This Week's Soundtrack
Oh how I want the Looking Closer music page to be more lively than it is. But too much is happening in my life right now, and I'm left singing along with great new albums while I work, wishing I had time to write in-depth reviews of all of them.
I'll get around to reviewing some of these eventually, but for the record, here's what's currently getting frequent "rotation" on my iPod...Read more
Specials: Lynch, Chaucer, and Branagh
It's a bright sunny day in Seattle, and it'll be a bright sunny evening in the theater, as I head out to feast my eyes on Danny Boyle's Sunshine for the first time. I've heard all kinds of things -- severe disappointment (from a trustworthy friend), mixed feelings (from a trustworthy friend), and "Best Movie of the Year" (from a trustworthy friend). Thus... I'm intrigued.
Speaking of movies that are sure to divide viewers into enthusiasts and nay-sayers...Read more
Fantasy Pet Peeves
The fantasy section of the bookstore is such a wasteland of derivative, unimaginative, indulgent storytelling. And I say that as someone whose house is full of fantasy volumes, and who spends many hours every week working on fantasy stories. It's such a rich tradition, but holy Merry Brandybuck, it can be tough to find true inspiration and enchantment amidst so much disposable and recycled material.
I laughed and cheered all the way through this hilarious list of fantasy-lit pet peeves, even as I checked to see how many lazy conventions I'd perpetuated in my own work. If you were to eliminate the books guilty of these cliches, the Fantasy Department of most bookstores would become the Fantasy Shelf.
What are your fantasy-literature pet peeves?Read more
A Heavy Dose of "Through a Screen Darkly"
Matt Page has a blog where he tracks the development, release, and reception of movies that are in some way based on the Bible.
This last week, he came down with a cold, and he suffered through it by reading Through a Screen Darkly.
He's posted a few comments...
Specials: Bourne, Batman, Potter, Wenders, Derrickson, Bjork, Sunshine, and more.
A few quick notes and links from my flurry of catching up:
I can't believe it. After all of the buzz, the hype, the excitement, I've seen The Bourne Ultimatum, and I'm really, really disappointed. It's the least of the three... basically 112 minutes of action, with a plot thread that introduces absolutely ZERO new ideas to the series. Don't get me wrong... the action is slick and exhilarating. And it's still the best sequel of the summer. But the storytellers have utterly failed to take Bourne into new territory. I agree with Matt Damon's own assessment on Jay Leno the other night: It's "The Bourne Redundancy." The only character who gets something interesting to do here is Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles). And I'd like to see a spin-off series about what happens to her now. She's all set up to inherit the wind a la Run Lola Run. I'm giving it a B+, but the others were better.Read more
Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007
The Guardian reports that Ingmar Bergman died this morning. He was 86.
Much more at GreenCine Daily, which will be updated as the obituaries are posted.
Which is your favorite of his films?
Live from Santa Fe
A courtyard waterfall is splashing down into a koi pond here, playing the same music that plays in the closing moment of Malick's The New World. Water skippers are flitting about on the surface on their tiny skates, barely troubling the surface. Beneath the lily pads, koi of all colors and sizes drift and ponder, lazy as cattle.
It's a glorious morning here at The Glen Workshop on the campus of St. John's College, sunny and cool.Read more
Angela Walker's "Through a Screen Darkly" Interview
I enjoyed my interview with Angela Walker, the brains behind ChristianCinema.com. I met Angela at the Biola Media Conference 2007, and we quickly figured out that we had much to discuss. I appreciated her thoughtful questions, and we must have talked for an hour and a half.Read more
Matthew Vaughan Discovers "Through a Screen Darkly"
You folks had better be careful. You might just convince me to write even more about the revelatory power of movies!
Pictures Worth, um, 110,000 Words....
Hey, I just take the pictures. Who am I to ignore the power of what this image tells me?
But seriously...
I hereby announce, with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, that Auralia's Colors has arrived.
I have arrived at the destination of a journey that began when I was seven years old. I keep thinking back to all of the teachers along the way... third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, and on... who told me that I would someday be a published storyteller. And I thank them for their confidence in me. I have many more to thank as well, like my parents, and WaterBrook Press, and Lee Hough, and so many more who I listed in the acknowledgments, so....
Hey, thank you! Not only for keeping me company here at Looking Closer, which has made all of the hard work more interesting and enjoyable. Special thanks to those who have given me a vote of confidence by pre-ordering the book! (It's only $11.19 at Amazon. Wow.)
Now the most exciting part begins... sharing Auralia with the world.
YOU CAN HELP: If you would like to review it for a website, a magazine, a newsletter, or something else, let me know right away at joverstreet [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you know someone else who would review it, or have a magazine to recommend for a review, let me know that as well. Thanks! That would be very helpful.
The book is dedicated to Anne, who was there when I began to dream up the story while hiking through the woods beside Flathead Lake, Montana. She was the inspiration for this story.
My neice Amelia, who happens to have a cousin named "Auralia" (who was, in fact, named after the character in the book).
Rachel Beatty, who illustrated an extraordinary map for the book, lives just two blocks from our house, and has been a dear friend for many years. (When Anne and I got married, she illustrated the invitation!)
Remember... you're all invited to join me at one (or both) of the release parties in September. You'll find details in the column on the right side of your screen.