On Movies & Media

Filmwell's Michael Leary: Things I Learned About Parenting Daughters From "Gilmore Girls"

My longtime friend, colleague, and Filmwell co-founder Michael Leary, a writer I admire, a man of impeccable taste in cinema, and — above all — a big-hearted father, has something to say about Gilmore Girls. The whole series is now streaming on Netflix. I won't hesitate to admit that I&

On Movies & Media

Blaze of Gory

On Christmas Day 2012 — while Americans were still grieving for victims of the Newtown elementary-school massacre — "Django Unchained," the new film by Quentin Tarantino, opened nationwide. This week, as my community grieves the loss of lives in two recent Seattle school shootings, Tarantino's hyper

Film Review

Ragamuffin (2014) - A Guest Review by Martin Stillion

"... if the goal of Ragamuffin is to get viewers to reconsider the life and music of Mullins, who’s been dead these seventeen years ... : I have some of his stuff playing on YouTube right now. If the goal was for the film to be a work of art in itself, then there’s a lot more work to be done."

Film Review

Deliver Us From Evil (2014)

Arriving on home video just in time for Halloween, Scott Derrickson's "Deliver Us From Evil" delivers a creative tangle of tropes and trippy special effects, aiming to do better than merely making us jump out of our seats. And it succeeds.

Film Review

Battle in Seattle (2007)

#Ferguson. #WTO. #U2iPhone6 Why am I not tweeting my outrage? Have I been pummeled numb by scandal, injustice, and atrocity? Have I become hard-hearted?

Film Review

Calvary (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

"I don't think it will be winning any awards from the Christian world. ... It takes place in a universe very like ours."

On Movies & Media

Well-Made Movies Won't Be... Left Behind

Today, Matt Zoller Seitz, editor of RogerEbert.com, defended The Good Lie, a movie in which the central characters are Christians, as "a good movie." Why did he feel the need to defend it? Well, the success of The Blind Side inspired some backlash — opposition to movies in

On Songs & Albums

Listen Closer: Second Impressions of U2's Songs of Innocence

Hey, U2 fans, music lovers, and iPhone users... you're invited! I'm joining Dr. Jeff Keuss and others on Monday night, October 13, for a live podcast conversation called "U2, Apple, and the Future of Music." It'll be at Hale's Ales

On Songs & Albums

Listen Closer: Thom Yorke, Luluc, Lucinda Williams, Leonard Cohen, My Brightest Diamond, Sinead O'Connor

It's time to check the New Music Seismograph! What albums are shaking the ground beneath my feet? Those who have followed my blog over the past decade or so know that I'm averse to "rating" art with a point system. (I mean, really... how

Film Forum

Left Behind (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

This post will be updated over the next few days, so check back as this thrilling — dare I say rapturous? — cinematic occasion unfolds!

On Movies & Media

The Christian Message of David Fincher's Gone Girl . . . (Not Really)

One of my favorite writers on the subject of art, faith, and culture — Alissa Wilkinson — has seen "Gone Girl," the new film by David Fincher. Let's ask her: "What's the message of the movie?"

On Movies & Media

The Song "Shares the Weaknesses of Most Faith-Based Films"

I've received two emails this week asking for my opinion of The Song. This is what I can offer... The Song told me what it was in the advertisement that appeared for it in the sidebar of my blog. (By the way: Almost everything that is advertised in

Film Forum

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

As I joined the line to buy tickets for a mid-afternoon matinee showing of Guardians of the Galaxy, I had a rare and unsettling experience. A large crowd had assembled at the ticket counter, and I quickly discovered that these moviegoers had come for the opening-day matinee of a movie

On Movies & Media

This Post Contains R-Rated Subject Matter: Viewer Discretion is Advised.

Watching the trailers before Chef on Friday night, I was reminded by the smirking comments of viewers around me that the "This Motion Picture is Rated..." screen before a preview does as much, if not more, to intrigue viewers about the violence, language, or nudity included in the

Film Review

Chef (2014)

What are the greatest movie moments that involve sandwiches?

Jennifer Johnson Gilnett

In Memory of My Friend, My Boss, My Mentor: Jennifer Gilnett

The last 13 days have been a harrowing experience of heartbreak and loss for me and many who are close to me. I haven't said anything about it here at Looking Closer, but I think the time has come. First, some context: Based on the mail that I

Film Review

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Alissa Wilkinson, chief film critic for Christianity Today, asked me if I've ever changed my mind about a movie... and would I write about that? So I'm asking you. What's a movie you loved the first time, or hated the first time, and then

Film Review

The Trip (2010): Or, Up for a Celebrity Impressions Road Trip?

It works as a buddy movie, as a "foodie" film, as a meditation on a mid-life crisis, as battle of brilliant improvisational comedians, and as a surprisingly dry and bittersweet comedy about celebrity.

On Songs & Albums

U2's Songs of Innocence: Not Bad for Four Guys in Their Mid-50s!

Okay, for the one reader out there who doesn't know: You can download the new U2 album for free right now on iTunes.

The Auralia Thread

She's Growing Up So Fast! Auralia's Colors is 7 Years Old

My first novel Auralia's Colors — currently on sale at Amazon for a bargain price — is 7 years old today! She's growing up so fast. Why do I bother celebrating the 7th anniversary of my own book? That's easy. Thanks to WaterBrook Press (now WaterBrook

Darren Aronofsky

Q&O: What I'd Change in My Memoir. My Favorite Moviegoing Companion. Top Albums of 2014 So Far. Why You Rarely See Me Smile. More "Noah" Bashing. And More!

Who do you take to the movies? Why are you such a snob? What's your favorite album of 2014 so far? Why do you rarely smile in pictures? Questions are coming in, so... time for another Q & O = Question and Overstreet!

On Songs & Albums

Best Use of Music in a Movie: Share Your Favorites

On Twitter, the poet Amy Newman asked me to share my pick for "Best Use of Music in a Movie." When a poet as gifted as Amy Newman asks you a question, you answer it. Few people would be qualified to choose the "best use of music

Film Review

Life Itself (2014): first impressions

"Drama holds a mirror up to life, but needn't reproduce it." Roger, Roger, Roger. Here I am watching a film about your departure, and I'm still jotting down things you said that will be worth quoting in my own film reviews. There is a

Film Review

Snowpiercer (2014): A Few First-Impression Notes

Terry Gilliam's Brazil + Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen + Peter Weir's The Truman Show + Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men + John McTiernan's Die Hard. Link those cars together and, wow, what a helter-skelter train!

On Movies & Media

Boyhood: The Podcast!

Listen to my conversation about Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" with Christianity Today's Chief Film Critic Alissa Wilkinson and the Christ and Pop Culture Superfriends — Richard Clark and Wade Bearden.