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Looking Closer

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June 2015

June 24, 2015

This Is Not Goodbye. But It is… See You Elsewhere!

Attention, Looking Closer readers: This blog is moving! Thanks for three years of community here...

December 2014

December 25, 2014

The Complete 2014 Christmas Playlist

It started as a spur-of-the-moment experiment. I asked Joe Henry if he'd be willing to...

May 2014

May 11, 2014

Ten Years Ago Today…

Just marking the occasion... Seems to me the best way to mark the 10th anniversary...

April 2014

April 27, 2014

TEN YEARS! Pt. 1: The Best of Looking Closer – 2004

This blog is turning ten! Let's look back a whole decade. What were the highlights...

September 2012

September 20, 2012

On “Difficult” Movies

As we're in a season busy with film festivals, I'm reading reviews of what sound...

August 2012

August 22, 2012

Mystery and Message, or What We Talk About When We Talk About Art

No one has taught me more about considering and making art than "Mr. D." That's...

August 14, 2009

Further Thanks to Christianity Today for a Generous Send-Off

Today's unexpected notes from the team at Christianity Today have been a tremendous blessing to...

December 2008

December 02, 2008

“Hamlet, Threepio, and Us”

Anyone who can write an inspiring piece linking Rosencrantz and Guldenstern, The Hidden Fortress, Dietrich...

November 2008

November 19, 2008

The Passion of the Christ – A Letter to Christians about Mel Gibson’s Film

This commentary is a follow-up to my review of The Passion of the Christ. -...

October 2008

October 04, 2008

“Why do you have to analyze everything? Why can’t you just enjoy it?”

Recently, I encountered someone who was clearly disgruntled by the mixed reviews of the movie...

June 2008

June 26, 2008

An Open Letter to Employees at Focus on the Family and Boundless

Focus on the Family has yet to apologize for, or express affirmation for, the misleading...

June 26, 2008

WALL•E: Talking with Andrew Stanton, and the Film Forum Reviews

As I sat braced for my ten-minute conversation with Andrew Stanton, the writer and director...

June 18, 2008

Reader Mailstrom, 6/18: “Your reviews are no longer of value to the Christian community.”

I'm starting a new column, chronicling stand-outs from the daily maelstrom of Looking Closer email....

June 16, 2008

My Favorite Music Reviewer Speaks

Andy Whitman, my favorite writer at Paste Magazine, delivered a lecture at the Trinity Arts...

June 15, 2008

Focus on the Family says “Christianity Today Relishes Sexual Perversion.” Call That What It Is: A Lie.

Once a month, I talk with Kim Ketola about movies, faith, and culture on her "Along the Way"...

May 2008

May 12, 2008

Reader!!!! Mail!!!!

This week's blue-ribbon-winning letter from a reader comes in response to my review of No...

March 2008

March 23, 2008

Have a Joyous Easter!

I imagine driving from Seattle to Portland, Oregon, to my grandparents' house. I spent many...

February 2008

February 07, 2008

“Through a Screen Darkly” is One Year Old

It's been an interesting week. On Tuesday, I submitted Cyndere's Midnight, the sequel to Auralia's...

December 2007

December 30, 2007

There Will Be Blood (2007)

This review was originally published in an abridged edition at Christianity Today. - In Roman...

November 2007

November 20, 2007

The Golden Compass – Christians, Controversy, and Phillip Pullman – A Commentary

¬† And so it begins. The first review of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass,...

October 2007

October 29, 2007

Looking Closer… looking back.

Moments like this just make me grateful to work with such thoughtful, brave, and dedicated collaborators....

February 2007

February 27, 2007

Have We Lost Our Minds?

If you've been reading the CT Feedback page and reading this blog, you've seen a...

February 16, 2007

Are Christianity Today’s Movie Reviews Written With an "Anti-Evangelical Agenda"?

As you may already know, this week a radio talk-show host accused Christianity Today Movies'...

January 2007

January 25, 2007

Eugene Peterson’s "Eat This Book" … and Moviegoing

I am finding Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book to be a particularly inspiring meditation on...

November 2006

November 23, 2006

Publishers Weekly on “Through a Screen Darkly”

It's not often I steal a line from Darth Vader, but here goes: "This will...

September 2006

September 20, 2006

Why My Faith is Not FoxFaith (and Great Art is Not Necessarily “Christian Art”)

When I saw a promotional video for the arrival of FoxFaith, a special library of...

September 20, 2006

Why My Faith is Not “FoxFaith,” and Great Art is Not Necessarily “Christian art”

When I saw a promotional video for the arrival of FoxFaith, a special library of movies...

September 07, 2006

The Seed of an Idea

Auralia, still as death, like a discarded doll, lay in a burgundy tangle of rushes...

April 2006

April 12, 2006

Looking Closer Classic: "Mystery and Message"

Not much to blog about today, as I've been sitting at home and at a...

March 2005

March 18, 2005

Doug Cummings on Jean Renoir’s "The River"

Peter Greenaway once said that cinema as an "art form" has yet to be established....