Go MacBook or Go Home: Why I finally watched (and enjoyed) Christopher Nolan’s Tenet
April 3, 2021
Christopher Nolan's movie was meant to restore our enthusiasm for big-screen cinema. So why do I think it's best watched on a laptop?
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Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Five: a review of Abigail Harm
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
February 27, 2021
Lee Isaac Chung's strangest film isn't easy to watch. Nor is it easy to forget. But it is well worth seeking out for its cautionary tale of a compromising love affair, mystical visitors from "up there," and the dangers of self-isolation.
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Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Four: two epic conversations with the director of Minari
February 25, 2021
In June of 2009, I met Lee Isaac Chung for the first time. We talked about his first feature film Munyurangabo. Nine summers later, I sat down with Chung to talk again — this time about his unpredictable and surprising journeys since then. The recording of that interview is now available for you thanks to Image.
2 Comments69 Minutes
Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Three: reviews of his first two films
February 24, 2021
I stared writing about the films of Lee Isaac Chung more than a decade ago. Now that Minari is finally earning him the attention he has long deserved, it would be interesting to revisit those conversations and reviews. Here are the reviews. The conversations are coming tomorrow.
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Lee Issac Chung Week, Day Two: Retrospectives
February 23, 2021
Minari director Lee Isaac Chung has a new essay in the L.A. Times. Have you been reading Looking Closer for the decade that has passed since he shared an essay with us? Here it is again: "Retrospectives."
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Do the Wrong Thing: a portrait of betrayal in Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
On Movies & Media,Film Reviews
February 22, 2021
Compelling, occasionally impressive in its cinematographic finesse, occasionally obvious in its allusions, often too familiar in its form, eventually painful in its truth-telling, this flashy new film is, ultimately, a necessary testimony.
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Lee Isaac Chung Week: Day One
February 22, 2021
This week, I'm celebrating the theatrical and streaming release of "Minari" in honor of filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung. We'll get it started with just a clip from a 2010 interview that will set some of the context for my appreciation of this filmmaker.
0 Comments7 Minutes
In space, no one can hear you scream. But on a podcast?
On Movies & Media,On Books & Writing
February 15, 2021
Listen to the latest episode of Looking Closer, which features a conversation with Sarah Welch-Larson about her new book on the theological implications of the Alien franchise.
0 Comments1 Minutes