I love movies and television. I love the medium and how you can tell stories in a different way than you can through text or audio or gameplay. A well made film is 100% film – something that would never work the same on just the page. The stories shared in movies are powerful – let’s face it, you’re more likely to meet someone who has watched the same movies as you than has read the same books or listened to the same albums. We can consume them quickly, repeatedly (sometimes in the same day) and, like it or not, their messages become a part of us.

I was recommended this channel by my awesome friend who loves Aragorn. I was messaging him during my annual rewatch of ‘Fellowship of the Ring’, talking about the friendships in the film and how we don’t see male friends that often in film, who are truly close and who don’t shy away from showing their affection.

So he drops this video into the chat:

As if I needed a reason to love these films and Aragorn even more.

I instantly became hooked on Cinema Therapy. The premise is that these two BFFs since college, one of them a licensed therapist (Johnathan) and the other a professional film maker (Alan), talk about movies and what they can teach us, using both of their areas of expertise.

From what I can tell, they had the brilliant idea to start this channel awhile ago, got ready to launch and then 2020 happened, so they started out the series socially distant, but they made it work, focusing on stories and how they can help us get through uncertain times.

These guys love movies and they are such good friends, it is a joy to watch them interact. I haven’t caught up completely on the back catalog yet, I’m working my way through it, but of course I started with the two videos about ‘Serenity‘ since I know that movie back and forth. There is also a hilarious video about ‘The Nativity Story‘ – funny because Alan can’t stand the movie and Johnathan seems to have a soft spot for it but there is one thing they can both agree on – Oscar Isaac is always the best. ALWAYS.

It’s just science.

(Total aside, but I want their home theater chairs. And the home theater. And I am *this* close to buying some of that ridiculous popcorn they get from Lisa’s Passion for Popcorn because I want to know what the heck those flavors even taste like!)

If you love revisiting your favorite films and discovering new layers to their stories, if you go to movies when times are tough to find comfort or if you just need a YouTube channel to watch while waiting for the next Pop Culture Detective essay to drop, Cinema Therapy is a solid choice to fill your time and your mind.