Film Forum

A collection of 80 posts

Film Forum

Light From Light: A Looking Closer Film Forum

Until I can finish my own review, here's a round table of reviews worth reading that represent a range of perspectives on my favorite ghost story of 2019.

Film Forum

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word — a Looking Closer film forum

Can a documentary about the Pope give us a complex, nuanced, truthful vision that is more than just a vehicle for a message?

Film Forum

I'm Blade-running behind

I'm traveling at the moment, so I'll have to catch the most important sequel of the decade after everyone else has seen it. But here are some reviews worth reading.

On Movies & Media

Film Forum: mother! and the haters

You don't have to like Darren Aronofsky's mother!, of course. But don't condemn it without seeing it or considering its complexity. Narrow interpretations aren't good enough.

Film Forum

Looking Closer at Wonder Woman

My hopes: * That Wonder Woman is one of those rare comic-book films that capture and hold my attention by questioning whether the glorification of violence is the way to celebrate true courage, conscience, and conviction. * That Wonder Woman subverts the idea that masculinity is defined by muscularity and "fighting

Film Forum

Knight of Cups (or, All My Favorite Critics Disagree)

Terrence Malick's films tend to divide film critics, even those who usually agree. This time, his work has sent them careening in all directions.

Film Forum

Risen (2016): a Looking Closer film forum

I admit — I'm intrigued by the mixed reviews for Kevin Reynolds's Risen that are coming in from reliably discerning friends and film critics. I believe art exists to invite us to explore questions. When it sharpens its intent to "deliver a message," it ceases

Film Review

Mistress America (2015)

This review is currently for Looking Closer Specialists only. Learn about how to become a Specialist here [https://lookingcloser.org/about/credits/].

Film Review

Spotlight (2015): first impressions and a film forum

How in the world is anybody supposed to make a successful movie about the journalists who brought the sexual abuse coverups in the Catholic church to global headlines? Let's ask Peter Jackson. "Orcs," he says. "All you need to do is create a new subplot

Film Forum

The Peanuts Movie (2015): A Looking Closer Film Forum

As The Peanuts Movie opens in theaters, the news seems to be good.

Film Forum

Bridge of Spies (2015): A Looking Closer Film Forum

Bridge of Spies is on a long list of films I plan to catch after I meet a bunch of homework deadlines. I'm thrilled to see a Steven Spielberg film drawing such high praise so consistently from sources I find generally reliable. Have you seen it? Post your

Film Forum

The Walk (2015): A Looking Closer Film Forum

Should I do it? Should I walk out onto the Robert Zemeckis tightrope between contemplative art and sensationalistic entertainment once again? Most of the time, I go tumbling into a void of clumsy storytelling, shallow philosophizing, and sentimentality. But once in a while, Zemeckis can deliver a charge of ambitious

Film Forum

The Martian (2015): A Looking Closer Film Forum

The Martian has a reputation: Science enthusiasts — even more than science fiction enthusiasts — think the novel is the best thing since the Large Hadron Collider. Of course, it takes more than a lot of scientific details to make a great novel. And it's even more of a challenge

Film Forum

War Room (2015): A Looking Closer Film Forum

When War Room, the latest movie by the Kendrick brothers (who also made Facing the Giants), scored the #1 spot at the box office — on a very weak moviegoing weekend, with little in the way of competition — the film's media campaign became celebratory, as if this was some

Film Forum

Jurassic World (2015): What specialists say

Since I haven't had a chance to see Jurassic World yet, I asked the Looking Closer Specialists for their first impressions. Here's what they're saying...

Film Forum

Tomorrowland (2015): Tomorrow-bland?

I hoped that Brad Bird would experience a much more positive response to his own passion project — the long-anticipated Tomorrowland — than Andrew Stanton did for his passion project, "John Carter."

On Movies & Media

Will Unbroken inspire you to "hate your enemies"?

How many movies that promise to "inspire" you actually inspire you? I don't mean "Do they make you feel good?" Inspiration changes people. It motivates them. It spurs them into action. In my experience at the movies, 9 out of 10 that promise they

Film Forum

Saving Christmas (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

Featuring a guest review by my new friend N. D. Wilson, author of Boys of Blur, Death by Living, 100 Cupboards, and more.

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!

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

Film Forum

When the Game Stands Tall (2013): A Looking Closer Film Forum

"When the Game Stands Tall" is getting a lot of attention in evangelical Christian culture because it's a match made in evangelical Christian movie heaven: It's about football, and it stars Jim Ca-jeezus.

Film Forum

Lucy (2014) : A Looking Closer Film Forum

I haven't seen "Lucy" yet ... but the clash of opinions about it among critics I respect has been entertaining and intriguing.

On Movies & Media

Overheard at the Movies: Persecuted, Noah, Wish I Was Here, Life Itself, I Origins, and A Most Wanted Man

Does the film about Roger Ebert get a "thumbs up" at Christianity Today? Is Persecuted an "overwrought, alarmist cog in the paranoia machine"? Is Noah "laughable and silly"? Does Wish I Was Here peddle "mushy feel-goodisms"? And how is Philip Seymour Hoffman in A Most Wanted Man?

Film Forum

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

I'm thinking about seeing "How to Train Your Dragon 2." So I'm consulting the opinons of Steven Greydanus, Scott Renshaw, Tasha Robinson, and Susan Wloszczyna...

God's Not Dead

God's Not Dead (2014): A Looking Closer Film Forum

Now, two of the finest film critics in Christian media agree: There's something quite contrary to the spirit of the Gospel at the heart of the smash-hit "Christian Movie" God's Not Dead.