Neil McCormick on U2’s No Line on the Horizon: So what can I tell you without infringing copyright? It took two listens to find my way into it, which has to be good a thing. It is dense, twisty, shiny, modern pop music, a big mash up of Eno ambience, Edge electricity, rhythm and soul. There are verses and choruses, though not necessarily in that order (and quite often its hard to tell which is which). It doesn’t feel the... Read more
At long last, the new issue of Response is here. Yes, this is what I do at my day job. All day, almost every day. I work with an amazing and inspiring team of writers, editors, photographers, and freelancers. It looks like a university marketing piece, but that’s far too narrow a definition for it. It’s a magazine about faith, culture, and every discipline that students at SPU explore. It’s not about us — it’s about the world, as seen... Read more
A new Scott Cairns poem is posted at the Denver Literary Examiner, one of several included in the new issue of Poetry. Cairns also has new poems in the new 20th anniversary issue of Image. – Did the recent movie Fireproof inspire you or change your life? Have you been waiting for me to publish a review of it? If so, forgive me. I missed a lot of movies in 2008, and that was one of them. I was recently... Read more
Andrew Stanton, writer/director of WALL•E, accepting the award for Best Picture from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association last night: It’s huge for us, huge. We’ve been trying since Toy Story to just make a film, and not have the word animated suddenly stick it in a different box. I mean to us, it’s no different than choosing black and white or color on something. So, that shouldn’t dictate the content. And, it’s nice to just finally break the glass ceiling. Read more
Bono’s started work in his new job… columnist for the New York Times. And I like the first installment. Read more
If you were listening to WMBI in Chicago this afternoon, and go my invitation to come visit me here at LookingCloser.org… welcome! You heard me talking about my favorite films of 2008, but hey… I only scratched the surface. I talked about Man on Wire, and Rachel Getting Married (which I just added to the list). But there are many more films that slipped by moviegoers quietly last year. Here’s the (updated) list of my favorites from 2008. And thanks... Read more
1. A new film about John Lennon is in the works from the makers of Control. Story here. And here we learn that Kristin Scott Thomas will be in it. 2. Paste is cooking up one heckuva tribute show for R.E.M, featuring many special guests like Patti Smith and The Apples in Stereo. And the house band? Calexico. How many kinds of awesome is that? Seems like the music world is rallying behind R.E.M. these days. Hopefully it will help... Read more
Whenever I ask a question about the strange behaviors of critics and their tendency to write things that exalt their own discernment, I point that shotgun right at myself. (more…) Read more
First Things reports the passing of its founder and editor: Fr. Richard John Neuhaus slipped away today, January 8, shortly before 10 o’clock, at the age of seventy-two. He never recovered from the weakness that sent him to the hospital the day after Christmas, caused by a series of side effects from the cancer he was suffering. He lost consciousness Tuesday evening after a collapse in his heart rate, and the next day, in the company of friends, he died.... Read more
I haven’t seen Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker. That’s something I must rectify soon, especially since Tarkovsky’s Mirror, Andrei Rublev, and The Sacrifice are among the most memorable films I’ve seen in the last two decades. Here’s Gregory Wolfe reflecting on Stalker, and what it has to do with his ongoing work with Image journal. Read more
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