Tag Archives: movies

Movie Discussion Points

The Rookie

In The Rookie, Jimmy Morris seems to be walking three very different paths as he lives out his calling: One path as a teacher, another as a family man, and yet another as a professional athlete. Jimmy’s story is a lot about finding a higher purpose, about achieving a dream.

On a conventional level, this inspiring movie should be familiar in many ways, not only in the locations where it was filmed, but also in the relatable story of a husband who tries to fulfill all his life’s callings and duties at once—in a new career, as a husband, and also as a son and father. It is also a notable exploration of the expectations fathers have of their sons (or parents of their children) as well as the bold faith the son has in the father (the child in the parent).

On a less conventional level, sports movies often remind us of the obstacles one must overcome in order to make it to the big leagues, so to speak, in our chosen profession or vocation. Conversely, it is hard to make dreams come true that have yet to be dreamed.

On the deepest level, the movie can serve as a metaphor for how we all must gauge our abilities as disciples, each having a calling to serve in his kingdom according to our gifts and abilities. Are we ever ready? Conversely, are we ever past our prime? Or, are we already blessed by what it takes?

  1. Are we ever completely ready to fulfill a calling from God? Or are we content to stay in the minor leagues? And how will we handle it if we blow it? What if we suffer an injury?
  2. Morris became a major league player in an unconventional way. How might God be leading you toward something in a less-than-conventional way?
  3. If your life and career seem to be following a Plan B path, what was your Plan A? How was God’s hand evident in that change?
  4. How can one fulfill multiple callings at the same time in different arenas? What must we give up, and to what must be held tightly? Where has this stress caused a break in your life?
  5. The role of the relief pitcher is to come into the game and hold the lead, often with runners already on base threatening to steal the win. Consider how often you have been confronted with a seemingly impossible task, one that you were unsure of how it would work out. What do you do in those threatening moments?
  6. Consider Jimmy’s students, his son Hunter, and Lorri, his wife. What life lessons do they take away from his success? Likewise, what is your take—how do you benefit from the rookie’s story?
  7. The Catholic Church recognizes four patron saints for impossible causes. In what impossible causes do you still maintain hope? How should one pray for such things?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” — Hebrews 12:1-2a

Inside Out 2

Like the first Inside Out story, the sequel explores the sense of belonging and self-identity in a young person—a story made relevant and poignant in light of the trends in society today.

This new story addresses a new phase in Riley’s life; she has grown into puberty. Very few movies satisfactorily deal with this traumatic transition, much less any film that explores the drama from a narrowly Christian perspective. Even scripture seems to be relatively silent on the topic—there is not much help for the young person trying to make sense of their suddenly changed world. Or is there?

Inside Out 2 is more than just a movie for a young person facing puberty. On an unconventional level, the story can encourage the new or immature Christian who must deal with unexpected changes and unfamiliar feelings standing in their way as they embark on their journey of faith.

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with additional questions  (possible spoilers):

  1. This movie could belong to the genre we might call Adolescent Girl Stories Full of Complex Interpersonal Drama and Conflict. Consider how this one might fit that genre and how it may be different from others in that classification.
  2. Society today sets the bar high for young people, insisting that they can do anything one sets their minds to do and be whatever they choose their identity to be. How might we put this bold optimism into the context of what the Gospel says about vocation, ambition, success, and failure?
  3. Riley quickly loses traction as she struggles to keep what the filmmaker and society call the sense of self. How often can a similar confusion be recognized in the life of the growing disciple?
  4. Must one burn bridges, so to speak, when they join a new team? Consider the conundrum of a new believer.
  5. Riley is away from home when she endures her identity crisis. Her parents seem mostly unaware of the internal competition she is facing within her soul. Consider where and how these life lessons are best learned and interpreted.
  6. Consider if or how the roles of parents have changed in our day, with all the school, club, and sports opportunities for children outside the home. What might be missing?
  7. As you continue your journey in life, using the same sports metaphor, what is it like to discover that you are not yet fully ready to be in the game? Biblically speaking, should one quit, sit the bench, or change teams?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. . . . Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
(Philippians 2:3-4, 12b-13)

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
(Hebrews 5:13-14)

Caddo Lake

Mysteries are certainly one of the most popular movie genres. It challenges the viewer to think outside the box and to open the mind to the impossible and unthinkable.

Caddo Lake is such a mystery—challenging the viewer to consider time travel, which requires a mental reordering of the events in the film. Solving or accepting the mystery will lead to a more profound understanding of the relationships among the characters.

The Bible often reveals a preconfigured Christ. In addition, we can read about the re-appearing of the previously ascended Christ to Saul on the road to Damascus.

Imagine how Peter, James, and John struggled in their unimaginable encounter with Moses and Elijah on the mount of Transfiguration. How was it possible for them to appear now? What did their appearance in the present do to recast past events and store insight into events yet to come? How might it have changed their relationship with Jesus?

On a less conventional level, Caddo Lake challenges the viewer to travel back and forth in cinematic time. Can the mysteries of the present help Christians better understand the past and project themselves into the future? Can past events help interpret or even determine what happens today and tomorrow? How will our knowledge of what is to come help reimagine our lives for the present?

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with additional questions  (possible spoilers):

  1. M. Knight Shyamalan is known for the award-winning movies Signs, The Sixth Sense, and The Village. What thematic thread is common among these three (and perhaps also in his less-known works)?
  2. Consider why the mystery in this movie manifests itself when the water in the lake is low. How might this serve as a metaphor for life?
  3. Re-examine those events in scripture where God manipulates time. What conclusions can you make about God’s use of His supernatural power to control time?
    In this movie, one character travels across time and ends up saving another character’s life. How is this reminiscent of Christ’s mission on earth?
  4. Consider how coming to a new understanding of past events can help one interpret or even determine what happens today and tomorrow. How is hope carried on the wings of time?
  5. Mainstream Christianity does not recognize reincarnation in God’s creation. As a metaphor, however, the idea still has some appeal. What note would you write to yourself in the future? Or, write to yourself in the past?

Click HERE to access a guide intended to help viewers follow the mystery of Caddo Lake. (Warning: SPOILERS)

“This is what the Lord says, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.’”

(Isaiah 43:16,18-19)


Leap of Faith

This film is in the sub-genre of movies directly about religion or the church. In movies like this, the filmmaker makes direct assertions about Christians and their behaviors as a church. In many of these films, the propositions of the filmmaker are not so kind to Christianity.

In other films, the filmmaker’s assumptions on the surface may seem to be spot-on, but only in a less conventional examination can subtle but deviating assertions about faith and Christianity be recognized.

Unfortunately, not all of what we call “Christian movies” are exempt from theological imperfection—perhaps made more insidious for us when our guard is down.

Sometimes, it is better to take in a raw story of flawed sinners who stumble upon grace, rather than watch a squeaky-clean “Christian” movie and give a pass to the inadequate Gospel it promotes.

No doubt, Leap of Faith is a movie made for audiences with a broad range of religious views. It advances the audacious proposal that sinners are better at saving other sinners than are the pious.

  1. Must all ministers of the Gospel be perfect? Do the sins of the preacher, one who is a simultaneous saint and sinner, somehow taint the Gospel they preach?
  2. How must one live to be considered a genuine Christian, not found to be an imposter in the eyes of our family, friends, and neighbors?
  3. People often follow various spiritual and religious influencers on television or social media. Do these entertaining and engaging presenters uplift spirits or do they ultimately inflict harm?
  4. How is the traveling evangelist redeemed in this movie? Who redeems him?
  5. In John 5:6, Jesus asks the helpless paralytic, “Do you want to be healed?” Consider if this question was necessary. Does faith play a role in health and healing
  6. Should the Christian trust present day faith healers? Similarly, must the patient believe in medical science for it to work its magic?
  7. In John 4:48, Jesus speaks with an air of disappointment when he complains, “Unless you people see signs and wonders . . . you will never believe.” Must we be made well before we believe? Further, is sound physical health the same goal as wellness or wholeness?

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
(1 Timothy 1:15b)

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way . . . in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors.”
(2 Cor. 6:3-4a, 7-8)

Four Films for Spring 2025

Faith and Film at Film Alley

Here is the list of movies we will examine in the class, along with some key questions the films raise.

(Note: Movies are subject to change if circumstances warrant.)

February 2

From IMDb: “Fake faith healer Jonas Nightingale is stranded in a small town where he finds he can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”
This film is in the sub-genre of movies directly about religion or the church. In movies like this, the filmmaker makes direct assertions about Christians and their behaviors as a church. In many of these films, the propositions of the filmmaker are not so kind to Christianity.
In other films, the filmmaker’s assumptions on the surface may seem to be spot-on, but only in a less conventional examination can subtle but deviating assertions about faith and Christianity be recognized.
Unfortunately, not all of what we call “Christian movies” are exempt from theological imperfection—perhaps made more insidious for us when our guard is down. Sometimes, it is better to watch a raw story of flawed sinners who stumble upon grace rather than a squeaky-clean “Christian” movie and give a pass to the inferior Gospel it promotes.
No doubt, Leap of Faith is a movie made for audiences with a broad range of religious views. It advances the audacious proposal that sinners, rather than the pious, are better at saving sinners.

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with the questions it raises:

  1. Do the sins of the preacher, one who is simultaneous saint and sinner, somehow disqualify the Gospel they preach? Must all ministers of the Gospel be perfect?
  2. How must one live to be considered a genuine Christian, not found to be an imposter in the eyes of our family, friends, and neighbors?
  3. Think about the various spiritual and religious influencers on television and on social media. Are their follower’s spirits lifted by their entertaining and engaging presentations or do they ultimately suffer harm from them?
  4. How is the traveling evangelist redeemed in this movie? Who redeems him?
  5. In John 5:6, Jesus asks the helpless paralytic, “Do you want to be healed?” Consider if this question was necessary. Does faith play a role in health and healing?
  6. Should the Christian trust present day faith healers? Similarly, must the patient believe in medical science for it to work its magic?
  7. In John 4:48, Jesus speaks with an air of disappointment when he complains, “Unless you people see signs and wonders . . . you will never believe.” Must we be made well before we believe? Further, is sound physical health the same goal as wellness or wholeness?

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” — 1 Timothy 1:15b

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way . . . in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors.” 2 Cor. 6:3-4a,7-8.

Respondent: Rev. Dr. David Kluth

Dr. Kluth will be responding for the third straight season. Previously, he helped unpack Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club.
Kluth has a degree in Communication and has been a professor and administrator at several universities. Currently, he is known as a popular Bible class leader at Zion Lutheran. He earned a Master of Arts in Mass Communication/Media Studies from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in instructional technology & design from Nova Southeastern University.

March 2

A Mystery:  Caddo Lake (2024)

From IMDb: “When an 8-year-old girl disappears on Caddo Lake, a series of past deaths and disappearances begin to link together, altering a broken family’s history.”
Mysteries are certainly one of the most popular movie genres. It challenges the viewer to think outside the box and to open the mind to the impossible and unthinkable. Caddo Lake is such a mystery—challenging the viewer to consider time travel, which requires a mental reordering of the events in the film. Solving or accepting the mystery will lead to a more profound understanding of the relationships among the characters.
The Bible often reveals a preconfigured Christ. In addition, we can read about the re-appearing of the previously ascended Christ to Saul on the road to Damascus. Imagine how Peter, James, and John struggled in their unimaginable encounter with Moses and Elijah on the mount of Transfiguration. How was it possible for them to appear now? What did their appearance in the present do to recast past events and store insight into events yet to come? How might it have changed their relationship with Jesus?
On a less conventional level, Caddo Lake challenges the viewer to travel back and forth in cinematic time. Can the mysteries of the present help the Christian better understand the past and project themselves into the future? Can past events help interpret or even determine what happens today and tomorrow? How will our knowledge of what is to come help reimagine our lives for the present?

