Seeing And Believing With Wade Bearden & Kevin Mclenithan

The day has unfortunately arrived: Wade is donning his hat and riding off into the sunset. We pull out all the stops to see Wade off in style, with a retro review of one of Wade's all-time favorite films, some reminiscences about memorable theatrical experiences and fun podcast moments, and even Wade's manifesto of art and moviegoing. Tune in for a fun extravangaza like none other the show has ever seen! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's episode features a Patron Pick courtesy of James Hutton, and it's a doozy: Paul Thomas Anderson's complex, sprawling 1999 film, Magnolia. Wade and Kevin probe the depths of its spiritual undertones, discuss the film's controversial ending, and determine how kind the past two decades have been to what was one of the most critically acclaimed films of the '90s. Plus, an announcement about Wade's impending retirement, which has Kevin sadly lip-synching along to a non-diegetic Aimee Mann song… To read David Roark's essay on this film, click here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first stirrings of awards season make themselves felt this week with a star-studded biopic, and this one is right up Seeing & Believing's alley! The Eyes of Tammy Faye stars Jessica Chastain in the title role of Tammy Faye Bakker and follows her steps from obscure itinerant minister to the figurehead of one of the biggest televangelism programs ever to exist. Costarring Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker, Michael Showalter's retelling of the Bakker saga digs into the lives and scandals of the most recognizable televangelist duo in America, exploring the hazy line that divides ministry from business and heartfelt spirituality from insincere posturing. Wade and Kevin take a look at how well the film captures a peculiarly American form of Christianity, warts and all. Plus, they make a big announcement about the future of the podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back when Destin Daniel Cretton was directing critically acclaimed indie dramas like Short Term 12, nobody would have thought to pair him with the biggest blockbuster franchise in history, but that's exactly what's happened with the latest entry in the MCU, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. With cinematic luminaries like Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh and an action-style indebted to the martial arts films of China and Hong Kong, Disney/Marvel take viewers into uncharted territory for the MCU. How successful are they in getting us there? Wade and Kevin take a look! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Interested in a musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard? How about a rock opera starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, and a wooden puppet representing their child? That's what Wade and Kevin dig into this week as they discuss Annette, the Palme d'Or-nominated film from French director Leos Carax, now streaming on Amazon Prime. The guys talk opera, magical realism, the line between sincerity and irony, and the nature of sin as they dig into Annette's bold and strange world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A common critic cliche is to say that watching a bad action movie feels like watching somebody else play a video game, but what Free Guy supposes is, “What if we treated that not just as an okay thing but as an actual goal?” Part Wreck-It Ralph, part The Matrix, part The Truman Show, Shawn Levy’s new film features Ryan Reynolds as a smiling, innocent person who finds out that he’s not a person after all but a background character in a video game. Or can he be both? Wade and Kevin log on to see how well Free Guy answers these questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys take a turn for the roguish with this week's episode, as they talk about the latest adventure for DC's #1 band of psychos and misfits, The Suicide Squad. Erstwhile MCU director James Gunn switches teams for this reboot of the much-reviled 2016 film of (almost) the same title, and the question on everyone's mind (or least Wade and Kevin's) is "Does Gunn manage to spin straw into gold?" Given Gunn's trademark taste for off-kilter third-string comic-book characters and amoral antiheroes, it certainly seems like a good match, but does everything go according to plan? Or is the stink of 2016's iteration of the Squad too hard to wash off? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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After his foray into creating a superhero cinematic universe, M. Night Shyamalan is back to his bread and butter — spine-tingling chillers — with Old, the movie about how seaside resorts and beach vacations are the absolute worst. A family goes on vacation, discovers a beach that causes everyone to age unnaturally fast, and encounters many other obstacles that can't be divulged due to spoilers. Wade and Kevin take a look to find out where Old fits into Shyamalan's checkered career and determine just how many years will be taken off their lives by the end of this week's episode. Grab your water wings and join them! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A story about the spiritual realm and the souls that populate it. A quiet vibe reminiscent of Hirokazu Kore-eda. A cast including Winston Duke, Benedict Wong, Zazie Beetz, and Tony Hale. How could Seeing & Believing say no? Wade and Kevin take a look at the ethereal debut feature from Japanese-Brazilian director Edson Oda to see if these elements result in a film as wonderful as its constituent parts sound. Join them on their excursion into a world before life and death! