On Movies & Media

2005 Film Nominations for [AFC]2... so far...

UPDATE: The currently updated list is located now at THIS post.

On Books & Writing

The Lord of the Rings: The Musical?

I raise my glass to The Movie Blog for the tip. Coming to Toronto... “We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of musical theater, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material.”

On Movies & Media

The 8-disc Infernal Affairs DVD set!

All three Infernal Affairs movies are coming in a new boxed set. (A salute to Twitch for the news.) What's Infernal Affairs, you're asking? Rent the first one, and you’ll see. It’s my favorite cop/crook showdown since Michael Mann’s Heat. It’s

On Movies & Media

CT Movies getting something other than rage mail

Hooray! We’re hearing from more who see the point and appreciate the efforts of Mark Moring and company at CT Movies! Finally, a Christian movie website that makes sense — educated and well informed. I am a movie buff, a strong Christian and someone quite frankly who was so tired

Mike Hertenstein

Change of plans: No Cornerstone for me this year.

Earlier I had announced that I’d be leading seminars at Cornerstone this summer. Unfortunately, I’ve had to withdraw, due to some very good news that means I’ll be even busier this summer. I hope to be able to share the news with you, but it could be

On Movies & Media

Danny Boyle: The Looking Closer Interview (Feb. 2005)

As Danny Boyle's new film Slumdog Millionaire is cleaning up at this year's various surveys of film critics, perhaps it's a good time to revisit the conversation I enjoyed with Boyle in February 2005 at the release of Millions, which is my favorite of

On Movies & Media

Part 2 of movie talk at GreenLake Presbyterian Church

☠️2026 Update: This post is past its expiration date. The key link to the church website no longer works, as that website was taken down many years ago. I’m preserving this post for archival purposes. Tonight, I’ll present Part Two in my review of “Meaning in the Movies

Politics

Brad Bird on Incredibles politics

Lou Lumenick talks with the brains behind The Incredibles and The Iron Giant. A: The idea that "The Incredibles," a mainstream animated feature, was thought of as provocative was wonderful to me. I was very gratified, though I thought some of the analysis was really kind of goofy.

On Movies & Media

Paul Schrader sounds like another Paul...

Describing his Exorcist pre-quel, which is getting an unexpected new life onscreen after the studio trashed it, Paul Schrader talks about the central issue that drew him to the project. His original prequel to The Exorcist seems very much in keeping with his own tradition – the descent into hell

On Movies & Media

Star Wars 3: new trailer, George Lucas on 60 Minutes

The new trailer for Revenge of the Sith is out there. AOL Users can look at it, and others can too if you browse around a while. (Try Ain't It Cool News.) Also: George Lucas will be talking about this, the “darkest” episode of the series, on 60

Typo

Typo of the Year

This news gives whole new weight to the words “I'd like to buy a vowel.” You can never be too careful.

On Movies & Media

A must-see movie that “Nobody Knows” about

Nobody Knows delighted me, moved me, and challenged me. Hirokazu Kore-eda, director of After Life, has accomplished something astonishing by filming a small cast of very young amateur actors over a long period of time, and drawing completely convincing performances out of each one. It’s hard to believe

On Songs & Albums

Ali Hewson on being married to Bono

A few days back, Looking Closer celebrated the resilient marriage of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. Today, applause for the resilient marriage of Bono and Ali! So, what’s it like to be married to Paul Hewson?

Music Reviews

Over the Rhine - Drunkard's Prayer

All marriages are broken. We’re broken people, and when we commit to each other, for better or worse, we are guaranteed that there will be difficult — sometimes severely painful — times. How we respond to those trials will depend largely on our priorities and our beliefs. Am I in this

On Movies & Media

Mel Gibson on the Oscars

from IMDb.com: Mel Gibson has denounced the Oscar ceremonies as “a celebration of mediocrity” and accused academy members of treating his The Passion of the Christ as a political football. “My film is not right-wing or political, but they made it so,” he told an interviewer on the

On Movies & Media

Weeping Camel charms toddler!

My friend Stef writes: Just for the record, and just for fun, it is worth noting that I have seen this film twelve or more times and have never really seen it. Genesis Elise, my two year-old girlie, wants to be like Daddy and watch movies. She is sick

On Movies & Media

Be Cool (2005)

If the makers of Be Cool want to impress any kind of message on us, it's this tired old refrain: "Everyone in showbiz is a hustler." But then it concludes, "Hey, who cares when there's so much fun to be had?"

Over the Rhine

Over the Rhine on The New York Daily News

My favorite album of last year, Sam Phillips’s A Boot and a Shoe, was born from divorce. It was a heartbreaker. This year, what may well be my favorite album has come from a marriage that’s been saved. And The New York Daily News is taking notice.

On Movies & Media

Joke of the Day (except that it's true)

I'm not making this up. This just happened to me. I was contacted this morning by someone who works for one of the three major news networks. They wanted me to come downtown and film a segment for a TV news talk-show addressing the question, “Is the

On Movies & Media

If you’ve seen Born into Brothels...

... then I suspect this will boggle your mind. It boggled mine. Picture this. "We are so happy our Auntie Zana has won the award," said Puja, 14, as film director Zana Briski walked up to receive the Oscar for Born Into Brothels, a portrayal of life on the

On Books & Writing

Recommended reading: Marilynne Robinson

At Books and Culture, Thomas Gardner reviews the long-awaited novel by Marilynne Robinson ... Gilead. Gardner writes: “Marilynne Robinson’s second novel, Gilead, is a quiet, deeply moving celebration of the wonders and sustaining bewilderments of human consciousness.” The book is a great gift, and worth the wait. As most

On Movies & Media

Many, many thanks to those who emailed me

To those who have emailed me in response to The Seattle Times feature on my work at Looking Closer, I can't thank you enough for the encouragement you've given me.

On Books & Writing

Mary Doria Russell visits Seattle

When I finally shift gears and start publishing the novels I've been working on for the past decade, I can only hope to strike the kind of balance that author Mary Doria Russell achieves in hers. Have you discovered her yet? Anne and I have admired her for

On Movies & Media

Looking Closer becomes a cover story

“That Seattle Times article is published!” he says, as he crawls under his desk in bewilderment. ☠️2026 Update: This post is past its expiration date. (The original link to the article was seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2005/0227/.) I’m preserving that URL here for archival purposes. On the front

On Movies & Media

This Sunday night: Rev. Bill Hogg and I talk Oscars

For the last few weeks, I've been appearing as a guest on the call-in talk radio show Hogg Wild, hosted by the Reverend Bill Hogg, on Seattle’s radio station KGNW. Reverend Bill is a gracious, witty, and courageous host, and he’s not afraid to let