Speaking engagements

At the NWCSI-CTABC Convention

Today, I tried to sum up some of the ideas in Through a Screen Darkly to an overcrowded - and quickly overheated - room full of high school teachers at the NWCSI-CTABC convention in Lynden, Washington. The notes I'd prepared... well, I thought that they just might be

On Movies & Media

Brad Bird's Next Flight will Be Live-Action

From The Star Online... Titled 1906, it is an adaptation of the James Dalessandro novel about the famous San Francisco earthquake which wrecked the city. Query him, and he is tight-lipped about the new project. But one can rest assured from this director's track record that the movie

Overstreet's Books

Auralia in Image

A nd last but not least... it appears that somebody over at Image journal has read  Auralia's Colors!

Over the Rhine

Over the Rhine's Essential Christmas Album, Re-released

Thom Jurek has a review, and I heartily agree with it. The review doesn't mention the fact that OTR's fans have had this album for a year now.

On Books & Writing

The SuperFast Reader Interview

SuperFastReader is sure enthusiastic about Auralia's Colors. She's gone beyond reviewing it. Now she's giving a copy away, and she's posted the conversation we had last week.

Reader Mail

Reading Letters and Blogs "Darkly"

Letters like this make my day. I hoped that the book would inspire people to meet together, watch great films, and discuss them. And it's happening. I continue to hear from people who are discovering the book and starting their own discussion groups. Here's one that

On Movies & Media

The Wings of the Dove (1997)

It's a shame that Helena Bonham Carter earned a Best Actress nomination for this performance, when so many others — take last year's Margaret's Museum, for example — have allowed her to be the combustibly reckless personality that only she can be. In director Iain Softley&

On Movies & Media

Wings of Desire (1987)

When the child was a child, it was the time of these questions. Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there? When did time begin, and where does space end? ... Isn't what I see, hear, and smell just the mirage

On Movies & Media

Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" Seeks a Title

First came the announcement: The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper's classic novel of fantasy and adventure, was becoming a movie. Then came the trailer, and hopes quickly began to crumble. It looked awful. And the story had clearly been revised to be more "accessible," rewriting the

On Movies & Media

There Will Be "There Will Be Blood"

At Hollywood Elsewhere, the buzz for Paul Thomas Anderson's new film is building... with some substance this time. My favorite American director. My favorite actor. I'm getting impatient. WHOAH! Here's a review by Marjorie Baumgarten at Variety. And lo and behold... Radiohead's

Overstreet's Books

Free Copy of Auralia's Colors

SuperFastReader is hosting a giveaway of a signed copy of Auralia's Colors. Your move.

Overstreet's Books

"Auralia's Colors" Will Burst into Bellingham

Missed the Auralia's Colors readings? Here's another chance... I will be reading from Auralia's Colors, and paying tribute to the great Madeleine L'Engle, at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington on Wendesday, November 28. The fun begins at 7 p.m.! So, come

On Movies & Media

Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)

Y Tu Mama Tambien is being hyped as a "teen movie" for the arthouse crowd. Having seen it, I can say this without any doubt: while it is about teenagers, it is definitely not for teenagers. This is serious, and dangerous, artmaking — a story of two adolescent boys

On Movies & Media

The Kindlings Muse on "Ratatouille," "Bourne," "King of Kong," "This is England," and More

Here it is, the first show of a new monthly podcast from The Kindlings Muse: A conversation between Dick Staub, Greg Wright, Jennie Spohr, and me about the best films we've seen in recent months, and the most exciting new DVD releases. In this month's round

Christianity Today

"The Iraq war calls for some serious rethinking by Christians..."

David P. Gushee at Christianity Today considers "Our Teachable Moment." Such deep public distress about the war makes this a teachable moment for all of us, as Christians and as Americans. It's not enough to find a way out of this war honorably and soon. We

Overstreet's Books

Hallelujah! Books Three and Four will be Real.

Tonight Anne and I read through the contract, line by line, for Books Three and Four of "The Auralia Thread." And then we signed it. This is so hard to believe. Auralia has her epic. Many, many thanks to Lee Hough, my agent, Shannon Hill and everybody at

On Movies & Media

"Secret Sunshine": Best Depiction of Evangelical Christianity?

Darren Hughes calls Secret Sunshine "the truest depiction of evangelical Christianity I've seen on film." Victor Morton doesn't quite agree. (You have to scroll down for his review.) And J. Robert Parks has mixed feelings about it. ... GreenCine Daily has even more reviews of

On Movies & Media

Smile, Marion!

It's not hard to see who's happiest about being included in this family photo! (Photo from Hollywood Elsewhere, where Jeffrey Wells is doing the usual... condemning a film that isn't even finished yet.)

On Songs & Albums

LOUD NOISES!

(Photo posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/perplemaggie/.) CAN YOU HEAR ME? I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF! MY EARS ARE RINGING, AFTER MORE THAN THREE HOURS OF STANDING NEAR THE FRONT OF A WILD-AND-CRAZY CROWD WHILE THREE LOUD, LOUD BANDS ROARED THEMSELVES HOARSE: GOSSIP, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, AND THE

On Movies & Media

The Road (to "The Hobbit") Goes Ever On... and On...

By the beard of Gandalf, the battle between New Line and Peter Jackson has taken a dramatic turn... Whether this is good news or bad news for those hoping to see Jackson direct The Hobbit, it's hard to say. But it probably does mean that the movie is

On Songs & Albums

20 Years Later, Steven Wright has His Second Album

When I was a teenager, I memorized Steven Wright's first comedy album: I Have a Pony. He has a new album this week. It's called I Still Have a Pony.  

On Books & Writing

TIME: "Why Christopher Hitchens is Wrong About Billy Graham" (plus, a YouTube bonus)

Good for TIME Magazine. The odd thing about Hitchens' attack is not that he assaults an ailing icon — that's both his specialty and his right — but that the evidence he cites actually proves him wrong. And while we're on the subject: [youtube=http://www.youtube.

Overstreet's Books

Many Thanks to Third Place Books

Check out the new gallery of photos taken by my neice Amelia. (Thanks, Amelia!) I'm weary, and it's late, but I need to take a moment and thank everyone who came to tonight's Third Place Books "release party" for Auralia's

On Movies & Media

Victor Morton, Rightwing Film Geek, has moved.

One of my favorite film bloggers has just relocated to Wordpress. And when I went to check out the new look, I realized that I'd fallen behind. A lot of good reading here, and my trembling anticipation for several upcoming films just continue to escalate.

Madeleine L'Engle

The Kindlings Muse on Fairy Tales, L'Engle, Tolkien, Lewis, and "Auralia's Colors"

Did you miss The Kindlings Muse on Monday night? Now you can listen in! The Kindlings podcast is here! From The Kindlings Muse site: Yet to this day, some Christians see no place for fantasy literature. Tonight's subject is Fantasy & Myth: Christian Contributions & Consumption. We explore