On Songs & Albums Favorite Recordings of 2021: Part Two (#25–#16) For those who love year-end lists like this, and those who also love the Insta... I bring you good tidings of great joy! Okay — maybe that's a bit hyperbolic. I bring you some unremarkable tidings that might interest you? Looking Closer now has an Instagram account: @OverstreetReviews. Follow
The Weekender Weekender: Fourth Weekend in January — Dark on Power of the Dog; Wilford on Licorice Pizza After a few "Weekenders" away, here are a few highlights from the last few weeks.
On Songs & Albums Favorite Recordings of 2021: Part One (Honorable Mentions and #36–#26) It has finally begun! On January 20, Looking Closer's look back at favorite recordings of 2021 has begun! Keep watch for Part Two and Part Three, coming soon.
Newsic: New song from Tom Skinner, Thom Yorke, and Johnny Greenwood 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.
Film Reviews The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022) Did social distancing influence this Joel Coen production of the Scottish play? It has some great actors in it, but their performances seem strangely separate. And the film's striking images seem more like a gallery of evocative stills than immersive cinema.
The Weekender Weekender: 2022 film calendar; Luci Shaw's latest poems; C'mon C'mon; Azor; Licorice Pizza This week: An astounding 2022 preview. The upcoming poetry of Luci Shaw. And some initial thoughts on C'mon C'mon, Azor and Licorice Pizza.
The Weekender The Weekender: Christmas Edition 2021 This week: Malick's rollercoaster ride through the eons of history. Mia Hansen-Løve's film Bergman Island. All hail U2's The Edge!
On Movies & Media Twenty years ago this weekend, a fellowship formed in Rivendell... Twenty years ago this weekend, I joined a fellowship at the local cineplex to witness an event that would change the art of movies — for better and for worse — for decades to come.
The Weekender The Weekender - Third Weekend of December 2021 Merry Christmas early! The Weekender will be a Surprise Box, an unpredictable newsletter, a bulletin board of things I'd like to share that I would have expanded into full, individual posts if life had afforded me the time.
Film Reviews Dune (2021) Six or seven sentences on Dune. Well... six or seven long, detailed sentences. I can probably hold myself to that. That's what I've been telling myself. Maybe if I force myself to sum up, in just a few lines, my first impressions of Denis Villeneuve'
Film Reviews Devi (1960) During November's Barnes and Noble Criterion sale, I took a chance on a film I've never seen before. I am so glad that I did. It's one of the great films about the possibilities and the dangers of religious faith.
Film Reviews Passing (2021) In a season of sprawling epics and extravagant spectacle, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut is one of the year's finest exceptions: a quiet, focused film that knows exactly what it wants to be and efficiently achieves it.
Film Reviews The French Dispatch (2021) (Part One) Wes Anderson's devoting every resource at his disposal to realizing grander visions. The results are more like museums than paintings, more like restaurants than mere meals.
Film Reviews Mass gives us a close-up of one of the hardest conversations ever imagined I'm hard-pressed to think of a more difficult conversation I've seen at the movies. Some will discover it, look up the 2021 Oscars, and wonder: Why was this overlooked?
Anna Rose Holmer Overstreet Archives: The Fits (2016) A big deal was published today at Bright Wall Dark Room. I'm so excited about, and moved by, Joel Mayward's outstanding new appreciation of The Fits — one of my favorite films of the 2010s, and one of the greatest directorial debuts by an American director I&
Film Reviews Titane (2021) This year's top prize at the Cannes film festival is an audacious, lurid circus that leaves me not only disappointed but actually regretting the experience.
On Songs & Albums Sunday Song: Von Bieker and Knathan Ryan sing their quarantine longings 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.
Film Reviews No Sudden Move (2021) Soderbergh is back doing what he does best — scattering criminals like billiard balls, and then knocking down one strong scene after another. He may not play a perfect game here, but this is one of his best in many years.
On Movies & Media If you had to pick five movies that were "formational," what would they be? If you were asked to name five films that have been influential in shaping your faith in some way, what five films would you choose? I found this question extremely challenging. I am thrilled to share this video of my conversation with film scholar Catherine Barsotti, Renovaré president Chris Hall,
Annette Leo Carax's Annette sparks a conversation with "Catholic Cinephile" Evan Cogswell 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.
Film Reviews Quo vadis, Aida? (2021) How does it make any sense to give our attention to the dramatization of a society's violent overthrow while we we are watching it happen in the real world, right now, either elsewhere in the world or here, either swiftly or in slow motion? Nevertheless, this might be the best time for us to watch Q
Film Reviews The Inner Language of Wolfwalkers - a guest post by Micah Rickard Special guest reviewer Micah Rickard offers some reflections on a very tricky matter that Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers handles particularly well.
Film Reviews Cowboys (2021) You know the old saying about where a road "paved with good intentions" can lead. And it's true. I've watched passionate, purposeful, principled artists pour their lives and life savings into projects that, while meaningful for the artists, amounted to unwatchable results. But it&
On Movies & Media Paterson (2021) One of the most important discoveries of this year's Glen Workshop was this: Not enough people have seen Jim Jarmusch's Paterson. Here's my original review.
Podcast Animator and author Ken Priebe talks about his three fantastic children's books in the latest Looking Closer podcast episode In this "Master Shot" episode of the Looking Closer podcast, Overstreet interviews animator, illustrator, and children's storybook author Ken Priebe about his three wild and whimsical books of wild, wacky, and scary characters.
