Good with crayons? Enter Auralia’s Coloring Contest.
January 14, 2019
As the four volumes of The Auralia Thread reach their decennial anniversaries, here's a challenge for imaginations of kids young and old: the first-ever Auralia's Coloring Contest.
0 Comments5 Minutes
Widows (2018)
December 14, 2018
Widows starts with a bang and then devolves into an overstuffed, over-serious, and even predictable thriller.
0 Comments13 Minutes
Madeline’s Madeline (2018)
December 3, 2018
Josephine Decker's wildly imaginative new film is worth seeing for its experimental ambitions, even if, in the end, it's all a bit too much.
0 Comments12 Minutes
First Man (2018)
November 19, 2018
Putting Ryan Gosling's feet on the moon, Damien Chazelle has found firmer footing than he did in the eager-to-impress La La Land. This film is modest by comparison, but I find it haunting and enigmatic.
0 Comments12 Minutes
The Hate U Give (2018)
November 15, 2018
Preachy, but elevated by an excellent lead performance, The Hate U Give is the kind of after-school special that all of America needs right now.
0 Comments10 Minutes
A Star is Born (2018)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
October 29, 2018
Bradley Cooper's big remake of A Star is Born strums all those predictable chords so hard, all the strings start breaking.
1 Comment9 Minutes
Join me for two special screenings of Prospect in Seattle
October 26, 2018
At two special Seattle screenings of the sci-fi thriller Prospect, I will interview filmmakers Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell. You're invited!
0 Comments1 Minutes
Puzzle (2018)
October 2, 2018
This film looks like a movie made from far-too-familiar pieces. Instead, Puzzle is a delightful and rewarding surprise.
0 Comments10 Minutes
Dead Poets Society and the Legacy of Dr. Luke Reinsma
September 19, 2018
Four years ago this week, I wrote about how I had changed my mind about "Dead Poets Society." This week, I re-post it as a tribute to my favorite professor.
0 Comments18 Minutes
A great film about linguistics has arrived…
September 18, 2018
"There is nothing novel about isolationism," says Dr. Kathryn Bartholomew, professor emeritus of languages and linguistics. "It’s the contrary, hospitality, that surprises and delights us." Can you guess which recent sci-fi film inspired this observation?
0 Comments1 Minute
Three Identical Strangers (2018)
September 8, 2018
Three Identical Strangers is about the joys of brotherhood, the importance of free information and effective journalism, the difference between nature and nurture, and the dangers of science unchecked by conscience.
0 Comments11 Minutes
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
August 23, 2018
Crazy Rich Asians is a Cinderella story in which someone much richer than most of us discovers that wealth is relative, and she might not measure up to the standards of China's super-rich.
0 Comments12 Minutes
Eighth Grade (2018)
August 16, 2018
If "Love is attention," like they say in Lady Bird, then the secret of Eighth Grade is the love it shows its central character: 13-year-old Kayla.
0 Comments19 Minutes
Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)
August 9, 2018
While Mission: Impossible—Fallout played, I loved every minute of it. But afterward, I had an itch that I couldn't scratch. I wrote this to scratch it.
0 Comments20 Minutes
Hearts Beat Loud (2018)
On Movies & Media,On Songs & Albums
July 24, 2018
Just what the summer movie season needed: a light, fun, frivolous 90 minutes in a record store with Nick Offerman.
0 Comments10 Minutes
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
July 17, 2018
I'm not likely to see a more memorable, meaningful movie all year. Neither are you.
0 Comments22 Minutes
Leave No Trace (2018)
July 10, 2018
From the director of Winter's Bone, Leave No Trace is a powerful portrait of a father and daughter that asks us what price we're willing to pay in order to live with integrity and freedom.
0 Comments18 Minutes
Incredibles 2 (2018)
June 24, 2018
Incredibles 2 suffers a bit from a predictable twist and from themes that get, like Elastigirl, bent out of shape. But it's still the most sensational action movie of the year so far.
2 Comments21 Minutes
First Reformed (2018)
June 18, 2018
The most invigorating subject of discussion at the movies this year is also a difficult and, for me, frustrating film.
3 Comments27 Minutes
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
June 15, 2018
Ocean's 8 should've been a blast. It's a missed opportunity in so many ways.
0 Comments12 Minutes
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word — a Looking Closer film forum
May 26, 2018
Can a documentary about the Pope give us a complex, nuanced, truthful vision that is more than just a vehicle for a message?
0 Comments2 Minutes
Game Night (2018)
April 29, 2018
For friends and weekend parties, Game Night is bound to become a movie-night favorite.
0 Comments9 Minutes
The Theology of the Coen Brothers? A Conversation Between Matt Zoller Seitz and Jeffrey Overstreet
April 20, 2018
Originally titled "O Coen Brothers, Where Art God?", this is my conversation with Matt Zoller Seitz about theology, Raising Arizona, morality, Fargo, good and evil, The Big Lebowski, and so much more.
2 Comments35 Minutes
Ready Player One (2018)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
April 14, 2018
Spielberg gets lost in nostalgia, serving up a flashy but frustrating contradiction.
0 Comments25 Minutes
Praising Paul, Apostle of Christ
April 5, 2018
Justin Chang and Steven Greydanus are impressed with "Paul, Apostle of Christ."
1 Comment6 Minutes
Movie’s Not Christian — and Vox’s Not Dead
April 5, 2018
God's Not Dead, but he sure is misrepresented! Here's Alissa Wilkinson on just how misguided this series of films really is.
1 Comment1 Minutes
Isle of Dogs (2018)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
March 31, 2018
Wes Anderson's latest is the most visually enchanting of his career. For me, it's also the most frustrating.
0 Comments15 Minutes
An American who deserves a parade
March 20, 2018
A trailer for a movie about a man who made America great by being a humble, loving, welcoming American.
0 Comments1 Minute
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”