the thin place

Back after a hiatus, Ken and Todd discuss Doug Liman's sci-fi film, The Edge of Tomorrow. Why is the way violence is represented in the film particularly disturbing? Are we intended to laugh at it? And why does Todd say the movie reminded him of watching someone play a video game?

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Todd and Ken take a look at Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Should some topics be off limits for comedy? What line did even Lubitsch's team fear went too far? Who is the film's real villain? (Hint: it's not the Nazis.) What films today make us similarly uneasy and what can we learn from films that disquiet us?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - Intro, plot and genre mashing.
5:03 - Contemporary equivalents?
10:00 - What makes us uneasy?
21:00 - What is the purpose of the joke?
24:30 - Not that different from us.
33:30 - There is a real bad guy.
39:22 - Greenberg and everyday heroism.
46:36 - Carole Lombard and closing remarks.

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Peter Waldron drops in on The Thin Place to sub for the vacationing Todd and to render Ken momentarily speechless with his take on one of the more iconic climactic moments in Hollywood history. Does Ethan Edwards have a redemptive moment? Does he need one?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - Intro and new impressions.
4:55 - He doesn't align himself with either side.
13:00 - Redemption for Ethan?
18:50 - A moment of grace?
23:30 - Beliefs in conflict.
27:00 - Which is the real Ethan?
32:30 - A twist ending?

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Ken and Todd examine the conventions of action films and how White House Down uses them. Do action films promote American exceptionalism? How does the use of comic relief undercut the film's moral seriousness? What makes a true hero?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - Intro: Why we are discussing White House Down
5:40 - What are the film's genre conventions?
14:50 - Conflict, resolution, and social order
18:00 - American exceptionalism
29:10 - Death and comic relief
38:18 - True heroism and cultural values
44:14 - Concluding remarks

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Todd and Ken look at Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, and ponder whether or not being written into a computer program is an apt metaphor for predestination. Also, what makes Ken compare Wreck-It Ralph to Paradise Lost?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - Wreck-It Ralph vs. Toy Story.
4:30 - Predestination.
12:30 - Adult themes -- hating your job.
18:00 - Is Satan just misunderstood?
23:00 - Parallel worlds and the transcendent world.
29:00 - Free will metaphors: "rehtorical" vs. actual "have to"

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Todd and Ken discuss Martin Scorsese's (in)famous imagination of the life of Jesus. Is it really blasphemous? Is it any good? Do you have to watch a movie to be able to boycott it? And how do you pronounce "Nikos Kazantzakis"?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - The infamous production history--or why Ken saw Die Hard on his honeymoon.
6:00 - Responses today.
10:56 - Whose fault was it?: The script.
15:04 - Who is this Jesus, exactly?
19:29 - Film vs. Novel: Problems with abstraction.
33:00 - Well, how should Christians respond?
43:46 - What was Scorsese's intent?
47:00 - Other Jesus movies.

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Ken and Todd claim that Peter Jackson doesn't really understand the material that he is adapting. Is there any way they can back up such a claim?

SHOW NOTES:

0:00 - Intro; "certain technical aspects of the film..."
12:45 - "Do you even know what this story is about...?"
22:00 - "It felt dumbed-down to me."
26:02 - "The Hobbit is not a prequel."
30:00 - Speaking of Gollum....
33:30 - The change we hated the most.
40:30 - Surfaces vs. Deep Roots.
45:00 - Growing vs. Changing

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Critics polled by Sight & Sound magazine in 2012 ranked Vertigo as the greatest film of all time. What does that ranking say about the spirit of the age? Is the greatness of a film measurable? If not, why do we keep trying? What causes our obsession with lists? Ken and Todd discuss Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece and the poll that thrust it back into the limelight. Warning: Spoilers for Vertigo and Sunrise: A Story of Two Humans. SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro. The Sight & Sound poll and canon making. 6:47 - Two views of lists: corporate wisdom and platonic ideals. 12:26 - The function of criticism at the present time. 18:13 - "I’ve seen Vertigo..." Great vs. The Greatest. 22:21 - Can people change? 27:51 - Obsession vs. Love 31:55 - Melancholia and the spirit of the age. 36:00 - Critics vs. directors; Vertigo vs. Kane. 46:22 - Concluding remarks. DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

