Boyhood: The Podcast!
Listen to my conversation about Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" with Christianity Today's Chief Film Critic Alissa Wilkinson and the Christ and Pop Culture Superfriends — Richard Clark and Wade Bearden.
0 Comments1 Minute
From the Director of “Metropolitan” and “The Last Days of Disco”
I'm excited to find, among the new Netflix original series, "The Cosmopolitans," a new series from Whit Stillman.
0 Comments2 Minutes
When the Game Stands Tall (2013): A Looking Closer Film Forum
"When the Game Stands Tall" is getting a lot of attention in evangelical Christian culture because it's a match made in evangelical Christian movie heaven: It's about football, and it stars Jim Ca-jeezus.
10 Comments15 Minutes
The Flood Hits Home Video: Give Noah a Chance
Since Aronofsky's surprisingly (and maddeningly) controversial film "Noah" has finally arrived on home video (video on demand, streaming, blu-ray, and DVD), let me point you to my own review and the best reviews of the film I have come across to date.
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Who Among Us Is Thirsty? — A Reflection on the Loss of Robin Williams
I am sick at heart over the loss of one of my favorite imaginations.
14 Comments17 Minutes
Lucy (2014) : A Looking Closer Film Forum
I haven't seen "Lucy" yet ... but the clash of opinions about it among critics I respect has been entertaining and intriguing.
0 Comments5 Minutes
Boyhood (2014): A Three-Part Response
In which I think through Richard Linklater's movie "Boyhood" by interviewing my 7-year-old self, my 15-year-old self, and my 20-year-old self...
2 Comments37 Minutes
Overheard at the Movies: Persecuted, Noah, Wish I Was Here, Life Itself, I Origins, and A Most Wanted Man
Does the film about Roger Ebert get a "thumbs up" at Christianity Today? Is Persecuted an "overwrought, alarmist cog in the paranoia machine"? Is Noah "laughable and silly"? Does Wish I Was Here peddle "mushy feel-goodisms"? And how is Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man?
0 Comments9 Minutes
Summer Reading Bargain: Auralia’s Colors is Less Than $5 at Amazon
This summer, Amazon is offering you Auralia's Colors — both the paperback edition and the Kindle edition — for less than $5.
0 Comments8 Minutes
Gloria (2014)
Just so happens that the first two contestants in the 2014 Looking Closer Beauty pageant were Polish. Now it's time to meet the third contestant. She's from Chile...
1 Comment15 Minutes
A Novelist, A Horror Filmmaker, and Two Critics: Conversations Worth Hearing
Scott Derrickson, Alissa Wilkinson, Sara Zarr, Steven Greydanus... listen to all of these inspiring Christians talking to each other about art and criticism!
1 Comment1 Minutes
Viewer Discussion Advised! 12 Steps to More Rewarding Moviegoing
Share this with your family and friends. Make a copy for your pastor. And start your own church-basement movie club! But be sneaky about it. The first rule of Sight Club is this: Don't talk about Sight Club.
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The 2014 Looking Closer Beauty Pageant – Contestant 2: Ewa
"The Immigrant" is going to bless those who love cinema more than entertainment, who want something to think about and talk about instead of something to pass the time.
0 Comments13 Minutes
Ida (2014)
Welcome to the 2014 Looking Closer Beauty Pageant. So far this year, I've found four compelling contestants who manifest a different definition of beauty than the one embraced by popular culture. And it should come as no surprise that these characters appear in movies that have barely made a blip at the box office.
2 Comments15 Minutes
You’re Not a Sexist Moviegoer. Or… Are You?
We're about halfway through 2014, and as I look at the Top 20 Box Office hits so far, something troubles me. Where are the substantial leading roles for women? I'm not talking about wicked queens in fairy tales and Hunger Games-style action heroes. I mean women. You know... women who inhabit worlds like ours.
15 Comments8 Minutes
How to Train Your Dragon 2: How to Spoil a Sequel
This isn't really a review of How to Train Your Dragon 2. It's more of a sigh of disappointment. This movie starts the engines of so many interesting story possibilities, and then devolves into just another "Come at me, bro!" battle spectacle.
7 Comments9 Minutes
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum
I'm thinking about seeing "How to Train Your Dragon 2." So I'm consulting the opinons of Steven Greydanus, Scott Renshaw, Tasha Robinson, and Susan Wloszczyna...
1 Comment8 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”