Viewer Discussion Advised - Jeffrey Overstreet

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Viewer Discussion Advised

A collection of 11 posts

Overstreet Archives: The Fits (2016)

Anna Rose Holmer

Overstreet Archives: The Fits (2016)

A big deal was published today at Bright Wall Dark Room. I'm so excited about, and moved by, Joel Mayward's outstanding new appreciation of The Fits — one of my favorite films of the 2010s, and one of the greatest directorial debuts by an American director I&

On Movies & Media

Guns and nukes are for cowards

Last week, I introduced Of Gods and Men to the high schoolers in my online film class. After we watched it, we wrestled with hard questions about how these monks chose to answer the threat of terrorism. One of them surprised me with his answer — boldly disagreeing with Roger Ebert

On Movies & Media

The test of a great Star Wars story

“Star Wars at Christmas?” “Put it back in May where it belongs.” Some Star Wars fans had “a bad feeling about this” when The Force Awakens was scheduled for December 18, 2015. But complaints were forgotten when the movie opened to rave reviews. Me, I’ve associated Star Wars with

On Movies & Media

Your new favorite Christmas movie

The world outside—it’s a dangerous place. Stick with Christian community. Where it’s safe. I have received that message—sometimes blatant, sometimes merely implied—within so many Christian communities from childhood through adulthood. I’ve been instructed to read only Christian texts, attend only Christian schools, support only

Arrival (2016)

Reader, I confess: I clicked “unfriend” last month. Several times. Understand, I wasn’t ending friendships. I was respecting them — by refusing to let Facebook’s limitations do them further harm. It troubled me to see conversations we might have enjoyed in person go so horribly awry on social media.

Doctor Strange (2016)

It’s easy to see why director Scott Derrickson’s adaptation for the Marvel movie super-franchise is such a success. First: Marvel is a machine that makes blockbusters. Second: Strange boasts standard-setting special effects. (Many say it’s inspired by Inception, but its wildest moments have equivalents in comics that

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Are the Coen Brothers "filmmakers of faith"?

Last weekend, I accepted an invitation to St. Leo University near Tampa, Florida, to participate in a public discussion about — of all things — the movies of the Coen brothers. Brent Short, the school’s director of library services, organized this seminar, and we were joined by Erica Rowell (author of

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How to Prepare for Scorsese's Silence...

A Man for All Seasons gives us Paul Scofield’s finest hour. As he sinks his teeth into Bolt’s delicious dialogue, I defy anyone to remain unmoved. I recommend we prepare for Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shusaku Endo's Silence by revisiting this classic. Directed by Fred

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Before you vote, watch Vertigo...

The way that Vertigo shifts our sympathies from Detective Scottie Ferguson to Judy, his victim, convinces me that it’s as timely as ever. Oceans of ink have been spilled in the last few weeks on subjects like sexism, misogyny, and sexual assault. Last week, when recordings revealed a presidential

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The movie I most frequently loan out to friends...

You try walking across Seattle alone. At night. Barefoot. My college roommate did all the time. I didn't understand it, just as I didn’t understand his quiet demeanor, his watchfulness from the edges, or his aversion to typical college-life distractions. His after-dark disappearances intrigued me. So I

You're invited to a weekly movie club...

What a rush. From 2001 – 2009, I wrote the "Film Forum" column for Christianity Today and served on the CT Movies team of film critics, publishing weekly reviews. Then, as my day job became increasingly demanding, my resources for writing began to diminish, and I had to give