On Books & Writing

Turn and Face the Strange: a challenge to artists and churches

In April, I closed the Sacrament & Story conference in Seattle by posing a challenge to artists and churches, and by addressing a question that has kept you awake at night, I'm sure: If you go into space, will your DNA be rewritten and turn you into an alien?

On Movies & Media

First Impressions of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

As soon as I'd started watching the new Netflix series that expands on Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, I called animator and author Ken Priebe to talk about the artistry of it. Here's our conversation.

On Movies & Media

Honeyland (2019)

In a case of "found poetry," documentarians following a remarkable Macedonian beekeeper have captured a rich and meaningful story of stewardship and injustice.

On Movies & Media

Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (2019)

What more can be said that hasn't been said about this film? Apocalypse Now is not a film that we can synopsize, paraphrase, or sum up with a lesson. We can't do that with any great work of art. But this is a case of a

On Movies & Media

Mandy (2019)

Here's an idea for a movie: They've taken the woman he loves. So he's out for revenge.

Journal

Frame 3: Unlearning to Read Along My Commute

A journal entry about the curse of compulsive reading.

Film Review

Guest review: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Guest reviewer Damian Arlyn considers the place of Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood in director Quentin Tarantino's oeuvre.

On Movies & Media

Trailer of the year?

Perhaps they should re-title the new Terrence Malick film: Timely and Relevant.

Film Review

Wild Rose (2019)

Wild Rose has the stuff to be the year's biggest crowdpleaser... but it's already disappearing from theaters. Don't let it get away.

Journal

Frame 2: Another Psalm 12

A personal paraphrase of Psalm 12, in which the Scripture becomes, in the moment, a "living word" indeed.

Film Review

The Farewell (2019)

The summer's most surprising hit, The Farewell has almost every critic singing its praises. Me, I might be a heartless monster, because I wasn't moved by it at all.

Journal

Frame 1: Intersection

A journal entry.

Film Review

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2019)

Can Terry Gilliam, after all that he and this troubled production has been through, deliver a satisfying Don Quixote movie based on inspiration that is now more than three decades old?

On Movies & Media

Georgia O'Keeffe and others review The Lion King (2019)

Disney celebrates itself by making a shot-for-shot, photo-realistic remake of an audience favorite. According to the reviewers I admire and tend to trust, this is a product of the circle of lifelessness.

On Movies & Media

Toy Story 4 and the Gabby Gabby problem

In Part 3 of my review, we wrestle with questions about controversial plot twists. (There will be spoilers!)

On Movies & Media

Let's talk trash: Toy Story... 4-ky!

This is Part Two of Looking Closer's review of Toy Story 4. Part One was posted previously. Note: Part Three concerns the ending of the film, and includes spoilers. Forky might have just become another piece of plastic polluting a park or an ocean. He began as a

On Movies & Media

Well played, Pixar! Thoughts on Toy Story 4

Part One of a three-part reflection on Toy Story 4, in which I am proven wrong and the movie turns out to be a fantastic, opening up promising new frontiers for these beloved characters.

Film Review

I Am Not a Witch (2018)

Don't miss this overlooked treasure from 2018: a mystical "fantasy" about a young Zambian girl condemned as a witch.

Film Review

Booksmart (2019)

Booksmart is certainly energetic and exciting. But do its high-powered hormones overwhelm its generous heart?

Film Review

Her Smell (2019)

Elisabeth Moss stars as Becky Something, a ferociously self-destructive rock star who challenges us to consider the tenacity of our love.

On Songs & Albums

Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, Sam Phillips: Three New Concert Films

I’m under headphones above 10,000 feet, and Aretha Franklin is flying the plane. At least it feels that way. Anne and I are headed to what we call “a homecoming,” an annual gathering of authors at the edge of the Frio River in the Texas hill country — inspirations,

Film Review

High Fidelity (2002)

Digging through the archives, I've found an old favorite and I'm taking it for a spin. Here's my original Year 2000 review of High Fidelity.

Film Review

Ash is Purest White (2019)

Jia Zhangke delivers a wildly ambitious epic of a gangster's girlfriend thrown overboard into Chinese capitalism's unmerciful storms. Go see it. (Caution: Part Two of this essay examines the film's confounding conclusion, so — spoilers!)

Music Reviews

Love & Revelation: a 'magic hour' with Over the Rhine

Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist return with songs of ruin, loss, and hard-won hope.

Interviews

From Bamboozled to BlacKkKlansman: A conversation about Spike Lee Joints

In the latest episode of North by Pacific Northwest, I discusses Spike Lee’s films with cinephile, writer, and frequent Criterion Reflections contributor Josh Hornbeck.