Letterboxd Spotlight: Glen Grunau on contemplative cinema and Peter Jackson’s war movie

Cinephile Glen Grunau offers a remarkable list of 100 "contemplative films" that will reward those who seek them out. Also: Grunau posts some insights on Peter Jackson's innovative WWI documentary.


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Babette’s Feast: The Leftovers!

Thanksgiving leftovers!Listen in on a conversation between Alissa Wilkinson, Sam Thielman, and Jeffrey Overstreet as they celebrate the greatest feast ever filmed.


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Wolfwalkers and the Rise of Cartoon Saloon — a conversation with Dr. Lindsay Marshall

Here is a new episode of the Looking Closer podcast, featuring my first impressions of Wolfwalkers, and then my conversation about it with Dr. Lindsay Marshall.


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November 7, 2020: Relief, Elation, and Gratitude

I share this as the first in a series of more personal posts, in hopes of expanding the range of subjects I explore at Looking Closer. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the glory that played out in front of me at the close of this beautiful day.


1 Comment11 Minutes

The Quarry: murder, scripture, and Southern Gothic style

Set in a world rich with echoes of Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy, The Quarry's story of a fake preacher and a violent sheriff raises hard questions about the possibility of redemption in a world as ruined as this one.


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It’s Groundhog Day in Palm Springs

Palm Springs plays with a familiar formula, and its innovations are diminished by its crassness and the flimsiness of its "insights."


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Da 3 Movies in Da 5 Bloods

Spike Lee's latest multi-tasking movie is a ferocious work of passion and Gospel that succeeds in spite of its stumbles and dissonant styles.


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Extra Ordinary Ghost-busting in Ireland

The second big paranormal-thriller surprise of the summer (after The Vast of Night), Extra Ordinary is the funniest thing I've seen all year.


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Catching Up With The Bling Ring

When those that qualify as the 2% won't rest until they've stolen their way into the 1% — The Bling Ring is a thoughtful and prophetic portrait of a generation obsessed with becoming media gods, exploiting social justice slogans in service of their own social-media avatars.


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Why The Vast of Night hits close to home

Like 2019's Prospect, Amazon's new sci-fi thriller The Vast of Night makes magic with modest resources and gives us the two most memorable investigators of the paranormal since Mulder and Scully first argued.


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Predators in academia: Shirley’s search for lost girls

Shirley, driven by great performances from Elizabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, is dark, strange, and unnervingly wise.


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Raised by 20th Century Women

I recently caught up with director Mike Mills's film 20th Century Women and wished I'd seen it earlier to include it in my 2016 Favorites list.


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Onward’s Frivolous Fantasy

Looking for an escape from sheltering-at-home familiarity, I turned to America's most reliable animation studio. But Pixar's Onward remains stuck in uninspired tropes.


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Catching Up With Cléo from 5 to 7

In which I begin posting thoughts on the movies I'm watching during the 2020 season of COVID-19 lockdown. First up? A beloved French New Wave masterpiece by Agnes Varda.


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Hard times are good times for Auralia’s Colors

The people of House Abascar have been betrayed by false promises and robbed of colors, robbed of hope. But there are rumors of a girl in the woods who gathers colors that no one else has ever seen. And now, you can hear those colors. During these stay-at-home days, you're invited to a reading of Auralia's Colors.


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In the midst of trouble and grief… a joyous day!

Celebrate with people from 40 countries, in 25 language, as we announce the Good News to the world.


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Before Mulan… we had Whale Rider.

Before you see Niki Caro's reinvention of Mulan, discover her 2003 film about another young female hero who subverts the expectations of her people and overturns restrictive patriarchal traditions.


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Vagabond (1985)

My enthusiasm for Agnes Varda's documentaries has prompted many to recommend her narrative features. This week, I caught up with Vagabond.


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The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)

Joe Cornish's latest is something less than a chip off the ol' Attack the Block.


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Let the Corpses Tan (2019)

Dazzling and hyperviolent, Let the Corpses Tan is one of the most creative thrillers I've seen in years. But take a note of heavy caution: It's also upsettingly graphic.


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El Sur (1983)

In which I catch up with a 1983 masterpiece — a father-daughter dance for the ages.


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Strange Negotiations (2019)

Brandon Vedder's portrait of David Bazan follows the rock star through harrowing experiences of fear, doubt, betrayal, and self-discovery.


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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”