On Movies & Media - Jeffrey Overstreet (Page 2)

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On Movies & Media

A collection of 2472 posts

Unworthy of Gosling or Blunt, Fall Guy's screenplay falls short of my summer movie standards

Unworthy of Gosling or Blunt, Fall Guy's screenplay falls short of my summer movie standards

If this is your idea of a satisfying summertime movie, well... knock yourself out. Me? Life's too short, and there are just so many better ways for me to spend my summer.

Love triangle aside — what is Challengers really about?

Love triangle aside — what is Challengers really about?

Despite its tangled web (net?) of bad behavior, Luca Guadagnino's smash hit gets a lot right about the transcendence artists pursue and sometimes reach.

Low-budget, high imagination: Riddle of Fire may someday be an all-ages cult classic

Low-budget, high imagination: Riddle of Fire may someday be an all-ages cult classic

This retro adventure—which sends kids questing for an egg that'll help them bake a pie and save a sleeping beauty—will puzzle many moviegoers and win the hearts of a special few. I'm one of the few.

Playful, nightmarish, fantastical, political: Problemista is all over the place

Playful, nightmarish, fantastical, political: Problemista is all over the place

Julio Torres's leap from television's Los Espookys to the big screen has some remarkable highlights... and some complicated challenges.

Cabrini celebrates a true Christian vision of embracing immigrants and opposing cruelty

Cabrini celebrates a true Christian vision of embracing immigrants and opposing cruelty

Angel Studios' new film celebrates a woman who helped America practice what it preaches about welcoming immigrants and serving the poor. And this time, the studio gets it mostly right.

Love Lies Bleeding "hulks out" with surreal surprises

Love Lies Bleeding "hulks out" with surreal surprises

This wild, weird, violent, genre-dodging thriller from Rose Glass suggests we're seeing a B-movie auteur on the rise.

The spirit of '80s Tim Burton is alive in Lisa Frankenstein

The spirit of '80s Tim Burton is alive in Lisa Frankenstein

This Halloween-y rom-com is an '80s cosplay party that should scratch itches for Tim Burton fans and those who thrilled to the audacity of Heathers.

Adam Driver plays a driver — again! — in Michael Mann's Ferrari

Adam Driver plays a driver — again! — in Michael Mann's Ferrari

Michael Mann's passion project has finally arrived. Is it a victory lap for the master? Or does it crash and burn?

Teyana Taylor deserved an Oscar nomination for A Thousand and One

Teyana Taylor deserved an Oscar nomination for A Thousand and One

When I reviewed this film, I predicted that Teyana Taylor would be unjustly overlooked for an Oscar nomination. I was right. But we still have the movie and her outstanding performance.

Kore-eda's Monster keeps us guessing

Kore-eda's Monster keeps us guessing

The prolific director Hirozaku Kore-eda's latest is a complex braid of stories about secrets that seem too scary to reveal.

It's allergy season, and I'm allergic to Godzilla

It's allergy season, and I'm allergic to Godzilla

You'll think about Japanese wartime and post-war history. You'll find a focus on redemption and grace. You'll cheer for great special effects. And if you're luckier than me, it might become your favorite Godzilla movie.

Haynes hits a tense, hilarious high with May December

Haynes hits a tense, hilarious high with May December

Just as Todd Haynes's new film keeps us guessing about Julianne Moore's deceptive ex-con and Natalie Portman's scheming method actor, it keeps us guessing what kind of movie it really means to be.

The great Nicolas Cage shows up for Dream Scenario, but is the movie worthy of him?

The great Nicolas Cage shows up for Dream Scenario, but is the movie worthy of him?

No, Nicolas Cage is not "funnier than he's ever been." But he's really funny. And while everyone complains about the lackluster ending, let me praise what it does so well.

The Holdovers lives up to its name

The Holdovers lives up to its name

Alexander Payne's latest has its highlights, even if it holds us a little too long, and strains a little too hard for a crowd-pleasing conclusion.

Beauty and the rock'n'roll beast: Sofia Coppola's Priscilla

Beauty and the rock'n'roll beast: Sofia Coppola's Priscilla

A double-feature of Priscilla and Spencer might be a fascinating study. Or it might seem merely redundant.

Misgivings about "a masterpiece": Killers of the Flower Moon

Misgivings about "a masterpiece": Killers of the Flower Moon

Scorsese's new epic features some of the strongest and most conscientious work of his career. But the fact I'm opening with words about him here hints at what gives me mixed feelings about the film.

Three Colors: Blue at 30

Three Colors: Blue at 30

My 10,000-word deep-dive on Kieslowski's masterpiece is published in a new anthology.

The Eight Mountains (2023)

The Eight Mountains (2023)

An early draft of this review was originally published on September 14, 2023, at Give Me Some Light on Substack, months before it appeared here. Subscribe, and you'll read many of these reviews while the films are still breaking news! I continue to believe that much of Peter

Bottoms (2023)

Here's a high school comedy about hormones and hijinks that goes to violent extremes, afflicting the comfortable and making the uncomfortable laugh until they're sick.

The Unknown Country (2023)

The Unknown Country (2023)

You're probably hearing a lot about Lily Gladstone's performance in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. In fact, she was just as magnetic earlier this year in The Unknown Country, a film worth seeking out on streaming services, and one of my favorites of 2023.

Barbie, Pt. 3: My full review!

Barbie, Pt. 3: My full review!

My three-part series on Greta Gerwig's Barbie culminates with my full review.

Killers of My Substack Journal: New films by Scorsese and Fincher

Killers of My Substack Journal: New films by Scorsese and Fincher

In a season of intensifying violence — in American neighborhoods, and in battlefields of global significance — some of our best filmmakers are telling stories about gun-wielding villains. I've just published thoughts on The Killer and Killers of the Flower Moon.

Barbie, Pt. 2: Action figures, their accessories, and me

Barbie, Pt. 2: Action figures, their accessories, and me

In Part Two of my Barbie coverage, I establish some necessary context for my upcoming film review. My history with toy trends is a story of formative influences: Barbies for girls, armed men for boys.

Barbie, Pt. 1: While frightened men burn dolls, Christian women rave about Barbie's wisdom

Barbie, Pt. 1: While frightened men burn dolls, Christian women rave about Barbie's wisdom

Greta Gerwig's brilliant blockbuster gets us laughing at the absurdity of real-world hierarchies (including injustices often reinforced in Christian circles to the harm of everyone involved).

Was Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Was Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Christopher Nolan seems to be remaking Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in this profound meditation on America's self-righteous obsession with coercive violence and apocalyptic firepower.