Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Surprise Saturday: From "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" to "Heretic" - A Double Take
Can a film adaptation ever really capture the magic of live theatre? That's what we ponder as we venture into the world of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," where we unexpectedly found ourselves misty-eyed. Join me, Nathan (aka Natey), and my wife as we discuss how this film not only held its own against the cherished stage version but also delivered a Christmas tale brimming with emotion and heart. With its detailed storytelling and powerful performances, we agree that it's a family gem worth watching, whether you're a fan of faith-filled cinema or simply in need of a holiday uplift.
Switching gears, we explore the unexpected terrain of a religious drama starring Hugh Grant, whom you might not typically associate with such a role. With a gripping performance that veers away from his romantic comedy roots, Grant shines in a film that questions faith and dances around the concept of miracles. We delve into the nuances of his character's interactions with two Mormon girls, offering a narrative that might be unsettling but is undeniably captivating. Alongside our review of "Heretic," which we rate with thoughtful consideration, we set the stage for next week's dissection of "Gladiator," as we prepare for the arrival of its much-anticipated sequel.
Surprise Saturday with you Time parade One stop, flip today. One move and we stay. Hey, why'd you have to tell them they get food at church? Dummy? Because I didn't think they'd actually walk into a church building.
Speaker 3:I'm surprised they didn't burst into flames.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I didn't volunteer. Did I ruin the pageant? Oh?
Speaker 3:my goodness, no, honey, beth. I will tell you what I told those condescending, hyper-controlling busybodies from church that while Helen Armstrong might be surprised the sun rises every morning, even though she's not there to supervise it, she is not the only woman in the world who can run a Christmas pageant. And if they don't think I can do it, they are in for a big lesson. You said all that. Well, not all of it, Any of it, never mind.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, it's a Surprise Saturday episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan aka Nady, of course, and this is a double feature surprise Saturday episode. I'm going to be talking about two movies, one with my beautiful wife and the other one that I saw by myself, and, ironically enough, these are both kind of faith-based films, kind of faith-based films, but the second one is not what you would consider a pro faith-based film. So let's go to the pro faith-based film first. And that is the best christmas pageant ever. Babe, what did you think of this movie?
Speaker 2:I really enjoyed it what did you enjoy about it? Like if you had to say what's like one or two things you liked about it and one or two things that you didn't like about it I liked how they told the story yes, she's, she's a woman of many words, folks.
Speaker 2:So the uh. There's a local theater here in our town that does this production every year. It's like an annual tradition of the best christmas pageant ever, and I love going to see it because sometimes I have like past or present students that are in this production because it has a lot of kids in it, and so when they announced that this movie was coming out, I was excited about it because I, yeah, I just love the production and uh, but I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, because I do theater, I love theater, I love live theater, I do theater, I love theater, I love live theater. And I didn't know how it was going to translate on film. And so, babe, have you ever seen the production of it?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So that's actually a good question. Did you enjoy the movie or the live theater production?
Speaker 1:I think I enjoyed the movie more.
Speaker 2:Why.
Speaker 1:Because I like how they did the story. Oh my gosh, I just like it.
Speaker 2:But what about the story?
Speaker 1:I felt like there was more detail.
Speaker 2:Okay okay, yeah, because it's based on a book and so this probably. I've never read the book, but I'm assuming it probably had a little bit more details in the book. I do know that there's a certain scene that they added just for the movie, when they're talking about how Jesus came for the herdmans just as much as he came for everybody else, everybody else. I heard that that was actually put into the film specifically. Just to round out the true meaning of what the film's message is. I will say, like I said before, I've seen this production live and there's one part in particular that I always tear up at, and this movie it got me at that exact same spot.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna spoil the movie. I think everyone should go see it. I think it's really well done. I do think it's really well done. I kind of like how it had a kind of a christmas story feel to it, because there's a narrator throughout it and so it's the person telling the story of a christmas of their past, and so it kind of had that that feel to it and kind of had the kind of the look of a christmas story too. So I kind of like that. They're kind of I don't know if they were doing that on purpose or that's just how it looked. I mean, did did you notice that? Then it kind of had that feel to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought you mentioned it, yeah.
Speaker 2:I love having my wife on the show. She should come on the show a lot more often because she loves to be so detailed in her thoughts and, honestly, I think we work really well together because she says the short, sweet to the point thing and then I kind of divulge into what I think she's meaning and I could be right or I could be wrong. So is there anything you didn't like about it?
Speaker 1:Oh, not that I can think of.
Speaker 2:I just like live theater. What I like about seeing the productions is, again like I said before, I like being able to see kids that I actually know in the production. I think it means more to me when I see actual live children. Not saying that the children in the movie aren't live, but if you know theater then you know what I'm talking about. If you appreciate live theater then you understand what I'm saying. But I thought the performances in the movie were really well done. I thought they were very subtle. I didn't think the kids were too kid like whiny. They didn't come off as that, they just played the parts very well. Uh yeah, it was a heartfelt movie. I highly recommend it. What would you give this movie? One to six stars um, say 5.5 yeah, I, I'd care.
Speaker 2:I'd probably get a five, 5, 5.52, just because, for my reasoning is because you can't beat live theater and yes, the movie still got me in those moments and I almost sobbed Like I didn't just tear up.
