By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

THE END IS NIGH! At least for the hero of this month's movie review, The Shack, starring Sam Worthington of Avatar fame. He's back from Pandora (not really) and has an encounter with God as he goes after the killer of his daughter (yes, really). And in TV Corner, we examine a show which seems to have its own sub-genre: that of the mystery solving p…

Hello! It's been a while, and I know you've missed us. We review a quality movie and TV show for you toady, to make up for the long absence. We have acclaimed indie film First Reformed and hit CBS show "God Friended Me." Look for some more exciting news in the future, we have big plans for the next step of the podcast.…

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

Hello again, we are here in a timely fashion to give you three reviews! We bring you the Pureflix version of Samson, as well as Paul: Apostle of Christ. The cool thing about the last movie is that we got to see a rough cut sneak preview of the film in February, about a month and a half before it was realesed in theaters on Easter weekend. Then, in …

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

Do you ever experience what I call the "Moebius Strip of Conversation?" I experience it quite often. It is where one starts a conversation on one subject, and then through the natural process of carrying on a rambling conversation, one comes through the twists and turns of that palaver to the same subject. We do that here in our review of last year…

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

This is our 50th episode! We've been podcasting for 6 years! We're releasing this episode on the 4th of July! And we have 7 Christploitation movies watched and reviewed in this episode! It's a triple celebration, Christ-ploitation, extravaganza! (Triple-ation-Christ-ploitation-stravaganza!!!) As you can tell, I like to make up words and use exclama…

Have you ever wondered what really tough Christian ministry looks like? Martin Scorsese gives us a glimpse into the hardships and trials of two 17th century monks witnessing in Japan in his 2016 passion project, Silence. Mike and I have never been as divided in opinion over a movie as this. But we we equally flummoxed by the cable TV show "The Youn…

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

Welcome back to the podcast after our holiday break. Back at the begining of the season, our Thanksgiving weekend, Michael and I gave our thoughts about the classic comedy Defending Your Life by Albert Brooks and the new NBC somedy about "The Good Life." Both are very similar in concept, exploring and sending up our notions of the afterlife. If you…

Hello faithful listeners! We recently completed our Star Wars Trilogy, this episode rounds out another trilogy of sorts on the podcast. We have previously reviewed Doubt and Calvary, and this episode covers the Oscar winner for best picture, Spotlight. Christopher Marlowe Officially Credited As Co-Author Of 3 Shakespeare Plays George Lucas In Love …

Hello media fanatics! This month we offer up to you a smorgasbord of TV goodness (Well, most of it was good). With the new season of fall TV just around the corner, we take a look at some of the shows that graced our screens this last spring and summer. Four shows from four networks: Hulu's original show "The Path," AMC's comic book adaptation "Pre…

“Greetings, exalted one!” This episode is the last in our series on Star Wars. The first was on how religion and mythsinfluenced the creation of the Star Wars saga. In last month’s review of StarWars: The Force Awakens, we found the film had more style than substance,and that the only mythology that it relied on was its own. This episode is the rev…

Sorry about another long wait friends and listeners, but this podcaster had another round of eye surgeries which prevented me from doing many things, including the things I love like talking about Star Wars. But Mike and I are back and we have loads to talk about. We have the next several episode planned out, movies and TV shows viewed, and we are …

Star Wars is built from the many myths and religious themes that run through human history. George Lucas said he "Tried to tell an old story in an new way." In this month's episode, we examine just how Lucas pulled upon the work of his friend and mentor Joseph Campbell, the world's leading expert in the study of myth. We talk about how the myths of…

Hello, and welcome to the (once again) monthly CTG Podcast. This month’s offering is the Christian rebootof Left Behind (2014) starringNicholas Cage. In TV Corner we watch theAmazon original series “Hand of God.” Well, we watched part of it. One episode was quite enough. Also, remember almost exactly a year ago whenI recorded a rant essay imploring…

Hello faithful listeners! Sexualabuse in the church is a serious issue which continues to persist. There are noeasy resolutions. Even so, it seems asif the church is slow to satisfactorily work towards ending these despicablecrimes, slow in punishing those who perpetrate them, and also in preventingthem from happening in the future. Thismonth’s fil…

By Robert Wright-Stasko San Diego Comic Con 2015 is rightaround the corner. I am expecting thatthis year, just like the last several years, there will be some Christians withpoorly thought out slogans slapped onto protest signs, with big bullhornscausing brouhaha for comic book fans, cosplayers, and anyone else at theconvention trying to have an en…

