R-Rated Movie Club is a newsletter about R-rated movies and theology from a clergy nerd. Subscribe today at Substack.
Movies and faith go hand-in-hand. See the sacred in the secular from the perspective of a progressive, inclusive theologian and lifelong lover of all things cinema. Subscribe today to read free!
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I’m passing out free ribbons at CONvergence 2025 this weekend, July 3-6, 2025.
If you see my daugher or me at CONvergence, just tell us your favorite R-rated movie to receive your free ribbon!
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About Me
I’m Rev. Nate Melcher and I love going to the movies and wondering about faith. I’m ordained clergy in Minnesota with experience in teaching and performance.
Also pictured:
The Millennium Falcon.
The first R-rated movie I saw was The Blues Brothers and I was five.
The movies I’ve seen the most is Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The movie that changed how I think about movies is Pulp Fiction.
The movie I’m proud that my kids liked when they were five is 2001: A Space Odyssey.
My favorite R-rated movie you maybe haven’t seen yet is Out of Sight.
My favorite movies of 2024 were Dune Part II, Flow, and Strange Darling.
My favorite movies of 2025 so far are Friendship, Paddington in Peru and Sinners.
R-Rated Movie Club is my creative outlet to have fun putting all three of my degrees to work: BA Film Studies, MFA Creative Writing, and M.Div. This newsletter is my own creation and written on my own time and is not affiliated with nor endorsed by any church or religious entity where I am employed.
Learn more about R-Rated Movie Club here or book me officiate your wedding here.
All of my stuff is on LinkTree.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links here are affiliate links, which means at no cost to you, I earn affiliate commission if you tap or click the link and finalize a qualifying purchase.
All of the Movies I've Written About So Far:
Main Movie Database
I’ve written about these R-rated movies as a main topic:
Sunday Matinee | SM – Weekly (mostly) entries about 1 movie and 1 scripture text
Feature Presentation | FP – Occasional deep dives on 1 movie
Movies Ranked | MR – Monthly recaps of all the movies I watched
Bonus Content | BC – Occasional bonus dives on 1 movie
A Complete Unknown | SM118
A Few Good Men | SM14, SM68
Aliens | SM18
Alien³ | SM61
Alien: Romulus | FP5
American History X | SM123
Anatomy of a Fall | SM94
Animal House | SM63
Army of Darkness | SM78
A Simple Plan | FP5
Bamboozled | SM97
The Basketball Diaries | SM131
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead | SM73
Bird Box | SM11
Blade Runner | SM64
Blade Runner 2049 | SM12
Blazing Saddles | SM22, SM85
The Blues Brothers | FP1, BC1, SM6, SM36
The Breakfast Club | SM29
Caddyshack | SM59
Carrie | SM17
Clerks II | SM121
Cocaine Bear | FP3, BC3
Commando | SM76
The Contender | SM122
Cop Land | SM67
Crazy Heart | SM88
Deadpool | SM4, SM30
Deadpool & Wolverine | SM86
The Dirty Dozen | SM70
Donnie Brasco | SM81
The Edge | SM58
Election | SM33
Emily the Criminal | SM10
Evil Dead II | SM5
Final Destination | SM62
Foxy Brown | SM83
Frances Ha | SM8
Gladiator | SM3
Glory | SM15, SM20, SM65
Goodfellas | SM77
The Godfather Part II | SM75
The Green Mile | SM124
Heat | SM60, SM80, SM82
Heist | SM72
Horrible Bosses | SM93
Jackie Brown | SM26
Jerry Maguire | SM57
JFK | SM96
The Joy Luck Club | SM84
Kill Bill Vol. 1 | SM79
Lady Bird | SM13
Life of Brian | SM23
Logan | SM53
Mad Max: Fury Road | SM37, SM38, SM39, SM40
The Matrix | SM2
Mother (1996) | SM28
Mother! (2017) | SM21
Night of the Living Dead | SM74
Nope | SM9
Out of Sight | SM69
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | SM27, SM71
Presence | SM120
Psycho | SM66
Pulp Fiction | SM25
Renfield | SM90
