Movie Reviews (Chronological)
In the Heights lives up to the hype
Full disclosure: I’m not a big fan of Hamilton. And I think it’s important you know that before I dare to offer any thoughts on In the Heights. Undoubtedly, the circumstances of my first Hamilton viewing — on my home television via Disney+, rather than in...
Overstreet Archives: The Clearing (2004)
Here’s one from the dusty basement that might not be more than a reminder that even the greatest actors sometimes sign on to forgettable projects.
Overstreet Archives: The Station Agent (2016)
Posted at Looking Closer for the first time, here is Overstreet’s 2016 reflection on Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent.
Overlooked by Overstreet: Get Shorty (1995)
This week, I found myself enjoying — to some extent — an unexpected reunion with a mid-’90s hit that I never got around to reviewing. So here’s a look back at a film that is now more than a quarter-of-a-century old.
Do we respect these Truffle Hunters? Or are we laughing at them?
This documentary glimpse of a disappearing world — where fortune hunters and their dogs explore and dig for pungent, savory gold — is worth a look, but it also feels like a missed opportunity for poetry and transcendence.
Watching Together Together with Woody Allen on my mind
Behold — the invention of the “non-rom-com”: a genre for stories about loving-but-platonic relationships between men and women!
The Courier: forgettable cinema about an unforgettable hero
Our screens are so over-saturated with superheroes these days that we’re in danger of forgetting what real heroes look like. Superpowers are exciting — but they’re also shortcuts. They show us what we might dream of becoming. But let me put it this way: I...
Zhao, Varda, Sayles, and Malick: Why Nomadland is my favorite film of 2020
Several years ago, I wandered down to the reading room of Laity Lodge, a Texas conference center. I knew it to be the quietest, most restful place at the Lodge, and I needed a break after a few days of constant conversations with other writers. The reading room has an...
Lee Isaac Chung Week, Day Five: a review of Abigail Harm
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.
Do the Wrong Thing: a portrait of betrayal in Judas and the Black Messiah (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.