Speaker 1:My wife was sitting next to me and she was probably looking at me like I saw you crying.
Speaker 2:But if you see the movie, there's a specific moment.
Speaker 1:You do tear up too. Do tear it up too.
Speaker 2:I tear it up too yeah there's a specific moment and it's the way I think it's just the way the child actor delivered the line, Just the way she said the line. It just I lost it. It's a great film. It really is good. I highly recommend, if you have a chance, to go see the live production of it, I think you should go see that as well. Just go see both if you have a chance. So that is the first of the double feature episode, so let's move on to the next one.
Speaker 3:As I understand it. Stop me when I go wrong. He was visited in the night by an angel called Moroni.
Speaker 1:Moroni.
Speaker 3:Moroni, who showed him where he could locate some golden plates near his home. His mysterious translation of those plates formed the basis of this Wow, no, you read more than we do. No, seriously, we should be more like you, mr. Wow, no, you read more than we do. No, seriously, we should be more like you, mr Read. Mr Read, pie smells amazing, and now that you've been studying the Book of Mormon, how does it make you feel? Can you guess what kind of pie she's making? Is it blueberry pie? It is blueberry pie.
Speaker 1:My favourite.
Speaker 3:Going back. Can I ask how did your father pass away? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have Gehrig's disease, blueberry disease. Okay that's wonderful Blueberry disease. Who wouldn't want that?
Speaker 1:Lou Gehrig's disease Gehrig's.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's awful. I'm so sorry I misheard. That is a malicious affliction. I thought you were making a joke about the pie, sorry. Yeah, have you seen any signs of your father since he passed? Has he tried to?
Speaker 1:communicate from the other side.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 2:That's strange. So our next movie is Heretic. This is the new faith horror. I guess that's the genre they're using. Movie that it was interesting, but before I could talk about it I have to go over the synopsis. Two young religious women are drawn into a game of cat and mouse in the house of a strange man. Heretic stars Hugh Grant, sophie Thatcher, chloe East and Topher Grace.
Speaker 2:I found that really random that Topher Grace was in this. He doesn't play a huge character, but just the fact that he was there randomly it was random to me. But just the fact that he was there randomly it was random to me. So right off the bat, the number one thing I really liked about this movie was Hugh Grant's performance. I thought he was brilliant. Everyone knows Hugh Grant as the romantic comedy guy from Bridget Jones' Diary about a boy. All these random romantic comedies. That's what Hugh Grant is known for movie is that he hones in on that but delivers it in a way that comes off borderline, creepy and awkward and just out of place in this movie. But it works. So his performance was the standout for me and other people have said that he should try other like horror movies and but I don't know, I think this performance is so unique and if he was to do it again, it wouldn't be unique anymore, and so I think this is like a one and done kind of thing for him. At least that's what I think it should be. The other performers in this film were fine. They were great. There weren't bad performances in this movie.
Speaker 2:I say that this is not a pro-faith based film because the whole premise is that these two girls, who are Mormons, try to convert Hugh Grant's character and he basically, uh, makes them question their beliefs, makes them question why they believe what they believe. Are they just believing this because they've been told to? Is it just because there's a sort of control that comes with religion? And that's why I think it's very important, as a Christian, be able to say that my Christianity, my belief system, is not based off solely a religion, as it is a relationship with Christ. And so that's why I watched this movie, and while there were moments that it was kind of like unsettling what they were talking about, at the same point it didn't deter me from my own faith, and I think it's because I just enjoyed Hugh Grant's performance more than anything else.
Speaker 2:The storyline itself. This is an A24 movie, and this is a studio who makes some really random movies and with some really weird premises. I could be wrong, but this is, I think, the same studio that made that movie man, which was one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen in my life, and so I take their stories with a grain of salt. I don't think too much about it. I don't let it bother my belief system when it's a film that's basically questioning my belief system, and so I look past that. I feel like I have the ability to do that most times where a movie that some Christians would say, hey, you probably shouldn't be going to see, that I have a way of overlooking things, and that could be a good or bad thing, depending on who you are. But with a movie like this, I already knew, going into it, what the premise probably is, was going, was going to be, and I wasn't far off, and so that's why I think I can look at it and be like, okay, it's, it's, it is what it is. The message is trying to say what it's going to say, but at the end of the film it kind of leaves it up in the air if miracles are real or not. I mean the fact that the girl towards the end gets out the way she does kind of solidifies that miracles are real. But yeah, I mean I didn't. The storyline didn't bother me because hugh grant's performance just carried this film. I think he did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I would actually recommend it. I don't know if I would actually recommend it to any of my Christian friends. If you are looking for a movie with a great performance in it, I would recommend it. But if you're one of those people who you know to tear people away from certain movies, then yeah, this probably isn't for you.
Speaker 2:So I would give Heretic probably a four out of six stars because the storyline I know what it was trying to do and so I can't give it a high score because I just didn't agree with the message, even though it kind of, like I said before, it kind of left it up in the air what the message, the final message, was supposed to be. So I would give this movie a four out of six. So that is the double feature episode of the best christmas pageant ever and heretic. So you can listen to katie and i's opinions about gladiator just a few days before Gladiator 2 this Tuesday on Nadie and Katie. At the movies we need to know Romance or action, comedy or fright. Stick with us and see what's coming tonight.
