Sinister (2012)
October 12, 2012
"Sinister" is not only director Scott Derrickson’s most fully realized vision but also his most personal film so far. And as haunted houses go, this one is beautifully noisy.
1 Comment15 Minutes
Argo (2012)
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
October 12, 2012
Many are predicting an array of Oscars for "Argo." It's a more deserving film than a lot of recent Best-Picture winners. Count me among its admirers. But don't number among the enthusiasts.
4 Comments12 Minutes
Compliance (or “Why I Walked Out”) (2012)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
October 9, 2012
0 Comments8 Minutes
Babette’s Feast (1987) and other food-related films
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
October 8, 2012
Caille en Sarcophage? Hallelujah! — A tribute to Babette's Feast and other big-screen cuisine.
3 Comments25 Minutes
No Country for Old Men (2007)
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
October 6, 2012
Five years ago today, No Country for Old Men played in the U.S. for the first time. The buzz had begun at the Cannes Film Festival a few months earlier, and anticipation was high. It went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, surprising some by winning over Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton; the Coens won the Best Directing award and the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay; and Javier Bardem won Best Supporting Actor. ... What’s your favorite Coen Brothers film? Can you think of any other novels that seem like great material for the Coens to adapt?
4 Comments15 Minutes
A Three-Star Rant About Thumbs
October 4, 2012
I want to read perspectives and interpretations... not assessments of "I liked it" or "It sucked." When I was a child watching Siskel and Ebert, the thumbs-up/thumbs-down was a suspenseful gimmick; I couldn't wait to see the sparks fly when the critics' thumb-ation of the film put them odds. But it was what they said beyond that, the thought process that inspired the thumb-arization, that affected me. They taught me that people could disagree on a film without one person being Right and the other person being Wrong.
2 Comments17 Minutes
This Blog's New Address
September 29, 2012
Thousands of dollars, countless hours in committee meetings, and all kinds of consumer testing later... we have a decision. This blog now has a convenient new address.
0 Comments1 Minute
"The Master": So Many Thoughtful Examinations and Interpretations, So Little Time!
September 26, 2012
Do you feel the tremors? Yeah, that's the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie in theaters. In-depth reviews are popping up everywhere. Here are links to some that I've found very helpful.
3 Comments7 Minutes
Happy Birthday, Jim Henson!
September 24, 2012
In celebration of the birthday of the late, great Jim Henson, Comment Magazine has posted a letter I wrote to Jim Henson's ghost...
0 Comments1 Minute
Can’t Stop the Signal: Flashback to Firefly
On Movies & Media,Interviews,Blog
September 24, 2012
Seven years ago this week, I met Joss Whedon and the cast of Serenity. Here, in their entirety for the first time, are my transcripts from those conversations.
2 Comments70 Minutes
The Master (2012) – A Long Post-Viewing Conversation
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
September 21, 2012
Here's an imaginary conversation between four moviegoers after they emerge from a screening of The Master. It's a long conversation. But, well... it's a complicated movie.
8 Comments36 Minutes
On "Difficult" Movies
September 20, 2012
As we're in a season busy with film festivals, I'm reading reviews of what sound like extremely challenging movies. Some of those reviews sound like the kind of comments that might provoke filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami to repeat what he said here...
4 Comments9 Minutes
Religion, Fuel, Fathers, Sons, Egomania, America: A Look Back at "There Will Be Blood"
September 19, 2012
Five years ago, on September 27, Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" screened for the first time. And a sure-thing Best Actor Oscar-winner came into plain view. Daniel Plainview, to be precise.
2 Comments3 Minutes
How to Take A Hobbit Journey Again… For the First Time
September 19, 2012
The new trailer for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has arrived! What do you think? I first read The Hobbit when I was 7 years old, and moved right on up to The Lord of the Rings at age 8. If you're like me, you'd love to have the thrill of discovering a world as awe-inspiring as that again. And I think we can. We just need to find a way to see Bilbo Baggins, The Shire, the dwarves, Gandalf, Mirkwood Forest, and the Lonely Mountain with new eyes.
2 Comments2 Minutes
Now We Can Call Him "Emmy-Winner Pete Horner" (for Hemingway and Gellhorn)
September 16, 2012
1 Comment1 Minute
Abraham Lincoln: A Trailer, A Speech, and "Divine Providence"
September 13, 2012
Here's the trailer for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis. But that's just the beginning. Since America will have Lincoln on the mind in the coming weeks, I encourage everyone to read the text of Abraham Lincoln's amazing Second Inaugural Address. Read it out loud. And then, well, the fun's just getting started. Check this out...