Reservoir Dogs | SM24, SM89
RoboCop (1987) | SM31
Ronin | FP2, BC2
Run Lola Run | SM119
Scent of a Woman | SM55
Shaun of the Dead | SM95
The Shawshank Redemption | SM19
Sicario | SM7
Stand By Me | SM16
Starship Troopers | SM54
Tetris | SM98
Thank You for Smoking | SM91
Tombstone | SM56
Trading Places | SM32
Vacation | SM34
Witness | SM35
You Hurt My Feelings | SM92
Zombieland | SM87
R-Rated Movie Mentions
I’ve mentioned these R-rated movies, but not as a main topic in these entries:
A Different Man | MR325
Alien | SM2, SM4
Aliens | SM4
Alien: Covenant | FP5
Alien: Resurrection | FP5
Alien vs. Predator | FP5
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem | FP5
American Beauty | FP5
Analyze This | FP2
The Apprentice | MR325
Bad Words | MR325
BASEketball | SM57
Better Man | MR325
Black Bag | MR425
Blade Runner | SM12
Bring Them Down | MR425
Cape Fear | SM3, SM7, SM9, BC2
Casino | FP2, BC2
The Conjuring | SM2, SM4
Cop Land | FP2, BC2
Deadpool | SM2, SM4
Deadpool 2 | SM2, SM4
The Deer Hunter | SM7, SM9, BC2
Die Hard | FP2
Eyes Wide Shut | FP2
The Fan | FP2
Fight Club | SM64
The Fundamentals of Caring | MR425
Get Shorty | FP2
The Gift | MR425
The Girl with the Needle | MR325
Gladiator II | MR425
Glengarry Glen Ross | SM3
The Godfather | SM75
The Godfather Part II | SM7, SM9, FP2, BC2
Goodfellas | FP2, BC2
The Hangover | SM2, SM4
Heretic | MR425
Heat | FP2, BC2
How to Have Sex | MR425
The Irishman | SM7
Jackie Brown | FP2, BC2
Lady Bird | SM21
Logan | SM2, SM4
Mad Max | FP5
Malcolm X | MR325
The Matrix | SM2, SM4
Mickey 17 | MR425
No Country for Old Men | FP2
Novocaine (2025) | MR325
Oldboy (2003) | MR425
Out of Sight | FP2
Paul | SM19
Predator | MR325
Predator 2 | MR325
Predators | MR325
The Predator | MR325
Prey | MR325
Prometheus | FP5
Pulp Fiction | BC2
Raging Bull | SM7, SM9
Reservoir Dogs | BC2
RoboCop | SM66
The Road Warrior | FP5
Saving Private Ryan | SM67
The Shawshank Redemption | SM67
Schindler’s List | FP5
The Shining | FP2
The Silence of the Lambs | SM9, FP2
Silver Linings Playbook | SM7, SM9
Sing Sing | MR325
Sleepers | FP2
Sling Blade | FP5
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat | MR325
The Spanish Prisoner | SM3
Strange Darling | MR325
Taxi Driver | SM3, SM7, SM9, BC2
There Will Be Blood | FP2
Threesome | MR325
The Terminator | SM2, SM4, SM54
Terminator 2: Judgment Day | SM4, SM64
Uncommon Valor | MR425
The Untouchables | BC2
Wag the Dog | FP2, BC2
Other Movie and TV Mentions
I’ve mentioned thse movies and TV shows but not as a main topic as they’re not rated R.
2001: A Space Odyssey | FP2, SM69
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle | FP2
Awakenings | SM7, SM9
Barbie | FP5
Ben-Hur | SM20
Birdman of Alcatraz | SM3
Blues Brothers 2000 | FP1
Captain America: Civil War | SM21
Dracula (1931) | SM74
Dune Part 1 | MR325
Dune Part 2 | FP5
The Empire Strikes Back | BC2
E.T. The Extraterrestrial | SM19
Frankenstein (1931) | SM74
Ghostbusters | BC1
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | FP2
Grand Prix | SM3
Harry Potter movies | SM8
I’m Still Here | MR325
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | BC2
Inside Out | FP5
Interstellar | FP5
James Bond movies | FP2
Justified TV series | FP2
The King of Comedy | BC2
Lord of the Rings | SM8, FP2
The Manchurian Candidate | SM3
Meet the Parents | FP2
The Mission | BC2
Mission: Impossible | FP2
Monty Python and the Holy Grail | SM74
North By Northwest | FP2
Phantom of the Opera (1925) | SM74
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish | SM11
Raiders of the Lost Ark | FP1, BC1
She’s Having a Baby | SM71
Snow White (1933) | FP5
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat | MR325
Spider-Man | SM21
Star Wars | FP1, SM8, BC2, FP5
Touch of Evil | FP2
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? | FP5
The Wizard of Oz | FP5
X-Men | SM2, SM4, SM53