Movie Reviews (Chronological)
In Bacarau, a town fights back against gunslinging predators
As he raged through the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, playing the murderous devil called Chigurh, was actor Javier Bardem taking inspiration from singularly menacing screen presence of Udo Kier? That question crosses my mind as I watch the...
Overstreet Archives: Days of Heaven (1978)
In September 2018, I launched a short-lived film website for Seattle Pacific University and began to write about films that have risen to a sort of legendary status that I call “sacred cinema” — films that routinely inspire spiritual reflection in dialogue...
Hamilton (2020)
Having never listened to the soundtrack album, and having never attended a performance of the play, I was introduced to Hamilton through the Disney+ movie of the original production. Instead of posting a review here, I am saving my response for the Looking Closer...
Overstreet Archives: A Very Long Engagement (2004)
A blast from the past: Here’s my original review of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s World War One epic.
The Quarry: murder, scripture, and Southern Gothic style
Set in a world rich with echoes of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy, The Quarry‘s story of a fake preacher and a violent sheriff raises hard questions about the possibility of redemption in a world as ruined as this one.
It’s Groundhog Day in Palm Springs
Palm Springs plays with a familiar formula, and its innovations are diminished by its crassness and the flimsiness of its “insights.”
Da 3 Movies in Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee’s latest multi-tasking movie is a ferocious work of passion and Gospel that succeeds in spite of its stumbles and dissonant styles.
Extra Ordinary Ghost-busting in Ireland
The second big paranormal-thriller surprise of the summer (after The Vast of Night), Extra Ordinary is the funniest thing I’ve seen all year.
Catching Up With The Bling Ring
When those that qualify as the 2% won’t rest until they’ve stolen their way into the 1% — The Bling Ring is a thoughtful and prophetic portrait of a generation obsessed with becoming media gods, exploiting social justice slogans in service of their own social-media avatars.
Why The Vast of Night hits close to home
Like 2019’s Prospect, Amazon’s new sci-fi thriller The Vast of Night makes magic with modest resources and gives us the two most memorable investigators of the paranormal since Mulder and Scully first argued.