We're Back! After a few months away, Mike and I are back and we are ready to rip into a riff worthy Christ-ploitation film, God's Not Dead. And in TV Corner, we attempt to delve into the reality show "Preachers of LA." Well, as deep as you can get in a reality show. Here are some websites to help you delve deeper into our discussion tangents, err, …

Happy New Year! In December, Mike and I had the chance to see Exodus: Gods and Kings, and thought "Hey, we've done three episodes over Ridley Scott movies, how about one more?" Is it the next Gladiator or more like American Psycho? Listen to our review to find out. In TV Corner we check out "The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible" at the su…

Season Greetings! We hope you are all well this Christmas Eve. This episode has been delayed not because of poor health of your hosts (which has happened in the past), but because of the failing health of the laptop used to produce this podcast. The issues seem to have been resolved, and so you get this present from Mike and Robert so you can liste…

As most people do, I receive a lot of spam in myemail. One day, while attempting toclean out my inbox, I ran across this advertisement from New Release Tuesday, aChristian music website. As soon as Isaw this it made me very angry. There isa lot a bad sentiment implied here; it is also misleading, andexploitative. A little harsh, you say? Ishall exp…

How does one make a movie about Scientology without it being about Scientology? In our discussion this month, we plumb the depths of meaning lurking within the frames of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. In TV Corner we look at the A&E western/procedural that is, ahem, on hiatus: "Longmire." This show helps us look at faith and politics from a Nat…

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT! In this episode we return to the popular post-apocalyptic genre looking at two of last year's films parodying the Biblical account of end of the world, This is the End and Rapture-palooza. In addition, we reveal our opinion of the new HBO series "The Leftovers." Also, take note of and consider your support f…

Hello, faithful listeners! This episode is coming to you on the eve of my (Robert's) very first short term mission trip, a week in Costa Rica spreading the good news of Jesus. While I am there, Mike and I hope you enjoy our discussion on Disney's Frozen and ABC's "Resurrection." When I get back I'll update this post with all of the links and cool s…

Greetings! SPOILER ALERT! If you have not seen the movie Noah starring Russel Crowe, be warned that this podcast contains many plot spoilers. But as the plot points in this movie were all by the book cliches, they will come as no surprise to you, even if you have not seen the film. In fact, don't go to see this movie; it's not very good. Just liste…

Bonjour! In this months episode, Mike and Robert turn their critical eye to the award winning Les Misérables starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. That's right--it's Wolverine vs. Jor-El in this musical set during France's Student Revolution. In TV corner we examine the British ITV production of "The Second Coming" with Ninth Doctor Christopher …

Welcome to another long awaited episode, number thirty-one, of “Checking the Gate: A Film and Religion Podcast.” This one is a doosie folks; we must be real film critics now because we both Mike and Robert have rants about all of the media we watched for this month. We viewed the Gerhard Butler vehicle Machine Gun Preacher and the popular, Fox Netw…

Hooray! We hit the big three-oh in our first episode for 2014. We look once again at “Doctor Who” which just celebrated its 50th anniversary to much fanfare, but first we look at the acclaimed Ang Lee flick Life of Pi. Life of Pi (2012) - IMDbDoctor Who as Religion | The Jesuit Post Next Time: We give our thoughts on Machine Gun Preacher starring G…

Happy Boxing Day! This special holiday edition of Checking the Gate brings you reviews of the foreign feature Joyeux Noel and the family series "Veggie Tales" Now that all the presents have been wrapped, given, unwrapped, and then played with, eaten, drank, watched, broken, or returned, you can sit back and relax with Mike and Robert. Joyeux Noel (…

Greetings! Hey, we are back on schedule! This month we talk about Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. Do you think that Vin Diesel's Riddick character is a Christ type, or is that streching the definition too far? We also do a roundup of several shows Mike and I have been watching this fall. Some of them have potential. Chronicles of Riddick…

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti

Celebrate Independence Day weekend with a new podcast from Checking the Gate. We evaluate the religious merits of the Hellboy movies and the short lived series "Save Me." Our Hellboy discussion, admittedly, is merely an excuse to talk about Guillermo Del Toro's new film Pacific Rim out July 12. But our discussion about "Save Me" get heated; Mike de…

By Robert Wright-Stasko and Mike Patti