J. Robert Parks - Jeffrey Overstreet

A Fantastic New Film Blog: Daily Plastic

What could be better than a blog by Paste's chief film critic Robert Davis? A blog co-written by Robert Davis and my friend J. Robert Parks! Daily Plastic is already humming, and it's quickly becoming one of the first sites I check every morning. Davis and

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"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

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Specials: Rata-trouble? Remembering Yang.

Jeff Berryman the power of a rat in the kitchen Sean Gaffney points out three serious problems with Ratatouille. Who can argue with such scathing criticism? Okay, enough kidding around. Carissa Turner Smith really does have a problem with Ratatouille, even though she enjoyed it. * J. Robert Parks has posted

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Film Forum: The Lives of Others, Reign Over Me, Pride, Shooter, TMNT, The Last Mimzy

By the beard of Zeus, it's... Looking Closer's Film Forum!REVIEW OF THE WEEK: Nothing makes me sit up and pay attention the way I do when a film critic I admire and respect publishes a review in stark disagreement with my own feelings about a

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J. Robert Parks Raves About "Children of Men"

I love it when a movie rekindles, and increases, my love and appreciation of what movies can do. Children of Men does that for me. I'm seeing it again tonight, and I'm just giddy with anticipation. Apparently, J. Robert Parks was also rather impressed. I hope

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J. Robert Parks' Top Ten Moviegoing Experiences of 2005

Looking Closer's frequent guest reviewer J. Robert Parks has just turned in his Top Ten Moviegoing Experiences of 2005, plus an alternate Top Ten Films of 2005 list. I've posted it at the Looking Closer movie page. Parks gets to see a much wider variety of

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Sex onscreen: J. Robert Parks on "9 Songs"

I frequently publish reviews by my friend J. Robert Parks, who writes for a Chicago-area paper and for Paste Magazine. Parks and I see eye-to-eye on many things. Occasionally we don't. I'm posting this review of Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs even though I personally

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Duma (2005) - guest review

J. Robert Parks, my friend and fellow contributor to Paste and The Phantom Tollbooth, is my guest reviewer for three films: Grizzly Man, March of the Penguins, and Duma. He wove those reviews into one article, which is filed on this site under Grizzly Man. I'm grateful for

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March of the Penguins (2005) - guest review

J. Robert Parks, my friend and fellow contributor to Paste and The Phantom Tollbooth, is my guest reviewer for three films: Grizzly Man, March of the Penguins, and Duma. He wove those reviews into one article, which is filed on this site under Grizzly Man. I'm grateful for

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Grizzly Man, March of the Penguins, Duma (2005) - guest reviews

J. Robert Parks, my friend and fellow contributor to Paste and The Phantom Tollbooth, is my guest reviewer for three beastly films: Grizzly Man, March of the Penguins, and Duma. March of the PenguinsNational Geographic Duma Grizzly Man focuses on the life of Timothy Treadwell, who spent thirteen summers living

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The Edukators (2004) - A Guest Review by J. Robert Parks

Seems like J. Robert Parks is seeing all of the great films this year, while I sit and wait for them to show in Seattle... Here he goes again, raving about another must-see: The Edukators. The month of August is not usually a banner month for cinema. Hollywood will release

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J. Robert Parks' 2005 Summer Movie Preview

J. Robert Parks, who frequently contributes to the review archive at Looking Closer's movie page, stops by with a preview of this summer's big screen features... It's even worse than that, though, as studios go out of their way to make these films seem

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The Best of Youth (2003) - A Guest Review by J. Robert Parks

This is a guest review contributed by J. Robert Parks. * How can I convince you to devote six hours of your life to a single movie? Especially when that movie is an Italian film starring actors you've probably never heard of. And unlike Hollywood's marketing obsessions,

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Finding Neverland and Kinsey - Guest Review by J. Robert Parks

This guest review was contributed by J. Robert Parks. * Finding Neverland is set in London 1903. Another of Barrie's plays has opened disastrously, and his patron and impresario (played by Dustin Hoffman) is encouraging him (good naturedly) to find a hit. Barrie (Johnny Depp) is more interested in

J. Robert Parks

J. Robert Parks - Live From the Toronto International Film Festival

J. Robert Parks, who provides many reviews for Looking Closer when I'm not able to catch a film and write about it in time, is in Toronto for the film festival, and he has an ambitious screening list. Click here to monitor his progress and his impressions of

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Chattaway and Parks review Fahrenheit 9/11

Peter T. Chattaway offers his view of Fahrenheit 9/11 at CT Movies today. At the same time, J. Robert Parks has turned in a review. I've posted it on the Looking Closer film page.

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Radio (2003)

This review from the archives was first published as an introduction to the movie in my Film Forum column at Christianity Today in 2003.