Michael Leary - Jeffrey Overstreet

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928): a Filmwell dialogue

In which Michael Leary and I discuss the "sheer visual horror" of Dreyer's classic film.

8 1/2 (1963): a Filmwell dialogue

This is the first installment in a series of dialogues originally published at Filmwell, a film blog founded by myself and Michael Leary. Michael and I began working our way through discussions of the Top Ten films from a recent Sight & Sound Greatest Films poll. Then life became too

Looking Elsewhere

Looking Elsewhere: January 24, 2015

I'll conclude with a few words about the American Sniper hubbub. But first, here are some of the things that caught my attention on the Wild Wild Web in the last couple of weeks...

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&

Federico Fellini

Fellini's 8 1/2, Revisited

Today at Filmwell, a film blog (?) that lives at The Other Journal, Michael Leary and I begin an epic journey, playing Siskel and Ebert all the way through what the Sight and Sound 2012 critics poll has voted the top ten films of all time.

Federico Fellini

8 1/2 (1963)

My conversation with film critic Michael Leary about Frederico Fellini's 8 1/2 is published at Filmwell, the film blog hosted by The Other Journal.

On Movies & Media

Epistemartha, Epistemarcy, Epistemay, Epistemology

What did you think of that discomforting final moment in Martha Marcy May Marlene? Michael Leary is talking about it at Filmwell... Martha Marcy May Marlene My own review of the film was published at Image.

On Movies & Media

"Enough with the shaky-cam already!"

What's a handheld-camera movie where the shaky-cam technique was a good idea? What's a movie where you found yourself shouting, "Enough with the handheld camera already!" For me, "chaos cam" worked very well in The Bourne Supremacy. Some moviegoers said that the

On Movies & Media

Filmwell Returns!

Over the last week, I've been thrilled to see Filmwell - the collaborative and strange film blog for adventurous cinephiles that I started with Michael Leary a couple of years ago - transplanted to a new home base at The Other Journal, an online magazine I've

On Movies & Media

Introducing... Filmwell.org.

Hi, Michael Leary and I are happy to announce the release of Filmwell (www.filmwell.org), a new website that will be updated daily with essays, film and DVD reviews, and news on cinema off the beaten track. Founding Filmwell contributors include widely published authors and critics, as well as

Michael Leary

Browser: Conan vs. Colbert. Peterson and Leary on "The Wrestler"

1. Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien have a dance off! 2. At The Rabbit Room, Pete Peterson praises The Wrestler. Earlier: Michael Leary has a problem with The Wrestler.

On Movies & Media

Michael Leary on "Redeeming Films"

Michael Leary of film-think links to CT Movies' 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2008. And then he responds: ... If we want to use "redeeming" with all of its Christological force as a certain way of looking at films, then we will have to go far off the

Cormac McCarthy

Browser, 10/23

I'm a big fan of Todd Field, who directed In the Bedroom and Little Children. And I can't believe what I just read: Brad Ingelsby will write the screenplay, which centers on a couple who, in a bid for cash, bury a wealthy man alive only

On Movies & Media

Michael Leary on Terrence Malick's Badlands and Days of Heaven

film-think's Michael Leary has just posted thoughts on Terrence Malick's work in Badlands and Days of Heaven

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C.S. Lewis on "2001: A Space Odyssey"

Here's Michael Leary with a few thoughts on how C.S. Lewis helps us understand 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001: A Space OdysseyIs Theology PoetryWeight of Glory2001

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Michael Leary's Film-think; "No Country" Re-examined

Nobody I know takes the question "What is Christian film criticism?" more seriously than Michael Leary. And so I'm thrilled to find him starting up a new site ... film-think where he's posting his thoughts on movies. Check out recent posts on * Paranoid Park * The

On Movies & Media

Michael Leary's Top 10 of 2005

One of my favorite film writers, Michael Leary, who blogs at ImageFacts, sees more of the international highlights than I do, partly due to living between Chicago and Scotland. Thus, I've been eagerly awaiting his Top Ten list, and here I am, reading it at The Matthews House

Michael Leary

Specials: Leary on Dynamite; Brothers Quay + Gilliam; V for Vendetta; The Island

Today's specials: * Michael Leary on Napoleon Dynamite. * Twitch scoops an intriguing collaboration between The Brothers Quay and Terry Gilliam. Wow. Sounds promising indeed. Go here for news and stills. * The trailer for Natalie Portman's new film with the makers of The Matrix: V for Vendetta. * What

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Cruise, "Sin City"; Leary and Loy on Eastwood and "Closer"

So, here are a few pieces I stumbled across today... A mind-boggling update on director Todd Haynes' spectacularly weird concept for a movie about Bob Dylan. I cannot wait to see this. I'm Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan Congratulations, Peter Jackson! King Kong filming

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My favorite response to Saved!

The best response to the movie Saved! that I've heard yet is a one-line quip passed along by my friend Michael Leary, who heard someone else say it after a screening of the film: “The Church will only be doing what it really should be doing when it

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Swimming Pool (2003)

This post from the Looking Closer archives, circa 2003, includes two reviews: my own and a guest review by Michael Leary.