Newsic: New song from Tom Skinner, Thom Yorke, and Johnny Greenwood
January 12, 2022
This isn't an easy song to sing along with. It shouldn't be. But it represents a meaningful anger, a broken heart, a soulful lament, a rage expressed in love for those who have been wronged.
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Sunday Song: Von Bieker and Knathan Ryan sing their quarantine longings
September 12, 2021
Knathan Ryan and Dave Von Bieker are two friends whose music pops up in heavy rotation during my morning commutes. Their hopeful spirits inspire me; their artistry is personal, bright, and energetic; and their new songs hit just right in a time of quarantine fatigue.
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Leo Carax’s Annette sparks a conversation with “Catholic Cinephile” Evan Cogswell
August 24, 2021
In the latest episode of the Looking Closer podcast, “Catholic Cinephile” Evan Cogswell makes an argument that Annette is a great musical and, in fact, his favorite film of the year so far.
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Sunday Song: Listening Closer to Rhiannon Giddens and Nick Cave
June 27, 2021
Here are two of my favorite 2021 songs so far, one from Rhiannon Giddens, the other from Nick Cave.
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Persuade Me: Should I see A Quiet Place Part II… or not?
May 27, 2021
I'm not making a priority of seeing A Quiet Place Part II. You're invited to try to change my mind.
1 Comment6 Minutes
Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Four: two epic conversations with the director of Minari
February 25, 2021
In June of 2009, I met Lee Isaac Chung for the first time. We talked about his first feature film Munyurangabo. Nine summers later, I sat down with Chung to talk again — this time about his unpredictable and surprising journeys since then. The recording of that interview is now available for you thanks to Image.
2 Comments56 Minutes
Lee Issac Chung Week, Day Two: Retrospectives
February 23, 2021
Minari director Lee Isaac Chung has a new essay in the L.A. Times. Have you been reading Looking Closer for the decade that has passed since he shared an essay with us? Here it is again: "Retrospectives."
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Lee Isaac Chung Week: Day One
February 22, 2021
This week, I'm celebrating the theatrical and streaming release of "Minari" in honor of filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung. We'll get it started with just a clip from a 2010 interview that will set some of the context for my appreciation of this filmmaker.
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This Is Chad Hartigan: a conversation with the director of “Little Fish”
February 11, 2021
In this episode of the Looking Closer podcast, filmmaker Chad Hartigan talks about his new sci-fi love story "Little Fish," its focus on the power of memory, and what it was like to make a pandemic-focused movie just in time for a real pandemic.
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