and often chaotic film that never seems to land on the tone for which it's aiming. Also, it takes place on Christmas! Sincere Christmas and holiday wishes to all who listen to Boys' Bible Study.

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Director Timothy A. Chey is one of our all time favorite filmmakers, and we can always count on him for an entertaining movie-watching experience. That's why this is the fifth film of his we've formally reviewed on our show! Chey's trademark is a plot device we've started calling... The CheyZone™. It works like this: get about 10 people in a room and give them a reason to be pissed off at each other. They'll begin angrily monologuing and participating in a group debate that reinforces political and spiritual concepts subscribed to by Chey himself. These include: evolution isn't real, football is a distraction from church, and car alarms were literally created by Satan. (These topics are discussed in multiple Chey films.) LIVE FAST, DIE YOUNG enters The CheyZone™ by dropping us in a Christmas party attended by the most elite of Hollywood's young stars. When a famous actress dies suddenly of a drug overdose, the partygoers are held in a room to be questioned by police. They then enter....... The CheyZone™.

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During our month of Christmas movies, we would be remiss if we didn't cover a film that takes us back to Bible times to really show us the reason for the season. THE FOURTH WISE MAN is a classic piece of Bible fan fiction that contains all the hallmarks of the genre — white Hollywood actors in shawls, a zither music soundtrack, and a story about a fictitious Bible character that just so happens to be there for every major point of Jesus' life story. Martin Sheen plays Artaban, a plucky young Magi who independently realizes the prophecy of Jesus's coming, and sets out with his reluctant slave Orontes (Alan Arkin) to follow the star that we all know will lead to Jesus's birth in the manger. But will he get there in time? Artaban is just such a good person that he keeps getting sidetracked along the way, including spending 30 years in a leper colony taking care of the sick. In THE FOURTH WISE MAN, the Christmas story is truly the friends we made along the way. In this episode, the Bible Boys ask the big questions, such as: what if Jesus were British? Why can't lepers pull themselves up by the bootstraps? Magi son or thot daughter?

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TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL returns to our watchlist with another episode from its triumphant season 8, possibly one of the best runs in all of television history. Using its "human of the week" format, TBAA stars Roma Downey as Monica, Della Reese as Tess, John Dye as Andrew (the angel of death) and Valerie Bertinelli as the dumbass angel-in-training Gloria (our favorite character.) Gloria and Andrew figure prominently in "The Birthday Present", the story of a mail carrier accidentally uncovering brutal child abuse in an idyllic suburban neighborhood. Mailman Chuck, portrayed by frequent Christian media star and former sitcom actor Kirk Cameron, is struggling with the death of his grandmother when he accidentally kills a boy with his mail truck after the boy suddenly runs into the road. When apologizing to the boy's father, Chuck encounters a loaded gun carelessly disposed of in the front yard and realizes the young boy ordered it illegally off the internet to kill his father. Meanwhile, the boy's sister is missing after hiding from her father's abuse in a nearby nuclear bomb shelter (???) and being protected by Tess, who for some reason talks in baby voice the whole episode. In typical TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL fashion, human and angel stories weave together effortlessly to prove that God endlessly punishes the weak while enabling their oppressors — and this is a good thing. The addition of Kirk Cameron's confident guest starring performance fully bridges the gap that TBAA straddles between niche Christian entertainment and mainstream pop culture.

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Our month of Christmas movies begins with this ambitious inspirational comedy about senior citizens gone wild. Simon and Emily Fairway are a devout Christian couple who live in a senior living facility in Florida. FAITH FILLED CHRISTMAS follows each of them individually as their paths branch off for separate days of fun. Simon hangs at home with his fellow retirees while his mischievous friend Byron secretly organizes a "Geezer Olympics" physical fitness competition unbeknownst to the facility's strict headmistress. Meanwhile, Emily has a day out with her family, who happen to be an atypically structured and ethnically diverse group due to the Fairways' participation in the foster system. It's a cute combination of stories with genuinely wholesome themes such as diversity, respect, and care for the less fortunate. However, the film is not without its flaws. The character "Guru" is just an Indian guy stereotype played for laughs, which is a weird standout in this film that's all about how people of different races can co-exist respectfully. Also, shallow criticisms of Islam, and a bizarre invocation of the tragic Orlando nightclub shooting of 2016 raise eyebrows during a scene where Christian teens are proselytizing on the beach. Still, we highly recommend this film if for no other reason than its climactic final scene of senior citizens partying hard to the song "That Junk is Crazy" by Christian EDM artist J-Dub.

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This straight-to-video oddity from the vast catalog of legendary Christian rock band Newsboys is a nostalgic favorite for fans of the group who love Newsboys' classic mid-90s albums including "Going Public" and "Take Me to Your Leader". DOWN UNDER THE BIG TOP is a comic fantasy film starring the band as the reluctant heirs of a dilapidated circus, faced with the difficult task of coming up with exciting acts and making "megacash" by bringing the show back to life. That's as far as the plot really goes — most of the film is just an excuse to see your favorite Newsboys getting pies to the face or making Christian music industry in-jokes. CCM (contemporary Christian music) super-producer Steve Taylor, who directed this film, makes a cameo alongside other musical powerhouses such as prolific bassist Tommy Simms. The silly gags of DOWN UNDER THE BIG TOP aren't without their dark undertones — lead vocalist John James was likely performing in this film while in the throes of his addiction issues that would cause him to leave the group the following year, although fortunately he has since recovered. Still, DOWN UNDER THE BIG TOP is a charmingly bizarre artifact of a time when CCM had a huge cultural impact, and Newsboys were the genre's most beloved ambassadors. Returning as a guest to our show is our friend and resident CCM expert Josh Martin, a film curator behind Uncomfortable Brunch and Orlando Pop-Up Movie Services, who filled in our analysis of this film with his intricate knowledge of Newsboys lore.

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We celebrate Thanksgiving weekend by investigating a Christian film with a "wacky" clash of cultures between white, first world Christians and the indigenous peoples that fascinate them. In this case, END OF THE SPEAR is based on the true story of American missionary Nate Saint (yes, that's his name) and his crew trying to teach the uncontacted Waodani tribe about Jesus by flying a plane to the jungles of Ecuador in 1956. Their first attempt does not go well. To be frank, the five men get their entire shit absolutely speared within minutes of setting foot on the Ecuadorian beach. But this story doesn't end here — the missionaries' wives, and young Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint) return to forgive the Waodani for their rash actions and save the tribe from a polio epidemic. The movie ends with the civilized Waodani dressed in what looks like JCPenney basics, begging the missionaries to stay, much like the story of the first Thanksgiving. Using this movie as a jumping-off point, we ponder: is Christian missionary work noble or savage?

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