Boys' Bible Study

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.

Follow Josh on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncomfortablebrunch/

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We are finally covering one of the most beloved and well-known pieces of Christian children’s entertainment — BIBLEMAN — and we have a special guest to help us. Harleigh Ellsworth is not only the star of the 2001 BIBLEMAN episode “LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION”, but she is also the daughter of Willie Aames (who plays the titular BIBLEMAN in addition to writing, directing, and editing the original series) and Maylo McCaslin (who voices BIBLEMAN’s trusty computer U.N.I.C.E.) Harleigh tells us how the BIBLEMAN franchise was almost fully a family production, since her father Willie Aames was so hands on in all aspects of the show, including spending nearly 9 months per year touring as a part of the elaborate Bibleman live show that drew crowds of kids all over the United States. The episode we focus on today is truly a family affair, since mom, dad, and daughter all appear in the cast. In LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION (2001), Harleigh plays Riley, a newly converted Christian 12-year-old who is tempted to rejoin her old friend group, who are bad influences on her and would not be beneficial to her on her spiritual path. Parallel to this Christian moral quandary is a storyline about an evil, hypnotic website called www.HackEmUp.com that recurring BIBLEMAN villain Luxor Spawndroth uses to tempt insecure Christians and lead them back to their sinful past lives. Can BIBLEMAN and his hacker protege Cypher stop Riley from throwing her faith away? It was a pleasure to get such an intimate, inside look at the media we cover from someone who was there to see it all happen, so we can’t thank Harleigh enough for spending the time to share her family’s unique story with us. Also, shoutouts to our friend Dana for assisting us with the research for this.

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Lindsay Lohan, Felicity Huffman, and Jane Fonda star as three generations of a dysfunctional Idaho family in GEORGIA RULE, a decidedly secular and genuinely bizarre film that uses Mormon social culture as a backdrop for a fish-out-of-water story where a troubled city girl named Rachel (portrayed by Lohan) is sent to live with her country grandmother for the summer. Rachel feels like an outsider in her new town, and her attempts at being extremely sexually forward with any of the men who are nice to her earns her an army of slut-shaming haters who watch her every move on binoculars, or following her with their cars. But this sexually precocious behavior from a seventeen-year-old character is clearly coming from a traumatized place. When Rachel confesses to the town veterinarian about her repeated childhood rapes by her stepfather, the vet dutifully informs Rachel’s family, but drama starts when Rachel repeatedly takes back the accusations, and then takes her denial back again multiple times so viewers are in a constant state of suspense about who the monster is in this movie. Although there is something that seems very real about the character of Rachel constantly flip-flopping on how to cope with her own rape, this constant giving and taking back of very serious allegations is an unparalleled act of psychic terrorism to the first-time viewer trying to keep up with the story. This juxtaposition of the horrifying plot with the idyllic, quirky small-town setting adds to the level of surrealness that makes GEORGIA RULE a harrowing watch that could at first glance be mistaken for a fluffy “Hallmark”-type movie. This quality, plus the film’s fair and balanced meditation on Mormon cultural values, make GEORGIA RULE a film we’ve been looking forward to talking about on the show for ages.

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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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In this special episode, we spotlight one of our all time favorite directors who barely gets any coverage in press, even by fans of obscure cinema. We’re changing that today! cTom is one of the aliases of a mysterious film director who had an incredible run of directing six feature films from 2011-13. These are extremely low budget productions, starring unknown actors, but the conceptual scope of all of them is extremely ambitious. Our personal favorite is THE PRESIDENT GOES TO HEAVEN, a satire about a former United States president who falls into a coma and converts to Islam while unconscious and awaiting an illegal organ transplant. C Tom’s politics are basically impossible to pin down, because his writing is pretty incoherent, but the way this film blends webs of conspiracy theories, theological discussions, and toilet humor makes for an endlessly compelling watch. Our friend, reporter and author Lenny Flatley, shares our appreciation for C Tom, so we’re excited to have him back on to talk about the director’s work, and Lenny’s own upcoming book New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and His Cosmic Family, which comes out on August 17, 2021.

Buy Lenny's new book New Age Grifter: The True Story of Gabriel of Urantia and His Cosmic Family

Check out Lenny's work, with links to all his articles and podcasts: https://www.lennyflatley.net

Follow Lenny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennyflatley

Read Lenny's article on cTom

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