Scene It Lately?

In this episode of Scene it Lately, Jason Davidson and Dave Williams take on Terrence Malick’s poetic and deeply reflective film The Tree of Life. More meditation than traditional narrative, the movie weaves together a 1950s Texas childhood, the grief of a family marked by loss, and sweeping cosmic imagery that stretches from the birth of the universe to the edge of eternity. Jason and Dave explore how the film resists easy answers and instead invites viewers into a slow, thoughtful experience of memory, beauty, suffering, and wonder.Through an educator’s lens, the conversation centers on Malick’s central tension between “nature” and “grace,” embodied in the opposing parenting styles of Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien. The hosts reflect on how this struggle mirrors daily life in classrooms - discipline and tenderness, structure and freedom - and how students, like the children in the film, are shaped as much by atmosphere and relationship as by instruction.From the film’s breathtaking cinematography and whispered internal monologues to its ambiguous and hopeful ending, this episode treats The Tree of Life as both a cinematic achievement and a spiritual reflection. Whether you found the movie transcendent, confusing, or somewhere in between, this conversation invites you to reconsider how memory, loss, and grace shape the stories we carry.

In this episode of Scene it Lately, Jason Davidson and Dave Williams revisit Fire in the Sky, the unsettling 1993 film inspired by the alleged 1975 alien abduction of Arizona logger Travis Walton. Rather than leaning on spectacle, the movie grounds its terror in small-town suspicion, fractured trust, and the uncomfortable space between truth and belief.Jason and Dave explore how the film uses its real-world origins to build tension - not just through the infamous abduction sequence, but through the emotional fallout that engulfs Walton’s friends, family, and community. They discuss the movie’s central themes of credibility, trauma, and the limits of what people are willing to accept as “real,” making thoughtful connections to the classroom, where perception, rumor, and conflicting narratives shape daily interactions.From Robert Patrick’s standout performance to the film’s unforgettable depiction of the alien encounter, this conversation considers Fire in the Sky as both a psychological mystery and a meditation on how humans respond when confronted with the unexplainable. Whether you’ve always believed Travis Walton’s story or are hearing it for the first time, this episode examines why the film continues to unsettle audiences decades later.

In this episode of Scene it Lately, Jason Davidson and Dave Williams step into the unforgiving landscape of the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men. With its sparse dialogue, unrelenting violence, and haunting silence, the film is as much a meditation on fate and morality as it is a thriller.Jason and Dave break down the film’s three central figures: Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), the weary observer struggling to understand a changing world; Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), the ordinary man who thinks he can outwit destiny; and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), the embodiment of inevitability whose coin tosses reveal the razor-thin line between chance and choice.Through an educator’s lens, they explore how No Country for Old Men parallels the pressures of teaching: the illusion of control, the weight of responsibility, and the unsettling realization that the world our students face may be harsher than the one we knew. With standout scenes like the gas station coin toss, the motel shootout, and Sheriff Bell’s closing dream, this episode digs into why the movie lingers long after the credits roll.Whether you’re a longtime admirer or a first-time viewer, this conversation will leave you questioning justice, inevitability, and what it means to live in a world that feels just out of control.

In this in-between seasons episode, Jason and Dave sit down to hash out their mixed—mostly frustrated—feelings about Zach Cregger’s Weapons. After the runaway success of Barbarian, expectations were sky-high for his follow-up, but what audiences got was a muddled horror mystery that overpromised and underdelivered. The premise—seventeen children vanishing at 2:17 a.m. while one is left behind—had the makings of a chilling thriller, yet the film leans so heavily into atmosphere and shock that it sacrifices character depth and narrative clarity. The result is a movie that feels stylish but hollow, more interested in piling on bizarre twists than building a story worth caring about.Throughout the episode, the hosts break down what worked in fleeting moments—some striking visuals, a few tense sequences—but return again and again to the sense of wasted potential. They question whether Justine, the teacher at the story’s center, was ever truly developed as a character, and if the supernatural twist with Gladys the witch actually cheapened the more compelling theme of communal grief and suspicion. Even the surprise casting of Toby Huss feels like a distraction rather than a clever touch. In the end, Jason and Dave agree that Weapons is a rare case of a film collapsing under the weight of its own hype, leaving them more disappointed than disturbed.

In this episode of Scene it Lately, Jason Davidson and Dave Williams head into the cinematic jungle to revisit Predator, John McTiernan’s genre-blending 1987 thriller that pits an elite military team—and their egos—against a technologically advanced alien hunter. But this isn’t just about explosions and catchphrases (though we cover those too).Through an educator’s lens, Jason and Dave unpack how Predator unexpectedly mirrors the high-stress terrain of modern teaching: shifting expectations, environmental pressure, leadership under fire, and the challenge of adapting when your best-laid plans fall apart. From classroom “survival strategies” to Dutch’s back-to-basics finale, this episode explores what the film still has to say—both about action cinema and the reality of making it through a school year.Whether you’re a longtime fan or watching for the first time, this conversation will have you thinking, laughing, and possibly rethinking how you handle your next “predator” moment—whether it’s a faculty meeting or a rogue copier jam.

*notes uploaded later*