1 Comment4 Minutes
From the Wisdom of St. Cinemas, Excerpt 2: Contentious Criticism
September 12, 2012
0 Comments5 Minutes
The Son (2004)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
September 12, 2012
Ten years ago today, Le Fils (The Son) played at the Toronto International Film Festival, sending a second wave of rave reviews around the globe. A few months earlier, the film had inspired audiences at the Cannes Film Festival; it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, won the Ecumenical Jury prize, and lead actor Olivier Gourmet won Best Actor. I saw it in 2003, and knew immediately that I had enjoyed a film that would become a personal landmark for me in my moviegoing journeys. I was right.
4 Comments11 Minutes
Looking Elsewhere: September 10, 2012
September 10, 2012
Spielberg teases Lincoln; Clint Eastwood: Conservative?; Joss Whedon's Shakespeare; Steven Greydanus Sings to Babies!
0 Comments1 Minute
J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek Sequel is Called…
September 10, 2012
According to an AV Club report, the second Star Trek movie from J.J. Abrams will be called...
19 Comments1 Minutes
Raise a Toast Before the Deadline! (Deadline Extended to 9 p.m.)
Overstreet's Books,Blog,The Auralia Thread
September 10, 2012
I forgot to post a reminder over the weekend, so now you have until 9 p.m. (Seattle time) to enter the Auralia's Colors 5th Anniversary contest and turn in your toast to Auralia.
0 Comments1 Minute
Lost Highways: Two Films That Drove Me From the Theater
September 7, 2012
This doesn’t happen often. I think I can name only five films that have driven me from the theater in my moviegoing lifetime. But these two were especially surprising, as both films had come highly recommended by prominent American film critics and by close friends in my film-enthusiast community. Bear with me, and I’ll tell you what those movies were, and why I walked out.
8 Comments13 Minutes
Five Years Ago Today, She Passed From Chronos to Kairos…
September 6, 2012
Five years ago today, I said an unexpected farewell. Madeleine L'Engle has influenced my thoughts on art and faith as much as any other writer.
6 Comments8 Minutes
Before Sunrise, Certified Copy, My Dinner with Andre: Who Would You Cast in a Two-Person Movie?
September 5, 2012
If you could cast a two-person movie and just watch them meander through conversations for 90 minutes, which two actors would you cast?
7 Comments2 Minutes
MirrorMask (2005): Or, “Neil Gaiman’s Girls, Part Two”
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
September 4, 2012
MirrorMask, the Jim Henson Company's most wildly imaginative post-Henson release, remains fairly obscure. And that's a shame, because it is a big-screen spectacle par excellence.
0 Comments7 Minutes
Happy Fifth Birthday, Auralia! (Enter to Win One of Two Prize Packages)
Overstreet's Books,Blog,The Auralia Thread
September 4, 2012
Today, Auralia turns five years old! So, in the spirit of Bilbo Baggins, I'm giving stuff away to some of the party guests...
8 Comments3 Minutes
Coraline (2009): Or, “Neil Gaiman’s Girls, Part One”
On Movies & Media,Blog,Film Reviews
September 3, 2012
In the three years since its release, I’ve grown more and more fond of Coraline; it’s become one of my favorite animated films, strong work on every level. Here’s my original review...
0 Comments8 Minutes
Have You Ever Attended a Birthday Party… for a Book?
Overstreet's Books,Blog,The Auralia Thread
August 31, 2012
I'm inviting friends and readers old and new to join my Auralia's Colors Birthday Party. It's simple: Write a toast. Not to me, but to the title character... Auralia. (She's the one who deserves it.) Prizes await two of those who "raise their glasses"...
0 Comments7 Minutes
From the Widsom of St. Cinemas, Excerpt 1
August 25, 2012
St. Cinemas, or St. Criticus Cinemas of Cineplexia (as he is also known) is one of the first and most revered film critics. Some find him to be "snooty" and "elitist." He remains reviled by many on the right and on the left, and this applies if you take me to refer to political leanings or mere geographical location.
0 Comments8 Minutes
Zoe Kazan sparks an epiphany
August 24, 2012
I've been talking about big-screen women, how they can reinforce harmful stereotypes, or set bold, truthful, and liberating precedents. Looks like Lauren Wilford, over at Filmwell, has been thinking about some of the same things. Here she is, passionately describing her gratitude for a new film that many of us might otherwise have overlooked...
0 Comments2 Minutes
Indiana Jones and the Fall of My Favorite Hero, Part Three: Oh, My Aching Skulls!
August 23, 2012
As it turned out, Crystal Skull was amusing but disappointing, underlining Raiders' strengths as unique, the kind of adventure storytelling we were unlikely to see again on the big screen.
1 Comment6 Minutes
Looking Closer with Jeffrey Overstreet
(now the ears of my ears awake andnow the eyes of my eyes are opened)
– e. e. cummings, “i thank You God for most this amazing”