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with the questions it raises (possible spoilers):

  1. M. Knight Shyamalan is known for the award-winning movies Signs, The Sixth Sense, and The Village. What thematic thread is common among these three (and perhaps his less known works)?
  2. Consider why the mystery in this movie manifests itself when the water in the lake is low. How might this serve as a metaphor for life?
  3. Re-examine those events in scripture where God manipulates time. What conclusions can you make about God’s use of His supernatural power to control time?
  4. In this movie, one character travels across time and ends up saving another character’s life. How is this reminiscent of Christ’s mission on earth?
  5. Consider how coming to a new understanding of past events can help one interpret or even determine what happens today and tomorrow. How is hope carried on the wings of time?
  6. Mainstream Christianity does not recognize reincarnation in God’s creation. As a metaphor, however, the idea still has some appeal. What note would you write to yourself in the future? Or, write to yourself in the past?

“This is what the Lord says, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.’” — Isaiah 43:16,18-19

Click here to read some spoilers—some clues to help unravel this movie mystery.

Respondent: Dr. Jacob Youmans

Dr. Youmans has served as the Director of the DCE (Director of Christian Education) program at Concordia University Texas, since 2009. Prior to that, he served as a Youth and Family Minister in Hawaii and California.
He has authored four books, including Talking Pictures, which demonstrates how one can use movies to teach the faith to teenagers. He also was a contributor to Movies From the Mountaintop, an anthology on faith and films that also featured insights from Rob Lowe and Mark Wahlberg.

April 6

From IMDb: “A sequel that features Riley entering puberty and experiencing brand new, more complex emotions as a result. As Riley tries to adapt to her teenage years, her old emotions try to adapt to the possibility of being replaced.”
Like the first Inside Out story, the sequel explores the sense of belonging and self-identity in a young person—a story made relevant and poignant in light of the trends in society today.
This new story addresses a new phase in Riley’s life; she has grown into puberty. Very few movies satisfactorily deal with this traumatic transition, much less any film that explores the drama from a narrowly Christian perspective. Even scripture seems to be relatively silent on the topic—there is not much help for the young person trying to make sense of their suddenly changed world. Or is there?
Inside Out 2 is more than just a movie for a young person. On a less conventional level, it is for the new or immature Christian who must deal with unexpected changes and unfamiliar feelings standing in their way as they embark on their journey of faith.

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with the questions it raises:

  1. This movie could belong to the genre we might call, Adolescent Girl Stories Full of Complex Interpersonal Drama and Conflict. Consider how this one might fit that genre and how it may be different from others in that classification.
  2. Society today sets the bar high for young people, insisting that they can do anything one sets their minds to do and to be whatever they chose their identity to be. How might we put this bold optimism into the context of what the Gospel says about vocation, ambition, success, and failure.
  3. Riley quickly loses traction as she struggles to keep what the filmmaker and society call the sense of self. How often can a similar confusion be recognized in the life of the growing disciple?
  4. Must one burn bridges, so to speak, when they join a new team? Consider the conundrum of a new believer.
  5. It is not unusual today that a child like Riley is away at a sports camp when she faces this identity crisis. Her parents seem mostly unaware of the internal competition she is facing within her soul. Consider where and how these life lessons best should be learned and interpreted.
  6. Consider if or how the roles of parents have changed in a day of all the school, club, and sports opportunities children enjoy outside of the home? What is missing?
  7. As you continue your journey in life, using the sports metaphor, what is it like to discover that you are not yet fully ready to be in the game? From a Biblical perspective, what should be our response?

