Watching Theology » Watching Theology
By Joe Johnson and Duke Senter
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Podcast Description
If you want to destroy your favorite films by watching them critically, Watching Theology is the show for you. On every episode, hosts Joe Johnson, Melissa Johnson, and Duke Senter examine a single film. They read the theological, philosophical, and thematic content of a movie and listen to what movies are saying. Then, they offer insights and evaluations that will make you either want to rewatch or destroy your DVD collection. Enjoy.
| Name | Description | Released | Price | ||
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1 |
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (2009) | It seems like everything connected with Terry Gilliam is cursed. This edition of Watching Theology is no exception. Five months in planning, viewing, and construction, the Doctor Parnassus program finally emerges for public listening. On this show, you� | 12/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
The Wizard of Oz (1939) | Loved by millions, generation after generation, The Wizard of Oz remains a symbol of the wonder film can inspire. It is the magical tale of a poor farm girl brought to a Technicolor land of munchkins, witches, and flying monkeys. The story has the power t | 7/21/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
WTG: The Lion King | A G-rated Watching Theology. We're not saying that WT isn't for general audiences, but this version is designed for a younger listener. Join Watching Theology G with Joe and his daughter Elaina. Together, they look at the ideas in films from bot | 6/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Gattaca (1997) | Remember Y2K? In the 1990s, movies were obsessed with the future and what it was like to live at the end of time. Gattaca is no exception. Andrew Niccol's film imagines a near-future in which people's worth is determined by their genetic code an | 5/6/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
The Truman Show (1998) | Call it satire, call it an allegory, but The Truman Show is about something. In this production-delayed episode Duke and Joe look over Peter Weir's oddly prophetic take on television. Join us as we examine how Jim Carey represents a helpless philosop | 3/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
The Village (2004) | People respond to trauma in different ways. Some find religion. Others re-evaluate their priorities. Some people, like those in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, put themselves into an isolated 19th century town hiding away from the world. In this ed | 1/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Fight Club (1999) | [NOTE: Explicit Content] New season. New series. New co-host. Same Watching Theology wisdom (sorry). Season 4 begins with an all-male look at twentieth century masculinity according to Pitt, Norton, Fincher, and Palahniuk. Joe is joined by Duke Senter to | 1/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
WT03.07 Brigham City (2001) | God's Silence Series: no. 5. In the final installment of the "God's Silence" series–and the last of WT Season 3–we look at Brigham City, Richard Dutcher's third film. Brigham is a little community in Utah, a Mormon tow | 12/23/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
WT03.06 Breaking the Waves (1996) | God's Silence Series: no. 4. When Bess married Jan, it united an outsider and an insider, an oilworker and a member of a strict religious community. Their marriage was a happy one: sensual, fun, passionate. All that ended when Jan returned to his oil | 6/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
WT03.05 Mean Streets (1973) | God's Silence Series: no. 3. [NOTE: Explicit Content] Sometimes God is silent. Sometimes he's shut out of the conversation. In Martin Scorsese's breakthrough film Mean Streets, Charlie is trying to find his own way to stay out of Hell. He i | 6/6/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
WT03.04 Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) | God's Silence Series: no. 2. In part two of the "God's Silence" series, Watching Theology considers the profound link between ethics and God's existence. If God exists, He must care, and if God cares, He must punish. So if Martin | 5/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
WT03.03 Winter Light (1962) | God's Silence Series: no. 1. Ingmar Bergman's films have become synonymous with existential terror. In 1962's Winter Light, Bergman explores what could be a typical Sunday for a struggling pastor, except that this pastor may not believe in | 4/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
WT03.02 Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) | It's a tale as old as time. On this episode, WT turns it's careful gaze to the waters of the Amazon, watching Jack Arnold's Universal Monster classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. In those dark waters, we find an evolutionary story of Bea | 3/21/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
WT03.01 Choke (2008) | In this first episode of season 3, Joe spends a few minutes with Clark Gregg's Choke. This latest adaptation of a Chuck Palahniuk novel is far removed from the David Fincher Fight Club adaptation, but a few threads connect them. Of course there is a | 2/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
WT02.10 A Watching Christmas | [NOTE: Explicit Content] If all you want for Christmas is Muppets and Miley Cyrus, avoid this show. But, if you don't mind a little sex, violence, and f-words in your eggnog, we have the gift that keeps giving. On this special (and rare) edition of W | 12/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
WT02.09 Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979) | God, evolution, the rise of a living machine, theology, humanism and a Vulcan named Spock. It's all in Robert Wise's adaptation of Star Trek mythology. On this episode, Joe does a solo take on what might be the real meaning of the players and id | 7/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