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a long time away, the MCU makes its return to Seeing & Believing! Wade and Kevin take a look at Scarlett Johansson's swan song as Black Widow in a prequel that takes the superspy on a globetrotting adventure to reconnect with family members, stop an evil villain from using super-soldiers to control the world, and make peace with her checkered past. The guys discuss Black Widow's place among the Avengers cast, how well this new film serves as a sendoff to the character, and what the story signals about the future of the franchise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It wouldn't be summer at the movies without sci-fi action blockbusters. Director Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie) and star Chris Pratt fill that gap with The Tomorrow War, which imagines a near future where a near-apocalyptic conflict with an alien species forces humanity to recruit soldiers from the population of today's present. Threads of fatalism, family complexities, and hope are threaded through the film among action setpieces and time-travel shenanigans, and Wade and Kevin are on the case to discuss how well the film strikes a balance between heady themes and good old-fashioned blockbuster thrills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buckle up, put the pedal to the metal, and engage in various other vehicle-themed activities, because this week's episode marks the maiden voyage of the Fast and the Furious franchise on Seeing & Believing. Though familiar with the exploits of Dom and his gearhead crew, Wade and Kevin haven't found the opportunity to review one of their adventures on the air until now. With rocket-propelled cars and ultra-powerful magnets (how do they work?), this latest entry in the series continues its custom of upping the ante. But does the quality increase with the stakes? Listen on to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys enter the sun-baked Mediterranean world of Pixar's latest film in this week's episode! Luca tells the story of a young boy named Luca (Jacob Tremblay) who, along with his best friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), dreams of acquiring a Vespa with the prize money from a big race and seeing the world. The only thing standing in their way? Luca and Alberto are secretly sea monsters. Wade and Kevin discuss where Luca fits into the ever-growing ranking of Pixar films and explore the film's themes of self-acceptance, ambition, and friendship. Come on in, the water's fine! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a lot of ways, the new musical In the Heights has finally hit theaters at the perfect time. As businesses fully reopen again and people prepare to get out of the house, what could be more of a fun summer activity than a fun summer musical. Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu helms this film version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway hit about an NYC neighborhood, its denizens, and their dreams of love, success, and belonging. Wade and Kevin dive right in to examine the hype and whether the film lives up to it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disney tries to drum up some sympathy for the devil with their latest live-action film to delve into the background of an animated villain. In Cruella, Emma Stone stars as the fabulous fashion magnate in her younger years, matching wits with the icy Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson). So is Cruella actually evil, or was she just drawn that way? Wade and Kevin are on the case, analyzing the film's themes and discussing the merits of this prequel romp to 101 Dalmatians. Plus: listener feedback on Saint Maud and weekly recommendations! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's the line between religious devotion and religious obsession? That's the question that Wade and Kevin explore with their review of Saint Maud, the religiously themed shocker from writer/director Rose Glass. Glass makes her feature debut with this story of a nurse named Maud (Morfydd Clark) providing hospice care to a dying professional dancer (Jennifer Ehle). Maud has a second mission on top of her duties as a nurse: in addition to caring for her patient's body, she also takes it on herself to save her soul. But do the disturbing visions that Maud is experiencing point to a darker element in her guileless belief? The guys take on these thorny issues in a discussion about how successfully Glass probes the depths of faith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Sicaro" writer Taylor Sheridan returns to the director's chair with "Those Who Wish Me Dead" starring Angelina Jolie. Wade and Kevin review this thriller where a fire watcher (Jolie) is on the run with a young boy who is holding evidence in a complicated mob trial while pursued by two assassins while outrunning an out-of-control forest fire. Does the film burn bright ahead of the summer blockbuster season or is it simply a pile of smoking ash? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's almost May, which means the action extravaganzas are finding their way to theaters and streaming for the blockbuster season. Warner Brothers kicks things off in a big, bloody way with its stab at resurrecting the Mortal Kombat franchise for filmgoers. This time, the story they build around the gory video game brawler involves a washed-up MMA fighter named Cole (Lewis Tan) who discovers that his dragon-shaped birthmark has landed him in the thick of centuries-old blood feuds and a high-stakes fighting tournament. Does this Simon McQuoid's film score a flawless victory, or is it another fatality in the history of misbegotten game-to-film adaptations? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a slight lull coming between awards season and blockbuster season, Wade and Kevin pause for a retro review of a film regarded by many critics as the best directorial one-off in cinema history. Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter offers an iconic villain in Robert Mitchum's Harry Powell, a corrupt preacher in Depression-era West Virginia who sets his sights on a widow and her two children in the hope of claiming a $10,000 windfall that is hidden somewhere in their home. Part thriller, part American fairy tale, and part expressionist visual feast, the film gives the guys plenty to dig into, from its shadowy cinematography to its unique commentary on religion at its worst and its best. Special thanks to show supporter Eric Johnson for selecting this film for us to review! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices