Looking Closer
I’m hesitant to link to a title as badly titled as this one. (more…) Read more
I’m hesitant to link to a title as badly titled as this one. (more…) Read more
Roger Ebert is just one of the film critics singing the praises of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going to go see a movie based on a dress-up doll for girls. Why? Well, there are the reviews. And then there’s the fact that it was directed by Patricia Rozema, who directed the magnificent, underrated Mansfield Park. Roger Ebert says: (more…) Read more
Welcome to Reader Mailstrom, a chronicle of stand-outs from the daily maelstrom of Looking Closer email. All letters are genuine unless I’ve clearly marked them as inventions or as amalgams of similar messages. Thank you for your messages! (more…) Read more
The Browser: News & links to raise your eyebrows & furrow your brow. – Gene Edward Veith weighs in on the Sex and the City hubbub Gene Edward Veith, after raising questions that threw fuel on an already vigorous conversation (debate? brouhaha? hubbub?) over Christianity Today’s review of Sex and the City, has finally weighed in with his own perspective. And I’m grateful. I’ve followed Veith’s work for years and knew he would respond with insight. Can we move on... Read more
I’m starting a new column, chronicling stand-outs from the daily maelstrom of Looking Closer email. Most of these letters are real. Some of them are amalgalms of a variety of messages. Some of them are what I read between the lines of the things readers really wrote. Each installment of Reader Mail-strom will be updated over the course of the day, so check back to see if I’ve responded to you. • READER: Thanks for your blog about Ted Slater’s... Read more
Apparently, it’s fairly unusual to find a hummingbird nest… (more…) Read more
Brian Volck saw There Will Be Blood for the first time on DVD. That’s too bad, as it was a riveting big-screen experience. But Volck does not appear to have suffered much. He was, to borrow the term my friend Brandon Fibbs employed when he first saw the movie, “gobsmacked.” (more…) Read more
Josh Jackson interviewed Sam Phillips recently, right at the beginning of her tour of Borders bookstores. I’ll be talking with her again soon for a special assignment I’ve been given. Can’t wait. (more…) Read more
One week ago, beer-drinkin’ believers gathered at Hale’s Brewery in Seattle to discuss The Passion of the Christ, “faith-based filmmaking,” and whether Mel Gibson’s movie heralded a new era for Christian filmmaking (as so many believed it would), or a new era in mediocrity and proselytizing. Sorry, the beer’s all gone. But the discussion still lives! Listen to Dick Staub, Greg Wright, Jennie Spohr, and me as we talk it over and respond to challenging questions at The Kindlings Muse!... Read more
Were these the most influential role models of my childhood? (more…) Read more
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