WT02.08 Lars and the Real Girl (2007) | Nothing says caring like a close community of Christian believers, compassionate co-workers and a life-like "love doll." Lars and the Real Girl is the story of a lonely man who becomes so gripped by the contrary forces of fear and love that he s | 7/11/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
WT Update | Yes, the podcast still exists. And it will return soon. Here's the quick rundown on some adjusted program dates (and listen to the audio for a preview of some other upcoming shows): Lars and the Real Girl (July 11), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Jul | 7/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
WT02.07 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | With the long awaited fourth movie in the Indiana Jones series hitting theaters, it seemed to be a good time to revisit our childhood and our collective social consciousness with an adventure. On this episode we go back to the beginning with Harrison Ford | 5/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
WT02.06 Citizen Kane (1941) | Considered by numerous critics and film organizations to be the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane is large in legend even without our brief examination of the movie. But even Orson Welles – as Charles Foster Kane and director – is not beyo | 5/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
WT02.05: A Scanner Darkly (2006) | [NOTE: Explicit Content] Whether or not there's a huge government/corporate conspiracy to take over every liberty – to enslave and control us – there's always time to think about reality. Fortunately, in Philip K. Dick's and Ric | 4/29/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
WT02.04 The Wicker Man (1973) | Somewhere on an island outside Scotland, Christopher Lee has built the perfect neo-Pagan civilization. There you will find fertility rites, folk music and a frolicking Britt Ekland (and her body double). You will also witness a clash of civilizations that | 4/14/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Casino Royale (2006) | [NOTE: Explicit Content] It may never have occurred to you before, but James Bond is a troubled old man. Being a glossy hit man may have some drawbacks, such as the inability to keep a conscience and a slightly troubled Freudian nightmare of a view on wom | 4/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Pinocchio (1940) | What do the frontier revival evangelists have in common with pre-War, classic Disney animation? Perhaps a lot more than many of us may have considered. It seems that Pinocchio has more to say about good behavior and the problem of succumbing to the devil& | 3/18/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
Shaun of the Dead (2004) | You don't see a zombie every day, but if you did, would it change your life forever? On this episode – the first of season two – we spend time with some nobody named Shaun, who is having a very bad day. It seems that everyone around the p | 3/3/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Children of Men (2006) | [NOTE: Explicit Content] Since Huxley's Brave New World, novels and films have flowed with a bleak view of the not-too-distant future. Alfonso Cuaron's adaptation of P.D. James' Children of Men doesn't depart too far from this perspect | 10/23/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Forbidden Planet (1956) | 1950's science fiction is a wonderful place for finding heavy-handed propaganda. The stories are often parables and metaphors with shiny gadgets and planet-size catastrophes. 1956's Forbidden Planet is an example of great moral lessons buried in | 10/15/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Barton Fink (1991) | Some films are clear – you know exactly what you're getting and exactly what you're supposed to learn. Then there's Barton Fink. In the midst of a bad case of writer's block, the Coen Brothers scripted this tale of a talented pla | 9/11/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 28 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Cool idea. Cool Show.
Jay from the MeanDawg Movie Top 5 podcast here. Saw your show up on our other podcasts listeners are listening to thing. So I just came by to check it out - glad I did. I'll click subscribe once I'm done here. I almost never write reviews, by the way - but wanted to drop my opinion here for you and all else to see..
More the either religion or film
Always an interesting podcast. They don't try to turn movies into religious texts, but explore the religious and ethical implications of the movies they choose to highlight. I've gone back and watched many of the movies they present with amazing new insight. I don't always agree with Melissa and Joe, but their views are always provocative. Give it a try and rewatch ( or see them for the first time) some of the films they discuss, they make many great points.
Insightful and Entertaining - Don't Miss It!
Like their own movie scoring system, the Johnsons never omit the entertainment factor from these smartly produced programs. Joe Johnson is among the most articulate voices in movie-punditry today. His essays, which form the intellectual backbone to these shows, are incredibly insightful - certainly head and shoulders above anyone else in the indie-podcast arena. It would be no surprise to this reviewer if he should go on to occupy Medved-Maltin-Ebert space one day. Similar to Elvis Mitchell's interviews on KCRW's The Treatment, Watching Theology endeavors to get to the heart of a film, identifying its thematic drivers. So, even a movie created under the guise of a children's entertainment (Pinnochio), may speak deeply to the human condition. The Johnsons teach us not to judge a movie by its surface elements: those who find film a thought-provoking medium will appreciate this thoughtful labor of love.
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