As a touring retrospective and the reissue of a famous anthology revive interest in the enigmatic and critically revered Robert Bresson, Ken and Todd examine the French director’s Lancelot du Lac. SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Profile, persuasion, or historical account? 7:00 - Talking past each other and retrofitting theology 13:33 - Theological argument or social justice argument? 19:13 - How heterosexuals are portrayed; leadership vs. laity 24:12 - The lack of a theological argument 31:30 - Social justice vs. the integrity of the church, part 2 35:19 - North Carolina Amendment #1 and Unintended Consequences 40:24 - The film as film; humanizing gays AND Christians DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Ken and Todd discuss the theology of gays in the Christian church, the social justice of gays in America, and the differences (if any) between the two as they review a documentary about the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Profile, persuasion, or historical account? 7:00 - Talking past each other and retrofitting theology 13:33 - Theological argument or social justice argument? 19:13 - How heterosexuals are portrayed; leadership vs. laity 24:12 - The lack of a theological argument 31:30 - Social justice vs. the integrity of the church, part 2 35:19 - North Carolina Amendment #1 and Unintended Consequences 40:24 - The film as film; humanizing gays AND Christians DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Ken and Todd discuss Primary Colors, Mike Nichols's adaptation of the fictionalized depiction of an adviser grappling with whether or not he can support a flawed governor who is running for president. Mike Nichols's film gets the bulk of discussion, but there are also comments about HBO's Game Change. SHOW NOTES: 0:30 - Intro, summary, faith, and disillusionment 6:15 - Believing in people vs. seduced by power 10:10 - Moral compromises and ranges of character responses 21:40 - Timeless themes or timely satire? 27:10 - Game Change, good intentions, and believing in what you do 33:35 - Media and the false intimacy of television 40:10 - If we really believe what we say... DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Ken and Todd discuss Primary Colors, Mike Nichols's adaptation of the fictionalized depiction of an adviser grappling with whether or not he can support a flawed governor who is running for president. Mike Nichols's film gets the bulk of discussion, but there are also comments about HBO's Game Change. SHOW NOTES: 0:30 - Intro, summary, faith, and disillusionment 6:15 - Believing in people vs. seduced by power 10:10 - Moral compromises and ranges of character responses 21:40 - Timeless themes or timely satire? 27:10 - Game Change, good intentions, and believing in what you do 33:35 - Media and the false intimacy of television 40:10 - If we really believe what we say... DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Todd and Ken discuss Undefeated, the Academy Award winner for Best Documentary of 2011. Take care to build character, football coach Bill Courtney preaches, and winning will take care of itself. SHOW NOTES: 0:30 - Intro, summary, and the film's thesis 10:21 - Money's reward 16:32 - Ecclesiastes and the Moral Fabric of the Universe 21:49 - Playing angel's advocate and the power of positive reinforcement 28:20 - The health and wealth gospel and when bad things happen to good people 33:55 - Spiritual versus material success 36:08 - Undefeated? The meaning of the title 40:41 - Ecclesiastes redux DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Todd and Ken discuss David Spaltro's drama about a woman tormented by questions about what happens after we die. SHOW NOTES: 0:30 - Intro, summary, and definition of an "indie movie" 6:18 - Is death the same as not existing? 12:10 - The Houdini bargain 15:11 - Fronting, masks, and feigned ignorance 19:16 - Do we care about Violet? 25:43 - Material solutions to spiritual problems 29:55 - Understatement, writing, and acting 33:11 - How can we not talk about dancing vaginas? DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!

Welcome to The Thin Place! In this premiere episode, Ken and Todd discuss how the Harry Potter films depict the concept of an afterlife. In J.K. Rowling’s world of wizards, dragons and goblins, is there such thing as heaven and hell? How should we interpret the presence of ghosts? Tune in to find out. SHOW NOTES: 0:00 - Intro 2:00 - Harry Potter and the Afterlife DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing thethinplace@filmgeekradio.com. Thanks for listening!