Honeyland (2019)
In a case of "found poetry," documentarians following a remarkable Macedonian beekeeper have captured a rich and meaningful story of stewardship and injustice.
0 Comments11 Minutes
Mandy (2019)
Here's an idea for a movie: They've taken the woman he loves. So he's out for revenge.
0 Comments13 Minutes
Frame 3: Unlearning to Read Along My Commute
A journal entry about the curse of compulsive reading.
0 Comments12 Minutes
Guest review: Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Guest reviewer Damian Arlyn considers the place of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood in director Quentin Tarantino's oeuvre.
0 Comments16 Minutes
Wild Rose (2019)
Wild Rose has the stuff to be the year's biggest crowdpleaser... but it's already disappearing from theaters. Don't let it get away.
0 Comments10 Minutes
Frame 2: Another Psalm 12
A personal paraphrase of Psalm 12, in which the Scripture becomes, in the moment, a "living word" indeed.
0 Comments5 Minutes
The Farewell (2019)
The summer's most surprising hit, The Farewell has almost every critic singing its praises. Me, I might be a heartless monster, because I wasn't moved by it at all.
1 Comment19 Minutes
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2019)
Can Terry Gilliam, after all that he and this troubled production has been through, deliver a satisfying Don Quixote movie based on inspiration that is now more than three decades old?
0 Comments1 Minute
Georgia O’Keeffe and others review The Lion King (2019)
Disney celebrates itself by making a shot-for-shot, photo-realistic remake of an audience favorite. According to the reviewers I admire and tend to trust, this is a product of the circle of lifelessness.
0 Comments8 Minutes
Toy Story 4 and the Gabby Gabby problem
In Part 3 of my review, we wrestle with questions about controversial plot twists. (There will be spoilers!)
0 Comments21 Minutes
Well played, Pixar! Thoughts on Toy Story 4
Part One of a three-part reflection on Toy Story 4, in which I am proven wrong and the movie turns out to be a fantastic, opening up promising new frontiers for these beloved characters.
1 Comment15 Minutes
I Am Not a Witch (2018)
Don't miss this overlooked treasure from 2018: a mystical "fantasy" about a young Zambian girl condemned as a witch.
0 Comments8 Minutes
Booksmart (2019)
Booksmart is certainly energetic and exciting. But do its high-powered hormones overwhelm its generous heart?
0 Comments19 Minutes
Her Smell (2019)
Elisabeth Moss stars as Becky Something, a ferociously self-destructive rock star who challenges us to consider the tenacity of our love.
0 Comments10 Minutes
High Fidelity (2002)
Digging through the archives, I've found an old favorite and I'm taking it for a spin. Here's my original Year 2000 review of High Fidelity.
0 Comments13 Minutes
Ash is Purest White (2019)
Jia Zhangke delivers a wildly ambitious epic of a gangster's girlfriend thrown overboard into Chinese capitalism's unmerciful storms. Go see it. (Caution: Part Two of this essay examines the film's confounding conclusion, so — spoilers!)
0 Comments15 Minutes
Love & Revelation: a ‘magic hour’ with Over the Rhine
Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist return with songs of ruin, loss, and hard-won hope.
0 Comments20 Minutes
From Bamboozled to BlacKkKlansman: A conversation about Spike Lee Joints
In the latest episode of North by Pacific Northwest, I discusses Spike Lee’s films with cinephile, writer, and frequent Criterion Reflections contributor Josh Hornbeck.
0 Comments1 Minute
Shrek (2001)
Lo and behold—archaeologists digging deep in the Looking Closer archives have unearthed Overstreet's original 2001 review of Shrek.
0 Comments10 Minutes
The Coen Brothers: Winning With Losers
"Coen losers tend to stay losers." — Damian Arlyn on the Coen brothers' characters
0 Comments1 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”