"What? You liked The Wolf of Wall Street? How could you possibly recommend such a profane movie that revels in so much evil?" Written as a response to messages like that one, this post was originally titled "Respect The Wolf of Wall Street (The Movie, Not the Man)"

A new year of musical invention begins with an all-star lineup of artists celebrating the music of Peter Gabriel. Also: Joe Henry, live at KEXP.

What music meant the most to you in 2013? Here are my personal favorite albums of the year— a top ten list for a year that was overflowing with great music.

I've narrowed this year's list of my favorite records down to 25 titles that I would have happily included in a Top 5 list at the end of a typical year. I invite you to listen to standout tracks, counting down from #25 to #11.

This review of Spike Jonze's film "Her" is Part Four of the new fiction series I call "All Thumbs Video."

His name is Salieri, and in Milos Forman’s beloved film "Amadeus," he is played by F. Murray Abraham. Why am I talking about "Amadeus" when this is supposed to be a review of "Inside Llewyn Davis"? Stay with me. It’s important.

Many of you are scrambling to pick up gifts for friends and family, and I feel compelled to bring some possibilities to your attention... gifts that would enrich the lives of those who care about excellence, beauty, truth, and the arts.

There's a new "Gilligan's Island" movie in the works. What's more, those two sequels you've been dying to see are finally happening: a follow-up to "Rounders" and the mandatory "Shakespeare in Love 2." What will we do while we wait for these grand contributions to cinema? No worries. Here's what Hollywood has in store for us...

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is here. But I didn't attend the press screening. Why? I'll explain. But first, here are five important bits from a review by my favorite movie reviewer...

Today, Disney took control of the Indiana Jones franchise. So I challenged my friends to see who could come up with the best title for Indiana Jones V. Here are a few of their suggestions...

"There’s nothing I’d like more than to tell you [that Frozen] is a musical fairy-tale triumph: a throwback to the days of Beauty and the Beast, like many critics are saying." That's how the great Steven Greydanus begins his review of Frozen. Can you sense the pending "But..."? Here it comes.

You could go out into traffic, join the long lines at Best Buy and Target and Wal-mart and [name your favorite box store here]. Or...

This week, Looking Closer sends a Hi 5 to the Face out to Fast Company, NPR, Todd Fadel, Ridley Scott, Christianity Today, Sam Phillips, Matt Zoller Seitz, James Rocchi, Mike D'Angelo, John Sayles, and more!

A few days ago, I asked people to speak up about the pets that they've named after characters from movies. Then it started raining cats and dogs.

It's a film I would encourage every American over the age of 16 (in general) to see. It's important. It's necessary. But it is also, in my opinion, limited and even undermined by certain aspects of McQueen's artistry.