Rich:
David and I sat down on the 16th of July, one week before the last book came out and one week after having seen the fifth movie, and I did what very few have the guts to do: I made a prediction concerning the end of the book, based solely on a "pet theory". Was I right? Well, that's for you to find out, when you listen to the latest episode of Christ and Culture!

This time, we discuss not only what's going to happen in the next book, but also whether or not the series can be called "great," a "classic," "Christian," or all of the above!

Also on the show, we discuss the fifth movie, and give our top five books we'd read to our children, or encourage our children to read (other than Harry Potter of course).

We hope you enjoy this show, because it'll likely be the last one for a couple weeks. David and I are taking some time off. I'm leaving for vacation for a couple weeks, and David has a new baby, which I figure is a reason to take a break for a while. Look out for smaller episodes on single-issues in the meantime, and look for a new episode sometime in August!

And remember, you can always send your feedback to christandpopculture@gmail.com (or just leave a comment). Maybe we'll read your email on the air!

Rich: As you may have guessed, I've been spending most of this weekend reading the last installment of Harry Potter. What that means, is that I was NOT spending it editing the show. This means the show will be a little late this week. Sometime tonight at the earliest, Wednesday night at the latest. You can look forward to lots of Harry Potter related talk, as well as another top five.

Sorry David, I was never one to take dares, and I'm certainly not going to start now. There's no way I could list my top-five favorite movies, with no qualifiers whatsoever. That's just way to much to work with. I'm an extremely forgetful person, so all I would end up doing is listing the Top Five Movies I Can Remember Right Now.

So, here you go, the Top Five Movies I Can Remember Right Now:

1. Prairie Home Companion Altman meets Keillor meets Solomon on his deathbed. Awesome.
2. Thank You For Smoking I really wish that guy wasn't starring in that lame romantic comedy with Catherine Zeta Jones. He's so much better than that.
3. 28 Days Later Seriously, because I totally can't think of much else. 28 Days Later is by far my favorite horror film, so that'll work.
4. Donnie Darko I got it the first time, and it was awesome.
5. Waking Life This was added to the list specifically to make you sorry you asked! Also, it's Linkletter's best ever.

In lue of the recent podcast on summer blockbusters David posts here his favorite films. A top five movies is hard to pick, but here's what he's come up with:

1) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I've counted these movies as one, because they should be. It is, after all, one magnificent story. To make a movie about a classic fantasy is hard, and Peter Jackson certainly had his critics. It is the opinion of this fan, however, that Jackson has achieved a masterpiece with this movie!)

2) Young Frankenstein (This is an American classic! Mel Books does some of his best work with this comic take on the old Frankenstein story. With Gene Wilder as the young Dr. Frankenstien you can't fail to laugh. The humor and the storytelling of this film show Brooks at his best.)

3) Rear Window (Disturbia may be a 21st century attempt at this classic Hitchcock film, but it doesn't compare to the original. Jimmy Stewart does a superb job in this suspense thriller, and Hitchcock is the master of good suspense. Filmmakers today should take their cues from him.)

4) Duck Soup (As masters of both physical comedy and witty insults the Marx Brothers may have earned themselves the title of best comedy of all time!)

5) Casablanca (I know what you're thinking, but it's not a chick-flick, and yes everybody mentions this movie. The reality, however, is that there is a reason everyone talks about it, there's a reason it's a classic: because its good! With class, dynamic character development, and excitement director Michael Curtiz crafts this beautiful story. It's a great movie for movie-lovers, for hopeless romantics, and for guys!)

 

Its my hope that by posting this I will force Rich to give me his top five favorite movies! Bring it on Rich!

In this episode, we attempt to get the summer movies out of our system by discussing a number of big summer movies:

*Does anything happen at all in Spiderman Three?
*Should Shrek 3 even exist?
*What on earth happened with Pirates of the Caribbean 3?
*Why did Live Free or Die Hard cause Rich to have a moral crisis?
*What's really wrong with Michael Moore's Sicko (and it doesn't have anything to do with insurance)?
*Why is Transformers a dangerous movie for Christians?

Also, we talk about the upcoming format change for the podcast!

Please let us know what you think by emailing us at christandpopculture [at] gmail.com

Well, we've gotten some feedback for our first show and have decided to make some various changes. We hope to make the show shorter and more concise. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let us know! Stay tuned for the next, new and improved episode, coming Monday, July 16!

Pop-Culture permeates all of our lives. It influences the way people speak, think, and how the view the world around them. As Christians we know that Christ and the gospel are to dominate our lives, but we do live in this world of pop-culture. All this begs the question, "How should Christians interact with the pop-culture around them?"

Rich and David, in their first podcast, ask this question and pose some answers. What is pop-culture, why should Christians care about it, and how should they interact with it are all on the table for discussion.

Besides this main topic the two will also be talking about two new blockbuster films: 1408, and Evan Almighty as well as counting down our Top Five Favorite Moments in Pop Culture History.

We welcome feedback and would love to address some of it on the podcast. Please send any comments, questions, etc. to christandpopculture@gmail.com.