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” — Hebrews 5:13-14

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. . . . Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” — Philippians 2:3-4, 12b-13.

Respondent: Dr. Denise Patrick

Dr. Patrick is a seasoned expert with over 30 years of experience in business and academia, specializing in executive coaching, leadership development, and change management. Her consulting work spans Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, small businesses, and government agencies. Dr. Patrick is passionate about helping leaders refine their communication and interpersonal skills to achieve transformative growth.
Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, teaching in the Moody College of Communication. She also holds a faculty position at Baruch College, City University of New York, where she has taught in the Executive MBA and MPA programs. Dr. Patrick is deeply committed to empowering leaders to create meaningful connections and lasting impact. (Read more about Dr. Patrick.)

May 4

From IMDb: “A Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.”
On a conventional level, this inspiring movie should be familiar in many ways, not only in the locations where it was filmed, but also in the relatable story of a husband who tries to fulfill all his life’s callings and duties at once—in a new career, as a husband, and also as a son and father.
The story is also a notable exploration of the expectations fathers have of their sons (or parents of their children) as well as the bold faith the son has in the father (the child in the parent).
On a less conventional level, sports movies often remind us of the obstacles one must overcome to, so to speak, make it to the big leagues. It can also serve as a metaphor for how we gauge our abilities as disciples with the vocational calling to serve in his kingdom. Are we ever ready? Conversely, are we ever past our prime? Are we blessed by what it takes?

Diving deep, this movie challenges us with the questions it raises:

  1. Are we ever ready to fulfill a calling from God? Or our we content to stay in the minor leagues? And how will we handle it if we blow it? What if we suffer an injury?
  2. Morris became a major league player in an unconventional way. How might God be leading you toward something in a less than conventional way?
  3. If your career and life are following a Plan B path, what was your Plan A? How was God’s hand evident in that change?
  4. How can one perform our multiple calling at the same time in different arenas? What must we give up, and to what must be held tightly? Where has this stress caused a break in your life?
  5. The role of the relief pitcher is to come into the game and hold the lead, often with runners already on base threatening to steal the win. Consider how often you have been confronted with a seemingly impossible task, one that you were unsure of how it would work out. What do you do in those threatening moments?
  6. Consider Jimmy’s students, his son Hunter, and for Lorri, his wife. What life lessons do they take away from his success? Likewise, what is your take—how do you benefit from the rookie’s story?
  7. The Catholic Church recognizes four patron saints for impossible causes. In what impossible causes do you still maintain hope? How should one pray for such things?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” — Hebrews 12:1-2a

Respondent: Scott Linebrink

Scott Linebrink is a former major league pitcher, having played for 15 seasons with teams like the Astros, White Sox, and San Diego Padres. Recently, he has served as Brand Ambassador for Water Mission, a faith-based organization providing clean water resources globally for communities in need. He is continually active promoting Christian living among current and retired professional althletes.

DISCLAIMER: MOVIES SELECTED MAY CONTAIN ROUGH LANGUAGE AND DEPICT SEXUAL SITUATIONS.

Series Curator

The Faith and Film Series is led by Dr. Philip J. Hohle, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television-Film from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Arts in Speech Communication from Texas State University, and a Ph.D. from Regent University in Communication Studies. A member of the Society for the Cognitive Study of the Moving Image, he has presented how audiences interpret the movies they watch in the U.S., Finland, and Spain. He has also published two books and several articles on viewer response theory. Currently, he teaches at The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Southeastern University.

Faith and Film Logo

Faith and Film at Film Alley (Informal Class for the Community)

Faith and Film Moving to Film Alley

After three seasons in 2024 and 2025,  Faith and Film is moving to Film Alley, formerly known as City Lights, 420 Wolf Ranch Parkway, 
Georgetown, TX 78628.Faith and Film Dive In theater logo

Film Alley is not a drive in theater, but this series makes it a dive-in theater, as participants will explore underlying morals and religious worldviews often disguised in great films. These classes equip Viewer-Critics to recognize and respond to the competing ideologies promoted within popular culture. 

Watch the short promotional video here.

Another change is that the series is becoming monthly instead of weekly. The 2025 spring series is scheduled for February 2, March 2, April 6, and May 4. Tentatively, a fall series will be scheduled for September 7, October 5, November 2, and December 7. 

Continue reading Faith and Film at Film Alley (Informal Class for the Community)

THE FILMMAKER’S PRAYER: CINEMA & RELIGION by Philip J. Hohle, Ph.D.

Excerpt from THE FILMMAKER’S PRAYER

© Philip J. Hohle

     . . . According to Barna and Gallup polls, most of the residents in the U.S. are religious—or at least, we claim Christianity or some other mainstream faith-based worldview. Is it not strange then, that filmmakers often avoid addressing anything serious about religion in their movies?  At times, religion does play some positive minor role in the plot, but religiosity is more often the cause of the antagonist’s opposition to the less-religious protagonist than the reverse. It has become self-evident; religion is too complicated or fragmented for a scriptwriter to use as background for her characters. In making a character too religious, the writer runs the risk of losing some of the consubstantiation a viewer needs in order to like a character.

     In spite of filmmaker’s reluctance to make the celluloid sacred, I will argue in this book that films are full of religion. Both unconsciously and consciously, filmmakers infuse religion into the story in subtle ways, which can be missed unless the viewer is able to interpret the film on a less conventional level. Furthermore, I propose that if the viewer is not aware of the filmmaker’s religious sense-making within their created world, they are more subject to influence or even conversion. Considering the power of film, one can argue that the filmmaker is today’s tent-revival evangelist. But of course, most of this influence is worked in the unconscious and not always recognized in a conventional read of the film.

   In reading on, there will be some terms I use often that help shape the argument. As a matter of fact, Cinema & Religion is the sequel to Lenses, my previous book revealing ten perspectives one can use to interpret and make sense of movie narratives. . . .

[section omitted]

. . . This brings us back to the fundamental premise of this book. Films are full of ideology, and that ideology is often an identifiable worldview that is promoted as passionately as any religion. In these pages, we will compare the values, assumptions, and beliefs represented in films that, not only entertain us, but they comfort or disrupt us; they instruct and motivate us; they help us make sense of our lives. I hope that sounds like religion to you.

This book will:

  • Identify the key religious themes commonly found in narratives.
  • Show how these themes can be found and examined in a film.
  • Illustrate how the religious perspective will reinterpret the role and function of characters, the meaning of signs, and even the plot found in a movie.
  • Help the reader compare and contrast the ideological messages some popular movies to the divine story in Christianity.
  • Advance your emerging fluency as a lay critic, becoming more confident in recognizing the ideology and theology of a film.
  • Help you find a voice in communicating a case for its value or lack of value to our world. Ultimately, you can help shape the conversation over the film’s contribution to our culture’s grand narrative.
  • Motivate you to respond to an exigence (an urgent issue) raised by the film viewing experience.
  • Affirm and strengthen your appreciation for the power of film and the ability of the filmmaker to bring the viewer to experience transcendence in the story.

LENSES: Ten Ways to Interpret the Movies You Love (and some you hated) by Philip J. Hohle, Ph.D.

LENSES book cover man with film running in his head

Excerpt from the Introduction

© Philip J. Hohle

…This remarkable influence is why it is so vital that viewers learn to read film. It is not so we can all have the same interpretation. I think of the old school literature professor who refuses to recognize any alternative interpretation of a classic poem. Recall the first literature class John Keating has with his students in Dead Poet’s Society4. Keating has his students rip out pages in the textbook that proposed the goodness and truth of a poem could be measured scientifically—leading to a singular, objective interpretation.

Conversely, the lessons in this book serve more like a guide to make us more sensitive—more aware of both the effect proposed by the filmmaker (e.g., the film craft as a noun) as well as the affect film has on us (as in a verb). In becoming literate, we become aware of the power we give film. But do not worry that your nuanced sensitivity will spoil your enjoyment—not like how a backstage tour of Disneyland diminishes the magic. Instead, I argue our literacy makes film even more powerful. We become more aware of the subtleties most viewers miss. Knowing more about the craft makes one appreciate it so much more when the film is indeed well made.

     Becoming fluent means you can help others toward a higher appreciation of such well-made movies. Fluency for me means one can interpret film for the benefit of others—to heighten their own literacy. This increased competency can mean you will more fully love the good movies you love. Likewise, you will help open other’s eyes to seeing disruptive films for what they really are. To our friends, parents, children, and the stranger in line at the film festival— we are critics. And the more fluent we are, the more we provide useful lenses for others to use.

Lenses are what this book is finally all about—ten sets of glasses one can try on in order to make sense of a film. Metaphorically, this book is an exercise in showing the changes of hue and texture each lens affords. Thus, selecting an appropriate lens becomes critical to a fulfilling and helpful critique of a film. Not only will each lens reveal a different story in the same movie, each person also employs personal filters that may blur or sharpen what the filmmaker intended. Being aware of one’s filters can reveal something about us as they simultaneously serve to help illuminate the film…

4. Dead Poet’s Society, directed by Peter Weir (1989; Touchstone Home Entertainment, 2012), BluRay.

Find this book on AMAZON in both paperback and eReader editions.

Fall 2019 Movies

Lenses: Entertainment as a Second Language

The title of the movie we select for discussion will be posted here one week in advance (including starting time and theater number).

Nov. 18th, 6:00 PM, Theater 2

Jojo Rabbit

From IMDB [Fox Searchlight] “Writer director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to his latest film, JOJO RABBIT, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis as JoJo) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.” PG-13, 1 hr. 48 min. View trailer here.

 

Past Movies Discussed

Nov. 4th 6:00 PM, Theater 3

THE CURRENT WAR

Oct. 28th 6:00 PM, Theater 10

MALEFICENT — MISTRESS OF EVIL

Oct 21st 7:00 PM, Theater 1

Gemini Man

Oct 7th 6:30 PM, Theater 8

Joker

Sept. 30th 6:30 PM, Theater 9

Judy

Sept. 23rd 6:00 PM, Theater 10

Downton Abbey

Sept. 16th 7:00 PM, Theater 2

Brittany Runs a Marathon

Sept. 9th 6:00 PM, Theater 3

The Peanut Butter Falcon

 

Lenses: Entertainment as a Second Language

LENSES Informal Class for Community Learners

 


Parabolic Media is pleased to announce the return of Lenses, the popular Informal Classes for the Community starting Monday, September 9th.  6:30 PM at The Moviehouse & Eatery. For the Fall 2019 LENSES Series, there is no registration fee. Simply purchase your ticket at the box office or online on the Moviehouse & Eatery website. The series runs Sept. 9 through Nov. 18 (excluding Veterans Day on Nov. 11).

New for the Fall 2019 season, participants will be viewing CURRENT films being offered by The Moviehouse & Eatery. Due to fluctuations in distribution, the movie, start time, and theater number will be announced no earlier than one week prior to each class. Watch our web page for updates. Note that the opinions expressed in LENSES do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moviehouse’s owners, managers, or employees.

Poster announcing series on Monday nights at the movies house and eatery.

 

Participants will explore and practice ten valuable lenses that can make them fluent in their media consumption—better at making sense of the messages and meanings behind their favorite movies. Improve your media literacy—become fluent in reading popular film.

The Lenses series is parallel to the Cinema and Religion series offered at The Moviehouse each spring. Focusing on film, the two classes provide examinations of this compelling media form in the context of an actual movie theater with an audience—the most pure and powerful viewing environment.

For more information, visit the FAQ page.

 

Class logo